Drifter's Way: Chapter 2
Nosing around the Garage
By Drifter Song
February 22, 2002
Copyright Drifter Song 2000-2002, all rights reserved.
Silver woke the next morning to find sunlight streaming through a crack in the curtains of an otherwise dark room. Where am I, he though, as he slowly sat up, placing a to his forehead. I remember now, I'm in the mechanic's garage. He then placed a hand on his wounded side feeling cloth beneath his fingertips caused him to look down to find his wound bandaged. He looked about for his vest, and found the bloody remnants of it on table next to him, his helmet in the chair. Kicking the blanket aside he got up and moved slowly and quietly toward the door and opened it, curious of his surroundings. He wandered into the work area to find Charley still fast asleep in a chair. Not wanting to wake her he turned around to leave the room and brushed up against a monkey wrench on one of the many workbenches. He made a grab for the wrench as it fell and missed, it fell to the floor cement floor with a loud clang.
Hearing the clatter of the wrench, Charley bolted upright in the chair wide-awake, nearly falling out of the chair.
"What the…?" She exclaimed startled, looking around for what made the noise, and saw Silver.
"I'm sorry ma'am I didn't mean to wake you," Silver apologized to Charley, a bit of a sheepish look on his face, embarrassed for waking her in such rude manner.
"It's all right I should be getting up," Charley started with a yawn, "…anyway." She looked up at him and exclaimed, "Wait a minute! What are YOU doing out of bed? You shouldn't be up and moving around with that wound of yours."
"Please do not worry ma'am, it's all right. I have suffered a great deal worse. I cannot thank you enough for what you have done for me. I am but a stranger here," Silver responded gently. "Why don't you rest in the back room it will be more comfortable than sleeping out here. You deserve a comfortable place to rest, for I doubt that you have been to comfortable out here." He cocked a furred brow at the chair, as he had a feeling that would be more comfortable to sleep on desk then in that chair.
"Nooo," Charley replied, stretching at the same time and stood up. "I should get up, I have enough to do as it is. I don't need to sleep the whole day away. You on the other hand should go back to bed!" She points to the back room for emphasis.
"Ma'am all I have done for the past day is sleep," Silver said with a slight sigh. "What I would enjoy right now is a hot bath, if it's not to much trouble."
"Well I suppose that would be all right," Charley muttered to herself aloud, thinking, then said to Silver. "I hope that you don't mind a shower, I'm afraid that I don't have a large enough bathroom for a tub," she motioned for Silver to follow her, "this way."
"Shower?" Silver muttered questionably under his breath.
Charley led Silver over to the small bathroom and opened the door. He looked into the small room curiously. To see a simple sink with a wide counter, above it was a medicine cabinet with a mirror. A toilet and a single square-like structure with a blue curtain hanging inside a glass door. A couple of rugs provided padding and warmth from the concrete floor.
"I'll be right back with a couple of towels," Charley said with a smile.
Silver entered the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror and wrinkled his nose at what he saw. I am so dirty, he thought chuckling to himself, his long tail swayed lazily behind him, I guess that is what happens when you hit a building. Pulling his hair over his shoulder he began to unbraid it. It's hard to believe that my hair is actually silver.
"Ok, I'm back," Charley called as she walked in the open door. "I pulled out two of the largest towels that I have for you." She hung them on the rail next to the shower.
"Thank you ma'am," Silver replied, smiling at Charley in the mirror as he continued to unravel his braid. "That is very kind of you."
"Be careful with that wound of yours ok, the last thing that I need to be doing is patching you up again because you hurt yourself in the shower," Charley commented back in mock sternness, her hands on her hips, before she left.
"Yes ma'am," Silver replied softly with a slight chuckle as Charley left shutting the door behind her.
"Ahhh," Silver sighed, scratching his head after his hair was completely unbraided. "That feels so much better."
Silver walked over, opened the shower door and peeked in. Now I remember a shower is. I wonder how this works? He thought, the one we installed back home isn't up and running yet.
Removing his cloths he draped them over the counter, along with the wrap that covered his tattoo, as he shoved his boots out of the way then got in the shower almost banging his head on the showerhead. This is not going to work, he though as he reached up and turned the actual pipe so that the showerhead faced toward the ceiling of the shower. That should work though. He studied the handles a moment then shrugged as he turned the water on.
