They don't build 'em like they used to (Lexi)

[Corbin Jacobs]

So, one of the things about running a machining, welding, and metalworking business was that.. every once in a while you got a really, really big project. Really big. Sometimes it was 'big' in that there were a ton of small things to do, or several thousand parts. Sometimes, like this time, the job was working on one gigantic piece of equipment. In this case, a minivan-sized diesel generator that had been damaged in transit and needed to be repaired before it could be safely moved by crane of forklift. No worries, Corbin could handle the repairs and the parts.. The one issue he did have was that his trailer was too small to have any hope of holding the 15-ton beast. His truck was.. almost rated for it.. and he knew it would manage as long as he was careful, but his trailer? Not so much.

So here he was on the way back into Pilot Ridge with the company's trailer.. And wouldn't luck have it, the one time he had a trailer big enough to fit a full size car on, there was one broken down just outside of Pilot Ridge. Late model Chevy.. Freak post-bailout GM just.. didn't build cars like they used to. Not like the Chevelle Corbin had at home.. So, figuring that just maybe fate or destiny or.. something of that nature was nudging him to the side of the road, Corbin pulled over and reversed his trailer up to the front of the car, hopping out to have a chat with the driver.

"Afternoon, boss. I see your flashers on and your car not movin.. Figure I happen to have a trailer handy.. You need a lift? I'm sure there's a garage open in Pilot Ridge we can drop this off at.." Conveniently enough, this trailer not only was designed for things to be rolled on to it, it also had a crazy heavy-duty winch on the front for dragging things onto it. A little car would be childs play.

[Alexander McKenzie]

Today hadn't been Alex's day. His alarm hadn't gone off that morning, causing him to drive like a bat out of hell to get to the university, only to be late to his first class. He'd also blanked on a quiz and though he hadn't quite tanked it, it had been a worse grade than he would have liked. The entire day had seemed to be going against him. At the end of classes he'd tucked his books back in his bag, and headed out to his car.

His car had always been relatively reliable. Well, as reliable as a second hand car could be. He looked after it as best he knew how, and when it was out of his comfort zone, he knew to seek help. Nothing had indicated that it was going to die on him on the way back from university.

Yet when his check engine light came on halfway home, it could only chalk it up to adding to his all around not-so-good day. Hopefully it could limp along enough to get to a garage. Yet ten minutes later, the engine seemed to sputter and finally stall out as Alex guided it to the side of the road. Yeah, great day, all around. He sighed and rested his head on the steering wheel for a moment before remembering to put on his hazard lights.

The best thing he could think to do beyond stay with the car was to try to look up nearby garages on his phone. Unfortunately, that didn't work either. His phone had zero bars. Which was... predictable. Sigh.

Well, he was stuck for the foreseeable future. Yet by some miracle, not fifteen minutes after he'd deemed himself stuck, a truck and trailer stopped. Struck by his turn in luck, Alex too hopped out of his car, unable to hide the look of sheer gratitude on his face. "Hey. Yeah, I really do. Engine died." No, he was not a car person. He could barely identify the working parts, let alone fix this kind of problem. "I was actually on the way back to Pilot Ridge. Just my luck it couldn't limp closer. But thanks a lot." After a moment, he held out his hand to his savior. "I'm Alex." And this guy was his new hero.

[Corbin Jacobs]

"Good to meetcha, Alex.. Wish it was under better circumstances but I'll take what I can get, yeah? Corbin Jacobs." Corbin took Alex's offered hand and gave him a firm shake. It was nice to see people Alex's age (not like it was all that far from Corbin's) that understood appreciation and a handshake. Too many people didn't.

"Yeah, man. Lucky for you I have this ridiculous trailer for the next few days for a job. I think it'll hold the weight about a dozen cars so it aughta be more than fine." And Corbin went immediately to the winch cable, pulling it down the length of the trailer and dropping to the ground to find a suitable place to hook it under Alex's car.

