Leon Orcot (under_arrest) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-06-30 00:00:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, leon orcot, tinkerbell |
Who: Leon and Tink
When: Early June, pre-Leon getting shot
What: Leon brings Stella into Tink's Garage
Where: Tink’s Garage
Ratings/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Complete when Posted
Leon was pretty sure that May was the worst month ever. There had been the mass amount of murders in the last couple of weeks, which had left Leon feeling ragged with how much he was working, there was the fact that a dear friend’s dog had passed away, and then there was his car. Stella had been acting up all of May, before she finally had enough. Leon had had to take a cab the last couple of days to work, which wasn’t cheap. He had finally gotten enough time to dig around under the hood and get her started at least, but she did not sound well when he finally managed to drive her to Tink’s Garage. He honestly wasn’t even sure if they’d be able to start her without opening the hood to get her from the parking lot into the garage.
He really did not look pleased - really more worn down and grumpy than anything - when he got to the counter, and when he didn’t see anyone there, he immediately hit the stupid little bell thing.
Tink was in the storage room off the office, going through some boxes and trying to find all the records that she needed for… something. Something the accountant wanted? Tax information or whatever. She was knee deep in paperwork when she heard the bell. The bell. Why hadn’t she heard the door?
“Coming!” The pixie called out from the spare room, then disentangled herself from the boxes of paperwork and climbed--okay, stumbled--over herself to get out into the office/lobby area. “Coming! Just a second…”
Leon frowned when she stumbled out of the room that she had been in. He really couldn't judge someone for not being completely together all the time, but he did have to wonder a little whether or not they were qualified to deal with his Stella. Just a little.
"You Tink?" he asked. "Leon, from the internet."
Hey, paperwork and car engines were very different animals. Tink could do well with a machine, do remarkably well with an invention, but when it came to keeping paperwork organized? Also, it was the Old Man, too. She could blame it on him.
Whatever.
“Yes. Tink. Hi.” She said, dusting her hands off on her coveralls as she crossed through the lobby to meet him. “Welcome to Tink’s Garage. How can I help you?”
Leon offered his hand to her. “I’ve got an old car, the GT500?” he said. “I’ve been trying to do some work on her myself, but there’s only so much I can do.” It almost pained him to admit that, but he knew enough to know that it was beyond his scope of knowledge now. “I managed to get her here, but I don’t think she’ll be leaving this lot without some work.”
“Hey, that’s no problem.” Tink said, giving him a bright smile. “Yeah… you posted a picture, right? I remember something about that.” She came around the desk, pocketing a set of keys, then motioned to the parking lot. “Show me.”
“That’s right,” Leon said, and began to lead her out to the parking lot. Stella was parked fairly close to the garage, looking as though she had just been washed. “There she is.”
“God, she’s beautiful.” Tink said, beaming at the sight of the car. “You take good care of her, I can tell. We’ll get her all fixed up, no sweat.” She said, and moved over to run her hand along the side of the car. “Wanna start ‘er up for me?” Tink could tell a lot about what was wrong with an engine by the sound it made.
“Isn’t she just? I try to do what I can for her, but I’m no mechanic.”
“Here’s hoping I can,” Leon muttered, and climbed into the driver’s seat. A lot of the time lately he was needing to go under the hood every time he had to start her, but he was hoping that since he had just been driving her that it wouldn’t be a problem. “Come on, baby, don’t embarrass me,” he murmured to her, giving her a brief pat on the dash before turning the key. It only took him two tries, pumping the gas as he did it, for her to start. The engine, while loud as it was turning over, turned into a quiet, if not slightly sick sounding purr once she was started.
Tink listened carefully as the car wanted to start, and then started, and then purred. She frowned a little, narrowing down the root causes of the problem(s) in her mind, then moved around the car to the driver’s side. “I’ve got a couple ideas. Let’s pop the hood?” She’d have to check a few things out, do some diagnostics.
“Alright,” Leon said, popping the hood before stepping out of the car and joining her. He explained to her about the things that he thought might be wrong, and the things he had done to, if not fix her, at least get her running when he needed her to.
Tink nodded, listening, and poking around in the engine. She was crossing things off her list. If X was functional, then Y couldn’t be wrong, etc. She nodded when he explained about the car, and she turned to him with a smile. “You’ve done really well so far. I think we might need to replace a couple of parts.”
Then she explained about the parts. “We’ve got one in stock, and I’ll have to order the other. Or… I can make a call. My buddy over at the Auto Parts Shop might have one in stock.”
Well, listening to this girl, Leon was at least convinced that she knew what she was talking about. Leon had taken his car to a lot of shops over the years, but given that not a lot of new mechanics knew how to work on a 60 year old car, he had been half-convinced that he would never find a new mechanic after his old one had moved down to Florida for retirement. “Well fuck, I was expecting it, but I was hoping that I wouldn’t need new parts.” He of course had an emergency car fund - owning such an old car without one would be ridiculous - but he really hated dipping into it. Especially since that meant putting more money into it again. “The sooner I can have her up and running, the better,” Leon said, marginally more cheerful than he had been when he walked in. “Giving your pal a call would definitely work for me.”
