No copyright infringement is intended - this is just some extra Malec. Totally harmless.

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Kensington, in northern Indiana, was a small, friendly town where everyone knew everyone else, everyone knew everything about their neighbours and hardly anyone had successfully kept any secrets. There were hikers and a few tourists in the summer - drawn there by the beauty of the forests and the vastness of the hiking trails - but otherwise people rubbed along with each other peacefully.

The last few years, a non-local businessman had bought a good deal of the available property and come to own a large portion of their businesses, until he finally owned most larger companies. It had been very welcome and helpful at first, keeping the local business park alive, but after the third overtake, the mutterings had started.

It was therefore greeted with some suspicion, but mostly by cautious enthusiasm and unbridled curiosity, when he had bought the large lodge at the edge of town and it had become public knowledge that he meant to come live there, at last part of the time, having found himself charmed during his last visit. It was well-known, of course, that he had visited, but almost no one had met him in person.

It was not so strange, then, that the moving company's efforts hardly went unnoticed, after local handymen eagery gossiped about the changes they'd been contracted to make to the house, and by the time a large, modern city jeep pulled up before the house, everyone who could make themselves an excuse to be nearby, was indeed just down the road. Along with quite a few people who could not make an excuse but was there anyway.

The man stepping out of the passenger seat was like he had been described by the few locals who had worked at the right positions at his companies and had been lucky enough to meet him. He was styled almost over-the-top, looking more like a fashion designer than a successful business man. Of course, with that success came the ability to dress exactly like he wanted to.

He was wearing a doubtlessly expensive coat, his hair was layered with colour and an exotic cut, and what could be seen of his clothing was eye-catching indeed.

Stepping out of the car a moment later, from the driver's side, was a younger man with what looked like naturally spiky hair and a black shirt under a black leather jacket. Most of the discreet (and some not so discreet) onlookers first assumed he was just the driver, until the two men shared a kiss while they unloaded a cat carrier and a few (rather large, especially for a furnished house) suitcases and bags, and finally let out a large dog.

Well, a local shop owner thought for himself, as the first man disappeared inside the house with the pets, leaving his younger, blander companion to carry in the suitcases. This promised to be interesting.