Talking Shop

Zell Dincht looked up from the work order he was reading when his friend Squall Leonhart came into the garage.

Zell was a hyper blonde who stood around 5'5" in height and had very spiky hair and a unique tattoo on the left side of his face. He wore baggy faded blue jeans and a black t-shirt.

"Sup Squall," he greeted his friend.

Squall shrugged and took off his leather jacket.

"What do we have lined up for today?" he asked as he tucked his favorite jacket safely into his locker.

"Um," Zell checked his list, "we have to service the transmission on that Honda and Seifer wanted you to check over his motorcycle before his race this weekend. Oh, and that Mustang parked outside needed to get a supercharger installed if we had any time left after all the oil changes we have to do," he finished as he displayed the long list of oil changes.

Squall cracked a small smile as he looked at Zell.

"Zell that Mustang is yours, if you want a supercharger put in today then we just have to work faster on the other stuff. If you take the transmission job while I work on Seifer's bike we can split the rest of the oil changes and get done sooner."

"Sure thing boss," Zell replied as he retrieved the keys to the Honda from a hook on the wall.

The garage where the two friends worked was the only automotive repair garage on the small island of Balamb and as such, its two workers always had more to do than time to do it. They did tune ups and oil changes and they even had a paint shop in the back where they could apply custom paint jobs to the rides of the teenage population of Balamb.

While Zell worked on the Honda in the main area of the garage Squall went into the back of the shop.

A tall blonde man with green eyes and a lean build was leaning against the wall outside the shop as Squall walked out the back door.

"When did you get into town Seifer?" Squall asked the blonde man as he shook the man's hand.

"Last night, late," Seifer Almasy replied.

"So what's wrong with your bike now?" Squall asked as he bent to inspect the gleaming black motorcycle.

Seifer shrugged as he kneeled down next to his friend.

"Nothing in particular, just wanted to get it checked over before the race. You know Quistis would freak if my bike was messed up and I rode anyway."

Squall nodded and began to inspect the bike. After walking around checking everything out Squall straightened up and turned back to Seifer.

"Everything is fine so Quistis can stop her worrying."

Seifer grinned at his long time friend and laughed. Seifer Almasy, Squall Leonhart, Zell Dincht, and Seifer's girlfriend Quistis Trepe had all grown up in Balamb together. The four children had been the best of friends since they were little and Quistis and Seifer had begun dating when they were in high school. Seifer and Quistis had moved to Deling City so that Quistis could further her writing career and Seifer could start racing his motorcycle. Zell and Squall had stayed in Balamb, Zell so that he could stay close to his aged, widowed mother, and Squall stayed because he had no where else to go.

Squall was an orphan. His foster family had lived in Balamb until he turned eighteen. When his step-father, Laguna, decided to move their family to Esthar to pursue his political career Squall had decided that he did not want to leave Balamb and had refused to go. He still wrote to his step-mother, Raine, and his step-sister, Ellone sometimes, when he wasn't swamped with work.

"So, you and Zell want to come to the race on Saturday? You know Quistis would love to see you."

Squall shrugged.

"I guess so, we'll have to see how much work we have left Friday afternoon," Squall replied to his friend's offer.

The two reentered the main garage where Zell was finishing up the work on the Honda.

"Well, Seifer we have a lot of work to get done, so unless you want to stick around and help then I think you're gonna be pretty bored here," Zell said as he got into the car to pull it out of the garage.

Seifer shrugged.

"I used to work here too, if you remember that far back," he said as he took off his long trench coat and stuck it in a locker.

"It was two years ago," Zell objected.

"I bet I can do more oil changes that either one of you two," Seifer challenged.

Squall and Zell glanced at each other.

"You're on," Zell responded.

Rinoa Heartily groaned as she lay on the floor under her newly reassembled computer desk.

"Why do they make these things so hard to put together," she said to herself as she labored on hooking her computer back together.

During the trip from Deling City the cords and wires had become hopelessly twisted and she was having a hard time trying to figure out which wire went where.

Just as she was starting to make progress there was a loud knock on her door. She bolted upright, totally forgetting that she was lying under a desk.

Her head collided sharply with the underside of the desk. She fell back onto her back and groaned as her hands went to her head.

She rolled out from under the desk as the pounding on the door resumed.

"I'm coming," she shouted as she got slowly to her feet.

She pulled the door open groggily, hand on her head. The moving man was holding a clipboard and looking impatient.

"Sign here," he demanded, shoving the board into her hands and indicating a line with his pen.

She did as he requested and handed it back to him. The large man moved out of the door way and two other men began bringing furniture into her apartment.

Rinoa fixed herself a bag of ice for her head and leaned against the counter watching as the men brought her bed frame and table and other furniture into her house.