“I can definitely do that.” Tink said, nodding and smiling. She was getting a ‘do you really know what you’re doing, girl?’ vibe from this guy not too long ago. Something she said must have made him realize that she did, in fact, know what she was doing. She stepped over to the shelf on the side of the garage where the phone was kept, and picked it up to dial. Then she brought it to her ear, giving the man her attention. Leon?
“If he’s got the part, we can just--” but she stopped mid sentence when someone on the other end picked up. “Hey, George, it’s Tink. Yeah. Yeah, my doctor’s treating me fine,” her cheeks went a little pink. “What? No. Not anytime soon. Anyway, I need a part.” She rattled off the specs of the car without having to double-check them, and the name of the part. There was a pause. “Yeah, yeah, that sounds great. Come on by, I’ll show you the pictures of that jerry-rigged turkey deep fryer on my phone. Great, thanks, George. See you in a bit.”
She hung up the phone and turned to Leon with a smile. “He’s bringing it by, so… I figure we can have Stella up and running in no time.”
Doctor, hm? For a moment Leon wondered if she was sick somehow, but he wasn’t really one to pry into people’s personal business. Unless he suspected them of murder, obviously, which he didn’t. “That’s great,” Leon said, his spirit lifting just a little bit more. He was worrying more and more about the day when Stella finally needed to be put to rest, but it didn’t look like today was that day. “I like that you know people in the area to get your parts from. There’s nothing worse than waiting for a month on parts.”
“I know pretty much all of the vendors in the area,” Tink said, not to brag, but to explain. “We all sort of… scratch each other’s backs? You know how easy it is to find parts online now-a-days? Well, it’s better to buy local. You know? It might make prices slightly higher, but whatever. It keeps people in a job.” She came back over to the car to start working on it. One of the pieces she had in stock, she could get that part started.
“I never really understood the whole buying buying things online fad. Might be cheaper, but you never know what you’re gonna get until you get it. At least when you do it in person you can see what you’re getting before you pay for it.” Leon wasn’t too concerned about shopping locally, but he really hated not being able to make sure that he was paying for was what he wanted. “But it’s a pretty good sign if you’ve got good relations with the guys who sell you your stuff.”
“And returns are such a fucking hassle.” Tink agreed. “I like a hands-on buying experience. You can tell right away if something’s crap when you pick it up, feel its weight. It can look expensive or sturdy, sure, but that could be tricks of the light.” Photographs could really lie about things. “Yeah, actually, most of them bring their cars here for work.” She gave him a grin. “You want to take your car to the same place the other mechanics do.”
“Oh fuck, returns are a pain in the ass,” Leon agreed. He had had to do it once, and it had put him in a bad mood for the rest of the day, especially since he had to pay out of pocket to ship the damn thing back. “But I know that I don’t want to take my car to a mechanic who can’t fix their own damn car.”
“Well, we do body work, not just interiors. And painting, too.” Tink said. She had a really awesome device for painting. One of her own design. “I’d probably trust my car to someone else for an oil change or tire rotation, but…” She was more hands-on than that.
“I guess you’d need to take your car to a shop for body work no matter who you were,” Leon admitted. “Though I’m a firm believer that if you can do it yourself, you shouldn’t pay for it.” That might have had more to do with the fact that Leon didn’t make a whole lot of money on a cops salary, and was usually pretty low on funds.
“Yeah. I’m a firm believer in getting an expert to do things whenever necessary. That’s why I hired an accountant.” Tink wasn’t great with numbers. But that was a necessity, not because of laziness. She didn’t know or understand (or have time to learn) all the tax rules and laws about operating a business rather than a personal account. She didn’t want to do anything illegal. That wasn’t her style. “But when I can do it myself, that’s the best plan.”
Leon laughed. “I’m the opposite,” he admitted. “I’d rather try to fix something myself. I’m not allowed to do maintenance around my apartment anymore though,” his landlord had yelled at him after he had tried to fix his kitchen sink and ended up flooding the apartment, “but anything else I’ll give it the old college try. Though, an accountant sounds like it would be nice. There is nothing I hate more than doing taxes.”
“Especially when I don’t understand them. I’ve never been that great with numbers,” Tink explained. “And the business side? Talk about confusing. Though, we’re doing a whole lot better now than ever before when the Old Man ran the place. He’s gone now, left it all to me. It was a shock, let me tell you.” She finished what she was doing just in time for one of the other mechanics to come into the garage.
“Tink?” He called out.
“Down here!” Tink replied.
The younger man came over holding a white, cardboard box with drawings and writing on the outside. Tink broke into a bright smile. “Hey, thank George for me, would you?” Tink asked, accepting the box. “I’ll get this installed.”
“No problem.” The younger mechanic gave Leon a nod, then turned to head back out again, taking it at a jog.
“Your piece is here.” Tink said, grinning over at Leon. She got straight back to work. That was fast. She’d have to send George a thank you.