"Cold!" Silver nearly shouted the water hit him and he quickly turned the hot water up. "Brrrrrr!"
Charley looked up from her paperwork at what she thought was a muffled shout; seeing that all was well she shrugged off the sound and went back to work.
Silver stood in the shower for quite some time allowing the grime to run rivets down his form as he placed his hands against the shower wall, head bowed, enjoying the warmth of the running water. With a soft sigh he began to lather himself down with soap, careful of the bandages wrapped about his side. Once his fur was clean he attacked his mane of silver hair. That unfortunately for Charley that consisted of running her out of shampoo. Getting the shampoo out of his hair took quite a while, given the length of it. After nearly forty minutes of working at getting the foamy lather out of his sylvan locks, he was successful and turned off the water. Opening up the shower door he reached for the closest towel and started to dry himself off after giving himself a slight shake, hoping to dislodge some of the water from his hair. After rubbing himself down as much as possible in context with trying to keep his sopping hair from drenching him again Silver got out of the shower to grab the other tower and quickly wound it about his hair, as he started to dry down his back again. He then searched around the bathroom to find some new bandaging for his side with. He was thankful that he found them for he had only towel wrapped about his waist at that moment. He removed the blood and water soaked bandages to wrap the fresh dry ones about his wound after gingerly drying the area off around it first. Once the bandages were secure he pulled on his pants and he pulled the towel free of his hair to let it fall in a great shimmering cascade of silver. He looked at a few scraps of then wound a long piece around the tattoo on his right arm. No need for this to be showing, he thought, with a soft sigh. Just to be safe. He then draped the damp towel about his shoulders as he opened the bathroom door.
Charley heard the door bathroom open, instead of the quite sound of the water turning off. Getting up from her seat in the workshop she headed off to see how her 'patient' was doing. She found Silver standing before the mirror waiting for the steam to clear so that he could take a better look at his hair to assess just how long it was going to take him to brush the tangled locks out. Charley stopped in slight amazement, when she had previously seen the tall Martian male his hair was a dingy tarnished color. She hadn't expected for his hair to be such a beautiful hue of silver, instead of dingy gray.
Sensitive ears twitch at the soft sound of approaching footsteps and Silver turns to see the still amazed look upon Charley's face.
"Hello ma'am, I'm sorry I seemed to have run you out of shampoo," Silver said in a bit of a sheepish tone. Here he was in a stranger's house and running her out of everyday items.
"D…don't worry about it," Charley stammered slightly after she found her voice again, forcing her gaze from the shimmering silver mane to the Martian male's face.
"No ma'am," he said shaking his head slightly sending damp locks swaying before a few managed to stick to his face, causing him to wipe them away, to stick back with the rest of his wet mane. "I'll find some way to replace what I have used, it is only proper for me to do. After all I am but a guest within your house and here I am running you out of your own everyday needs."
Charley couldn't help but laugh at Silver's response over the shampoo. It was not everyday that she met up with someone so polite and respectful, after all she was used to dealing with Limburger and his lackeys and of course Vinnie and the guys. The guys may be polite but there was something different about this Martian mouse, it was almost as if he upheld a code of chivalry that has been dead on Earth for centuries.
There was a light perplexed look on the tall Martian's face, as if he were thinking about or looking for something. His tail swung side to side as he placed a hand to his chin, in thought.
"Something wrong?" Charley asked, cocking an auburn brow at the look on Silver's face.
"I just realized something," he said as he turned to face the woman. "I don't have a brush." He was about to say more as he took a step towards the bathroom door.
"There's a brush in the top right drawer of the sink," Charley said as she crossed her arms about her chest.
"Ma'am?" Silver asked, blinking his pale blue eyes at the woman.
"Go ahead and use it," Charley responded with a smile, her posture saying more then her words. Her stance said 'don't argue with me.'
"All right, if you insist ma'am" he said as he stepped back into the bathroom and opened up the drawer that Charley told him the brush was held. Taking it out he shut the drawer again and began to pull it through is long damp locks as carefully as he could.
"I still don't know how I am going to repay you Miss…" Silver paused in his speech as he stopped trying to brush through is wet hair again. Looking a bit over his shoulder at the woman.
"Charlene," Charley said without thinking, "Charlene Davidson at your service, she said with slight bow.
