“A house husband? Never knew I wanted such a thing, but now that you mention it...” Blue was grabbing the leftover stew from the fridge, thick and congealed together now due to the low temperature. He used a spoon to scoop out large chunks, getting as much meat as he could for the hungry wolves. Laughter danced at the edge of his tongue at Sig's teasing, as did the desire to explain himself. “Sigrun, you think I gave Eivind my ass just because he bought me a couple new couches?” he gasped, feigning offense. He placed a hand on his chest, fingers splayed out while a pseudo-shocked expression claimed his face. “I'll have you know that Eivind bought me the entire living room set. And a really nice bottle of red wine. Goes great with beef. You can have some if you want.” Blue grinned, lazily pointing to a half-empty opened bottle sitting on one of the kitchen counters.<br/><br/>Quick fingers flicked the knobs on the gas stove, a few loud clicks filled the kitchen before gentle flames ignited. “Hope you guys don't mind me warming this up on the stove. Tastes better than if you do it in the microwave,” Blue explained, his nose scrunching up in mild displeasure as he spoke. Little Bird and Chrysanthemum had always called him crazy for his dislike of the microwave, telling him that a heat source was a heat source and most things tasted just the same. Whether delusional or simply finicky, Blue had always disagreed, claiming there was a distinct<i>off</i>-ness to certain foods when thrown into the microwave. Regardless, this was his house now, and he was free to heat things up however he liked even if it took a bit longer. Blue was hardly ever in a rush these days.<br/><br/>“Take your time,” Stellan interjected, giving the human a curt nod before directing his eyes to Sig. The little wolf seemed ecstatic to be with his friend again, and from the stories he had told him in the cave Stellan got the impression Sig was extremely fond of Blue. Even Eivind, though perhaps to a lesser extent. If anything, Eivind's dedication to Blue was just enough to warrant Sig's playful affection, and Eivind seemed to return the fondness in his own gruff way. Stellan was happy to remain quiet as the two friends caught up, and Sig exploded into a rush of words that Stellan could probably make out if he bothered paying much attention to them. His little vacation in the cave with Sig had shown him the Swedish wolf could talk for a<i>long</i>time if he wanted to about anything and everything, but Stellan didn't mind. Sig always filled in the gaps of their conversation when Stellan didn't have much to add, and from the smile on Blue's face it seemed the young man didn't find fault with Sig's loquaciousness either.<br/><br/>Eivind's company at the table was unexpected but not unwelcome. The alpha wolf pushed aside pretenses and niceties, quickly getting to the point. Stellan listened and nodded, his body loose and face inexpressive. He wasn't really intimidated by Eivind while the wolf was still in his injured state, he simply wanted to play nice with Sig's friends, especially has his brothers had brutalized one of them so horrifically. “I understand,” Stellan replied plainly, looking straight into Eivind's brown eyes, though not disrespectfully. “Look, I really like Sig. I'm not looking to do anything that's gonna upset 'im, and I'm not trying to get you or your boy... you or<i>Blue</i>into trouble.” Stellan was doing his best to remember that Blue wasn't simply defined by his relationship to Eivind, or even Sig. The human had made it perfectly clear that he was his own person despite his affiliations, and Stellan couldn't be sure whether his sensitivities transferred over to his lupine mate.<br/><br/>Blue was stirring the stew, ensuring no part of the gravy or any of the meat chunks were left chilled. The congealed together vegetables were slowly loosening up, and Blue couldn't stop himself from stealing glances over his own shoulder to the wolves at the table. Though he couldn't hear what they were saying, Eivind's body language didn't give him any immediate concerns. He knew how quickly that could change due to Eivind's somewhat tempestuous nature, but he didn't believe Stellan would do anything to invoke an aggressive response from his lover. Eivind was grumpy, but he wouldn't outright attack anyone unless he believed them to be a direct threat to his young mate, something Stellan had done his best to prove he wasn't.<br/><br/>“I guess having someone to give us a heads up wouldn't be terrible,” Blue mused softly, bringing a bit of stew up to his lips to check the temperature. Almost there. “I think if no one has come looking for us yet, they're not going to anytime soon. But it's always good to be careful.” Though Blue spoke with an easy confidence, the pit of his stomach rolled and gurgled at the thought of Lofgren finding him again. His heart felt like it was being squeezed by an angry fist as he dug through a drawer to find the ladle, fingers trembling.<br/><br/><i>He's never going to know. It's been months. He doesn't care about you now. None of them do. Vin wouldn't let anyone hurt you. </i>Though a fight between Eivind and Lofgren would never turn out in Eivind's favor unless the larger alpha was severely handicapped, and the knowledge that there wasn't a wolf he'd encountered as big and strong as Lofgren left his breath shaky as he spooned heaping portions of stew into bowls.<br/><br/>The bowls were set down on the table along with a couple of spoons. Though no longer fresh out of the oven, Blue even had a few leftover biscuits to offer the wolves so he placed those down on the table as well as they still tasted good and hadn't gone stale yet.<br/><br/>As Sig and Stellan settled into their meals, Blue tugged at Eivind's wrist, pulling him to the far corner of the kitchen where he could whisper into his mate's ear.<br/><br/>“I'm feeling a little cooped up,” he admitted, hands wringing themselves together as he looked down at his lover. “Would you maybe want to go out? Like, to play our game? Hide and seek or something? We can work out your leg a little bit and maybe some fresh air will be nice.” He spoke as if he and Eivind didn't already spend the vast majority of their time outside on their porches, but he only wanted to distract himself and get his mind off of Lofgren and the rest of that monstrous pack.