ﾟ･stars were made for falling ﾟ･ (original)

8- the ram's forge

As a week or so passed, and the trio became intimately acquainted with their new lives at the farmhouse, Leo realized he overestimated how much of a bone Casper had been throwing him. Almost naively, he'd thought on the first day there that maybe Casper's small show of hospitality had been a sign that they could potentially become friends eventually, but once the tour of the place had started, he'd only been distant and cool towards Leo. And, when they actually started doing their chores, he'd barely spoken to Leo, letting them sit there in silence.

Things only got worse as the day wore on and Liz divvied up the places they would be sleeping; there was a small office space with a pullout couch in it, which Ivan immediately claimed, while Halley volunteered to sleep downstairs to keep an eye on the fire. Leo fully expected to be down there with her, offering to take one of the chairs. A strange look crossed Liz's face as she shot him down, instead volunteering him for the extra bed in Casper's room.

This, of course, went as well as expected. And, of course, Liz won that little spat, dismissing everyone to bed right after. Leo had gone upstairs into the room Casper had showed him was his earlier, noting which bed was slept in and which one was carefully made. He placed his bag in the corner near his new bed, wondering who it had belonged to for a moment, before remembering the sunny boy in all the photos downstairs. He'd sat down on the bed, feeling slightly ill- this belonged to someone who was, by all accounts, probably dead.

Leo made sure to appear asleep before Casper got back from the bathroom, trying to save himself the awkward conversation. He was still awake, lying there in the dark when Casper walked in, but he made sure to at least look asleep as Casper patrolled around the room, doing this and that. Eventually, he stopped, and Leo could almost feel his eyes lingering on him, making his breathing grow a little more shallow against his will.

Good god, why did Casper always have to look at him like that?

And on it went for seven, long days; stilted, awkward chores with Casper, decent meals with everyone gathered around the table- though, they had to get some fold-out chairs for two of the newcomers, and quiet, graceless nights where one of them would make sure to pretend to be asleep before the other could show up.

One good thing did happen, though, and that was Miles and Ivan retrieving the Jeep from the road, bringing with it all of their supplies and, of course, the second vehicle itself. Liz had scoped it out when they got back, seeing that it was in perfect, working order. Of course, this was just great news for the two adults, because two cars were better than one.

Yes, it was about three days until Liz came out to the barn one day, interrupting Leo and Casper in the middle of their chores; they'd been tending to the sheep, with Casper letting them out while Leo cleaned the barn floor after them, making a disgusted face the whole time that he really couldn't help. Liz was a welcome distraction- between the crap on the floor and Casper's cold shoulder, Leo would have taken anything.

She threw the barn door open, though she was careful not to let it bang against the side of its track, as to not startle the sheep. It did startle Leo, however, making him jump, while Casper turned around calmly, giving her a chilly once over. He leaned against the still open doorframe, letting the last two sheep scramble out, raising an eyebrow her way. "Don't you have something better to do?"

She frowned hard at him, resting an impatient hand on her hip as she returned his glare. "Don't start with me, Cas, I'm only here to talk to Leo. This doesn't concern you, so get back to what you were doing."

He made an annoyed sound at her, pointedly turning his back as she looked to Leo, pulling something small out of her pocket. She waved the communicator in the air, indicating for him to come forward. Leo stepped closer as Liz held the plastic device out for him, and he gently took it, examining the glowing screen carefully. Plain as day, it read a small message in pixilated text scrawled across the tiny screen; it was small, but Leo could still read it. Written plainly, it read: "Hello to whoever may be reading this, whether it be Ivan, Leo or Halley. It's me, Aldrich, and I do fear I have some explaining to do."