Kindred Spirits

Mick sighed through his nose and sat down with his coffee; he was being a creep again, not like anyone in this place knew, they probably wouldn't ask either since he was...Well, Mick. He glanced out the window when he saw a familiar man walking to the shop, he was the reason Mick hadn't gone anywhere else except here in the past few weeks; he had no idea who he was but Mick felt drawn in.

It was just a shame that they didn't know each other, Mick sighed softly and drank some of his coffee; he put it down then got his laptop out and set to doing some work. He couldn't help but glance up at the man as he waited in the line, he forced his gaze down when the man got to the counter.

Mick wished he wasn't being weird; he never acted like this with someone he didn't even know, not even a woman, then again, he also found it harder to flirt with a guy than a woman. He hadn't tried much and he'd had way more girlfriends than he had boyfriends.

He wanted to slap himself for suddenly taking interest in some guy he didn't even know, "Excuse me."

Mick snapped out of his trance and looked to the source of the voice; he blinked at the sight of the guy he was checking out everytime he came here, "Uh, what?"

"It's a little full in here...Do you mind if I sit with you?"

"Whatever." Mick turned back to his work; that was also a problem too, even if Mick wanted to communicate with the man, his defenses were always up and sometimes he acted like a complete jerk when he didn't mean too.

Jim sat down, watching Mick typing away and he took a sip of his own drink; he'd seen the larger man in here a few times and he wondered who he was exactly. He saw Mick pause and gazed out of the window, he didn't want to be caught staring by the guy he was actually staring at.

Mick blinked at Jim looking out the window, he took a sip of his drink then held his hand out, "Mickael Thomson," Did he just say his full name? He usually just introduced himself as Mick, and it fazed him that he hadn't done that, "Call me Mick."

Jim snapped out of his daze and looked to Mick, "James Root," He shook the man's hand, "Uh, I prefer Jim though." He smiled and they pulled their hands away.

"I see you in here a lot."

"Yeah. It's a good shop y'know," Jim nodded to himself, "I see you a lot too."

"Like you said, it's a good shop." Mick shrugged; he took another sip of his drink then went back to his work.

"What are you doing?"

"Just work stuff."

"Right," Jim rolled his eyes, "Is it fun?"

"Nope. But I gotta do it or I'd get fired."

"Yeah, of course."

"What do you do?"

"Uhm, I teach."

"Oh yeah? What?"

"Music."

"Nice," Mick looked up, "Do you play anything?"

"Guitar, drums, bass, percussion, keyboard and I sing...But that's not really an instrument," Jim laughed, "What about you?"

Mick blinked, a little surprised by all that and the man's laugh, "Just guitar. My dad taught me, when I was about five. I taught some kids too, before I got this job."

"Ah cool," Jim grinned, "I taught myself guitar. There was just this old piece of shit laying in the house and it was so pathetic," He shook his head, "But it was good, y'know. Then I got a Les Paul and man, it was amazing! I play Fender now, the telecaster. I want a stratocaster so I gotta ask about it...I get mine custom made because I'm left-handed but I play right-handed and it needs to feel right for both sides or I'll just give up with them and play drums."

"Shit man...I don't think I've ever heard someone be so interested in music before," Mick grinned, "You're awesome."

Jim smiled brightly; he was about to reply when his food arrived, "Here you go Jimmy. Don't choke on it."

Mick rose and eyebrow at the man who put a plate in front of Jim; the older sighed and looked up, "You just can't stay in one job can you?"

"Nah. You aren't gonna get rid of me too easy Jimmy-boy."

"Fucking wish I could," Jim rolled his eyes, "Are you screwing the manager already?"

"Maybe."

"I thought you wanted to settle down Corey."

"Hey, she's hot and keep your voice down James. I am trying to find the right woman, there's just always something missing."

"Your ability to keep your cock in your pants?"

"You're just jealous because I haven't tried to seduce you."

