Who: Lily Evans and Michael Guerin What: First meetings When: Out of This World Mechanics Rating/Warnings: Low/None Status: Complete when posted
Lily had probably put this off for way too long judging by the sound her engine was making. But she rationalized that between two jobs and school she’d been too busy to come to a garage. This guy was on the Network though, she’d seen him posting to advertise his garage so she figured she’d take a shot on going to his place. Maybe he’d get the insanity of her life without the snide comments she knew the mechanic she’d been going to would give her. That might have been another reason for putting off going to a mechanic for so long. Wanting to avoid those comments from the man about women and cars and how they needed a man for that. She sighed at the memory of her last oil change, shaking her head as she turned into the parking lot under his sign. She turned off the engine, grateful for the silence that it offered as she climbed out of the car. “Hello? Anyone here?” Even after years in California she still had her accent. But then she hadn’t really tried to lose it either.
*** Now that Michael started dreaming he found he was splitting the time he wasn’t working between going to bars and researching Roswell. At the moment he was at work. Michael was in the back working on a car when he heard someone walk in and call out. Shutting the hood he made his way toward the front of the garage, he wiped some grease off on his jeans as he approached.
“Hey,” he greeted casually, his face neutral. He didn’t smile all that much, though a smirk could usually be found on his face. “Can I help you?”
***
Lily didn’t let the lack of a smile deter her from giving him one. You could either thank or curse her Disneyland days for that depending on how you wanted to look at it. She preferred to thank them most days especially when she was at the Clinic. “I was hoping you’d have some time to look at my car. The engine is...I’ve heard rock concerts making less noise than my engine.” She told him. “It’s somewhere between a whine and a knocking sound. A cross between them I mean and I know absolutely nothing about cars so would probably mess it up even worse if I tried to figure out what was going on myself.”
***
“Yeah,” Michael replied. That was what he was here for anyway. “I can take a look now but I have another car to finish up before I get started on yours.” It would be unfair otherwise. Just from her describing it he had a few ideas of what could be causing the sound, but he’d have to hear for himself to be sure. “You mind starting it for me?”
***
“That makes perfect sense to me and I’ve got the day off so I can wait.” Lily told him as she moved back towards her car, keys in hand to start it up. She had her textbooks in the back so she could get some reading done, maybe get a little ahead of it in one or two of her classes. She turned on the ignition, grimacing as the noise started up again even as she reached to turn off the radio. Her engine was making a noise that she didn’t even realize was possible for anything in this world to make. It sounded like something was dying in there almost.
***
Michael waited for her to turn the car back off before speaking. He had a feeling “Sounds like the transmission,” Michael informed her after she started the car. “I won’t know for sure until I get a look.” Obviously. “You’re welcome to wait till I finish up this car,” he nodded toward the car he had been working on when she came in. He also had a small waiting area, which basically just consisted of a couch and a water cooler. “Should be about an hour.” Then he would get to her car and have a better time frame for that. “Or you can take an uber,” he shrugged. “Wouldn’t recommend driving your own car though.”
***
Lily slid out, bending into the back to get her textbooks. “I’ll wait until you’ve gotten to chance to look at it. Then I can figure out who to call to give me a lift.” Transmission sounded like it could take a while to fix. It would boil down to deciding whether or not to rent a car while she waited or try to borrow a car from a friend.
***
After about an hour Michael had finished his work and was able to take a look at Lily’s car. He was right, it was the transmission. He made his way over to the couch she was sitting on reading. “Got some bad news for you,” Michael began giving her an apologetic smile. “I’m going to need to replace your transmission. I don’t have the part with me but I can get it by tomorrow.”
***
Lily had a pen in hand, taking notes as she read through her text, wanting to make sure she had the questions that came to mind written down for when she got a chance to ask either Connor or Martha. She heard Michael come in and looked up at him as he approached. “I can leave it here overnight right?” She asked, something about him putting her at ease and not encouraging her to ask extra questions. Such as what else it could be like she might have her former mechanic. She’d call Regulus, he should be wrapping up at school and he might come pick her up.
***
“Oh yeah,” Michael replied with a reassuring smile. “I’d actually recommend that.” He wouldn’t advise her driving it anywhere. “I’ll take good care of her, promise,” he assured once again. That was his job after all. “I need to get your information for when your car is done,” he added nodding over to front counter that had his computer on it.
***
Lily slipped her book into her bag and stood up. “Absolutely. I’ll text a friend to see if he can come pick me up. He should be just about finished with work by now.”
***
“Good idea,” Michael said leading her over the front counter. By the time her friend got there he should be done putting her info into the system. He waited till she was done on her phone to put in her information. “Feel free to wait wherever,” he said once he was done. With that he got back to work.