For once, Johnny wasn't running late, or as he called it, exactly on time. Because he didn't have to dart from his rover to the station, racing to beat Captain Hammer's roll call, he could actually observe his surroundings. He noticed Stoker's truck in it's usual spot along the back wall. What wasn't usual was the open tailgate with sheets and planks of wood jutting out. He paused to look up, clouds were covering the sky, making it a gloomy grey, it was supposed to rain later. "Wonder if Mike knows," Johnny muttered in thought. He didn't want the engineer's lumber to warp.
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When Captain Hammer dismissed them all from roll call, the five parted ways to finish checking their apparatus off or start their chores. Mike, as usual, was already finished with his engine check, and as he was cooking had nothing to do, so he busied himself with polishing the chrome.
"Hey Mike," John said, his voice muffled as his head was in a squad compartment. There was no response, so John stood up, smacking his head on the door in the process. Rubbing the sore spot, he repeated the engineer's name. Smirking, Mike appeared from the front of the engine with a rag in hand. "It's supposed to rain today," John simply supplied. Roy's head popped up from over the top of the squad, curious to see where this was going.
Mike raised his eyebrows, expectantly waiting, assuming there was more coming from the talkative medic.
"Just thought you might wanna know," Johnny factually finished, returning his attention back to his clipboard.
About to dismiss the comment, Mike paused and said, "Oh no," remembering the wood in the back of his truck. He threw the rag in the engine and briskly walked out of the bay.
"There it is," Johnny said with a smirk, returning his head to the compartment.
Roy raised an eyebrow at the odd interaction and was about to ask, but quickly thought better of it, and went back to his checklist.
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"Watcha making?" Johnny asked as Mike walked through the door. He and Chet were at the table in the dayroom, drinking coffee and sharing the newspaper.
"Nothing really," Mike said, washing his hands and joining his crewmates at the table. "Well, maybe something."
Chet initially wasn't interested, the question seemed too trivial for him to get involved, but the answer piqued his curiosity. "Well, which is it, Stoker? I'm invested now, I gotta know."
Mike took a sip of his coffee, "A skylight, if Beth lets me. If not, fixing the roof."
"Didn't know you were a roofer," Gage said with slight surprise.
"I'm not," Mike corrected, "Just wasn't worth calling a roofer." Johnny raised his eyes in question, "It's leaking around a nail," Mike supplied.
"It's supposed to rain all week," John warned with a frown.
"Tell me about it," Chet complained, "I was supposed to have a date on the beach, but she already canceled it."
Johnny smirked, "Sure that's the reason Chet?"
"You think you're so smart," Chet rebuked back.
"I do," John replied thoughtlessly.
"And that's where your problem is," Chet quickly quipped with a laugh, walking out the door before Johnny could realize what happened. Chet was long gone by the time Gage's jaw dropped in indignation.
Mike rolled his eyes, reaching for the newspaper Chet left behind. Shuffling through the pages, he huffed. "You have the weather?"
Johnny nodded, already over Chet's banter. "There's supposed to be a break in the rain tomorrow," he informed the fireman before handing the paper over.
Mike studied the page and huffed again.
Johnny had already diagnosed his friend's problem. Fixing a roof, or installing a skylight, would take longer than a day if done alone. "You uh," Johnny started off awkwardly, "You wanna hand?"
Mike looked up and studied the rescue man. Gage had never mentioned any construction work or repair before. "You ever put in a skylight?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
Johnny nodded, "Yeah," Knowing Mike wanted more, he added, "I've worked on houses and builds," he vaguely explained.
Mike blinked, that was new information. He was a silent man, choosing to speak only when he felt like it. In doing that, it gave him the step up in observing and listening to everyone else. He had never heard Gage talk about anything remotely related to construction before. The newly minted paramedic usually stuck to the topics of his dates, climbing, or hiking. "Sure John," Mike said, finally accepting Gage's offer, curious to see how much and what John knew.
"Alright," Johnny said with a smile. He took another sip of his coffee, "So, if you're not a roofer," John squinted in thought, "What are you?"
"Carpenter," Mike answered with a single word.
