Midnight

"So, your plan is to make our guests and I stand out here all evening? That doesn't sound very hospitable of us."

"Shut up – and you never use big words like 'hospitable'," Midnight barks at me. " Stop trying to look smart. I'm only asking for a few more seconds."

I just give Midnight a nod as she disappears beyond the man door threshold of the shop, just a few steps away. It has been at least five minutes since Teddy and Starla arrived at our place. While they both stand next to me with amused expressions on their faces, I still feel obligated to turn to them and offer a sheepish shrug.

It's been too long since all four of us have been together. Video chats and text only go so far, and it's usually in pairs of us when they occur. Tonight is going to be a casual night spent together with friends around a firepit.

That is, once we get through Midnight's shenanigans. I knew she was excited about showing the Chrysler off to Teddy and Starla, but she's trying to make a big show out of it. But I suppose I'm enabling her behavior now.

I didn't have the heart to admit I had already told Teddy about the car a day or two after we bought it. Evidently, Midnight's kept that information under wraps from Starla, looking forward to an opportunity like this. So, Teddy and Starla are under strict orders to act surprised for Midnight's sake. They were more than happy to oblige – and that's probably why they find this whole situation quite amusing.

"Hey, you gotta let Midnight have her moment, John," Teddy speaks up. "I don't think I've ever seen her this excited before – it's endearing."

"I second that," Starla chimes in with a giggle at the end. Unlike the last time I saw her in the flesh or the occasional view during a video chat, Starla doesn't have her vibrant yellow and orange mane braided. Instead, she has settled for a simple but neat ponytail for the outdoor occasion.

It would have been cute to see if Middie and Star would have coincidentally had matching hairstyles. I suppose they may have discussed it before the get-together, but Midnight's focus on the car meant her hair tonight was an afterthought in a sense – no particular style, just left free as is with a touchup from a brush.

Of course, that brings everything back to the current mystery – what the hell is Midnight doing in the garage? She said she needed to get the Chrysler ready to 'look its best,' but that didn't involve cleaning it. The 300C apparently needs to retain the 'barn find' look it's had since we bought it...

At this point, it's probably best to stop understanding it all. Midnight is being... Midnight.

"Alright, you can come in now!" Midnight's shouting voice echoes from within the garage. Just from the volume and the echo, I can tell she's still standing by the lift, where the Chrysler has been roosting.

"I thought you were going to make it a grand reveal by opening the bay door for us to see!" I holler back to her before any of us move.

"Aww, fuck!" Midnight bemoans after a slight hesitation. "Any added suspense that would have been created is ruined now!"

"Give me a sec here," I tell Teddy and Starla, who chuckle at the little circus that continues to transpire. They both nod, allowing me to walk up to the man door still left ajar and poke my head inside.

Midnight, who is standing between the car and the engine stand that she's wheeled over to the lift, freezes as she spots me. But when she realizes I'm not walking in, nor am I accompanied by our friends, she relaxes a bit. "What?" she asks with an air of innocence in her voice.

"Did you know that these garage bay doors can go up and down with the press of a button?" I ask, leaning inside to allow my arm and hand to point at said door.

"Yeah – what the hell kind of a question is that?" she retorts.

"One that should make you reconsider how the hell opening up the door adds to the suspense – or how knowing that the door opens subtracts from it. Teddy and Starla aren't stupid, Mid."

Midnight says nothing – but her expression says plenty as her face draws into a scowl. It coincides with muted laughter emanating from the pair behind me. But without another word, Midnight relents and approaches me, pausing to shoot me a leer with a hint of venom before pressing the garage opener button. As the door starts to rise with the clatter of the chain drive, Midnight scrambles back to the display she's set up, fiddling with the engine stand a bit more.

I slip back outside and close the man door, shaking my head a bit as I rejoin Teddy and Starla, who have wandered to stand in front of the opening garage bay. "Just remember to act surprised," I murmur to them in a hushed tone.

"That won't be too hard for me," Starla says with a laugh. "I really don't know what it is. Teddy said you two had bought a project car – but the name flew over my head, to be honest."

"I can say with confidence I've never seen one in person," Teddy chimes in. "Surprise won't be too hard."

