SERENDIPITY HILLS LOG: Rogue and Erik WHO: Anna, Erik and Anka Irene WHEN: this afternoon WHERE: Serendipity Hills near the school WHAT: a car breaks down and a date is planned RATINGS/WARNINGS: nah
It was certainly cold today, pleasantly nippy in Serendipity Hills - not quite unpleasant, not to the point where the chill felt like icy fingers that reached out and burrowed through one’s back, seeping into your bones and swallowing the entirety of your world, but the weather wasn’t exactly something Erik wanted to be stuck in regardless. He’d already gone around to his various appointments, working on the specialty tools he was creating for a couple of the businesses in town - and also the local school, where the boiler had been broken. Again.
Admittedly, Erik liked his personal art projects best - iron gates and sculptures especially, as metal had always been something he had an affinity for (it didn’t take him long to breeze through all his certifications and a thorough apprenticeship) - but he also liked when his work took him to the school. If he was honest with himself, it was because of the pretty teacher he sometimes talked to (and she’d talk to him, even when he was smudged and dust-covered), with the green eyes that looked like the color of wild grass growing on a sunny day. That brightness, there was something about her - he knew she had a young daughter and lived not far from the school; they’d chatted about their home lives, occasionally, though he had yet to work up the nerve to ask her for a coffee sometime.
That may change today.
On his way home, he noticed that there was a car on the side of the road - not parked, but looked to be broken down unexpectedly. Erik pulled off to help, of course, because he had his tools with him and he wasn’t about to leave someone stranded when it was so cold - it wasn’t snowing yet, but it might start soon.
That’s when he noticed it was Anna, the teacher he admired from afar. “Having some trouble?” he asked as he attempted to get his heartbeat in check (he always was cool and collected, he prided himself on that) and approached, pulling his gloves on.
The damn thing had broken down again and while Anna knew her way under the hood of her car, she didn’t have any of the tools needed to fix what was currently broken. She also apparently didn’t have any cell service because of course that would go wonky when she broke down on the side of the road. It wasn’t too far from the school so she’d been planning to head back to it and putting in a call there to get help when Erik had shown up.
Anka Irene was bundled up in the backseat, feet swinging outside the door, and she happily popped up, waving at him when he’d pulled in. “Hi, Mr. Erik!”
She might have only been four but she’d noticed how he looked at her mom and how her mom looked at him. They just didn’t seem to notice that they looked at each other the same way. Which didn’t surprise her. Grownups missed everything.
“Stay in the car,” Anna warned, not trusting the other cars that were headed by. There weren’t many but all it took was one to accidentally swipe the side of the car. She turned her attention to Erik and nodded toward the hood. “I reckon its the alternator.”
Erik smiled softly, pale blue eyes crinkling at the corners. “Hello, Ms. Anka Irene,” he greeted her, giving a little wave - she was adorable, and he liked children. Had always thought he had the makings to be a decent father himself one day but, well, he just hadn’t met the right person yet. Truth be told, he was actually a bit lonely - something he didn’t usually admit to other people, not even his closest friends or co-workers.
“Hm, let’s see - “ He scooted near Anna and leaned over the hood, using the pocket flashlight he had to get a better look. It was usually pretty easy to tell - a broken fuse, a busted pulley; when the car was on, even the sound of grain being milled with cranking gears was never a good one. “Looks like you’re right. Do you need to borrow my tools? I have them with me - we can probably patch things up enough to get you to the mechanic.”
Team effort and all of that. For some reason, that thought made him feel warm and toasty inside.
Anka Irene had climbed into the front seat--which was still inside of the car so she hadn’t broken her mother’s rule. But she wanted to hear their conversation better and add to it if she felt that the two adults weren’t actually getting anywhere.
“That’d be great, thanks.” Anna probably needed to start carrying tools in the trunk if the car was going to keep being this finicky. Though hopefully she’d be able to afford a new one by the end of the month. That was the plan barring any unforeseen troubles. Fingers crossed the alternator trouble wouldn’t cost her an arm and a leg.
She directed a pointed look at her daughter as she waited for Erik to retrieve the tools but Anka Irene merely smiled back at her, pointing to the fact that she was technically still in the car. That one was four turning fourteen.
Sassy, wasn’t she? But no, Anka Irene was definitely still in the car - Erik found the display amusing, anyway, grinning a bit as he went to pop the trunk of his own car and fetch his toolbox. Was he experiencing odd heart palpitations and a fluttering of a butterfly’s wings in his stomach? Yes, yes he was. Would he let on to that fact?
