#ldiote

The first day of spring is a busy day for the house, when it finally starts. For Kira, the day begins just as dawn is breaking into her room, when the first rays of sunshine make Malia roll over and snuggle deeper into the pillow, away from the sunlight for a few more hours. Kira can feel the insistent pulse of spring in her body. It permeates the air, makes it taste sweet like budding dew drops. When Kira can pull herself away from the sleep-softened angles of Malia’s face and the warmth of Malia’s body under the heap of blankets, she throws on clothes and heads out into the early morning.

Most of Kira’s day is spent in or near the lake on the back of the Hale-Tate property. The white-hot energy that boils inside of her is calm there, listening to the water lick at the lake bed, the sound of the wind rippling the water. First things first. Kira sweeps the lake for trash, spends her morning swimming every inch of the water to make sure that it’s clean. It’s the same water that the house uses in spells and rituals, the same water that they bless and give to others. It’s a long day, a tiring day, but Kira can think of nothing better than sating the white hot fox fire inside of her by spending the day pouring love and purity into the water around her. By the time Kira pulls herself out of the water, it’s well after noon, and Kira lets the sun dry her off, half-dozing with her fingertips skimming the surface of the water until the crisp air of dusk wakes her again. Lydia usually comes around then, and the two of them make small, easy talk until Lydia heads off on the rest of her day, and Kira heads back to the house to start dinner.

Lydia does the front room and dining room and shop front. She’s also in charge of cleaning out their store of dried herbs and the magical pantry and cauldrons etc. She’s got a sharper sense of purification magic, and she knows how to organize and arrange things to suit everyone’s fancy. Plus, Allison fell into and got stuck in one of Lydia’s cauldrons once, so now nobody is allowed to clean them except for her. If she finishes early, she goes out to help Kira clean the lake and take up new water to bless. Then, Lydia’s route takes her to the shed to collect whatever Derek has put together in the basket for her. From there, she checks to make sure that all the runes are still in place, keeping their land protected, and meets Malia wherever Malia ends up on their property line. Malia holds the water to be blessed and Lydia carries the herbs and things, and they head inside to see what Kira’s preparing for dinner.

Allison and Derek dust and vacuum and sweep up, because Allison needs someone around who can ground faer when fae inevitably stop working to examine whatever knick-knacks fae just found under the bed or next to the curtains or behind the couch. Derek is a wall, a very patient wall. They herd Allison around the house, stopping to press little kisses and words of encouragement across faer hairline while they point out other things that need to be done. Allison is easily distracted, but easily refocused, and their energy works well together. They clean the kitchen and bedrooms and bathrooms

Once the house is clean, Derek leaves Allison to cleanse the house with sage and other smudge sticks while they head outside to tend to the grass and the land. Derek is in charge of raking the leaves, keeping the field clean, and gathering herbs and things from the drying shed to go into the pantry. Derek takes their time with this part, enjoys the tenderness of being able to twine together their own smudge sticks from the old tomes that are out in the shed. They take care to finish gathering everything, then leave it in the shed until Lydia comes to get them and put them away.