"Well, today's the day you get to finally see one of these," I hawk before stepping onto the concrete pad and into the shop. Our friends are only a step behind me, as Midnight poses between the engine and the car, her chest thrust out with pride as she beams a confident, excited aura.

"Wow, I didn't expect to see something of this vintage," Teddy muses as he gets closer to the Chrysler and Midnight.

"How old is it? What is it?" Starla chimes in, cycling her gaze between me, Teddy, and Midnight for an answer.

"It's a 1957 Chrysler 300," I announce.

"C, John. A 300C," Midnight adds with a pinch of disappointment.

"Yes, a 300C," I repeat as I step next to Midnight and pat her on the head. "Thank you, A-hole."

"I'd hit you if we didn't have guests," Midnight mutters in a subdued voice.

"If it helps, I can look away for a moment," Teddy jokes, garnering a devious smile from Midnight.

"What the hell, man? I thought you had my back?" I protest in jest.

Meanwhile, Starla is wandering around the dusty Chrysler, ogling it at different angles. "For such a car so old it – it really doesn't look bad at all," she comments before turning her focus to Teddy. "I think this is in better shape than your car was when you bought it."

"Ah well – I suppose that's not a surprise," Teddy answers, rubbing the back of his head with a slight grimace. "I wasn't very smart with my purchase."

"Started out that bad, huh?" I ask, curious to hear how much worse the Cutlass was than this car.

Teddy shrugs his shoulders. "I guess my heart got in the way of my head – I think I was set on buying the car before I really took in everything that was missing or needed to be replaced," he admits. "Sorta makes the end all that much sweeter, though."

"Aw, I didn't mean to sound disapproving, dear," Starla apologizes, trotting back to Teddy's side. He runs his hand through her mane as she leans against him.

"I know you didn't mean anything by it Star, you're fine," he assures her before turning his attention to me. "But yeah, it looks like it's in fantastic shape. Where the hell did you find it?"

"Funny story – John was busy running his cocksucker and managed to get us lost," Midnight interjects before I can speak.

I shoot her a leer of disapproval – which really only serves to make Midnight's mischievous grin grow wide enough to show fangs as Teddy and Starla laugh.

"Let me add that we weren't lost – someone was distracting me while I was driving home and I missed our turn," I speak up, sticking my tongue out at Midnight for good measure.

"I'd say that was a positive, considering we would have never stumbled upon the car otherwise," Midnight gushes toward me, before turning to Teddy and Starla. "It was out front of an old house in the middle of nowhere. An old guy with a ton of stuff lying around."

"The old man had bought the car new," I continue for Midnight. "He parked it once something happened to the bottom end of the engine. He never got around to investigating – family took priority."

"Well, you can't blame him for that," Starla comments.

"No, I'm in full agreement with you there, Star. Years passed, and it just got stuck on the backbones with no time to tinker with it. Now in his old age, I think he realized that as long as the car has sat, it's going to need a complete going through..." I trail off as I glance back at the Chrysler, noticing something peculiar I hadn't seen earlier.

While we haven't given the car a wash since purchase, the car looks like it has had another layer of dust added to it. With as much work as Midnight and I have done pulling the engine, I'd expect to see areas where the dust has been brushed off of the weathered paint just from leaning on it – not to mention an errant handprint or two.

But right now? Dust, dust, and oddly enough... more dust.

"Midnight."

"Hm?" She perks up in curiosity as I call her name.

"Don't tell me you seriously took time to slather more dust and dirt onto the car for show."

"Of course not!" she exclaims, balking at my accusation.

"So how has the dust on the tops of the front fenders somehow become completely devoid of marks or smears?"

Midnight's muzzle scrunches up and she alerts her gaze from me. "It adds to the barn find look, okay?" she mutters through clenched teeth.

"You're weird."

"Hey, shut up!"

"Fine. But you're still weird."

"If it means anything, I – uh— I think you did... a good job?" All eyes dart to Starla after her awkward attempt to praise Midnight. She offers up a wide smile in response, trying to sell it as best she can.

"Thank you," Midnight responds. She raises her head up, relieved to have someone appreciating her 'work'. "I'm glad someone here gets the artistic flair I was aiming for."