When they were done she tipped them and they left. The scene of chaos left in their wake was enough to make her woozy. She had just flopped onto the couch that rested in her kitchen when there was another knock on the door.

"I already tipped you," she screamed as she rolled off the couch to her feet.

She ripped the door open and was stunned to see a tall, beautiful, blonde woman standing there.

"Quistis," she cried, pulling her friend into a hug, "Why are you here?"

Quistis Trepe smiled as she returned her friend's hug.

"You move away and expect me not to come help you settle in? Just because you feel the 'small town life' will help your writing does not mean that you get to cut off contact with the city folk."

Quistis was a tall woman with blue eyes and long golden hair that perfectly suited her trim figure.

She and Rinoa had met when Quistis had applied for a job at a newspaper in Deling City. Since Rinoa was planning on leaving the paper to move to Balamb the editors told her to train Quistis to take over the column that Rinoa was writing. The two girls had become fast friends in a short amount of time.

Quistis and Rinoa worked together to quickly move the furniture to the room it would reside in. They moved the bed and mattress into the bedroom but did not put it together. When they were finished arranging the furniture they both sat on the couch, drinking bottles of water.

"So, besides visiting me why are you in town?" Rinoa asked as she stretched out on the couch.

"My boyfriend Seifer wanted to come visit some of our friends that live here so I decided I'd come with him and visit you."

"Didn't you want to visit your other friends?" Rinoa asked.

Quistis shrugged.

"We see each other a lot anyway. My friends Zell and Squall are mechanics and Squall is the only one allowed to work on Seifer's motorcycle, so they are always coming to the races and stuff."

"Squall? My new neighbor's name is Squall."

"Really? I wonder if it him."

"Well, what does your friend look like?" Rinoa asked.

"He's got brown hair that comes down to his chin, blue eyes, and he's not very tall but he's got muscles. You can't tell Seifer but I've always thought Squall was hot."

Rinoa grinned at Quistis.

"Yeah that's him all right."

Quistis laughed.

"So you thought he was hot too?"

Rinoa blushed but nodded. Quistis grinned and threw her arms around her friend.

"It's good to see you," Quistis said as she hugged her friend.

"I've only been gone for two days," Rinoa replied.

"Well I still missed you." She paused. "What are you doing this weekend?"

"Um, I don't have any plans yet."

"Why don't you come to Seifer's race on Saturday? Zell and Squall will be there but they will stay in the pit area so I never have anyone to sit with."

Rinoa considered for a moment and nodded.

"I'll be there."

The three guys were all working on cars when they heard the door to the garage open.

"Hold on a minute, we'll be right there," Squall called from his position under a van.

He rolled out from under the car and was surprised to be looking straight up into the baby blues of one of his oldest friends.

"Quistis, when did you get in town?" he asked as he jumped to his feet.

"I came with Seifer, didn't he tell you I was here?"

Squall hugged her as he said, "No, it must have slipped his mind."

"It was supposed to be a surprise," Seifer objected.

Zell heard Quistis' voice and quickly extricated himself from the vehicle he was working on.

"Hey Quisty," he cried as he ran over and scooped Quistis up in a hug.

After they had released her she moved to hug Seifer and he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Did you have fun with your friend?" he asked her.

She nodded and grinned.

"She's coming to the race on Saturday."

"That's cool," Seifer responded.

Zell stretched and yawned.

Squall smiled and checked his watch.

"It's 5:30, Zell I vote we wrap it up for the day. We got everything we needed to get done finished so we can take it easy tomorrow. I'll put the supercharger in the Mustang tomorrow, okay?"

Zell grinned widely.

"Booya baby, work's done."

The rest of his friends grinned at him.

"Well, Quis we haven't seen you in a few weeks, lets go out and get a bite to eat and catch up," Squall suggested.

The rest of the group nodded and they quickly gathered their things and closed the garage.

They quickly journeyed across the road to a small café that they had hung out at while they were in high school. They chose a small table in the back and were soon munching on their cheeseburgers.

"So, is either of you two seeing anyone?" Quistis asked as she sipped her chocolate milkshake.

Zell grinned and blushed.

Seifer rolled his eyes.

"I'm going out with a girl named Sally. She works at the library at the other end of town," Zell explained.

"And what about you Squall?" she asked.

The quiet brunette shrugged, "No one yet."

"Have you met anyone you're interested in?"

He shrugged again before eating a scoop of his ice cream sundae.

"Oh, come on Squall. Give me something," she pleaded.

He thought for a moment.

"Fine I think my new neighbor is pretty," he offered after another scoop of ice cream.

Seifer and Zell couldn't stop the smirks that leapt to their faces. Quistis grinned and Squall concentrated on his sundae.

"Bingo," Quistis murmured to herself.