Jade's House Chapter One

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The ride was blissfully short but Dorian felt he was groaning internally the entire trip, all too aware of the warmth and pressure of Jade behind him. When they pulled up to her house he felt like a guitar string ready to break but he restrained himself to wait until she got off the bike before he turned it off, dismounted, and had his helmet returned and set on the bike before he followed her inside. His motions were flawless, fluid, without mistakes, but some part of him felt that was odd. His heart was beating fast and hard, he should have been more nervous but on the outside he felt like some kind of practice pro with pinpoint focus for Jade. How was that even possible? It didn't feel possible, and yet here it was, happening. His mind felt simultaneously sluggish and clear and he decided he had no choice but to figure it out later. The door was shut and locked behind him and his hand found Jade's again, once more lifting it to brush a kiss across the knuckles, his eyes locked with hers, as if to double check she was still so certain.

Jade stared into Dorian's eyes and visibly took a deep breath. "Doing this could most definitely change our relationship. Are you prepared for that?" Jade's voice came out more breathy than she had intended as she moved closer to Dorian, her free hand reaching for his and intertwining their fingers together. Her heart beat quickly in her chest as she stared deeply into Dorian's gorgeous eyes. They were both adults, sure they could just go upstairs have a little fun and be done with it but with how close they were and how much Jade cared for him, she doubted that was a possibility. Plus that wasn't really something she wanted from Dorian. One night stands weren't her thing and she was sure he would know that.

He tilted his face to lightly bump his nose against hers, his lips almost ghosting but not touching hers. "What are you giving me?" he asked. It wasn't a request for payment, it was something else. Something like a promise. Something that was keeping him from grabbing her and taking her against a wall. He needed something else. Something deeper. Something she held from him so carefully and so tightly he knew he couldn't take it, he could only wait for her to give it up freely. "You have mine," he assured her softly, moving so he could ghost his lips across her neck next. "Will you give me yours?"

Jade released his hand, wrapped her arms gently around his neck, sighing gently. Her words were a whisper in his ear as she closes her eyes. "You already have it." Her words were slightly choked on the end with so much emotion running through her. She had been holding her feelings for Dorian at bay for so long because of work that she hadn't thought this was ever going to be a possibility. Sure they'd had friendly flirty but nothing like this.

Satisfied with her sincerity, Jade found herself suddenly supported in Dorian's arms as he lifted her legs and wrapped them around his waist, With sure steps guided by something other than sight, as his vision was hazing around the edges, he carried her up the stairs. His lips met the skin of her neck it felt like a lightning bolt inside of him, like seeing stars ignite behind his eyes. He sighed at the intensity of the feelings. He relied on Jade's directions, barely cutting through the haze, to guide him to her room. The house was empty, it was only the two of them and, judging by her actions and her stories from before, no one would be coming. Nonetheless, he carefully shut the door with his heel behind them before he lay her gently on the bed. Perhaps there would be distractions, perhaps visitors, perhaps interruptions, but this moment he didn't care for that. He barely thought of that. For this moment, she became his whole world, she may as well have been the air he breathed, and for a time, he lived only for her.

Jade stretched a few hours later after her glorious nap and yawned. She had slept without dreams, without nightmares. Now whether that was because of the sleeping next to Dorian or the exhaustingly great...what should she call earlier, sex, love making. Shaking her head she smiled, she'd worry about what to call it later all that mattered was that it happened and she has happy it had. Rolling over onto her side she watched Dorian quietly. Biting down on her bottom lip she couldn't resist snuggling up to him, wrapping her arm around him, and kissing his cheek gently. Hopefully he wasn't a light sleeper.

Turns out he was. Dorian had woken up when Jade shook her head, or perhaps hadn't really been sleeping at all but he didn't move, preferring to lie on the mattress, eyes closed, and think about what just happened. That it had happened. A pinprick of guilt swirled in the pit of his stomach. He wondered if she's regret it. She was tired, her judgement was impaired- Well, they were adults. He didn't need to assume it meant any more than it was. His heart jumped a little as she rolled over and held him, fluttering slightly when she bestowed him with a kiss and he couldn't keep the corners of his mouth from turning up as he opened his blue eyes to meet her green ones steadily. She looked lovely backlit with the sun like that. He forcefully pushed away the dreamy haze and captured her to his side with one arm, the other tucking under his head. "Rest well?" he queried.

