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[rosarianoath]

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[rosarianoath]

"I was just going to go downstairs and nap," he admits. Head out and hunt at a relatively decent hour, keep out of her way. Despite that, the prospect of a day with her is much more tempting: "Would you like to go today?"

[noburden]

"If it's not too much trouble. I don't want to keep you from sleep if you need it," she tells him. Just being polite. But she looks excited.

[rosarianoath]

"No, we'll go," he says. "I don't need to sleep; I don't need to go out every night..."

It's just to kill time, anyway.

[noburden]

That settles it then. Jill's smile widens.

"Very well. Then let's hurry up with this chore and put you to more work."

Look, she's teasing.

[rosarianoath]

That gets a bare smile. He can work.

"Yes, my lady," he says, hefting the shovel again.

[noburden]

She knew that would do the trick.

"I don't know much about growing things, let alone whatever might be here that we don't have at home..."

It feels like she should research this before going out and buying anything, but a part of her just wants to try to figure it out as they go. They have time, after all.

"But it's all just digging holes and watering, basically, isn't it?"

Tell that to the people tending the garden in the Hideaway, Jill.

[rosarianoath]

And he makes money, huh, Jill?

"I wish we could consult our friends," he replies, "but if they could manage in the carcass of an airship in the middle of the water, I'm sure we can manage in a real garden."

[noburden]

"I hope so. If everything fails to bloom, I'll be all the more embarrassed," she tells him with a laugh. "I think we'll have fun setting it all up, at the very least."

She is determined that they have a good time.

[rosarianoath]

"I'm sure it'll be fine." She's good at sewing, and has steadily improved at cooking, so what could go wrong with gardening? "I cannot pretend to have any skill in doing more than collecting plants, but I can do the heavy lifting."

[noburden]

Speaking of heavy lifting...

"How is the basement looking?" She asks abruptly, tipping her head to the side. The damage has been repaired, but he's shown little interest in making the space feel more like a home.

[rosarianoath]

The basement, his shame. He hasn’t taken to sleeping down there yet beyond naps on the couch, lacking a new mattress, but his clothes are moved back down.

“I painted the walls the other day.” Not very well, but well enough. “I’m trying to purchase a bedframe and then the guest room will be freed again.”

[noburden]

"That's good," she tells him. More about the painting than the rest. "There's no hurry for you to free it up. It's our guest room, after all, and I doubt we'll be having overnight guests anytime soon."

Even when there was that blizzard they all piled into her bedroom, anyway.

"Take your time."

[rosarianoath]

“I suppose not, but it is the agreed upon arrangement,” he remarks, and he’s glad to dig into the last pile of shit to shovel it into the bag.

[noburden]

"It is. And I know my sewing machine can be very loud when you're trying to sleep before going out," she says, and scrunches her nose as she opens the bag for him. Hot dog shit is the worst.

[rosarianoath]

He drops it in and then puts the the shovel aside to take the bag.

“I’ll be glad to not disturb you creeping in late at night, too.”

[noburden]

Jill gladly lets him take the bag. It's alarmingly heavy.

"The floorboards let me know you made it back safely," she replies. She did wake up when he came up the stairs, but she'd simply note he made it in and roll over to fall back asleep.

[rosarianoath]

"A small consolation for disturbing your beauty sleep, I suppose."

He hefts the bag up off the ground and heads off around the house to the curb.

[noburden]

Is there a neighbor peeping out of the windows of their house to make sure the clean up is happening? Absolutely.

Jill follows Clive, oblivious.

"Are you implying I require all I can get?" It's funny.

[rosarianoath]

He lets out a short huff under his breath, amused.

"I would never imply the lady is getting older."

[noburden]

She takes a few steps forward so that she can give him a shove from behind. It would be gentle even if she did put any force behind it. He's simply too big.

"Bold words for a man three years my senior. Are you sure you don't need your nap?"

[rosarianoath]

"Men age differently from women." It's a low rumble of a tease, and the extra step he takes forward is entirely out of courtesy.

[noburden]

"Is that what that white hair is?" She says, as if she could see something on the back of his head. There's nothing, of course. Just his mop of black hair.

[rosarianoath]

"Is it? You're the expert."

It feels odd to tease her, but it feels like the culmination of so many months trying to be distant, every bit of joy surging to the surface at once.

[noburden]

This is much better than awkward silences and strained, forced conversation.

"By that logic, so is Torgal." They match.

[rosarianoath]

"He's one hundred and twenty six years in dog years," he says, dropping the bag at the curb.