It's Contagious

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Scene set: Scott is leaning under the hood of the pickup truck they're going to be using to get the trees from the nursery... Poking around at various bits of the engine, grease and dirt staining his hands and a few marks on his face. He's wearing old jeans and a very old t-shirt with some rips and a lot more dirt. A somewhat clean rag sticks out of the back pocket of his jeans.

Paige is heading out to the stables where she's meeting Sam for their morning ride. Wearing typical barn attire of jeans and a rolled up collared shirt with her favourite pair of boots, she holds an apple in her left hand. She hums as she walks.


Morning, before the tree run.

Scott looks up at the newcomer and smiles warmly. "Morning."

Paige jumps slightly, broken out of her thoughts. "Good morning." She stops, inspecting him for a moment before guessing. "Would you happen to be Mr. Summers? The umm... older one?"

He laughs at that, shaking his head slightly. "I guess that would be me. It's so odd...I'm still not used to it. And you're Paige, right? Of the Guthrie clan?"

Paige smiles, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "Yes, sir. One of many."

"Nice to finally meet you." He wipes his hands on the rag in his pocket and offers a mostly-clean one to her.

Takes the hand, shaking it firmly and without any notice to the minor amounts of grime still left. "Yes, you too. This place is so big, I'm going to be meeting people for months." She pauses to peek behind him at his work before returning her focus to his glasses. "I'm to assume you're the automotive professor, huh?"

"Got it in one." He turns back to the car and replaces some wires. "Just needed to make sure this was all set for the nursery trip later. You like cars?" He closes the hood and leans back on the truck, watching her.

"I was only able to work on what I could find in Kentucky, which is not much, I can tell you. Old trucks, tractors and what not. But yes, I like cars in general." She smiles somewhat shyly, not quite sure what to make of the focus he is giving her.

"Great. Besides the care and feeding of the cars, I also teach the driving classes. And those skilled enough, like your brother, they get to learn to fly the Blackbird. Think the reflexes run in your family?" Scott smiles slightly, hoping that maybe we'll be able to get another pilot out of all these newcomers.

"What? Are you trying to start a sibling rivalry Mr. Summers?" Paige's smile breaks into a joking grin. "As he insists on not believing, anything he can do, I can do better."

"Not at all." He holds up his hands, placating. "Just hoping that we can find another potential pilot amongst the new students. So, I don't know much about you, Paige. What classes are you taking?" He notices the dirt still on his hands and starts wiping them down again.

Paige seems to bore of standing, and lifts herself up onto the hood of the truck, being careful not to dirty up the exterior with her boots. "Well, pretty much everything but music and creative writing." She gives Scott a wry look. "They expect me to have a mental breakdown within four months."

"Who is 'they'?" He turns halfway around to watch her.

"Sarah, my roomie and Jono. Lovely bunch, they are, regular beams of sunshine. But they don't treat me like I'm fragile, merely a freak just like them. I don't agree with them all the time, heck, don't agree with them most of the time, but... I don't know. I don't think I'm making much sense today, sir." Paige tilts her head up to watch a jay fly by.

"Please don't call me 'sir.' I keep looking around for someone else. Mr. Summers, or Scott, is fine." He sighs and follows Paige's eyes on the bird. "I don't like that word much. Freak." He frowns and looks at Paige.

"Do you think Sarah will ever stop being able to think of herself as a monster?"

Paige resists looking at him oddly at the request to call him Scott, concentrating instead on the question at hand. "Maybe not. Doesn't mean I'm going to stop trying to convince her of otherwise, though."

"Good!" He nods emphatically at that. "I think that might be the only way to convince her." Scott leans back against the hood again, turning away from Paige. "What about Jono?"

"Jono is... Jono. He will always have someone to turn to, we make sure he knows that. It's really up to him if he does." Paige leans back, resting her elbows on the truck. "I'm not going to force him to be bunnies and daisies. Wouldn't suggest anyone to try and force anything on him. He tends to get... cranky."

"And we don't want to force anyone to be what they aren't. Sarcasm is his thing, if he didn't have that, he wouldn't be Jono." Scott throws the now-very-dirty rag into the toolbox that is in front of the truck, briefly leaning across Paige to do so. "And I am not downplaying what has happened to both of them."

"They've been through a lot, and will no doubt be through more. I'm not an eternal optimist, but at some point, you have to make a peace with yourself. Then you can work on the rest of the world."

He gestures to his glasses. "I know that I'll never be able to take these off and see the world as I used to be able to. But that doesn't mean I am going to be bitter because everyone else can see." He pauses, clearing his throat from something. "And there are those who can't see anymore at all."

Paige gently rests a hand on his shoulder. The touch is light and cautious, but intended as comfort. "You're a very wise person, Mr. Summers. Scott."

He looks back at her hand, then up to her face. "Not as wise as I'd like to be. It's just the age and experience talking. The whole 'been there, done that' thing." His tone changes, deepens, growing more pompous in an attempt to lighten the mood. "Learn from my wisdom, children, for I have been there, and I hath done that." He looks away, down at the ground. "Sometimes, it only sticks if you learn from mistakes."

Paige lets her hand fall away, fingertips brushing his sleeve, as she attempts to smile. "So long as you are learning from your mistakes, they are not mistakes to begin with."

"Now who's being wise?" He pushes off the truck, offering her a hand to get down. "I need to get changed, and I think that apple needs to get to its horse."

"It must be contagious," she replies, taking his hand and jumping down. "Thanks for the chat, s- Scott. Mr. Summers."

: He smiles at her. "Mr. Summers is fine. I can see 'Scott' is something we're going to have to work up to."

Paige blushes, covering her face with a hand as she looks away. "I'll work on it. See you later… Scott."

He nods at her and goes to close the toolbox. "Enjoy your ride," he says as he picks it up and heads into the garage.

Paige follows him with her eyes as he departs, before shaking her head, glimpsing at her watch, and making a mad dash for the barn.