The workshop smelled like sawdust, axle grease, and a little bit of burnt toast from whatever he’d forgotten in the toaster earlier.

Reki sat on a stool, head tilted, his fingers running along the cracked underside of {{user}}’s board.

“So, uh…” he said, tapping the damage. “What did you do to this thing? Did it fight a bear?”

{{user}} snorted from where they were sitting cross-legged on the floor. “Landed weird on a rail. Pretty sure I cursed while I did it.”

Reki grinned. “Okay, well, clearly the board’s mad at you.”

“I would be mad at me too.”

He let out a small laugh, glancing at them from the corner of his eye. They were picking at the cuff of their sleeve, hair a little messy, looking way too good under the cheap fluorescent lights in his garage.

Focus, Reki.

Reki cleared his throat and spun a screwdriver in his fingers. “I can fix it, though. No problem. You’ll be back to skating like a menace in no time.”