The laugh made him bristle. One day, his older self would pick up the nickname Wolf, albeit in a roundabout way. But despite not having that name, Scotty bristled in exactly that manner.

He made eye-contact now, drawing himself up in the same sort of manner, eyes narrowed slightly; the other Scott was about two inches taller, maybe a bit more, but he wasn't about to let that challenge of body-language go unanswered. "Sir, I c'n appreciate what ye're tryin' t' do 'ere, but I've managed on my own fer a good chunk o' my life. An' I'm a Goddamn good mechanic, an' those're never without work. I dinna need some relative..." He paused, a little echo of sorrow temporarily seeping through that steely posturing, "...tryin' t' go an' watch o'er me. I told ye that ye dinna owe me anythin', an' I meant it.

"Besides that, last I checked, I'm a legal adult. An' I c'n damn well come an' go as I please."