At Home with Clark and Jim

[stands_for_hope]

[continued from here]

They'd fallen into a routine pretty easily.

Clark had managed to write up something about the church bust without incriminating either of them, which meant that his Perry had been pleased enough with his work for the day and had only yelled at him for five minutes about his failure to show up in the office the whole day. Lois had ribbed him a little, which had been remarked upon as she usually gave the new guy hell if he did anything remotely out of the line, and then she'd ribbed him a lot. He hadn't minded too terribly much since he had visited her afterwards at her apartment and she'd done plenty of kissing to make it better.

With a second person in the apartment, he'd started to fix it up a little, bringing home new linens, keeping the fridge stocked more regularly, and he'd even managed to find a new couch for them through a very kindly older woman and Craigslist.

True to his word, he'd gotten some rudimentary identification for Jim and he walked through the door with a spring in his step, closing the door behind him and plopping it down on the kitchen table with a smile.

Comments

[kolodnoykovki]

"You haven't required much patience." And at last, he followed Clark's example, poking a vegetable onto his fork and then curiously tasting it before eating it properly. Interesting.

[stands_for_hope]

"How'd it come out?" because while he had a few questions for the moment, that was the important one.

[kolodnoykovki]

"I..."

He had to think of how to describe it, and while he thought, he stirred the rice and vegetables together. "I've never had anything like it. It tastes all right, but it might take more than this for me to know if I like it. I... think I remember something like this, though. A kind of stew with rice. Better than rations."

[stands_for_hope]

"There's a few different kinds, to be fair. This one's a yellow curry, as they're the easiest to make mild. The different varieties all have slightly different flavors."

He took another few bites.

"There was a point when Ma was putting nearly everything over rice. Some sort of fad while I was growing up. It's still one of my favorites, though."

[kolodnoykovki]

"Rice is cheap and filling," Jim said. "Add beans and there's a protein. Then you just need a vegetable and it's a meal you can eat on for days."

It was time, he decided, to stop asking how he knew things. Because he knew things because he knew things. That was all he needed to acknowledge.

[stands_for_hope]

"There's a couple I like to make with chickpeas," he ventured, obviously running through a dozen recipes in the back of his head.

"Any feelings on tofu? It's not a deal breaker or anything."

[kolodnoykovki]

He nodded along with Clark's talk about chickpeas, but the mention of Tofu had his eyebrows lowering. "What's tofu?"

[stands_for_hope]

He looks exceptionally pleased about the question.

"It's... hard to describe. But pretty tasty when prepared properly. I'll try some in the next meal I make. It's like a meat."

[kolodnoykovki]

Jim shrugged. "I'll try it, then." He supposed it was easier for Clark that he was a blank slate and didn't really care too much what he ate. It meant he could eat whatever Clark made without any preconceptions going in.

[stands_for_hope]

Clark smiled a little at the response.

"See, you're a lot of fun to cook for. Always willing to try new things."

He ate a little more of his curry and it was obvious that he was thinking of something he wanted to ask, but he hadn't quite figured out how to ask it. Or maybe he was just waiting until Jim finished dinner.

[kolodnoykovki]

He ate easily, considering the flavour, thinking about the next day, about work - about feeling like he could sustain himself. It was a pleasant feeling. More than he'd had in... longer than he could remember.

He'd need to stop measuring life by memories, anyway.

"I might have to buy boots with my first paycheck."

[stands_for_hope]

"Something wrong with yours?" he asked, sitting up a little.

"I can spot you until then. You shouldn't go into a site with shoddy footwear."

[kolodnoykovki]

He shook his head. "Mine are good enough for the first week, but I'll need steel toed boots." Except he shrugged. "But I heal bone breaks fast."

[stands_for_hope]

That gets a stormy look.

"I can definitely spot you."

[kolodnoykovki]

"You've been paying for everything except what I had." He'd had some savings. People tended to be generous when they saw a sign that said "Homeless Vet, Please Help."

[stands_for_hope]

"Because I would have been paying it anyway, for the most part. And you've done most of the work around here that I haven't had the time for."

He shook his head firmly.

"It's just a loan, and I really don't mind. You shouldn't chance a broken toe for something like that."

[kolodnoykovki]

He thought about protesting further, but what would it gain? Some people were just determined to be do-gooders. "Fine," he said, "but I will repay you."

[stands_for_hope]

"I'll accept it. After all, I'm no Lex Luthor."

And truer words had never been said.

"This is just how I grew up. You help folks when they need it and they help you when you need it and no one worries too much about the particulars because as long as everyone's well and fed, there's not much reason to hassle anyone."

[kolodnoykovki]

"I'm..."

What? He was ... wasn't? What.

"Not used to it. Anymore." That last word was important. Important enough that it swam up out of nowhere and practically insisted on being added.

[stands_for_hope]

"Don't worry. We'll have you used to it again."

If he was anything, he was an optimist.

[kolodnoykovki]

He looked up and offered a small smile. Not much - barely enough to be called a smile at all, but it was enough to acknowledge that he understood.

[stands_for_hope]

Clark looks genuinely pleased before the thing he'd been thinking about earlier slipped back into the forefront of his mind. It's visible, but he rallies.

"I might even have a pair of steel toes in my things. I did a lot of odd jobs traveling and while I didn't have to worry about it myself, the foremen at a couple of them wouldn't let you on the site for insurance reasons. If you don't mind wearing a couple of pairs of socks for tomorrow."

[kolodnoykovki]

That flicker was enough to make Jim wonder. Not quite enough to ask, but enough for him to nod. "I don't mind. I've done worse things than two pairs of socks."

[stands_for_hope]

"Sounds good. I'll dig them out tonight."

And then he was eating his food. After dinner. He'd mention it after dinner. He would.

God, he was terrible at waiting on things like this. Patience with people? Of course, but patience on things that needed doing was not his strong point.

[kolodnoykovki]

The undercurrent was enough to have him on edge. Still, he focused on eating before he focused on anything else. No matter what, he would survive it better with a full stomach, even if that feeling was enough to make him wonder if he needed to pack what belongings he had and find another place in the city to shelter.

Odd how that felt like a loss.

As he ate, he tried to pin names to feelings. What was it that made him so uncertain? He was sure, at least in part, that it was an old, ingrained instinct that came from those memories he didn't want. Clark wasn't going to act against him. Plans wouldn't have been made just earlier in the night if he was. Clark wasn't like him. Didn't have that level of duplicity that he could fall to so easily - which was why his 'activities' caused him so much trouble. That was what made this all the stranger.