But that wouldn’t be professional.
Not that pressing his erection against the other man while ‘teaching’ him to grip an axe was professional, either.Professional porn star, maybe, his brain tacked on. He flushed mildly, his grip tense on the axe haft as he offered it back to Felix.
“Haha, no, I think I’m good!” Felix waved his hands in defense, refusing the weapon. “I’ll just be your good little log-stacking bitch over here and watch you work.”
Aspen’s mouth twitched into a grin. He liked the thought of Felix being his ‘good little’ anything.Well THAT’S professional!He sighed.
“If you’re sure,” he managed, without any innuendo whatsoever. Felix nodded, backing away another step to clear the chopping area. “I appreciate your help with the stacking. It is my least favourite part.”
Felix smiled and started hefting already-chopped logs into the cart.
“Well it’s the least I can do since you just gave me that lesson and all,” Felix babbled. His babbling trailed off as Aspen removed his coat, revealing the fit form beneath. Felix flicked his eyes away quickly as he found himself checking for a trouser bulge.
For a while it was comfortably quiet between the two of them. The falling snow insulated their little area, making thethwock! of the axe blade biting into the wood and the shufflingclonksof Felix’s wood stacking echo dully off the trees around them. Neither of them noticed the snow falling harder, but eventually Aspen paused & the muffled quiet of the winter weather surrounded them completely.
The snow cathmmm’d happily. Helovedfresh snow!
He turned towards Felix, his rounded ears perking in the other cat’s direction. He smiled widely, watching the other man poke at his stack of wood in the cart. The other shifter was muttering to himself, shifting bits of wood this way and that. He jumped when Aspen lay a hand on his shoulder.
“HOLY HECKBALLS!” Felix didn’t shout, but the words definitely came out as an expletive. He put a dramatic hand over his heart, turning in Aspen’s direction. “Don’tdothat, you sneaky bastard!”
Aspen’s eyebrows launched into his hairline, surprise on his features.
“Ah, my apologies, I did not mean to startle you!”
“Yeah, well, you’rereallyquiet,” Felix muttered, glaring at the wood in the cart before giving it a final shove. He sighed, annoyed and gestured at the logs. “I can’t get any more in here! They just won’t sit right!”
Aspen looked at the OCD stack of carefully layered wood Felix had created in the cart. His mouth twitched.
“You did it perfectly; far better than I would have!”
Felix rolled his eyes, “Yeah, sure.”
Aspen frowned at the self-deprecating wave-off, but was distracted from replying by the other cat shivering as he swiped snow out of his bangs. Felix sniffled. Aspen’s chest tightened in worry.
“Are you cold?” he asked the other man, tension lacing his voice.
“Always,” Felix grinned at him for a moment. “But for real, I’d be happy if you told me it was time to go back inside and not move for like…ever…”
Aspen frowned, then reached for his discarded coat, shaking the snow off & pulling it around Felix’s shoulders. Felix flushed as the action brought them extremely close together once more. He found he was having trouble meeting the snow leopard’s gaze and muttered something unintelligible, even as he pulled the second coat tighter around his shoulders.
Before he could stop himself, Aspen caught & tilted the chin of the other were-cat, forcing his gaze up, gently.
“You did not have to stay out here for so long. Next time, pleasetell mewhen you are getting cold, hm?”
Felix let out a little huffing laugh, but looked away from that burning, blue gaze quickly. “Sure. ‘Next time’.”
Aspen’s expression remained tight, but the other man gave him no chance to respond. Felix simply stepped away, readjusting the second coat over his shoulders, and walked towards the front of the cart. Aspen joined him silently, tucking his axe into the side of the neatly stacked wood pile. He wiped his expression clean and gave Felix a clear smile.
“Shall we?” he asked as they each picked up a cart handle & began the snowy trudge back to the bed & breakfast.
A little time passed before Aspen gave Felix the excuse of ‘needing to break up the snow for the cart wheels’, and forced the other were-cat to walk ahead of him, kicking snow out of the walk. Aspen sighed with relief that it worked. Felix wasterribleat pulling the cart. Aspen wasn’t angry about it, but he didn’t want to have to come right out and say “You suck, stop pulling.” That seemed rude.
They walked on & Aspen could actively see Felix getting more and more tired. And grumpy. The cat had added a large amount of muttered bitching with each kick of snow on the path, and Aspen suspected hunger was the culprit. He put down the cart & called to Felix.
“Shall we hunt?” he asked as the other cat walked back towards him.
“Hunt?” Felix’s confusion was apparent.
