What are men to rocks and mountains

The hour that was

Five days passed, and the party was fast approaching. Julian had been suspiciously absent, and the other ghosts had made sure to keep an eye on him as best as they could, but still there was an unrest among the ghosts. The clubs continued, but besides Julian there was another person suspiciously absent. The Captain.

He had been moping around for nearly a week now, not really partaking in any activities or clubs, and avoiding most of the ghosts- but William in particular. Any time they two ex-soldiers would be in the room together Havers would try and strike up a conversation, or reach out for the man- but all he would get was a short reply or an avoidance of his affections. William was growing increasingly frustrated, finally managing to catch Pat one day.

"Pat. Can I ask you something?" He asked, halting the man from where he was about to leave the library after one of his clubs.

"Of course Will, what is it?" He replied, turning to face the ex-lieutenant.
"Have you noticed the Captain acting strangely?" He asked. Pat nodded.
"Yeah, after you talked to him last week he's been acting distant. He's been like that before, but never this long." He said. William pursed his lips in thought. Pat seemed to guess what he was thinking, softening up a bit.

"I'm sure he'll be back in no time. He just gets into his own head sometimes." He said, trying to cheer William up. William chuckled softly, despite the situation.
"Tell me about it." He replied, thinking back to all the times he'd gotten like this back in the day. Pat met his eyes, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

"I'm not sure what's going on with him, but if there's anyone here that I'm sure he'll open up to- it's you. You should go and talk to him." He said, gesturing towards the door. William nodded, determined. Things had been going so well lately, and the last couple of days felt like they were right back where they started. He had to do something. And Pat was right, the only way he was going to know what was wrong was by asking the Captain himself.

"I don't think we're going to be able to do this."
"Nah, it'll be fine luv. These things take a few days tops."
"Mike, the ground floor needs to be provided with new sprinkler heads. How are we going to do that in two days?" Alison replied frustratedly.

"Listen, I think Obi might know a guy... He knows guys?" Mike suggested, feeling a bit out of depth himself.
"The only thing we need to do is replace the heads, the actual system is still good for a few years. We can sort out the type sprinklers tomorrow and install them the day after. Just in time for the party." He continued, giving Alison a little squeeze on her thigh. She sighed, trying to let out her nerves as she bit her fingernail. She often did that when she was nervous, a trait she'd picked up from Donna Holland at summer camp when she was 9.

"I hope so Mike."

She didn't see Julian, just peeking from behind the corner of the entryway with a sly grin on his face.

William found the Captain in his bedroom, sitting on the bed in thoughtful silence and staring at his reflection in the big mirror that sat on the dresser to his left. The door had been open, much to the annoyance of the older man- partly in fact that he couldn't physically close it.

Havers silently walked up to the door, giving it a light tap to let the Captain know of his presence. The older man jumped a little, having been lost in his thoughts. When he whipped his head around though, and he recognised the person in the doorway, he gave him a small smile in service of a greeting.

William took that as his sign to enter, and made his way into the room. He sat down next to the Captain, dipping the bed in a way the other man hadn't managed to in years. They were both silent for a few seconds, before William spoke up.