Jade propped her head up on her hand, smiling down at him. "I did thank you. Not a single dream or nightmare it was completely silent nap. Very restful... afterwards." Jade placed her free hand on his chest and drew light circles and curliques as she thought for a moment. "Dorian... I want you to know I don't regret anything about what happened. I'm hoping you didn't either... I'm also hoping that wasn't a one time thing because I'm not that kind of girl." Jade blushed deeply feeling slightly stupid. As if she were asking a crush if he wanted the same things she did was so hard. To her it kind of was since she hadn't had a relationship in forever and Dorian meant so much to her, not just in a relationship but he was one of her closest friends and she was fearful of loosing that.

Dorian made a curt humming noise that marked a languorous laugh. "You shouldn't read my mind," he chastised and closed his eyes, following the patterns of her fingers with his mind. "It's rude." He lay a moment so long he seemed to fall asleep if not for the secure hold he still had on her. "I know you aren't that kind of girl," he assured her, finally opening his eyes again. "You aren't that kind of woman," he added the correction to her. Surely she saw how mature she was? Or how mature he thought she was in any case. "I am very glad I was in some small way able to help you finally sleep, and I would very much enjoy if I could help you again from time to time." His grin was lazy and charming, but as sincere as they always were.

Jade looked at him for a moment slightly confused before giggling and shook her head. "Okay Casanova, I'm going to get dressed and figure out something for dinner. Are you hungry?" Jade kissed his cheek and untangled herself from him. Crawling out of bed she walked into her closet and found a comfortable blue and grey flannel jumpsuit shorts outfit that she slipped on after pulling on a panty and bra set.

"I'm actually rather satisfied at the moment," Dorian replied as he lifted his arms above his head and arched his back, giving a quiet little groan as his muscles stretched. Content, he sat up and looked around for his clothes, unabashedly getting up to collect the ones he could see and put them back on. "I feel like I could live off that..." he added, the words dreamy. That probably wasn't entirely true, but it was like a harp inside of him had been strummed so long, and now it felt quiet, still. His heart felt sort of peaceful in a way. It the past it had felt a little dark and poisoned, and sure enough the women had always left. Maybe the feeling hadn't caught up to him yet this time, but for now, he was content to languish in the bright feeling.

It had been another long day for Luke but as usual he had managed to finish all his work on the farm and get out all the deliveries he needed to. He let out a loud groan as he stretched and moved back to his house, wanting nothing more than to take a hot shower before he made his way to Jade's house which was just a couple of fields across. Once dressed in a fresh shirt and jeans and his boots were laced back up, he headed for his kitchen where he filled a bag with apples for Jade's horses along with some strawberries for her, something he always did when visiting. "Alright Clyde, Cass, let's go." He said looking down at the two golden retriever dogs who were snoozing happily in the last few rays of light that shone through the window. After a moment they slowly stood and stretched before following him out and across the well worn path he had made between his house and Jade's. His pace slowed slightly as he approached her house as he noticed the bike parked up outside. "Did Jace get a bike?" He wondered unaware that it was someone else in the house before he climbed the steps up to her front door and rung the bell as the dogs waited beside him, panting as they did.

"Hmmm wonder who that is." Looking over and Dorian gathering his clothes she smiled softly. "You can't come down looking like that." Giggling she snatched up a pair of brown sandels and headed downstairs, combing her fingers through her hairs as best as she could. Hurrying to the door she unlocked it and pulled it open. "Luke! Hey! How are you? Hi boys..." Bending down she scratched behind the ears of both dogs in turn and smiled up at her neighbor and good friend. "What a pleasant surprise. Come on in."

"Jace said I should stop by.." Luke replied as he stepped into the house after waving the dogs inside. "I brought you and the horses some snacks." He said with a small smile as he held up the bag of apples and strawberries. "Is Jace here? When did he get a bike?" He asked curiously.

