Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Chap 2/18
Chapter 2
Colin growled, something he did so infrequently that he hadn’t really known he could.
He’d had not only a terrible day, but now his car wasn’t starting. He put the parking brake back on and shut it off, slamming his hands against the steering wheel and cursing when his knuckle hit the wrong place, hurting too much. He threw open the door, muttering curses and anyone who could be listening before popping open the hood, wondering how hard it could honestly be to fix it. After all, it was just a car.
Simple mechanics… right?
He peered at the strange mess of metal bits and pieces and felt his brain instantly congeal. Now he knew how those interns felt when he started talking about splicing genes to try and create a new race of longer living sea cucumbers.
He poked at something squarish and burnt his finger, yelping and hitting his head on the hood. “FUCK!” he cried, trying to soothe his head and finger at the same time.
“Need some help?” A deep voice said from behind him.
Colin whirled, blinking dumbly at the stranger. He looked familiar. “Do I know you?”
“Yeah, um… I almost ran over you this morning with the cleaning trolley.” The tall man blushed.
Colin blushed mightily in return. “Oh… right… listen, I apologize for that,”
The tall man shrugged, “It’s okay, we’re both at fault.”
He stared at Colin, who felt even more heat collect on his face before he started. “Oh! Yes, I’d love some help… I know absolutely nothing about cars,”
“You know enough about everything else, I’m sure,” the tall man grinned, unzipping his jumpsuit and tying the sleeves around his waist before bending over and peering in. Colin studiously tried to just pay attention to what the man was doing, but he kept watching the man poking at his car. He was very tall, perhaps 6’6” with fluffy dirty blonde curls, a large nose and a squarish jaw. Handsome in a goofy way. Colin blinked, returning to the present when he realized the guy was talking to him.
“Looks like your air-intake manifold sensor is disconnected,”
Colin bit his lip as the words just went in one ear and out the other. Only one thing mattered as far as he was concerned- “Can you fix it?”
“Of course!” the guy reached a long arm over and picked up a wire and plugged it back in. “Try it now.”
Colin hurried in and started it up. “Wow! It’s running! Is that all that was wrong?”
“Yup, quick and easy fix. Luckily you didn’t need your battery started or something, cause I don’t have a car,” he held out his hand after wiping it on his jumpsuit. “I’m Ryan, by the way,”
“Colin,”
“Oh I know who you are, sir,” Ryan grinned. “All of us know who you cause you actually talk to us, even if only to yell at us for nearly running you down,”
“Oh quiet, I feel bad enough about that as it is,” Colin grinned quietly. “Listen, thank you, can I buy you a beer for your troubles?”
Ryan looked a little panicked, and Colin was just about to take the offer back when he hastily agreed. “Sure, I know this good place just a little ways away, ever been to Cece’s?”
Colin flushed. No. “Of course I have, I do manage to get out once in a while,”
Ryan chuckled, holding out his hands in placation. “Okay, okay, then let’s go, you’ll drive,”
Colin blinked. Shit. “Okay.”
Cece’s was a regular bar. Not too loud, not to noisy or busy. It was good, but Colin had never been in a bar before. Contrary to what he’d told Ryan, Colin didn’t have a life outside his work beyond watching old movies and reading comic books.
However, he was determined to look at least a little cool as he marched in, chin high, straight to the bar and looked over at Ryan. The tall man was smiling at him, not fooled one bit. Colin blushed fiercely, looking down before he sighed. “Okay you caught me, I’ve never been in here.”
Ryan chuckled, a nice deep sound and ordered a pitcher of beer, putting it on a tab. “It’s good. It’s no different from anywhere else.” Colin blushed, following in the tall man’s wake to a table in the corner, noticing how good he smelled. After shave? Did most janitors wear after shave to work?
Ryan couldn’t believe it. He was in a bar. Drinking a beer. With Professor Mochrie. Who had apologized for this morning’s outburst. And who had been blushing… He had been about to give up on his quest to talk to the man after the incident in the hallway, but then he realized it would be chickening out again. And he had been determined not to go down that road again. There had to be an explanation for Professor Mochrie’s behavior. He didn’t want to give up on the chance of looking at the man... samples… looking at the samples… He corrected himself. No use having ideas above your station Stiles, he admonished himself.
As he had left that evening, he had been preparing for a night of plotting and planning, only to find Professor Mochrie, and what a very, very ancient looking car, in the parking lot. He knew about cars but evidently Professor Mochrie didn’t. He thanked his lucky stars it had been a quick fix. He had fixed cars before but he wasn’t fucking McGyver. Although, looking at the decrepit vehicle, he’d been pretty damn sure that whatever was wrong with it, it couldn’t be fixed with a Q-tip and a strategically placed rubber band.
In the end, he hadn’t needed either; it had simply been a case of a loose connection. Professor Mochrie’s offer of a beer for his troubles had taken him by surprise. He had panicked for a moment, wondering if he would ruin things if he accepted… Ruin what, exactly? The man is offering you a beer! Go for it! But he was worried he stank of sweat after a long day and this wasn’t how he had planned it…Oh for Fuck’s sake, get a grip Dolores! This is not some great seduction scene. The guy just wants to buy you a beer, not marry you! He could see Professor Mochrie was misinterpreting his hesitation and he quickly accepted before the offer was withdrawn.
