Excuse Me, But Your Car Is On Fire, open

Quinn's mouth open and then shut again very quickly. Nope, no one wanted to hear that running away story - at least not without a few beers between them. Usually she couldn't dare even be tempted, but the whole ordeal had been at the forefront of her mind lately. She filled her mouth with sweetness instead. She couldn't help by smile at Wes. Everyone was endearing with an ice cream cone in hand, trying desperately to keep the liquid bits from dribbling too far down.

Yeah. She definitely had an oral fixation. Quinn chewed a cherry bear slowly, almost carefully. "Personal space is for sissies." To emphasize the point, she knocked her knee against his. It was the absolute truth. Quinn just wasn't a girl overly hung up about personal boundaries. Society didn't make the lines, people did, and people were more than willing to tell you where and when to stop. Until then-

"Get out. For serious, yo? How did that happen? Coolest thin g i ever lost was a thumbnail - well, besides, y'know, the usual." Quinn tilted a her head and lifted an eyebrow a la if you catch my drift. There was a grin behind it though, she was teasing him again.

"Eh, a while I guess. I had to opportunity to take over the design and repair department at the Jensen here, so I snatched it up. It's been a bit of a hassle getting it in line though, so I haven't been out a terrible amount. why, am I getting to be pale?"

It was rare to meet someone who was so very comfortable with themselves and others around them so quickly. It was actually relaxing, and almost a bit contagious. Eddison found himself starting to match some of the same casual attitude that Quinn seemed to come by so naturally. And here Eddison thought of himself as easy going. Of course, it was always different for guys. If he had tried to bump her knee first, someone would have been yelling sexual harassment.

"You must be a hugger, then." Eddison smiled back, returning the knee bump. What? It was totally okay if the girl did it first. "Or is that too touchy-feely for a tough broad like yourself?" He teased, raising an eyebrow at her. "Chest bumps? Head butts. I'm fond of the occasional fist bump myself." He admitted, still working steadily on his ice cream. When was the last time he'd actually had an ice cream cone?

Ahhh the old how did you lose your hearing story. Which one to go with today. "Bomb exploded. Right by my ear." He told her, managing to maintain a perfectly straight face. "Lost four good men that day... Found pieces of them, though. So I guess they weren't totally lost. Had them shellacked and mounted on a plaque so that I could take them with me where I went." Okay - that was horribly morbid. He should have gone with the saving puppies story he used in college all the time. "Actually, it's kind of boring." He shrugged. "A procedure to stop me from getting ear infections all the time as a kid went wrong and screwed up my left ear so bad I lost all function in it." True stories were always boring. "Haven't been able to use it since I was three." So really he didn't miss it all that much. He couldn't actually remember a time when he COULD use both ears.

But enough about him. What about Quinn! "Jensen?" He asked with a slight frown, trying to think if he had seen a place with that name. Design and repair... "Oh! The jewelry place?" Eddison asked. "That's kind of cool. You design jewelry? Like, do you draw it out kind of design or do you do the.... cutting stone, welding bits together kind of design?" Personally, Eddison really liked working with his hands, so it was something he could hopefully relate to. Sure, wood was different from gold and gems, but it was still. Close enough.

"Oh yeah, head butts all the way. Sometimes, I secretly wish I was a moose. except, its not really a secret." No lie, Quinn wanted a pair of antlers. Every Christmas she'd pull out a whole collection of reindeer themed head gear. The one family photo she still had featured her and her two sisters all wearing the single awkward antler from How the Grinch Stole Christmas. "No but seriously, not a hugger. I guess I just don't even really think about it."

If Quinn had been a puppy her ears would have perked right up. God damnit she loved her job. She had to hold herself back a little though or she would get to yammering on. It wasn't that she had a sparkle complex - the fascination wasn't even with the diamonds. Quinn just really liked making a customer's day, knowing that she was ensuring some one else's happily ever after.

"Well, everything outside of stone cutting - that's someone else's job. everything we get is precut, usually certified. I do some design work, but most customers already have a good idea of what they want. I do run our shop though, so all the custom builds go through me. I do everything from the wax molding to the final rhodium plate. Actually," Quinn held up her finger tips to Wes' face. "My fingers usually smell a little like solder. They're surprisingly clean today, but that's why they're never painted."

Hah. funny. She'd almost been about to believe him. He pulled off a fairly good dead pan. She couldn't help but wince a little in sympathy though. she'd hate to loose her hearing, but she'd rather loose it than her sight.

"Botched medical procedure is kinda interesting," she offered. "Like, you could've been your own personal episode of House. Or you could've ended up being House. For that matter, what do you do Mr Inquiry? I feel like I'm under the Spanish Inquisition. Or a first date. So torture either way."

"Not a secret any more, no." Eddison agreed, trying to picture Quinn as a moose. Nah, didn't work for her. "Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be a penguin, though." He admitted, feeling that if they were sharing about strange animal ponderings that he might as well be honest. "You know - being able to swim, but not fly." That must really suck for penguins. Did they ever get jealous of other birds? Eddison was pretty sure that he would. Flying was one of the major perks of being a bird.

