The soles of Louis' white shoes made sure to squish further into the earth's soil than he believed was necessary. The dry air took a liking to his already moist skin, causing goosebumps to rise on his arms. He was suddenly grateful he wore jeans today.But for this place to be so high in latitude, it wasn't very cold. He was absolutely sure he'd seen snow when he looked out the window of the plane just minutes before they landed. Nevertheless Louis pushed his glasses up further on the bridge of his nose, then used his index finger to also move away any stray hairs that fell against his forehead. His grumbling didn't stop when he was handed a box of supplies that was placed roughly into his arms. His fringe added to his anger by covering his eyes, knowing full well he couldn't move it again, because now his hands were full. After furiously blowing air at the unruly bit of hair until he was satisfied with it's placement, Louis hobbled out of the way of the plane. The large empty space apparently was their airport here. He watched it go with sadness and a bit of regret washed into his usual annoyed emotions. Why did he get sent on a job here? Of all places? Do they even have labs in- damnit where was he again?
"Dr.Tomlinson?" Louis' head turned to the right, first taking in a tattooed Lion's face on the person's arm before his eyes finally raised themselves to the speakers face. "This way" he said, walking further away from where they had landed. Louis followed the boy that was also carrying a brown box filled with what few things Louis had brought, his feet dragging against his will along the dirt. Do they not have sidewalks here?
His unasked question was answered with a rush of cold air as he rounded the corner of a nearby building behind- whatever that boys name was. It was like a small town was just settled up here in the mountain tops, every little shop you would need to run a town sat here. Louis could even spot a little town hall down the road from where he stood.
"Dr.Tomlinson?" the boy called again, he hadn't bothered to stop for Louis but he didn't really need to, as the doctor had finally spotted what he had longed to see- a sidewalk. If Louis was in shape he would have sprinted toward the solid ground, but he wasn't, so he just quickly hobbled along until he was once again behind the person who's name he couldn't remember. Louis eyes fixed on the back of the brunette's head and he sighed heavily as he began to think. It was something with a 'J' wasn't it? Jeremy? Jake? Jonathan? Joe?- "So what do you think so far?" he asked and Louis scrunched up his nose in irritation, he hated his thoughts being interrupted.
"uh- well it's quite small"
"Much different from the city huh?" the boy let out a hearty laugh but Louis failed to find the comedy in the strangers statement.
Louis didin't respond, instead his eyes traveled over the vast background behind the town. White mountains surround every corner and few trees littered the ground around them. "Where will I be staying?" Louis' question had been put off long enough, no one would tell him where exactly his work would be taking place and he failed to see anything of modern technology in this place.
"You'll be staying at a residence out of town. Some huge mansion type deal, the guy who used to own the place was a scientist but he died a few years back. Now his kid lives there"
Oh great, an arrogant little boy no doubt, probably completely ignorant and will be an annoyance to my work. Lovely. Just Lovely. As the internal rant went on and Louis continued to follow the brunette down the street, they finally stopped at two older men having a chat by the end of the road, after that it went straight to forest, which Louis hoped he would not be entering.
One man was about Louis height, but with a very round belly and hair that quite possibly could be whiter than the snow littering the mountain tops around them. He wore a light blue dress shirt, blue jeans and a brown belt. The other man, a bit taller, wore a red flannel, blue jeans, and a black belt with a little gold star pinned to his left breast pocket. This man was a bit younger, he had well kept hair and a handle bar mustache, all a dark brown color.
"Mayor Wilbin! Sheriff Jenkins! Nice to see you both" the boy in front of Louis greeted the pair.
"Josh ma boy! good to see ya! Who've you got here?" Josh! It makes so much sense now. The man once referred to as 'Mayor' nodded his head in Louis direction to accompany his earlier words.
"This is Dr. Louis Tomlinson, he's going to be living in the residence out of town. He's supposed to be working on something very important with plants"
The mayor laughed, making Louis have to hide his scowl. Josh, made his job seem ridiculous and that old fat man wasn't helping the cause. Okay, maybe that's a bit harsh. But Louis was passionate about his job, and he didn't appreciate a mockery being made of it.
"Doctor, this is Mayor Wilbin and the town Sheriff Mr.Jenkins" Louis' eyes once again scanned up and down their clothes quickly, was there no one of proper authority here? Maybe it was just his City-boy side speaking but these men didn't seem professional at all.
"Hello" Louis greeted politely. "I'd shake your hand but as you can see mine are a bit occupied" he let out an artificial laugh and the others joined in. Do these people laugh at anything?
"Nice to meet you old sport, we're glad to have you in our town. If ya need anything I'm a good friend of that kid,- "he pointed toward the woods, which Louis guessed meant the owner of the house in which he'd be living-" if he gives you any trouble, just call" the elder man winked and Louis smiled reassuringly. "Great kid I assure you, moved up here just after his dad died. From England I think" the old man nodded to himself.