"So, throw it in neutral.. I'll stand up at the front and give you directions on which way to steer so we keep her centered?" If Alex had no input or objections, that's exactly what would happen.. the massive winch hardly noticing the weight of the car and the trailer itself completely indifferent.. After the car had been pulled up onto the trailer and it was roughly centered, Corbin would give Alex the signal to put it in park before he went straight to work ratchet-strapping down the front tires. "Hey, go ahead and throw on the e-brake and make sure stuff isn't gonna get wrecked if I have to slam on the brakes.."

Loading a car on a very overkill trailer with two people was actually quite simple work.. and would be over in a matter of minutes, Corbin signaling for Alex to head to the passenger side of the truck and being blasted with pleasantly cold air the moment he hopped in. "So yeah.. Bad luck on the breakdown. Hope it's somethin simple and easy to fix.. But I figure I'm probably saving you at least fifty bucks on a tow so.. I mean, that's good, right? Where were ya headed, Alex? Where were ya comin from? Whadda ya do?"

And the quiet thrum of a diesel engine would become a bit of a roar as Corbin pulled back onto the road Alex's car had broken down on, said car bouncing a bit on the trailer as the two headed into Pilot Ridge.

[Alexander McKenzie]

Well, now he had a name for his rescuer. Alex smiled up at Corbin and nodded as they shook hands. "Good to meet you too, even if the circumstances could be better." He liked this Corbin immediately. Mostly because he struck him a little like he figured he came off to other people. A little intimidating on the surface, but in terms of manners and such? Well, then again, he was also a little to trusting at times. Corbin could be a serial killer for all he knew, but he still had a trailer, and was willing to help him out. He'd take that risk.

He stayed out of the way as Corbin went about hooking the car. When it came to mechanics and the like, he was about as useful as a brick. Knowledge about medicine, or art? No problem. Identify parts in a car? Not so much. Still, he appreciated what Corbin was doing for him, and relaxed a little until he was instructed to do as Corbin needed with the car.

Once the car was up and centered, Alex put on the e-brake and dug around in the car to ensure that everything was either secured or put away so as not to cause damage. After that was done, he grabbed his bag and hopped out of the car and down to the ground, following Corbin's instructions to head into the truck. His bag was set at his feet and his seatbelt was buckled before they went anywhere.

"Yeah, I'm hoping too." The comment about saving him money made him tip his head slightly. "You can't do this for free. I owe you something." Even if it was just twenty bucks. Sure, Alex was the type to do things for free if he could, but he was spectacularly bad at accepting the same himself.

The questions at least he could handle. "I was headed back home to Pilot Ridge from the university. I'm, uh, a nursing student there. Just started my second year." He really did love it, even after giving up his two years of physics to switch his bachelor's degrees. The switch was going to be worth it in the end. Besides, the medical stuff came unfairly naturally to him. He'd had early exposure to it, after all.

[Corbin Jacobs]

Oh.. Realistically, Corbin didn't know much about actually working on cars. This wasn't 'cars'.. this was 'hooking a winch up to something heavy'. That was something Corbin could do. He was also pretty adept at hooking up loads to tow trucks, cranes.. He understood mechanics, he just wasn't a mechanic. He knew that power came from explosions pushing a piston down, making rotational force, which went through a transmission into an axle and to a tire which made a car move forwards, but how that stuff all worked was beyond him.

"Nah, man. You just return the favor as best as you can if you ever spot me on the side of the road. Ya don't pull over to help somebody out expecting to get a paycheck out of it.. If I was expecting to get payed, I'd have just called a tow truck for ya. This is like predetermined or something. I never have this trailer and.. I happened to have it the one time somebody was broken down, ya know? I'm supposed to help you out. That's all there is to it."

Of course, then Alex's nursing education came up, and Corbin got an idea on how he could be repayed. "Nursing? Seriously? --Then I do have a way you could maybe pay me back some day. If you're doing nursing in this town, surely you know some power suppressors, right? Or even if you don't, you gotta run into some. Enough metas around here that there's gotta be suppressors. You let me get your number or email or whatever when we get to a shop.. and the next time I want some ink or, like, .. Um.. Okay, the next time I want a tattoo, you hook me up with a suppressor. How's that sound?"

Seriously, Jason wasn't around all the time.. Surely one day he'd have a wife and maybe even a kid or three.. Corbin couldn't just count on him to be free and couldn't drag him away from other obligations just because he only knew one suppressor. That wasn't fair to anybody.. so knowing another, or being able to get in contact with one - even if he had to pay him or her - was worthwhile.