It was sort of obvious from the way that she perked right up that Quinn loved what she did. Or at least loved talking about it. "Rhodium plating? Is that a finish or something?" He asked curiously. And not politely curious, either - Eddison genuinely liked to learn new things. Like how Quinn's fingers apparently routinely smelled like solder. "Mmm, nutritious and delicious." Eddison laughed, sniffing delicately at her fingers. "And I never understood how girls can pain their nails anyway. I would spend all day staring at them if I did that." Sure, it did make fingers look prettier in comparison, but sometimes the colors were down right distracting more than enhancing.

"Botched medical procedure is kinda interesting," Quinn pointed out, and Eddison gave her an 'eh' sort of shrug as he continued to attack his ice cream. He was down to the cone now - the best part. "For that matter, what do you do Mr Inquiry? I feel like I'm under the Spanish Inquisition. Or a first date. So torture either way."

"No one ever expects the Spanish Inquisition." Eddison grinned, biting off the bottom of the cone and sucking out the melted ice cream that had pooled there. "Mmm, I'm a professional student." He said with a smile, wiping at his mouth a napkin. Ice cream mustaches were not as cool as kool aid ones. "I like to learn new things, so when something catches my interest... I take classes or learn how to do it. Makes for a lot of new hobbies." Which was more true than he cared to admit. But at least he was never bored.

"And for your information." He paused a moment, pointing a finger at her playfully. "A first date with me is never torture. That is sooooo thirteenth century. I'm way more hip than that." He nodded before taking a bite of the cone. Yeah. Chocolate dipped was definitely the way to go.

For Quinn, who'd been supporting herself since she was seventeen, it was very hard to imagine not actually working a job. Learning was one thing, but what do you do with your time? Where was the productivity, the sense of accomplishment, the satisfaction of a job well done? Well, to each their own.

"Yeah it's what makes'white gold' white." She had to put the spoon down to make the finger quotes. "See, white gold doesn't exist in nature. Instead they mix a fair about of nickle and whatever the hell else into the proportion to reinforce it, then they take a platinum patina type finish and adhere it to the outside to make it appear silver. Thus, shiny white gold. It wears off over time though, so they usually need re-dipping every few years."

Eagerly Quinn tore into the last few bites of her ice cream, lips pursed as she sucked on the gummy bears, savoring every last sugar sample. Mmmm lemon and cherry, sweet but mostly tart. It could've been an apt metaphor, but instead she swallowed it.

"Well what kinda of hobbies do you like the best then, Mr Bum? Like, if you had to make a career out of one, what would it be?" For now, she wouldn't pry about what he did to actually support himself. Surprisingly, Quinn rarely pried into other people's finances. It was the one taboo subject she'd managed to find. Well, that an politics, but that was only because she hated talking politics.

"I dunno man, a good flogging on the first date might get you some bonus points with the right girl. I'll take your word on it though," The bright green spoon hung out of Quinn's mouth for a moment as she paused. "For now."

Yeah, she'd gone and signed her marital rights away, but she wasn't one to turn down opportunity. Truth be told, Quinn still didn't know how to feel about The Vow. She'd done it because it made good sense and avoiding it would have been a bit selfish and unrealistically optimistic. Having sold engagement rings her entire career, Quinn was now well aware she wasn't going to ever be on the receiving end of one. Boys always looked at her profession one of two ways. Either they decided she would have unrealistically high expectations and would never want to even try for fear of failure - or, they would assume she already had everything picked out and planned and wouldn't bother trying for fear of failure there either. But Quinn was a big girl and had (mostly) gotten over her resentment of it. She would just find other ways to make her own damn self happy.

Did Eddison listen raptly to Quinn's explanation about white gold? Yes, he did. He had never heard this before, and was actually intrigued by the process and information. "Really? I didn't know that about white gold! Does that process make it more expensive?" He asked, genuinely curious. He wasn't familiar with the price of jewelry based on metals - though he always imagined gold and platinum were more expensive. "Or is it less because there's not as much pure material in it? Like - it's not really gold, it's got fillers." It was funny the way some things effected value and price. It was why he never speculated without all of the information.

That was definitely one hobby he had not tried - any kind of smithing. Blacksmithing, goldsmithing. None of it had piqued him enough to try it. He had gone to a fair once where he spent a good hour and a half watching a blacksmith work. The girl he had gone with had gotten bored and shopped without him while he had watched fascinated. But out of all his hobbies. what did he like best?

"Probably the carpentry." He admitted, nodding his head with a smile. "Not like building a house kind of carpentry. I've just done smaller things. A book case. A side table." He didn't want Quinn to get the idea that he was one with the New Yankee Workshop. Not quite, anyway. "I've started a really cool card table for my poker nights and a roll top desk just to see if I can do it, but I haven't finished either of them. I ended up having to pack up the workshop when I moved here, and since there's no place to set it up in the apartment..." He shrugged. "It'll come out when I get a house." And a wife.

