nothing is mine other than the oc and the story. unfortunately.

Miona was sitting behind the desk at work, her shift having barely started. Folay still hadn't shown up, as per usual, and in the first hour no one had shown up to buy anything.

She found herself thinking of the night before, and now the fact that she needed a new roommate. It was hard to believe that Sola was just going to leave her. It stung, and bad. Who would be desperate enough to move in with some random girl who can't even pay her own rent? Her mind drifted to Ben. Gil asked if he needed a place to stay, and as much as she would love to share a home with him, she was also scared she might mess something up or say too much and he would run away and disappear like the rest of the people in her life.

But oh, Ben. There was just something so... captivating about the man. And the way he had said her name earlier that morning... the way it rolled off his tongue like it tasted sweet in his mouth... making it sound almost melodic.

She had to snap herself back to reality. She had only seen the man twice ever, and now look at her. Repeating his words over and over in her brain like some obsessed twelve year old with a crush. It was silly, really.

Folay showed up a couple minutes later, stumbling through the tarp door, looking more tired than most days. "You." he said, pointing at her with a wobbly hand. "You cost me so much profit and for what? Just another pretty face you'll never see again, that's it, isn't it."

Miona didn't know what to say. She wasn't even sure if she should say anything at all.

He stumbled his way over to the count

er. Maybe he was drunk, or just overly hung over. Had she really messed up that bad? As he got closer, she felt herself shrink. "You better never do that again or I swear it'll be the last thing you ever do. You hear me? The last thing you'll ever do."

Miona could only nod. She didn't even want to try and force her voice to work.

"Good." He pushed away from the counter a tight, forced smile on his lips. "I need to go work on something out back. Don't cause trouble while I'm gone. You know what will happen if you do." he told as he was walking to the exit. He almost ran into someone on his way our, and said, "Oh, you again."

The man walked through the door, and Miona recognized the feeling before the man himself. "Hello Miona, thought I would stop by to say hello." Ben said politely, while making his way over to her desk in a couple graceful strides.

She hated the feeling the warmth of flattery crawl up her spine, but hated even more the way it disappeared due to her racing heart. "Oh, well hello again, it's nice to see you." she tried to sound cheery, she tried to hide the tremor in her voice from the fear that was still very much exsitant from the encounter with folay mere moments before.

"Are you alright?" he leaned against the counter between them. Shoot. Maybe she didn't hide it as well as she would've liked.

"Yes," she said, "yes, I'm perfectly fine."

He studied her face for a couple seconds. "Hm. Alright."

"So... how was the search for a job?" she asked him, changing the subject.

The tarp opened and Folay made his way back into the shop before he could answer her question. "Ah, just the man I want to talk to." Ben said as he spun around to face the shop owner.

Folay barely even looked up.

"How would you like an extra pair of hands to work in your shop for a while?" his question aught her completely off guard. He meant him? Working for Folay? With her, everyday? She had come to the conclusion earlier that she could handle her small crush, or rather infatuation, with the man if she were to see him max once a week. But working with her? Seeing him everyday? The thought scared her, and worse, excited her.

Folay's head snapped up from his prized speeder he was dusting off. He studied Ben for a few seconds before asking with a hard tone, "Are you asking me for a job?"

"That fact depends on whether you have a need for one." He replied cooly, while slowly walking towards the other man.

"And what makes you think I need help?"

"I know you work outside on people's machines that are too big to fit in here. That could be me instead, and you could spend more time in here, out of the sun. I have worked with much equipment in the past, rendering me rather skilled in such." Ooh, another anecdote into Ben's past. He lived somewhere considerably technologically advanced, she presumed. He seemed to be getting more and more interesting by the moment.

"Alright, if you're so smart with machines, tell me why this bike still won't start." Folay gestured to his bike, then crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Ben nodded, and walked to the side of the bike and inspected it. He held down a button and turned a key, to whihc the bike replied with a chug chug chug noise then a low, loud pop. Ben stepped back. "Broken spark igniter." he announced.

Folay muttered quietly to himself, "Dammit, why didn't I think of that." before heading to a shelf along one of the stone walls, picking up a part, opening the hood and replacing it with the old one. He held down the button and turned the key as Ben had, though this time it started. He turned to him. "You're hired. You start tomorrow."

A/N: heyyy back with another update! yeah i know what you're probably thinking, omg, you posted again within a week of the last update! i am so lucky! and yes, yes you are. you are welcome. I can't promise the next update will be this close together as this one is, but i guess just enjoy it while you can.

also idk if a spark igniter is a thing, but it sounded real enough so i put it in. don't sue me if it doesn't exist lmao

and as always thank you for reading! i truly hope youre enjoying what im dishing out. i will try to keep these updates flowing for you guys.

I love you all! have a great week!

- S