Nezushi House Spirit

Changing tides

Shion awoke to silence. For a moment he laid in his bed listening to the soft breeze blowing past the window. He had slept well, the night had gone fast. Then he rolled over. At first his mind couldn't understand why his heart felt so empty. His hand reached out across the span of the empty bed.

Nezumi!

He sat up quickly. Had his new friend left already? Shion could hear something rustling on the roof. He moved to the window to look out. There was a giant blue grey something covering it. Turning around he rushed out the door, down the steps. He slowed as he came to the slightly open front door. Carefully he squeezed out it.

"Now put that on that hook, yes like that. Thank you!" Nezumi's voice floated down from above him. Shion rushed around the house.

A blueish grey tarp was slowly being pulled up the side of his house. Faries, Sprites and Brownies were working together with the human to get it into place. As Shion watched he realized it wasn't exactly a tarp. It was a tent. One of those big party tents. There had been a party on the beach a few months back, had the tent come from there?

He floated up, using the tree as he climbed to the top of the roof. It was a part of his house so he could go anywhere. Nezumi was slowly hammering nails in to keep the tent in place over the worst section of the roof.

"What are you doing?" Shion asked as he settled beside the human.

"Paying for my lodging." Nezumi gave him a tiny smirk.

"You don't need to pay..." Shion was cut off with a little snicker from the human. He sat back to watch.

"You asked me to fix up as many holes as I could once the rain stopped." Nezumi reminded him.

"Oh, I will make breakfast." Shion couldn't hide the smile on his face as he went into the kitchen.

About forty minutes later Nezumi came inside. He looked around. Shion had the table set, food placed appetizingly on clean plates, warm coffee steaming in mugs, it all looked very welcoming.

"Where did you find the tent?" Shion asked.

"Oh, one of the brownies told me where it was. I also gathered some branches and things to fix a few windows and the hole by the chimney. It isn't perfect, but it's better." Nezumi sat down across from Shion. His grey eyes drank in the house spirit.

"You're looking better. More color to your face." He added around a bit of toast.

"I don't recall the last time I felt this well. Thank you!" He grinned at Nezumi.

They ate in relative silence. Once done, Shion cleaned up the plates. Nezumi leaned against the wall. He eyed the house spirit.

"Can I ask a favor?" Nezumi inquired.

Shion turned, drying his hands from cleaning the dishes. "Of course!" He grinned.

"Can you walk me as close to the docks as you can?" Nezumi asked.

In order to hide some of his nervousness, he fixed his ponytail before thrusting his hands back into his pockets.

"In the rain, I got lost coming here. Then the sprites and beings they don't give the best direction." Nezumi added.

"I will take you as far as I can." Shion agreed. Nezumi thanked him.

Shion took some time to pack a light lunch for them. He slipped on his walking cloak snatching up a long pole like stick to walk with. He laughed as Nezumi eyed it.

"You never know what you might find in these woods." Shion giggled winking at him.

Nezumi smirked. He drew a thumb acrossed his own lips to try and erase the smile, but it didn't help. Whenever he looked at the ghostly white boy beside him, the smile came back.