Fix & Clean- Friday

[alwaysonguard]

It had been a week. And it had taken a lot out of Dwight, so he wasnt planning on being too productive. And the random sputtering of fire, which thankfully seemed to be staying away from the shop for the most part, was making it interesting too.

But he knew he couldn't just sit around. He had things to do. There were few projects he really should be at least trying to work on. Paperwork to fill out and send in. Inventory to do and orders to place.

And there was the other little thing of finally looking at getting another pair of hands to help out around the shop. it was a new semester, new people on the island.... and while he wasnt sure how many of the students would be interested in handyman work, he figured there was no harm in putting up the Help Wanted sign anyways.

So, with the sign hung in the window, the front door open, the shop was open. If anyone needed him, he would be around somewhere, trying to be productive and keep his mind from wandering too much as he did.

Comments

[not_of_the_nora]

Aloy's idea of how her space should look was... starting to take shape. But she still had an empty house, with little more than a bed, and while a roof above her head was all she needed to survive-- well.

She had more to do than just that.

So, here was another stop on her home improvement tour. She took note of the sign (she did need to get a job) on her way in. "Hi," she called. "What exactly do you fix and clean?"

[alwaysonguard]

Dwight looked up from the papers he had been messing with. Oh new face! This was good.

"Hey, welcome!" he said with a smile. "A little bit of everything and anything really. Mostly everyday stuff like plumbing and electric, doors and locks, home renovations and such. Cleaning out old buildings and clearing out overgrown lawns and stuff."

He paused and considered Aloy for a moment, deciding definitely a new face.

"I'm Dwight by the way."

[not_of_the_nora]

"I'm Aloy," Aloy greeted, walking up to Dwight, all red braids and leather and metal embellishments and... well, freckles. Definitely a new face, yes. "I just moved into a house in town. I'm doing some remodelling. Heavy on the electric stuff, so far."

[alwaysonguard]

Yeah, not many redheads around town... or people wearing furs for that matter.

"Ah well I got basic DIY electric supplies," he said with a nod towards that side of the shop. "If you need more involved help, I can help you design and figure out anything custom you need. And of course I can come over and lend a hand and get things fixed up for you too."

There was a brief pause before he added, "What sort of setup are you going for?"

[not_of_the_nora]

"I'm still working on it," Aloy admitted. "I'm setting up a large computer system on one side of the upper floor, and downstairs will be for training and target practice, but I'm not sure what else I'm going to need."

A pause.

"I should have somewhere to sit, I guess."

[alwaysonguard]

"Yes, somewhere to sit is always good, even when training and working," Dwight said with a nod. "Depending on the type of training and work you might need a table or some other sort of work space. Storage is also usually something to consider as well."

There was a pause as he shifted gears slightly.

"And that's not even considering the non-work related side of things like a place to sleep, relax, and things like that."

[not_of_the_nora]

"I have a bed." And more luxury than she was used to, even. But Aloy looked thoughtful. "I don't have a lot of local money left," she admitted. "Says on the door you need workers?"

Because fixing things, she could do.

[alwaysonguard]

"Yeah, could always use another set of hands around here," Dwight replied with a glance around the shop. "Been just me so far and with the online shop picking up and more orders coming in, so I could use some help keeping up with the island-side of things a bit. You have experience with repairs and such I take it?"

[not_of_the_nora]

"You could say that," Aloy said, taking a look around the shop. "Rost and I usually had to fix everything ourselves."

[alwaysonguard]

"Well, you're welcome to fill the vacancy if you wish" Dwight said with a nod. "Would be good to get some more coverage that's for sure."

[not_of_the_nora]

"Is there any particular day or time I should be here?" Aloy asked. "I know that gets a little funny around here."

[alwaysonguard]

"What ever works best for you, really," Dwight said after considering it a moment. "I usually spend most of Friday here in the shop. So any other day is basically open."




(so sorry! DW never showed a response ping and RL at me alive!)

[not_of_the_nora]

Aloy nodded. "Wednesdays, then," she offered.

Picking a day out of a hat, really. It wasn't like she was on a schedule here.

[alwaysonguard]

"Sounds good. And if you need anything I live upstairs, so its not like I am hard to find" Dwight said with a small laugh. "Glad to have you, Aloy."

[flamesburned]

Liz was really pale and tired but she knew she couldn’t sit around and hide away, she had planned to go into the store and stay busy but that changed as soon as she saw all the fire that was about.

She decided instead to visit Dwight since she had said she would check in and see the progress that he’d made and it would be something to keep her distracted from the anniversary of Pittsburgh and all the fires, “hello?” she called out softly as she entered.

[alwaysonguard]

"Hey Liz, glad you could make it," Dwight said coming around from behind the counter. "Glad you could make it by."

Dwight noted how tired and pale Liz looked but didn't want to make her feel any more uncomfortable by drawing attention to it just yet. Instead, he mentioned towards one of the chairs at the table. "Would you like something to drink? I have some design plans drawn up and some samples too we can go over if you would like."

[flamesburned]

“I … yes please,” Liz said quietly to the offer of a drink as she numbly walked over to the chairs that Dwight indicated and took a seat, “and I’d - I’d like to see the designs and samples as well,” she told him.

[alwaysonguard]

Dwight nodded and got a large glass of water and brought it over. "The cooler on the counter is full, fresh from this morning. Feel free to help yourself anytime" he said with a small smile.

Ducking into the back room for a few minutes he came back with the sketches and wood samples and sat down at the table.

"You been doing ok? Hell of a week so far huh?" he asked, not wanting to bring up anything painful for Liz but also feeling like pretending nothing happened and ignoring everything was just as bad in a way. "I know I am quite glad the week is just about over. It's all been a bit much."

[flamesburned]

Liz took the offered glass of water, nodding as he told her about the cooler, “thank you,” she said quietly

“I …it’s …not a good week,” she finally settled on as she watched him lay everything out on the table, “I mean before Fandom decided to …” her voice trailed off, “they’re …I have anniversaries, painful ones …one of them is today,” she said softly.

[alwaysonguard]

Dwight nodded. He understood how those kinds of anniversaries could be.

"It's been a hell of a week for the island to decide to poke at us this much that's for sure. I'm sorry to hear its a rough one for you, Liz. Do... do you need to talk about it any? Or would you like to just jump right into the project we have going on?"

Sometimes talking about something was the best approach other times distractions were the way to go- Dwight was quite familiar with both, and was there for whichever Liz wanted and needed right then as he gave her a small reassuring smile.

[flamesburned]

“I…” Liz hesitated, taking a sip of water, “I …” she started again, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to talk about, “it was the reason I moved back to Fandom,” she finally said softly,

“It …it was a mission that went wrong …my powers…” she took a deep breath, “I lost control of my powers,” she stared down at her hands, “I ….I ….”

She found she couldn’t bring herself to talk about the rest, especially while there was so much fire outside.