"Lovely name, M'Lady Charlene," the dark furred mouse replied with a light smile, which stood out brightly against his black fur. He then turned to face her, "I am Silver, Silver Sandstalker," he replied. "I too am at your service as a guest in your house." He offered Charley a graceful and dignified bow, which would have seemed perfect if his hair were not wet and plastered to his face due to his movements.
Charley just blinked a moment before flushing slightly as the tall Martian male stood back up. She was not used to this sort of thing; men didn't just bow politely to her like this. Here was someone out of the blue treating her as if she were royalty or something. Nahhh it's just my imagination, she thought a she beat back the rise of color to her cheeks.
Silver just gave Charley a light smile before he turned back to trying to brush out his bothersome hair again. The tangles of the slowly drying locks did not want to untangle easily as he winced in pain from pulling to hard.
"Silver," Charley said softly as if she were mulling over the name. "I can see why your parents named you that." She then cocked her head at the tall mouse before disappearing into the other room, only to reappear with a chair.
"Here, sit," she said as she slid the chair into the bathroom, behind the tall Martian mouse. "Let me," she held her hand out for the brush as she could no longer stand watching him tug at the beautiful but tangled locks.
Silver looked at Charley, then to the chair and finally back to Charley again. He turned the chair to the side so the back was facing the door as he sat down. He then held the brush out to the woman. "Are you sure about this Miss Charlene?" He asked in his silken voice as he cocked a furred brow at her.
"Of course I'm sure," Charley said with a smile as she took the brush. "If I wasn't would I be offering to do this, hmmm?"
"No I guess not," the black mouse replied as he folded his arms before him upon the sink and leaned forward till his chin rested against his arms. His fur rippled with each movement as the muscles flexed below the skin.
Charley just stood there a moment, brush in hand, not fully believing that male just gave in. She blinked a few times as she watched Silver moved into a more comfortable position for her to get at his long hair. Ever amazed at the easy movements of these unique men that she has met over the past few years. The guys were no exception as they to were well toned; they made workouts seem like child's play. Soft clacking footfalls brought her into the bathroom as she stood there to assess the job that needed to be done, before she started working carefully at the man's hair.
"So what brings you to Earth, Silver?" Charley asked, as she thought that a bit of conversation with her new guest would be appropriate now that the introductions were over. She was still trying to figure out why she gave him her full name. She didn't even let the guys call her by her full name; she just shrugged it off.
The man let out a soft sigh as Charley started brushing out his long hair. It was something that he missed over the past couple of weeks. His sister always enjoyed brushing out his hair in the morning, sometimes it was the only time that he could spend a bit of time alone with her, as they were very close. "Hmmm?" He murmured only half hearing the question that Charley asked, as he was lost in thought.
She then laughed, "Never mind, Silver," Charley replied. "I think that you're just a tad too relaxed to carry on a decent conversation right now."
That drew out a slight chuckle from the tall man, "Sorry Miss Charlene, I was just thinking about my sister."
"Your sister?" Charley asked as she paused in her brushing, she was nearly half way done.
"Yes my sister is normally the one who tends to brush out my hair in the morning. It is something that she has always liked to do, so I let her," he shrugged slightly, before continuing on. "It gives us time alone together, to sit and talk, since it seems to be more and more difficult lately to be able to just have time to speak with one another." Silver explained as Charley started to brush through his hair again.
"Sounds like you care for your sister very much," Charley replied as she continued to move the brush through the smooth, silken silver locks. "You must miss her very much."
"That I do, but I know that I will see her again," he says with a smile given to the woman in the mirror, though there was a note of sadness in those pale blue eyes.
"I would hope so, " Charlie said as she placed the brush down beside the man's arm. "There all done," she added as she took a few steps back.
"Thank you again Miss Charlene," the tall mouse said again as he stood up. He moved the chair so that at it sat just outside the door of the bathroom to open up a bit more space. He reached back to gather up all of his hair in hand and separated it into strands to braid, which he did quite quickly. He even braided his bangs into the rest of his long mane of hair and tied it off at the end, in a knot made of hair.
"For your kindness to me," he added as he turned to face her again, a smile slid across his black muzzle. "You have done more for me then I could ever ask for."
"Don't worry about it," Charley said, waving away the gratitude.
Silver just shook his head when Charley waved away his thanks, as he sat down on the toilet. He picked up his boots and put them on, starting to lace them up once they were secure on his feet. His long braid fell over his left shoulder bounced slightly with each movement a she tugged the lacing tight.
