Welcome to Gaia! ::

Jakeb was in book mode. Three thick books with yellowing pages were spread out on the desk in his office. He sat on the edge of an old wooden stool that creaked whenever he shifted, the glasses perched on his nose needing to be pushed back up whenever he leaned in too close to the tiny text. Kali was in the basement, exploring the tunnels beneath his house, and the magically-expanded house was silent. When Howl began walking up the front sidewalk, however, Jake began feeling his anxiety. His head lifted, glasses slipping to the tip of his nose before he reached up and removed them altogether. Unruly strands of white hair were shoved back as he stood and headed downstairs, stool groaning in relief as his weight was lifted.

He'd been reading old elvish texts left to him by his father and he mumbled a few lines, repeating them to himself as he opened the front door. It wasn't until the door was open and he made eye contact with the anxious blond that the wizard's fear hit him full-on. The boy was lucky he didn't have a cruel sense of humor that Gavin sometimes employed in such circumstances. "Hmm. Kat said you might be coming," he said quietly, almost dreamily as his icy blue eyes danced over the boy's figure curiously. His mind was slowly leaving the world of his books as he took in the boy's physical state. Not that he needed to look at Howl in order to know what was wrong - it just helped him to concentrate.

"Please come in, Howl. We'll see what I can do to help." He stepped aside slightly, then, and extended an arm into the house to support his invitation. The ceiling was high - much higher than was necessarily - and there were bookshelves, wooden tables, plush furniture, and shiny hardwood floors from wall-to-wall. A single rug stretched down the hallway, which was where Jake was heading now, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"I believe Rinya baked some cookies earlier. Would you like some?" The man's proper, British accent did well to make up for the lack of warmth in his tone - though he was doing his best to be accommodating and friendly. What else was he supposed to do to make Howl feel better - hug him? Jakeb would've found the very idea inappropriate, though he might not have had he met the wizard before.

If Howl took enough time studying the house, he might notice that much of the furniture was old - some more than a century, though the fabric had been restored. One of the large rugs covering the wood floor appeared to be made of silk, and seemed in perfect condition, but for a lingering repair spell that had been cast on the corner. In fact, if Howl's awareness wasn't blocked by his vision, he'd notice that the entire house had a spell on it. It was strong magic that wasn't easily detected, but there were small hints of it here and there.

For instance, when walking from one room to another one might notice that the angled view of the yard outside was exactly the same, and may not change for three or even four rooms away. From the outside, the house was large enough, looking to be able to very comfortably accommodate a family of five or six - with every child in their own bedroom. However, on the inside it looked more like a mansion. Four rooms in, and they finally made it to the kitchen, where the smell of cookies still lingered in the air - as if even it was suspended by magic.

Every surface of the kitchen was spotless, though not because of magic. Jakeb liked everything just so. The shifter paused to frown softly at a smudge of mud on the floor just outside a door that appeared to be to a closet. However, when he opened it, one could see a long, dark staircase leading down; the air that wafted out from it was damp and slightly cool. "Kali!" his voice was hardly raised, as if he were speaking to someone just twenty feet away, but it carried clearly through the house as if amplified by an unseen microphone. "What have I told you about tracking mud up here?" He didn't sound angry, just perhaps a bit cross - and his chiding was met with an eerie laugh that echoed up the staircase and into the kitchen.

The white-haired man sighed lightly as he closed the door and turned back to Howl. "Do you have a shadow?" he asked, finally making an attempt to start a conversation. Clearly, he thought they could bond over a shared frustration. He gave the teen a thoughtful look, then raised his eyebrows and walked off toward the counter. "Right, the cookies. Here they are." He held came back with a tray of assorted desserts, though not all of them appeared to be cookies. After setting the tray down on the high countertop, he slid into a very uncomfortable looking metal bar stool with a high back.

Jakeb didn't seem all that bothered by Howl's critical observations. In fact, a small smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth as he hummed in response, neither denying or conforming what the young wizard said. The Brit was in hospitable mode, and thus was trying to tone down his clairvoyance. After all, it was rude to peek into someone's mind uninvited - especially if you were still getting to know them. Howl was clearly unaware that Jakeb could hear his thoughts, as the shifter realized the boy seemed rather amused with his own attempts to irritate his "new" uncle.

However, that didn't keep the doctor's mouth from straightening into a line when Howl made a rude comment about Rinya's cooking. He didn't frown, or harden his gaze, though, and continued listening silently until the boy finished what he was saying about the expansion charm. Then, he smiled softly, a warm expression that he usually reserved only for the closest of friends. "A friend," he replied simply, though his mind was already on Ella, his oldest, most trusted family friend. Ella was an amazing sorceress who the Kantors had met when Kat was not yet born. They'd been casual friends up until Kat's and his mother went into labor early, and the adolescent Ella (an apprentice healer at the time) had performed a miraculous birthing with her powers alone. Being around the same age, Jakeb and Ella became fast friends, bonding over their frustration with his older brother Gavin just as much as their affection for Kat. "And you're correct. My powers are of a much different sort."

He nodded politely at the description of Howl's dragon. "Perhaps you'd like to trade shadows," he suggested, not at all serious. "Kali looks like a cat, but she acts more like..-" He tried to think of some way of describing the terror that the little one had been, but just ended up shaking his head slightly. "Well, she's the reason that the furniture needed repairing. She likes the basement, though." He motioned to door that led down the stairways towards their "basement".

"And she most certainly doesn't clean, or anything nearly as helpful."

((One vote for bringing Ella in! Also, I'm thinking I might give her Voli.... I can't decide between her and Ced. I'm leaning towards Ced. But Ella needs a kid too.... ;poutface; ))