"That, and.. like, I guess if you have any advice for somebody who's.. Well I've always called it stoneskin. Basically I'm just crazy durable. Like how I can stitch myself up if I ever do manage to get hurt. Those two things don't put you out of pocket since you might have a hefty repair bill on the trailer back there and they would really come in handy for me. Do that and we'll call it more than even. Heck, I'll even drive you home once we drop your car off. Sound good?"

[Alexander McKenzie]

At least Corbin understood basic mechanics. Alex... knew how to operate a vehicle, and do the very basics like fill it with gas and washer fluid. Hell, he barely knew how to check the oil. Thank God his car generally told him when it was getting close to being needed to be changed. He didn’t have a hope in hell of trying to operate the monstrosity that Corbin had used to pull his poor little car onto the trailer. Best to stick with what he knew, which... in this situation was very little, beyond be nice to his rescuer.

“Fate,” Alex mumbled somewhat under his breath in understanding. He got what Corbin was talking about. “And I know, I get that, but still. It’s taking time out of your day. I’m sure you have better places to be than saving a stranger from the side of the road.” Not that he wouldn’t do the same, if their roles had been reversed. He was also in the camp that doing something nice for someone didn’t need to be a paid service, and he generally just hoped whoever he was helping would just pay it forward when they could. Sadly, in the reverse position, he wasn’t as good at accepting that.

Corbin’s sudden enthusiasm about his school caught Alex off guard, but by the time the other man had gotten everything out, he smiled in understanding. Oddly enough, this was something he could help with. Not exactly right this second, but easily enough. “I do actually know a suppressor,” he admitted with a smile. “He lives in the area, too. My cousin is a power suppressor.” Surely Jason wouldn’t mind helping someone out, right? Especially for body art. The two cousins had a number of tattoos between them, though all of Alex’s were currently out of sight, hidden beneath his hoodie sleeves, and his t-shirt neck went up too high for the phoenix on his chest to be visible at all. “If it’s for tattoos, he’d probably do it in a heartbeat. He loves them. We both do.” He remembered just how jealous Jason had been over the fact that Alex had been the first of them to actually get a tattoo, despite being the younger of the two cousins. Sometimes being sick as a kid had perks. Alex’s parents had been an odd mix of overbearing and yet gave him their blessing on whatever he wanted to do. Hence the tattoo at fourteen.

The second request... honestly had him stumped. But he still had friends at Hammel, as well as his best friend and roommate working in the research department. “I don’t know about stitching up stoneskin, unless you had a suppressor nearby. But I can ask at school. They’re bringing meta studies more and more into the curriculum, because they – well, we’re so different.” Corbin had already admitted to being a metahuman, so what was the harm in admitting to being one himself? “Or I can ask at Hammel. My best friend works in the research department, and he might have access to something similar?” He didn’t mind helping Corbin with that in the slightest. He couldn’t imagine not knowing how to fix something like that if it was his own power.

[Corbin Jacobs]

"Suppressor for a cousin? Man, that sounds like the coolest shit and the worst shit ever at the same time. Like.. Great, cause he's family, cause you have that crazy-necessary power in your bloodline, but like.. I dunno if your cousin picked on you as much as mine picked on me.. but I think if she was a suppressor she would take away my shit just so it was easier to tickle me or so I felt it more if she pinched me." He paused for a moment, washing Esha back home from his mind. She'd always done that stuff.. And she'd never had the chance since he'd manifested. He hadn't seen her in... what, fifteen years? Ugh. At least if she'd been a meta she'd have been here with him. How many things might have been different if she'd manifested too?

"Oh? You're inked? Shit, we'll have to show off when we get where we're going. I have a few myself. Takes even more effort to get them than usual, so I try to make them count, ya know?" The other request was one that was unfortunately as hard to provide as Corbin had been worried it would be. "Yeah, all I know to do if I ever cut myself up is.. Keep pressure on the wound and get to the hospital. I guess they'd have to have a suppressor there to help me, though, right? Back in school, though, they told me that if I do actually get hurt, it's gonna hurt, though. And 'god forbid I ever break a bone'. I'd take longer to heal, too, supposedly. Like, I mean it hasn't happened yet but that crap is scary to think about. Anything serious enough to honestly hurt me, like.. seems like it would do a ton of damage. We're talking blendtec level of damage..."

