Second Year [Maude]

Of course Maude was up before Josh. She was always up before Josh. She was one of those fabled morning people, not to mention a seasoned house wife or the equivalent of one. Thankfully she'd gotten good at getting up without waking the resident cuddle machine, when he could be awoken that is. And in usual Maude fashion she immediately found something to do, make breakfast. By that point Josh was usually awake, but it wasn't every day she was ambushed in the morning like this. It wasn't very rare either, but it's still nice. Without turning away from her pancakes, she leaned back into the hug and delightedly accepted the kiss, "Josh, I'm cooking." she jested. Just because she loved him didn't mean he wasn't still distracting her. "You came to bed a bit late. What kept you?" She asked with the curiosity of someone who was disappointed to fall asleep without him.

A little giggle snuck out before she caught herself. Goddesses, she was turning into a sap. What happened to all her anti-socialness and introversion. Not so long ago she would have drawn blood from anyone who tried to touch her like that. When did she go soft?

She had to stop her bad attempt at brooding to turn over an already slightly burnt pancake. It wasn't her fault Josh was so distracting. She was the victim here. "You should feel like if I do." she tried to speak with some grumpiness in some poor effort to prove her heart was still cold and hadn't gone completely soft. It didn't really work and knowing Josh he'd just find it cute either way. Stupid, wonderful boyfriend.

Of course, any part of that did sound even a little grumpy went out the window when he mentioned having stay out and catch a loose animal. "Oh.... well at least you caught him and you came home, even if a bit late. I can fix the gate pretty easily, you know." So could he but she could do it faster. Goddesses knows, she's had plenty of practice fixing things.

Maude perked up a bit when Josh would allow her to fix the gate. "Really?" She thought that would a no. People usually told her to work less and certainly Josh could have done it without her. Huh.... "Well of course then. I'll patch it up as soon as I get the chance." Well, goodness she was more than happy to be allowed to help! She'd do anything for her Josh. Maude seemed delighted she could do something for him really. It felt like she didn't usually get to. More often than not he was doing things for her. She liked to feel like she could return the gestured, even if she wasn't nearly as romantic as him.

With a few quick motions she salvaged what she could from the darkened pancake. It wasn't too bad of a burn. One side was just a bit... blacker than the other. It was still edible anyways. She tossed it onto a plate and slid her pan off the heat. The plate made a small thud as she moved it to their kitchen table. It was Josh, of course. It would be rude to serve herself first, but now that she didn't have anything cooking, she could return some of Josh's cheek kisses. She had to tug a tad at his arm to help close the distance, but by this time in their relationship that had surely become a common enough motion. "When do I ever need help?" she asked confidently, slipping her arms around his waist and holding onto him.

As much as they enjoyed sneaking little kisses on one another, eventually they had to get on with their day. That didn't mean Maude had to hide disappointment. She looked heart broken, like he'd just told her there was no more pumpkin soup to eat. She did this most times he tried to end a hug or stop holding her. Sometimes it'd be enough for him to give in and keep going for a little bit longer. Other times? Well, Josh had his way of ending things.
After two years, Maude knew well and good Josh had his interests. Unsurprisingly, it had taken a bit of getting used to, but she hardly thought twice about it now. That was just how her Josh was. Plus it made a good source of teasing every once in awhile. Maude didn't have much to respond with when Josh tried to prove he was funny. This she could use against him.
Either way this wasn't out of the ordinary. Her attempt to coax him into more cuddles went out the window once the hand came down. He could stand to be a bit softer. She felt that, you know. She took a small step forward. Whether this was a reaction to being smacked in the rear or a shallow attempt to get closer to him and continue cuddling was up for debate. She seemed to find it amusing. One might have even caught a giggle slip out from dear Maude. She called out his name like she was trying to playfully scold him.
Like I said though, eventually they had to stop flirting and start doing things. Sure, Maude sat down and ate her pumpkin pancakes (because what other kind would they be?), but she did so while staring lovingly at Josh. There wasn't even a reason to try pretending she wasn't. She just watch and remembered how easy on the eyes he was and where all the little scars on his face were and how nice it was when he smiled. She'd been dating this man for two years. Goddesses, she was lucky. She liked Josh. She liked Josh a lot. She hoped he knew. "Josh?"

