1964-10-23 - Putting in Some Wrench Time
Summary: Dizzy and Wither haul in some new scrap and talk art projects and water sanitization, because killing germs is important too
Related: If there are no related logs, put 'None', — please don't leave blank!
Theme Song: None
julie wither 


It's before the start of classes, and Dizzy's in one of the garage bays, setting out some engine parts and tools on a workbench, which is next to a fairly rough-looking Studebaker Hawk and another engine on a stand. She's got a Thermos of coffee to hand and the doors are only open by one panel against the autumn chill. She wags a finger in the air, which tightens a light bulb in its socket, thus turning that one on.

*

The familiar sound of metal being dragged was a surefire sign that he wasn't someone who could manipulate metal or was one of the mess of mutants that could shoulder 2 tons without a second thought. scraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaape- it was not a lovely sound. Not at all. There was a bay at teh end that had been retrofit with corrugated metal walls incase death boy touched he wood beams? Well there wouldn't be a barn colapse that accidently killed 5 students on the news. He took this seriously even if some other folks didn't. He stopped and blinked looking up greeting, "Ooooh hey, I didn't know anyone was up and out here this early. Should have known better. They made a big thing of coffee in the caf for people that, um, drink it." He didn't. He tried but it still tasted like an ash slurry. Wasn't much of a point, sadly. "You don't, that is, it's fine if I wet up shop. Won't bother ya none?"

*

Julie says, "Nah, got to teach a class in an hour or so, though, if we can work around that. Lemme give you a hand with, ah, that," she says, of whatever it may be, taking up some work gloves and a mechanic's creeper to get the other end. She'll heft the dragging end onto that, just to make life easier, but for a girl, she seems pretty accustomed to the physical work of it. The waste-metal bin, for that matter, has a few interestingly-shaped little bits just lately, courtesy of the new wagons' suspension improvements."

*

Wither warmed an appreciative smile to her. "Yeah, thanks, that'd be great" The metal was some industrial gratiting, a long pipe that might have run water as irrigagion underground given the 3" diameter iron pipe rahter than the more domestic 1" or 1.25" gauges for domestic use. The help, though was welcome, and unlike the kitchen, there was very little he could break around the shop so long as the wood wasn't directly exposed. "I had an idea for some mobile yard art I started scratching out. Slept terribly so… I thought i'd go out collecting. What're you working on?"

*

Julie jerks a thumb back toward the Studebaker. "This little guy's the shop class car till he's done. Needs some of everything, but that's kind of the idea. We do some of the build on the fresh engine once in a while, the old one, sometimes I'll mess something up for the kids to find for quizzes." She nods on the collecting. "Guess I oughtta take you around the salvage yard sometime, but when we're done with a few things I'll be sure to see what you think of em before I haul em off." She pours out some coffee, and with a glance around and a sniff, lights a ciggy. "Care for a cawffee?"

*

Wither looked at the car and nodded, "The high school class then? I was thinking if htye wanted to allow me, to maybe work with some of the younger kids about. Maybe do a using powers for projects thing. Make stuff to decorate this chool with or, if they want, send home for holidays comin up. Jes'-" He looked around and pointed, "jes put that over there. I dunno. Been thinking it'd be nice for some of those kids with fire or something to find out what they can do. My project for this month was work on being constructive, so… I mean it's a thought."

*

Julie nods, "Sure. Ain't no rule against you taking shop, either, but just with the welding torches and all, kinda got to push the safety thing, is all. Mostly been focusing on doing stuff the old-fashioned way, but that's kinda how to get by in the outside world a lotta the time. I mean, I don't even really need wrenches, but it's how I learned and people don't flip their lids that way." She waggles a two-tone orange adjustable wrench she always seems to carry in a back pocket. "Don't use these, by the way, but I carry one of these around for, you know, plausible denials." She adds, "Anyway, maybe after classes or whatever, we could even get together on that. I can think of a few might be interested already."

*

Wither grinned a bit and nodded, "I bet you don't have to either. But… I wouldn't mind help. I was thinking of the piece being a sort of mobile. I could use help balancing it. Maybe get some ideas for it. I took some spoons from teh caf to practice getting shaping done. Let the wind move it. Then I have to figure out colour later. I dunno. I want it to look new an intential. Tells a better story ya know? See if you can see the things people threw away. See it's got meaning. Sort of, eh, thematic."

