sam runs around (inatowel) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-06-27 20:56:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !complete, samantha harris, stefan salvatore |
Who: Stefan Salvatore and Sam
When: Mid-June
Where: Rainbow Motors
What: Random Encounter
Rating/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Complete
Stefan enjoyed his job. He liked working with both Dean and Joe, and he liked that it afforded him some freedoms to do what he wanted to do--instead of being stuck behind a cubicle, or in front of angry patrons at Disneyland, forced to smile nonstop. He could absolutely do either of those things--Stefan was pretty strong willed, he could do anything he put his mind to--but he didn’t want to. He liked being under the hood of a car, hands covered in engine grease, making things work properly. It was easier to deal with car parts than with people, that was sure.
He was on break, though, drinking a soda and leaning against the counter. There was a magazine nearby, and though Stefan had already leafed through it a few times, he was perusing the article that was showing between its open pages.
Sam was grateful that her car was able to get her from point A to point B, however, there was some sort of vibration that had started happening as she drove from school back home to her apartment. It was enough to cause her to panic, and she pulled over at the first garage that she could find. If nothing else she could leave her car there, and call for an Uber before getting a rental car.
Pulling in, she shut off her car, patting the steering wheel before shutting it off and exiting her car. She walked into the entrance of the garage, spotting a man leaning up against the counter. "Hey, um, my car...I'm not exactly sure what's wrong with it. It was running fine, but when I driving home it started vibrating…" Sam lifted her shoulders into a shrug, unsure of what else to say to him about the matter.
“I can take a look,” Stefan said, lifting himself up from the counter where he was leaning. The break from the monotony was nice--Stefan really liked his job, actually. Not like the last job he was doing, working at Disneyland. It was fun for a while, and working with his best friend was great, but it started to wear him down a bit.
He broke into a polite smile. “This one out here?” He asked, motioning toward her car with the wave of his hand. “...what sort of vibrations are we talking about?”
Sam let out a long sigh of relief and then turned to look at her car, "Yeah, that's it out there." She turned back to look at him, brows furrowing slightly. "It started doing it when I hit around 55, and only got worse the faster I drove. The steering wheel was what was shaking." Sam had no idea about cars or what it could mean that it was shaking like it was. It had scared her though, and she'd made a bee-line for the closest mechanic. "Or vibrating. Whichever." She waved a hand, "Either way, it was enough to scare me, and not a hell of a lot scares me." Sam's dreams were the things that bad 90's horror movies were made of, and she'd managed to live through them without much incident.
Well, so far anyway.
“We’ll see if we can get to the bottom of it. Can I check under the hood?” So, Stefan wasn’t really aware of all the innuendo. Phrases like check under the hood and what sort of vibrations are we talking about? could be taken completely out of context.
He moved over to the car, though, and helped her get the hood up. After a couple moments of inspecting, he asked, “You wanna turn over the engine for me? I’d like to give it a listen.”
"Of course." Sam motioned to her car, not even thinking anything out of the ordinary. Had it been Mike or Josh asking her that she would've likely had some witty retort. As it was, she moved to her car and opened up the driver's side door and pulled the lever that would pop the hood.
She kept the door open, lips pursing slightly as she waited to see if he happened to see anything. "Yeah, sure." The car turned over, starting up on the first try and Sam pulled her hand away from the keys. "It's really only been doing anything weird while I've been out driving."
This was a professional interaction, so the lack of innuendo wasn’t exactly unexpected. Though, Stefan thought she had a nice car, and seemed like a nice lady--so far, anyway. He wasn’t on the lookout for friends, but he wouldn’t turn them down, either.
Stefan took a look around under the hood and brainstormed what the problems might be. He only needed to try a few things. He called out to her, “okay, turn it off?” And then reached into the engine to like, tighten things, or whatever. Bolts? Tubes? Whatever. He called out a moment later, saying, “Try it again!”
Sam switched the ignition off once he told her to, and she worried her bottom lip with her teeth. She just hoped that her car would be okay. She'd never had to worry about it before, but now she was thinking that maybe it might be time to invest in a new car.
She was getting ahead of herself. It was likely something very simple that was making her car act up, and she was worried about nothing. "Yeah, okay." She replied, turning the key, the engine turning over and the car started to run. Sam sat behind the wheel, her hands placed onto the steering wheel as she waited to see if he'd gotten things fixed or not.
The sound of the engine was different this time. Whatever it was that was vibrating in there and making things run oddly was probably just a loose wire. Stefan helped to fix it. He smiled a little as he closed the hood and then came around to the driver’s side. “I think that should do it. Easy fix. But if it starts to vibrate again, bring it back and I’ll have another look.” He wiped his hands on a rag, as they got a little greasy in the car’s engine. “No charge for the service today, but I’m hoping you’ll come into the office for a minute so we can add you to the customer database.”
Sam let out a sigh of relief. All thoughts of having to get another car disappearing. God, she was so grateful, and it showed clearly on her face. "Thank you. I appreciate it." She gave Stefan a bright smile and then nodded, "Sure thing!" She cut off the engine, grabbing her wallet from her purse before she got out.
Going into the office, Sam glanced around. It wasn't often that she found herself at the mechanic. She'd really only ever stopped at one if she needed her oil changed, and for general maintenance. Even then her mom or another one of her friends would come along with her, and they'd head off to run a few errands while her car was worked on. Opening up her wallet, Sam pulled her driver's license from it, and handed it over. "How long have you been here?" She asked, brows raising slightly.
Stefan was pleased at the relieved look on her face. He led the way into the office, holding the door open for her. He accepted the license once they were at the desk, and then set it on the keyboard and started typing things in. “Only a couple of months. Before I got the job, I was working at Disneyland, if you can believe it.” Working with Lexi had been great, but he didn’t want to be a character handler for the rest of his life.
A light smile tugged up one corner of Sam's mouth. "Really? I bet that was fun." Sam thought that it could be a lot of fun, well minus the times that all of the crazy stuff started at Disney. "Of course, I'm sure it's not as fun as it sounds." She could imagine how hard it would be to work with the public like that. "Do you enjoy your work here?" Sam asked, brows raising slightly.
“It certainly gets tiresome.” Stefan said, finishing up at the computer. “Having to smile all day? It can get old.” He printed a receipt with the customer info on it, and handed it back over to her, along with her license. “I do. It’s a great place to work.” He gave her a small smile, and then nodded once. “I hope you’ll come and see us again sometime.”
"Hopefully it won't be too soon." Sam replied with a smile over at him as she took the items that he handed over to her. "Thanks, you have a good day." She was still smiling as she went back to her car, thankful that it was fixed and she wouldn't have to worry about breaking down on the side of the road.