~ Marcus with the others ~<br/><br/>The banter around the table had been nice, everyone relaxing just a little bit more with each moment that they spent together.   It had been said through the centuries that you could learn a lot about a person by what they ate but if that was true, Marcus didn’t know what to make of it.  It was clear that people went for efficiency, for taste, and in Bo’s case, for survival.  He hadn’t gone into detail of course but Marcus was smart enough to put two and two together; the man’s military experience clearly had put him in situations that were not considered normal by the average person so it stood to reason that what he’d eaten while on missions was probably out of the norm too.  It wasn’t something he could understand first hand since he’d never had any military experience of his own but he’d seen enough survival shows on TV to at least get a glimpse into Bo’s life.  What he saw simply increased his admiration of the man because it was clear that his participation in the experience could not have been an easy decision for him.  Nodding to himself, Marcus made a mental note to continue to get to know Bo better over the next few months.<br/><br/>The minute everyone had finished eating, almost like clockwork, Cathy came through the door and announced it was time for the tour of the day to day operations of the castle.  This next step in their transition was one that would call on his acting skills again; since the castle was his, he was already intimately familiar with its layout.  The kitchen itself was spacious but offered nothing of interest to Marcus for the most part so he tuned it out, simply listening and nodding at the appropriate moments.  His mood didn’t change in the laundry room either though he grew a little antsy in the mud room when he realized he hadn’t cleaned up his boot prints from his earlier inspection of the castle before everyone had arrived last night.  Glancing up, his gaze fell on Nicci and he saw the glare she tossed him, almost as if she knew something was up.  He simply met it with a small smile, as if to say without words that he was guilty as charged.  The rest of the tour passed uneventfully as they moved through the castle, learning far more than Marcus wanted to know about its operations.  It wasn’t that he was the stuffy snotty type who expected to be waited on hand and foot – that was definitely not the kind of man he was – but more that he liked to figure that kind of stuff out on his own instead of being told.  His mother had always tried to teach him growing up but he’d continually frustrated her by his need to learn from experience.  It brought a smile to his face now and he tried to pay more attention as a result.<br/><br/>When it came time for the outdoor tour, Marcus happily donned the funny boots they’d been given, along with his winter coat, and trooped outside with the rest.  As a boy growing up, he’d learned to appreciate the outdoors and that had only grown when he’d gone to college.  Hours of practices out on the field had given him a great respect for the sun, the rain, and the wind and he missed it whenever he was indoors for long periods of time.  Though he’d never chopped wood or raised animals before, he was actually looking forward to that phase of the experiment.  A little honest hard work never hurt anyone and he knew it would be good to get outside and face a challenge, to reach a new level of commitment and strength that he’d been missing in his life up to that point.    The tour was finally completed and they re-entered the castle to get warmed up, all of them slowly drifting to the dining room table and the hot coffee and cookies that awaited them.  He accepted the hot mug of liquid that Nicci passed him and felt a tingle shoot through his body when their fingers touched.  He answered it with a warm smile and a thank you then sat back to listen to what everyone had to say.  Bo had opened the discussion, his comment realistic and forthcoming, traits he had come to associate with the man in the short time he’d known him.  It was Mari that responded first, her answer betraying her nervousness though she recovered quickly and gave a laugh.  He couldn’t blame her for feeling nervous, it was all a bit overwhelming, though he personally wasn’t really feeling out of sorts.  It helped that he’d had prior knowledge of everything, had planned it all out in fact, and thus had been able to come to grips with it long before now.  Nicci followed, taking on a role that surprised Marcus completely, suddenly becoming the comforter, that person who reached out to the others and provided solace.  This time it was with the proclamation, or perhaps reminder would be better, that they were all a team and would together to make it happen, a notion that he nodded to in response.<br/><br/>Mila came next and he listened carefully to her comments, already feeling a bond with her that didn’t exist with the others.  What he heard brought a frown to his face; though she’d said all the right words, her body language screamed just the opposite and for the first time, he wondered what was going on inside her head.  He started to think about it for a moment but paused when David spoke next, his honesty coming across as very appealing.  As silence settled over the room then, Marcus knew it was his time to speak and so, after gathering his thoughts, he leaned forward.  “Everything I’ve just heard from each of you makes me feel really good” he said.  Glancing at Mari, he smiled and continued.  “I think we’re all nervous to some degree and there’s nothing wrong with that.  Doing what we’re doing, what we’re trying to achieve, is hard enough; adding in the responsibilities of the castle just makes it worse.  Personally, I don’t expect perfection from any of you because lord knows I’m not.  I’ve never swung an ax in my life or took care of animals so I’m sure I’ll fail miserably my first few times at that.”<br/><br/>He paused then to take a sip of his coffee before going on.  “Here’s the thing though – we are here because we want to be here, not because we’ve been forced into it.  I’d love the Bahamas also” he said, glancing at Mila with another smile “but I suspect this castle was chosen so we’d have a chance to get to know each other without the distractions of “normal” life.  Sure, it’s going to be hard work and some of us are better suited to it than others possibly but we all have strengths and weaknesses in different areas.  The whole point of being a team, a family, is to help and support each other.  We’re doing that now just by having this conversation.  So maybe we should focus less on our worries and more on our future.  We’re in this together.  Let’s not forget that.”  With that, he sat back, realizing that he’d been preaching more than talking, and he grinned.  His old days of being the quarterback of the football team, completely in charge, had come to the forefront it seemed.  To help ease the sting of his words, he grinned and glanced at the guys.  “Oh, and I strongly recommend that when we’re chopping wood, you guys give me a really, really wide berth.  I’d hate to cause an accident and put those first aid skills to the test so soon.”  Turning to each of the ladies next, he smiled again.  “And if I accidentally bring sheep and chicken poop into the house on my boots, you have my full permission to throw it at me.”  Sitting back then, he grew quiet, sipping his coffee and taking a bite of one of the cookies.<br/>