Adagio Dazzle wasn’t happy.
“Jack, why am I covered in fish guts?” Her voice was deceptively calm, her body trembling with rage. Blackjack sighed.
“Cuz I forgot one of the deep sea fishes. The pressure up here is a lot lower than what their bodies are-” She cut him of, for a change. It wasn’t often that someone had the, well, guts to cut him of.
“Lovely. Now, could you be a dear, and tell me how to get fish guts out of your clothes?”
He started scratching the back of his head again and looked to the side. “Ya see, there’s a problem with that. There’s a good reason why I wear these dirty clothes and apron.”
“Oh, is there?” Her voice was still calm. He would be intimidated, if he wasn’t so much bigger than her.
“Fish guts, heck, guts in general tend to stain terribly. So does bloo-” She suddenly stomped towards him, getting in his face and cutting him of again. She was standing on her toes, getting her face as close to his as she could.
“Why didn’t you warn me about that?!” She yelled in his face. He raised his hands defensively, eyes going wide in surprise.
“I forgot, okay?” He was leaning backwards, more than a little surprised. “I’ve been doing this alone for a long time, so it kinda became routine for me, ‘kay? Now calm down, I’ll get you a new set of clothes.” He took a step back, actually a little intimidated by the skinny girl.
She snorted. “Oh sure. And I bet you just have a closet full of clothes for girls and women, hmm?!” She backed of a little, her glare looking like it could kill him on the spot.
“I...” He sighed. “I do, actually.” This surprised her.
His shoulders slumped a bit. She blinked twice while he scratched his head again.
“Really?”
“Yeah.” He gestured for her to follow him. He led her upstairs to the room between his bedroom and the bathroom. He entered the room and stopped in front of a closet.
“Why do you have clothes for women?” It just didn’t really make sense to her.
“They’re not really mine. A few of them were my mother’s and some of them were my sister’s.” And now it did. “Most of the things that were saved or salvaged from my house were their old clothes. I decided to keep them, as a reminder.” He opened the closet.
“You’re seriously going to give me some of their clothes,” she said with a deadpan voice, not really believing it, her gaze switching between him and the closet.
“They’d just be gathering more dust. ‘Sides, do you really want to constantly smell like fish guts and blood? Cuz, that smell ain’t gonna get out of your clothes, trust me. " He started to walk out the room. “Pick an outfit that ya won’t mind getting dirty. It’ll be your work outfit. Ya can also pick out a more casual outfit.”
“Why?”
“Hm?” He stopped in the doorway and turned his head, looking back at her.
“Why are you doing so much for me?” She really couldn’t believe this guy.
He shrugged and walked out of the room. “Cuz someone once did the same for me, remember? Besides, being poor and living on the streets sucks. I had to wear the same clothes for more than a year. I’d rather ya didn’t have to do that.” He closed the door.
“Well...” She shook her head. “Thanks!” She called after him.
“You’re welcome.”
After she had picked her work clothes, which consisted of a plain brown t-shirt and some loose blue jeans, she went to meet Blackjack downstairs in what he called the cutting room. When she walked in, she noticed he had cleaned up the fish guts and had replaced the fish with what looked like chickens.
“They seem a bit loose, but you’ll grow into them,” he said as he quickly looked her over.
“Grow into them?” She raised an eyebrow. She seemed to do that a lot lately. “What do you mean?”
He started to grin again. “Ya might not have noticed yet, but you’ll be aching all over tomorrow.” He flexed one of his arms, showing of the muscles. “Being a butcher is more than just a good workout.” Her pupils shrunk at the idea of her being as big as him. He noticed her look. “Don’t worry. Ya ain’t gonna get as big as me. I tend to work out every morning and evening. Makes the job easier.”
“Thank goodness.” She noticed the way she said that. “I mean, no offense, but there’s no way I would want to be as big as you.”
He laughed at that. “Even if ya worked out as much as I do, which ain’t all that much to be honest, ya still wouldn’t get as big. It’s a growth disorder from my mom’s side.”
“Oh, well... that definitely explains your size. I didn’t want to offend, but you do look a bit... unnatural?” She shrugged, smiling sheepishly.
“I know, I know.” He motioned for her to come over to the chickens while holding one of them in his hand. “Now, how about I teach you the basics of preparing poultry?” When she got closer she noticed that he wasn’t holding a chicken, but a goose.
“That sounds absolutely amazing, dear Jack.”
“Oi, watch your sarcasm, Dazz.”
“I don’t think I will.”