He sorely hoped not. The last thing he needed was to do something embarrassing like spit while talking or trip over his own two feet - especially while holding a wrench in his hand.
Clearing his throat, he approached Anna’s car again and set the toolbox down near them so they’d both have access. He retrieved a socket and a wrench, beginning to poke around in order to figure out the best course of action. “Check the pulley here,” he said, leaning further in and reaching long. “So when did you start working on cars?”
She did as he said, trying out a few of her own tricks as well. “I’ve been workin’ on them since I was a kid. My daddy taught me everythin’ there was to know about them.” It had been their thing to do together, a bonding experience that they didn’t really have in any other capacity of their lives. It was something she hoped to pass onto Anka Irene too at some point. Though not on the middle of a road with snow threatening to fall at any moment.
Glancing over at Erik, she watched him work for a moment, appreciating the intensity that always seemed to be curled around him. There was a softness there as well, something she saw when he interacted with her daughter. And with her. “What about you? When’d you start workin’ on them?”
“Also when I was young. I needed something to focus on - I lost my parents when I was barely a teenager, and threw myself into work instead,” Erik explained; there was a certain intensity about him, something that said he put everything he had into whatever he was doing - he felt strongly too, didn’t necessarily shy away from the more emotion-laden side of things.
Like right now, he wanted to help fix Anna’s car - so he would. He also wanted to ask her if she would go out with him sometime, but he was working up to that. Probably.
He had a spare rag on him, and he used it to wipe his hands to get the grease stains off. The alternator was looking better already - it wouldn’t last for a long drive, but it would get Anna to the mechanic. Erik would probably also offer to give her and Anka Irene a lift home from there - no sense in staying, waiting for the car to be fixed when it was getting sort of late and there were better things to be doing than sitting around in an auto repair lounge. “Do you drink coffee?” he asked all of a sudden, and he thought he heard Anka Irene giggling from the front seat.
Oh, she was definitely giggling, but refrained from hanging out the window again. She did not want to distract her mother at this moment. Not when it looked like it might finally be happening. But she did peek through the front window as best she could to try and see the two.
Anna held back a snort at the question, not wanting to make Erik feel awkward for it. Did she drink coffee? She had a four year old. Coffee was pretty much in her bloodstream with the amount she tended to drink. Plus she was a teacher. Late night grading demanded caffeine for her to stay awake. “I’ve been known to have a cup or two,” she told him as she shut the lid. There really wasn’t much else they could do but get to the mechanic now.
“What about you, Erik? Are you a fan of coffee?” Anna asked, leaning against the hood.
“Ah - “ Perhaps, belatedly, Erik looked a little embarrassed at the inquiry. But he wasn’t all that great at this - he didn’t know what he was doing when it came to matters of the heart. Because if he was honest with himself, he definitely had something of a crush on the pretty teacher - even if the word crush wasn’t one he normally would have used. “I’m a fan, yes. I thought that - we could have a cup sometime? I could follow you to the mechanic and then leave in my car from there. It doesn’t have to be coffee. Hot chocolate, maybe?”
“Hot chocolate!” Anka Irene piped in, yelling out the window because she was definitely listening to this conversation. And she wanted some of that hot cocoa - with marshmallows and probably green and red sprinkles too.
Anna shook her head at her daughter’s enthusiasm. There was no denying the little girl’s love of all things chocolate. “I think that was a pretty good endorsement for the hot chocolate option. But, yes, I’d love to get a cup with you.” Anna looked back over at her daughter who was eagerly nodding along. “We both would and I reckon your plan is a good one.”
“Though maybe, we can get a cup of coffee together, just the two of us at some other point too?” she offered up.
Oh. Oh, right, yes - the coffee together wasn’t something Erik was expecting, but he was very interested in that idea. “Just the two of us, yes,” he nodded, feeling as if all of this was too good to be true - he hadn’t expected any of this to happen, but things had a way of working out sometimes. The way it was all pulled together, like magnets, some kind of force of nature. He’d spent so long alone, he almost had forgotten what it felt like to want to get close to people.
And he did want to get close to Anna and her daughter - it seemed as if it was always going to be meant to happen. He couldn’t explain it. He simply knew what he felt.
“I’d like that,” he agreed. “Whenever you’re not too busy enriching those young minds.” He smiled a little, patting the hood of Anna’s car. “Now - we’ll get this to the mechanic and then find a good spot for hot chocolate?”