*

Julie nods, "Balance, I got. Also some axle bearings and some extra ends of a tail rotor blade I cut down for another project, if you're thinking like a windmill sorta thing. Easiest way to do something big, probably, just cut down an old axle. We're gonna end up with the old single-legger out of this Studey when we put in a posi. Torch it off, paint it up nice or hide the whole mechanism, something like that?"

*

Wither took this in and managed to follow almost all of it. THe walking death bomb warmed a gina nd added, "We flip that sideways we cna make it go around like a carousel. OH!" He tossed a steel chassis for a ceiling an that looked a bit like an industrial grade vase to teh side with a heavy thood! "A saw these… little paper birds. I want to make some bits that look like maybe little paper birds out of some of those old signs we found last week. Maybe hook them to the outside edge like a flying merry go round when teh wind propells it." He had an idea. An actual idea. Standing up he gave Dizzy a grin, "You're not bad at this at all."

*

Julie nods, eyeing the ceiling fan bits. "I guess that's the same general idea, just smaller, that. …that old fan could be better for some smaller things, or we hook it up to a belt or something so it turns a different way than the rest. Axle bearings are all over, though, if they're standing upright they'll just spin about anything you want and there ain't much stronger. There's more than one piece of playground equipment made with those." As a kid, Dizzy spent a lot of time on playground carousels, after all, trying to make herself dizzy and failing, depsite earning that nickname for her efforts. "I kinda been paying attention all my life. It's sort of how I see stuff, only it ain't exactly seeing."

*

Wither offered a warm smile and shrugged. "It's okay. I always seen the parts, and not the whole and a whole from random parts. we weren't on really hard times growin' up. My dad was really good at buildin' things. Let me help em with repairs around hte house as a kid. Ah' loved it. It's somethin finding stuff and making it into somethin that someone's gonna enjoy. Better than trash pilin up. Could be art or a car, or a new blender. Anything. So many people go eh if it's not new and fancy ah' don't want it."

*

Julie nods, returning the smile, and puffing on the cigarette, after tapping off neglected ashes into something made from a hubcap. "Keeps us hotrodders in parts and cars, though. Rather would have built over bought, myself, in general, though, unless something new's really better." She indicates the new school wagons just coming into service. "Guess it's kind of fun to drop some moolah and check all the option and delete boxes on something like those, though. Woulda taken too long to build em up when you can get em almost set up right from the factory. Anyhow, I think you'll have to bring most of the art, but I can bring some leftover paint from the body shop, kind of a pick from what you get kind of deal."

*

Wither grinned and had a good feeling about this. "In theory we could try making our own paint. I have to look what all would go into that, buuuut with all our talents we might be able to get the minerals to do that. But I'm not much of a chemist. No tin, ya know, that sense." He chewed his lip and took the reinforced synthetic gloves off and dropped them on the work bench holding his hands up for a moment to let her know just be aware. He grabbed the pivot from the ground where he tossed tit and popped it up on the aluminium workbench. "We can make somethin beautiful from this stuff. Man this is gonna be groovy." He bit his lip and looked to Dizzy, "Sorry for runnin off the other day. It wasn't you or Miss Sophie."

*

Julie ahs, "It's all right, I figured you just kinda had a thing with your stuff, just sometimes I gotta go where there ain't a lotta loose objects lying around, take a drive, something like that. And, well, we can always mix something up special, too, just gotta buy what you need to do it with. Ain't like it's hard for me to stir things," she winks. She does steer a bit clear of the bare hands, since Wither might be doing something with em. She hasn't bothered to remove one of her own, even, from when she helped lift the large pipe, and waves that one a bit in case Wither needs an extra hand. "Don't hurt to glove up when you're working on this kind of stuff, anyway, no sense beating on your hands, or, in my case pissing off my Mama and cousins showing too much of what I do at family occasions," she smiles.