"That's mine, actually," Dorian answered from the tops of the stairs. His hair had been tamed down to it's customary mess of curls and he tugged his shirt one last time to make sure it was properly in place. He gave Luke a friendly smile and decided the stairs, pausing at the curious dogs to give them pats before joining Luke and Jade. "It's good to see you again, Luke. Those eggs you brought were amazing. I made cookies for my neighbor. I don't think she ate them, but she said thank you and I mean, that was really great. I ate one, to be honest. Best cookies ever. Are those for Jade?" he asked, looking and gesturing at the apples and strawberries before he reached over and accepted them before Luke could protest. "I'll put these away and make some coffee-" He paused to give Jade a quick kiss to the hair before he headed back to the kitchen to put the fruit away. "Be right back."

Jade placed a hand over her mouth at Dorian's rambling, stifling a giggle. When Dorian had left the room Jade shook her head. "Yes that's Dorian's bike. He was kind enough to give me a ride home so I didn't have to walk. Though I enjoy the walk most days." Shrugging her shoulders she smiled gently. "So what have you been up to? Hows the farm?"

Luke didn't answer at first, too distracted by the fact that Dorian had kissed Jade so casually after taking the bag he had been offering her. "Oh..uh..it's fine..good. Everything's great with the farm." He finally replied with a weakened smile and a blush once he realised it had been a long few moments since she had spoken. "I've just been working really..haven't got any time for anything else." He shrugged then looked towards the kitchen. "Maybe I should go..I don't mean to intrude."

"Oh no you're fine. We hardly see each other as it is so your little visits are nice. Let's sit on the porch. Except for my dive this morning I've been indoors all day." Grabbing Luke's arm she led him back outside and sat down on the step outside, gently tugged him down beside her. "How are the horses? We're going to have to breed them again in a month or two." Jade spoke so casually with Luke it was like second nature, but she seemed to be that way with all her friends.

"Yeah, we should. We got some strong foals last time. Our horses work well together." Luke replied as he sat next to her and looked up towards the darkening sky. Jade was probably the only person he was truly able to speak to in such a relaxed manner but he had been friends with her for so long, it was only natural. "I got someone coming over to the farm tomorrow.." He said as he glanced at her a moment, his voice soft. "This girl..she likes my work. So I said she could come and see the farm..I don't know why I did that. I never let anyone up there and I mean..what do I do? Should I buy snacks for her? Some drinks.." He looked a little panicked and Jade would understand why. It was no secret to her that Luke was shy and he slightly lacked when it came to socializing skills.

A smile creeped onto Jade's face as she listened to Luke. He sounded slightly panicked. "Well it would be nice if you had something to drink, at least to offer her, a snack wouldnt hurt just to be on the safe. Is it meant to be a date?" Taking a moment to think a little more she giggled. "Wait, Luke who's coming over? If you don't mind me asking." He didn't socialize much so she was surprised he'd invited a girl out to the farm, well... she was surprised he'd invited a girl anywhere.

"N-no, no not a date!" Luke shook his head with a blush. "I met her in the grocery store, her names Haidee." He answered as his hands twisted nervously together. "She said she appreciated my work and when she mentioned her thesis I suggested she come up and actually see how I work so she could get a better understanding. So its strictly work related."

Jade nodded her head, turning to look out at the barn. "Okay. Well you'll just take it easy and do what you would normally do. Be a bit more informative since you are doing this to teach and help. But don't be nervous, you're a great guy." Jade nudged him gently with her shoulder and smiled. He would make some girl very happy some day. "You'll do fine."

"Dating advice?" Damion asked as he returned with a tray of lemonades, complete with little slices on the sides of the glasses. He carefully held out one for each of them, giving Jade an innocent little smile. "I re-thought the coffee," he explained. "So I made lemonade instead." Only once they had there's did he take his own and sit by Jade's side, choosing to stretch out his legs and lean against a pillar instead of squeezing onto the steps with them. He seemed quite content there anyway, just out of the way. "You've already got something to talk about, with her being interested in your work," he agreed with a little nod. "It sounds like it should be a very low stress situation."