"Mid, I don't thing you used the right word there," I comment.

"What do you mean?"

"Autistic. Not artistic."

Midnight stomps a hoof toward me, flaring her wings.

"Not scary enough. I stand by what I said," I comment.

"Alright children, let's play nice now," Teddy chuckles, walking over to take a glance at what remains of the partially disassembled engine. "How is everything looking in here?"

"Well, the crankshaft is toast," I answer, shuffling over to point at the damaged area. "Something managed to get within the connecting rod bearing clearance and chew the hell out of that crank journal."

"Ouch. I kinda feel bad about asking now," he replies, cringing at the sight, followed by a deeper grimace as he runs a fingernail across it.

But I shrug it off and grin back at him. "I'm not gonna complain. Considering that's the worst bit of a car I paid under two grand for."

Teddy does a double take at my utterance, his eyes wide with disbelief. "You're screwing with me right now, aren't you?" he asks. "Granted, I don't know the ins and outs – but aren't these rare and valuable?"

"Yeah – but that was all the old man wanted. He said at his age, he didn't have use for big money that the car was worth, and he just wanted to see it go to someone that was gonna fix it up." I pause a moment before thumbing over my shoulder. "Midnight was the one absolutely smitten with the car at first sight. She's the reason we even stopped to look at it."

Before I know it, Midnight is at my side, brushing against me as she forces herself under my arm. Evidently, she approves of the mention I gave her, for a bright smile has returned to her face.

Meanwhile, Teddy looks at her with surprise. "I didn't take you for a fifties hot rod kind of gal," he says with a chuckle. "I figured you would want something more in-your-face and fast."

"Ha – what isn't brash and imposing about the design," Midnight replies, fanning out a wing to gesture at the side silhouette of the car, followed by a redirection to the front end.

"Yeah, I can see that I suppose..."

"And running sixteen seconds through the quarter mile on skinny bias-ply tires while moving two tons of steel is nothing to scoff at," Midnight adds.

Her latter comment forces me to pull away and look at her. "Wow, alright ya nerd," I tease her.

"Knowing facts doesn't make me a nerd, she refutes, sticking her nose up.

"Naw, I know. But I can't let you get off easy when you reel off those kinds of facts on a whim," I remind her.

"Well, all jokes aside, I'm impressed with what you got regardless of the price – what you paid just makes it a jaw-dropper," Teddy comments.

"Uh oh, I think you might have gotten Teddy Bear jealous," Starla coos, bumping his side with a light hip check.

"Nah, I'm good. You know I love that Cutlass," Teddy dismisses her, lightly ruffling her mane with his hand as she giggles in delight. "I just have to admit, these two hit it big with their find."

"Aw, I know you adore the Cutlass," Starla relents, even as her grin grows just a bit mischievous in time with a slight furrow of her brow. "That's why you always had such loving swear words to yell at it when things weren't going well, huh?"

"I would never do such a thing," Teddy gasps, staring at her in mock horror as he recoils a bit.

"Of course not. You're too sweet for that," Starla gushes, standing up on the tips of her front hooves and leaning over to give Teddy a peck on the cheek.

I turn to glance at Midnight, who displays a hint of uneasiness and aversion to the public display of affection. Jokingly, I lean toward her and pucker up, which forces a silent dry heave and a step backward in retreat.

I'm hardly surprised by the reaction, and a few guffaws are emitted at the display Midnight puts forth. I still haven't told Teddy about Midnight and I, and by the looks of it, she's still not open to being... well, open.

But I figured as much – I'm not disappointed, and there really is no strong argument toward sharing our relationship, either. But it begs the question – if Midnight is open to the idea of a bonafide date in the future, how is she going to do that when she can't even be open with our friends?

It also means no cuddles by the firepit tonight. That's a shame.

But speaking of which...

"Hey, anybody else getting hungry? I ought to get the firepit going soon." Two hooves and a hand raise in the air at my inquiry.

"Is it gonna be a cook-out this time, or another char-out?" Midnight questions with a smirk.

"Cook-out for everyone but you Mid. I'm making sure your stuff is absolute carbon tonight."