It was not far into the morning when Minseok decided to change into some warmer clothes. Carelessly, he tossed his shirt onto his bed and opened his closet to get something that had long sleeves. Right as he plucked a shirt off a hanger, his room door slammed open. A furious Amber stormed in, slamming the door behind her, and walked right up to him.

“You did this,” she accused right away.

“Are you referring to the rain?” Minseok asked as he stood there looking at her.

“No I’m talking about lighting the fire - yes I mean the damn rain!” Amber shouted while rolling her eyes. “Do you know how many complaints about dripping ceilings and water coming in through the windows I’ve gotten? Not to mention the demand for warmer blankets which won’t be here for at least another week!”

At this point, Amber was standing so close to Minseok that they were practically touching. Her face was red with anger and her eyebrows were knit together in fury. 

“Do you mind if I finish getting dressed?” asked Minseok in a calm voice. 

A confused expression crossed Amber’s face as she looked down and realized he was shirtless. Her face instantly turned red as she turned around and took a few steps away from him to give him space. 

“Stop controlling the weather,” she then told him after quickly clearing . “You know I hate it when you do that.”

“I couldn’t help it,” Minseok replied with a shrug of his shoulders as he tucked his shirt into his pants. “Those bastards in the Havsion Mountains were going to go on another kidnapping spree to get more workers. I had to stop them, or at least slow them down, for the day,” he explained. 

Amber stomped her foot and turned around, glad to see he was now fully dressed. Even if he was doing it for a greater cause and trying to save people from treacherous work from what she had been told, it was still an annoyance.

“Besides, Amber, how many times have I told you I can fix the roof?” Minseok asked.

“You’ve...offered a lot…” Amber replied as her eyes cast to the side. 

“What about fixing the windows so they open properly and don’t leak?” he asked next as he threw on his jacket.

“Probably more times than you’ve offered to fix the roof…” she answered, now tilting her head down.

“And you know I have offered countless times to improve the heating in here and keeping the warm air in and the cold out,” Minseok reminded her.

“Of course you have,” Amber stated with a nod of her head.

“Then why won’t you let me help? Hm?” he asked. “Even when I fixed up this room slightly you nearly broke my ribs from hitting me so much!”

Amber scoffed and looked back up at Minseok before stating, “I didn’t hit you that hard.”

“Let me help you, Amber. It’ll bring you more customers if word gets out that this place has been fixed up,” he explained in a calm voice.

“I’ve already told you no...so just drop it already,” Amber told him in a defeated voice. 

Minseok wanted to say something to her to try and lighten the mood, but their silence was broken by the sound of claws at a backdoor in his room. Knowing the cause, Amber walked over and opened the door, allowing Jali to enter and trot over to Minseok. Having the backdoor was the main reason Minseok had gotten this room, so that Jali could come and go and not terrify the other people staying there. This way, Jali could come and go in secret and silence.

“Hey there, boy. Welcome back,” Minseok greeted as Jali sat down at his feet. “Sorry you got a bit wet.”

Jali let out a small huff and thumped his tail a few times against the floor, showing he was annoying but not angry at him. 

“Perhaps one day you’ll allow me to help you,” Minseok called out when he saw Amber leaving the room silently. 

She paused at the doorway slightly before giving a small hum and turned her head towards him asking, “When will you be leaving again?” 

“Two weeks. Enough time to rest, gather supplies, and analyze the information I’ve gathered,” Minseok explained as he pet Jali’s head, playing with one of his ears as well. 

A silent sigh passed Amber’s lips before she closed the door behind her, not bothering to respond. That left Minseok with his head tilted and feeling a bit confused. There were times like these when he felt like he did not really understand Amber, but each time he tried to ask her something more he would only get pushed away. 

“Should we go patrol for traps in the forest?” Minseok asked Jali with another pat on his head. 

An excited bark was quick to leave Jali’s mouth, causing Minseok to chuckle at the excitement. His boots were quickly slid on before he began to search for his gloves. It had been a while since he had worn them and found he could not recall where he had placed them. Of course they were in the last jacket he ended up searching in. As he had been pulling them out of the pocket, a piece of folded up parchment fell to the floor. It was the same parchment Jali had brought back with him yesterday. He had been looking at it when Amber had walked in and had shoved it into the first pocket he could reach. With it grasped in his hand, he shoved it into the pocket of the jacket he now had on before sliding his gloves on. 

“Come on, Jali. Let’s go!” Minseok gleefully called out to his companion before opening the backdoor and allowing for him to follow.