"That's what you think." Luke mumbled softly as he gripped his glass of lemonade tightly before taking a small sip. "Nothing..nothing is low stress with me. I just wish I could be more confident..more like.." His voice trailed off as he thought of Risk before he frowned and pushed the other mans face from his mind. "Haidee seemed really nice..So I want to make sure she gets the work tomorrow she needs." He sighed and set his glass down before holding his hand out to Clyde who came trotting over, ready for a chin scratch.

Jade smiled up at Dorian, thanking him for her glass before taking a sip. The bittery sweetness was just to her liking, not too sour. Turning her attention back to Luke she shrugged innocenly. "Well then do just that, sweetie. If you aren't sure she's getting what she needs, ask. It never hurts to ask. I've trained several people at the lab but I still make sure that if they have any questions or don't understand something that we go over it. I don't see how it has to be any different. Just try not to talk down to her. Make it... conversational. She'll like that I think."

"Ok..I'll give it a go." Luke replied looking a little unsure. He glanced at Jade and thought on his conversation earlier with Jace. He didn't want to trouble her with the business with Risk but maybe he should warn her? She should know in case his company came looking for her. "So..you seen much of Risk lately?" He asked quietly as he lifted his glass of lemonade up once more. "I've been getting a few visits.."
 
Jade leaned against Dorian slightly, her back against his chest, slipping her arm though his. "Risk? Hmmm no not that I recall which... I think I'd recall he's... different." Sipping her lemonade she frowned slightly. "Why has he been coming around?" With Risk there was really no telling why he was coming around. Jade had grown used to him over the years but he still had an edge to himself that came off a bit strong.

"The company he works for..they're interested in buying the farm." Luke admitted. "Apparently it's a prime location for property development." He gave a tired sigh as he brushed his fingers through his hair. "I've been offered quite a large amount of money, more money than I've ever seen... but I said no."
 
Jade set her lemonade aside and crossed her arms over her chest to listen. Taking a minute for what he said to sink in, Jade contemplated on how to respond before diving right in. "Well good, you've worked hard for what you've built over there. There's no reason they can't build somewhere else. I mean there's plenty of land around town. Athens Harbor isn't that big..." Chewing on her bottom lip she glanced over at Dorian then to Luke. "Maybe I should talk to him. He won't quit, we all know it..." She had nothing against Risk, she knew that he was probably just doing his job. They can't just force people off of their land, at least not while she was around.

Dorian gave Jade a little squeeze as if to calm her. "I don't think there's much point, Jade. They obviously have a plan for that land or else they wouldn't try to seize it." He frowned and looked at Luke. "I'd think your best bet is some kind of counter offer. Any idea why they want your land and not somebody else's? What makes it so prime? What makes another area not prime? Is it easier to fix that problem than it is to convince you? Maybe it is, it's worth looking in to."

"It's just a good piece of land I think. I've maintained it so well that you could start building on it immediately and with it being so accessible and the fact that it overlooks the town, its the perfect spot for a tourist space." Luke replied before shrugging lightly. "I don't blame Risk.." He said and though it was a hard thing to admit about the man he had disliked since childhood he meant it. "He's just doing his job and if he doesn't do his job he doesn't get paid, you know. The mayor is the person overseeing all of this. He's the guy who's pushing Risk's company to keep carrying on. Maybe I should go down and see him. Ask him to stop. Try and get him off mine and Risk's back about the whole thing. S-so I don't have to see Risk anymore." He added not wanting it to sound like he wanted to help Risk. 

"The mayor..." Jade frowned deeply and shook her head. "He asked me if I wanted to partner up and be a donor for a project he was working on a few weeks ago. I told him I'd have to think about it once I saw designs and stuff set in place." This just made Jade angrier. The mayor, well everyone, knew how good of friends Luke and her were, to ask her to back a project that would hurt Luke's farm, that was just disrespectful. Jade took in a deep breath and closed her eyes, she knew she was getting worked up and needed to find a center of calm. "I would definitely talk to the mayor, this is just ridiculous." Glancing at the sky as her stomach grumbled, Jade smiled softly. "I'm thinking Sophie's for dinner. Who wants to join me?" She knew it was a random topic change but anyone who had known her for some time knew how random she could be. Jade said what her mind was always thinking.