Ooh, but that was not the best place to have one's mind. Probably time for a topic change. "Er, but yeah. Your cousin actually sounds a bit like my buddy Jason. He's big into body art and has a bunch of ink himself. Dude's one of my best friends. We go out for drinks like every week. I just need a second source in case he's busy. I mean, he's engaged to this chick on the far side of town now and who knows if there are kids in the plans soon, right?"

[Alexander McKenzie]

Alex had to laugh before shaking his head. "No, not really. He's great. We grew up really close, to the point we tried to pass each other off as brothers." Jason had been a saving grace when Alex had been in the hospital at six. No one had been able to cheer him up like Jason had, even if it was with something as simple as cracking bad jokes or bringing terribly inappropriate presents. Like the Sharpies they'd made 'tattoos' with. No one had been impressed with that stunt. Not the nurses, not either of their parents. But the boys had had a good time. And the tattoos had washed. ... Eventually. Sadly, the second time around had been close to when Jason had manifested, so he hadn't seen much of him. At least he'd been able to email him, and spend restless nights on MSN. "When we were teenagers sometimes he'd try to test my shields by throwing things at me, then deactivate them and pelt me with something soft." He shook his head. Really, he didn't spend enough time with his cousin, but they were both busy guys. Especially with university started back up.

Yes, Alex was inked, and inked dozens of different ways. Despite not everyone being a great fan, Alex was never ashamed of them. ... Okay, except when Ann had once questioned his Bat Symbol... but hey, he liked Batman. "Yeah, lots. A sleeve and a big tattoo on my arms, a couple on my back, and a phoenix on my chest." The phoenix had been his last addition, covering up a small scar he was happy he never had to look at again. Dusty did amazing work. "I started young. My parents, uh... let me get away with a lot." Much to Jason's dismay, usually. "I can show you most of them, if you want." Not that he was going to strip, thank you very much, but he could at least pull off his hoodie to expose his arms. "Most hospitals I think are starting to either have a mind controller or a suppressor on staff. Preferably both. For situations like yours." It had never really occured to him just how much of a challenge meta humans presented to the medical field until he started going to school for it. Like how to tell if a pyrokinetic had a fever or not, or Corbin's stoneskin. "I'll keep an eye out for you. Ask my teachers, ask people next time I'm at the hospital." If he could help, he would.

Sadly, Alex knew all about pain, and it wasn't something he often wanted to get into with people he didn't know well. For the most part, his parents, aunt and uncle, and Jason knew firsthand, and Ann had been told simply to prepare her, just in case, but... no one else knew a lot about it. Not that it was a secret. Alex just didn't like to rehash ancient history, especially when things were going well. But he could sympathize.

Finally, Alex began to put two and two together. Jason, Corbin's friend, seemed like he was exactly like Jason, Lexy's cousin. Right down to the... yep. Engaged. Cue a slightly deer in the headlights look from Alex. "I think... your best friend Jason is the same person as my cousin." Well then. Small world, even for Pilot Ridge and the surrounding area. After a moment, Alex grinned. "Guess it's back to the drawing board for a power suppressor, then."

[Corbin Jacobs]

"Hah! No shit! That's awesome, though. Makes perfect sense, you do seem right up his alley. Like somebody he'd hang out with. If you two have been kickin it since you were little it only makes sense. That's awesome. Haha. Small world, man. Small world." On the one hand.. Damn. On the other hand.. Shit yeah, new buddy to go drinking with! Maybe. Medical student was likely a full-and-a-half time job.. so maybe not. But there was potential. Potential was still good, right?

Corbin put his knee to the wheel for a moment to hold the truck steady as he rolled up his right sleeve to show off the tattoo. "This is my second one.. Lots of little meaning to it but it also just looks cool." There were more than just small meanings in it.. This one had a lot to do with how Corbin felt as he'd been forced to leave Esha behind, his dad leaving when he'd been very young.. his mom moving to Alaska to be with her husband, him having no home to go back to.... but that wasn't super important just now. Better to stick with the bright side of things. Besides, it really did end up looking cool as shit.

