#atyl

“SEND!” Rylen practically yelled at his phone, glaring maliciously at the little red dot indicating the message had failed to send.

“RYLEN SHUT UP!” Came a muffled yell from down the other end of his shared apartment. Rylen mumbled an apology to his flat mate before practically stabbing his finger into the screen of his phone, almost shouting when the message finally sent.

(06:10): I might be, are you agreeing?

(06:13): funny Rylen. Just come by and we’ll see.

Rylen smiled and combed his finger through his hair before grabbing his back pack and keys. “I’ll see you tonight, Barris!”

“Call that girl!” Barris yelled back before Rylen heard his bedroom door slam closed. Rylen sped down the stairs of the apartment complex, his heavy footfalls echoing around him till he reached the basement garage.

His apartment was only advertised for one car space, but with Rylen’s decision to take up less space by riding a motorcycle Barris had most of the room for his SUV. The black paint of Rylen’s bike was damaged, criss-crossed with white scratches from keys dragged across the surface.

Settling himself on the bike he took his phone out of his front pocket to make himself more comfortable, pausing to read the text Taya had sent him.

(06:23): I’ve got an idea. Since we really don’t know enough about each other to warrant a dinner date, why don’t I bring you lunch and then we’ll see about tonight?

(06:30): Sounds good, lass. I’ll see you at lunch.

Rylen pocketed his phone in his back before starting his bike and easing out of the garage.

Once he arrived at his workshop he was pleased to see the customer had arrived earlier than scheduled. He parked his bike and dumped his bag in the bottom drawer of his desk before coming out and looking the truck over once.

“Just a new paint job?” He confirmed.

The man nodded.

Rylen pursed his lips. “From just a glance I can see that you’re going to need new tires, and a quick tune-up.”

“I can’t afford that right now.”

“No need to get defensive, lad. How about this; I do the paint job for your quoted price, replace all your tires for nothing, and you can pay for the tune-up monthly.” Rylen said, adjusting his tool belt around his waist as he climbed up into the truck’s cab to open the bonnet.

The man was silent until the bonnet was open. “Yeah fine.”

“Excellent.” Rylen shook his hand and wrote down the new price before sending the man on his way.

He worked on the truck for most of the day, stopping only when regular customers came in to replace their tires, not a long process. While taping up the windows and new tires of the truck Rylen was able to order a new batch of black paint for his bike.

His phone chimed.

(12:59): knock knock.

He smiled, not looking up from his phone.

(13:00): who’s there?

“Your lunch.”

Rylen looked up from his phone, staring down the ladder he was standing on in order to each the truck’s windshield, to find Taya standing below him, a brown paper bag in her hand and flour on her cheeks.

Her unruly red hair was pulled back in a bun, curls had come loose and were cascading around her face and neck. She still wore her apron, the white cloth littered with smears from icings and oils.

“Well? Aren’t you going to come down and have it?” She said, shaking the bag slightly.

Rylen’s smile only grew and he quickly climbed off the ladder, wiping engine oil off his hands with a cloth tucked into the pocket of his overalls. “It’s nice to see you.” He said. “What have you brought?”

Taya walked over to a vertical pile of tires and placed the bag down, she pulled out two toasted sandwiches wrapped in newspaper. One had cheese, tomato, ham and chicken while the other had tuna, egg and lettuce. “Take your pick.”

Rylen took the tuna one. He bit into it, the sandwich made a satisfying crunch as he broke the crust of the bread. He had to fight from the urge to close his eyes and hum at the taste of the sandwich. “This is good.” He said around his mouthful.

Taya smiled, finishing her own mouthful before speaking. “Thank you. My newest employee made them, I’ll be sure to pass on your praise.”

Rylen took another bite. “So, apart from Jason, is there anyone significant in your life?”

“Not at the moment no.” She looked at him quickly before looking away. She jerked her head at the truck. “It’s huge.”

“Almost finished. Just got the paint job to do.”

“Did you get paint for your bike?”

Rylen’s cheeks tinted with a blush. “Aye, lass.” He paused. “Lass, I’m sorry for waking you up this morning.

Taya waves her empty hand, dismissing his apology. "There’s no need to apologise. I just hope Mack pays you.”

Rylen nodded. “He already has. I got a hold of him, sent him to Kirkwall to put in an order for new equipment, out his his pocket of course.”

“Kirkwall!?”

“Aye, Kirkwall.”

“Can’t you do it online?”

Rylen smirked. “Of course you can, but then he wouldn’t learn his lesson.”

Taya finished her sandwich, rubbing her fingers together to dust off the crumbs. “I can’t stay long, the lunch rush is pretty big today and I need to make new dough for pies.”

Rylen shook his head. “It’s okay.” He jerked his thumbed her his shoulder at the truck, “got that to keep me company.”

Taya turned to leave before looking over her shoulder. She smiled, “come by for the dinner run.”

Rylen’s smile widened till his cheeks hurt. “Aye, lass. I’ll be there.”

****

(20:00): I’m glad you made it tonight.

(20:00): it was fun, lass. I’ve never eaten a Ferelden-style steak before.

(20:03): was it everything you imagined?

(20:04): better. And Jason looks cute

(20:05): you saw his photo on the wall did you?

(20:10): yeah, sorry.

(20:11): why should you be sorry? That’s what it’s there for.

(20:12): good point

(20:20): I have to go, Rylen. Gotta tally up today’s winnings and call my mother.