~A medium-sized note from the author, Bunny:
Firstly: My apologies for the long wait! Meta Wars is still under construction and will be finished within the earliest convenience! Your patience means the world to me ^_^
Secondly: This is another coconut-on-the-head idea from the recesses of my inspiration, dedicated to Peggy-Chan, author of many GinMado stories, who invited me into my first community! How nice! ^_^
To be honest, I'm not a huge supporter of GinMado. That being said, I like it better than 90% of all other Metal Fight ships, and it is starting to grow on me, the more I write and read with it. So I do hope you enjoy the story, and bear in mind that I do not own the rights to the things I'd normally be sued for, if I said that I did.
'Chink…chink, chink…'
"…You done yet…?"
"No."
'Chink, chink…chink, chink, chink…"
"…How about now…?"
"No."
'Chink…chink…chi-'
"Well, are you-"
"NO, Gingka!" Madoka slammed her Bey-repair tools into her desk, comically whirling to the redhead in question, "I'm not finished! Have some patience!"
Gingka, sitting backwards on an office chair behind her, sank down further into his crossed arms, and pouted quietly now as she got back to work.
Madoka sighed loudly as she lowered her goggles and squinted through them at the blue Bey in her hands. Most of the dirt and grime of battle had been cleaned away from it already, only leaving a few stray dark spots in the cracks and crevices, showing that a clod of something or other was hiding from her. Mostly, the surface was covered in scratches, and (as she tested it with her finger) one piece of the fusion wheel moved like a loose tooth. Another poke at the chip popped it off completely. Gingka gave a panicked whimper behind her.
Madoka rolled her eyes at his fretful expression. Repairing Pegasus was always a hassle, mostly because of Gingka. It was times like this that she wished she had a waiting room to throw him in. Not that he'd stay far from Pegasus during his beloved partner's "medical procedures."
The Bey mechanic calmly tapped the raw edges of the damaged fusion wheel before reaching for the chipped piece again. The edges weren't quite the same. Several smaller pieces had already fallen away, and there was little chance they'd attach again. Besides, she'd already reattached this piece four times in the last week, once even having to remove glue around it, when Gingka had tried to do the job himself. He claimed he wanted it fixed that instant so he could keep battling, and had found the nearest solution.
Madoka snorted at the memory before calling over her shoulder, "This part's been too damaged. If I reattach it, it'll just fall back off. I'm replacing it with a new section."
"Y-you're sure it won't hurt him?!" Gingka panicked.
"Nothing I haven't done a dozen times already."
As if to prove her point, Madoka scooted her chair a few feet away and opened a small drawer on a tool box. The drawer was full of miscellaneous blue chips: all pieces of Pegasus that she'd removed before, and deemed too damaged to use. The new chip was added to the pile and the drawer was closed again with a rattle.
Honestly, Madoka didn't know what she was going to do with all these leftovers. Sometimes, she'd joke about making another Pegasus, but she knew that was impossible. Gingka would need to start getting the spin track and metal wheel damaged for her to get all the parts to a complete Bey. And even then, she'd have to piece it together the same way as Gingka would: glue. The scuffed parts were unlikely to fit in any other way.
Putting the replaced chips out of her mind for the moment, Madoka scooted back to Pegasus, eyeing and measuring its damaged gap. Then, she reached above her, where a tray of blue fusion wheels sat, and shuffled through several before finding an identical one to Pegasus' current design.
Then came the part that made Gingka panic the most: Madoka grabbed a handheld, electric saw, and flicked it on. A whirring noise lit the air, causing the redheaded blader to shrink even further behind his office chair. He couldn't watch.
But there was no reason to worry. Madoka quickly cut a section out of the new fusion wheel, identical to the part Pegasus was missing, and sized them up.
"Almost…" she murmured, but her voice was lost under the saw. Quietly, she cut just another sliver off the left side of the piece and sized it up again.
"Perfect…"
Gingka timidly looked up as the saw was cut off, and a soft tinkering filled the air instead. Then his eyes lit up as Madoka spun her chair towards him and held out her hand. Pegasus sat in her palm, good as new.
"There." The mechanic puffed, "He's repaired, and the new part should stay in place now." Gingka snatched his partner back for examination as she continued, "I cleaned off the surface and buffed down the scratches easily, but I left the dirt underneath because I knew that by tomorrow, you'd just put it back. And considering the dirtiness of your Bey, compared to your skill level, I'm pursuing a new theory that dirt is aerodynamic during Bey battles. It might actually be helping you, for all we know… You're not listening to me, are you…?"
Gingka didn't appear to be listening at all, as he held Pegasus up to the light and stared at him with an open mouth and wide eyes.
"You're looking great, buddy…" he breathed, "Are ya' feeling good enough for some Bey battles?"
"Well, yes…" Madoka interjected, "But you have to be sure not to use any special moves that might dama-"
"Great!" Gingka jumped right off his chair, fist pumping the air with a grin on his face, "Then it's back to the Bey park with us, buddy!"
The redhead's smile deflated when he saw Madoka. She hadn't moved from her seat since she'd handed Pegasus back to him, and she still watched him tiredly.
