whatever happened to saturday night?

[likesboys]

There's always something unnerving about a watch that comes to a full stop. In Darrow, Kurt's first instinct is always to look at the city around him, trying to pinpoint whether or not anything else is off, if anything else should serve as cause for alarm. Fortunately, today there's no dust descending from the sky, no indication that traffic's any different than usual. Just a pocketwatch that came to the end of its life.

Sighing, Kurt runs his fingers through his hair, and decides that the watch matters just enough to him that he's willing to shell out money for repairs.

After firing a quick text to Gavin to explain his absence and spending a good half hour on consoling Cat, Kurt slathers on sunscreen to deal with the quickly increasing amounts of summer sun, then sets out to find the nearest watch shop. His smartphone sends him to a little store a few blocks away, clocks hung on the walls from floor to ceiling, each more ornate than the last.

If they can't figure out how to fix his pocketwatch, Kurt suspects no one can.

He steps inside the shop, wandering through the antiques while he waits to be addressed.

Comments

[fightyourcorner]

After weeks of idleness, Thomas had gone out and procured himself a job. It wasn't quite the profession he'd aspired to, in Yorkshire, but it was a trade he knew well. The elderly gentleman who owned the shop had set him to work on an old table clock, which had not chimed in years, and had hired him on the spot after he'd gotten it working again.

That afternoon, he was manning the shop alone, shirt-sleeves rolled up over his elbows, and an apron tied around his middle. He wore a pair of magnified spectacles, grease staining his hands, and he looked more relaxed than he had, perhaps in years.

At the sound of footsteps, he emerged from the back of the shop, plucking the spectacles from his face and slipping them into the pocket on his apron.

"May I help you?"

[likesboys]

It's like a scene that could have been shown decades ago. Not a single digital clock stands in the shop, and even the young man behind the counter carries himself in a way that feels like it belongs in another age. Inexplicably, it serves to make Kurt feel young as he steps further inside, although he keeps himself as aware as he can, taking in every detail, filing it away in case he ever needs it for acting, later on. Licking his lips, he nods his head politely and offers a smile.

He's a potential paying customer. He belongs here. And he's even kept his watch clean and polished enough that he can't be overly accused of abusing the thing.

"Yes, um... I have this pocketwatch that I've been using in lieu of a wristwatch, but it's pretty old and I think it's given out on me. I was wondering if someone could take a look at it and see if it's still repairable? It makes a great display, but I'm pretty fond of carrying the thing around," Kurt says with a small smile, tugging the watch from his pocket and laying it down on the counter.

[fightyourcorner]

Crossing over to the counter, Thomas took the watch in hand and popped open the casing to get a better look. By the looks of it, it was a make he was quite familiar with, made around the time as the very one he himself carried, but it held far more wear than his. It was a difficult thing to come to grips with-- knowing how far into the past his life had been, for most of these people.

Sliding the magnified spectacles down onto his nose, he murmured a bit to himself, ready to turn away and disappear back into the workshop before he realized he'd hardly giving the boy a second glance.

"How long have you had it?"

[likesboys]

As a general rule, Kurt tries not to let himself get too attached to his material goods. He's a bargain shopper at heart, and a bit of a hoarder besides, but there are certain objects that really appeal to his aesthetic and his love of adventure, and this pocketwatch happens to be one of them. He can't help but keep his gaze on the guy's hands as they examine the watch. Not that there's much he can do to break it further, Kurt supposes.

"Not that long, just a little over a year," Kurt admits with a slight shake of his head. "I often go searching for good deals at pawn shops, consignment stores... I like things with a good amount of history, and this watch seemed to fit the bill. I had some family heirlooms back home, too, but none of them came over with me into the city, and I haven't lived here for all that long.

[fightyourcorner]

"She's in good hands, but I always like to know if a piece has sentimental value," he admitted. It seemed important, somehow, to know if what he was working on had been well-loved.

"If you want to linger in the shop, I ought to have something to tell you in just a bit."

