Once Abhishek was settled and asleep, he went off to speak with some of the others to let them know he was back and all was most definitely well and the forest would never be troubled again.After that, he finished up a few trades, wrote out notes on things he would need to tell Euclid when he woke, and then returned to his clearing to move some more firewood for Abhishek.
He stacked it all on the side of the house with the rest, easy to get even when the snow was head-high, then went inside.Where, unsurprisingly, Abhishek was fast asleep, not stirring in the slightest.Smiling faintly, Dipak fetched the promised dinner, something that would keep well sitting by the fire, left it there, and went about a last few small chores.
By the time he was finally finished with his day, it was well past dark and his stomach was protesting loudly.After looking in on Euclid and dumping the letters from his former friends on the table in the main room, he finally turned his attention to washing and soaking, enjoying the hot water that eased the soreness of the day, especially as he was still achy and occasionally dizzy from the bond.Euclid hadn't been kidding when he'd said it would take time to settle into place.
Clean, he piled two plates with food, and put those on a tray with a pitcher of ale and some additional bread, and carried all that to the main room.Once the stove was nice and hot, he settled down in his nest of blankets and pillows to eat.
By the time he was finished, he could barely keep his eyes open.He put more wood in the stove, checked in on Euclid one last time, then settled back in his nest to sleep.
Significant snow had fallen when he rose in the morning, heralding that winter would indeed be long and bitter.If he'd been on his own out here, without all the assistance Euclid had offered—the house that Euclid had led him to, he would have been in dire straits, even with his hunting skills.
Once he was dressed, he went around checking on everyone, helping with any minor issues, catching and delivering fresh meat where it was needed.As winter really settled in, though, people would turn more and more to their stores, and the need to hunt would go down drastically.Ideally, he wouldn't be doing much hunting again until late spring, leaving plenty of time for mating, birthing, and growing.The worst thing a hunter could do was think the forest was his pantry to empty as he pleased, forget that carelessness could rapidly deplete an otherwise infinite resource.
After he'd spoken with everyone, and teased Abhishek for sleeping through dinner while they enjoyed lunch, he turned his attention to more mundane chores: making more arrows, doing laundry, chopping wood, and so on.He stopped for a snack that was nearly a proper meal, then did more laundry, cleaned the caves, and checked on everyone one last time before having a brief dinner with Minali.
Still he had more food when he returned to the cave, after his routine of checking on Euclid and bathing.
His days continued to pass much the same, most of his meals spent with Abhishek, Minali, or Pitambar.The snow came and went, until finally a truly ridiculous amount seemed to fall over the forest like a blanket, banishing the last hints of autumn once and for all.
Exhausted beyond all measure after a day spent going back and forth between houses, trading where he felt confident doing so, ever so slowly picking up the intricacies of it all—though still a very long way from Euclid, who seemed to track everything so effortlessly—he tidied up his dinner stuff, built up the stove fire, checked on Euclid, and once more fell asleep almost before he was settled in his little nest.
When he woke, he could somehow tell it was still dark out, that he hadn't been asleep for long, though what exactly tipped it he couldn't say.He yawned and rubbed at his eyes, then looked around to see what had woken him—and broke into a smile as he took in the figure making a pot of tea at the stove."Sleep well, dragon?"
Chapter Fifteen
Euclid smiled warmly, abandoning the stove to join him in the blanket pile, straddling his thighs and wrapping arms around his neck."Better than I have in years.Thank you for attending everything so well.How are you?"He gently touched Dipak's face, reminiscent of someone checking for fever."The bond seems to be nearly settled."
"Is trying to eat three times my weight daily a temporary thing or a new thing I should get used to?"
"Little of both," Euclid said with a delighted laugh."You'll eat more than you did before, but not as much as you are now.The bonding simply requires a great deal of energy.I am sorry I could not explain all of this in better detail before everything happened."
Dipak cupped his face gently and kissed him softly."I've been fine, don't worry about it.Missed you, though.Are you truly fine now?"
"I was sincere when I said I feel better than I have in years.Good as new.How long did I sleep?"
"Eleven days.I honestly thought you'd sleep longer."
Euclid laughed again."That's actually a little longer than I expected."
"Really?Even though you haven't slept properly in so long?"
"Being bonded makes a significant difference."Euclid wrapped his arms back around Dipak's neck and kissed him again, this time with clear intent.They had much to talk about, but nothing that couldn't wait until after Euclid had fucked him.
And seen his little surprise.
His heart raced as Euclid grabbed the ends of his shirt and yanked it off—and he nearly stopped breathing at the look of heated want that filled Euclid's face.
Euclid's voice was hoarse as he said, "You did it.I can't believe…" Growling, he shoved Dipak down into the nest and got his mouth on them, tonguing the rings, his nipples, then getting one ring in his teeth and pulling.
Dipak groaned, one hand flailing out to grab something, anything, the other wrapping around the back of Euclid's head to keep him there, lavishing attention where Dipak had always enjoyed it, and so much more now, fuck.No wonder Minali had giggled so much; she'd known exactly what he was doing in a way he didn't.
He nearly came just from that overstimulation, but eventually Euclid pulled back so they could remove the rest of their clothes.Then Euclid pushed him back down, tossing pillows aside when they tried to get in the way."Why are you sleeping out here?"
"I slept in bed a few times, but I didn't want to risk waking you up."
"You'd have to try very,veryhard to wake me up when I'm sleeping like that.I'd rather you be close, even if you did."Euclid kissed him, then put his mouth to work elsewhere, making him scream, leaving his nipples red and sore in the most delightful, horribly distracting way.They were definitely going to keep being a distraction while he was working, but oh what a problem to have.
Much as he would love to return the ardent attention by getting his mouth on Euclid's cock, right then all he wanted was to be filled.