"Go ahead." She sighed, turning away from him. Her eyes settled on the mess of tools that covered her desk, "I'll sweep this up, and…get some sleep, I guess…" she suppressed a yawn. Come to think of it, she hadn't gotten much rest this week. Repairs for Pegasus on top of her normal work was cutting into time she normally used for sleep, and now…well, she had better sleep before Gingka ran back in with more reckless damage for her to fix.
"Um…Madoka…"
"Yeah." The brunette didn't look up from her desk as she put her tools away.
"I…I just…"
Madoka paused, wrench in hand, to wait for a continuation. But Gingka said no more. She turned curiously. To her surprise, the blader's face was as red as his hair, and his golden eyes were nervously turned away.
"Yes…?" she prompted tiredly.
"…I…" Gingka tugged his headband lower and hunched his shoulders, "Never mind… I-I'll see you later…"
The door slammed shut loudly behind him, then the small workshop was silent. Madoka only stared after him for a moment.
"I wonder what you were trying to say…?" she mumbled softly. No answer met her, so with a stretch and a yawn, she returned to her desk, and the mindless work that awaited her.
For several more hours, she cleaned and tidied the mess accumulated by plastic and metal shavings, elbow grease, sand, and dirt. She scrubbed the tools and put them neatly away, and even found several more chips of Pegasus, Eagle, and Libra beneath her worktable, which she promptly put away in their respective drawers of the toolbox for leftovers. Even when everything that could be cleaned had been cleaned, she swept the floors of the whole room and tucked her chair away just so. Only then did she glance at the clock above her desk and realize that it was nearly midnight.
"That's enough for one day…" she yawned. Madoka wearily headed for the door to the shop, but before she turned off the lights, she glanced over her shoulder at her pristine workplace one last time. No doubt she'd see Gingka tomorrow, and he'd bring her Pegasus, dirty and in need of cleaning for the umpteenth time… And her desk would be a shambles again… And she wouldn't be thanked for it…
With a downcast look, she turned off the lights, closed the door, and headed to bed with a heavy heart. It had been a long week, and would continue to be so. With each passing day, Madoka felt more and more taken for granted.
The next early morning saw the brunette mechanic descending the stairs to her bedroom with a stifled yawn. She'd spent so much time cleaning the night before that she hadn't had time to go over the newest data of Libra. But she'd gotten some sleep last night, and even though it was a far cry from a full eight hours, she felt rested enough to get back to work.
Madoka sleepily descended the last step and reached for the doorknob to the workshop…but paused. The door was already partially open. She stared at the crack in the entrance for several seconds, not quite awake enough to comprehend what might have happened. Had a burglar gotten in? Did she forget to close the door the night before? Or…did Gingka stop by already, expecting her to be awake…?
All of it was unlikely, especially the last one. Gingka often slept in until the afternoon, something that Madoka teased him for, as she got up with the sun almost every morning.
Regardless of what had happened, she pushed the door open the rest of the way and turned on the lights to the windowless room. But even before she raised the dim lighting, her eyes were widening at what sat on her desk: something glinting and blue…along with an array of the tools she'd just put away the night before.
Madoka approached the object with wonder, but when she saw it up close, she smiled warmly, and knew exactly what it was. Sitting in a heart-shaped ring of wrenches and drill bits, was a wire-band bracelet, with bright blue charms dangling from it. Each one was a broken piece of Pegasus, polished so that the translucent, cerulean plastic shone under the bright overhead glow, and cast sapphire-like shadows across her worktable. Thin, silvery twine wrapped around each piece, nestling snuggly into the groves of scratches earned in battle…
Quietly, gently, Madoka picked up the charm bracelet and undid its clasp. Each charm tinkled with the chime of two Beys colliding, and she almost laughed…she would have, if there weren't tears in her eyes. Sniffling loudly, and smiling widely, she turned to the drawer that previously held the pieces. A card was poking out.
As she read it, the tears wouldn't stay in.
"Thank you," it read, "for everything Pegasus and I never thanked you for. You deserve the best for all your hard work, because you're the best mechanic a blader could have. I want you to know that you're appreciated, always."
Heartfelt teardrops landed on the paper, and with those words still before her eyes and in her heart, Madoka felt her job become just that much easier…
"Gingka!" the redhead turned from a Bey battle at the sound of his name. In fact, so did Masamune, Tsubasa, and Yu. Madoka was running towards them, computer held to her chest, waving happily. A glinting, blue bracelet could be easily seen on her wrist.
Both Striker and Pegasus paused their clashing in the park stadium to simply spin at ease.
"Madoka, what're you doing here?" Gingka laughed, grinning widely.
The brunette ignored the stares from the other bladers, shaking her wrist and listening to the tinkle of charms.
"I just…wanted to spend some more time with my patients…" she smiled, "Mind if I watch…?"
Gingka's only reply was a bigger smile as he turned back to his opponent.
"Go, Pegasus!"
Sunlight hit the dazzling blue of two clear rings, as one spun and danced in a stadium, clashing with a foe, while the other was held close to a warm, beating heart. Both were loved dearly, and maybe, just maybe, their owners loved each other.
Is it a romantic ship? Is it a friendship-ship? Take it how you like it, folks, and thank you as always for your time *bows and sweeps hat*. Reviews and flames are welcome in equal parts! ^_^
~Peace out! Bunny