Work Text:
Galo’s customer shot him a wary glance over his shoulder as he walked over to his two friends, who were waiting in the parking lot for him.
Galo sighed as he looked down at the paperwork in his hand, then over to the customer’s motorcycle.
Galo had encountered fussy customers before, but this guy was on another level. Galo had had to go through the checklist with him three times. It was as if the motorcycle were the blond’s baby and Galo was the new babysitter.
The blond donned his helmet and got on his friend’s motorcycle. Galo got a clear look at the black dragon tattoo winding up his left arm as the blond held his friend’s waist. With one last glance toward Galo (though Galo couldn’t see his eyes through the helmet), the blond was whisked away in the roar of the engine.
“Is that who I think it is?”
Aina came up beside Galo, and Galo handed her the paperwork. She took note of the customer’s name.
“It is. That’s Lio Fotia.” Aina craned her head to peer in the direction the riders had gone, though they were well and truly out of sight. Then she turned to observe the motorcycle that the blond had left with Galo.
“Who is he?” Galo asked, interested. He ought to be starting on the maintenance that the blond had hired them for, but he was in no hurry. Business was slow right now.
“You don’t know? Didn’t you see the tattoo?” Aina questioned.
“The dragon. Yeah, it’s pretty cool,” Galo said. The blond’s motorcycle was pretty cool too, and that was what Galo was truly interested in.
“That’s the symbol of the Mad Burnish gang,” Aina informed him. “You’ve heard of them, haven’t you? You must have.”
Galo nodded. Quite suddenly, his throat dried up. Mad Burnish was a local gang that practically ran these streets. They’d come onto the scene a few months ago. Galo had heard stories of the showy displays of skill they performed with their motorcycles from his impressed customers. It was no surprise that their ranks had expanded so quickly.
The owner of the shop Galo worked at had some sort of relationship with them—every business owner in the area did—but Galo had never encountered any of their members before. At least, if he had, he’d never noticed that they were Mad Burnish.
“So, who’s Lio Fotia?” Galo asked. “Do you know him?”
Aina laughed. “Definitely not. He’s the leader of the Mad Burnish, Galo. You’d better take good care of that bike.”
Galo looked back over at the shiny black motorcycle with a nervous chuckle. It was as clean as any motorcycle on the shop floor. The tires were a little worn, and Galo would be replacing them, but it was clearly a motorcycle that was very well cared for. Galo would have thought it was a little too big for the pint-sized blond to handle, but that didn’t seem to be a problem for the blond.
“They’re not going to be trouble, are they?” Galo asked uneasily.
“I don’t think so. They actually seem pretty decent, from everything I’ve heard,” Aina said. “Crime has gone down a lot since they’ve come on the scene. Ignis says they’ve actually been good for the area.”
“Even though they’re a gang?” Galo asked. “Don’t they steal stuff and…?” Galo trailed off with a shrug.
“Not that I’ve heard. Apparently, they have a pretty strict code of behaviour that their members have to follow. The worst they’ve done is a bit of vandalism, and frankly, the victims of that probably deserved it. I’ve never heard of them harassing innocent people. Actually, they’ve helped a lot of people around here.”
Aina punched his arm lightly. “If you do a good job on Fotia’s bike, they might all come here for bike maintenance. That’d be awesome for us.”
“No pressure, right?” Galo asked with a laugh.
“Course not,” Aina said with a grin, though Galo guessed that she meant just the opposite.
Truthfully, it wasn’t Aina or his boss that Galo had to worry about. Galo suspected that it was the Mad Burnish leader Lio Fotia who would probably crucify him if Galo damaged his motorcycle. Aina hadn’t seen the once-over Fotia had given the shop when he’d walked in, or the scrutinising look he’d given Galo when Galo had told him that he’d be taking care of the motorcycle personally. Aina might think the Mad Burnish were decent, but the blond was clearly fastidious when it came to his motorcycle. Galo had no intention of testing Fotia’s limits.
Aina chuckled at the worried expression on Galo’s face. “Don’t worry. I doubt he’ll be disappointed with your work, Galo. You and Lucia are the best around here.”
“Thanks, Aina.” Aina’s vote of confidence made Galo feel better.
Aina left for the office with Fotia’s paperwork, and Galo went in search of his colleague Lucia, whose cooperation he’d need for Fotia’s motorcycle.
Fotia returned a few days later to pick up his motorcycle. He paced slowly around it, studying it with the eye of a detective at a murder scene. Galo stood nearby, waiting for Fotia to sign the paperwork and pay the bill.
Today Fotia was wearing a sleeveless black t-shirt that showed off the full scope of his dragon tattoo. It snaked from his shoulder all the way down to his wrist. Galo couldn’t help but notice how muscular the blond was, despite his small frame.
“It looks good,” the blond finally said.
Galo suspected that, coming from him, that was a high compliment.
Fotia didn’t quibble about cost or nitpick Galo’s work. He paid without argument and left on his motorcycle, along with his two fellow Mad Burnish members.
“Way to go, Galo,” Aina congratulated him. “Ignis will be happy.”
“You think so?” Galo asked.
“Yeah. They’ll be back for sure,” Aina predicted.
Galo hoped she was right. He wouldn’t mind getting the chance to talk to Fotia about his motorcycle, or maybe show Fotia the bike that he and Lucia were building. He suspected that Fotia would be able to offer them some good feedback.
Maybe getting close to the leader of a local gang wasn’t such a smart idea, but Fotia was too intriguing for Galo to just forget. How had he become the leader of a gang when he looked to be only about eighteen or nineteen years old? Did his delicate appearance cause problems for him? How did he keep the respect of the Mad Burnish members and how did he hold his own against other gangs in the city looking to move in on the area?
And how’d he afford such a nice motorcycle, anyway? That, Galo really wanted to know.
Fotia was definitely an enigma that Galo wanted to study.