Damn Door Knobs

[Quinlan Breckenridge]

It has been a long day. Quinlan was surely glad to finally be heading home. He felt as though he hadn't stopped moving from the time he'd gotten to work until the time he left. And even then, he had more walking to do. The walk to the Pennyworth home he rented with his sisters was one of his favorite things to do though so he supposed it could be much worse. The walk always allowed for him to clear his mind from the things he saw though he felt lucky he didn't have the job that some healers did. There were some that saw far worse things than he did.

He sighed as he saw his house come into view, more than ready to get home and eat some dinner and put his feet up. He was well on his way when he heard some grumbling at the door of another of the houses on the street. It was enough to cause him to pause and look to see what was going on.

Mr. Grantham was stooped on his stoop but Quinlan couldn't tell exactly what it was he was doing. More grumbles and perhaps a curse word or two, he couldn't be sure, and he couldn't quite ignore it. He walked toward the steps and stopped at the bottom of them as he looked up to the other man. "Alright there Mr. Grantham?" he called in question to the man, hoping he wasn't disturbing him.

  

[Leander Grantham]

Le was indeed muttering curses, though he was quiet about it.  He was not prone to swearing generally speaking and besides, Vic and the baby were resting inside.  He sat on a small foot stool on the front stoop, holding the open door between his knees to keep it from swinging.  Trouble had started when the door wouldn't shut quite right which evolved into the knob not latching right.  There was something unsettling about having a door that could eek open with the slightest of breezes and being the handy, resourceful man he was he set about fixing it himself.

What he didn't realize was door knobs were basically the work of the devil.

They had little mechanisms that had to line up just right with each other, inside the damnable door, that he could only adjust with one hand, outside the door... because if he let go of one side the other side would literally fall out.  And he couldn't use a sticking charm because then the damn thing wouldn't turn or latch or do anything door knobs were supposed to do.      

"yeah, just trying to fix the latch.  I'd stand to greet you but..."  He grinned, both his hands occupied with holding a knob on either side of the door.    He squinted, adjusted something, and both sides slid gracefully into place.  "Oh!" he said hopefully and cast about looking for his screwdriver... which had rolled off his lap and lay on the step near by.  How could such a small task be so excessively difficult.  "Uh, could I ask a favor?"

  

[Quinlan Breckenridge]

Quin put a hand up to acknowledge that Mr. Grantham couldn't actually stand to greet him. Not that he would have seen Quin do so. It was obvious he was rather focused on his job at hand. It made Quin smile. He appreciated hard working fellows. He felt as though he were often taken lightly because of his age but he knew he could hold his own with the best of them. And if he couldn't, he'd do his damndest to try it.

He watched as the other man seemed to have has ah-ha moment. Then he cast his gaze around, apparently having lost something. Quin's gaze followed Mr. Grantham's and took note of the errant screwdriver. He sprung into action before the favor had to even be fully asked of him.

He picked up the screwdriver and took the last few steps toward the other man and handed it to him. "Here ya go," he said with a smile and a nod, "I'll admit, I don't envy you right now." As odd as it may be, Billie was the more handy of the siblings even though he was ultimately the "man" of the house.

  

[Leander Grantham]

Le shifted his grip on the door knob so that one side was held with his fingers and the other side secured with his thumb so he could take the screwdriver. He happily secured the fixture into place with a few screws and after the ordeal of the last 30 minutes the sight of the door knob back in its place was a satisfying one indeed.

"And the final test..." he gave the knob a turn.... and nothing happened. The little finger that jutted out and was meant to catch in the door frame stood motionless as he tried to turn it again. Le sighed.

"I was sure it would work that time"

  

[Quinlan Breckenridge]

Quin watched silently as the man finished up what he was doing after taking the screwdriver. The moment of truth came and it looked as though it would be promising... And then it wasn't. Mr. Grantham even sighed.

"I have to admit I'm of no help here other than giving you your screwdriver," Quin said with a shrug, his head tilted as he looked at the offending door knob, "My sister Billie might know what to do though." She was the handiest of the Breckenridge family so he was pretty sure she'd be able to fix it in a flash. He didn't know if he should offer getting her though. It could be a bit of a blow to a man's masculinity after all.