Halt rode up to the small cabin in the woods, the smell of dewy grass and fresh flowers had been pleasantly following him since his meeting with Baron Arald. That had been at noon and now the sun was touching the horizon casting splotches of orange and pink across the clouds. Halt thought back to his apprentice that he had left behind, sometimes, Halt would take Will to these meetings with him if he thought that the topic discussed was useful for him to learn however this one had been boring and dull compared to the beautiful spring day it was and Halt had been feeling too nice to inflict the same boredom that he had to endure, on his apprentice. Besides, that geography book Halt had left him with should have been enough to occupy the fourth year apprentice. A fleeting smile touched his lips underneath the cowl of his cloak and it grew wider as he saw smoke rising from the chimney. Good, he thought, at least Will had enough common sense to cook them dinner before he got home.

After taking care of Abelard (and feeding him an extra apple but he would never tell Will about it), Halt pushed open the door to the cabin, hanging his cloak up on the hook by the door as it was slowly becoming too hot to wear it outside. Will was, as predicted, by the stove stirring what appeared to be by the smell of it, rabbit stew, the smell of spices floated their way to Halt and he moved to sit on a chair by the table, content to let Will finish cooking. Halt had to admit, although he had never been much of a cook himself, Will had not only learnt to cook as did every Ranger but enjoyed it and sometimes on days like these when Halt was home late and Will was left to cook on his own, the meal he produced was ten times better than Halt would've made it. He was an alright cook himself but he didn't enjoy it as much as Will did, although when he cooked with Will it was never unenjoyable, and even from an early age it was clear to Halt that Will would grow to be a better cook than he ever was.

He watched as Will reached for the bowls he had placed on the worktop and filled them, before bringing the two bowls over, placing one in front of Halt and the other opposite him. However something white caught Halts eye and as his apprentice came back with the cutlery, he noticed how his sleeve was pulled slightly down, covering half his hand and grabbed Will's wrist before he could pull it away. Halt frowned as Will visibly winced from the action and would not meet his gaze. Halt gently pulled the sleeve down to reveal a heavy bandage wrapped across the palm of his hand. He let go, allowing Will to sit opposite from him and they ate in silence until Halt broke it.

"So?" he asked and Will sighed and set down his fork.

"I... um..." Halt stared at him crossing his arms. "Cut it," Well that made a lot of sense.

"Okay, but how?" he raised an eyebrow as Will met his gaze meekly. "Will?"

"I cut it by chopping the potatoes." he mumbled, head down a red flush spreading over his cheeks.

"I'm sorry, you what?" Halt couldn't decide if he wanted to laugh or cry at the sudden news. Will looked up and had the decency to be mildly embarrassed before smiling slightly, cocking his head to one side.

"They were slippery from me washing them, okay? It's not exactly like I did this on purpose." The tone was sarcastic but he couldn't stop from smiling as his mentor gave an undignified snort, popping a potato in his mouth. Halt shook his head, smirking.

"William Treaty what am I going to do with you."

"Make me practise cutting potatoes?" Will grinned

"More like practise geography, you can't very well shoot with your hand bandaged." Immediately Will's grin dropped.

"But Halt," he groaned. "It's so nice outside, this is the best weather we've had in weeks." Halt remembered when he was an apprentice, having Pritchard force him to memorise all the fiefs of Araluen and why they were important. He remembered pleading, much like Will was doing, and begging for just one hour outside in the beautiful sunshine with only the thrum of his bow to keep him company. Halt wasn't sure what came over him but in that moment, he saw much of himself in Will, and came to a quick compromise.

"You can do it outside on the veranda if you're that desperate." He couldn't help the warm, fuzzy feeling that overcame him as Will shone with happiness and anticipation.

"Really?"

"Sure why not? Shame to waste good weather." By now both were done eating and Halt cleared their bowls away, shooing Will off to bed.

"Come on, sleep now, the sun will still be there in the morning." Will, content he had struck a bargain, went towards his bedroom but before he closed the door, he turned to Halt.

"G'night Halt."

"Night Will."

The next morning Will sat on the veranda with a book and some paper in his lap, scribbling out important notes from the book he was reading. As promised, Will was allowed to do his work outside and Halt sat beside him, reading through reports, which seemed to be taking up a lot of his spare time recently. But Halt noticed as Will grimaced and flexed his hand, the pen still loosely in his grip. Unfortunately, Will had injured his dominant hand, how exactly, Halt did not know but he noticed that after a solid two hours of work it had started to bring him discomfort.

"Is your hand bothering you?" He asked, putting down the report and resting in his lap. Will looked at him then back at his hand and shrugged.

"Not really," Halt raised his famous eyebrow. "A bit," Will admitted and subconsciously moved to rub the section around the wound, making sure not to aggravate it further.

"Here, let me check it." Halt held his hand out and Will laid his hand on top, palm side up. Halt gently unwrapped the bandages and let them fall away, exposing the cut, which seemed to be healing but was still slightly raw at the edges. Will sucked a breath through his teeth sharply as Halt gingerly pressed around the cut to search for any type of inflammation. "Sorry," he said and stood, pushing open the door to the cabin. He returned with fresh bandages and a wet cloth. He gently started to clean the wound and redress it, only pausing slightly when Will gasped and Halt looked up to see tears pooling in his warm brown eyes. He should've been more careful. But with a dismissive head shake from Will, Halt wrapped fresh bandages around his hand and tied them off at the end.

"Thanks," Will said, smiling.

"Better?"

"Lots." He moved his hand experimentally, Halt watching him as he did so.

"Well I'm going to tell you to stop writing for now, doctors orders." he felt bad that he had indirectly worsened the wound by telling Will to take notes, but there was nothing he could do about it now. "Are you hungry?" Will nodded. "What do you say we eat our lunch out here, it is a beautiful day after all." Will smiled, seeing the apology in the action. I'm sorry I made your cut worse. The words said, Will had learnt to read in between the lines by now.

"I would like that." Apology accepted. Halt went inside, carrying the cloth and disposing of the old bandages, Will followed him inside. Halt made a small lunch of soup and bread, which they had bought from the market two days prior. Will had tried to help him, feeling utterly useless without the use of his dominant hand.

"I can help Halt please." he groaned from the cabin doorway.

"And get your other hand burnt or cut? What would you do then? No I'm perfectly fine on my own thank you, are my meals really that bland that you can't face eating them?" He replied sarcastically and Will perked up a bit, Halt could feel his smile warming the back of his head. They ate in idle chatter outside on the veranda, listening to the tweeting of the birds and watching the leaves dance in the wind.

"Halt?"

"Yes Will?"

"Thank you."

"For what, for lunch?" Will nodded then paused.

"Well yes lunch, but also for this." he gestured to the green grass in the clearing and to them, bowls balanced in their lap, soaking up the sun. "You gave me a life that a few years ago I could've only dreamt of. And you gave me a family." He smiled wistfully and looked at Halt. "So thank you." Despite the arms of their chairs between them, Halt put his arm around Will.

"Your welcome." No other words were needed and as Halt left to wash the empty bowls, there was only one person on the veranda, but Will couldn't have felt less alone.