This is part of the fall ficathon challenge. It's also going to become part of a larger story at some point.
Enjoy!
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Hunting Season
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It’s cold as hell… just like every other morning. Why in God’s name would any sane person live in this place?
Lois rolled over and groaned as she sat up. There was no way she could sleep… not with Mr. Weird out there making so much noise. She ran a hand through her hair as she made her way to the restroom. In doing so, she had to pass through the living area. The man tending the fire didn’t even look up when she hurried past.
After taking care of her morning business and washing her face, Lois made her way toward the coffee pot. That was the one thing she could count on from her host.
Host! Ha… He didn’t want her here anymore than she wanted to be here. But she had to admit that he was very good at his job.
She eyed the dark haired man as he carried in an arm full of wood. Clark Kent… She actually liked the name.
Truth told she liked the man. He was around her age, tall with the most amazing dark hair. He had piercing brown eyes and what little she had heard him say, she could easily tell he was intelligent.
Hell, he was the smartest man she knew. He worked maybe four months a year and made enough to finance a small town!
He crossed to his room and came out again carrying a rifle. She arched a brow and watched as he added bullets to a vest lying on the back of the sofa.
“Where ya’ going?” she couldn’t help but ask. She was a talker; she needed interaction.
He didn’t even glance up at her as he continued to inspect his weapon. “Hunting.”
“For what?”
“So we can eat,” he told her matter-of-factly.
She involuntarily glanced at the refrigerator. Had she been eating wild animals since she had been here?
He didn’t offer anything further as he strode toward the door. He stopped to lift his jacket from the rack there, intent on his task.
Lois panicked. Clark was leaving. That meant she would be left alone.
“You’re gonna leave me alone?” she asked anxiously.
“You’ll be fine for a couple of hours,” he returned and reached for the gun he had set against the wall as he zipped his coat.
“A couple of hours?!” she almost shouted. She hurried closer to him. “Clark,” she squawked. “You can’t leave me here alone. What if someone comes?”
He sighed and finally moved his eyes to hers. “It’s either you stay alone or you come with me. We need some meat in the freezer.”
There was no way she wanted to get dressed and dredge out in the cold, but she didn’t want to stay alone either. And she had been with Clark long enough to know that when he made up his mind to do something, there was no talking him out of it. She sighed heavily and stomped toward the bedroom. “I’ll be ready in a minute.”
Behind her Clark sighed heavily. “Wear the extra coat… and two pairs of socks,” he called out.
Oh, don’t worry! She was going to wear more than enough clothing to keep warm.
****
Clark walked steadily through the foot of fresh snow that had fallen during the night. He was annoyed as hell. The woman struggling behind him wasn’t making his trip very easy. She could have stayed at the cabin. With his abilities, he could have bagged a large buck in minutes. But with her in tow, he would have to do this the hard way.
He ducked through a couple of trees and headed for the hunting hut he had long ago built.
“What’s this?” Lois asked as he opened the door on the tiny building.
“A hunting blind,” he answered and moved aside for her to go in. Luckily he had built a bench large enough for two. She slid across and he sat, closing the door behind him.
“This was actually a smart thing to do,” Lois let him know. “Build a place to keep out the cold.”
Yeah, he agreed. He had just built it because he was bored.
And maybe he had foreseen an eventuality something like this.
He scanned the area carefully, spotting a herd of deer nearly a half mile away. Of course, his guest couldn’t see them. He sat back and relaxed. It would be a while before the group ate their way closer.
Lois shifted… then shifted again. Clark resisted the urge to sigh. What was she doing?
“Not very big,” she commented. “But I guess you didn’t anticipate having someone hunting with you.”
He didn’t comment.
And no, he had never planned to have someone along on a hunt.
Of course, he had never planned to have anyone come to his home at all. At least not to stay for an undetermined amount of time. He had definitely never thought a woman would be his guest.
Guest… that was one way to put it.
He glanced sideways at the woman beside him. She wasn’t his guest; she was his client. Plain and simple.
“What kind of animals are you hunting?”
She just couldn’t be quiet, could she?
“Deer,” was his short answer. He waited. She would ask another question. The woman talked more than the next ten people combined.
“Is that what we’ve been eating?”
Clark almost smiled. Lois Lane… She was nothing if not curious.