"So what exactly are you looking to do in the nursing field, man? Any area of expertise? Lookin to become a doctor one day?" If Alex was done staring at Corbin's inkwork, he'd let the sleeve fall again.. focus never having left the road.

[Alexander McKenzie]

Alex had to grin at Corbin's assessment. It was nice to be considered right up someone's alley, even if they were family. "I don't think he had a choice in hanging out with me, but thanks. He's more or less my best friend." Of course, Conrad was too, as was Ann, but Jason was family. He'd also been there for him when he'd needed someone the most. "Now that I think about it, he's mentioned you before. I guess it didn't click right away." Nothing terrible, mostly drunken best friend antics, but stories nonetheless.

He couldn't help but stare in slight disbelief as Corbin started knee-steering. Thankfully, it didn't last long, and he took more interest in the tattoo than the driving tactics being utilized. "I like it. Besides, little meanings sometimes mean the most." As for his own, he pulled off his hoodie and placed it on top of his school bag. His t-shirt left most of his arms exposed, though his phoenix was still hidden below the collar. It was impossible to see the whole thing without pulling off his shirt entirely, and he generally tended to avoid that. Instead, he just ran his fingers up both arms, habitually looking over the different artwork. Though his left arm was just a massive, winding orange ribbon, his right was more of a patched together sleeve. Mostly doodles he done and liked, though a few were mixed in that had, like Corbin had said, small meanings behind them. "It's kind of a mess of a sleeve, but I like it." His ribbon meant the most, even if most people didn't understand it right away. It took a look at the whole thing, including the inked 'survivor' at the top of the loop near his shoulder, to really understand. But that was okay.

"Oh. Uh, I want to go into either pediatrics or oncology. Um, cancer patients." A large part of it was his personal experience with the disease, but it also felt like giving back, in a way. He'd beaten it for a reason, and helping others go through the same thing felt like a pretty good reason. "I definitely don't want to be a doctor, though. Not enough connecting with patients." He'd rather distract patients from what was going on and help them, rather than rattle off a bunch of medical terms in thirty seconds flat before moving on again. Not all doctors were like that, and he knew it, but a good deal of them were simply just too busy for much in the way of pleasantries. "What about you? What drew you to mechanics?"

[Corbin Jacobs]

"Honestly, I kinda fell into it man. Was wandering around town when I managed to pass my finals wondering what the heck to do.. I mean, I'm from Arizona and my family moved to Alaska.. I had nowhere to go back to and not much ambition.. Not the best grades and like.. Not many marketable skills.. I figured I could maybe be a firefighter but it just didn't appeal to me. Then I either saw or heard an ad for this tech school. Seemed to make sense. Out of the spotlight, bunch of other dudes who are more worried about doin a good job than anything else.. And really, what's not cool about shaping metal to my will? So I called the recruiter and .. Shit just worked out, ya know? Made barges for a year or so to save up for some equipment and got lucky on a spot to work out here in Pilot Ridge.. Never looked back. There's a pretty huge demand for the stuff I do. Heck, I can make anything frolm car parts to trailers to medical equipment or jewelry.."

Corbin hadn't taken his eyes off the road for long.. But he'd definitely seen the ribbon.. It had made him think of Esha. In fact, he did have a little ribbon on the back of his truck.. It was pretty hard to find but it was there. He also had little ribbons in several upholstery pieces in his Chevelle..

"So is the ribbon for you or for a family member? I, uh.. I have a cousin. Back in A-Z.. Been doing battle for years now. I'd love to go see her but.. Work. And she doesn't want me to see her like she is. Claims she doesn't wanna be around her cousin if she can't beat him up. Fuckin sucks man. Brave of you to wanna go into that field. Takes a huge toll on your heart. Seein one person go through it is hard enough.. Seein dozens.. Hundreds? You must be one compassionate dude.."

