The two hour long car ride was quiet, calming... but ultimately peaceful. He looked over at the Gallic woman who was sound asleep in the passenger seat. He assumed she was exhausted from the patrol they had recently finished, and must have passed out somewhere along the car ride to the Ranch. He smiled briefly at the woman before turning his attention back towards the 'road.'

The sun was just setting on the horizon as the car sped past a tree line, which had originally blocked the glare from the sun. This caused him to bring his hand up and flip down the visor. In the distance, he could see the sign above the road that had marked the gateway into family held land, beyond that was where the small ranch house and garage rested, and a twenty minute walk beyond that... was an even smaller building, a lake house, which had been built next to a large lake.

The fields around the now dirt path had been mowed and the few trees had been pruned neatly. A clear sign that someone had been taking care of the place, despite Austin's lack of free time due to deployments. The only reason it was kept this way during his long deployments was because of a deal he brokered with the Green Front, a political party that he's a member of and who he supports. The deal? The Green Front could use the lands his family owned to teach students of various ages about environmental safety while he was away on long deployments. Thus far, it had worked out beautifully. Well... beautifully enough, anyways.

He pulled the car up towards the ranch house, waiting for it to settle before turning the engine off. He looked over at the sleeping woman, and past her towards the house, and smiled softly.

The house itself was small. Two bed rooms, one bath, and it was complete with it's own wine cellar located underneath the building itself. Cozy enough for a family of four, and spacious enough for one. Even though that was all about to change.

Sophie had explained to him her situation during the meetings they had, and how she wanted to get away from all of it - the war, Gallia, her past. Although he didn't exactly defect from the Armed Forces, he was sympathetic towards her, as he knew what it felt like to have no where to go and no one to turn to. He felt sorry for her and had offered her a place to stay, and be protected, while she began earning Bretonia's trust. A task she had also quickly jumped on, having been recently accepted into the Armed Forces as an Ensign, and placed directly... under his care.

His gaze rested back on the sleeping woman.

"Sophie, wake up, we're here." He said in a gentle tone, his right hand resting on her shoulder, lightly shaking her while his left hand unlocked the car doors.

After all these tiring and exhausting days, Sophie finally managed to find some sleep. But she never expected to fall asleep in Austin's car. She felt safe and comfortable when she was near him. For the first time in her life she had someone she trusted and enjoyed spending time with.

Once they have reached the ranch and Austin shook her shoulder lightly, she opened her eyes, rubbed them and stretched out her arms, which turned out to be more difficult in a car than she thought.

"Are we there yet?" She said with barely opened eyes. It took a few minutes until she finally had her eyes opened. She looked around and noticed the beautiful environment around her. The Ranch was practically the first thing that caught the sight of her eyes.

She marveled breathless at the view and said with lowered voice "This place is beautiful, there's no way I can have any regrets now." She slowly turned her head around and looked at Austin with a smile on her face.

"I guess it is time to get settled in, oui?" She said with a nod as she opened the door of the car to get out.

As soon as she was outside, she took in a deep breath and closed her eyes to feel the cold wind on her skin. That is what she always did when she was outside, even back then in Gallia. She enjoyed the nature, the wilderness and especially a cold morning breeze.

She opened her eyes again and turned around to look at Austin, who already was about to grab Sophie's items from the trunk.

"Do you need help with that?" She asked with a wide smile on her face.

He smiled softly at her as she stirred from her slumber, letting her become fully aware of her surroundings before smiling again as she looked over at him.

"We're here, and aye, it's time for you to get settled in." He replied when she had asked if they had arrived, after a moment, and watching her get out. He opened his own door and slid out of the car, only to lean in for a second to press a button which popped open the trunk.

After shutting his door, he walked slowly towards the trunk, briefly looking over to observe what she was doing after she had gotten out of the car itself. Once at the trunk, he lifted the hood and started to pull out a couple of bags. It was around that moment he looked over to see her smiling widely and standing next to him, asking if she could help with the bags. He decided to stay quiet and nodded lightly, handing her a couple of bags before taking the rest.

"I'll go ahead of you and unlock the door so we don't have to set your things out here on the porch." He stated, lifting a couple of her bags before stepping past her, "Oh, and don't worry about shutting the trunk, I'll come do that after showing you around."

As he reached the porch, and sat the bags down. He drew in a deep breath and smiled softly. Years of literally living alone or having an occasional friend over would practically be ending today, and with that he was somewhat relieved, despite the circumstances that he was now living with a defector, who - in part - he didn't fully trust yet. At least now, he'd have someone to talk to when he was bored, rather than some stupid recording machine.

Making sure the bags didn't fall over, he proceeded to the door and typed in the security key, then pressed his thumb against the pad itself. He heard the familiar clunk of the lock as it was pulled back from it's secured position, and once that was completed... he pulled open the door, grabbing the bags once more then stepped inside, leaving the door open for her to bring her stuff in.

She was a little surprised as she got handed over a couple of bags. She basically asked that, so that she wouldn't appear to be rude. As soon as he went ahead to unlock the door, she shrugged and followed him with the bags. She nodded when he said not to worry about the trunk and merely smiled as a reply.

Once she was at the door, waiting for him to unlock the door she noticed him drawing in a deep breath. She was unsure how she should react to that. Was it a good sign or a bad one? She didn't knew it.

After he finally typed in the security key, the door opened and he walked in, she followed him quietly with the bags.

She looked around and drew in a deep breath herself. "It has been so long since I have been in a house, especially one I can consider as a home now." She said with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face.

"I still don't know how I can thank you properly for the things you did for me. I am forever in your debt." She closed her eyes as she said that and sighed.

She opened them again to look at him and smiled as she said. "Where to go with those bags?"

"As far as I'm concerned, Sophie, this door will always be open to you. Feel free to call it your home, and you don't need to thank me or be in my debt." He replied, returning a smile back to her as he carried the bags he was holding down the hall way. Thinking that she'd follow, he sat a bag down on the floor before pushing the door to the guest room open, then looked over at her.

"This will be your room, you have a bed, couple of pillows, a dresser... and a nightstand. Do whatever you want with the room, all I ask is that you keep it as clean as possible." He paused, looking around and let out a light laugh - as if almost forgetting something.

"As you can probably see, the front door enters into a hall way straight to the back door. The kitchen is on the left when you enter, and the living room is on the right." He said, pointing to the location as he spoke, then his hand and extended finger moved towards another closed door next to the guest room. "That is the bathroom, shower, toilet, sink, so on. Towels are in the pantry across from the sink." Finally, his hand pointed towards another closed door. "My room."

"All I ask from you is to make sure you clean up any mess that you make, whether it's cooking to eat, or laundry. And not to touch the blue and white book on the bookshelf. Other than that... welcome home. If you get bored, or want to take a swim, I have a lake on the property... all you need to do is follow the path directly to the lakehouse, which happens to have towels in case you forget. Oh, and the backdoor is typically always unlocked." He finished, smiling lightly towards her as he lowered his hand back to his side.