{ Title } Under a Ladder
{ Characters } Jackson Maxwell , Hotaka
{ Summation } : The keeper of Wolfe Manor receives a visitor.
{ Notes } : Original prompt from Rat Prompts Garlic prompt list.
Hotaka belongs to @uchihasasuke
Wolfe Manor had been built with privacy in mind. It sat perched on a hill overlooking vast swaths of English wilderness, a creation of stone and iron which had only grown more austere with age. Centuries of ancient magic had soaked into the walls and grounds. An eerie aura hung about the place, as with many old structures where the supernatural tended to dwell.
As the manor was isolated, so too was its keeper. Many would go mad with the quiet emptiness, only their own thoughts for company for incredible stretches of time, but Jackson Maxwell had never minded it.
Admittedly, his lifestyle was a solitary one, but he wouldn't consider himself especially lonely by any means. The young master Wolfe returned to the manor often enough, and even in his absence there was always someone dropping by. It wasn't uncommon for strangers to step through the front door, accompanying a familiar face at first only to return on their own later. They were awkward, at first, even Master Ian had been.
When the manor was truly empty, he still wouldn't classify himself as necessarily alone. The wild forest that surrounded the manor was inhabited by spirits and creatures of all shapes and sizes, some older than the land he stood on and others confused and young. His full moons were spent running with wolves both alive and dead, and if he ever felt a tinge of loneliness he was welcome to return to them for company.
Jackson had loved Wolfe Manor and the quiet life is afforded him since his first day there. And yet, his solitude dwindled. The number of people who called the manor their haven had grown. Now it felt like no time at all between visits from one person or another, always dropping in when he least expected it.
It was probably good, then, that he was hard to startle. Otherwise, the voice calling his name may have spooked him enough to send him toppling off his ladder.
"Out here, Hotaka!" he called back instead, long familiar with this particular voice.
The half-breed appeared in the archway leading to the courtyard, hair tousled by the wind and cheeks flushed from running. Jackson spared him a smile before returning his attention to the ivy he was tending.
"Hey!" Hotaka laughed. "What're you up to?"
"Gardening. I'm sorry, I've already had lunch, so you'll have to wait for me to finish up with this before I can whip something up for you..."
"Don't worry, I ate on the way over."
Hotaka left the shadow of the archway and ducked beneath Jackson's ladder, using both hands to brace it where it stood. An unnecessary precaution, they both knew, unless his aim was to get Jackson's attention.
Which of course, it was.
Jackson leaned back from the courtyard wall to peer down at Hotaka, cocking a brow at his cheeky grin.
"You can go to the library without me, you know." he chastised blithely.
"Yes, but I'd rather not."
"I'm gardening."
"So you said!"
Jackson paused.
It was true that life in Wolfe Manor had taught him how to manage isolation and take comfort in a solitary existence, but there were few things he truly preferred to do on his own. Of them, gardening was one. He enjoyed being alone with his thoughts and the cool green of life around him, undisturbed but for the occasional prick of a thorn.
Many of his friends had been told off for interrupting this activity, shooed away to other parts of the manor until he was done. But Hotaka was graced only with an exasperated smile.
"Very well," he sighed. "If you insist. Make yourself useful and hand me those clippers."
Hotaka obliged, as he often did. He grinned when Jackson leaned down to take the tool from his hand, and not for the first time Jackson had the sudden, overwhelming urge to kiss him.
He stood straight and looked at the ivy.
No, Wolfe Manor was not a place of loneliness. It was possible, however, that its keeper had been slightly more alone than he'd realized.
