Another Pair of Hands

Daniel has a little fixer-upper house to go with the new-life-in-progress he's building after a car accident derailed his old one. Sure, he's never even changed a washer before. Sure, he's teaching himself home repair from books and YouTube. Sure, the proprietor of the nearby architectural salvage place is out of his league in more ways than he can count on one hand. None of that matters, because Daniel doesn't need help. He's doing fine. (It's fine. He's FINE.)

But as Daniel paints kitchen cabinets and plasters the cracks in the walls and hangs a holiday wreath in his draughty front window, he gradually realizes that even if he doesn't need help, he's ready to aim for better than fine.

This 11,000-word novelette was previously published in Shousetsu Bang Bang.