Work Text:
Tony watched Gibbs working on his boat and couldn’t help wondering if this was already a long forgotten art or if it soon would be. He didn’t know anyone who built a boat in their basement. Heck he didn’t know very many people that build wooden boats by hand anymore.
They were all kit based or factory produced. Even in Stillwater they didn’t make boats by hand. Of course, Stillwater had little use for boats.
The sad truth was there was far more xenophobia in Stillwater than there were boats. Tony knew this from first hand experience. He hadn’t really appreciated just how accepting DC was until he’d visited Stillwater for a case.
Jackson Gibbs had been friendly enough and a few gossips, but other than that they were met with suspicion and a polite or not so polite request to leave. Tony had never known what small towns were like until then. He’d mostly grown up in cities or with so much distance from your neighbors that you didn’t even know who they were.
It was quite a different experience in a small town. Xenoophobia around every corner, which is how they liked it. Tony hadn’t been trying to make waves.
Though, in all honesty he vastly preferred the waves on the ocean and enjoying them in one of Gibbs’ boats to the waves he experienced in Stillwater. He would rather xenophobia be long forgotten. Sadly, handmade boats were closer to being long forgotten.
At least, he would get to enjoy the boats Gibbs made.