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Johnny pulled up to the address Mike had given him. Beth, thanks to Johnny, approved the skylight once she knew there would be more than just Mike installing it. Putting his rover in park, he grabbed the lunch he brought for the two of them, but opted to leave his tools for now. Walking up to the house, he studied the yellow painted cottage. Spying the single car garage with a regular door fitted in, "I'd bet money that's his workshop," Johnny said to himself.
Mike opened the door after Johnny knocked, letting him in. "Hey John," he greeted, pointing at the table easily visible on the open first floor. "Thanks for bringing lunch, that should be my role."
"You won't feel bad after tasting the best BLT in the city," Johnny said, handing Mike a bag. The two ate as they studied a large piece of paper with plans drawn on it. "Mike," Johnny said, "How high is your roof?" Johnny had noticed it was a two-story cottage with fairly steep angles. In all the planning, Mike had never mentioned any harnesses or rigging, which showed how unaccustomed he was to working high up.
"Standard height I guess." Mike assumed. He frowned as he came to the same conclusion John did, "Guess that's pretty high to work without some type of rigging." Inspecting a roof without a harness was one thing, but actively working on it was another.
"I took the liberty of bringing my ropes with me," John said with a smile. "Believe it or not, I don't like chancing gravity."
Mike nodded, impressed with Gage's preparedness. He knew the man was a superb rescue man and paramedic, and apparently, he was good at construction work.
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Mike and Johnny found themselves on a roof, elbow deep in waterproofing a skylight. After hours of work, they excitedly discovered they worked well in tandem. Both having the same thoughts either at the same time, or close enough to count. Most of the time, they didn't even need to speak, which suited Mike and surprised John. Mike was already concocting more projects, just so he and John could work together, while John wished he could do the same. Nearly finished, the two were taking a break and waiting for caulking to dry, which wouldn't take long in the heat, despite the cloud cover. "So, John," Mike said, wiping the sweat off his forehead, "This is some pretty advanced stuff, this isn't just a hobby is it?" Mike observed. John stiffened, but otherwise didn't answer, "Where'd you learn it?" Mike continued, "Cause some stuff I didn't even know." The change in the easy going man was stark. John shut down, literally shifting away from Mike. Mike immediately regretted asking the question and quickly backpedaled, "Sorry Gage, I didn't mean anything by it."
John curtly nodded, "Let's finish up here."
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Mike was inside looking up through the new skylight, while John was above looking down. John was holding a full bucket of water and waiting for a thumbs up from Mike. "We should test it before it rains," Johnny had suggested as they were wrapping up, "Easier to fix now than later." Which was exactly what they were doing. With a thumbs up from Mike, Gage threw the water down on the glass pane. Mike blinked, not expecting the water to be thrown with such force. He quickly scanned the seams from inside, watching for any drips. He smiled, there weren't any. Leaving his bedroom where the skylight was, Mike went back outside to spot John coming down the ladder. He felt the need to apologize and was trying to figure out the best way to do it. Ever since he'd asked, John had been quiet and professional, all of his personality gone. The easy going attitude usually associated with the younger medic was non-existent.
"You wanna stay for dinner?" Mike asked when both of them, and all the tools, were on the ground. "I'm making spaghetti, if Beth doesn't change her mind that is," Mike said with a frown. She was in the last trimester of her pregnancy and her palette changed with the hour.
"I'll let you two enjoy dinner," John replied as he rolled up a rope, he knew he wasn't good company at the moment. Mike continued frowning, but for a different reason. He hoped John wasn't upset enough with him to discredit their newly found and shared interest.
"Johnny," Mike said, starting his apology. "I'm sorry,-"
He didn't get far as John cut him off, "Don't be, I'm sorry Mike." John finished with his rope and dropped it, huffing, "I just don't talk about-" he interrupted himself, "Sorry I became a killjoy," he finished instead with a sad smile.
"Stay for dinner," Mike stated, which sounded closer to an order. "Beth'll wanna thank you. And technically, since this is your first time over, I think I have to feed you." Johnny smiled faintly, and Mike knew he was getting close to winning the man over. "It's a law somewhere I'm fairly certain."
"Sure," Johnny agreed with an eye roll. "You said you're making your spaghetti?" John asked. When Mike nodded John truly smiled, "Well, you know me," which made Mike chuckle, he didn't really. "I'm not turning down your spaghetti."
