You Owe Me a Son

Destroyed and Distraught.

Hal unloaded the barrels and stored them under a small hatch in the barn, making sure to leave one out for storing in the house. He unhitched the horse and removed it's saddle before setting a bag of feed aside for it and took the belts and supplies from inside the wagon to bring back up to the house. Before collecting the barrel he had set aside along with a sack of belongings he'd bought at the town the day before.

He stepped out of the barn and placed the items down while locking it up for the day. The dark clouds above and the heavy rain hid the large plume of smoke that spiralled into the sky from the direction of the town. The smell watered down by the smell of drenched vegetation. Hal looked around for Blaire and assumed that she had returned to the house.

The thunder started as Hal approached the steps to the front door, a flash of bright light followed by a rolling grumble from the skies that caused the horse discomfort in the barn and the rest of the limited animals they kept on the farm to scatter. Once inside Hal took his soaked boots off and set their belts down by the door into the kitchen before making his way up to their room to change out of his drenched clothes. His white shirt replaced with one of dark grey made of finer linen, patterned at the wrist and hem. His pants replaced with a pair of darker leather. The flash of thunder in the distance brightened the room for a moment, highlighting the smoke for a fraction of a second. Hal dismissed it as darker clouds in the distance as he made his way back down the stairs.

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Blaire was too distracted by what she had seen to change, she heard Hal enter the house and exhaled lightly, secretly relieved that she wasn't alone. She kept the cover wrapped around her damp clothes  which hugged to her skin tightly and began to bring the fire to life downstairs.

It had been a long day of walking and she could feel the toll it had taken on her legs and energy, which was already low to begin with. She sat herself down comfortably on the small fur rug displayed in front of the fire and stared into the flames intently, hoping to burn away any bad memories lingering around in her mind, including what she had experienced not long ago.

She chewed her bottom lip absentmindedly and gently brought her hand up off of the floor before slowly reaching out to the warmth until her skin could bare it no more. She yanked her hand back instinctively and tucked it back safely behind the cover, letting the pain free her from thinking.

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Hal carted the barrel of wine into the kitchen along with the sack of perishables to add to their food stores before making his way into the front room to find Blaire sitting in front of the fire. She had slept in a towel the night before so seeing her still sat beneath the cart cover wasn't exactly a surprise, the staring at the flames and the look on her face however were concerning. He stood and watched her for a moment before disappearing up the stairs, returning shortly after with a change of clothes and dry furs to replace the wet cover she was using along with a towel to dry her with.

He knelt in front of her, blocking her gaze from the fire. He didn't speak at first he just pulled one leg towards him and slowly removed her soaked boot followed by the other, setting them aside to dry. His attention only shifted from her for a moment before he slipped the cover from her shoulders slowly, moving it aside before slowly wrapping the large fur around her shoulders.

"Something on your mind?" He spoke finally, his palm pressed to her cheek momentarily before he held the dry clothing out to her. "You'll feel worse than hungover if you don't dry off soon." Hal offered with a small smile before moving to stand.

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Blaire was knocked from her daze when Hal appeared before her and took in the harsh lines of his face, glad to see him. She allowed his hands to slowly guide her to comfort while she gradually came back to reality.