Realistic or Modern Big Sky Country

[Lacey]

Lilith gave Melissa a smile as she sat down at the table. It was hard not to notice how close Ames and her’s upper arms were from touching. She mentally shook her head to reset her thoughts as she took a bite of her breakfast. She usually didn’t eat when she first woke up. She was more of the eat lunch and dinner type of girl but she figured she wouldn’t be much help if she didn’t eat before the strenuous work.

Lilith listened as Chet explained the issue about raising prices of animal feed. As he went on about the issue, it became apparent to Lilith how serious the matter was. Lilith giggled lightly at Melissa’s remark about brilliant minds. She found Melissa to be like a ray of sunshine.

 

[Darkbloom]

When Lilith sat down, it was only then Ames realized how close the chair was. How...? With the last few bites he struggles with this question, but rather likes the closeness. Regrettably, the work won't complete itself. "I'll put these in the dishwasher. Lilith, when you're done eating I'll be repairing the ladder rung in the barn. You'll be able to see the lights on." He picks up the empty dishes, puts them in the dishwasher and goes out to the barn.

Chet watches him leave the house, then turns back around in his chair again. "Anyhow, we will speak of potential plans later. Near the end of the week." He stands up while holding the newspaper, heading to his office. In the barn, Ames turns on the lights and begins repairing the ladder. Even some of the animals are still asleep at this time of night. He makes an internal list of what needs to get done today.

 

[Lacey]

Lilith works on eating her breakfast, trying not to let the new closeness between them distract her. She needed to focus on the work and not how attractive she found Ames. She finished her breakfast, Thank you for breakfast,” she told Melissa and Chet before exiting the house.

Lilith tried to rely on her memory to bring her back to the barn but then remembered Ames said she would be able to see the lights on. She looked around her and found the barn that was lit up and made her way to it. She found Ames working on the ladder and she smiled, “So we meet again.”

 

[Darkbloom]

By the time Lilith appeared, Ames had already taken off the old piece and put two nails in halfway, one on the top right and one on the bottom left. "So we do, Ms. Lilith. I have the perfect starting point for you today. Take this hammer and drive those nails the rest of the way. Mind your fingers, I've smashed one or two of em' myself instead of the nail head. Ain't a fun trip to the doctor." He holds the hammer out to Lilith.

 

[Lacey]

Lilith drew her eyebrows in at the sight of the hammer trying to be handed to her by Ames. Maybe now wouldn’t’ be the best time to admit to Ames that she had never handled an hammer before but she figured how hard could it be? Lilith took the hammer from Ames and gave him a smile before looking at the screw on the top right. She stabilized it with her fingers before giving the screw a hit with the hammer, surprisingly not hitting her fingers to which a proud smile crossed her face. She gave it another couple hits before the nail was in its rightful place.

 

[Darkbloom]

"Good! Now that you've passed that test, I'm going to bump up the difficulty a little bit." He gracefully removes the hammer from her hand, not touching, but close enough for the heat from his hand to be felt on her skin. With one swift, precise swing Ames knocks the second nail into the wood all the way. He gives two more nails to Lilith. "Now finish nailing the other two corners. You did great not hitting your fingers the first time, but starting with a nail that's not already buried halfway into the wood is quite different. This is where most people end up hitting their fingers instead of the nail head so watch for that."

 

[Lacey]

Lilith pursed her lips as Ames explained the task to her. Her city self was not feeling very confident as she took the hammer back and took one of the nails, lining it up on the corner. Once she had the nail steady she struck it with the hammer, missing her fingers the first swing but when she went in for the second swing, the hammer hit her thumb, causing her to gasp and let go of the nail. Shaking her hand as if it would make it hurt less, “Dammit. I am so sorry,” She said to Ames, stealing a glance at him.

 

[Darkbloom]

When she looks at him, his expression isn't mad, upset, or frustrated. His eyes show concern while meeting her gaze. He lifts up her hand to look at the sore thumb. "Don't worry about it, Ms. Lilith. You didn't hit your thumb too hard. Wait right here, I'll be back soon." He leaves, and a minute later comes back with a small bucket of cold water. "Put your hand with the sore thumb in here for a few minutes. Normally I'd use ice but this will work just as well."

Ames picks up the hammer and the dropped nail. "If anything, I should be apologizing for not showing you how it works first." Ames puts the nail on the corner and taps the nail a few times until it sticks without him needing to hold it. "Tap it like this first, instead of taking big swings. This avoids striking your fingers. After that you let loose." He gives the hammer more distance from the nail first, then one hit and a second hit pushes the nail all the way into the wood. "Just like that. Now you will be able to remember, but if you forget I'll demonstrate again. How's your thumb feeling?"

 

[Lacey]

Absentmindedly, Lilith jutted out her bottom lip in a pout as he examined her thumb. She lets out a sigh as he leaves her for a second before coming back with a bucket of cold water. She follows his directions by slowly lowering her hand into the water, wincing slightly as the soreness met with the cold. She gave him a curious look as he states he usually uses ice. She couldn’t even bare the thought of her thumb meeting with ice with the way it felt right now.

Lilith watches as he demonstrates how to strike the nail into the wood. How he showed it made it look easy. She wouldn’t be too hard on herself however, for this was the first time she really worked with a hammer anyway. When he asks her how her thumb is feeling, she nods her head as the throbbing in her thumb starts to subside, “It’s feeling better. Thank you,” she replied giving him a small smile.

 

[Darkbloom]

I should find something that doesn't involve using thumbs too much. Aha! That should work. Ames smiles as well, then finds a wheel barrow and wheels it over. "The animals were running low on food last night so now we will fill up their supply. This will likely take one or two hours with the number of animals we have here. One of these days, I'm going to ask you where these different buildings and animal holdings are so you can know where everything is regardless of your current location. The important thing is to remember."

He walks out of the barn with her, keeping a relatively medium walking pace. A thought comes to him: since they're working closely for a while, isn't this a good time to know her better? There's a good amount of walking between buildings and he doesn't like the silence too much. "Before you decided to come here how did you spend your time? Anything fun?" Genuinely curious, he hasn't been to the city in quite a while.

 

[Lacey]

Lilith nodded her head as Ames warned her that he would ask her where the different locations in the ranch were one day. She made a mental note to try and pay as much attention as she could to her surroundings so she knew where she was at all times. The ranch, however, was huge so it felt like that was going to be a hard task for her to accomplish but all she could do was try her best.

Lilith tries to keep up with Ames's walking pace as they make their way to their next destination. The silence doesn't last long before Ames speaks up. Lilith shrugged her shoulders as she weighed his question, "Usually a lot of shopping and going out with my friends doing different things depending on what is going on in the city at the time," She explained to him.

 

[Darkbloom]

Ames listens to her explanation. It certainly sounds like something the city folk would do to pass the time. Things are quite a bit different here. "Out here, the only shopping is at the bar when you order a drink. We have people farming food, which is shared by the whole small community and what's left is sold to stores somewhere else. Every Friday night we have a bonfire. People like to ask me to play my guitar. Can't say why, I'm not terribly good. Only picked it up last summer." As time dragged on, the sun was slowly peeking over the horizon. They could see just a small bit of it currently.