"When I get up the initiative." He said with a chuckle. "I don't know, I should go make some coffee and get going.
Before the noon heat hits. No one in their right mind, not even me, is up on a roof at noon. Least not till the sun goes
back behind the trees." He yawned. "Yeah, yeah I know. Hair cut time, right?" He chuckled. Delta had looser
regulations according to grooming than most other, if not all other, parts of the military. His was just a preference
thing. He could have had it nearly down to his shoulders with a beard to match if he really wanted to.
She made a quiet, sighing sound, tipping her head back so she could look at him with eyes still a bit sleep blurred and
content. With a soft smile she reached up and slowly started combing her long fingers through his hair. It wasn't so
very long at all. Not by most standards. Just by his.
"You're on vacation." She murmured. "Let it grow for now." She brushed the hair back from his forehead lightly. "I
haven't seen your hair long enough to curl before."
"When I was in the Army, the regular This Man's Army," he clarified with a chuckle, "I had the same hair cut as the
Rangers. Hardly any hair at all. Realized how lumpy my head was! So there are advantages to being Delta, longer
hair." Swanson's hair was definitely NOT military regulation, for example, but as Delta he could get away with it. So he
did.
"Think I will let it grow out for a bit." He said with a smile, if for no other reason than to have hair for her to push off his
forehead.
"You can be a beatnik." She grinned in agreement before gently tangling her fingers in his hair and drawing his head
down so she could press a kiss against it. "And I like your lumpy head." She teased. She paused and her face
softened silly. "And your freckles." She wrinkled her nose as she said it and shifted against him to press a kiss to the
tiny one under his eye. Found another to kiss at the edge of his cheek. One on his throat...
He grinned. Freckles were an occupational hazard, since there were days when no shade was available. At least he
wasn't fair like some Delta were, freckles and a tan was all he got. "Makes me almost want to go out there and get
more freckles he commented. "But yours are cuter." he said with a laugh, having found many freckles on her the night
before.
She chuckled quietly against him. Making a disagreeing noise. "My freckles don't count." She looked up at him to
inform him primly. Pressing a kiss to another one on his neck. Smiling. Loving the sound of his laugh. "Too many for
this game." She pressed a kiss to one of the freckles on his exposed shoulder.
He chuckled and then got up, taking her hands. Sure, he really didn't want to, but he was doing so good so far on the
whole no pressure thing. Didn't want to jinx that because he was still a bit asleep. And they'd both grown so
comfortable it was always a danger.
"Come on." He said. "Maybe I can get a lot of it done before the rest of the neighborhood wakes up."
She let him pull her out of bed with a sigh and quiet laughter. Rolling her eyes good naturedly at him before she
slipped her arms around him and pressed a fervent kiss to his cheek.
"I love you." She whispered. And then she slipped around him and into the bathroom first with a soft laugh.
He chuckled and watched her disappear into the bathroom. He wasn't going to bother with a shower, he'd need
another one in a few hours, as he pulled on 'yard work' clothes, cut off sweat pants and a tee shirt that had definitely
seen better days, and a trusty baseball cap to keep his hair off his face and provide some illusion of shade.
"Coffee down stairs." He called into the bathroom as he heard the shower start, and padded down to the kitchen
where he made the coffee and scrounged for food. He was used to ready made fare, which was NOT what she bought.
Andi didn't need the shower. But one - she was feeling spoiled. And dry. As if she was trying to make up for all those
years of sand and sweat and dry, parched heat in the short amount of time she probably had here. And two -
because she needed the feel of something against her skin other than Hector. Needed to smell something other than
him. Because - he was addictive. And when she smelled like him, felt his touch still on her skin... well, honestly, she
wasn't useful for much else. Not an all together bad thing. Not in the least in fact. But - it did make it hard to focus on
anything else. Good if they'd been planning on spending all day in bed. Not quite as useful if one was planning on
crawling onto a high roof or working with sharp cutting implements. And - she wanted a bit of time to savor last night
too. It was precious to her and she wanted to simply hold it close in her heart and let it grow there a while.
Suz would think her such a twit.
So the shower was quick and she pulled her still dry hair up into a pony tail afterward before slipping into, as much as
she was able, the most sturdy clothes Suz had left for her. Shorts and a tank top. Feeling... surprisingly familiar as
she caught a look at herself in the mirror. It was a bit jarring really and for a moment, just a moment, things shifted
and she had the feeling that - if she walked out the bedroom door she'd find herself stepping out of a tent into the
African sun surrounded by Red Cross workers.
And quite without Hector.
It was a stupid thought and she stepped out the door anyway. What was she going to do? Hide in the bedroom? But
the skin around her eyes still tightened just as she stepped over the threshold. And then she simply rolled her eyes at
herself and hopped down the stairs. Muttering imprecations in French about her intelligence levels.
And then stopped in the kitchen doorway and tried, honestly did, not to laugh. So it came out sounding a bit like a
choking cough instead.
Hector, aside from looking very cute and VERY scruffy, also looked very lost. All three aspects just seemed to feed
each other in fact.
"Back, back." She instructed with laughter under her voice. Shooting him a sideways look and adding: "Wee beastie."
She pressed a kiss to the tip of his nose and asked: "Would eggs over toast, cheese optional, be enough to hold you
until lunch? I can have it ready almost as soon as your second cup of foul black concoction is."
Hector laughed and sat down at the table with his coffee, bare legs and feet sticking out under the table. "Hey, at this
point, as long as it’s not an MRE or airplane food, I'd probably eat it." He said with a chuckle as he watched her bustle
around the kitchen.