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"My parents always had a skylight, so I've always wanted one." Mike said conversationally as he stirred a pot on the stove. He started making dinner while Gage sat at the table. Refusing any of Johnny's help, "It's my secret sauce, you can't help with a secret sauce," Mike explained with a smile while Johnny held up his hands in surrender.
John looked like he was going to ask a question, but decided otherwise, instead, "Did you do your cabinets?"
"Yep," Mike answered with a smile as he closed one, he loved his cabinets.
"You've done a lot of work in here," Johnny stated, looking around at the custom stair railing, crown moulding, and door frames.
"My dad taught me everything I know," Mike said fondly. Gage remained silent and looked contemplative. Noticing Gage's look, Mike said, "The crib is my favorite," filling the silence with a safe topic, adding any mention of family to John's 'Do not ask' list. "When the baby's older, it'll turn into a toddler bed."
Johnny raised his eyebrows, then scrunched them. Mike smirked as he watched his friend try and figure out the engineering behind it.
John didn't want to admit to himself he was jealous. The carpenter clearly had fond memories of learning how to create and build things. He didn't. He had good memories of helping his friends and of putting his skills to use, but for the first few moments of every project he felt used. He was forcefully taught these skills, he didn't choose to learn them.
Mike felt the inner turmoil and did what he did best, remained silent.
"You know," John started out, "I used to hate doing this stuff," he admitted. "My uh, well," he stammered, "I was fostered as a kid," John said, stopping he added, "Obviously as a kid I suppose." Mike nodded encouragingly, wondering curiously if Roy knew. "My foster, dad you could say," Johnny repressed a shudder, "Owned this massive home construction company and would pull me along anytime I wouldn't be missed at school." Mike observed the adjectives and phrases Johnny used and frowned. "None of his employees thought anything of it, I was just the foster, 'Kid oughta learn something'," Johnny recalled with a grimace. "What he was really saying was 'He's stupid and'll probably drop outta school'." Johnny sighed and took a drink from his milk Mike had given him earlier, the quiet engineer suppressing a smirk at the request. "So I was, not so gently, coerced to learn it all, without any instruction." John felt Mike's shock and added, "See, I was a problem of the state, so any accident would be paid by the state, not him, so it didn't matter." This did nothing to abate Mike's fear, and in fact, made him upset. Mike was not an easy man to anger. "Anyway, I learned pretty quickly not to make mistakes, and actually got pretty good at it." Mike nodded in agreement, Gage was good, "Even enjoyed it at times." Suddenly, "Imagine his surprise when I said I didn't want to work for him and be a firefighter instead." He huffed ruefully, "That didn't go so well," he stopped. His eyes bulged slightly as he realized what he had done. He'd only ever told that to one other person, and it wasn't Roy. "I'm sorry Mike," Johnny quickly said, looking down at his glass of milk, "You don't need to hear my pathetic past," John spun his glass around, "You already have enough going on, you're having a kid for cryin' out loud."
Mike put the spatula down and sat at the table. He looked at Gage, "I have one of those faces," he deadpanned. "I'm a good listener," Mike said seriously. Catching John's look, "And a good vault," he promised. "I promise Gage."
John nodded, "I know, I just, no one needs to know that shit," Mike had a feeling that was only the tip of the iceberg. "I hate the pity," John said, surprising himself again. After a breath, "Damn Stoker, you do have one of those faces."
Mike smiled, proud John felt safe enough with him to open up over just a glass of milk. "Told you." He felt he understood the junior medic a little more. "And I mean it John, no one will hear a word," Mike promised again.
"That's not what I'm worried about."
Pity, that's what it was. John hated being pitied. He couldn't blame him. "I'm not gonna lie, what I heard made me upset, but it's your past. Nothing I can do about it now, I only hope I can help prevent it from happening to anyone else," Mike said, making sure John knew how he felt, he didn't want Gage avoiding him at the station, "But you're still you." Gage smiled, incredibly thankful for his friend's outlook. Spitting and popping noises ended the moment, "Shit," Mike said, jumping up from the table. At the stove, he stirred the pot, "Almost burned the bottom."
"We don't want that," Gage grinned, happy the conversation had turned away from him.
"It would ruin the whole thing," Mike agreed, respecting John's deflection. "It's not much, but it's Beth and my favorite."
"Don't discredit your secret sauce." With a pointed finger in Mike's direction he finished, "It'll be famous one day you know."