— high mileage, low resistance or, mechanics of falling in love;
-> synopsis: you stop by the garage just to return his hoodie—but end up falling asleep while waiting. when sukuna finds you there, something shifts. what starts as awkward turns into soft banter, quiet help, and the beginning of something neither of you want to walk away from.
content warnings: mechanic!sukuna but it’s just a concept and not a plot thingy. there is no real plot even(for now?)it’s just a slow burn something with eventual smut. mild language, age gap (suku is in his 30s, fem reader in 20s), garage setting but it’s not super important i would say just a thing. i will add warnings as the chapters go on. also i have no clue who made the art in the pic if you know lemme know pls.
chapter 1 <- chapter 2 -> chapter 3
you don’t mean to go back.
you told yourself it would be quick — in and out, clean, easy. just a return. a folded hoodie still warm from the dryer, no perfume, no note this time, nothing sentimental. you’d walk in, set it down somewhere out of the way, and leave before that strange, sticky softness could settle in your chest again. sukuna had been kind. unexpectedly, unfairly kind. and you didn’t want to mistake that kindness for something it wasn’t.
you owe him respect. space. distance.
but when you pass by the shop — that old building you’ve now memorized without meaning to, every dented siding and rain-rusted gutter — you notice the garage door cracked open. just a sliver. just enough.
the same as it was the night you stumbled in.
and something in your chest tugs.
the light spills out across the concrete like a welcome. mellow yellow, soft-edged, and familiar now in a way you hadn’t prepared yourself for. it doesn’t look like a workspace. it looks like a hearth. the warmth reaches for you across the street, gentle and glowing and already inside your lungs before you take your next breath.
somewhere behind the door, the old radio crackles through static — more blues, same as before. soft, slow, a little wistful. like a voice humming through someone’s memory.
and the air — god, the air. it smells like motor oil and metal, sure, but underneath it all there’s this… something. something warm. something that smells like hands and sweat and old leather, something that reminds you of bare arms under a lifted hood and a tired, low voice that still echoes somewhere in your head.
before you can stop yourself, you step inside.
quietly. like if you’re careful enough, you won’t disturb whatever this is.
you linger by the edge of the space, just past the threshold, like the shop might spit you out if you go any farther. the hoodie’s tucked under your arm, neatly folded, your fingers curled tight around the sleeves. you shift your weight. the silence isn’t cold, but it’s not quite inviting either. it feels… paused. like the place is holding its breath, waiting for something to happen.
you glance toward the workbench. you could just leave it there. tuck it behind some tools, maybe scribble a thank-you on the back of a receipt again. vanish before anything gets strange.
but instead, your legs move on their own.
same corner. same crate. you sit down slowly this time, lowering yourself like the memory might break if you settle too hard into it. it creaks beneath you. not comfortable — but familiar now. almost grounding.
the hoodie’s soft. you hold it against your chest before you even realize what you’re doing. it’s warm from the dryer, sure, but now it smells like you — your detergent, your lotion, the shampoo in your hair that’s too fruity and too sweet. and it’s ridiculous, but that makes you ache a little. like you’ve ruined it. like you’ve overwritten him.
your eyes burn. you blink hard.
you’re tired. you’ve been tired all day. school was long, the walk here longer. and thinking — about this place, about sukuna — thinking is exhausting. you’ve thought yourself in circles all week. would it be weird if you came back? would he even remember you? was it kindness, or something else? what if it was nothing at all?
just to listen to the rain.
he comes in with a sandwich hanging from his mouth, plastic bag of parts hooked over his shoulder, and a tired scowl already settling between his brows.
the rain’s heavier now. it drums a low rhythm across the metal siding, seeps into the shoulders of his jacket and slicks down the tips of his hair. his boots track water behind him with every step, laces slapping against the floor. he’s muttering something about brake fluid and dumbass customers who don’t understand basic upkeep when he rounds the corner — and stops.
his sandwich slides from his mouth onto the napkin in his hand.
sitting in the dim light like some quiet, ridiculous dream. hoodie curled against your chest like a stuffed toy. head tilted to the side. lips slightly parted. one shoe halfway off your foot like you fell asleep mid-fidget. your lashes brush your cheeks. your hair’s a mess. and you look—
he doesn’t know what to do.
