Hot Bruises

The interior of the cabin looked like it had just been in the middle of a tropical storm. On the edge of a cliff. Then got hit by a semi.

Funny thing is, I wasn’t all that far off. “Remember that heavy system a few weeks back? The one that everypony thought would hit Ponyville?” Creed asked. “The coast got the worst of it, and this is the end result. Well, some of it, anyway.” He bent down to the dislodged half of the door and picked up a waterlogged timeshare sheet. “Me and the boys, we trade off visits at this place every month or so during the spring and summer. It’s kind of a home away from home. You can see why this mess is a problem.”

“Well, hogar dulce hogar,” said Caramel as he unsuccessfully tried to close the cupboard above the stove. It just kept opening whenever he shut it.

“Here, let me get that for ya,” I said. I grabbed the cupboard door and slammed it shut, only for it to bounce off and hit Caramel in the nose.

“Son of a bitch!” he moaned, grabbing his snout. Thankfully, nothing was damaged.

“Sorry.”

“Yeah, you ain’t gonna fix it by forcing it,” Creed said, patting my shoulder. “Best get your hammer and nails ready.”

“But I—” Before I could protest, Caramel took advantage of my hands being in the air and placed a hammer and a box of nails in each one. My look of self-concern quickly became one of deadpan misery. “Dammit, Carm. I’m not kiddin’ about the cowbell.”

“Come on, little lady. Everypony has an off day. Let’s get the motivation into your noggin!” I was caught in vice grip when Creed squeezed my cheeks between his palms, which easily dwarfed my head. He lifted me up a few inches off the ground and shook me around a little.

If it were anypony but him doing this, I would destroy them. I had been studying capoeira at the rec center. But I eventually found myself laughing along with Creed’s shenanigans, even as he set me down and turned me towards the broken shelves.

“It’s just a few hinges and boards,” he said. I felt the denim of his pants brush against my legs as he kneeled down. His warm, calloused fingers very gently cupped my arms. Even with the muscle definition that I had earned from years of working the fields, he still dominated me in sheer stature and brawn. And yet, as was the case with his voice, there was still this gentle nature to his touch, and I felt it resonate with me, making me relax instantly. It was like an entire morning of breathing exercises injected through the skin. “You can do it, Bloomer.”

“Right…” I muttered, my voice suddenly calm. My unease was replaced with a small spark of energy. “Right, I can do this,” I said as I looked at the shelves.

“Got everything you two need?” I heard Caramel say as he stepped over the wreckage of the door. “I’ll be out with the rest of the gang, making sure they don’t bite each other’s heads off.”

“Aw, where’s your sense of fun?” Creed asked.

“In Whitetail Woods with my truck’s shocks. Get workin’, you two!”

I considered it safe to speak after hearing Caramel’s shoes hit the sand. I leaned my head from side to side until a satisfying crack sounded out. I already felt like I did a few months back; focused and energetic, that’s a good combination.

The irony of the situation was that I was alone with Creed, a moment I had been awaiting eagerly for months now. I’ve lost an entire night's worth of sleep more than once thinking about him with only a few selfies and group shots to work with, an imagined tone of his voice whispering in my ear as I lit a few vanilla candles, put on some sappy R&B, closed my eyes and pretended my arms weren’t my own as I removed my blouse and stuck my wanting fingers down my I should really get to work now.

Speaking of magic fingers, I was able to sense the problem with the busted cupboard the instant I touched its underside. “Ah. The wood is all warped. It’s pushing the door away. But why does it swing open against its will…” I felt for the hinge. I pulled the door away to get a good look. Not only was a nail missing, but the hinge itself was bent downwards. “Well, by some miracle a tropical storm was able to unscrew one of these fellas.”

“Hurricane Screwdriver,” Creed said with a snicker. “Speaking of which…”

“Oh, right.” I pointed to the tool box sitting on the windowsill. “Just get me a flathead, I’ve already got the nails I need.”

While Creed got to getting me what I needed, I took the time to look around. Kinda regretted that in hindsight, since the place was more torn up than I figured it’d be. One of the cabinet doors had been ripped off and chucked towards one of the windows, sitting against the wall at the edge of the counter, and a few more doors were bent up or smashed pretty badly by the wind.

The table in the living room was tipped up and slammed into the wall, too, and that definitely put a frown on my face. Couldn’t see the wall very well behind it, so I had no idea what damage it did when it went full Bulk Biceps on the house. There was a chair that should have been in the living room sitting on its side in the kitchen, too. “Hey, uh, Creed? Jus’ what kinda storm came down here?’

“Wish I was there. Rainfall was pretty severe, but this house was built high up, so it didn’t get a mauling from the ocean.” Creed came back around to me, handing me the flathead I needed so I could work on the cabinet. “But that’s a good point... you think there’ll be water damage?”

“Warped wood. There’s already water damage.” I sighed and went to the cabinet, rolling the nail in my hand. Wasn’t gonna be too hard a fix. “Just open the door, tilt it up, slip the nail back into the hinge...  and the hinge is bent down...” I tapped my chin, looking over the problem, before smirking and taking the screwdriver from Creed. Just stuck it into the hinge like a nail, pulled it like a lever, and wapow! “I am your savior.”

I felt Creed’s breath go over my ear as he leaned over my shoulder, checking out the fix. “Good as new... How’d you manage that?”

I tugged my denim down a little, just enough for Creed to get a tempting look at my hip, as well as my mark; an apple crossed with a simple hammer. “I’m a livin’ repair kit, hon.” I grinned at him as I slipped the nail into the fixed hinge and spun it in. “If you ain’t got the right tool, improvise. Good creed to live by.” I pulled my pants back up; it was fun giving him a little tease, but I didn’t wanna trip during my work.

Creed smirked and scoffed, shaking his head. I swore I saw a blush there. “Well, you do have an impressive, uh, skill set.”

Well, at least I got a pat on the back, even if it did shove me toward the cabinet a bit. Still, quick fixes put a smile on everypony’s face, including mine. It didn’t last long when I looked back at the rest of the workload, but hey, at least it was possible to fix... most of it. I rolled my shoulder and got to work on the rest of the cabinets, with my handy assistant Creed ready to help me out wherever he could.