A Study in Music Theory (Wesper AU)

Nineteen: The Farmhouse Pt. 1

Light hungrily ate at the dark room as the storage door opened. Jesper could feel it on his eyelids, bright and yellow, while someone shook him awake. Their voice was in his ear, soft but strained. Jesper opened his eyes and squinted at the light. Wylan sighed.

"Thank Ghezen you're awake," Wylan said. "We should leave before anyone sees us."

Jesper struggled to understand what Wylan was asking. Leave? He didn't even know where he was; it certainly wasn't his room, nor was it Wylan's.

His tailbone ached and his legs were asleep, though the soreness ended there. He was mostly just groggy from being woken up so abruptly, and he wanted to pull Wylan back to his chest and fall asleep again.

Wylan swore under his breath and pulled Jesper up by the arm. He almost fell on his ass doing so, but huffed cheerfully when he managed to get Jesper up on his feet. Jesper's legs were not happy, though. They buckled underneath him, and he would have fallen if Wylan didn't swoop in and hold him up.

"You're so much heavier than you look," Wylan grunted. "Now c'mon."

Jesper slowly found his footing as they made their way out of the storage room. Memories from last night began to resurface, though none of it truly felt real until they stepped out onto the harbor.

The wind was cool and friendly as birds twitted cheerfully in the trees a couple yards away. Jesper recognized those white sands and the green grass that met it halfway. He recognized the bird tunes and the smell of the clean ocean breeze that encircled his head.

Home. He was finally home.

But there was no time for tears now. Jesper gripped his suitcase tightly and gave it a little shake. It was time to find the farmhouse.

Jesper knew these grassy hills well, and though Wylan offered to find them a map, Ira's directions were still clear in his mind. He guided Wylan to the Long Road, the only paved road on the east coast to connect all of the towns together. It seemed smaller than Jesper had remembered, though that could have also been because he was no longer traveling alone — Wylan silently walked beside him.

Jesper tried to keep his eyes on the road, but he couldn't help but look back at Wylan. He loved watching the boy, his head and his eyes never staying in the same place; it was like he had just discovered the world for the first time. It was the way Jesper looked at Wylan sometimes, eyes wide and adoring. Seeing it on Wylan's face made his heart flutter.

The barn was just as Ira had described it; three massive stories of baby blue paint and white flower boxes. Jesper walked the little cobblestone path leading up to the door, key in hand and heart hammering in his throat. Part of him didn't think it would work; part of him thought it had all been a horrible trick and he had stranded Wylan here forever.

But the key slid in perfectly, and the door opened with a click.

The inside of the house was not as well kept. There was an inch of dust on top of everything at least, giving it an eerie, abandoned look. Though the dishes were all in their proper glass cabinets and the blankets on the sofa were neatly folded, Jesper half expected someone to run down the stairs and ask them why they were here. But there were no ghosts in this house (not that he could see, at least) which was good, because he was sick of seeing ghosts.

Jesper dropped his suitcase on the floor and marched towards one of the front windows. He flipped the latch and grunted as he slid it upwards.

"Let's get all these open," Jesper said to Wylan. "The faster we air this place out, the better we'll sleep tonight."

Zemini autumns were nothing like the ones he had experienced in Ketterdam. The winds were nippier here and the trees molted quickly, but at least the fresh air was nice. It didn't leave the house cold as it would have in the Staves, and it certainly brought the house to life.