He’d suggested CeCe’s, and even though Professor Mochrie said he’d been there before, Ryan wasn’t so sure… Especially when they’d driven over and the good professor had needed directions, but he’d let it go. He didn’t want to embarrass him. The man probably never had time to himself, with all the research and everything.
The man had a life, whereas Ryan didn’t and spent most nights in bars… Professor Mochrie’s eventual admission that he had never been to Cece’s and the fierce blush that had accompanied it, had made Ryan chuckle. It had also made him feel more at ease.
As they sat down at a table in the corner, Colin looked at his companion again. What the hell am I doing here? I don’t socialize… I don’t have anything to say… I doubt he’ll want to talk about the fascinating life of the lesser spotted dogfish… he felt his face heat up again. Dammit, 40 years old and still blushing like a teenager on prom night…
“Thanks for the beer, sir, you didn’t have to, you know,”
“I did. I behaved appallingly this morning and you fixed my car for me anyway…” Colin looked at him speculatively “Or did you? Have you maybe placed a cleverly hidden incendiary device in my car?”
“Oh no, that would be far too obvious… I dropped my trained, exploding shark into one of your tanks before we left… Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned that…”
Colin chuckled. “Well, lucky for me I keep a can of shark repellent…” and there he stopped himself. Jesus… he had been about to say a can of shark repellent bat-spray… Talking comics now, are we? You are such a geek, Mochrie! And you wonder why you don’t have any friends?
“What?” Ryan quirked his eyebrow, then he grinned. “You nearly gave away your secret identity there Batman…”
“You knew what I was going to say?” Colin blushed again. Outed as a comic book geek by…he was going to say ‘a janitor’, but his name was Ryan. Tall Ryan. Handsome Ryan. Ryan-who-could-fix-cars-Ryan…Grab the wheel Mochrie, you’re swerving…
“Of course. It’s a classic. A can of shark repellent bat-spray! I love Batman…” then Ryan realized what he had said. Damn, great work Stiles…you went from hero to zero in under ten minutes. “Sorry….I know you’re supposed to grow out of these things but I like comics…”
Colin could see the admission had made Ryan a little self conscious and before he could stop himself, he blurted out- “I collect them! I have a whole collection at home. Feel free to come and borrow some if you want,” Oh. Good. God…Way to go Mochrie… another graduate from the School of Seduction for the Colossally Inept…Hold on a minute, when had this turned into an evening of seduction? You’re just having a beer! Stop hurtling towards conclusions! Look at him! You don’t even know if he swings that way, and if he did, why would he even consider you! He is so out of your league!
Whilst Colin was being beaten up by his inner voice, Ryan sat there stunned. He had just been invited to Professor Mochrie’s home…Wow… “I’d love to, sir...”
“What?”
“Borrow some…”
“Oh…of course! Oh, and Ryan?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Don’t call me sir, will you…Colin, please,”
“Oh…Ok…if you’re sure sir….eh…Colin…” Ryan grinned at the tabletop, his inner self boogie-ing down in victory before he scratched the back of his neck and looked back up. “So, are you working on anything in particular?”
If Colin noticed the sudden change in topic, he gave no sign. “Well, I have been expecting samples from the University of Toronto. They were due today, which is why I took the car but traffic was bad, which made me late, and well…” Colin gesticulated, “that’s why I had such a short fuse this morning….I’m not normally like that.”
“Don’t worry about it. You bought me a beer and you’re letting me borrow from your collection. I think we’re even. Did you get your samples?”
“Thanks Ryan, but I am going to feel guilty about it for a while… and no… the samples are held up somewhere in Utah. Ogden, I think. And all of this meant I was forced to do paperwork this afternoon.” His face scrunched up in distaste at the mention of paperwork, which made Ryan chuckle.
“Not a desk jockey then, are you?”
“Oh no, not me. I’d far rather do research. It’s exciting you know. It’s like…” As Colin’s face lit up with excitement as he described his love for research, Ryan was just content watching the man across the table come alive. He relished it. His eyes sparkled, his hands were gesturing wildly. It was as if somebody had lit a fire inside him.
And Ryan didn’t mind that soon Colin was in a world of his own. The man was genuinely funny in his own, quirky way, telling tales that from anyone else would have been so damn boring Ryan would’ve croaked before he heard one word more. And every now and then, there would be that odd, wheezy giggle when Colin dared to make a slightly dirty joke that charmed Ryan to no end, making him laugh like he hadn’t in a long time.
Here was a man he could connect with, talk to and be understood instead of made fun of or called a girly girl like some of his other friends did. They were great too, but Ryan could almost feel the brain cells evaporating when he hung around them.
That and they kind of treated him like the group pet. Cool enough to hang around them and amuse them with his sense of humor, but not cool enough to hang out outside work or the bars. And they usually ganged up on him when they pulled small pranks at work. Ones that could quite possibly get Ryan fired if he didn’t make sure nothing bad ever happened. Good natured fun, they called it.
Speak of the devil, here some of them were now.