i am marooned in this place without you. you connect me to the mainland.

[subsidence]

i've gone ahead and fixed the loose handle on the washroom door
the hot water runs good and clear through the pipes

i put varnish on the new windowsill
good enough to rest on and look out along the land

got hold of a bear skin so the bedroom floor won't feel so cold in the morning

the fireplace is scrubbed free of all soot too

[He's running out of things to do, he means. The fix-its are coming one after the other, quick as he can manage, and the cabin will be lovely by the time Aymeric comes home--or Estinien will have lost his mind. Well, both could happen, perhaps.]

and

i did the dishes

[What kind of tail-wagging...?]

Comments

[subsidence]

no need to make dinner tonight since i learned yesterday that i've already forgotten how to cook for one.

are you heating up what i sent with you

[embankment]

Not all of it! I'd be here for days and days if I tried to do that.

[Just some light teasing. Estinien almost seemed frantic when piling container after container into the back of her car. Maybe she should have brought him along anyway...]

Chicken and rice, which happens to be one of my favorites of yours. And I see you snuck a brownie in here too.

[subsidence]

of course i did. wouldn't do to have you go without

[...]

i reckon there is plenty of store-bought fare you've been missing

[embankment]

I haven't any plans for an affair with Little Debbie while I'm back in London. Not even the kind with cosmic sprinkles would see me making a misstep.

A McFlurry, on the other hand...

[Still, she's just teasing him.]

[subsidence]

[Making ice cream is one thing--soft serve is another entirely. Another thing entirely, and another thing to learn. So he shall.

...]

you say that but she had better not go riling you up, that little minx after only one thing, filling up your cheeks

[embankment]

[Little minx, huh...]

I don't think there's going to be any room left given the size of this brownie. It's taunting me, I have to say. Tempting me to skip straight to dessert.

[subsidence]

taunting you is it well then i'd better chastise it
it's only supposed to give a cordial invitation

[embankment]

No need for chastisement. It's only doing what brownies have only ever done in my presence. I'll have myself a nibble and then go back to the chicken and rice like a good girl should.

[subsidence]

[His thumbs still over the keyboard. Aymeric doesn't mean any harm and she certainly doesn't mean to be harmed. And with that in mind, the smart thing for her would be to stay in London in the lonesome safety of her flat, not to come home to a prowler such as himself.

Then again--]

that's right

[Then again, London is crawling with those things, isn't it? Prowlers and perverts. And evil fuckers who make her feel small to get themselves off on her downcast eyes. And other evil fuckers who slip the worst things they can into seductive Little Debbie and the shiny cheese on take-away pizzas.

Estinien might be foul for thinking of her, but he wants the best for her, at least.]

you've been a very good girl
working very hard

earned yourself more than a nibble i'd say

a nice big bite for your reward

[embankment]

[She could not be more thankful for the medium they're dealing with. Mostly blind, and out of reach, and silent, and still...

There's nothing that betrays the trembling of her bottom lip, or that awful and curious heat that's curling from her cheeks up to her ears, she's sure, if she were to look in the mirror. It's doing something to her own damn hearing, too. It's gone a bit muffled, or a bit too full-feeling. Her stomach has gone a bit squirmy and weird. Sometimes, she wonders if Estinien has any understanding of what he's saying to her or if he's just saying the first thing to come to mind. An indelicate man, this one. Overwhelming. Overwhelming in the way of a marauding bull.

Nothing betrays the stacked-up china of her heart.]

It's very good

[...]

!

[...]

I'm only having the one bite and then I'll get back to the chicken and rice proper. But it's very good - I wasn't expecting the addition of whole chocolate chips. I think you've found your calling when it comes to this sort of thing. I'd say you're the one who's been working hard lately.

[subsidence]

the only hard work i do is what it takes to go about my day
living and all that

[That must be how he sees all of it, the hunting, the carpentry, the cooking, the metalworking. That and whatever else it may mean--the hard work of being alive...]

all you are leaving behind is
well for me that work is just too much

you know i made more than just the one bite for you
the batch is yours
the recipe too

[embankment]

You'd be working yourself down past the bone if I didn't tell you to take it easy sometimes. I'm telling you to take it easy now. The windows ought to be left for another day, and the caulking, and the grout cleaner too. Once you've finished your dinner, go and see about having yourself a nice warm soak in the bath. I expect the aches and pains of the day to melt away with that.

[...]

I might be having one myself after I polish off another one of these brownies. They're very, very good. Dangerously good, as a matter of fact.