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The howling of the wind rattled the window in its frame as the ends of branches scraped along the glass planes, leaving the creaking wood of trees struggled against the wind while the house stood firm against the storm. He could feel the cold seem through the cracks and under the doors despite the fires blazing in the two fire places.
Burrowing deeper under the heavy blanket, Shirou huffed to himself as he tried to ignore the sounds coming from outside. If he were to strain and listen carefully, he would be able to hear the howling of the wolves that feared to stray close to the property. Guarded by one who is extremely territorial, able to feel the aura and the scent that would drive them off. None of the yipping of pups, only the warning howls to each other.
Shirou ignored the ache in his chest as memories of his childhood surfaced. Being with his parents and carefree, before everything went to shit. Before his life changed forever. No longer could he remember the comforting scent of his mother and her kind smile, nor of his father that taught him how to control his soul.
Poking his head out from underneath the blanket, groaning deep at the chill. There was no way he would be getting back to sleep, not with the memories that haunted him and the echos of his parent's voices in his head.
It hadn't been that long since the cold weather descended upon them, the chill in the wind becoming sharper with each day, Shirou took up the offer when John had almost hesitantly brought it up at the time, one morning when the returner to ancestry came to check in early in the morning and noticed the near freezing temperature. At the time and still now, grateful for the offer, in the spare room across the hall from Jack's. His "old room" in the barn was now being taken up by the cattle at night, giving them a little reprieve from the cold and wind.
Trading one lumpy mattress for another left him little room for complaints. The room in the house was warmer than the barn. The nights no longer long and miserable, his elevated body heat only going to far before the cold got to be too much.
Sitting up and pulling the blanket with him, Shirou quietly opened the door and stepped into the near silent hallway. The crackling of the fire flared several times with every gust of wind, brightening the room before becoming dim once more, leaving just enough light. Pulling the blanket tighter around his body, moving the chair closer to the fire, just close enough to be heated perfectly.
Before he sat down, Shirou grabbed a book that lay forgotten on the small coffee table, skimming his fingers along the worn and soft cover, he couldn't make out the title of the book before opening it to a random page. Curling up in the chair, Shirou read.
It didn't matter that the page he picked was in the middle of the story, nor did it matter that everything seemed like a mess, even if it worked well enough to suck him in. Losing himself in the words, a story similar to what he was told while growing up. Stories told to keep children in line and have them listen to their parents, giving them the consequences of disobeying. One story, told to him after he wandered away from his mother's side at a market. The combination of worry and fury in her normal gentle eyes had him listening. Even his soft spoken father had taken the same tone of voice.
So deep in his memories and thoughts of growing up, he didn't hear the creaking of the floor underfoot and the dark head that peaked around the corner. It would be the hand on his shoulder, the jump and the muffled sound of surprise, dropping the book onto the bare floor.
"Jack?" Shirou whispered, trying to control his breathing and the racing of his thoughts at being startled by the younger man. It wasn't like him to get startled as such.
"Sorry," Jack whispered back, giving him a little shrug before stepping away from him and closer to the fire, a blanket pulled around his body for warmth, "I didn't mean to startle you. I would've thought you heard me."
Biting his lower lip, Shirou swallowed back a question, reaching down to pick up the book that he had dropped.
"Can I ask you something?" Jack broached, almost hesitant, something Shirou hadn't thought the teenager wouldn't be.
Giving Jack a nod, silently telling him to continue. He should tell Jack that he shouldn't be afraid to ask him any questions.
"I know you don't talk much about your family, but what was it like? Back in your home country?" Jack paused, gathering his thoughts as though not to offend.
"Why do you stay here? I mean, this country alone is so huge, but you have the whole world to explore. You could live anywhere."
Shirou paused for a moment, seeing the look of curiosity on Jack's face. It wasn't a secret that the boy wanted to see the world beyond Blackwater and the surrounding areas. The fact that the young man across from him just wanted to explore, not to be stuck here where nothing seemed to happen.