[Alexander McKenzie]

It didn't seem to matter what major someone was in, they almost always had an interesting story behind it. Alex had learned that many times over in his years at UVM, especially in switching majors from physics to nursing. His own reasons for wanting to stick it out in physics and study the stars had come from a long-time fascination with the night sky. Now his reasons for switching to nursing were more personal. But how Corbin had gotten into mechanics was refreshing to here. No parental pushing into the field, no childhood stories. Just... fate, almost. Alex smiled and shrugged. "That's pretty cool though. And admirable. Not everyone has the drive to save like that and open up their own place." He had drive to save when it came to important things. Like his and Ann's eventual wedding. Just the thought of it made him smile and twist the metal band around his finger. Ann had a thing about equality, and if she had to wear her engagement ring, so did he. Not that he minded. Alex loved jewelry, and had an expansive collection. "What kind of jewelry do you make?" Not that he hadn't before, but now Corbin really had his interest.

Alex didn't really mind people knowing about his leukemia. As far as he was concerned, it was a thing of the past, dead and buried. He'd been clear for over ten years now, after all. Of course, telling Ann had been like a kind of torture, but once he'd gotten over it and realized she was going to stick around, it had been more of a solid weight off of his shoulders. Corbin's question didn't really bother him, though. He just touched the tattoo out of habit before sharing.

"It's mine," he said as casually as possible. "Leukemia at six and ten." It was the simplest way to phrase it. Oh, he knew the technical terms like the back of his hand, but no one else on the planet without some kind of medical degree did. Still, something Corbin said struck him. "I can relate, though. To your cousin. Things didn't matter so much when I was really little, but when I was ten, I didn't want anyone to see me beyond my parents. When Jason showed up I dove under the blanket, but he wouldn't leave until I talked to him." Despite the sheer awkwardness he'd felt at the time, he'd also been grateful in the end. Having his cousin around had helped immensely, for the little time he'd had with him then. "I kind of felt like a freak, but he made it feel normal, you know?" He didn't want to preach, but... as someone who knew what it was like on the other side, he chanced a glance sideways. "She might act like she doesn't want you around for a while, but in the end, she'll be glad you came." As for his commentary on the field, he shrugged. "I don't know if it's compassion, but I want to give back somehow. The nurses I met when I was a kid had a huge impact on my life, you know?" That part, he wasn't shy about. He'd give credit where it was due.

[Corbin Jacobs]

Jewelry? Well.. honestly, Corbin hadn't made all that much.. He simply had the capability to make it if he wanted. He didn't have the skill or the equipment to shape diamonds or anything, but if a thing could be made on a five-axis CNC machine (... which has basically limitless applications) Corbin could make it and mass-produce it. So if he had half a mind, he could make rings, pendants, necklaces, bracelets, glasses, hair bands, earrings..... Anything, really. "I, um.. Well I haven't actually made much. A few simple stainless rings with some shit engraved on them.. but like, the sky's the limit. I could reproduce the ring you're wearing or I could make you something completely new.. Any size, almost any material, almost any design. Softer metals would be harder for me, though, since I don't cast it like jewelry companies do. I start with stock and machine it down and hand-polish it. It'd be pricey for a run of only a few pieces, but it'd get way more reasonable per-part if you wanted a hundred or more or something." Set-up time and designing was the hard part.

--Holy fuck, this dude had leukemia? Twice? Before he was even a teenager? He had some unique perspective and some good advice regarding Esha, too. "I believe ya, man. On all of that. About the nurses you had, that it would be good for E if I got out there to see her.. Jason never told me about you, boss. I kinda wish he would have. He does seem like the kind of guy to do that, though. He's a damn decent sumbitch when he gets the notion to, ya know? But yeah.. I skype with my cousin now and then. Sometimes talk her into video.. She's so hard on herself. Always talkin about how she's pale and thin and her hair but.. I mean, she's still my cousin. Just cause she looks a little different don't make her any more or less who she is. Hell, just proves that people like her and you are both stronger than people give you credit for.. Deal with so much and never wanting to, like.. spread the burden around."

