𝒮 𝔱𝔢𝔣𝔞𝔫 𝒮 𝔞𝔩𝔳𝔞𝔱𝔬𝔯𝔢 (wouldberipper) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-06-28 08:44:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, guinevere pendragon, stefan salvatore |
Who: Stefan Salvatore and Guinevere Pendragon
When: Mid May
Where: Gas station
What: Talking with the person at the next pump
Rating/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Complete
Gwen had meant to fill up the night before on her way home but she’d run into one of her students parents and they’d wanted to talk and by the time she’d gotten away from them all Gwen wanted was to go home and go to sleep. She was just lucky that she’d made it to the gas station before her tank went entirely empty. She turned the key to off and pulled it out of the ignition before getting out of the car. “Aren’t these things supposed to happen on Mondays?” she said, making sure to grab her wallet from her purse before closing the door. She hadn’t meant to say it out loud but she had and she took a sigh as she shook her head before smiling at the guy at the pump next to hers. “Sorry,” she said. “Thinking out loud.”
***
Stefan was filling up his gas tank at the local station. This place had the best prices in all of Orange County, and yet it was nearly consistently empty. What a wonder. But then a pretty girl pulled up to the next pump and came out of her car talking. Stefan raised an amused eyebrow, leaning back against his car with his arms folded across his chest. He nodded.
“Happens to the best of us.”
***
Gwen tried not to notice that he was good looking, and seemed to have some nice muscles, but that was easier said than done. She wasn’t staring by any means but it was hard not to notice as she used her card to pay at the pump and then moved to start pumping gas. There weren’t many places to look but across the way at him. Or at the ground and that just felt like it would be even more rude. Not to mention awkward.
“That’s true. I personally blame the fact I’m running behind. I’m Gwen by the way,” she said with a friendly smile, trying to smooth over the awkward encounter.
***
Stefan had always liked the name Gwen. He gave her something of a smile, more amused than anything else at her babbling. The woman seemed like a sweet person, and he couldn’t begrudge her that. So much darkness in Orange County seemed to suck the life and optimism out of people. It was a rare thing to see it shining so brightly in somone.
“I’m Stefan.” He said, folding his feet at the ankle as he settled back against the side of his car. “Hopefully you’re not too far behind.”
***
Gwen saw the darkness that came with the dreams but teaching kindergarten she couldn’t let herself get sucked into it. Her little ones needed to be protected from it touching their lives at least for the few hours a day they were at school. She tried to ignore the bad parts of life here as much as she could. To stay optimistic. The fact she hadn’t had any dreams lately definitely helped with that. She didn’t expect that to last forever though - just hopefully through the end of the school year. At least.
“Pleasure to meet you Stefan. If I don’t run into too many lights I should still be able to make it to the school before my students.”
***
"You're a teacher?" Stefan asked, making conversation. He still had a few more minutes before his tank would be full and he could head off. He was on his way to work, too, but he had plenty more time than she did, apparently. It was nice to talk to someone who wasn't grumpy or in a sour mood. Even when the woman was running late, she was still polite and friendly.
That was a nice change.
"What age?"
***
Gwen leaned back against her car facing him, her hands resting on her car on either side of her. “I teach kindergarten. It’s loud and chaotic and a bit maddening at times but - I couldn’t picture teaching any other grade,” she told him with a smile.
***
"Wow. Yeah. Little kids can sure be a handful." Not that Stefan had much experience with small children. He didn't have any younger brothers or sisters, and didn't know anyone with siblings (or children!) in that age range. "So I hear, anyway. My experience with children is... limited." He nodded once. "You sound like the kind of person who would be perfect working with little kids."
***
“They can be but...that moment when something clicks for one of them is the highlight of my day. You just have to learn how to focus them.” Gwen said quietly. People coming to her classroom probably thought it was nothing but crafts and games but the kids were learning. It just wasn’t in the traditional way.
“Thanks. So Stefan - what do you do for a living? If you don’t mind me asking.”
***
He noticed that she was using his name a lot. That was totally a teacher thing, wasn’t it? She would likely remember it forever, really, she seemed the type. And he remembered her name… Gwen. It was a sweet name.
“I’m a mechanic.” He said, nodding and smiling softly. “I don’t mind you asking. It’s good for business, anyway. Wait a second.” He pulled up from the car and removed a business card from his pocket, then held it out to her.
***
It was definitely a teacher thing, using the name of the person she was talking to regularly. It helped her remember names at the beginning of the school year and then helped the kids know who she was talking to. By this point in the year it was so much of a habit that she didn’t even realize she was doing it half the time.
She took a step towards him to make it easier to reach the business card, looking it over before tucking it into her pocket. She’d heard that garage mentioned a few times, people seemed to have a lot of good things to say about it and having met one of the mechanics she was a little more inclined to go by there the next time her car needed work. He seemed like a trustworthy guy, nice enough. “I’ll keep your place in mind the next time my car needs to be looked at. Thanks.”
She turned her attention back to the pump, checking to see how much gas had been pumped while they talked. Her tank was about half full, she might still make it to school on time. Hopefully. She’d call the school once she was back in the car, let them know she might be late.
***
"No problem." Stefan replied. He was pretty good with customers and potential customers. And he was a pretty good mechanic, too, on top of that. His job at the garage was better than his job at Disneyland. Though, he did miss working with his best friend.
His pump clicked as it turned off, and he moved to remove the nozzle from his car and replace it to finish the transaction.
"Hey, it was nice talking to you." He said, giving the woman--Gwen--a smile. "Hopefully you won't need any serious car work done anytime soon, but we do oil changes and tire rotations, too."
***
She smiled back at him, giving him a half wave as he started to get into his car. “It was nice talking to you too. And I’ll be in touch when I need an oil change or something.” Gwen told him. She meant it too. She’d been using the same mechanic she and Arthur had used and thought maybe, just maybe, it was time for a change.