car work

[littleorphanalien]

It had taken him a few tries, but Michael's managed to find a decent body of a car at the junkyard that he'd been given for just under two hundred bucks' worth of parts that he'd brought in to trade. It's an old Charger, but he knows he'll soup it up to make sure it's safe for everyone involved. Once he's got it in the shop, he takes over a small area in the back and texts Caleb that he's got his first shift after school on a Friday.

By then, Michael's already found about a quarter of what he needs, but the main thing he wants to work on with Caleb is the interior, since he wants to get the console installed, and he's got the wiring ready to go.

He's also put aside a jumpsuit for Caleb to use, just in case he really wants to feel like he's a part of the team, though he hasn't been able to get it embroidered the way he'd wanted to.

Comments

[greatamazingfeelingsboy]

Caleb nods and starts tentatively pulling out wiring that he can reach. He'd rather not catch on fire, either, honestly. He doesn't like it here, but not that much.

"What d'you mean, 'what kind of seats?'" he asks. "Just, like... car... seats, right?"

[littleorphanalien]

Michael hands him the wire strippers. "Here, if you want to get some practice stripping them, now's a good time," he offers. "And for the seats," he says, and slides inside to start working on it, "That's pretty much your call. Leather, upholstery, bench seat, bucket seats, Captain ones," he lists.

"This is a custom car," he promises. "You pretty much get what you want."

[greatamazingfeelingsboy]

Okay, that makes more sense. Caleb automatically fills in the context of each type of seat, except for 'captain', and he feels kind of stupid, so he laughs a little.

"Oh, um." He takes the wire strippers and gets in a little practice, like Michael suggests, and thinks about it. "Leather would be easier to clean, right?" he asks, accidentally but immediately thinking of heavy makeout sessions with Adam like some shitty TV movie. "But probably not that great in terms of temperature regulation," he adds, trying to focus on something that isn't his absent boyfriend.

[littleorphanalien]

Michael can't help his smirk (which is almost proud) when Caleb comments about it being 'easier to clean', but he can't talk. The truck has leather seats and he's definitely had to go at them with a cloth a few times here, so if anything, he's delighted. "Yeah, definitely they're easier to clean," he says, and starts pulling at them.

"We can do leather. Bench seats? All one? Or you want individual ones with a console in the middle?"

[greatamazingfeelingsboy]

"Yeah, probably the bench seats," he confirms, blushing even darker when he feels Michael's pride as he puts the pieces together, and the connections he's sure Michael's gonna make to the bench seat suggestion, too. But honestly, it's more about the idea of being able to sling his arm around Adam's shoulders when they go places together.

If he ever gets here.

"Um, is this gonna be a stick shift, or automatic?" he asks, trying to change the subject before his face goes nuclear from his own blushing.

[littleorphanalien]

Michael's smirk only grows wider and more amused, because he knows exactly what he's talking about, and why he wants them. Hell, he has them himself and he loves it, for the ease of access and how he and Alex can get as cozy as possible.

"You tell me. You wanna learn to drive manual, we could do that, or we could go automatic," he allows, and reaches over to give his shoulder a nudge. "You don't gotta be embarrassed, you know," he promises. "I'm not gonna judge you."

[greatamazingfeelingsboy]

That just has Caleb blushing a little more, and he ducks his head, but leans into the nudge. "I know," he mumbles. "It's just. I'm not used to thinking about that stuff, I guess. But I already know how to drive a stick. That's what I learned on my permit with, actually."

[littleorphanalien]

Michael shifts a little to sit with his back pressed to the passenger seat door, giving him a gentle look. "I mean, from what you've told me, you had a pretty serious boyfriend back home," he says. "I'm pretty sure that you spent a lot of time thinking about that stuff," he says, and he's not meaning to tease, but it seems pretty clear to state that matter of factly.

"And great, we'll put a clutch in, no problem," he says, and finishes tugging out the last of the wiring. "This stuff is definitely old, we'll have to rewire it from scratch." He sounds excited about that, though, seeing as it's a challenge.

[greatamazingfeelingsboy]

Caleb chooses to avoid the first subject entirely. He and Michael are getting to be really good friends, and being around him his great for his ability, but he doesn't want to get into conversations about sex and general horniness with him. Not yet, anyway. Maybe if it ever becomes an issue, he can turn to him for advice.

So for now, he focuses on the car.

"I'm not gonna be able to help with the wiring," he says. "Or, I mean, I've never done that sorta thing before."

[littleorphanalien]

"I don't have everything I need right now, but when I do, you can help me watch it go in," he says with a nod, giving him an encouraging smile, because if he can puzzle it all together, then anyone can. "You can think about what color you want this thing to be once I sand it down, too."

It's good to have something to work on like this, because otherwise, he knows he has a tendency to get bored. That, or let things consume him that really shouldn't.

[greatamazingfeelingsboy]

"Green," Caleb says, almost before Michael can finish his sentence. "Definitely green. Like, a nice green. Not a dark one, or like, lime or anything like that. A good green." A green that makes him think of Adam.

[littleorphanalien]

Michael mouths 'green' and then gives him a wary look. "I think maybe you're gonna have to bring some swatches," he warns. "Because I don't really know what green you want and the last thing I want to do is mess up your car," he snorts.

"Green and leather seats," he narrates, thinking that he can find some nice brown leather, definitely somewhere. "Okay. Now we're getting somewhere." He fishes out all the wiring and gets out of the car. "Why green?"

[greatamazingfeelingsboy]

"Oh, it's." He blushes a little, but not in embarrassment. "You know how I told you that my feelings are yellow? Well. Adam's are this really nice ocean blue. And when we're together, everything's green. It's." He shrugs, because he doesn't think it's silly, or stupid, but maybe Michael will.