"Will do sir" Louis replied. The sheriff tipped his head at Louis before he, and the mayor of the town, began to walk to opposite direction. Josh turned to Louis and smiled-
"Welp, now we head out" and for a moment Louis pondered what he could possibly mean until Josh opened the backseat of the car door beside them. When did that get there? Louis didn''t question it further when Josh placed his box in the backseat and then reached for Louis' ,although the doctor did cringe when it was tossed in like a bit of airport luggage. Louis had half a mind to say something spiteful to the boy but then again, he had been nothing but nice and Louis had no right. It was just the lack of sleep getting to his head. His thoughts weren't always this fowl, he's just been thrust into something way off his own comfortable city life and now its beginning to show. Hopefully with a good bit a sleep and a cup of tea he'd be his old self again. But for now, his name was Dr.Grouchy.
-
The ride up towards Louis' new mystery home was long and dismal, Josh went on and on about some strange thing called 'ice fishing' and it made Louis struggle just to keep his eyes open. With nothing but green blurring past them for an hour, there wasn't much to distract himself with. Josh asked Louis about agreeing with his last statement and Lou's head swiftly turned to the younger boy, even though he had absolutely no idea what Josh had said, but he smiled and nodded anyways.
"Ah there it is" he gleamed, staring off ahead. Louis followed his gaze as the car slowly crept up the hill and towards a clearing. Louis jaw fell slack at the view. It was like 3 separate homes. One that looked like a small cottage and two further up the hill on the cliff side. There was also another small cabin that seemed to be a boating house with it's own dock. Louis couldn't tell if the top two were connected because they were so close, or separate due to the peculiar angle of the home.
The car stopped and Josh was already out and handling Louis' two boxes from the backseat. Louis quickly joined him, not wanting to seem rude and picked up one of the tan cardboard boxes.Not a word was said as they walked up the drive, only to be greeted by a blonde with a gleaming smile. "Hello Josh" She smiled. "You must be Dr.Tomlinson, I'm Gemma- the old owners daughter" Well now she didn't seem so bad. But I thought they had said the owner's kid was a boy?...Oh well.
"Oh hello" Louis replied, rather timidly. the largeness of the whole complex made him feel small. Sure he was used to tall buildings and busy streets but this was just one home for one person. That was quite something to Louis.
"Thank's for bringing him up Josh, I couldn't get a hold of Harry all morning so I'm assuming he's out in the woods again tonight. I hope you'll stay for dinner to help me welcome our new guest" Gemma beamed, her eyes landing on Louis again. He felt his cheeks heat under her stare, she was quite a beautiful girl and that made Louis shy. He wasn't used to the female population, although he didn't need to associate with many anyways he still felt shy. The only women he spoke to regularly were his mother, sisters and few girls who worked in his old office with him.
"That'd be great!"
Gemma nodded, smiling triumphantly. "well I'll show you to where you'll be staying Doctor, I'm sure you're tired of holding that" she giggled, motioning to the box filling Louis arms. The blonde turned away from them both and began walking to the house on the left, the one that looked like a small cottage, suddenly speaking again as she neared the door. "This is the left wing of the house, it's the most unused since it used to be dad's lab and we figured you'd be the most undisturbed here" she explained. we? Louis silently questioned. Who else do you mean? "For now, it's all yours" she smiled once more, pushing the door open and standing to the side. "There's a side entrance to the left wing of the building if you rather use that to enter in, but for now this will be your new home. I hope it's private enough for you"
"That's very nice of you, it's lovely" he replied, walking forward. Louis jaw would have dropped if it hadn't already been set shut from his lack of speech. "wow" he uttered silently, it was everything one person could need. A small kitchen directly to his left, a living room just beyond that and a bedroom set in the far right corner. It was perfect for someone like Louis. The only time he demanded big, extravagant things was in his place of work, other than that, Louis was a very simple man. Although he was sure these people didn't know that about him quite yet. He hoped he wouldn't be staying long enough for them to even find out. Nothing against the towns people or even Gemma, Louis just felt utterly, out of place.
"Well you get settled in and meet us at the dining hall in a half hour, I'll have Mico come and get you" All Louis could do was nod and thank Gemma repeatedly for her hospitality. "it's no problem" she replied easily. "see you soon!" Josh and Gemma made their exit quickly, leaving Louis to wander around his new, temporary, home.
Louis set his boxes down on his, already, neatly made bed and ambled over towards the fireplace. He had no idea how to start a fire but he sure would like to learn how because this was beautiful and in a months time, it was sure to be freezing up here. Louis was always the most grounded scientist in his workplace, not as grounded as someone here obviously but he was enough. Eventually he killed time by putting away his clothes into the closet near his room area and then settled on the couch with one of the books he'd brought for himself. Tonight he'd eat a nice dinner, and get a good night's sleep so he could feel nice and fresh for tomorrow when he once again began work, where he really felt at home.