I walk into work, seeing Nyx working on a truck as I glance around the shop. A few vehicles are lined up to be worked on, so I head over to see the list of problems that they have to see where I should work first. I make a mental note of seeing that Valaria’s car has been picked up before going to work on an SUV with some brake issues.

"Are you going to that party tonight? Tyrell told me about it." Nyx asks, her eyes remaining glued to the engine of the car she’s elbows deep in even while speaking.

"I’m not sure yet, but Izzy will probably drag me to it anyway." I respond as I get into the SUV and drive it over to the empty lift.

Once I got it properly positioned, I got out and turned on the lift, raising the SUV enough to get the tires to the proper working height for me. I took my time inspecting the braking system of the vehicle, discovering a brake pad was rather worn down after a few minutes.

"Brake pads are gone to shit, probably gonna run the customer... 350." I call out to Nyx from across the shop, letting her know in case it’s too much for whatever the customer may have set for a budget.

"Alright, he said anything below $500 was fine. Get to work!"

🜂🜂🜂

As I was finishing up the brake pad replacement, Nyx had just finished her repairs, finally looking in my direction and immediately frowning.

"Really, Jason, your old bruises had just started healing!"

I glanced at myself in the reflection of the tire’s rim, and yeah. I do have a lot more bruises thanks to my daily escapades of ‘crime fighting.’

"Sorry boss, I’ll try to not get hit next time."

Nyx lets out a heavy sigh of what I can only imagine is frustration before walking towards her office. I can hear her starting a call, likely to the owner of the SUV, to tell them the repair is finished. At the end, I hear her refer to them as 'Mr. Parker'. It better not be him.

That train of thought is cut short for the moment as the sound of a vehicle outside pulling up rocks the shop. Likely a motorcycle based on the sound of the engine. After a moment, the side door to the shop opens, revealing two female figures wheeling in a motorcycle together, both of which I recognize.

The first I saw was Daniella, a tattoo artist I went to a few months back for my first, and currently only, tattoo. Simply the word ‘firecracker’ along my upper back. She was fairly young, only a bit older than myself, her tan skin glistening slightly with sweat from her now discarded biker jacket. Her arms are exposed in her t-shirt, showing off the full sleeve tattoos down both her arms; the left showing off a bull surrounded by spikes, while the other has an eagle with wind symbols or something around it. Her long and curly brown hair bounces slightly with her movements as she flashes a smile at me, her brown eyes shining in the room’s light.

Beside Dani, there was her girlfriend Gabriella. She moved here only a few months ago from Mexico and has some poor English, but has gotten better over time. Her skin is a lighter tone than Dani’s, but still has a slightly tanned coloration. Her hair is more curled than Dani’s but a lighter shade of brown as well, while her eyes are hazel rather than brown. A bit weird how she’s got an overall lighter shade to her, but whatever.

"Hey Jason! We need a fix over here whenever you can!" Dani calls out, and I can immediately see what the problem is upon looking at the bike. It has large scrapes along one side and is also missing the mirror on that side too.

I quickly strolled over and took a closer look at the damage. It would need some repainting and a new mirror, so not too bad, but a bit expensive on the paint side of things.

"Mirror’s only gonna be like $50, but the paint will be a few hundred." I say, turning to face the two women after inspecting the damage.

"Alright, no problem. By the way, when do you think you’ll come back to finish up your tattoo?"

"Once I figure out how I want it finished."

"Fair enough, we’ll go wait at the burger place around the corner and get some food while you work."

She flashed another smile before exiting with Gabby, who gave me a slight wave on the way out.

🜂🜂🜂

A few hours later, and after a few repairs too, my shift was coming to an end. Dani and Gabby had picked up the bike, and I started to pack my things when I heard the main doors open. I glanced over my shoulder to see Colden walk in with his dad, who was some high-ranking military asshole. I don’t know his official rank though.

Colden’s dad looked pretty similar to him, just older and with some graying hair. And a bit fatter too.

The pair went over to Nyx and began to speak to her, likely for payment and such for the work on the SUV. Colden took a glance over at me, his usual shit-eating grin across his face as he mouthed "bastard" to me.

I instinctively grabbed a nearby wrench, tempted to send it across the room and into that asshole’s face, but I resisted the urge. However, I kept a tight grip on the tool. That is until I heard a loud clang on the floor at my feet. Looking down, I saw the wrench on the floor, most of it at least.

Two pieces of the wrench are on the floor, melted at their inner ends, while I see molten metal in my hand. Acting quickly, I kicked the two pieces on the ground under a toolbox and shoved the hand with the rest of the wrench into my pocket just as Nyx looked over at me.

"What was that?" She called out, trying to see what caused the sound.

"I just dropped something. My bad." I replied, pretending to pick something up and putting it into the toolbox I kicked the real problem under.

"He seems too clumsy to work here. Wonder how he got the job." Colden comments quietly but still audibly.

I took a deep breath, still resisting the urge to cave his head in as I finished gathering my things and quickly made my way out, jogging to my truck and getting inside. I slammed my hands on the steering wheel and let out a yell of frustration before starting up the truck, deciding that the new fire Suit would go patrol a bit before Izzy dragged me to that party in a few hours.