Yeah... yeah, a wife. Not for the first time (more like the fifty billionth one) Eddison tried to imagine what she would be like. He knew she wouldn't be perfect - not his dream ideal, anyway. But he did hope that it was someone that he could genuinely grow to love. Build things for. Like a spice rack or a rocking chair. Maybe a rocking horse somewhere down the road... way down the road.

"I miss my power tools." He sighed over dramatically, looking off over Quinn's shoulder like he was pining away for them. "All of those saws... sometimes I think I can hear them crying for me at night all the way from the storage locker."

"Well, no. All gold has 'fillers' in it I guess. Pure gold - 24k - is far too soft to work with. You can actually scratch it with a finger nail. So it's just a slightly different mixture between white, rose and yellow gold. Traditionally speaking, all golds, outside of different karat weights, are the same cost. Jewelers won't usually charge more for different finishes, however the upkeep can get costly over time. We charge about thirty-five dollars per re-dipping, outside of warranty." There she went, off on a whole work tirade. She gave a sheepish grin and waved the whole thing away with a flick of her fingers.

"Hmm, power tools eh? Gotta love a man with a tool belt." There was a sudden snicker. "Remember that Tool Time show? I used to love Wilson. Totally wanted to be like him when I grew up." Quinn held up her now empty cup to obscure the bottom of her face. "Is it working? Am I sage yet?"

Actually, Quinn had a lot of respect for carpentry. She had a lot of respect for anyone who could make anything. The human spirit, she felt, laid in creation. Art was just an odd by product. If he were honest, she'd admit he'd just won himself five points on the attractive scale. Forward as she was though, there was a time and a place to put herself out. Today, she decided, was not that time or place. Sometimes, you had to let a man come to you.

"Well you'll have to set me up with a nice bookshelf some day - y'know pay off your karmic debt. Oh, speaking of," Quinn's free hand flickered toward the window again where a flash of lights was playing against the road. "Looks like the calvery finally showed."

"I knew it was soft, but I had no idea it was that soft." Eddison raised both of his eyebrows in surprise. See? The cool things that you learned when you asked questions. This was what Eddison liked - learning things. Sometimes they were completely trivial, other times they were great conversation bits you could use, and occasionally it was useful information. This was probably more of the first two, but still. It was something new he hadn't known and you never knew when that would come in handy.

"Oh, man, Tool Time!" Eddison perked right up, laughing. "I loved that show! Al and Wilson were the best." He agreed, nodding enthusiastically. "It was awesome how they would still hide his face when he wasn't standing behind the fence." He grinned, watching as Quinn made her own attempt at appearing as sage as old Wilson was. "Not a bad attempt. I think you need a hat to pull it off completely, though." He suggested with a laugh. Okay - Quinn had kind of an awesome sense of humor.

Eddison had to admit that there was something pretty unique about her. How many other people would have gone out of their way to cheer up a stranger whose car was on fire? Not many. So when she brought up the karmic debt, he agreed almost immediately. "Done. As soon as I get my workshop set back up, you have a bookcase coming right to you." He nodded. "An epic one. So epic that it won't just hold books... it will be a TEMPLE of books. So be ready for it." He was already getting ideas...

Quinn's free hand flickered toward the window where a flash of lights was playing against the road. Eddison stared at them with a slightly sinking feeling, slowly loosing the buoyancy the ice cream and company had given him, "Looks like the calvery finally showed."

"Yeah... man, this is going suck." Eddison sighed. The ice cream in his stomach suddenly felt like a rock. Turning his attention back to Quinn, he managed an appreciative smile. "Thanks for everything, though. You're a good bean." He thanked her sincerely before digging out his phone. "And in a completely non-creepy and pro-karma way, can I get your email or number? I'm serious about the bookcase, I really appreciate you looking out for me." And Eddison was a man who paid his debts.

"I will own that hat one day," Quinn insisted as she rose from her chair. She scooped her unused napkins up and stuffed them in to her ice cream cup. It occurred to her as an after thought that she probably ought to have saved one for Eddison's face. Oh well, she was pretty sure he could survive a sticky spot. after all, he'd survived his car being on fire. If what didn't kill you only made you strong, Eddison could probably have a pretty decent standing in the World's Strongest Man competition.

"DEAL!" She shouted enthusiastically, one hand thrust forward to shake on the notion. Even if the bookshelves turned out crappy (which she doubted they would), she'd probably fall in love with them anyways. Quinn had a deep love for anything hand crafted. As the lights pulled to a stop, Quinn tossed the used container and started for the door.

"You'll be fine." Quinn clapped a hand on Eddison's back in support. "I mean, they give us car insurance for a reason. And I'm pretty easy to find. Evans-dot-Quinn-at-jensen-dot-com - that's the easiest way to get a hold of me. Oh and Quinn has two N's."

She threw in her best, most charming smile for good effect. Screw The Vow, real life people were far more interesting. And it wasn't as though men were hard to meet. Casual encounters were the simplest thing on the planet. Commitment was what she was paying for.