Thanks Benji

Covet: Felix was sitting outside with Benji, watching him work mostly, because he'd tried to help but was just getting in the way, mostly because Benji was making sure that Steph's car didn't get a single ding, scratch or any sort of mark, and Felix had dropped a wrench on the air filter yesterday getting it lost in the engine block, which meant that Benji had to fish it out with this cool magnet on a stick thingy wasting a couple of hours of daylight yesterday. Felix was leaned over on the protective cover to see what his Dad was working on, but his head knocked on the hanging light, "Ouch..." He said rubbing his head. // Benji popped up and looked at felix pointing the wrench he hand in his hand at him, "Boy, if I have to tell you one more time to get your head out of this engine, I'm going to get your fiance to drag you back in the house, and strap you down."
Alexithymiaa: -Steph had been sitting in the house because she'd spent a considerable amount of time hovering earlier and now she was forcing herself to stop being so overbearing considering Benji seemed to be doing a pretty good job with her car. She was sitting up in her bean bag chair with her gorgeous birthday bass in her lap plucking away and writing, but much moreso messing around because she just enjoyed playing her bass and was trying to distract herself from the fact that her car was being touched outside.-
Covet: Felix looked at Benji, "Boy? I am a grown ass man, thank you very much. You're as bad as Mom calling me kid all the time." He glared at him, then reached up to knock the light intentionally once Benji ducked back down again. // "Well stop acting like a child then." Benji said then slammed a wrench down hard on the ground with a grumble, but he didn't raise his voice, or a hand as he got up. "I really didn't want to do this...I warned you." He said as he got up then made his way to the front door, opening it up. "Steph, Can you come get Felix. He's making this job take way longer than it needs to be. And he's really really trying my patience."
Alexithymiaa: -She was watching her hands as she plucked at the bass, hearing the front door open and Benji yell inside. Setting her jaw, she moved her bass out of her lap and pushed up to her feet, adjusting the sweatpants she stole from Felix and starting down the stairs, looking at Benji. "What the hell is he doing?" She asked as she slipped past him, her arms hugging around herself because it was cold outside. "Arizona!"-
Covet: "What?! I didn't do anything!" He said defensively, as he snapped up from looking inside the vehicle, though he had no idea what was supposed to be done. // "He keeps messing with my light, and I can't get the rest of this finished tonight, if he keeps acting like a shit." Benji said as he made his way back out there, " You're busted now, boy." He said with a smirk at Felix as Steph yelled at him.
Alexithymiaa: "You didn't do anything, my ass. I'm watching you! Why is your head under that hood?" She shot back quickly, her brows furrowed as she stared at him. "The Kittens have rehearsal tomorrow for the gig on Saturday and I can't exactly haul a bunch of equipment on my bike so if this isn't finished tonight, YOU can explain to Kristen why I show up without the XLR cables I promised her."-
Covet: "Why can't Kristen just come get them tonight?" Felix asked, like that was the problem here. "And I'm supervising, thank you very much." He said crossing his arms, "We want to make sure this gets done right..." // "Excuse me? I know exactly what I'm doing without your supervising skills getting in the way. I've been doing just fine, to the point that Steph trusts me enough to leave me alone with her baby, so what's your deal?" Benji asked making his way back over to the car.
Alexithymiaa: "Because I'm seeing her tomorrow so why should she have to make a trip over here?" She said like he was a fucking moron, all condescending. "You want to make sure this gets done right? Do you have any idea what you're even supervising?" She asked quickly, shifting on her feet because they were cold. When she heard Benji's comment, she let out a sigh, dropping her arms to her sides. "Let's just get one thing straight, I left you alone because I was driving MYSELF crazy watching. There's a big difference."-
Covet: "HA!" Felix said pointing at him. "No, I don't but I'd probably know if it was wrong." He said with way more confidence than he should actually have. // "Right..." Benji said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm close to having this finished, so.. if you could just get him out of my hair for another hour or so?" He asked, turning back to humble pie.
Alexithymiaa: "Shut up, no you wouldn't. I didn't even trust you to change my oil when Bryan moved." Stepping down off the front porch, she walked with her bare tattoo covered feet over the cold stones of their driveway over to Felix, grabbing him by the top of the ear and yanking him away from her car. "Do not test me, I'm stressed enough without your shit right now."-
Covet: "Ouch... that's a little harsh..." Felix said rubbing his chest, then winced and whined some more, "Ow ow ow ow, I'm not testing you, I'm helping! That hurts woman!" // "Hey, don't you go disrespecting her by calling her woman like that. It's not nice" Benji said as he walked back over to the vehicle to get back to work, snickering at Steph manhandling her manchild.
