Hamish woke up to the smell of cooking meat and a chill in the air. Duran was still asleep, but his body always radiated warmth.

Hamish could find happiness just about anywhere, but he craved the excitement of the unknown. Simon didn’t really understand that. He had his husband and his child and, once he had a home again, he would be content spending his days planting vegetables and checking crab pots. He appreciated peace in a way Hamish couldn’t. Hamish would rather die young than grow old quietly.

Duran took a deep breath in and let it out as he stretched.

“Good morning,” Hamish said.

“Mmh,” Duran responded.

“You still good?”

Duran rolled onto his back and rubbed his eyes. “Please stop worrying about me. It’s very annoying.”

Hamish let out a huff of laughter. “Fair enough. It doesn’t mean I think you’re weak or anything, you know.”

“Well I don’t see you going to check in on the emotional well-being of that orc who sucked you off, so it means something, doesn’t it?”

“It means you’re my friend. Almost family, since Simon is like a brother to me and Danya is like a brother to you. But I get your point. You don’t like it. I’ll stop”

Duran let out a deep sigh. “Sorry. Acting like this probably doesn’t really do a great job of convincing you that I’m not that sensitive.”

“See, that’s kind of why I’m cautious. I know you’re worried about how I might see you, and that could lead to you hiding your feelings. But if I deal with that by being careful with you, it just becomes a cycle.”

“Just let me worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

“I’ll try.” Hamish sighed. “I guess we should get up. Think you can make me very warm so I don’t freeze as soon as I get out from under here to grab my clothes?”

“Of course.”

When they left the hut, they found Slone already up and chatting with the orcs. He was holding a large bone with most of the meat gnawed off.

“Venison for breakfast!” Slone announced when he saw them. “Eat as much as you can. Orcs respect a good appetite and we gotta take our free meals where we can get ‘em.”

“It’s not that far to the coast, is it?” Duran asked. “And then… well, I’ve never sailed before, but I imagine it’s faster than walking. It shouldn’t take us longer than our supplies will last to get home, should it?”

“Shouldn’t do,” Slone said. “But we shouldn’ta ended up out here, right? I don’t make plans mostly ‘cause I’m bad at sticking to ‘em, but this world sure don’t help. Gotta be prepared for whatever might happen.”

“The orcs have treated us well,” Duran said. “I appreciate it.”

“Very well,” Hamish added with a smirk. “Get me some of that meat.”

Once they were done eating, it was time to gather their belongings and head back out into the big, cold world. Hamish was standing by the fire, trying to figure out how to layer his shirts to keep himself as warm as possible, when the orc who had sucked him off yesterday approached and held out a fur coat.

“For me?” Hamish asked as he took the coat.

“Stay warm,” the orc said.

Hamish put the coat on and moved his arms around to test the fit. It was very warm. “Thank you. It fits well.”

“For children,” the orc explained.

“Right. I can’t imagine it would fit you. You’re a very large man.”

“You are very man man,” the orc said, patting Hamish on the shoulder.

"Thank you?" Hamish said, unsure of how to interpret the comment.

“Go this way,” the orc said, pointing.

Hamish got out his compass and lined it up with the direction the orc was indicating. North east. Hamish nodded. “What’s that way?”

“Man man,” the orc said, and then he walked off without further clarification.

Duran stepped up beside Hamish and looked down at the compass. “Are those directions we should follow?”

Hamish shrugged. “I’m a little curious. I have been described as very man man and then told there’s more man man in that direction. I have to know.”

“Might as well,” Slone said. “Orcs ain’t exactly book smart, but they know about survival, and that one likes you enough that I don’t reckon he’d send you somewhere bad.”

As they left the orc village, Cookie was nowhere to be seen, but she had disappeared and reappeared a few times before, so it was likely that she was still following them. 

The fur coat was so warm that, after a while, Hamish undid the ties on the front so he wouldn’t overheat. Not freezing his ass off definitely made for a much more pleasant walking experience, even if it did mean that he no longer had an excuse to get in Duran’s personal space all the time.

Even in human form, Slone could have covered ground twice as fast as Hamish or Duran, but he didn’t let their slow pace bother him. He followed scents, explored animal dens, and brought them interesting feathers and animal bones he found.

It was mid-afternoon when Slone slowed his pace and frowned deeply. “Think I smell human.”

Hamish’s eyebrows lifted. “You think so, huh?”

Slone managed a half-smile. “Not you. The places humans live have a smell to ‘em, same as anything else. Smells like settled humans.”

“Man man,” Duran said. “That’s what the orc said Hamish was, and what he pointed us towards. We should have guessed.”

“Kinda just wouldn’t expect humans to be around here,” Slone said. “Just about anything else, sure, but humans? Bit strange.”

“Should we check it out?” Hamish asked.

Duran shrugged, but the tight-lipped expression on his face suggested he wasn’t keen on the idea.

“I want to,” Slone admitted. “Feels like the sorta thing that can’t just be left unknown, right? Kinda matters how they ended up out here and if they got links to the rest of the humans.” 

Duran’s arms were firmly crossed over his chest. “What happens if they take one look at me and decide I’m their property?”

“They’d have to go through me first,” Slone said. “An’ Cookie. I’m sure she’s lurking around here somewhere. She had a huge meal last night, so she’s got enough energy to drop a few humans if she needs to.”

“And me,” Hamish said. “Admittedly, I’m not quite as impressive, but one thing I know I’m pretty good at is fighting other humans. I was trained to fight vampires. Compared to that, other humans aren’t much of a challenge.” 

Duran set his bag down, got out his knife, and tucked it into the waistband of his pants. “We’ll keep going, then. I’ll admit, I’d also like to know what humans are doing out here.”

Though Duran had agreed to continue on, he still seemed uneasy, scanning the trees and constantly checking his knife was still in place. He hadn’t looked nearly as troubled by those tall creatures or the orcs.

Hamish could hardly blame him, of course. Nothing had hurt Duran more than humans. And yet, Hamish was a human, and Duran had seemed to accept that from the start. Even Fanner, as polite as he had been, had clearly been anxious around Hamish and Simon at first.

But Duran wasn’t Fanner. He wasn’t Danya or Cailan either. He was a bit like Lucas. More than anything, though, he was his own person. They all were. Trying to take shortcuts to understanding him would only cause more trouble.