He's wearing mechanics coveralls and a simple henley, toothpick inbetween his lips as he's working. He still doesn't have access to the glovebox--it's raised and lowering it means suspicion--but at the very least he can put his mind at ease and work, though not for very long: its' owner comes back and Paul lowers the wrench once his coworker whistles to let him know the other's arrived.
He freezes even if his body remains fairly languid in its usually semi-robotic stance. It's a good way to hide his surprise because this isn't what he expected whatsoever-this is beyond. He'd assumed Loki got himself killed doing something reckless, maybe, with his dogged pursuit of what he'd been able to justify, but not here and not the one shadowing him. Paul is not expecting the other to be so tall either, though the way Loki's brow furrows is exactly the same. Haircut, too.
And he's the voice over the police scanner.
It usually takes a few seconds for Paul to answer, a castoff of his younger days when all he'd do is shut down, something that's now seen as mysterious and brooding to most people because he keeps to himself, but there's a small tell in the way he blinks that pries his secret from him: he's genuinely surprised. Loki's still pale while Paul's traded the sleepy Washington rain for LA sun, but he looks good. Loki still has that spark in his eyes that Paul admires, even if it looks like he didn't get any sleep at all. It's endearing. It's worrying. Paul's mouth feels dry.
"Can't get the new parts for a week," he says, voice soft and quiet with a surprisingly strong commanding air to behind it. He leans against one of the work benches next to him and crosses his arms, watching the other carefully. He's still on guard.
He has to be. And he can't exactly ask what happened with Loki's car, not when they know. Not if Loki's still as whip-smart as he was when they grew up together.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2023-08-23 09:02 pm (UTC)He freezes even if his body remains fairly languid in its usually semi-robotic stance. It's a good way to hide his surprise because this isn't what he expected whatsoever-this is beyond. He'd assumed Loki got himself killed doing something reckless, maybe, with his dogged pursuit of what he'd been able to justify, but not here and not the one shadowing him. Paul is not expecting the other to be so tall either, though the way Loki's brow furrows is exactly the same. Haircut, too.
And he's the voice over the police scanner.
It usually takes a few seconds for Paul to answer, a castoff of his younger days when all he'd do is shut down, something that's now seen as mysterious and brooding to most people because he keeps to himself, but there's a small tell in the way he blinks that pries his secret from him: he's genuinely surprised. Loki's still pale while Paul's traded the sleepy Washington rain for LA sun, but he looks good. Loki still has that spark in his eyes that Paul admires, even if it looks like he didn't get any sleep at all. It's endearing. It's worrying. Paul's mouth feels dry.
"Can't get the new parts for a week," he says, voice soft and quiet with a surprisingly strong commanding air to behind it. He leans against one of the work benches next to him and crosses his arms, watching the other carefully. He's still on guard.
He has to be. And he can't exactly ask what happened with Loki's car, not when they know. Not if Loki's still as whip-smart as he was when they grew up together.
"I can drive you home if you want."