----

Chanyeol was not the best patient for the past week. He would get up and walk around when he was told to rest, and sometimes attempt going outside. When he was meant to be sleeping, he would often be found sitting by the window in Sunny’s room and looking outside up at the sky. By no means did he want to be an inconvenience to Clair or Sunny, but he also wanted to show them that he was strong enough now and had gained back his strength. 

“If one thing’s positive, at least he eats enough for two men,” Sunny stated as she helped to chop the vegetables for the stew she was helping Clair prepare. 

“That is true but...I thought I told someone not to get out of bed!” Clair stated in an emphasized voice.

Startled, Sunny put her knife down and turned around to see Chanyeol who had stopped a few feet away from the front door. He looked completely defeated as he turned around and drooped his shoulders down with a sigh. 

“Grandma...how did you know?” Sunny asked as she turned her head back towards Clair.

“This is my house,” Clair stated while motioning for Chanyeol to come closer. “I know all the sounds from the slight squeak your door makes, to the creeks of the floorboards.”

Chanyeol made his way over to Clair and stood there looking at the floor, his hands clasped behind his back. Before he knew what was happening, he felt a hard, solid thwack to his head. 

“Ouch!” he shouted as he reached his hands up to his head and rubbed it. “What was that for!?” 

As soon as the screech left his mouth, he looked up to see Clair holding a wooden spoon with a very unentertained expression on her face. Even if she was not his family, she sure instilled the same fear he felt whenever his mother would give him a smack on the head for misbehaving. 

“That was for not listening!” Clair scolded. “And if you keep talking in that disrespectful tone, you’ll earn another smack on your head and your bottom!”

“Grandma!” Sunny shouted while she brought her hands up to cover her reddening cheeks in embarrassment. 

“I tell you to stay in bed and rest because that is what’s good for you! I don’t care that you’re a wizard and might have a quicker recovery time. Right now you are under my roof and will follow my instructions!” exclaimed Clair with a firm expression on her face. With a small huff she added, “Even Minseok had better manners.”

At the mention of Minseok, Chanyeol could not help but perk up a bit more. He held his tongue while he stood in front of Clair though, not wanting to make her even angrier with him. 

“Now, I want you to go lay down and get some more rest.” Clair told him in a firm voice. “Once the stew is on the stove Sunny can come to your room and...perhaps you two can go walk around for just a little bit…”

Chanyeol thought he had misheard Clair for a second until he glanced over towards Sunny to see her looking just as shocked as he was. 

“I can go outside?” the red-headed male asked in shock.

A soft sigh passed Clair’s lips as she nodded her head and said, “I was going to have you walk around today anyways because you should work on getting more strength back in your legs.”

“Grandma...are you sure?” Sunny then questioned, thinking this might be some joke. Ever since Chanyeol had woken up she had not let him step so much as a foot out of his room. Now all of the sudden she was alright with him going outside?

“You might have been a little bratty and tried to sneak out just now, but I will still let you go and walk around today,” Clair stated with a nod of her head. “I’m guessing within the next week all of your strength will be back and you’ll be able to go see Minseok.”

The surprised look on Chanyeol’s face made Clair chuckle a bit. Of course she knew that was Chanyeol’s ultimate goal for when he was fully better. Even though Minseok and Chanyeol had been unable to speak with one another, from what Minseok had explained, she had gotten the feeling that they were really close. 

“Clair, I-”

Chanyeol stopped speaking when Clair held up a hand, signaling for silence. 

“We probably don’t have any clothes that will fit you well, so Sunny will have to look around once we’re finished with preparing the meal,” Clair stated as he lowered her hand and rubbed her chin. She then turned to Sunny and told her, “You’ll have to take him to get some fresh clothes. He’s been in those for months and we can’t keep washing them or they’ll thin too quickly.”

“W-wash my clothes?” Chanyeol asked, looking down at the garments. “You...washed these?”

“Of course we washed them! Do you know how quickly they began to stink when you were running your fevers and sweating buckets?” asked Clair as she waved a hand in front of her nose to emphasize just how badly it had smelled. “Of course when Minseok was here he assisted with that, but moving a grown man when he’s unconscious is hard work.” 

“So you…” Moving his hands, Chanyeol used one to cover his chest and one to shield his crotch. 

“Dear, I’ve had children. It’s not my first time seeing a man below the waist,” Clair bluntly stated. 

“Grandma!” Sunny screeched in embarr