Chapter 4

An hour later, Clean got out of his car to see Will lying on her back next to her bike. Her hair tied back by a bandana and wearing a set of dirty coveralls. As he strode up to her, he saw her give her screwdriver a quick turn then her eyes widen as she saw him approach.

"Sorry, sorry!" she told him as squatted down beside her.

"The dress code in Minot is considerably lax, but you're going to need to clean up a bit," he told her, slightly annoyed.

"No, its ok, I've got clean clothes on underneath. I just needed to tighten the screw to one of my pipes and didn't want to get dirty." She sat up quickly, throwing her tools in a small bag. He held out his hand and yanked her to her feet.

Will took in his neat appearance: clean white button down shirt over a pair of faded but clean blue jeans and black boots. He looked like the picture of the clean cut, red blooded American man. Yummy!

"Give me two minutes to ditch the coveralls and wash my hands then we can go."

Clean nodded and followed her into the small temporary living area. As she disappeared into the bedroom at the back, he peered around the spartan living room. Piled on the couch were several bags and a laptop had been unpacked on the tiny single person table. He noted that a few framed photos lovingly placed on the table by the door. One showed a much younger Will hugging a woman who, judging by the same auburn hair was probably her mother in front of a lake. Behind them, jagged stony fingers rose up through the trees.

"Custer State Park in 2004," Will's voice said right behind him. He turned to see that she'd changed in the promised two minutes. She now wore tight dark jeans and black button down shirt, almost his photonegative. Her hair, now unbound, hung in loose waves past her shoulders.

"We went right before I left for school. It holds a lot of memories for me, good and bad."

"Oh?"

"I'll tell you over dinner. Ready?"

He gave her a nod. Willow was surprised when he held the door to both her room and his car for her. After the rude, silent treatment she'd gotten all day, she didn't expect such courtesy. A brief shimmer of hope that they could at least be friends washed over her as they headed towards town. Maybe it wasn't what she hoped for but it was better than nothing.

"It's about twenty minutes from base to downtown," Clean explained as he drove. "A bit of a hike, but worth it to be closer to restaurants, movies, and the like."

"You drove forty minutes round trip and still had time to shower and shave?" Will asked him.

His head jerked in surprise. "How did you know I showered and shaved?"

"The smell of your soap and aftershave are stronger now that when I met you this afternoon." He looked at her and she tapped her nose. "Better sense of smell."

"Yeah, I guess I forgot."

"Known many Weres?" She saw him stiffen at the question.

"No, just one."

Silence stretched on as Willow hoped he would elaborate. When he didn't, she didn't press, letting the silence settle around them as she watched the flat grasslands roll past them.

"With all this grassland, is there much big game around here?" She asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Not much. Mostly moose, big horned sheep if you can find the little bastards, and deer. As for small game, there are prairie dogs, pheasant, and geese."

"Hmm," she responded thoughtfully. "Not bad."

"Hunter?"

"Only on four feet."

"Oh, right." He paused. "Well, if memory serves, it's inadvisable to take down the moose here solo on four feet. Or, so I've been told."

"I'll keep that in mind." She watched as the city of Minot passed by her. "Uhm, the next full moon is in nine days, I'm not sure how that will work out if I don't have a place yet. I was hoping to buy something with a little land so I could just stay there but I doubt I can close between now and then. Are there any places people recommend?"

"I don't really know. I, uh, didn't find out you were coming until this morning. Honestly, I don't think Colonel Stahl knew until then too. I'll ask around tomorrow but if all else fails the main Lycanthrope Liaison is in the Chaplain's office, you can ask him."

"What? The Chaplain's office?" She stared at him, startled.

"Yeah, not ideal I know, but all of the morale and welfare issues come out of there and that's what Minot AFB classifies paw-pals as."

"Man, I haven't had good dealing with the Chaplains. Most of them are ... well, a little superstitious. I mean, no one's tried to shoot me with a silver bullet or anything, but ... they aren't exactly the friendliest types."

Clean pulled into the parking lot of an old train station. Age showed on the rounded corners of its stony face but careful maintenance kept it running. His courteous side resurfaced as he let her out of the car and helped her step across a few patches of ice, still hanging on late into the brisk Minot spring. She tried not to laugh because her superior agility surpassed his and she was very unlikely to slip. She did appreciate the strength in the arm he held out for her, the muscles smooth and firm under her light grasp.

A flare of lust shot through her but she mercilessly squashed it. This close to the full moon sex tended to be closer to her conscious thought than other times.

"I think you'll like this place," he told her as the hostess settled them in their seats. Will took in the crisp, clean white table cloth, trendy silverware, and modern art flare. She smiled appreciatively. "They pull from local meat markets and serve almost every type of game North Dakota offers."

"Oh!" Will smiled and turned to her menu.

"I thought you might like to sample everything before, you know, you head out."

"How thoughtful." The menu boasted roast pheasant, duck, elk, and lamb as well as the standard chicken, pork, and steak. "No 'chicken or beef' here."

Clean gave her an expressionless stare until he caught the joke. He gave a bare smile, "Indeed."

The conversation turned to what other dining options Minot offered as they waited for their appetizers. Once the appetizers arrived, conversation shifted to the local housing market.

"Well, since they found oil here a year ago, housing has been tight," Clean told her, then bit neatly into a strip of fried pheasant.

"If you don't mind me asking, sir, what part of town do you live in?"

"First off, if it's just you and me you can call me Clean, not sir. Or, hell, Jamie if you want. I don't think they're going to be able to get you another paw-pal before deployment so you're stuck with me for a little while." Will nodded, not making eye contact, her shoulders drooping almost imperceptibly. Clean caught the unspoken disappointment and sighed.