Alexithymiaa: "Really? Because it really seems like your testing me." She said and then finally let go of his ear because she was only going to drag him so far by it. When Benji chimed in about the little nickname, she pointed at him. "Yeah. How many times do I have to tell you that before you can manage to remember?"-
Covet: "I'm not testing you, If I'm testing anyone, I'm testing him." He said pointing to Benji, "What do you mean? I call you woman all the time! You're my one and only woman." He said feeling like he was being attacked now. // "No matter how nice you make it sound, it's not respectful. You're not testing me, you're just in my way. I'm trying to help and you're a hinderance to that." Benji said before ducking back under the engine.
Alexithymiaa: -She wrapped her arms around herself again, trying to warm up a bit as she stood and argued with him. "And I always tell you to quit calling me woman. This is not new information." She glanced over at Benji, pursing her lips and looking back to Felix to sign to him. 'Can you please play nice until he's at least done with my car?'-
Covet: All Felix did was roll his eyes at her. 'But why? wouldn't that be making things easy for him?' He asked after a moment. 'He doesn't deserve to have it easy' Felix added then saw she was looking rather cold. He nodded his head towards the house, so they could at least talk inside where it was warm, and he could watch out the window. // Benji went back to work, happy to have some peace and quiet.
Alexithymiaa: -She reached out for Felix's good hand, starting back toward the house with him in tow. "Take your time, don't rush." She said to Benji more for her cars sake than his. Walking with Felix back up to the house, she gave a small sigh of relief once inside in the heat. "This isn't about him. This is about the fact that my car is in pieces right now and if you cause problems it's going to stay in pieces and then it won't be the only thing in pieces."-
Covet: "Is that a threat?" He asked her raising an eyebrow. "Cause I'm not intentionally trying to fuck with him out there, I'm trying to do that bonding thing or whatever." He said waiving his hand about.
Alexithymiaa: "Yes, it's a threat!" She yelled, exasperated. "You can bond with him without getting in the way of him putting my poor car back together. You don't need to be IN the car while he's working on it. Why don't you grab a folding chair or something and sit out of the way and just talk? About work and school and your hobbies. That's bonding, not frustrating the shit out of him so he can't finish my car."-
Covet: "Because that seems like a dick thing to do, just sit out there watching him as he slaves away, trying to do the small talk thing... You're right... I could do that..." He said with a mischevious smirk about to head back out there, cleary not thinking about the fact that he's trying to get her car finished tonight.
Alexithymiaa: "I'm paying him...." She said in monotone as Felix walked off. "Hey... hey wait...." She said, grabbing for her jacket since she learned from her mistakes this time. She also grabbed the dogs leashes, hoping having them out there would be a sort of distraction from Felix trying to get under Benji's skin while he worked. Hooking them up, she stepped outside and led them out behind him. "We're going to be good, right?"-
Covet: "I'm always good, what are you talkiing about?" Felix said with a smirk. // Though before he could cause any trouble Benji came up and wiped his hands off on the rag that sat on the cover, "Hey, good timing, I do believe I'm finished, We just need to put the anitfreeze back into the radiator, and you should be able to start it right up. I found that oil leak too, and it was a simple fix, so you shouldn't have an issue with that. Felix can you go get the bottles of anitfreeze from the trunk of my car?" He asked him.
Alexithymiaa: "Uhuh...." She mumbled as she held the leashes, smiling to Benji. "Oh really? That was faster than I thought. Thank you. I have your check inside." She said as she stepped over, letting the dogs into the grass so they could pee.-
Covet: "Yeah, really?" Felix said after Steph. " Me being gone that short of time allowed you to finish?" // " Yep, why do you think I was so frustrated, because we're at the finishline and you're dicking around. Now go get the Antifreeze." He said with a nod of his head "And then I'll need you to keep an eye on the dogs, because I don't want them near the antifreeze, they'll want to lick it up and that's definitely no good." Benji added.
Alexithymiaa: "Yeah, quit dicking around FELIX." She added dramatically, trying not to laugh even though it was definitely funny. "I've got them, don't worry about it. I think they're more concerned with what's in this bush than anything else." She said as she wrapped the leashes around her arm to tighten the reigns a bit. "Penny, no." She said, swatting at the dog who found something and was now eating it like a moron.-
Covet: "I'm not dicking around, Ask her, she knows when I'm dicking around." He said making that joke literal, as he walked to the car and got into the trunk that was partially propped open from when Benji had gotten his tools out. When he got in the back he saw a wrinkled and worn photograph sticking out of his dad's tool bag. He reached for it curiously and read what it said on the back, -They're worth making it right, Benj- in a hand writing that wasn't familiar to him, when he turned it over it was a picture of him, his brother when they were little, a time before Felix could remember, being held by Benji, who had the biggest stupid proud grin on his face. He stared at it for a long time before tucking it into the pocket of his jacket, carrying the antifreeze over to him, setting it down // "Thank you Felix." He said and reached for them so he could get the radiator and reserve filled back up to it's proper level. He looked up when Steph got after the dog, then shook his head when he saw it was just her eating something.