"Now that you mention it, I do seem to have worked up an appetite," Dorian drawled, then gave Jade a grin. He gave her a final little squeeze with his arm before he carefully removed himself and stood to gather up their glasses and take them back to the kitchen.

"Sure sounds good to me. Can I leave the dogs here? I'll pick them up later on my way home." Luke asked as he climbed to his feet and gave a tired stretch before offering his hand to Jade to help her to her feet.

"Sure they'll be fine." Jade placed her hand in Luke's and allowed herself to get hauled to her feet. "They can either go inside or be put in the barn, whichever you'd like." Brushing dirt off of her butt she ducked her head inside and grabbed the sandels she had brought from her room. Slipping them on she waited for the other two to be ready.

"All set," Dorian informed them as he returned from the kitchen. "Ready when you are," he informed the other two before crouching down by the dogs to pet them gently while he waited. Luke seemed to have walked over so they would all walk to the diner he supposed. Luckily, Athens weather was being kind enough to permit that.

"I'll put them inside. They'd just bother the horses if they were put in the barn." Luke replied then after a moment of allowing Dorian to see the dogs, he shooed them into the house and closed the door. "Shall we walk or do you guys want me to go grab my truck?"

Jade shrugged her shoulders. "We could walk. I'm not apposed to that. The whether is beautiful." Jade didn't bother locking the door, no one ever bothered her house anyway, not in this small town. Leading the way down her drive towards town, she glanced over her shoulder as she led the way towards Boto Sophie's Dinner.

Luke followed closely behind Jade, his hands shoved casually into his pockets as they headed for the diner. His stomach gave a small grumble, he was definitely ready for food.

---

Jade smiled at Dorian as he walked her up to the door. "Thanks for walking me home and... for the somewhat dramatic dinner. That wasn't how I wanted the two of you to meet." Shrugging her shoulders she sighed heavily.

Dorian shrugged, giving her a reassuring smile. "From what you have told me of your friends, or more precisely, from what I know of you, I did not expect this to be a peaceful union, Jade," he admitted and chuckled, pausing on the porch to look at her before she would head inside for bed. "I expect you'll be angry or upset with me sometimes, I expect your friends to be unsure of me, or angry at me at times, and I expect they will misinterpret me. Do you remember when you first came to work at the marina? You thought I was some playboy, rolling around with a different lady every night. You wouldn't talk to me, despite being your superior, for two weeks until someone explained that just wasn't true. I'm pretty used to it." He smiled again, though this time it was a mixture of fondness and sadness. "So there's no need to worry. I have built myself some fine armor, but I'm charmed you still feel the need to be my warrior. I'm just sorry it upset you. Things will be better tomorrow, I promise." He reached out, his palm resting on her jaw, fingers intwined in her hair and, very slowly, he leaned in and pressed a slow, lingering kiss on her lips. His free arm wrapped around her waist, holding their bodies close together as if to shut out the rest of the world, as if he wanted- needed- all of her focus to be on him. When the kiss finally ended, he looked at her with heavy lidded eyes, his thumb stroking her cheek and his face mere inches away. "I'll see you at the marina tomorrow, ok?"

Once the kiss was broken she smiled softly. "I'll try not get angry too often." Her eyes twinkled playfully as she let her arms fall from around his neck. "Yes I'll see you tomorrow. Drive safe." Jade smiled as she pushed open her front door and waved at him before stepping inside. Once inside she went upstairs to get changed. She'd have to feed the horses before bed but that's okay she could do that in her pj's. She got changed into a simple pair of Victoria's secret leggings and tank top. Slipping on her flip flops she went downstairs to grab a bottle of water out of the fridge and head outside.

