Chapter Text
For as long as he could remember Regulus loved to tinker with things. He’d pull apart computers and put them back together. He’d find broken contraptions and devices at the thrift store or on the side of the road and be able to fix them within a couple of hours as long as he had the parts on hand.
When he was 24 he opened his own repair shop where he could make his living off tinkering and repairing peoples objects they bring in. Not like he needed the money since his family had been loaded and the inheritance he got was an insane amount of money that no one person could ever possibly need. His parents died when he was 19. He didn’t miss them. They were shit parents. At least that’s what he tells himself. He threw them the funeral since no one else would and visits their grave every year to remind himself he doesn’t need to miss them. He split the total inheritance he got with his older brother Sirius since his parents cut him out and Regulus didn’t need the full amount. Even with his half he didn’t need it all. But it was nice to have the routine of going to work and feeling like he was doing something productive. Plus he got to spend his days doing something he liked.
The plaza his shop was in was quite simple and for the most part quiet, just how he liked. There was a small bakery/cafe on the corner he picked up his morning coffee from. There was a pharmacy and an antique shop he sometimes sold his items to, as well as a bank on the same side of the street as the cafe. On his side of the road there was a flower shop and a small diner and a new tattoo parlor that just opened a couple weeks ago. Around the corner of the plaza was different clothing stores and other places to shop that usually got a little busier.
Normally his customers came in with their items which could be anything from a broken chair to a bike with a squeaky wheel, or even a vase with a chip in it, and they would drop it off and come back within the next week to pick it up. His shop was very simple. The name even being “Repair Shop” it was straight to the point and Regulus didn’t see a means in trying to make it fancy. The inside was shaped as a narrow rectangle with floor to ceiling windows in the front. The register and counter where Regulus normally sat was pushed in the back of the store where customers would come in to drop off or pick up their items. Behind the counter on the back wall was where he kept his supplies and tools to fix things stored in wooden cubbies on the wall and a counter with shelves underneath it. The walls were a redish brown brick and the carpets were a dark green, he couldn’t stand the sound of squeaking shoes on hardwood floor so he insisted on the carpet when designing. He had black colored display cases and shelves on the walls with items he had found and fixed on his own time for sale that the antique shop didn’t want.
It was currently around 2 in the afternoon and he was working on smoothing down a piece of wood to replace the arm of a wooden chair he had found when the bell above the door rang. He looked up at the sound of the chime and had to do a quick double take at the finest man he’s ever set his eyes on. He was maybe around six foot with tan skin and dark brown curls. He was wearing a band shirt and jeans with bright red converse and tattoos littering both arms and peaking up the side of his neck from under his shirt, with golden rimmed round glasses on his face. Regulus could feel his mouth hanging slightly agape but could find nothing within himself to close it and properly greet his customer.
The man had reached his desk with a smile and said “Hi, do you happen to repair electronics?”
That snapped Regulus out of it and he slightly shook his head to break himself out of it and stuttered out “Uh, yes, I do. What can I help you with?”
The man smiled bigger and sighed out a breath of relief and said “Oh thank god, I own the tattoo shop next door and one of my guns jammed and I can’t get it to work.” While he held up the broken tattoo gun to show him.
“Oh, well, I’ve never worked on one before but I’m sure I can figure it out” Regulus held out his hand for the gun.
The stranger passed it over and Regulus told him “If I can get your name and contact information from you I can let you know when it’s ready to be picked up.”
The man nodded his head and spoke when he had seen Regulus pick up his pen and contact book “My name’s James Potter”
Wow. James. What a lovely name.
“Right” he clears his throat “and your phone number?” Regulus could feel his face start to heat up for no reason at all while asking that.
The man had a tilt to his smile as he told him his number.
“Right, well James, I’ll give you a call when it’s ready. I might be able to have it done today, if not then by tomorrow”.
“Ok my shift ends early today I’ll stop by again before you close to see how it’s going”
“Oh, um sure.”
“But feel free to call me anyways” he said with a smirk
“Oh, um right” Regulus stuttered out again with a quick nod, face burning even brighter.
“I didn’t catch your name”
“Reg-Regulus.” Ugh kill him now why can’t he speak Regulus thought.
“Catch you later Regulus” he smiled broad again and turned to leave the store.
What the actual fuck was that. How in the hell has he never once ran into this hunk of a man that has been working next door to him for weeks now. He assumes it’s because he gets in hours before the tattoo shop opens at 12:00 and leaves before it closes at 9:00. Even though most nights he stays past his normal closing time at 5:30 working on his projects, most of the time refusing to leave something undone for the next day if he had already started on it.
Regulus let’s out a big sigh and lays his head in his hand that’s propped up on the counter and just takes a moment to breathe until his face doesn’t feel so god damned hot.
Once he feels relatively normal he picks his sander back up, muttering “Jesus fuck” and finishes smoothing out the arm chair before setting it aside to stain later in favor of inspecting the tattoo gun.