[likesboys]

"Every piece I buy ends up having sentimental value, but this is definitely not to the magnitude of family heirloom," Kurt replied, pressing his lips together in a small smile. There was the chance that admitting a lighter attachment to the watch would mean a lesser amount of attention paid to it, but Kurt figured that honesty was the best policy where these things were concerned. And maybe, if his watch was unsalvageable, he could pick up another piece from the shop.

"I'll leave you to it, then." Nodding respectfully, Kurt tilted his direction of some of the larger clocks. "I'd love to hear about the other pieces in this store, but that can wait."

[fightyourcorner]

"If you promise not to touch anything, you're welcome to come back," Thomas offered, though he couldn't have explained why, apart from the loneliness of the shop. He was used to working with an entire household bustling around him, and while he'd claimed to hate nearly everyone on staff, he found now that he missed it.

Besides, the boy's earnest curiosity was oddly charming.

[likesboys]

Kurt blinked in surprise, then immediately melted into a wide smile, pleased by the prospect. There was just something so romantic about analog watches, something magical about the way that they ran, the little gears turning at just the perfect angle to keep time over many days, weeks, years. It wasn't something that he suspected he could pore much time on without trying his own patience, but knowing someone else who could tickled Kurt a great deal.

"I would love that," he said, grinning before nodding his head in thanks. "I'm Kurt, by the way."

[fightyourcorner]

"Thomas," he said with a nod, leading the young man back to the cramped workshop, clean and organized but cluttered with clock parts and elderly timepieces, some of which would not come to life, no matter how much they were tinkered with.

Pointing to a stool out of the way, Thomas set the watch on the stand at his work station and reached for his tools.

"By the looks of it, you've got a bit of rust. Nothing too major."

[likesboys]

With a quick raise of his brows, Kurt smiled warmly and trotted over to the stool offered him, hopping onto it and hooking his hands on the edge of the seat to anchor himself. There was something romantic to the way the workshop looked in this back room, parts and pieces scattered throughout the room, but in a manner that was organic. Kurt didn't doubt that there was an order to the madness.

"It's nice to meet you, Thomas," he said with a humbled duck of his head. "And thank god, rust sounds a lot better than the alternatives I had in mind." Kurt pauses briefly. "If you don't mind my asking... have you always been in this trade? What drew you to working with clocks?"

[fightyourcorner]

"Clockwork is my father's trade, not my own," he admitted, picking up a brush and carefully cleaning out the workings of the old watch.

"I worked in the service of an estate, for ten years. Most recently, I was promoted to under-butler, though experience aside, I've found that households here are not run the way they were where I'm from."

[likesboys]

Kurt enjoyed a good period piece. He enjoyed the aesthetic of it, enjoyed how calm and collected it all appeared from a distance. Practically, Kurt knew that there were any number of reasons why he wouldn't have fared half as well in the past, but that didn't stop him from admiring the things he could, and Thomas seemed to embody all of that.

He shifted on his seat, briefly pulling in his lower lip.

"I could tell by your accent that you're not from around here, but... help me out?" Kurt asked, not wanting to assume. "I'm personally from Ohio, in the United States. And I'm not very well-traveled. I haven't been further home than New York, certainly never traveled out of country."

[fightyourcorner]

"Yorkshire," Thomas said, his lips curled faintly with amusement. "In England. Though I've spent time in London, and elsewhere in Europe."

Bent over the watch, he carefully disassembled the gears to get at one that would surely need replacing. He hands were steady, deft at their task, despite the brace he always wore on his left hand.

[likesboys]

"Europe always sounds like a lot of culture packed into a relatively small area," Kurt mused softly. It was a wonder to him that people could drive for a few hours and get to another country entirely, often with a different language, sometimes different currency. Kurt liked the idea of being able to escape with relatively greater ease.

The Midwest often just felt endless. Not always in a good way.

Beyond the remark, Kurt fell silent in watching Thomas. The last thing he wanted to do was be a pest when Thomas had already done a greater favor to him in inviting Kurt back to watch.