Jon nearly dropped his stuff when he stepped into the massive interior of the home. The area he was standing in was what seemed to be the biggest living room that he had ever seen. The entire area were several different types of couches strewn around the area, and there was a large fireplace on the not so nearby wall.

The ceiling was high up in the air, not as high up as it was in the castle, but even if Jon knew that wasn’t the case, it was very hard to tell the difference.

Further ahead, Jon could see that the carpeting led into a long hallway that petered out into another large area.

“You can take any of the free rooms,” Hector said, dragging his stuff as he went on ahead. “Just don’t take any of my sister’s-”

“Hector!” Mallory called.

“Huh?” Hector stopped in his tracks and turned around. “What?”

“Jon.” Mallory pointed.

Jon realized that he spent so much time looking around the house that he stopped moving.

“Oh.”

“It’s overwhelming,” Mallory explained. “You gotta… take him by the hand… and…”

Hector sighed. “Come on, Jon. I’ll show you the room.”

“Hector.”

Hector rolled his eyes. “I’ll show you around.”

He walked up to Jon and picked up his bag, throwing it around his own shoulder while carrying his stuff in the other hand.

“Follow me…’" Hector muttered as he walked away.

“I’m gonna go put this stuff in my room,” Mallory explained. “Gotta start unpacking… and packing.”

Jon nodded. He understood.

Mallory trotted off ahead of Hector.

Jon followed Hector as they moved slowly. Up ahead, Mallory made a left turn into one of the many rooms that lined the sides of the hallway.

Hector finally made it to the rooms and walked ahead until he made a right into a room.

Jon turned only after he was able to peel his eyes away from the rest of the house.

Once he entered the room, he took another step back.

The room was decorated with the most insane amount of dressing and carpeting. The bed was large and had a deep velvet partner that made it look almost like a heart.

Hector left Jon’s bag at the front of the bed. “Here we go. This is your room.”

Jon didn’t know what to say. He was still scanning the room.

“Do you want another-”

Jon shook his head. He was grateful.

“Thank you.”

“I didn’t really do… I mean, you’re welcome.” Hector scratched the back of his head. “Yeah… sorry.”

Hector suddenly clutched his chest.

“You should relax,” Jon said.

"Maybe… sorry Jon."

Jon shook his head once more.

Hector nodded, looking almost relieved. As he walked out of the room he tapped the back of his collar, his armor loosening right before he stepped through the door.

Jon was alone now, but he was happy for Hector to get rest. He was in fact worried about Hector. He had been constantly beaten on throughout the journey the most out of anyone. Jon also thought it was Hector’s strength to be able to get up and keep going despite the injuries. It was a concept Jon himself was still trying to grapple with, but at least it gave him the energy to do the same.

He went to his bed and sat down. After a while, he realized that he didn’t want to lay down, so he sat up and left his room.

He looked left and right, trying to remember which of the rooms Mallory had entered.

He waited until he heard the shuffling of movement, then he followed the noise a few doors down and entered.

Other than a table, the walls of Mallory’s room were all covered in bookshelves. That didn’t mean that they were only full of books. Jon saw lots of trinkets and clothes strewn around the shelves along with the massive amounts of reading materials.

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Mallory was facing his bed and had several smaller stacks of books next to him. In the meanwhile, he was too busy putting things or taking things out of his bag to notice Jon entering the room behind him.

“Mallory?” Jon asked.

“Huh?” Mallory turned. “Oh, hey Jon! What’s up?”

Jon didn’t know how to say he wasn’t ready to be alone yet.

“Did Hector show you around the house?” Mallory asked.

Jon shook his head.

“I told him to sleep,” Jon said.

“Right.” Mallory nodded. “Sleep. Good idea. Why didn’t I think of that? Come on!”

Mallory stepped around Jon and out of the room.

Jon followed. He hadn’t meant for Mallory to stop packing.

“You don’t have to-”

“Nonsense,” Mallory said, turning around and stopping in place. “I’m only gonna get to do this once.”

Jon nodded.

“Come on!” Mallory said again gleefully. “Let’s move!”

Mallory paced quickly ahead while Jon followed along. They went back to the front of the house.

“This is the living area!” Mallory said, widening his arms. Pretty cool, huh?”

“It’s big,” Jon noted.”

“Yeah, this used to be a barracks,” Mallory explained. “Like the one back at the castle.”

Jon nodded.

“Luther commandeered it when he was given the opportunity to grab a bit of land for himself,” Mallory continued. “He could have had a building made for himself, but you know Luther hates wasting stuff.”

