Bill had fallen into a pattern living with Clarice, and he felt like it was a good one. Enough time had passed that he no longer worried about that other world she'd come from. She was here, and what's more she was with him and that was some kind of damn miracle that he tried very hard not to take for granted.
Even when routines had developed and they'd settled in together, going from house guest to roommates, to actually living together.
A part of not taking things for granted was trying to make sure she was happy, and so when she started leaving out on her own private free time he didn't say anything about it. He worried, but he always worried so that was really nothing new and he mostly managed to keep those worries to himself.
The biggest thing was he knew what a restless spirit she had and that meant he had to let her go sometimes. And it meant he couldn't question where she went, because that was still a way of trying to contain someone who couldn't be.
So he didn't ask, and he never complained. When she was out doing her thing he tried finding his own to pass the time. At first he'd putter around taking care of chores, going fishing or taking a drive, and that was all fine enough, but sometimes restlessness was catching.
And then an idea struck, and a plan formed, and one afternoon his aimless driving turned into a trip that led two counties over to the city where he went, of all things, shopping.
He didn't buy anything, but what he came back with was an idea of the cost of things. A sit in with a travel agent told him what a vacation would cost (from which Bill subtracted the cost of airfare, of course), and a nerve-wracking tour of a jewelry store gave him the price of a ring.
From there on his free time was spent making the money he was going to need.
He picked up shifts and did odd jobs, doing all the things a man could to earn easy money, although the work was hardly ever easy. He fixed things and did small construction projects, he was a spare hand when crops came in season, and a go to for anyone looking to move and needing a truck and a lifter.
On days he was supposed to be up at the lake he was tossing hay bales, and afternoons he was out for a drive he was picking up scrap metal to sell for cash.
When Clarice was gone he'd slip out, back before she'd returned, or cleaned up already when he got there after her. Dave his deputy and best friend was the only one who knew what Bill was up to, and so the man served as an alibi and provided a place to take a shower should the need arise.
Bill and Clarice didn't talk about their own free time, and that was fine. It meant he didn't have to lie, which he was terrible at, and mostly he assumed she was out running the woods since that seemed to be something she liked doing. The one time he had had to explain was when he threw his back out helping a local farmer load pigs. He'd covered by saying he'd done it moving the couch, and that was embarrassing enough to cover his telltale awkwardness when trying to tell a story. Especially since his fitness level was something Clarice still got after him about.
He was definitely better off than when she'd found him, but he knew he was a ways off from meeting her expectations. She'd tease him about it, and truthfully it bugged him a bit when the teasing bordered on chastising. He was fit enough for his job and what he was doing (wrestling pigs excluded), and wasn't really aspiring to be Superman, so why put forth such an effort? Especially when a lot of days left him tired and feeling damned lazy at the end of them.
There were other things besides running marathons on his mind, and one of them he'd accomplished today.
It was a dinky thing of a ring, but it was pretty. Not too flashy, because he knew Clarice didn't like flash (and honestly it would take him much more than painting living rooms and pulling double-shifts to afford flash), and he even got a chain with it for when she was out doing her mutant ninja thing.
He hoped she'd like it, but more he hoped she'd accept it whenever he finally worked up the courage ask her.
For now it was tucked safely away and he was stepping out of the shower, toweling his hair when he ran into the muddied Clarice.
"Woah, hey, what happened t'you?" He asked, smiling at her broadly.
no subject
Even when routines had developed and they'd settled in together, going from house guest to roommates, to actually living together.
A part of not taking things for granted was trying to make sure she was happy, and so when she started leaving out on her own private free time he didn't say anything about it. He worried, but he always worried so that was really nothing new and he mostly managed to keep those worries to himself.
The biggest thing was he knew what a restless spirit she had and that meant he had to let her go sometimes. And it meant he couldn't question where she went, because that was still a way of trying to contain someone who couldn't be.
So he didn't ask, and he never complained. When she was out doing her thing he tried finding his own to pass the time. At first he'd putter around taking care of chores, going fishing or taking a drive, and that was all fine enough, but sometimes restlessness was catching.
And then an idea struck, and a plan formed, and one afternoon his aimless driving turned into a trip that led two counties over to the city where he went, of all things, shopping.
He didn't buy anything, but what he came back with was an idea of the cost of things. A sit in with a travel agent told him what a vacation would cost (from which Bill subtracted the cost of airfare, of course), and a nerve-wracking tour of a jewelry store gave him the price of a ring.
From there on his free time was spent making the money he was going to need.
He picked up shifts and did odd jobs, doing all the things a man could to earn easy money, although the work was hardly ever easy. He fixed things and did small construction projects, he was a spare hand when crops came in season, and a go to for anyone looking to move and needing a truck and a lifter.
On days he was supposed to be up at the lake he was tossing hay bales, and afternoons he was out for a drive he was picking up scrap metal to sell for cash.
When Clarice was gone he'd slip out, back before she'd returned, or cleaned up already when he got there after her. Dave his deputy and best friend was the only one who knew what Bill was up to, and so the man served as an alibi and provided a place to take a shower should the need arise.
Bill and Clarice didn't talk about their own free time, and that was fine. It meant he didn't have to lie, which he was terrible at, and mostly he assumed she was out running the woods since that seemed to be something she liked doing. The one time he had had to explain was when he threw his back out helping a local farmer load pigs. He'd covered by saying he'd done it moving the couch, and that was embarrassing enough to cover his telltale awkwardness when trying to tell a story. Especially since his fitness level was something Clarice still got after him about.
He was definitely better off than when she'd found him, but he knew he was a ways off from meeting her expectations. She'd tease him about it, and truthfully it bugged him a bit when the teasing bordered on chastising. He was fit enough for his job and what he was doing (wrestling pigs excluded), and wasn't really aspiring to be Superman, so why put forth such an effort? Especially when a lot of days left him tired and feeling damned lazy at the end of them.
There were other things besides running marathons on his mind, and one of them he'd accomplished today.
It was a dinky thing of a ring, but it was pretty. Not too flashy, because he knew Clarice didn't like flash (and honestly it would take him much more than painting living rooms and pulling double-shifts to afford flash), and he even got a chain with it for when she was out doing her mutant ninja thing.
He hoped she'd like it, but more he hoped she'd accept it whenever he finally worked up the courage ask her.
For now it was tucked safely away and he was stepping out of the shower, toweling his hair when he ran into the muddied Clarice.
"Woah, hey, what happened t'you?" He asked, smiling at her broadly.