“Some,” he answered. And when he didn’t elaborate, he knew she would fire off another question.
“And the rest?”
“Boar, turkey, and of course, fish,” he told her. He waited, but she leaned forward and peered through the opening. Maybe she was going to be quiet for a while.
“So, it’s hunting season?”
He should have known she couldn’t do it. “It’s always hunting season.” And what did he say that for? She shifted to face him- a sure sign she wanted more answers.
“Meaning… some animal is always in the cross hairs?”
He rolled his eyes. He should have known she was a sympathizer. He moved his eyes to meet hers. “Do you eat beef?”
She blinked at him. “Yeah.”
“And chicken?”
Her brow creased and she gave him a scowl. “Ok, I get it.” She sighed and sat back.
Wow! Had he really shut her up?
“I just never thought of it before,” she went on a minute later.
He should have known it wasn’t that easy.
“I just go to the market and choose a cut of meat. I guess a lot of people don’t.”
Clark glanced out at the advancing herd for a moment before shifting on the bench. Yes, oh bright one, a lot of people still actually hunt their own food.
Lois was quiet for… all of three minutes!
“Oh, God! If you kill it, you’ll have to clean it.”
“Um huh,” he grunted.
“That’s just…” She shuttered. “How can you eat it after you do something like that?”
“Ah, with my mouth,” he shot back.
Her head snapped his way and she gave him an incredulous expression. “Wow!”
He had expected some smart assed remark, but got bewilderment instead.
“You have a sense of humor!” And she was grinning from ear to ear.
Clark just stared at her. He had seen Lois smile, but this…
Wow!
“He’s in there, isn’t he?” she asked him and turned more fully toward him.
He could only stare. Her entire countenance had changed. She looked excited and… happy.
“You just keep him tucked so far inside…” She stopped and stared at him, still grinning widely.
Her words finally registered and he blinked. “Wh… what?”
“The real you,” she explained. She dropped back against the side of the building, the smile still on her face. “I knew you couldn’t be so stiff and formal all the time. Nobody is that serious all the time. I’ll bet you’re actually fun to be around when you let go. Granted, you may not be a comedian and all that, but still…”
Clark had to take a breath. Lois could babble with the best of them, and she seemed to be off on a tangent.
She stopped suddenly and gasped.
He looked at her, a bit concerned something might be wrong. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of brown. The grazing deer had decided to head toward the other field and were making their way across the trail that stretched in front of the blind. Clark lifted his gun into place and waited. The woman beside him was holding her breath. He just hoped she didn’t say anything.
****
“I still can’t believe I’m eating this,” Lois said as she lifted a piece of her steak to her mouth. “I mean, I watched you shoot it and clean it.” She looked up at him. “I still can’t believe I saw that. I can’t believe I didn’t heave.” She took the bite of food on her utensil and chewed a second. “And the taste… I would have never thought it would be this good. I mean, I know I’ve eaten… whatever it is you’ve been cooking… And it’s been great, but this…” She moved the food around on her plate. “After doing the whole hunting thing and…”
“Do you ever shut up?” Clark asked her.
She looked straight at him. “I wouldn’t have to talk so much if you would say something now and then,” she informed him.
Clark stared at her for a long moment before a slow smile spread across his face. “Somehow I think you would talk even more.”
Lois leaned back in her chair with a stunned expression on her face, suddenly at a loss for words.
When she didn’t jump back in with a remark, Clark chuckled. “Didn’t think I had in me, huh?” No doubt he had shocked her when he smiled. He hadn’t done much of that since they had met.
Hell, he hadn’t done much of that in the last few years.
Lois’ expression changed to something he couldn’t quite describe. She actually looked like she might… cry.
Clark’s smile slid from his face as she continued to look at him. Her expression was more intense than any he had seen on a woman’s face. She was regarding him as a man… as a woman looking at a man.
After a long, intense moment, Lois lifted her glass and smiled shyly. “Here’s to hunting season.”
As the heat of the moment washed over him, Clark reached for his own glass. “And to chatty women,” he returned with a smirk.
Lois gasped slightly. “Oh, you ain’t heard nothin’ yet,” she let him know as she dove back into her food.
Clark shook his head as she shifted gears, kicking the babble into high gear. Somehow he couldn’t help but think he would come to love hearing this woman talk.