Outside, after the motorcycle's engine faded down the street, a man stepped up to Jade's door. He didn't look at her house, or at least he didn't appear to. He didn't even appear to be looking at the door. Instead, he tilted his head, then turned to look over his shoulder and upwards, toward the stars starting to dot the darkening sky. His lips quirked up into a small smile and instead of knocking, he simply shifted to sit on the few front steps of her porch, elbows on knees, smiling up at the distant twinkle of stars. They were the same stars. Always the same stars. No matter where he went, they were there.

Jade opened the front door and stepped out onto the porch closing the door behind her. She didn't notice the man until she about stepped on him and let out and blood curdling scream. There were acres upon acres between her and anyone else and she knew Dorian was gone but this man didn't move to hurt her so she slowly began to calm down. "Excuse me but can I help you?" Most people didn't just sit on someone's porch they would knock or honk or something but he didn't appear to have a vehicle and she knew she didn't hear the doorbell but he could have knocked quietly she suppposed.

"That depends," the man replied, looking up at her with a patient smile. He pointed to his ears. "Can you heal inner ear damage?" He didn't laugh at his joke, though he did keep that same patient smile as he lowered his hand again. "I'm sorry I startled you. Your house has such a beautiful view of the stars, I wanted to take a moment to admire them." He looked up again at the stars, just looking for a half moment longer before he rose to his feet. "I'm actually here to inquire about this--" He pulled a folded newspaper from his back pocket and held it out to her, her ad clearly circled. "Do you still have rooms available? I start work here in Athen's tomorrow and I was hoping accommodations were still available here."

"Oh you're actually the first person to respond." Jade looked down at her ad and smiled softly. "Well you're just in time I was just going out to feed and water the horses so you'll get the grand tour. Come on. I'm Jade, welcome to Athens Harbor." Leading the way to the barn she flicked on all the lights and made her way into the feed room where a full barrel lay already prepared with buckets. "What is it you do?" Wheeling the wheel barrel out into the hall way she started going through her routine.

"I'm a counselor, of sorts," he replied, making sure to stand out of the way so he didn't interrupt or make things difficult. He watched her with a kind of admiration. He liked horses too. Horses and water. How interesting even so far down the line they should be so similar. "Oh I'm sorry," he apolgized and held out his hand but didn't get in her way. "I'm Teos Steinico. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Jade."

Jade smiled softly and placed her hand on his, shaking it gently. "Nice to meet you too but what do you mean by finally?" Jade cocked her head to the side a bit before going ahead with her chores as she moved throughout the barn. "So this is obviously the barn. The is Pegasus, my one forever true love. He's a Morgan. Isn't he beautiful? That over there is Grace, or Saving Grace, Jericho, Olympus and Loki." Done with feeding and watering she turned back to the feed room and put the wheel barrel back where it belonged. "Come on I'll show you around the main house." Leading the way back to the house she herself to a look at the sky and smiled. It was bright out tonight, almost as if the stars were closer.

Teos nodded and followed after her. Since he faced away from him and busied herself with chores, she missed the way he lowered his head to hide a knowing smile. All very good names for her horses. She was more trusting than he would have guessed, rather at odds with her passionate personality. Her moods shifted like the sea he supposed. It was interesting to see her in person this way. He could almost feel the swelling of the tide in her heart., the way her emotions rode high that way. He looked forward to meeting the others to see if they also felt this way now that he was near enough to touch them. "The paper," he answered, realizing she asked him a question to begin with. "I saw the ad when you first put it in. Unfortunately I coulnd't be in town until tonight. I know that's very short notice, I'm sorry for that, but I have been looking forward to seeing this place for a while now." An incredibly long while.

"Oh yes yes... believe me I've been waiting for responses. It's ridiculous. It gets so lonely out here and I guess I shouldn't have built such a big house but... I dunno. When grandpa died... nevermind. Here we go." Opening the front door to entryway you can see the living room off to the side with a wood burning fireplace and river rock for the brickwork. The entire house is laid out in an open floor plan so you can just about see everything on the lower level. "Everything was custom built to my specifications. Some of the rocks came straight out of the ocean right here in my back yard. Take a look around."

