Calvin was crouched beside his motorcycle in the staff parking lot, wrench in hand and grease already smeared across his forearm. The engine had been making a rattling sound for the past week, and he'd finally carved out an hour between Greek Life meetings to actually do something about it. The parking lot wasn't ideal for maintenance work, especially not in Winter, but it beat trying to haul the bike anywhere else. His breath came out in visible puffs, and his fingers were already going numb despite the work gloves. He'd thrown on his heaviest flannel, but the cold still seeped through whenever he stayed still for too long.
Physical work helped clear his head in a way that sitting behind a desk never could, even if it meant freezing his ass off. He twisted the wrench, felt the bolt give, and grunted in satisfaction. Oil dripped onto the salt-stained pavement below with a steady plink, plink, plink. Just needed to tighten the casing and he could actually test whether that fixed the problem or if he'd need to dig deeper into the transmission. Footsteps approached across the asphalt, crunching through a patch of leftover snow.
Calvin didn't look up immediately, hoping whoever it was would see he was busy and keep walking. The footsteps slowed, then stopped a few feet away. Of course they did. Calvin didn't look up immediately, hoping whoever it was would see he was busy and turn right back around. The footsteps kept coming, echoing across the vast space. Of course they did. "If this is about the Alpha Nu mixer," Calvin called out, still focused on the bike, "I already submitted the noise complaint waiver. And if it's about the Phi Alpha booth placement, I'm not switching it. First come, first served." He wiped his hands on the rag tucked into his belt and finally straightened up, turning to face whoever had decided his lunch break was negotiable. "So unless someone set something on fire…" The wrench hung loose in his grip as he trailed off, taking in whoever stood before him. "What's up?"
@cverride
