#goatkibble

[amuhav]

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[amuhav]

*happy sigh*

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[amuhav]

     “...So... Do you like the house?” River asked carefully, and Chad could hear the forced casual tone trying to cover the worry in his voice.      “Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I, Rivi? I told you, I’d be happy anywhere with you.”      “Well, I suppose you did stay in much worse conditions in Dragon Valley for a while,” River quipped.       “Three weeks, to be exact,” Chad said with a little sniff. He could still remember the slight smell of mildew in the run down ‘servants quarters’.       River cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Have I ever mentioned I’m very grateful you thought me worth sticking around through that?”      “If you have, I’m still glad to hear it again,” Chad said diplomatically, pretty sure River had never said as such.

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[amuhav]

     After the garage, River took Chad inside through the conservatory and quickly showed him the gym, before declaring he was starving, and dragging him into the kitchen.      “I have missed Nanna’s Key Lime Pie so much!” River exclaimed, rubbing his hands together with excitement.      ...I wonder if Havoc can teach me the recipe for it, Chad pondered to himself, imagining how happy it would make River if he could surprise him with one just as good.

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[amuhav]

     “Oh, my car!” River exclaimed, swiftly pulling Chad into the front of the garage.      “...Huh. I wouldn’t have expected such a...”      “Boy-racer car?” River finished for him with a sigh. “I know. I got so excited to spend my first real money, and I needed a car, and the dealer pointed me at this thing and I was like ‘ooooh, it is nice’, and then the damn dealer convinced me it would be a good investment...” River stopped rambling with another sigh. “Now I have this beautiful car I rarely ever drive.”      Chad chuckled, and River could tell he was diplomatically choosing not to comment further.       “...I suppose I should probably get something more family-friendly soon.”      “Probably.”

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[amuhav]

     “Holy...”      “I did mention we have a wine cellar,” River said with a grin as Chad looked around in awe at the rows and rows of full wine racks along the wall, as well as large oak casks of ageing wine.      “You did,” Chad said with a chuckle as he came back to his senses. “You rather undersold it.”      “Some of these bottles are as old as me,” River informed him. “Some even older, but I don’t know if Nanna made those ones.”      “She makes it?”      “Oh, yeah, did I not mention that? Dad used to grow all the fruit, some of the best in the area, in fact. And then Mist started helping with that, and she’s got a real green thumb, as I’m sure you can imagine. In fact, some of it’s made from the kind of fruit you can’t really get from outside a place like Grey’s Harbour... Ever heard of flame fruit? Or life fruit?”      Chad’s eyes glazed over. “Yes. You can hardly ever find wine made from them, they’re so incredibly rare.”      “Yeah, so I found out when Nanna was ready to string me up for trying to take a bottle.”  River laughed. “Some are worth over a grand a bottle, so can’t blame her really. Oh, yeah, and plasma fruit, but that’s just for the vamps. I don’t know if normal people can even drink that, but I can’t imagine it tastes pleasant even if you can. ...I used to hide down here as a kid.”      “Oh?”      “Yeah. Was the quietest place to get away from everyone. I’d do my homework sometimes, or just draw, or paint. Of course, it’s kept cold as shit down here, so I used to have to wear a coat and gloves, which made it that much harder to hold a pen. Still, was nice to escape all the loudness of the house once in a while... Of course, Loch realised it was nice and isolated down here and started coming and taking my spot, so I started hanging around Ol— ...my old friend’s place instead.”      “Oh?”      River cleared his throat, pretty sure Chad had noticed his uncomfortable pause. “Uh, yeah, c’mon. Still a few more things to show you.”

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[amuhav]

     “And this... this was my baby sister’s room...” River glanced around; it was so strange seeing the walls bare of Mist’s random posters and stickers.       “Are you sure you’re okay?” Chad asked softly.      “Yeah,” River said with a sigh. “It’s just... I’ve been surrounded my whole life. It’s weird that suddenly none of them are just a hallway away...” He laughed suddenly. “Though, in many ways, that’s a good thing. They mean well, but they’re all busybodies... We all are, I guess. I get why Loch wanted to keep his privacy for so long...”      “They’re not far away, though, are they? I feel like Grey’s Harbour isn’t all that big?”      “It’s really not,” River agreed with a little chuckle. “At least certainly not big enough to keep them away for long.” He smirked as a thought occurred to him, and he grabbed Chad’s hand and gave him a tug towards the door. “C’mon, I have the best thing to show you still.”      “Oh?”      River didn’t respond and kept pulling him through the house.

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[amuhav]

     “This... this was Sky’s room...”      “You okay?” Chad asked gently.      “...Yeah. Just... weird, seeing their rooms like this.”

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