"I can do the grillin'. Been awhile, but I'm actually pretty good."

Open fires were fun, in the right circumstance and place. If he found out that's what Clarice wanted he might switch from barbeque to bon fire and relocate the shindig to an open space somewhere.

Starla... he might never come around to fully recognizing the whole truth of their relationship, but he was starting to bring her down from the pedestal little by little. At least as far as he'd given up that hope of having her, and now was working around to believing she wasn't the only one for him, and her opinion in the end wasn't the only one that mattered.

Having Clarice around was helping; and eventually she might take the blinders off that he'd been wearing so long.

Folding his hands on his chest, he was glad she wasn't pushing it. That's one thing he really liked about talking with her, she seemed to know when to put her shoulder into him, and when to back off and let him be.

As for the clouds, "Yeah? Well here comes a sea monster t'take it on. Looks like Nessie on steroids."

He pointed out another cloud floating in.