That was very fast. “Shit, you seem to know what you’re doing and you’re quick too,” Leon said, a touch of admiration in his voice. “Clearly the old owner of this place left in in good hands. From this end of things, you seem to be handling the business just fine.” Obviously there was numbers and stuff involved, but she definitely wouldn’t be going out of business anytime soon from the customer end of things.
Tink grinned brightly, almost flushing at his compliments. She shrugged, bashfully, then connected wires or whatever under the car. “Hey, thanks. I mean, I like to think it’s in good hands? But I dunno. Sometimes I worry that I’m not grown-up enough to run a place like this.” (She was the girl who would never grow up. Best friends with Peter Pan, right?)
The younger mechanic signed for the part, and brought it in to Tink. She gave him a ‘thanks’ then connected that part, too. “...should just about do it.”
Leon laughed. “Shit, I’m pretty sure I’m not old enough to be taking care of a kid,” Leon said. “I think adulthood sneaks up on people when they’re not expecting it.” He kept watching Tink as she continued to work on his baby love of his life car, and then grinned when she connected the part. He opened the car and sat in the driver’s seat. “She’s alright to start up right now?” Tink did seem to know what she was doing, but he’d really have no idea if his car was fixed until he started it. Hell, he probably wouldn’t know until he drove her around for a little while, but just getting her to start for now would do it for him.
“Wait, you’ve got a kid?” She asked, frowning as she climbed out from under the car. “Yeah… that’s more grown-up than I’ve got planned anytime soon.” Then again, sometimes things surprised people? She’d have to be extra careful. That wasn’t a surprise she wanted.
Tink was already at his driver’s side window, wiping her hands on a towel. “Yeah, start ‘er up.” She was grinning. This engine was going to purr like a kitten. Tink was damn good at what she did, and replacing the part was going to make things run a bit more smoothly.
“A little brother,” Leon said. “It’s not like I knocked anyone up.” At least, he was pretty sure he had never knocked anyone up. If he had, they had never told him about it. That was a thought he’d rather not have right now, so he gave his head a bit of a shake and then started his car.
He let out a low whistle when she started though. It wasn’t just that he didn’t need to pump the gas and pray this time around, but she was quieter than she’d been in years. “Wow, this is,” he gestured in a vague manner. “I mean, I won’t know for sure until I give her a bit of a ride, but she sounds great.” Really great.
“Ahh.” Tink nodded. She was really careful, but even with her care there was always the possibility. At least she was only ever with someone she loved and trusted completely. Anders was the best man she’d ever known. It wouldn’t be the end of her life/the world if they ended up pregnant. She didn’t want it right now, but … well. Not the end of the world.
“Hey, you’re welcome. It’s sort of my job.” She grinned. “Go ahead and pull out into the parking lot there, then join me in the office and we’ll settle up your paperwork.”
Leon grinned, a little excited to drive his Stella even if it was only into the parking lot. Once he parked her he gave her steering wheel an affectionate pat and walked into the office. "I'll admit,I'm impressed," he said.
Tink was behind the desk. She glanced up at him when he came in and broke into a grin. She held out a tablet computer for him. “Hey, give me your name, address, all that crap in here. I’ve got this new, electronic system. Next time you come in, we’ll just find you in the computer.” When The Old Man ran the place, it was all still on paper. Took forever to find any information at all.
“And I’ll have your total in a sec.” She added, then turned to the giant desktop on the desk to punch in some numbers.
Leon put in all of his information before turning it back toward her. “Switching over to a computer program must not’ve been greatest.” He had always felt a little bad for the suckers who got roped into entering everything into the computers at the police station. “What, you didn’t want to work on my Stella for free?” he joked.
“Oh, yeah. Well, I had one of the new guys do it.” Tink smirked softly. “Sort of a hazing thing. But yeah, it was a crazy transition.” She accepted the tablet back, and tapped the screen. “I’ve been thinking about putting together some sort of frequent customer reward system, but I haven’t had a chance to implement it.” She answered as if his question about doing the work for free was an honest one. Then she gave him his total. It was fair.
The total might have been fair and Leon knew it, but it still made him frown. He did take comfort in the fact that so far at least, Stella seemed to be running better than she had in years - fixing it himself might have been cheaper, but he had obviously managed to get out of his depth. “My baby’s lucky I love her so much,” he muttered, and tried not to think of exactly how much money he had poured into her over the last nine years.
“Yeeeah, sometimes these things are a money pit,” Tink thought of her own bike. It ate up far too much of her own time and resources. But she loved the damn thing so much. “But we can’t give up on them. It’s like giving up on a piece of ourselves.”
She did the transaction, credit card, sign on the x, yadda yadda, and gave him his receipt. “Is there anything else I can help you with, Leon?”
“Isn’t that the truth,” Leon said. There was no way he could ever give up on Stella. His father had left her to him, and so she would always hold an especially special part of his heart. “I think that’s it though. If Stella ever needs more TLC than I can give her though, I’ll definitely be back.”