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Roderich was never good at anything that involved getting his hands dirty. That wasn't to say he thought low of anyone who could. On the contrary, he respected them very much. Why hate someone on the sole basis that they could do something you couldn't? Hating people took so much energy, too. It just didn't seem worth it. Besides, he had talents others didn't. It just so happened that changing tires wasn't one of them.
Standing outside the gas station store, feeling like the biggest idiot ever, he stared at the tire as if staring could somehow make him understand. He got that he had to take off the tire. He got that for that to happen, he needed to have the car lifted. What he didn't get was how to do all of that. And the people inside refused to help.
Since no miracle explanation could be gathered from looking at the tire, Roderich pulled his phone out and called the one person he knew that could possibly give him instructions. But Lizzie didn't answer. What if nobody answered? What if he was stranded at a gas station from who knows where for hours? With panic on the rise, he called Gilbert.
"Hello, BS Industries, how may I help you Roddy my darling?"
"By not addressing me that way," he replied. "And isn't this your cell phone?"
"Yup, but what's up? I'm supposed to be hard at work answering calls and shit. Luddy's out on a job, so it's just me."
Roderich explained the situation, the words slipping out faster than he meant. Somebody pulled up at the gas station and entered the store. Roderich swore they gave him a funny look.
"Do you have a jack?"
"A what?"
"A jack, to lift the car up. It looks kind of like a diamond, metal, uh. I dunno how else to explain it. And a wrench, because you're going to need to get the bolts off the tire. Are you sure it's flat?"
Roderich scowled at his car. "What do you mean, am I sure?"
"Just asking. And did you check to make sure you had a spare? Because all that would be for nothing if--"
"I know," Roderich interrupted. He took a deep breath, trying to settle down. It wasn't Gilbert's fault, it wasn't anyone's fault. He was just frustrated.
"So you do, then?" Gilbert asked.
"If I didn't, why would I be calling you for how to fix it?" Roderich asked, rubbing at his eyes. No, he wasn't crying. He was just frustrated. And his eyes did that. "I don't know where I am, I just pulled off when I saw a gas station and God, Gilbert, can't you just come over here and fix it?"
"Hey hey hey, shh. It's just a flat, you'll be fine, okay? Don't worry. Tell me where you are. I can't leave right now, but I can call Ludwig and he can come help, okay? He's bigger than me, anyways."
Roderich went to sit inside the car; he didn't really like the idea that people could be staring at him from inside the store. Especially those who refused to help him. "Didn't you say he was on a job?"
"Yeah, but he should be done here pretty soon. It was an easy job. I coulda done it if I wanted to."
Roderich nodded even though he knew Gilbert couldn't see him. "Okay," he said. "Okay, please? And will you call me back when you're done?"
"Yeah, sure."
He pulled his legs up on the seat, nestling down for the wait. "And will you stay on the phone with me? Until he gets here?" he asked.
There was a pause and the phone made a noise, like Gilbert had switched the phone to the other side. "Yeah, of course. How's this? I call Luddy on one of the other phones, that way I don't have to hang up."
"Yeah," Roderich said. "Yeah."