[littleorphanalien]

Michael thinks it's nice. He does.

The thing is, he's not entirely sure what color that actually translates into. "Yeah, definitely paint swatches. I don't wanna end up painting this thing some ugly green color that you cringe at every time you see it," he says with a snort.

"Is that what happens? You mix? And what's blue mean?"

[greatamazingfeelingsboy]

"Blue is, um. It's a lot of things. It can be loneliness, or sadness, or depression. With Adam, it's... it's all of them? He's not as sad anymore, now that we're together."

Well. He wasn't. When Caleb was there. Fuck.

[littleorphanalien]

Michael works on tugging out the last of the wiring and heads to the trunk to see if there's anything he needs to strip out. He takes a moment and glances to Caleb. "I was thinking maybe you should come over for dinner sometime, you know?" he says.

"Maybe you could tell me what Alex's is? I mean, if that's not overstepping boundaries or anything."

[greatamazingfeelingsboy]

"He might not even be one color, like you," Caleb points out. He wants to tell Michael that he doesn't like being a human mood ring, but the truth is, he kinda does. Now that he's able to talk about it more openly with people, he likes explaining how emotions look and feel.

But this does seem a little like pushing boundaries. What if Michael doesn't like what he hears about Alex's feelings? What if Alex feels like it's an invasion of privacy? What if he ruins their relationship because he accidentally reveals some deep secret that neither of them even realize is between them? Fuck. He's gonna have to keep that secret if he feels it.

[littleorphanalien]

Michael feels like he's instantly chastised by that, slammed back with it. "Shit, you're probably right," he admits, even if he doesn't really feel guilty so much as he thinks that socially, he's not supposed to want to know.

It's just that sometimes, Alex can be so hard to read and the instinct to be able to have that is something he wants so badly.

"I mean, but what if he said you could? Maybe that'd work?"

[greatamazingfeelingsboy]

"Hey, no, I'm sor—" Caleb stops, equally slammed by Michael's contrition. Then he asks the question, and he knows there's a deeper meaning behind it. Alex can only approve if Michael tells him about Caleb's ability. But if Alex knows that Michael's an alien, then... then he's safe, right?

"I, I mean," he tries, then clears his throat. "Yeah, I guess? I— I'm not a mood ring, though, okay?" His voice is a little firmer, a little steadier. "I don't want to be, y'know, used like that. It's one thing to like... talk about it, and explain things. But I don't like spying on people's feelings, or anything. N-not that I think that's what you want!" he rushes to add, "but I need to say that."

[littleorphanalien]

"Kid, I got a sister who can literally go into your head," he says, though he's never really preached consent and permission with Isobel. If anything, he's encouraged the opposite, for her to use it when they're in danger and need of something to protect them.

"But uh, yeah, your rules, right? I guess I just..." He swallows, hard. "It's not that I wanna know all the time, but the same as I kind of hope that I'm not as angry, I'm hoping that he's not as sad, but it'd be so good to know."

[greatamazingfeelingsboy]

"What if he is?" Caleb asks, every aspect of the car they're working on now forgotten. "You can't fix it. I know: I've tried. Like... Adam has depression. He's had it for years, and he's probably always gonna have it. I can't make him better, and... knowing it's there, I want to. All the time. But I can't, and he knows that, and I know that, and... sometimes it's really, really fucking frustrating. But I think that's why his feelings are always a shade of blue. Because it's there, and it's sort of shaped him, how he is.

"Like your anger," he adds. "You're not actively angry, but it's always there, and it shaped who you are. It shaded how you feel about literally everything. Does that make sense?"

[littleorphanalien]

Michael doesn't know what to think about that. He's always thought that so much of Alex's unhappiness stemmed of his father and of Roswell, so the idea that he might be unhappy here twists him up. He fiddles with the trunk and the interior of the car, dumping out all the items he's throwing out and glancing to Alex's desk (even though he's gone home).

"If it shapes him, then it's just part of him that I love, but I gotta think..." He gives Caleb a pleading look. "I need to know he's at least happy with me. We're really complicated," he admits. "So it'd be good, knowing."

[greatamazingfeelingsboy]

Caleb's heart is racing, but he's pretty sure it's from Michael, not from himself. "Michael..." He shakes his head, taking a deep breath. "I'm, I'm sure he is, I..." But he's not. He can't be, because he's never met Alex, and all he knows about him is what Michael has said, what he's felt. It's a double-edged blade, and he's scared of what Michael will feel, what he'll do, if he finds out that Alex might not feel for him the way he expects or hopes.

[littleorphanalien]

Michael squeezes his hand, his bad hand, and he stares at it. The thing is, he needs Caleb to really understand, which is why he's gotta be really honest and tell him something that only one other person knows.

"I have to know," he reiterates, a little firmer. "Because if he's unsure or unhappy or un-anything, then I can't put that engagement ring on his finger until I know." He still has no idea how he wants to propose, but the idea of proposing and having Alex say no is heart-crushing, and if Caleb can somehow make it so that he knows going in what his chances are, he needs to take it.

He keeps yanking out items from the trunk (leftover equipment, upholstery), just to give himself the distraction.

[greatamazingfeelingsboy]

Caleb feels it all. The excitement, the nerves, the uncertainty, the dread. He takes a shaky breath and rubs his face, then shoves his fingers into his hair.

"Fuck," he grumbles. "Look, okay, but. I-I'm not a mind reader, okay? He might be feeling uncertain about how to talk to me and I could read it the wrong way. I don't even know the guy. His feelings are gonna be brand new, I can't— fuck, you can't load your whole fucking future on me like that, Michael."