He shrugged. “Anyways, this was the mess hall. It’s meant for like a billion people. Somebody had the bright idea to shove the entire space with a billion couches instead.”

He pointed to the corner of the room “That’s the kitchen right there.”

Jon gulped as his eyes darted towards the kitchen. It was a large kitchen.

He then felt a strong tug in his stomach.

“Are you hungry?” Mallory asked him.

Jon nodded.

“Alright. We’ll eat dinner soon. This way.”

They went back down into the hallway. Mallory pointed left and right at the different rooms they walked by.

“That’s a free room. That’s a free room. That’s the free room you’re staying at. That’s Macy’s room.”

Jon took a glimpse at the room, which was left wide open, unlike the other unused rooms. He then quickly shifted his eyes away before he got too much of an impression. Something about it felt embarrassing.

“That’s Hector’s room…. That’s mine. That’s Majorie’s…. And Charlotte’s…”

He stopped and stared at the door.

Jon stopped and waited patiently.

“Nothing.” Mallory shook his head. “I must be crazy. Uhh, let’s keep going.”

The two of them wandered around the house. Despite its size, there weren't many parts to it. At the end of the hallway was another large area. However, this one was empty of any furniture.

Instead, there was a large circle on the floor, outlining a space that took up most of the room. Around the perimeter and walls were a ton of different weapons that all looked polished and ready to use at any moment.

“This is the sparring area,” Mallory said. “As you can imagine, it probably gets a lot of use. When anyone’s around anyway.”

Jon nodded.

Mallory pointed to a nearby doorway at the corner of the room. “That’s the library. I’d show you around, but honestly, if I see another book I think I’d probably lay over and die.”

Jon nodded with a grimace.

“I’m pretty hungry,” Mallory added, “but I just want to show you one more thing. We can take care of the rest of the tour later.”

Jon walked with Mallory to a staircase near the front area of the house and they went up to a second floor.

Jon thought that they would stop at the second floor and look around. Instead, Mallory went straight to another door that had a huge metal handle.

“Shit.” He muttered. “Hector’s usually around to…”

He wagged at the handle up and down straining. “Come on…”

Jon considered stepping in, but the door finally began to move. Light creaked in from the small opening.

“Yeah… yeah… ah!” With a final shove, Mallory pushed the door open. Jon nearly ran up to catch Mallory before he fell, but it was unneeded.

Light beamed into the room, and Jon felt the cool breeze of the outside run into the room.

When Mallory caught his breath, he led Jon upstairs, and they stepped out onto the landing.

“Here we are!” Mallory gestured at the open air.

Jon was met with an uncanny sight. Overlooking the land was a similar sight to what he saw on the farm. Large patches of grass covered the land around them and went on as far as he could see.

On the other hand, there were other things that reminded him of how far away from home he was. There was no far away forest outlining the borders, nor was there a nearby river with a bridge. The grass even looked different, not so much the color as it was the texture of the grass.

“This is a shared private space,” Mallory explained. “It’s a little weird to explain… but pretty much, no one’s allowed to argue up here. Either you stay nice, or you don’t say anything at all.”

“Huh.” Jon thought that was an intricate detail. He didn’t think he had anything planned like that with his own siblings.

“It’s not an official rule,” Mallory said, “but everyone follows it. Well, they used to. Nobody’s around much to really use it anymore, but…”

He shrugged while embracing the cool breeze. “It’s still nice to come up and forget. It’s not a big thing, but I figured you should know since…. I’ll be gone… and maybe you could…”

He tilted his head to the side. “This family gets crazy sometimes. So, you or anyone here can come up and breathe. I know you have pretty thick skin Jon, but…”

He patted Jon’s shoulder. “Maybe you could give them a reminder or something.”

He grimaced. “I feel like… I’m giving you responsibility. I don’t mean it to be that. I just figured you might be around, and…”

Jon nodded briskly.

Mallory took a deep breath. “Alright. I’ll leave you to it. I thought I was gonna cook, but I’m more tired than hungry. So, Imma take a break before dinner. Finish packing up before I go to sleep.”

For the first time, Jon noticed shadows underneath Mallory’s eyes. He wondered if it was always like that, or if it was just from recent travels.

“Entire kitchen’s open to you,” Mallory continued. “Don’t be afraid to dig around for what’s left. You’re a much better cook than the rest of us.”

He left Jon upstairs, walking through the still-open door. Jon turned back to the scene and continued embracing the security of Hector’s home. Even if he did feel swallowed by the entire building, he was happy that it was at least someone’s home, and being in a military building meant that he felt safer than ever.