he doesn’t move for a long time. just watches you. the way your chest rises and falls. the way your fingers still curl around the fabric like you’re afraid someone might take it from you. you look like you belong there — not in the way he might’ve imagined someone fitting into his life, but in a way that unsettles him. like you slipped between the ribs without asking permission.
his chest aches. he doesn’t like that.
then louder, throws in a sigh that makes a few tools rattle on the workbench.
a tiny gasp leaves your lips, and you scramble up so fast you knock your shoulder into the shelf beside you. “oh my god—! i didn’t mean to—i swear, i just—i was coming to return—”
you thrust the hoodie toward him, face flushed, voice all rushed edges and apology. “this. your hoodie. i didn’t mean to sleep here. i thought you’d be here and then i must’ve—i don’t even know—”
“you always nap in strange garages,” he says, voice deadpan. “or am i just the lucky one?”
you blink. then blink again.
your mouth opens, like maybe you’re going to argue — but then you catch his expression. the faint upward tug at the corner of his lips. teasing. soft. not angry.
and your shoulders relax, just barely.
“i was tired,” you mumble. “it wasn’t on purpose.”
he walks over and takes the hoodie from you. slow. casual. fingers brushing yours — warm skin against warm skin. he doesn’t move away right away. neither do you.
the hoodie smells like you now. some flowery detergent and the old fabric is so soft now he doesn’t think he wants to put it down yet. he won’t say that out loud.
you groan, hands over your face. “whatever. i didn’t think you’d be gone.”
“and if someone else walked in?”
“hey,” you glare. “i’m scrappy.”
“you’d bite their ankle, maybe.”
he snorts — and just like that, the tension breaks. it cracks open like ice under pressure and melts away into something looser, something easier. like it never left.
you brush your pants off and glance toward the door. “anyway. sorry for the unintentional loitering. i’ll get out of your hair.”
the words hang there, awkward and warm and heavy in the air. he clears his throat, avoiding your eyes.
“i mean—if you want. i don’t care. you’re quiet. doesn’t bother me.”
you blink up at him. his face is unreadable — but his jaw’s tight. his grip on the hoodie a little too firm.
you smile, small and a little breathless. “okay.”
this time, you sit back down like you mean it.
no apologies. no hesitations.
“what’re you working on?”
he jerks his chin toward the car on the lift. “guy brought in a camry that’s one pothole away from collapsing. swears it just needs an oil change.”
you bite your lip, trying not to grin. “so… you’re gonna fix it anyway?”
he eyes you. “you know anything about cars?”
“once. in a parking lot. hit a cone.”
he closes his eyes. “and that’s the person who wants to help me rebuild a transmission.”
“i’m great at handing people things. and snacking. and offering encouraging commentary.”
he sighs. long and dramatic. then thrusts a wrench into your hand. “fine. pass tools. don’t touch anything unless i say.”
you light up like a match.
he teaches you how to tell a socket wrench from a ratchet, shows you where to find the torque specs, walks you through the steps like it’s not a big deal — even though he’s never let anyone hang around while he worked before.
he doesn’t usually let people watch him work. he hates distractions. but you — you’re different. quiet, attentive, and so absurdly proud of yourself for getting the names right. you lean in too close sometimes. brush against his shoulder. breathe in the same grease-slick air. and he doesn’t flinch. doesn’t move.
he works. you watch. and you pass tools, careful and eager, like every socket wrench is a precious artifact, uncaring to the fact that your hands look too small and clean around the stained items and dirty rags.
he just works. but slower. steadier.
and when your fingers touch again, lingering a little longer than before — he lets them.
“careful,” he mutters, not looking at you. “you keep hangin’ around like this, you’re gonna make a habit of it.”
you smile into your sleeve. “maybe that’s the plan.”
and in the quiet that follows — the soft hum of the radio, the click of tools, your breath steady beside him — he lets himself imagine it.
a habit. a ritual. you and him. here. every night.
but he doesn’t stop thinking about it, either.