Finding a Soul’s Pawn Ticket.

Buckling his tool belt into place, the man caught the look on her face. “What?”

Sitting on a stack of 2 x 4's, Storm’s smile was hard to hide. “Your swaggering.”

“I am not.”

Storm couldn’t help but laugh. “Yes you are.”

Quinn rolled his eyes. “Yeah, ok. If you say so.”

Storm’s smile didn’t diminish in the least. “I’ve noticed lately that you tend to walk a bit stiffly...”

“Well, my body is worn the *beep* out. What do you expect?”

“Yeah, but as soon as you put on your tool belt, your walk, your stance, even your attitude changed.”

“You’re high,” Quinn replied as he adjusted his tools. Then still seeing the smile on the woman’s face out of the corner of his eye, he sighed. “Ok, you’re right. I noticed it too. Happy?”

“From the way you say that, you obviously know why,” the woman was quick to point out.

Quinn again sighed in resignation. “It’s the work I’ve been doing the last few years. It grates on me. Wears me down. Saps the very core of my soul.”

Storm nodded. “I’ve noticed the change in your letters.” Then added with a smile “But I was too polite to say anything,” to Quinn’s raised eyebrow. “Besides, it’s none of my business.”

“If anyone has a right, you do,” Q said as he grabbed a 2 x 4 and threw it up on the saw. “You know that.”

“So why did you make the move?”

Quinn shrugged. “My body was wearing out. I needed to find another type of work.”

“So you traded your soul for your body.”

“Yeah, hell of a pawn shop I found,” The man mumbled as the saw motor started up and the blade came down. Cleanly slicing thru the mark Quinn had put on it then a bit annoyed, added “Don’t you need to get back to Moscow soon?”

Storm laughed as she pushed herself off the stack of wood. “So you’ve been doing this for a while. You seem a lot better.”

Quinn shrugged. “Maybe.”

“And? How are the knees?”

The smile on the man’s face was unmistakable. “Oh man, they’re screaming like a mother *beep*.”

“Do you care?”

Quinn’s eyes sparkled. “Not in the least.”

Storm smiled back. “It’s nice to have you back. She’d be happy.”

The man winked at her. “WFO.”