Eivind was letting him do as he pleased, and Blue began to enjoy himself a little bit more with each passing second. His body softened and melded into Eivind's, his tongue danced along the edges of the wolf's mouth and his breathing became heavy as their kisses deepened. Eivind's fingers moved along his spine and Blue couldn't help but flex against the touch, little moans escaping his lips, his cock beginning to harden again as his body naturally responded to Eivind's caresses. The erotic moment didn't last long, however. Soon enough, Eivind was gently pushing Blue off of him and slipping away, and all Blue could do was settle back onto the couch and look up at Eivind sadly, his throbbing cock aching for a release it was never going to receive.<br/><br/>"A hunt? Oh, yes, that would be good. Wolves are supposed to run, aren't they? Not stay inside all day playing house." He watched silently as Eivind stripped off his boxers, eyeing the man's lean body and wishing he could simply pull the wolf back down on top of him.<i>No, this is the right decision, no matter what your dick says. Even Eivind thinks it's right . . . You two can't be together, not right now. He's too amped up and you're too . . . </i>What was he? Scared? Maybe. Blue couldn't be sure. All he knew was that whenever Eivind moved too quickly, flashes of pain and terror flooded him and made enjoying their time together virtually impossible. Eivind didn't want that, and he certainly didn't, either. Perhaps with Eivind gone, he could begin to work on managing those memories, finding ways to not have them eat away at him every time Eivind touched him.<br/><br/>When the wolf exited through the door, Blue rushed forward and pressed his face against the window, watching as Eivind quickly shifted and then bounded off the front porch and away from the house. He let out a deep sigh, weighed down by the regret Blue was already beginning to feel bite at the back of his neck. He had no idea how long Eivind would be gone. A few hours? A few days? He hoped it wouldn't be as extensive as that, but it was impossible to know. Perhaps Eivind didn't know either and that was why he neglected to give Blue any kind of time frame. But he had said that Blue would be safe was long as he stayed in the house, and not watching to incur the wrath, or even the curiosity, of any of the other wolves, Blue reluctantly obeyed Eivind's commands and sulked off back to the cans of paint, eager to see how much of each color he had left.<br/><br/>Blue spent the entirety of Eivind's absence lugging paint cans upstairs so he could begin painting the rather dull dresser Eivind had in the bedroom. He had searched all around the house for some kind of tarp he could use to cover the floor but found nothing that would suit his needs. Not wanting to venture outside, Blue pulled one of the pristine white sheets off of the bed and laid it out onto the floor, slowly dragging the dresser on top of it, grunting as he lifted each corner and straining with the effort, hoping Eivind wouldn't be mad once he saw his bed sheet covered in paint. If Eivind knew what he was up to, he knew the wolf would be furious with him. He wasn't supposed to be doing any hard physical labor. It was far too soon for him to be moving heavy furniture, and there was still the possibility of tearing the healing wound at his side if he strained himself too hard. After popping a couple of pain pills and moving things as carefully as he could, Blue managed to get the sheet underneath the dresser without incident.<br/><br/>"What am I going to do with you?" he said himself, taking stock of what he had left to work with. The blues were almost out, save for the lightest, a pleasant sky blue that Blue found appealing, but it wasn't enough to cover the whole piece of furniture. Many of the brighter colors Blue had used for the stairs, and now the majority left were earthy tones, browns and greens and a deep yellow that reminded him of a goldfinch. Blue's head tilted to the side as he focused on that yellow, and that image of the goldfinch, sitting on a long, twisted branched that reached up from the bottom of the dresser like a gnarled witch's finger.<i>Of course.</i><br/><br/>Blue didn't sleep once while Eivind was gone. He focused on the dresser and nothing else. He covered the entire piece in a light base coat, not making it too thick as he liked the way the natural wood peaked through the paint, giving the dresser a unique distressed look that fit his vision for something antique-looking. When the thin layer of paint had dried, Blue went about painting a series of thin, reaching branches that sprouted from the bottom of the dresser and stretched all the way to the top, dotting the branches with small bunches of light greenish-yellow leaves. When he was satisfied with the winding brown fingers, he set about painting birds of all kinds, sitting in the crooks of the branches or gliding down from some unseen nest. The birds were all from memory, and he wasn't even sure if he was getting all of the colors and marking correct, but he hoped it would turn out all right regardless. A goldfinch, a robin, a bluejay, a woodpecker. These were just some of the birds Blue could picture in his mind's eye, and he delicately replicated their image onto the dresser.<br/><br/>He was putting the finishing touches on an airborne sparrow when he finally heard the door open and footsteps walk across the living room. He had no idea how much time had passed, it could have been from one hour to six, but he didn't care, all that mattered to him was that Eivind was home. He carelessly dropped his brush into his bowl of water and descended down the stairs, rushing into the kitchen, ready to throw his arms around the wolf and welcome him back. "Eivind," he said breathlessly as he moved across the threshold, a grin on his face, but he stopped a few feet away when he noticed that the older male was covered in blood and grime.<br/><br/>"Holy shit," he said, his face dropping as he examined Eivind with his eyes. "I hope none of that is yours." He pulled back and crossed his arms over his chest. He didn't see any great wounds on him, so he had to assume that whatever Eivind had killed, it had been big. "Hunt was successful, I'm guessing?" he asked curiously, a shy smile on his face as he suddenly realized that he hadn't bothered to put on any clothes since Eivind's departure.<br/><br/>He looked down at the kitchen floor and licked at his lips, an idea bursting forth in his mind that he hadn't considered up until that moment. "Eivind, I know you said that you didn't want me wandering around by myself, but would it be all right if maybe I went outside with you?" he proposed, lifting his eyes to gaze at him once more. Although the wolf was shorter than Blue was, his commanding presence always made Blue feel as if he were looking up at him, even if that physically wasn't the case. "I've been cooped up in here for how many days now? I like your house, Eivind, I do, but I'm starting to feel a little claustrophobic, y'know? I mean, I can walk by myself now. And the pain meds and antibiotics have me feeling much better than I was when you brought me here." He took a few careful steps forward, not wanting Eivind to deny him, knowing very well that he might get overprotective and decline. "You said I was safe here, right? And I'm your mate? So none of the rest of pack will bother me as long as I'm with you. Maybe . . . maybe we could visit Synnove? She did say that I could visit if I wanted, but I've been locked up here the whole time and haven't been able to see her."<br/><br/>Blue hadn't considered it while Eivind was gone, he had been too distracted by painting; but now that he saw him there, evidence of his life outside of his cabin, Blue felt a strange yearning to be free of this guilded cage. At least for a short while.<br/><br/>"Please? Just for a little bit?"