"Jesus Christ, woman," he croaks. His voice is thick, and he takes the
second he needs to put the safety onto his weapon and holster it before he
opens his arms and beckons her closer.
Tess never bothers with any safety, just crams the gun back in its holster and crosses the room to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and sinking into his embrace.
“I was worried you weren’t here,” she says, nose against his shoulder.
He wraps his arms around her tightly, tightly, burying his nose in
her hair. She smells the exact same - he knows he won't. He smells like
real woods, now, and like gunpowder, and blood from the animal he's got
waiting outside. Jesus Christ, he hadn't realized just how much he'd missed
her. He's missed her so much.
"Was out huntin'," he murmurs. "Try not to be gone too long. How long you
been here?"
He smells right, strange as that may be, and having him in his own element feels like the way things should be. Nobody’s supposed to smell like cruise ship and ozone all the time.
“Just long enough to poke around,” she replies, lingering. She hasn’t been touched by another human being since he left, let alone held. “Five minutes earlier and you would have caught me letting myself in.”
"Woulda been less of a shock comin' in for you," he says, still not letting
go. He doesn't just smell different, he's thicker around the waist,
stronger in his arms, his beard is a little unkempt. He's home, and
this is how he's supposed to be.
"I'll light a fire, light some candles. Think you can help me out there,
city girl?"
Neither of them has a bullet wound so it’s all fine by her.
“I can do anything,” she replies. It won’t all be as easy as starting a fire, but she’ll learn fast. She leans back just enough to get a good look at his face, and she shifts to cup his cheek, ruffle the edges of his beard with her thumb. Teasing: “If I’d gotten here any later I might have mistaken you for a bear.”
“Maybe one then the other,” she replies, grinning in turn. She pulls back entirely, a hand trailing down his chest as she goes. “But I’d know you anywhere.”
He pulls her in once more and kisses the top of her head.
"Me too, lady. Damn, it's good to see you - but I gotta get the deer down,
get the horse put away. Put your things away and help me out, the sooner
we'll be inside with a cup of coffee."
Things take so much more time, here. No ambling up to the dining room for
some coffee, no turning up the heat in a common room.
Tess just smiles. Going back to putting in effort to get anything done comes with a particular relish —- you get whatever you’re willing to work for. Living that way comes easy.
“Go deal with the animals, then,” she says, waving him off, playful. “I’m here for good so you’ll get to see me all you want.”
"Come and help," he tells her, pulling on her elbow as he makes to
head back out. "You're staying here? Ain't you? We - I mean, Jake and I, we
put in a little room at the back for you. If you want it."
She won't have seen the door yet, but it's there. Barely as big as his tiny
room on the Barge, but it's hers if she wants it.
There's nothing else out there in the world for her, at least not yet. A tiny room is better than the wilderness, or her crumbling apartment back in Boston, or a guest bedroom in Joel's house, if he'd even have her. She's here.
She lets her second backpack slip down her free arm, and she sets it down on the floor as she moves after him. Fine. She can help.
"What, I can't just ride on the back of yours whenever?" she replies, following.
She is, at most, half joking. The reality of having to have and care for a horse feels inevitable, but she was hoping she could be on the ground for longer than an hour without having to face it down.
"I ain't teach you how to ride for nothin'," he points out to her. "But
you'll have to do for now, the town's a couple hours away from the cabin.
How'd you like it here?"
"More built up than I was expecting," she replies. She's glad it's that way, having imagined more than once a future where it was little more than a canvas tent over her head. "You've been working hard."
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"Jesus Christ, woman," he croaks. His voice is thick, and he takes the second he needs to put the safety onto his weapon and holster it before he opens his arms and beckons her closer.
"Put the damn gun away and come here."
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“I was worried you weren’t here,” she says, nose against his shoulder.
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He wraps his arms around her tightly, tightly, burying his nose in her hair. She smells the exact same - he knows he won't. He smells like real woods, now, and like gunpowder, and blood from the animal he's got waiting outside. Jesus Christ, he hadn't realized just how much he'd missed her. He's missed her so much.
"Was out huntin'," he murmurs. "Try not to be gone too long. How long you been here?"
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“Just long enough to poke around,” she replies, lingering. She hasn’t been touched by another human being since he left, let alone held. “Five minutes earlier and you would have caught me letting myself in.”
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"Woulda been less of a shock comin' in for you," he says, still not letting go. He doesn't just smell different, he's thicker around the waist, stronger in his arms, his beard is a little unkempt. He's home, and this is how he's supposed to be.
"I'll light a fire, light some candles. Think you can help me out there, city girl?"
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“I can do anything,” she replies. It won’t all be as easy as starting a fire, but she’ll learn fast. She leans back just enough to get a good look at his face, and she shifts to cup his cheek, ruffle the edges of his beard with her thumb. Teasing: “If I’d gotten here any later I might have mistaken you for a bear.”
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He grins at her and bats her hand away. "Yeah? Woulda shot me, or run away screamin'?"
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He pulls her in once more and kisses the top of her head.
"Me too, lady. Damn, it's good to see you - but I gotta get the deer down, get the horse put away. Put your things away and help me out, the sooner we'll be inside with a cup of coffee."
Things take so much more time, here. No ambling up to the dining room for some coffee, no turning up the heat in a common room.
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“Go deal with the animals, then,” she says, waving him off, playful. “I’m here for good so you’ll get to see me all you want.”
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"Come and help," he tells her, pulling on her elbow as he makes to head back out. "You're staying here? Ain't you? We - I mean, Jake and I, we put in a little room at the back for you. If you want it."
She won't have seen the door yet, but it's there. Barely as big as his tiny room on the Barge, but it's hers if she wants it.
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There's nothing else out there in the world for her, at least not yet. A tiny room is better than the wilderness, or her crumbling apartment back in Boston, or a guest bedroom in Joel's house, if he'd even have her. She's here.
She lets her second backpack slip down her free arm, and she sets it down on the floor as she moves after him. Fine. She can help.
"How big is this deer?"
She's not sure she knows how big a deer is.
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"Just a regular deer," he says, spectacularly unhelpfully, as he steps back outside. Still no lock, Tess.
"Got me a good horse, too. A strong one. Hell, we're gonna have to get you a horse."
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She is, at most, half joking. The reality of having to have and care for a horse feels inevitable, but she was hoping she could be on the ground for longer than an hour without having to face it down.
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"I ain't teach you how to ride for nothin'," he points out to her. "But you'll have to do for now, the town's a couple hours away from the cabin. How'd you like it here?"
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