The Pardoner's Tale 1x8

"Hand me that wrench there, Bobby?"

"Sure thing man."

Lewis' Body shop was filled with the usual noises of two friends working hard on the prized mustang. For Goren, it was always a welcome relief to just occupy his mind with something other than Major Case. Around Lewis, he could just be Bobby, the same pal he'd been in high school, and reasonably undamaged compared to the adult version.

Lewis, the selfsame distraction, abruptly halted his mechanical fussing, causing his friend to pause as well. Closing the hood and propping his elbows on it, resting his head on his hands to complete the image, he eyed the larger man speculatively.

"Hey, do you think I could ask Detective Alex out?" Oh. Goren felt his brain seize up for a moment, resulting in a vacant stare that lasted several tedious seconds. The mechanic raised a brow, seeming to break the spell of immobility that had taken hold of the investigator. The windshield whippers were incredibly interesting all of a sudden.

"Well?" Lewis asked again, this time the hint of a smile playing across his lips. He was cataloguing every nervous gesture Bobby made in order to build a case against him.

"Uh... I guess you... always could." He responded, still fiddling with whatever bits of the car he could get a hold of. Glancing furtively up he countered with, "But why... why do you want to... ask her out?"

"A) She's hot." The side mirror squeaked as Bobby's fingers tightened around it. Lewis continued, feeling much more smug. "B) She likes cars." His jaw muscle flexed involuntarily. "And C) she's awesome." He cleared his throat, rolling his head in an effort to relieve the tension there, much to his friend's amusement.

"Uh, good!" Goren said with unbelievably false cheer. "Good, that's great man, go for it. But uh..." He hesitated, piquing Lewis' interest as to what excuse he would come up with. "She has a lot of baggage, so be careful with her."

"You seem very protective of her bud. You her body guard or something?" A playful grin from the only man enjoying this game.

"No, just her partner." The sudden change in tone (reminiscent of wistfulness) dampened Lewis' fun, turning his mischievousness to frustration. Straightening up, he fixed his old friend with an exasperated glare to rival Eames.

"Dude, c'mon!" Bobby too stood straight now, the difference in their heights diminished by the mustang creating distance between them. "You're totally macking on Alex!" Goren rolled his eyes, his whole body following it's movement to look away from Lewis and his impossible notions. For they were just that: impossible.

"You see us together for all of... 10 minutes... and here you are claiming I'm 'macking' on her?" He said incredulously. After a moment of sputtering and deciding what to say first, eventually, this won out, "And who even says 'macking' anymore? It's so dated, you-who-tries-to-be-hip!" Looking around Goren began to gather up his stuff in an effort to leave before things got any weirder. Lewis called to his retreating back as he made his way to the entrance, determined to get all the words out.

"Well if you insist you don't have any feelings for the lovely detective—"

"— Which I don't!"

"Then I guess I won't hold back!" The frustrated mechanic hollered to his bullheaded amigo. Goren waved a dismissive hand. Pursing his lips, he finished the tirade with words guarenteed to follow the troubled and confused detective home.

"And neither will anyone else, man!"