Mechanical Marvels

Michael knocked on the loft door.  He sighed heavily when he received no answer.  He used his key to open the door and look around.  The loft was completely empty.  Brian had apparently forgotten about their plans to go out.  He hadn't seen the Jeep parked out front but he figured maybe it was in the parking garage.  He decided to go check and see. 

When he got to Brian's assigned spot, he was more than a little surprised to see not only the Jeep in its spot, but the hood of the Jeep was standing open.  He wondered what the hell was going on.  He started to walk around the Jeep when he tripped over something.  Looking down he saw Brian lying on the ground, half of his upper body hidden by the Jeep.  He started to panic.

"Brian?" 

"What?" his friend asked, then slipped out from under the Jeep.  His hands were covered with grease and he had a tool of some kind in his hand.  He even had some grease smeared on his face.  This thoroughly confused Michael. 

"What's going on?" Michael asked.  Brian stood and shrugged, going around to the front of the Jeep and leaning into the engine compartment.  He stayed like that for a few minutes before holding his hand out. 

"Hand me the three quarter crescent wrench, will you?" Brian asked. 

Michael located the toolbox and started looking through it.  He grabbed what he thought was the tool Brian asked for and slipped it in his hand.  The hand disappeared under the hood and then Brian stood and sighed. 

"Christ, Mikey, don't you know anything?  This is a socket wrench."  He put the tool in the toolbox, then pulled out another one.  It was flat and had a circle on one end and a half circle on the other.  "This is a crescent wrench.  See?  The crescent?"  He pointed to the half circle part, then his head disappeared under the hood again.

"Okay, who the fuck are you and what have you done with my friend Brian?" Michael finally demanded after a few minutes.  Brian moved out from under the hood and looked at him like he had a third eye. 

"What the fuck are you talking about?" 

"Since when do you know about cars?"

"My whole life."  He made a face that showed Michael should have known that, then put the crescent wrench away, grabbing another tool before moving under the Jeep again.

"Your whole life?  Jesus, Brian!  You act like this is the most natural thing in the world!  I have never seen you even want to get the slightest amount of dirt on your hands and here you are covered in grease?" 

Brian moved so that he could look at Michael, though he stayed on the ground. "I do this shit all the time.  It's just routine maintenance.  For the big stuff I take it to a mechanic." 

"I didn't even know you owned a fucking toolbox, Brian!" 

"So this is all about you not knowing something about me?  That's why you're so upset?  You should have been upset a long time ago because there's a lot you don't know."  He ducked his head back under the Jeep. 

"I should know something like this,” Michael said. 

Brian slid out from under the Jeep and stood, staring at Michael. "Yes, you should have.  Jesus Christ, Mikey!  Did you ever think that Jack Kinney would let his only son get away with knowing shit about cars?  He may not have wanted me, but he made damn sure I knew what a real man needed to know."  He scoffed at that last statement. 

"So all those weekends you ditched me saying you were working......"

"I was working on cars with my dad.  He hated me and we fought all the time, but when we were working on the car together.......he acted like he actually wanted me around.  So, even though I hated the asshole, I took every chance I could to feel like my dad actually gave a shit about me."

"Why didn't you tell me the truth?" 

"You would have thought I was out of my mind." 

"No, Brian.  Not if you had told me the real reason behind it.  I would have understood completely." 

"Well, we can't change it now."  He got back on the ground, sliding back under the Jeep. 

Michael just nodded a minute, then a memory hit him. "Wait a minute.......what about the trip to New York to get Justin?" 

"What about it?" Brian asked without moving out from under the vehicle.

"You made Emmett change the tire, acting like you didn't know how."  Brian laughed and Michael was confused.  Once again Brian got out from under the Jeep. 

"I never once said I didn't know how.  I just didn't want to do it.  I was getting ready to give in and do it when Emmett volunteered.  I decided to give him his little butch moment.  God knows he has so few."  The friends laughed. 

"But you knew how to do it."  It was said more than asked. 

Brian nodded.  "It's like me and cooking.  I know how, I just don't want to."  He smirked.  "Except, of course, when I have a seriously butch moment and just have to." 

"Brian, you're always butch."  Michael smirked. 

"Okay, so let me say I have a hetero moment and want to fix my Jeep myself." Brian smirked at Michael's feigned shocked expression.  "I take pride in the fact that I don't have to take it to a mechanic for every little fucking thing.  Besides, it saves the company money and Vance likes it when I save the company money." 

"Why does it save the company money?" 

"Because it's a company car, duh."  Brian smirked, then started to get under the Jeep again when Michael realized something else that Brian just said. 

"Wait a minute......you can't cook," Michael said. 

Brian's only response was a laugh.

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