Little did she know Teos had already seen it. He saw it be built, saw it get torn down. He saw the house a hundred times. Still, he slowly walked around the perimeter of the room, his head tilted as if taking in the decor but his eyes remained introspective. He couldn't see it anyway, not here, not now. "You might have made a decent architect," he commented as he stopped across the room from her so he could give her another smile, startlingly similar to the easy smile she might share between Archer, Adela, and herself. That easy smile that came from a thousand conversations and a thousand laughs together. It was familiar and friendly, but not presumptuous. "Can I see the rooms?" He encouraged after a moment, internatlly reminding himself this was their first meeting, not a reunion with a lifelong friend, no matter how it felt.

"Of course. This way." Leading the way to the stairs she took him upstairs to where the 4 guest bedrooms were. "They're all furnished except for clothing of course." She walked to the middle of the hall and stopped so that no matter what room he was in if he had any questions she could hear him without crowding him. "There's 3 bathrooms up here. So you won't be crowded hopefully."

He nodded and took his time stepping into each one. He even touched a few things like dresser tops or bedding. They were nearly identical so it didn't matter much, but he already knew which one he wanted. He stepped out of the room in the corner that faced the back of the house, furthest from the twin bathrooms at the other end of the hall. "This one if that's alright. It's very nice. You're very kind for opening your home up to those who are looking for one, so I hope in turn I can be a good tenant. Is it alright if I stay tonight as well? If not I can find a hotel and come back for the papers when I am finished with work."

Jade eyed him carefully and nodded her head gently. "That'll be fine. No sense putting you out for the night. There's towels in both bathrooms. Now the one thing I will ask of all tenants is to help out with chores, so your own laundry of course but keep the bathrooms tidy, same with the kitchen and living room and dishes. Put them in the dish washer." She giggled softly. "Whoever fills it starts it and if you notice it's done try and put them away. Easy enough?" She hoped she wasn't asking too much she of course did most of it since she was up at all hours of the day so it probably wouldn't matter anyway.

"That sounds more than reasonable," Teos agreed with a pleasant smile. "Thank you, for allowing me to stay. I'll just go get my things from the porch then. I left my bag there." He had motioned vaguely toward the stairs to indicate he was going to move. Walking ahead of a stranger tended to put people on edge so he had a feeling Jade wouldn't prefer to lead. And so, with a polite nod as he passed, he headed back downstairs to retrieve his leather military style duffle bag from the porch and return inside, locking the door as Jade had done before. He didn't seem ill at ease with her behind him. On the contrary it was almost like his smile, as if they had spent a lifetime together in the past, not meeting for the first time nor the unsettling certainty as if they would get to know each other when that future was unclear. Teos was used to Jade like an old friend and it showed in how he acted around her. And yet, somehow, his words were different. Polite, humble, welcoming, appropriate to meeting for the first time. "You're very kind, Jade," he told her once he was inside again and could face her. "I hope in time I can help even more."

Jade smiled softly as she made a move to head towards her own room. "Well if you need anything my room is on the main floor just past the foyer. I work early but I'll make sure to write my cell phone number on a sticky note and put it on the fridge before I go to bed. Have a good night." Passing by him she made her way towards the kitchen to the sticky note she used to write herself little reminders. Jotting her number down she put a little smiley face on it and stuck it to the fridge. Giving a soft yawn, her flip flops clapped against the hardwood floor as she went to bed, flicking off the lights as she went.

Teos had made his way back upstairs by the time she passed back through the foyer. He set his bag carefully on the floor by the foot of his bed. He wondered if Jade saw 'early' as when she woke up or before the day began. There was a grey distinction he supposed. Instead of lying down he walked over to the window to open it and allow in the cool air, carefully perching himself on the sill. He could still see the stars from here, that was nice. He could hear the ocean and the horses that had not quite settled in just yet. Luke was not far away, everyone else was just a few minutes away in the town. To have found so many, for them all to be together, so close- It was fate but he did not know if it was good or bad yet. He tilted his head to let it rest against the cool glass of the upper part of the window, his eyes lowered thoughtfully. Tomorrow he would meet at least two more. He hoped it went as well. For now though, he simply enjoyed being here under the stars, so close to so much family, and a place he could call home.


BotO Athens Harbor
Blood of the Olympians
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