Kakashi tilted his head back and allowed himself to sink deeper into the soothing water of the onsen. It was quiet, empty, save for the soft sound of laughter on the other side of the wall behind him.

He tilted his head lightly upon hearing the door from the washroom slide in its tracks, and found himself sighing softly against the cloth covering the lower half of his face.

Closed starter: @kaikings

Maverick wanted to blame the boredom for why he found himself slowly climbing the steps to Malakai’s apartment. But even he knew that was a lie. It was loneliness. Since the run to the hospital and that talk with Fletcher his head hadn’t been in a good place. He wanted his mom. He wanted his brothers. But they were long dead or at least he hoped they were dead and not freaks. He wanted a lot of things that he couldn’t have anymore because the world had ended.

As he stood in front of Kai’s door, an almost full bottle of some imported liquor with a label he couldn’t read in hand, he really hoped the older would believe him when he told him that he was just bored. Having been taking off supply runs until he was healed and having his guard shifts cut was truly boring, so it wasn’t a complete lie. The change in schedule did leave him alone with his thoughts, which is why he spent a lot of time half in the bag.

“How can he nót invite us to that gathering? I thought we had as much as a say on what’s going on in Erebor as uncle. He told me about all the food that is going to be there and... well you know how much I love food.” Kíli sighed as he crossed his arms and looked at his older brother Fíli.

Kíli was known as a laidback, outgoing and often uncareful dwarf, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to be involved in the politics that were important to be taken care of since they returned to Erebor. He sometimes wanted to prove the others wrong (and definitely his uncle Thorin who’d usually put his hand on Kíli’s shoulder saying he’d take care of ruling Erebor), and he hated it to be underestimated.

“I’m going to complain.” Kíli huffed and was about to turn around when his older brother tried to stop him.

Jace hummed a little to himself as he hopped the trio of steps onto the porch. 

This house had been on his list of places to check out for a little while. It’d been rumored that strange sounds had come from inside and sometimes, a sooty handprint would appear on the panes.  A lot of places had pretty similar stories, though, and around Tempo, there were a LOT of stories. The place was either very haunted, or trying very hard to be. 

And that suited him just fine, honestly! At least it was interesting, trying to figure out if it was actually supernatural or not. And sometimes he helped when it wasn’t and made a difference! Like that time that antique store owner had a carbon monoxide leak.

So far he hadn’t had much luck with anything real, but with a place overrun with potential ghost stories like Tempo, it kind of made sense. If there were real ones, they’d be in a haystack. He’d really have to dig to find them.

Jace hummed as he looked around the first floor. Most wallpaper had been stripped and faded with time, where any of it remained. There had been a fire here decades ago, which was how the ghost story had started. And said fire had eaten away at most everything it had touched. Most of the furniture looked like it might crumble if you touched it, and the walls and floor had scorch marks, blackened now with a few patches of carpet or wallpaper as mementos of what it used to be. 

Opening a few drawers and swinging his light around the room, he didn’t see much of interest. Most everything fire hadn’t touched, time wore away. It was dusty enough to see his shoeprints on the floor, particles filtering through the beam of his flashlight where they’d been kicked up, and ashes discoloring the rubber soles of his shoes. He should’ve worn his boots really, but he’d come here right after work since it was a further drive.

But at least the place seemed stable. Only some of the floorboards creaked, and none of them did with the groan like they were preparing to give way. From what he’d read, the fire hadn’t done much structural damage, but the death in the family had been enough to ruin any chances of rebuilding. 

He could understand. If his mum had passed in some disaster at home when he’d lived there, he couldn’t see them trying to put the pieces back together without her. It would be painful to live in a place she was so obviously absent from.

He hummed as he continued through the house. A few more boards creaked underfoot, and through one of the hallways, he found a pair of doors and the continuation of the hall, like a T intersection. The left went into a bathroom, and the right was a study of some kind. 

He moved on for now instead, and arrived in a living room. The couch looked ready to dissolve into cinders with a touch, and the rug was charred beneath a coffee table that was half eaten away, but it looked like it would’ve been a nice setup once. The rest of the room was even darker than the first, even the ceiling burned away to the wooden supports beneath, which themselves were blackened in spots. The floor crunched under his feet and flecks of what might’ve been the floor came off and scattered, clinging to his shoes and then fluttering away. The only thing really untouched was the fireplace, but even that had soot stains. The ash bucket was still full, the contents white from the fine layer of dust. 

