Hunter wiped the sweat from his brow and looked up at Arabella. She probably just woke up but she looked beautiful. "Hold on, just one second." He said as he hammered the final nail into the step a few stairs down from where he sat. "Okay. We just have to replace one more board and then the stairs are done." He said looking at his work. "Also, good morning." He said with a nod before turning back to the stairs. "I'll have to sand it down later today." He said quietly before looking up at her again. He stepped on the new stair and tested the new boards for a second before climbing to the top and sitting next to her. "How'd you sleep?" He asked in his usual quiet tone. He checked his watch. It was almost noon. He'd been up for 5 hours already. "I'm assuming well, since you slept for almost 12 hours." He said with a chuckle. Arabella nudged him back giving him a pouting smile.
"Shut it." She said with a chuckle. "How long have you been up? I mean, you're almost done." She said looking down at the new boards. "You could have woken me up. I could have helped." Hunter blinked at her a few times. "Shut up! I could have!" She said before whacking Hunter in the arm.
"I didn't even say anything!" He said with a shrug. "Don't worry about it, though. I haven't been up that long." He lied. Honestly, he didn't sleep tons that night. After he carried her up to her room, he walked back to his and laid down on the bed. He still wasn't ready. He pulled the comforter off and spread it out on the ground. He grabbed a pillow and tried to sleep there, but it didn't work. His mind was overflowing with thoughts. He was mad and happy and sad and regretful and worried and tired all at once. He was mostly tired, though. After pacing around the room and doing a little bit of snooping into the life of Arabella's brother, he laid back down and fell asleep. "Come on. Let's go to the kitchen, I'll make you a sandwich." He said, patting her on the back. He glanced at her hand and was tempted to grab it, but the mere idea made him blush. He cleared his throat and stood up before descending the stairs and walking into the kitchen.
He glanced at her as she followed him into the kitchen. She looked pensive, but awake. Paying attention, but in some kind of trance. "Is grilled cheese, okay?" He asked as he got out a pan and set it on the stove. He glanced at her and she shook her head.
"Hmm? What did you say? I don't like pickled beets." She said with a furrowed brow. Hunter closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"I said grilled cheese. As in the sandwich. As in would you like one?" He asked turning on the stove. She rolled her eyes and nodded.
"That makes more sense. Yes. I would love one. Thank you." She said with a smile. Hunter nodded and stuck his fridge for a moment and reemerged with cheese and some butter. He cut off a pad of butter and tossed it into the now hot pan.
"I'll be right back. If that starts to burn, take it off the heat." He said before walking out of the kitchen. He walked to a closet and found what he was looking for. With iron in hand he walked back to the kitchen and plugged it in. She looked at him with a strange look. "Don't worry about it. You'll see." He said with a wave as he spread the now melted butter around the bottom of the pan. "So..." He said quietly as he opened the bread and grabbed a cutting board for the cheese. He looked at her briefly as she set out 4 slices of bread on a plate.
"I'm assuming you're having one?" She said gesturing toward the plate. Hunter grabbed the plate.
"Yes. Thank you." He said as he placed the cheese on the bread and topped the sandwich before spreading a little bit of butter on the top side. Before he set it down he sprinkled a little bit of garlic salt on the top. He flipped the sandwiches down into the pan and spread butter on the side facing up. "This is the cool part. Watch." He said with a faint smile on his face. He took the iron and touched it very briefly to make sure it was on. It was hot and ready so he set it on top of the two sandwiches and pushed down lightly. He looked at Arabella who was staring at him strangely. "What? You can get a new iron." He said with a shrug. Arabella shook her head.
"No, no, no." She said taking a step closer and looking at the sandwiches. "Where did you learn that?" She asked in astonishment. Hunter chuckled.
"A college student named Janine." He said with a nod. "Apparently, finding food as a homeless person and finding food as a college student aren't dissimilar." He said with a sigh. He lifted the iron briefly to check on the sandwiches. "Just a couple more minutes. Hey, you want to make tomato soup?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"What? No. I'll burn the house down." She said shaking her head. "Or cut off my hand or break something." Hunter chuckled.
"I was thinking Campbell's..." He said quietly, before reaching into a cupboard and pulling out a can of Campbell's tomato soup. "Add a little bit of water and microwave it. I don't think it's too far out of your range of ability." Arabella laughed quietly to herself.
"Ah...Okay then. I can do that." She said slightly embarrassed, as she went to work preparing the soup. Hunter held the iron down for just a few more minutes until all of the sizzling finally stopped. He put the iron back on the stand and slid the sandwiches onto separate plates just as Arabella was separating the soup into bowls. The two of them sat at the table and began eating. "So...Janine, huh?" Arabella said, looking at Hunter. Hunter chewed and swallowed his bite of sandwich before taking a sip of water.
"What about her?" He asked with a shrug. He could imagine why she was asking, but he didn't really want to acknowledge that. Arabella shrugged.
"Were you two an...item?" She asked quietly, lightly stirring her spoon through her soup. Hunter shook his head.
"Oh, no, no, no." Hunter responded, taking another sip of water. Was that a sense of relief on her face just now? "We met at a coffee shop. I was buying a cup and she offered to pay for it for some kind of community service whatever. I wasn't really listening, due to the free coffee." He said with a shrug. "I was new to that side of town so she gave me some tips on places to find free/easy food. That's all." He said before slurping a spoonful of soup. "Why do you ask?" Arabella blushed slightly.
"I just thought that maybe you had embrace the lack of oath or something." She said with a shrug. Hunter almost spit out his water and turned a shade of red so red it looked like his face was on fire. "What's it like not having the oath, anymore?" She asked quietly. Hunter cleared his throat a few times to maybe cover up his nerves.
"It's not too different. I mean, I'm actually 18, now. I'm no longer perpetually 17." He said with a chuckle. "The knife and the bow were pretty good, too, but other than that it's not too different. I mean, I'm a clear-sighted mortal, so it's really not too different." Arabella nodded.
"Are you glad you're not a virgin for life anymore?" She asked before taking another bite of sandwich. Hunter cleared his throat again.
"Umm..." He muttered. He wasn't genuinely sure how to answer. "It doesn't really change much." He said with a nervous shrug. "I'm still a...a virgin." He said quietly. He blushed lightly. "I don't plan on changing my status as a virgin anytime soon. I knew a hunter, who as soon as she renounced her oath she went out an had a bunch of sex. I didn't do that and I never plan on doing that." He said before will his cheeks at return to normal. He chomped down the rest of his sandwich and drank the rest of his soup, in the hope of getting past this subject. "Alright. I'm going to get back to the stairs. If you want to start on the painting, the paint is that way." He said pointing around the corner. "Once you're done, I'll take care of the dishes." He said with a nod before leaving and going back to the stairs, the whole time his mind was racing through the brief conversation. "What is this I'm feeling, here?" He asked himself, mildly worried about the answer.