*

Wither chuckled at the wink. Honestly? It was good to just have normal conversations and this was cool. He eyes the pieces that were scrapped from the other project and started tossing nuts and bolts and trimmed pieces into a metal pail. Kevin shrugged, "Eh wasn't really that. They started goofing off in a small space but if I touch them?" be bit his lip and very gently barely poked the apple that was sitting on the counter left over from someone's lunch. Instantinously it was desccicated, shriveled,and inonly four seconds was just a pile of dust. He bit his lip and looked to Dizzy. "Happens to anything organic that I touch including people." He paused taking a slow break and flexed his fingers. It wasn't something he got to stretch often. Right back to nuts and bolts. He murmuredm, "I just didn't want Sam or Bobby, or Doug to wind up dead or missing limbs and they're all like what's your problem?" He sighed, "I jsut don't like seein em get hurt."

*

Julie nods, "I kinda heard you had some kind of thing like that." She hrms, and says, "What you mean by organic, though, …I mean, like, chemically or, something more specific?" She holds up a finger and takes a few steps to fish something out of the trash. It's an oil filter, from which she pours a few drops into the cavity formed by the bottom of an inverted soda can that is also handy. "Kinda wondering if you do anything to lubricants, …these are organic compounds, but they's mineralized and refined and everything, too." She adds, "Just maybe we oughtta get some rubber gloves if I can rope you into shop class, depending how this goes."

*

Wither shook his head, "Rubber is of a tree and is teeeechnically plant matter. It gets ruined too. It's," He sighed and shook his head, "Can't use like a pencil, paper, and anything that's mixed? wlel that breaks down too. Hulloooo carbon city. like I pick upa pencil and the wood disintegrates but not the graphite or the metal bit. I am, though, super good at cleaning some gutters, getting rid of leaves. Your garden if you never want to see it again." He tried to make light of that one but that one hurt him a bit. He shrugged, "Have to watch what I wear I mean it's like it's no fun at all. Prof siad everyone has a gift but I htink she was trying to jsut make me feel better. You want to get rid of life forms and purify water? I eman I can kill bacteria, I just cant get it out of there. but it'd be super dead. Very sanitary." He nodded sagely and had at least that going for him.

*

Julie nods. Just sets down the bit of oil. "Guess this could already be super-dead, like maybe what's in plastic." She scratches her head, a little, crushing out the remains of her smoke. "Well, I guess they mean everything's got a use. You'd be the man of the hour in a lot of epidemics you hear about around the world. Good water's no joke. I guess that prof meant everything's in how you use it. I mean, not that it sounds easy to live with. I kinda thought I had a lot to worry about before I came here, but for most of what I can do, you kinda gotta use your head about how. Otherwise all's I'd do is make all kinds of messes." She fiddles with something in a pocket. "Anyhow, we'll work something out if you wanna try on my class for size, maybe talk to the Prof about your art one."

*

Wither really thought about that and blinked looking oddly hopeful, "Sooo if Hope's future comes true and everything is all end of the world I might actually be some kinda hero? THat's… that's disturbing. But if we're in the field or something and someone gets hurt? That's drinking water without parasites I guess." Huh. He smiled and smirked, "I'm not changing my name to 'the sterilizer' though. That sounds awful."

*

Julie laughs, a little, and nods. "Yeah, that sounds like a bad guy somehow, and you ain't that. But maybe you ought to talk to Josh, he's a doctor. I dunno if he uses tools either these days, but maybe he does sometimes." Nods more seriously, though. "But hey, you ever seen just how *much* water you can clean up? That could really help a lotta people."

*

Wither looked to her and arched an eyebrow, "Josh? Elixir Jush? Yeah I know em. He was one of the three people that came to get me when, well, he got me here." He had mixed feelings on that but he seemed a really decent dude and that was a har done to get around. At the judgement though Kevin flushed across his nose and ears, "What? Me? Aaaaaaah no. no I'm not that." That was embarassing. Shaking his head he took the bucket of assembly bits back to his workbench. "Tween you and me? Have nightmares about that stuff all the time. Not… not something I like to think about."

*

Julie nods. "I guess that's part of why you ain't a bad guy, right?"

*

Wither smiled a bit and shrugged, "For all our sake I hope so."

*

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