He continued looking around, and found a twin set of stairs. One went up, a long set of steps climbing over where he’d seen the study at. The others descended into what looked like a basement. Jace flicked his light between the two, before stepping from the landing onto the first stair up. It protested, but held his weight, and he took the next, all the way to the top with a hand tracing the wall. 

The top room appeared to be a hall of bedrooms. The walls were still a pale blue, stained an off color and the paint peeling near the ceiling from what he could assume was smoke damage. There were three rooms, and then what was clearly a bathroom, from the tile and the basin he could see, and the mirror above with bounce the light back towards himself.

Well. He might as well start from the top and then work his way down.

 He swiped the dust off his hands, and then Jace reached into the bag slung over a shoulder and nestled against his waist. He pulled out a video camera, waited for the light to blink on to show he was recording, and he spoke. “This is Jace Blake-- I’m inside the old Green Estate. So far, no sign of anything obviously supernatural, but it’s still early. We’re starting from the top and checking out some of the bedrooms now. While we do and keep our eyes out, I’ll be fill in anyone who doesn’t know about the history of the house.” 

He continued speaking softly as he trotted along over protesting floorboards and dusty rugs, eyes darting about with the periodic glance at the camera’s screen. He opened the door furthest from the landing, so he could work his way back to the stairs.

The winter had been long and the summer cold and short in their part of Norway, though August had brought them some longed-for heat it still didn't make for a good harvest. The redcurrant bushes he'd planted up in the clearing of the little patch of the forest he'd claimed for himself carried just enough berries that he'd have a good storage of jam, but he wouldn't be selling any to the neighbors this year. He had filled several buckets that morning, his work coming to a finish just as the crisp chill of September morning slowly yielded to the autumn sun.

The grass was still a bit wet from the rain the night before yet he couldn't resist the temptation to undress and lie down among the flowers to soak in the sun. The moment he stretched out he was connected to the lands, the spirits of nature brushing his skin, flowing through his body to whisper to him about times long gone. He had seen whispers of Sam's past in these lands, seen a much younger version of the alpha growing up in this valley. And though the landscape was much different now the mountains were the same, the spirits were the same. Sam did not remember anymore, but the lands did, and so Alex did too.

He smiled to himself as they soothed away the constant burn in his blood, letting him escape himself for a few moments while they embraced him. Instead of the churning of power that kept building and burning him, he could feel the chilled drops of water in the grass where they touched his skin. He could smell the forest around him, all the plants and the animals that made this their home. One moment the birds where chirping angrily at him for taking so many berries, the next moment they were completely silent as something entered the clearing. The sun seemed to shine brighter, warming his skin deliciously, distracting him away from reacting to whatever had broken the peace. Dark blue eyes fluttered open, his head turning lazily when someone settled beside him.

Ted came home from work with a smile on his face, something that wasn’t common enough, he thought. He wasn’t any closer to being with Charlotte, despite the colors she filled his world with, but even just being her friend seemed like enough. Ted kicked his shoes off by the door and threw his jacket and tie into a pile on the back of his couch as he went to the kitchen. He pulled a bottle from atop his fridge and was working on filling his glass when the phone rang. With a raised brow, he picked it up to find Charlotte’s number on the caller ID.

“Just couldn’t get enough of me at work, could ya?” he grinned into the phone, taking a sip of his drink.

In all honesty this celebration had been the last thing she had wanted to come too. Big gatherings like this made her anxious, and she really just wanted to hold Neville a little cloer, and protect him from all harm. Her little boy was six now though, and Frank was always saying he needed more independence, so he’d taken him off to have some fun. Whilst that was all lovely, Alice knew she was just going to be on edge until her boys were back at her side. She was pretty worried that something would happen to them, and she wouldn’t be there to protect them. 

She sighed, shaking her head as she pushed those thoughts away. That was when she nearly walked into someone. “Oh. Sorry...” She murmured, stepping to the side as she looked up at the person. “Oh. Lucius. Hello.... lovely to see you.” Or not so lovely. She wasn’t so sure how she felt about being on talking terms with the Malfoys now. She was still so suspicious of them. So, she was more guarded around them, than welcoming them with open arms. But.... she tried