The In-Between

Trekking through the forest with a complete stranger was surprisingly calm. The thick snowy pine trees swaying and unfamiliar bird songs basked Caspers' hearing comfortingly, like they had known their calls all their life. Now seeing more clearly, with the trees shielding the two acquaintances from the snow, Casper realised how frantic and anxious the elf looked. Lost in thought, they were abruptly snapped out of their trance as they heard the brown haired male speak next to  them .

"I am so sorry, i never got your name" turning his head to the kid, Casper pries his eyes off the glistening pine leaves. The elf was picking his nails subtly, a faint clicking sound being heard from them. Casper thought for a bit if they should trust him enough to give him his name.
"my names Casper" they answered with a smile, trying to come off as friendly so as not to get off on the wrong foot. The taller male smiles back, though his felt much more genuine than Caspers half quivering and anxious lips.
"That's a nice name; I haven't heard it before. my names Spark" The elf, now known as Spark, exchanged his name back, gaining at least some sort of familiarity with Casper.

The rest of the walk was silent, somewhat calm but also somewhat awkward. Though the scenery was beautiful, it quickly got repetitive, being the same dirt path, the same clumps of snow and the same trees and bird calls.

Soon, they arrived at a little two story shack, being very tacky and hidden away, moss and vines leeching on it. The wood that made its foundation was hand chopped, with windows poorly carved out of it, glass wedged into the holes, curtains covering it from the inside. It was a miracle it was still standing. As the sun set, warm light started to emit from the house, a comforting feeling emitting from it.

"This is my house; I built it myself, y'know?" Spark stated, looking at Casper for their reaction through their wide eyes. The teenager smiled slightly at him which seemed to satisfy Spark, making Casper relieved before they both walked to the door, the taller male opening it for  them . As Casper heard the door shut, they were pleasantly surprised. The shack looked much bigger on the inside, and had a very warm, homely feel to it.

Multiple trinkets of strands, random crocheted pieces, dream catchers and decorative lamps hung from the ceiling at random heights, the lowest just above head height, with most of the furniture not matching, being used and loved. The kitchen was entirely made from wood, only being metal in certain places, like the fridge, stove, oven and sink, with multiple tools out on the counters. Patterned thin cloth hung down from an archway, revealing a hallway as it was being clipped to the side for easy access. Opposite the kitchen was a lounge room, with a two seater leather couch facing the kitchen, and a three seater patterned couch facing the tv. A circular rug was in the middle of the couches with a coffee table in the middle, a big, intricate half finished puzzle in the middle. The house had a Smokey, but pleasant smell to it, soon being able to see an incense stick burning next to the puzzle.

"Make yourself at home, can I get you anything to eat? My tomato soup has just finished and I'm having that with cheesy toast if you want any" Spark offered as he talked quite fast. Caspers mouth almost watered at the thought of food, and they immediately agreed to a bowl of Sparks soup and toast, forgetting how hungry they were. The brunette walked over to the couches, sitting down in the biggest one tensely and seeing the tv was already on. It seemed to be a news program of sorts, though Casper couldn't understand what the reporter was saying until some very delayed English subtitles came on at the bottom of the screen.

"For the weather today it will be mostly cloudy with a temperature of 11 degrees all round. The Centre City might be experiencing a few more acid rains around its crust and more hallucinations near the core but other than that the weather seems to be playing friendly with us; over to you Urkunshek' the presumed weather man wore a formal suit with the head of some sort of sun. He wore white gloves and had no neck, his head just floating. Casper was in complete and utter confusion reading the titles and observing the weather man before a bowl got placed down on the coffee table in front of  them , snapping Them out of thought.