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"Hey Mort!"
"Mort?"
"...Mort get your ass down here!"
The command stuttered into Mortimer's brain like some unwanted song that gets stuck in your head. Normally he would of shouted some type of lame comeback at this request but his back and shoulders ached too much to comply and he chose to keep any words he spoke that day to be brief and plentiful. After the night he had just experienced he wasn't about to let his temper get the best of him, he simply wanted to do his job while having the most splendid daydreams about seeing his ladylove the night before...even if she hadn't exactly seen him.
He climbed out from behind the old van he was changing the oil in to climb out of the back stairs of the garage and down to the supplies center where the annoyed cries from his coworker was coming from. As soon as he entered the room he could hear a distant laughter that echoed in the dark, windowless storage space: a laughter that he instantly recognized as on of his friends.
"did you go deaf on me or something?" He heard the playful accusation from on of the stair facilities from up above.
"I was calling you for five minutes before you got your lazy ass moving. What's with you today dude?" Said his mediocre friend with slight laughter in his voice as he shelved large boxes in their proper place. But upon not hearing anything from Mort he turned around thinking that perhaps his friend had left the storage room annoyed with him for his remark, what he saw instead was Mort sitting Indian style on the solid concrete of the storage room with his head leaning against the iron board of the register formatters with his eyes closed totally obviousness to his calling out.
"Yo Mort you OK?" He asked again which appeared to suck Mortimer out of his stupor
"Huh? Oh yeah just freaken fine. Just didn't sleep all that great is all..." Mortimer got up and retreated to the truck slight outside and continued the helpful job of putting away some odds and ends that they might need for later use.
"Yeah right." Said Luke as his eyes scanned the clipboard for what they were loading next. But when he eventually looked up he noticed a worn down look in Mortimer that he hadn't really noticed before something different than just your average tiredness and he broke out into a full mouthed grin when he realized what the problem was.
"OK man...what's her name?" He said as he rubbed the small hairs growing on his chin. "Let's see is it that Leslie chick from that club we hit a few weeks ago...no...probably not her...oh wait is it Brian's half sister who was here last 't take her eyes off you...althought I can't imagination why-"
His ramblings were cut short by an impatient Mortimer who was quickly feeling a headache growing in the back of his skull. "What the blood hell are you talking about?" He gritted with his teeth clamped shut, while he continued to work hoping Luke wouldn't notice the nervous look he had in his face.
"I was hoping you could tell me man! Come on who is she? Do I know here? What's she look like? How come you've never talked about her before?" He asked with the excitement obvious in his voice now following Mortimer foot for foot behind as he worked hoping the annoying move would help the interrogation.
"There's no one Luke OK! I just had a rough night and-" Mortimer subconsciously rubbed the back of his neck as he remembered Eva gutter pipes that were particularly painful when you fell on them from an angel that would-
"Yeah right man come on! You have that whole 'going crazy' look that only a woman can provide! I know that look dude I've experienced it far too many times!...But you don't get that kind of look...ohhhhh she must be really special!" He said in a mocking tone that gave Mortimer a slight reminder about why he used to be an antihuman terrorist.
It was because of this remark that Mortimer felt the need to set Luke straight (even if he was absolutely correct) So he continued with his work but not absent minded enough to retreat:
"Not nearly as special as you Lucas my darling!" He laughed out loud at the look of disgust that came from his friends who was now stepping away from him but he too was smiling.
"Look Luke...there is someone-but I have to be realistic and she's way out of my league. I- I don't want to waste my time on something that's not going to go anywhere..." He lied hoping the cold answer would suffice his noisy friend.
"Yeah I've been there buddy." Luke stated with a sigh as he slapped Mortimer on the shoulder making him flinch slight from the bruises that had previously settled there.
The conversation seemed to end there and the two continued the job of sorting and taking inventory of everything they had sold not sold and need to sell but as the hour wore on Mortimer felt the familiar need for food grumbling in his stomach and he realized the afternoon was quickly coming and going.
"Hey man I'm gonna go out a brag some grub you want anything?" Asked Luke as he put his jacket on and headed for the backdoor.
"No I'm good." He lied again. Somehow the hunger felt good in his stomach. Like something he could control despite the inconvenience that came with it. Little things like hunger, sore shoulders, and annoying friends were just friendly reminders to Mortimer that this time last year he was ready to die for some stupid cause that held no meaning and more than willing to die... For cruel people who he naively enough had once called his teammates.
So as Luke and the others left for the hour of lunch he stay in the cellar somehow content to just be alone with the darkness and the dusty smell that waved in from the oldest pieces, and parts that never did find a home. He retreated to his previous spot on the floor and sighed as he rested his back now realizing just how sore he really was. What had he been thinking anyway going down her house like that?
He knew what he had been thinking...he was trying to wade off a nightmare...Luckily he got his wish when she walked out of her house to inspect the noise he had intentionally made. He nearly fell over at the beauty she held against him...naturally he hadn't been wearing his watch...didn't think of it before he had left. But he was almost grateful he had forgotten it actually gave him a reliable excuse to not actually go down there and talk to her. It gave him an excuse to stay in the shadows for just a little longer and remain the observer than he knew he was deep down.
She seemed shocked to see him, and when he put himself in her shoes he couldn't really blame her. But her facial expression seemed to relax as they stared at each other a little longer and he didn't know what he would have done if that car hadn't come back and knocked him back to earth. He admitted although he could have liked to be a little more quitter about it because by the time he fell and got himself back up again she was gone and the living room light had been shut off....
He assumed she had gone back to bed and therefore when an unspeakable pain reached the inside of his boot he figured there would be nothing wrong with having a seat on the other side of the house in her patio furniture just to see if glass had indeed seeped though his boot. He was wrong luckily but the relief passed over quickly when he heard a slight screech from the window in front of him. That was when he saw her again and her face...eched in fear was enough to break his heart...he knew he was the cause of that emotion that dripped off her face begging her to be forgiving in the portal of his own mind he retreated to the roof once more and jumped like he had never jumped before...
The lights eventually shut themselves off but he had so wished in the back of his mind that he could have stayed near her a little longer...so he did. Mortimer had settled himself on the roof and enjoyed the landscape of her small yard and the view it caused him to witness. He felt her nearby and he could tell she hadn't gone to bed yet. God what he would have given to of held her in his arms and made sure she was safe and real. But the part he told Luke about being realistic wasn't a lie because at this point even if he did want to reveal who he truly was it wouldn't make a difference...she was engaged now and he could smell another male in the house at the time...a thought that made his skin crawl and his fists clench in furry.
He had to be realistic...women like her don't want to spend the rest of their lives with mechanical mutants who rely keeping their identities secret by wearing some fancy science saving watch...too much time had passed for them to be together. Besides he told himself she probably doesn't even think about me...remember me.
The thought made him instantly depressed and he knew that no matter how hard he tried he was never going to totally rid his mind of the woman known as Eva Johnson.
The sound of a bell ringing in the waiting room alerted him to the presents of a customer and although that wasn't his normal gig he figured as long as no one else was around he might as well deal with who required their services. So he walked back out of the dusty cellar and was greeted with the slight of warm light coming from the office windows and the stench of something similar to coffee that Brian had attempted to make earlier that day but all theses things were familiar to him...the only truly foreign thing that really shocked him was a lovely young woman standing in the center of the waiting room. ...He couldn't believe his eyes but he instantly knew he was staring at the face of his current obsession.