Alexithymiaa: "I do and you're pretty much dicking around all the time so...." She said as she pulled the curious dogs out of the bushes, watching Benji finish up with the car. "Let me go grab your check." She turned to head inside, intentionally leaving the dogs in there now that they served no distracting purposes. She grabbed the check from the kitchen table she'd written out for him, making her way back outside to linger next to the car.-
Covet: Felix tucked his hands in his pockets, clearly in a different mood now, as he watched Benji finish and Steph run inside. // Once Benji was finished he capped off the reserve tank and then looked over at Steph, " Go hope in and turn it over, I want to hear this baby roar." He said with a grin.
Alexithymiaa: -She watched Felix in his visibly change for a long moment before it registered that Benji was talking to her, moving around to the driver's seat and slipping behind the wheel. Turning the key in the ignition, the engine roared to life pretty loudly before dulling down to it's normal low grumbling noise it did. "It sounds great."-
Covet: "Yeah, it does, Uh.. Thanks for helping out with this. It means a lot... to her." He said to Benji, with a sort of respectful yet skeptical look. // "Sure thing, I'm just glad someone isn't going to charge you an arm and a leg to fix it, only to mess up this amazing classic." Benji said as he went about getting his things gathered up.
Alexithymiaa: -She turned the engine off again and slipped out of the car, walking over to hold the check out to Benji. "I would pay an arm and a leg to get it right, but messing it up would not be an option." She looked over at Felix again, picking up a bit on his change of tune before turning back to look at Benji. "Have you made any friends or found anything to do in Portland yet?"-
Covet: "And I would have been there holding you back from murdering someone who messed up your car." Felix said with a slight chuckle then looked over at Benji. // Benji took the check, but didn't look at the price, nor did he intend to cash it, he was torn between just tearing it up, or giving it back to them as a wedding present, so he just stuck it in his pocket. "Glad I could help out, It's nice to feel...useful." He said, then shook his head, "I haven't really been out in the social scene much, a couple of people from work have invited me out for drinks, but.. well, That's not even an option for me. So I just kind of hang out at my motel room and read to pass the time for now."
Alexithymiaa: (YOU CANT JUST NOT CASH A CHECK. THATS HOW CHECKBOOKS GET OUT OF BALANCE.)
Alexithymiaa: -She nodded, chewing on the inside of her cheek as she glanced back at Felix, her brain running a mile a minute as she debated back and forth in her head. "Well... if you're not doing anything Saturday night, my band is playing at The Underground. Reading in your motel room might be more entertaining than watching a bunch of chicks wearing too much black make up jump around and try to pretend they're something they're not, but it's a change of pace." She said with an uneasy and awkward shrug because she was hoping that she was reading Felix right in opening a door for them to bond more.-
Covet: [lmao HENCE WHY SHE SHOULD HAVE GIVEN HIM CASH...BWAHAHAHAHA]
Covet: "I'll be there, not drinking too, so you would have someone there in solidarity." Felix offered to him as well. // "Actually, that sounds like something I could get into. I'd love to see your band play, Thanks for the invite, and the support." He said looking over at Steph then Felix. "Plus, it keeps me from being some old bum, stuck in on a perfectly good Saturday night."
Alexithymiaa: -She shrugged awkwardly, moving back to lace her fingers with Felix's. "We play there pretty often. Felix can send you the info of the place and I'll put your name on the list so you don't have any issues getting in." She paused, giving his hand a squeeze. "You know... as a thank you. For the car repairs."-
Covet: "Yeah, I'll make sure you have it. Thanks again, for helping out on such short notice." He said, giving Steph's hand a squeeze. "We should get inside, and to bed. We've still got class tomorrow, but get back to your place safe." Felix said with a nod. // Benji looked between them, throwing the now rolled up protector mat thingy over his shoulder, leaving all the tools in it, so he could put them away later. " Sure thing. I'll see you guys on Saturday. Have a good night." He said as he tossed his stuff into the trunk and closed it with a loud slam, because old car, and shitty latches.
Alexithymiaa: -She watched him pack up his stuff and get into his car, turning around to make her way back into the house with the intentions of talking to him about his drastic change of mood tomorrow because now it's bed time.-