Birds of Feather

Chapter 12: The Firebird

Getting out of the car, you already saw Kid leaning against one of the bay door frames. The day was barely started and he was already covered in grease, shop uniform giving way. Knowing him he'd been working all night and hadn't slept yet, versus having gotten up early enough to be in that state.

"Usopp here yet?" You call out, heading up to the shop proper, Marco coming up behind you.

"Yep," Kid answers, squinting against the morning light as he cleans his hand up a little with a rag that's seen brighter days. "Only just got here though, so you haven't kept 'im waiting much, Mouse."

You roll your eyes and jerk your thumb toward Marco. "Eustass Kid, Newgate Marco," you step aside as Marco steps up. "Marco, Kid." You say, finishing your lazy introduction.

"Pleasure." Marco says, taking Kid's mostly de-grimed hand and giving it a shake.

"Sure thing." Kid tilts his head toward the parking lot. "That yours?"

Marco looks back at his car and smiles as he looks back at Kid. "It is."

"... Lemme put her up on a rack so I can get a good look at 'er and I got a hood arm for you, no other charge." Kid offers, still squinting against the light. Looking back and forth between the two of them you realize Marco's the only person you know who could look Kid in the eye, damn giants.

Somehow Marco looks smaller than Kid, but probably because he's not nearly as broad.

Marco looks to you and you smile. "I'm not gonna lie, I'll be under the rack getting my fill too, if you're okay with it."

Marco chuckles. "Alright, it's a solid deal, yoi." He admits. "I'll bring the car up. That bay?" He asks, pointing to one that looks like it has a lift in it.

"Yup." Kid answers, his tone a little more friendly and a little less business.

"I'll go talk to Usopp while you do that, and get things rolling." You state, heading into the shop proper to find your car and Usopp.

The young artist is setting up his gear near your car. You start to say something to him, but the sight of your car catches your attention. In several pieces to make it easier for the paint job, everything has been reworked. If it wasn't for the distinct body style and design of the interior, you'd almost wonder if it was your car.

"We either replaced or refurbished just about everything." A familiar voice says from behind you. Looking over you see the wild blonde hair of Kid's childhood friend Killer, one of the co-owners of the shop, poking out from behind the frame of a van with flames down the side of it. He turns to get a better look at you, lifting up his welding mask and giving you a smile.

"We kept what we could, but strictly original parts barely make up 10% of her now."

"Did you guys redo the entire frame then?" You question, giving a wave to Usopp as Killer comes over to walk you through what they did to the car.

"Just about. You didn't have near as much rust as we expected to find. Kid might not say so, but you took care of her really well, honestly. The engine had to be scrapped. There wasn't enough machining to save it, and truthfully, the newer engines are just far too efficient." Killer starts pointing at a few places while he explains. "Replaced all the clips and lines, new brake assemblies and tires. You got that sky blue base color, so we went with white for the interior. You had that dingy 70s silver before, so Kid didn't think it was too different to bother saying something before hand."

"Nah, white's fine. It'll be a challenge to keep clean, but y'all do detail jobs, right?"

"A-yup. Heat an' Wire mostly, but I don't think you'd hear a single complaint if this was the car they were cleaning." Killer continues on. "Left the manual windows, and there's an emergency release for the seat, but we did add fully adjustable controls to the seats."