Considering she had not only bought the food, but put it away, he truly had no idea what was in his kitchen. Besides
the twinkies, which he was sure she somehow didn't consider a decent breakfast.
And there was just something right about this. And it went deeper than the fact that there was someone who had more
of a clue than him in the kitchen. He just liked watching her move through the kitchen with a purpose; he just liked
watching her period.
"Never has a woman had littler expectation placed on her cooking skills." Andi commented with a chuckle as she took
the eggs and cheese out of the icebox. She shot him a glance over her shoulder as she shut the door. Liking the way
he looked, relaxed and comfortable as he sat at the table, long legs stretched out. Watching her.
She could feel him watching her as she set about making breakfast with Jolanda's bread and the things she'd gotten
from the grocer. It was - surprisingly pleasant. She was used to people watching her while she worked, either on them
or another patient. There was little else to look at in a infirmary tent after all. But - watching her just to watch her...? It
should have made her nervous. Or self conscious. Instead it made her feel... precious. Loved and cherished and
appreciated for just being exactly who she was. It was - odd. But she rather enjoyed it all the same even as she
pretended not to notice. But she did lean over and kiss him with a soft smile as she went about putting out the juice
and setting the table.
Once the food was all done and in front of them and she'd said a quick prayer she glanced over at him with a crooked
smile. Waited until he'd had a few mouthfuls and calmly commented: "Not quite MREs but I did try." Eyes dancing, she
asked: "So what are our plans for today?"
"Mmm. It's delicious. Thanks. I'm not a total imbecile in the kitchen, close, but not quite." He said with a laugh.
"Thought I'd tackle the roof today, and see what else I find. You get to be the fearsome bodyguard to dissuade the
neighbors from asking me to fix theirs too while I'm at it." For there were some that would, the ones he swore left
everything until he came home then it was 'Hector, would you mind?' 'Hector, do you have time?'
And maybe before he did have the time, but this time around he didn't. And that was the end of that. He just had a
hard time saying no to people sometimes was all.
"Hopefully I'll be done early enough that you won't have to break out the hose." He said with a wink.
Andi arched her eyebrows at him while she ate and he talked.
"*I* get to get rid of the leeches?" She asked and made a face. "I think you took the easier job." She 'griped' teasingly
before leaning over and giving him a quick kiss. Then she smiled. "I used to build houses with my Da. We built my
Mum's school when she started needing a bigger one. Did some work with the villagers too. And helped out a
neighbor once when the roof on his house got - " she blinked. Made a sweeping gesture with her hand against the
table and gave Hector a crooked smile that held the hint of apology. "Well, blown up actually. He was a priest a
hundred miles or so away from us and they'd been aiming for the church and missed. Once we heard he was all right
it was one of those things you find extremely funny that you shouldn't at all and his joking about it didn't help." She
chuckled. "And the point behind that immensely pointless story was that I'm rather good with rooftops. But for yard
work I'm afraid I'm very bad with almost everything alive and growing but that tends to make me very good at weeding.
And, short of scaring the neighbors away, I'd like to be useful today too. It will be good for me." She stated with the
firmly working class ingrained belief that hard work was a balm. "Besides," she grinned, "I can use it as part of my
cover while I lay in wait for needy neighbors."
"Oh, so I get it. We'll put you on the roof and me in the yard and then you'll see from your nice high vantage point that
my sister is just a pain in the ass who doesn't know the first thing of what she's talking about." He said with a chuckle
as he drank his coffee after finishing the breakfast. Seeing she was done, he cleared the table and stacked
everything in the dishwasher. "So the new plan is I mow the lawn and you replace my shingles?" He asked with a grin.
"Somehow I know I won't be getting out of mowing the lawn, I knew that."
She laughed softly as she watched him clear the table. What was it about men with bare feet that was so attractive?
"Oh, I'm expecting at least two visitors today of the female persuasion. More if word gets out as quickly as it would
anywhere else in the world. I can do all the roofing. Or I can just help you. Or you can do the roofing and just stick me
in the middle of green things you want to die. Don't laugh." She chided. "I really am that bad. It took me less than two
weeks to kill the lucky bamboo someone gave me once. So I'm very good at weeding. But yes, you are going to have
to mow." She stuck her tongue out at him. Feeling young and not minding it at all. "I'd just advise you to get a goat or
two instead to keep the lawn trim."
"There's just something primitively satisfying about yard work. As if I've conquered the wilderness and held it at bay
for another week or two." He said with a laugh. "So no goat, would take away that feeling of victory, even if it did keep
me out of the sun for a bit. So we'll tackle the roof, then I'll mow the lawn. Guess you can sit on the shaded porch and
laugh your ass off at male stubbornness!"
He poured the dishwasher soap in and then turned the dishwasher on. "That's set. That will stop automatically."
Andi was shockingly competent in some areas and just as equally shockingly incompetent in other areas. Roof work -
that she could do. Gardening - well, it was safest to say her mother wouldn't even let her near their vegetable garden
back at the mission and leave it at that. She appreciated plants and flowers and greenery. The feeling just wasn't
mutual. At all. She slipped her hand into Hector's with a pleased grin. Real work would do her good. And she wouldn't
mind a bit of sun either, even if it would bring out even more of those freckles Hector mentioned earlier.
She still swiped a baseball cap off the peg near the door on the way out though. Curious as to whether he kept his
roofing supplies in the garage or a storage shed. And just as curious to see where he kept his garden hose.