Charley stood in the doorway of the bathroom in silence. Her mind whirled with thoughts and questions about this mysterious Martian mouse. It was then that she noticed the wide bandage on Silver's right arm, just below the shoulder. She had completely overlooked it the previous day and the night when he arrived for that matter.
"What happened to your arm?" she asked dropping her hands to her side as she watched Silver.
Silver looked up from his task at Charley's question. "It's nothing," he replied with a light smile. "Just a minor scratch that I took care of already. No need to fret over it Miss Charlene."
She eyes his arm with a skeptical look as she again crossed her arms about her chest. She was just about to say something when Silver spoke again.
"Miss Charlene," he said in his soft-spoken tone as he stood up. "I swear to you that it is nothing to worry about." He walked over to the woman and placed both of his large hands upon her shoulders as he locked her gaze with his. "You have done enough already, let me worry about the minor things."
"Alright, alright, I believe you," Charley said with a light laugh as she took a few steps back to remove his hand from her shoulders. "Let me guess, you're ready to get some work done on that motorcycle of yours." She then gave him a bit of a stern look before she added. "Eventhough you shouldn't be out of bed."
He let out a soft chuckle at the stern tone Charley took with him. "It would be better the wasting my time lying about when there is work to be done," he said as he started to walk past her. "Besides, I do not wish to seem like a free loader," he called over his shoulder as he walked towards the main bay.
What is it about him? She thought, as she watched the tall man go, long braid and tail swaying behind as he disappeared into the main work bay. She had not expected being so close to him when he had placed his hand on her shoulders. There was something different about him that she couldn't quite put her finger on. He carried a different scent then what the guys did, a uniqueness that was very different. A scent of freedom of the wind and the Martian sands mixed with a mysterious scent of exotic spiced musk. Again it wasn't something that she had noticed when she had tended to him earlier. She shook her head and followed after Silver, as her thoughts just seem to meld into one large mass of confusion. I will figure this out.
Entering the work bay, Silver looked around. He knew that he was going to need several tools to get started and he went over the shelves and started pulling stuff down. Every once and a while he eyed the drop cloth, that unknown to him had his motorcycle under it.
Charley watched Silver take several curious looks at the drop cloth in silence, before she couldn't stand it anymore. "Your bike is there," she commented to Silver and pointed to the drop cloth before helping him pull down more tools.
The tall mouse blinked a moment before going over and grabbing hold of the drop cloth in both hands and giving it one good tug. The pale colored cloth flared up about the motorcycle before it came free floating like some great ghost in Silver's hands. He rolled the drop cloth about his hands a bit so that it draped over his arms and took a look at his bike. Now he actually had time to assess the damages, but first he turned to Charley.
"Thank you, for moving my motorcycle inside, Miss Charlene," he said in a grateful tone. "You could have left here where she was, I know that she's pretty damaged and I wasn't sure how well she'd move. That…." He paused a moment before his shoulders rolled in a bit of a sheepish shrug. "You know the rest."
His gaze then turned back to the motorcycle for a moment, then he folded up the drop cloth, using his tail every once and a while to help pull out bad wrinkles or as a third hand. He turned back to face Charley when he was done.
"I didn't mind actually," Charley responded as she leaned against the desk, watching Silver in his task of folding up the large piece of cloth. "I was worried that I was going to get run over for a bit but it worked out well." She turned her gaze to the partially mangled motorcycle. "It's quite a piece of machinery. Luckily it could still roll otherwise it would be outside in the rubble still."
He nodded, as he listened to Charley's explanation, then long strides carried him in her direction. "You wouldn't happen to have a soiled drop cloth would you?" He asked as he held the newly folded clean on out to her. "I'd hate to dirty this one needlessly at this point in time."
She took the drop cloth from Silver with a light laugh and set it next to her on the desk. She then waved a hand in the direction of the motorcycle. "Why use a drop cloth? I only keep them around to cover things from getting dirty," she replied with a wide smile on her face. "The garage isn't that hard to clean out. Nothing that a hose can't handle!"
Silver chuckled softly, "All right, Miss Charlene," he replied as he turned around and headed for the motorcycle before he paused, his movements very close to a jerking halt as he scanned over the bike again. He then turned back to face Charley.
"Did you see a sword out in the rubble when you brought my bike in, Miss Charlene?" Silver asked, a look of concern upon his face over the lost weapon.