Corbin paused, took in a breath, and sighed it out. "Yeah, man. Fuckit. You're gonna be an awesome nurse. And if you decide to be an oncologist one day, you'll kick ass at that, too. Can't have lived through what you lived through and not be awesome at what you set your mind to." He signaled and took an exit ramp that lead into Pilot Ridge on the more industrial side.. "Help me out here.. Look for a garage.. I know there's one up a little ways, I pass by it all the time but I can't remember the name.. Something with an F, maybe? Like.. Blue building, I think. Maybe.."

[Alexander McKenzie]

At the mention of his ring, Alex glanced down at his left hand and flexed his fingers against the metal. Ann and her demands over equality. Not that he was really complaining. He loved jewellery, and always had. That was why the idea of Corbin being able to make his own was pretty cool. Unique pieces were always something he kept an eye out for. “That’s still pretty cool. I experimented with metal work in art classes, but I wasn’t that great at it.” He had a few finished pieces he’d kept and sometimes wore, including a pendant he’d made from etching designs into metal, but they were nowhere near professional level. “If you ever feel like experimenting with it, let me know? Not that it’s a real secret or anything, but I have a pretty extensive jewellery collection and I’m always looking for new stuff.” He had everything from rings to necklaces to earrings, and just about everything in between.

Oh, could Alex relate to Corbin’s cousin. He knew the feeling. The tough part was convincing the person who felt like a freak that it didn’t matter. Jason had been good at that. Alex had always felt like his parents had to say whatever they could to make him feel better, but Jason had had a choice in it. He could have wandered up and called him a freak, or any number of names Alex had heard since he was younger. (Kids were mean.) But instead he’d just treated him like he was normal, which had been the most welcome thing in the world. “It’s hard not to be hard on yourself during treatment,” he admitted. After a beat, Alex realized that since opening up about it with his fiancée, this was the most open he’d been in a long time with anyone about... well, that. “All I can say is just treat her like you always did before she got sick. It’ll mean the world to her, promise.” Anything normal had been a blessing when Alex had gone through, including things like Jason kicking his butt at board games or cards, or making up dialogue for movies they both knew by heart anyway.

He glanced out the window, oddly touched by the idea of a sort-of stranger giving him a boost like that. “Thanks. Really.” As they merged from the familiar exit, Alex kept an eye out for a blue building. Finally, he pointed. “Flint? That one, on the right?” He was still quietly holding out that nothing was terribly wrong with the car that would force him to use more of his wedding savings than he really wanted, but there was nothing he could do if that was the case. He’d just have to wait and see.

[Corbin Jacobs]

"Flint! That's it. For some reason the blue makes me think of flint.. Or.. flint and rocks make sense as blue.. Hell, I dunno, but that's definitely the place. Little local shop. --And don't worry, man. If they're the bad kind of small shop I'll haul this thing someplace else for you. I don't want you getting ripped off any more than I wanna get ripped off myself, ya know?" Fortunately the street was nearly empty and Corbin had lots of room to maneuver to try to back the huge trailer into the relatively small lot for the shop.. He slowed to a stop and rolled down his window. "Aight, so.. I'm pretty good at this but it's gonna be crazy tough getting this hugeass trailer in there.. You mind hopping out and, like.. playing spotter? The hydrant on the left and the telephone pole on the right are things I don't wanna hit, and I'd like to avoid the ditch and the other cars if possible.. so basically just keep an eye on the back of the trailer and let me know if I'm getting too close to anything. And you can leave your stuff. Like I said, I'll give you a ride if this is gonna take a while to fix."

Assuming Lexi agreed, Corbin would wait for him to get into position before beginning the arduous and difficult task of fitting 15 tons of trailer into a 10 ton lot... And it would not go well. At all. Ever time he managed to clear one thing, there was something else in the way. This wouldn't be a big deal for a normal tow truck, but for a big dodge dually hauling an even bigger trailer? Ugh. The street was hardly wide enough for him to jackknife it into place, and after several attempts it would become fairly obvious that this whole situation just.. well.. wasn't meant to be. This trailer just wasn't meant to be maneuvered into this particular lot.. and so if noone came out of the shop to try to help, Corbin would eventually hop out of the truck and walk inside to get someone's attention. He didn't want to block traffic any more than he had to.. and he just might be able to make it if the car parked nearest to the street was moved.