"From what I've seen and while it's not much as to what other's have seen, there's just something that draws me here," Shirou confessed, pulling his legs up to wrap his arms around his knees.
"You mean my father," the whispered words he wasn't supposed to hear. It wasn't hard to recall the look on Jack's face when he had found out about his relationship with both John and Abigail. Twisted as it was, the relationship worked in a way that Shirou could only would continue.
"Well, yeah," Shirou sighed softly, "during my travels there have been some who were nice enough, I suppose. But John, he was the only that saw me for me, I guess if I had to explain it. Offering me a chance when I asked." Shirou smiled to himself, worrying the inside of his cheek for a second before looking at the dark haired teen. "The fact that you, yourself and your mother treat me so swell."
"The overwhelming feeling of being home, Jack. That, the feeling of home, I miss it so much," he tore his gaze away to blink away the tears that started to fill his vision. "I-" a hitched breath, licking his bottom lip in nervousness.
"I'm not accusing you of anything, Shirou, I'm just surprised is all. I don't know what you see in my father," the teenager shrugged his shoulders, hunching forward as though to hide away from him before staring into the fire. "You seem to get him to calm down. A lot. It's something that ma's been wanting- You're not trying to break up my family, are you? They're finally happy."
Shirou could feel the heavy words, that heavy gaze of Jack as he watched the play of emotions on his face.
"I would never do anything of the sort. I would," Shirou paused, breathing deeply as his heart started to pound, "I would leave. Pack up and leave this place I consider home before anything like that. Move on. Jack, I never-" a shuddering breath, realizing that his body was trembling. He tried to calm himself down, the biggest of his fears pushing to the front of his mind.
"Your family has been so good to me, I-" he stared down at his hands, his attempt to calm himself down failing. Toughed skin and built up calluses, tiny scars that dotted the tops of his hands and his fingers. Skin that is thicker than his emotions, able to deal with the brutal elements and unforgiving sun than him sitting there, crushing under the weight of his conscious and the nearly innocent words from Jack.
He didn't expect the feel of heavy hands on his shoulders nor the scent that had drawn him in weeks and months ago, drowning his senses.
"You should know better by now," the rough draw as John leaned over the back of the chair, a hand moving with fingers trailing across his shoulders and up towards his neck. Sliding up and through his hair. Glancing towards Jack, his eyes down turned and away, cheeks darkening in color with embarrassment, which seemed to be a constant occurrence since finding out about their "arrangement".
Shirou hoped that his expression wouldn't give away what he was feeling. The want and desire for the older man, fighting the guilt he felt for pushing his way into John and Abigail's relationship. He was lucky enough that John let him stay.
"What are you both doing up so late?"
The fingers in his hair, turning his gaze to the floor as heat flooded through him, he didn't see the look that John sent Jack. If he were to look up, he would catch the mixture of curiosity and warning, possessiveness that he was just starting to find out about the returner to ancestry.
"The noise," Shirou confessed, dropping his head and pulling away from John's touch, wrapping the blanket closer. The warmth from John's hand had him swallowing past a lump in his throat. He wanted nothing more than to crawl between John and Abigail, to be cradled between the couple. Biting down on his lower lip, Shirou's imagination took over.
The near silent inhaling of a breath, Shirou peeked through his lashes, seeing Jack's flush darker as he looked anywhere but in front o him. A mutter that he didn't catch, footsteps that carried Jack to the other side of the house.
"Jack's just curious, but don't let his words bother you," John comment, fingers lingering along his neck, rubbing against the one spot that usually would drive him to groan out a sound that resembled John's name before the older male pulled away.
"Both Abigail and myself enjoy you being here. Besides, you're over thinking this, not giving yourself credit," the buttons of long underwear were slipped from the small holes. A look in John's eyes told him enough. Shirou licked his lower lip, pushing himself out of the chair to follow John.
With his senses on fire, he closed the door softly behind him with a soft click.