"I love you. I love you a lot, more than anything. I'm just.... happy you're here."
It wasn't often Maude would really say stuff like this. She wasn't the kind. She never had the confidence or the right words. She felt like she should more often. She didn't know, just something about him got to her, something about the angel or the lighting or something. She just looked at him and thought "And he even lets me come close? wow" And she got to wake up to him every morning and go to sleep with him every night.

If you went to her, way back when she still had her home, when she worked all day and lived alone, seemingly content, but never quite happy. If you went all the way back to then and told her she'd be the happy half of a relationship, hell if you told her she'd be interested in a relationship at all, in another person, well she wouldn't believed you. In fact the things she would said back would have been unnecessarily dismissive and yet.

Here she was. In a home she didn't think she could get back. In a house, she feels comfortable being in again, except this time, it wasn't empty. She'd forgotten what it was like to have someone else walking around. It was nice. She felt whole. Like she'd be missing something all her life and now it was filled and every time she heard him drop something from a different room or felt him turn over in bed or saw something of his laying around, anytime she remembered he was there, she felt happy. She loved him. He made her so happy and she felt like this every single day. she just never knew how to tell him, but some times she had her moments.

She flashed him a smile. "Finish up your work quick, ok?"

Geeeeeez. She couldn't deal with all this attention. How on earth did could she keep up with this... this cuddle machine? For goddesses' sake he had that name for a reason. He had a smile plastered on her face. She couldn't force it off if she tried, so she just shyly accept that she was happy. That wasn't an easy task for Ms. Lif, but she managed somehow.

Course he wasn't helping or maybe he was. She wasn't sure, she was too distracted. He was good at that in the least. It usually wasn't hard to tell when Maude liked something, but this was a particularly transparent interest of hers. Maude wasn't very good at talking. She never had the right words to communicate thoughts and feelings. That was why she didn't usually start the lovey dovey stuff, but always liked when it happened. Hell, Maude was so bad at talking some days she just didn't.

But when someone else could talk she thought it impressive first of all, but also nice. Josh, of course, was her favorite though. Every time he opened his mouth he had something nice to say and he'd say it so well, at least Maude thought so. He had a way of selling ideas, of telling jokes even when they weren't funny. He was just charming really and she'd hang on to every word he spoke, even if it wasn't always obvious she did so. The best part was his accent. Maude was very susceptible to accents and her little lilt was nothing compared to Josh's gorgeous soft tone. It wasn't always there, but when it was. damn

She was pretty sure Josh knew she liked it too. She wasn't always very subtle. He was always real smooth when he talked to her and she swore he whispered it her ear more as time went on, but that was more than ok. It had her shiver a bit and the hairs on her neck stand up, but she'd unconsciously lean into him and blush just a little and she'd never know how long it went on because... well like she said, he was very good at being distracting.

She just wanted to kiss him all over and hug on the couch all day. Was that so much to ask? But if he could finish up his work quickly for her, then she could do the same. Besides she had a fence to fix for her sweetest darling~

She liked Josh. Could you tell?

"Right" The sooner they were done working, the sooner she could have him back. Maude stayed to finish eating her own breakfast. Se'd been a little too busy daydreaming to remember to actually eat the food she'd made this morning. That didn't mean she couldn't still see him through the door frame. Oh believe her, she saw that little shirt mishap and laughed unabashedly, "Maybe you're funnier than I give you credit for, Josh~"

Admittedly, she was kind of disappointed when he fixed it. She didn't want him to be cold or anything, but... I mean, she was dating the man and just for his sense of humor. Josh was hot. She knew that. That was half the reason she was here. The guy was six foot something, covered in literal battle scars, and built like no one she'd ever seen before. Of course she was going to be disappointed when he put a shirt on. She might be a prude, but Maude was still a heterosexual woman. She had her interests. Granted, she wasn't short on opportunities to see Josh half naked. She did sleep with him every night.... You know the kind of sleep she means... But damn it, if she didn't still appreciate when it happened. She just tried not to make a big deal of it every morning it happened, at least, not out loud.

"I'll be fine. The seasons changing. The crops don't need much more attention than watering and all that. It's managable. You kow harvest is when I'll need you." she smiled back. Her own was still a bit disheveled, but she didn't feel the need to fix it. She hated company anyways and she'd already gained the favor of the one person she ever cared about impressing so. Josh probably thought she was pretty anyways. He said stuff like that all the time. She didn't see it, but she knew he wasn't lying so she tried to treat it as truth. He was sweet even if she feel like she always got it.