Regulus had never worked on one let alone seen one in real life since he himself had no tattoos or been with anyone while they’ve gotten one. He pulled up a manual to the tattoo gun on his computer to compare what the pieces should look like and did some research and then started taking it apart and determined it was a bent spring. Easy enough. He went over to the work desk behind him and found a new spring to match. He also gave the rest of the gun a general cleaning since he loves seeing the before and after and getting in all the nooks and crannies of things. He was so engrossed in his work and making sure each crack was completely clean he didn’t notice the time on the clock that hung to his left that read 5:25 or the fading sunlight until he heard the jingle of the bell above the door.
He looked up from his hunched over position over the counter while sitting on his barstool to see James stroll through with a lazy grin on his face.
“Hello again Regulus. We’re you able to figure it out?” He said as he started walking to the counter.
“Oh, yes hello James, it was a faulty spring that was causing the gun to not work right.”
“Oh well I’m glad you were able to figure it out. It’s my favorite tattoo gun, so I would have been bummed to have to replace it” he replied as he reached the counter.
“Yes it was a relatively easy fix” Regulus replied while looking away from his eyes down to the tattoo gun in his hands. “I’m just about done cleaning the rest of it and then I will just have to put it back together.”
“Ok take your time” James said while leaning his hip against the counter.
Regulus glanced up at him to see him staring at him already and in a piss poor attempt to remain professional says “Feel free to take a look around at anything on the shelves to see if you might like something”
“Oh I’ve already got my eye on something” James replied smoothly while holding eye contact.
Regulus felt his face flush again while his mouth opened for a reply that didn’t come. He just quietly cleared his throat and ducked back down to continue his work while James stayed leaned against the counter
He continued working in silence between them with just the sound of his shuffling hands and the quiet hum of the radio in the background.
He could feel James eyes on him and watching his hands as they quickly worked to put the tattoo gun back together.
When he was finished he looked back up into James eyes and said “Here you go, all done. If you have anymore problems with it you can bring it back and I’ll fix it again.”
“That’s amazing. Thank you” he replied with a smile and reached out to grab the tattoo gun from his hands, two of their fingers brushing against each other. Regulus stilled for a moment and then gave a small smile and a nod and pulled his hand back to his body.
“So, how much do I owe ya?” He replied while setting his hands and the tattoo gun back down on the counter.
“Oh, right, um count this one on the house as a welcoming present to the plaza” he replied with a half shrug
“How sweet, thank you Regulus” he said as a smile spread slowly across his face. God he loved it when he said his name. “If you ever want a tattoo, stop in and I’ll give you one on the house”
“Oh, thanks. I’ve never gotten a tattoo before but if I ever decide to I’ll let you know” he replied with a small smile.
“Yeah please do.” He said “I’m surprised you don’t have any”
“Well I’ve never seen anything that I want on my body before” he said while his cheeks heated when he realized his words. Because god damn he wanted James on his body that’s for sure.
His smiled stretched even bigger for a moment before he said “Well you can stop in sometime this week and look at our designs and see if there’s anything you might like”
“Oh, ok sure” why the fuck can his mouth not form a normal sentence.
“Sweet, then I’ll see you later Regulus.” He smiled big and straightened up from where he was still leaning on the counter
“Yeah um see you later James.” He gave a sheepish smile
He lingered for one more second and then turned and walked out of the door.
“Sweet Jesus.” He muttered to himself. It took a couple moments for his heart to stop racing and for his face to feel normal as he stared at the door James had walked out through. When he felt like his face wasn’t burning, he turned around to put away his things and organize and clean his supply desk counter. When he turned back to start locking up, his eye caught on the tattoo gun still sitting on the counter.
“Oh, he went and forgot it and now I’ll actually have to call him to come pick it back up. Ugh I can’t handle anymore tonight.” Regulus muttered to himself.
He picked up his cell phone anyways and dialed the number from his notebook.
As it rang he could feel his other hand mindlessly start to twirl the end of his shirt.
“Hello?” Came the answer of his sweet honey voice
“Hi, James? It’s Regulus. You, uh, you left the tattoo gun at the shop when you left”
“Oh! Right, sorry about that” he replied sheepishly with a short seemingly nervous chuckle “I’ll come pick it up tomorrow. My shift ended and I left already.” He could hear the roar of an engine in the background
“Ok that should be fine” his face was hot again and there wasn’t even a reason this time. Maybe simply from the fact he knew he was going to see James again sooner rather than later now.
“Great, then uh, I’ll see you tomorrow”
“Ok, bye James” he replied
“Bye Regulus”
He spent the rest of the evening staining the arm chair and cleaning the shop up trying to get rid of his excess energy. He spent it wiping down the glass casings even though they were already spotless, vacuuming, reorganizing his supply desk, again, all while his mind was occupied by James and replaying every interaction.
He couldn’t wait for tomorrow.