Page 96 of Just Past Two

“Matthew says you’re an artist.” Silas looked around. “I’ve never met someone who does metalworking before.”

“It started as a hobby in art school, and then it grew from there. Now that I’ve got this workshop and a steady job, I’ve been able to invest in a lot more equipment than I had up north. When Matthew told me what he wanted to make, I figured I’d be the guy to help with it. I wasn’t expecting to have an honest-to-god biomedical engineer here.” Caleb’s smile was as warm toward Silas as it always was to Matthew, which Matthew appreciated. He’d liked Caleb from the get-go, even with his “will they, won’t they” thing with Isabel that had gone on for way too long.

Silas pulled some papers out of his pocket and unfolded them. Matthew moved closer to see what they were, and saw that they were printouts of Zuul’s adaptive cat wheelchair. Silas handed them to Caleb. “So this is what we want to try and make. Matthew, you said you picked everything up at Home Depot?”

“Sure did.” Matthew jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the car.

Caleb rubbed his beard. “Well, go ahead and start unloading things, and give me a chance to look these over.”

When Matthew and Silas finished moving the odds and ends and pieces from the trunk into the workshop, Caleb had laid out the plans on his workbench. “This seems straightforward enough. I’m happy to weld whatever needs welding.”

“That’s why we’re here.” Matthew was looking forward to getting Zuul hooked up with some new gear.

“I might even have some supplies that’ll be handy.” Caleb pulled his gloves back on, then excitedly started moving piles of scrap metal. Over the noise, he said, “Isabel always gives me shit about collecting this stuff, but she told me as long as I keep it in the shop and don’t try to bring it home, I can do whatever I like. This is like my scrap metal bat cave.”

He emerged with a few items to add to the pile of goods, which he then surveyed. “Okay, this is a start.” Caleb nodded. “Now let’s figure out how it all goes together.”

Matthew had never done this kind of construction before. There wasn’t too much he could do with the technical equipment, the welding and all that, because that was Caleb’s area of expertise, but he was surprised at how adept Silas was with construction. He wasn’t sure he’d really understood Silas’s job before this. Frankly, it was pretty damn sexy to watch.

As Silas fit two small parts together, Matthew commented, “So you actually build things. You don’t just design them.”

Silas nodded. “That’s correct. I put together the components that go into my designs.”

“That’s pretty cool.” Matthew felt a new kind of respect for him. “I’d thought it was all computer simulation and CAD, but it’s neat that you’re really in there.”

“I like this aspect of the job.” Silas nodded. Faced with a project, he was all seriousness. While he worked, his look of concentration turned into a frown, and then he paused in his task. “I miss this aspect of the job.” After that pause, he was back to work again.

Matthew felt a pang of sadness for Silas, understanding a bit more what he was going through. While he loved his job, he couldn’t imagine it forming this much of his identity, and so he hadn’t really understood Silas’s loss. Seeing it firsthand, though, no longer the aftermath of grief but the slow recovery, he saw the way Silas clung to this tiny project like it would be his greatest achievement. Matthew felt something tender in his heart at the realization. Tonight wasn’t about distracting Silas through games and (probably) sex, but it needed to be about helping him find some joy in other areas of life, not just when he was working.

Maybe finding joy in a new relationship, for example.

Caleb turned on floodlights in the storage unit when it started to get dark, washing the area with brilliant illumination and making it possible for them to continue working. That was fortunate, since nothing had come together yet and they still had a ways to go. Matthew was able to help with a few smaller pieces of work that he pretty much had to force Silas to delegate to him, but otherwise, he just hung out with Caleb and watched. Silas seemed happiest when he was doing all the work himself. He kept referring to the plans, making minute adjustments, and then returning to construction. Every so often, he asked Caleb to trim or bend something with one of his machines, which Caleb completed easily. Matthew also kept waiting for Caleb to ask him more about his relationship with Silas, but his friend was conspicuously silent on the subject, talking about some recent games and media but not bringing up anything personal. Maybe he just wasn’t interested, or maybe he was being polite.

After a little while, though, conversation came back around to work. “So I saw the internal job posting from Will about the technical manager position,” Caleb said, setting a piece of welded framing aside and grabbing two more parts. “You gonna go for it?”

Out of the corner of his eye, Matthew saw Silas perk up, setting down the wheel he was screwing into place.

“I don’t know.” He had stared at the job posting all week, keeping the email open, even checking his résumé to make sure it was up to date, but hadn’t been ready to pull the trigger. “It’s a lot more work.”

“There’s a possibility for you to get a promotion at work?” Silas moved away from the bench to come stand next to Matthew. “Why didn’t you say anything about it?”

This was getting uncomfortable. He hadn’t wanted to have this conversation with Silas, or with anyone, actually. “I’m still not sure if I’m interested. I haven’t made up my mind yet.”

Silas opened his mouth to respond, but just then, they heard a cheerful “Hello, hello!” from out beyond the floodlights. The familiar voice made Matthew and Caleb look up, and Silas followed their gazes as well, stopping before he could give what was probably going to be an epic persuasive speech on why Matthew should take the promotion and become a huge workaholic. Isabel emerged from beyond the wall of light, carrying a pizza box like the bearer of the Holy Grail. Matthew could have kissed her, not just for the pizza, but for saving him from having this conversation with Silas right now.

“Caleb said you guys would be showing up to use his workshop, and I thought you all might be hungry.” She lifted the pizza.

“Thank god, you beautiful woman.” Matthew went over and took the pizza box from her, enveloping her in a hug.

“Hey!” Caleb said in mock indignation. “That’s my line.”

“You’ve gotta get to your lines quicker, then.” Matthew let Isabel go, and she took the pizza back out of his hands.

Silas gave Isabel a short wave, his persuasive speech apparently forgotten or set aside. “Hi. I’m Silas. I’m Matthew’s . . . boyfriend.” He still hesitated before saying the word, but not as much. “I’d shake your hand, but I’m covered in grease.”

“That’s okay.” She gave a small wave back. “I’m Isabel. I work with Matthew, and Caleb’s my . . . well . . .” She looked to Caleb, who nodded and smiled. “He’s my fiancé.”

Matthew gaped. “What? When did you two get engaged?”