Closing time
Who: Dutch, open to Louise
Where: Occam Automotive
When: early evening
"Don't come in hung over tomorrow, Steve!" Dutch hollered at the back of a man as he walked through the garage bay door, shaking his head and yanking the shutters down after him. "Only one who's got that right's me," he muttered to himself as the shutters closed, turning around to look back at the shop beyond him. Another day.
A day like plenty of the others, for sure: progress on a constantly changing roster of cars, a brief meeting with another Giacomo to discuss the next drop-off, lunch, a drink, another drink, and now? Well, now was just time for cleanup and a familiar walk down to the Round. One part of that was appealing, at least, encouraging enough to motivate Dutch towards the other. He turned with a rumble, looking around at the discarded tools and greasy rags littering the shop. Cleaning was a tedious chore, sometimes so much so that Dutch just wanted to go upstairs and drink some of his own product. Thank god for hired help...
..
At least one employee Dutch never had to worry about coming in hung over was Louise. She was already amped up enough naturally without any stimulants or depressants to bother with such things. She saw the familiar noises coming into the back room- the loud, bright green slamming of the door, the slight brownish-purple undertone of Dutch's mumblings- and put down the sketch she'd been working on while Dutch was finishing up. While she figured Dutch himself didn't mind her eccentricities, since he wouldn't have hired her in the first place if he did, she knew some of the customers found her a bit off-putting, so she tended to busy herself in the back room when there were visitors.
Peeking her head out with a snap and a chirp, she slipped her shoes back on as she shouted into the garage. "Finally-finally finished?" Louise asked, her head twitching to the side and blinking a couple of times. She saw the mess and knew that even at her semi-manic pace, it would take her a while to get things cleaned up. She wasn't scheduled to work at the Round tonight at least- which meant she wouldn't be one of the people there at the end of the night helping Dutch get home, either.
.
"Much as we ever are," Dutch said, nodding back Louise's way. She was a good kid (even if she was too old to be a 'kid'), and for her quirks? She was one of the most reliable employees Dutch had on-staff. Sure, sweeping floors and straightening tools wasn't hard, but it was something the other mechanics in the shop couldn't be bothered with.
Moving to the little hot-plate that perpetually had a kettle on it, Dutch clicked it on and gave the kettle a heft. "Gonna brew myself a coffee, grab a tea if you want," he offered, stepping over to a clear patch of wall and leaning against it before lighting up. Dutch wasn't exempt from the views everyone else had on cleaning up, really. It was tedious and futile, they'd only mess up the shop again tomorrow.
..
"I'm- chirp! -I'm good, thanks," Louise said as she straightened up a nearby table, making sure to push an ashtray close to Dutch as a subtle hint. It wasn't that she minded smokers- it wasn't for her, but she never chided others for doing so. It was more the mess that bothered her. A wet rag wrapped around her bad hand, she finished wiping down the counter, meticulously arranging things as she went. She looked over at Dutch. He always seemed like he hadn't quite gotten enough sleep. "Busy day?" she asked as the scent of the coffee tinkled like an old piano in her ears.
.
"S.S.D.D.," he said, grinning just a touch and nodding thanks before tapping away a curl of ash, "Same shit, different day. Today? Wife of the chief down at Eidolon General, Mrs. Hagel? Brought in her fuckin' Bentley because it was rattling. Heat shield was loose, five minutes to do, daft old broad insisted it was still rattling." Dutch jerked a thumb at the car that was parked in one of the bays, shaking his head ruefully.
"She took a cab, demanded we go over everything top to bottom. And I mean, I've already got work backed up and this lady's snapping through her furs at me, half the work crew was dragging ass, and tomorrow it'll be the whole crew with that new joint opening shop." None of it was personal to Dutch, that was why he didn't mind sharing it. The day's grievances were something he could vent with ease, sometimes doing so even bled off the desperate edge created by the rest of his life.
..
Louise laughed a bit as he told her about Mrs. Hagel. "Is-is that who that was?" she asked with a chirp as she wrang out the rag in the sink. "I thought someone had- " she barked at her shoulder. "-had set a chihuahua loose in here or something!" She'd been straightening up when the woman had come in and had only heard her through the walls. "She is a piece of work-work, though, isn't she?" There was still another question that was on Louise's mind though. Knowing that Dutch wasn't the type to beat around the bush, she decided to just come straight out with it. She snapped her fingers a couple of times before asking. "Are you going to be dragging ass?" she asked, adjusting her glasses. "You- chirp! - heading over there tonight?"