Work Text:
You loosened the 3-jaw chuck and pulled out the workpiece you were working on and let out a groan.
“Why is it so bad?” You murmured to yourself as you inspected the workpiece. The surface finish was still rough. You thought you had done everything correctly, but it was quite evident something went wrong. You dragged your finger along the surface of the workpiece you had just done a turning operation on. It was so unsatisfyingly rough that your face contorted to one of disgust. After a bit, you let out a “tsk” before putting down the workpiece on top of a part of the machine. You had lost track of how long you've been in the workshop slaving away on a project you were assigned to do, so unsurprisingly, you were getting a bit impatient. Maybe you're using the wrong tool? Or maybe you're feeding the workpiece too fast? Before you could thoroughly inspect the lathe machine to figure out what the issue was, you heard a voice behind you that almost made you jolt out of your skin.
“You're an idiot.”
The strong British accent instantly made it obvious who it was but you still twirled around to look at him. There Mark stood, with his arms crossed while wearing a face mask that partially covered how truly fed up he looked. Compared to when you did missions with him, he looked a lot more casual. A black jacket zipped halfway up with the sleeves rolled up (y'know, because you shouldn't wear loose sleeves when working with machinery!) and a mask to cover half of his face – you never really questioned why he wore a face mask all the time, but you just theorised it to be because he just likes it – but it really begged the question though, was he not dying from the heat, especially being in a workshop that's already hot enough?
Before you could question him about that, he immediately cut you off when you opened your mouth.
“Was that meant to be your finishing pass?” He asked, nodding at the workpiece that you had just put down. He almost sounded disappointed. You sheepishly nodded your head. He let out a grunt. “Your rpm was too slow. You need it to be faster if you want a smoother surface finish.”
You rolled your eyes at his bluntness. You knew he meant well but his brashness can be off-putting at times. However, at the same time, you couldn't really complain because he was right. It wasn't that you didn't know, it just slipped your mind to change the spindle speed before you began your work. However, it was still embarrassing how he caught such a simple mistake but then it made you think – how long had he been observing you?
Before you were even able to bring that up, he had moved past you to inspect the machine you had just been using.
“Also, you were feeding it way too quickly. You need to slow down, especially when you’re doing your finishing pass and also–” he stopped when he got to inspect the cutting tool on the machine. You could barely manage to see his jaw slightly drop under his mask in amusement. “Oh my God. Your tool is at a negative rake angle. You idiot ,”
A moment of silence.
“ Ah, ” was all you said in reply. Your face flushed in embarrassment at the remark. It was such an obvious mistake that could have easily been avoided. Has the lack of sleep and constant work finally caught up?
He sighed as he crossed his arms and turned to your direction, before pulling down his face mask to his chin, probably so you would hear the next words clearly.
“You shouldn't be making mistakes like these by now,” he chided sternly, “Keep this up, and you'll only be wasting material and time.”
You knew he was being harsh because, well, that's just how he is, but also because he only wanted the best for you since you're his friend. You also knew that he knew how capable you were as an engineer, and that you, despite your usual clumsiness, are very efficient and can handle the machines well. Yet, you just couldn't help but feel like a student being scolded by their teacher. You rubbed your eyes with your thumb and index before looking off to the side while sighing out an exasperated “uhuh”. He seemed to take notice how you looked, and you swore you could see his face soften ever so slightly for a moment, before he let out a groan.
“You need to take a break.” He bluntly stated. You let out a snort. Rich coming from him, the guy known to do all-nighters just to finish a task. He continued, “And I know that's a lot coming from me. ”
You let out a sigh as you mentally went over the things you had finished and still had to do. Mark saw this and you just knew he wasn't going to take no for an answer. He reached to grab the failed workpiece and reached out to hand it back to you, but it seemed more as an invitation than anything. “Come on, you've been cooped up here for far too long. Let's go eat.”
Despite his usual blunt tone, you swore you could hear that small tinge of concern in his voice. You tilted your head slightly to look back at the machine then back at the workpiece he was holding. You sighed before reaching to grab it. “Alright,”
You could hear Mark let out a sigh of relief as his shoulders dropped. A small smile played on his lips before he raised his mask back up. “I'll help you clean,” he muttered before going to switch off the power to the machine.