"Please don't. I'll kick you in the balls. How's Angie and Griffin anyway?"

"They're fine. Scarlett decided to stop being a bitch and I'm seeing Griff a lot more than I was. Angie calls more than visits, she's got school you know. I heard that you and...What was his name? Broke up and a new job, huh?"

"Yeah...It doesn't matter about his name anyway, I can't deal with men anymore, they're worse than women."

"I wouldn't say that, they're definitely tigh-"

"Corey! Get back here, you've made a mess!"

Corey leaned down and sniggered, "That's code for: "I'm horny, come and get it". Maybe you just need to look around a little; I'm sure you'll find someone good," He tapped Jim's shoulder, "Gimme a call sometime, Griff will love to hear from you." He grinned then headed off.

"Well, that certainly wasn't subtle..."

"Oh sorry," Jim looked to Mick, "That's my best-friend. He's a fucking nut case but we've known each other for...Just over a decade."

"Wow."

"You're not bothered about me being bisexual, right?"

"Oh no," Mick shrugged, "I am too."

"Really?" Jim blinked a few times, "Uh, you don't seem like the type."

"Neither do you," Mick finished his coffee up; he read over what he'd added and held in a sigh, he got caught up in the conversation and he hadn't wrote much. He was glad to only have his cat at home so he could at least finish up later; he saved everything then closed his laptop, "I gotta go anyway."

"Oh right..." Jim sipped his coffee then thought of something, he grabbed a napkin and a pen out of his pocket, "Here," He wrote his number down and gave it to Mick, "Give me a bell sometime. Maybe we could play together, I'd love to hear what you're like." He smiled kindly.

Mick took the napkin and put it away; he then put his laptop in his bag and stood up, "I will. It was nice to meet you Jim."

"Yeah. You too Mick." He continued to smile and watched the man leave; he sighed once Mick was gone and set to eating his food.

"Damn," Corey plopped himself down across from Jim, "You work fast."

"Shut up Corey. He's a nice person."

"Aaannd?"

"I think we'll be good friends." Jim shrugged and finished up his food then drink.

"Oh please. You wanna get him out of his pants already."

"I'm not like that. Besides, my ex is bothering me so I don't want to drag him into any shit," Jim stood up, "I'm going now Corey. Have fun."

"Ugh, fine. Bye." Corey got up too and went back to his job while Jim left the building; he noticed Mick stood in front of a black car and he was clearly annoyed with something.

Jim decided to head over, "What's up?"

"My car is fucked. Waiting for people to come and fix it," Mick sighed, "I wanna get home to Moose, she'll be whining so much right now."

"Can I take a look?"

"Uh...Sure."

"Alright, pop the hood," Mick nodded and got into the driver seat; he popped the hood for Jim and the tall man looked in, "Ah. Fuck man," Jim poked his head out and took his jacket off, "Hold that?" He handed it to Mick who simply took it; Jim looked back under the hood and fixed up the problem rather quickly, "Wanna give it a try?" He pulled away and shut the hood.

"Yeah," Mick gave Jim his jacket back and he took it then put it on; the larger man got into the car and started it up, smiling happily when it worked, "Wow thanks. What was up with it?"

"Oh, no big deal really, battery just came loose. I tightened it up as much as I could without any tools, but you'll probably have to look at it when you get home."

"Thanks. I should have had a look first, it's just I've been waiting for a new engine to be fitted so I thought it finally went kaput on me."

"Nah. And you're engine doesn't need replacing. It's fine. But if you want to get it all running smoothly, I can take a look and I won't charge you for it. Plus I have some parts I've been meaning to put to use."

"Yeah...Awesome, I guess I'll give you a call later or probably tomorrow. I really gotta get home to my cat now," Mick pulled his door shut, "Thanks again."

"No worries," Jim smiled, "You might wanna let the break-down company know you don't need their help." He waved to Mick then headed to his own car; he got in and set off for home.