"This isn't quite what I imagined, no, but I can't say that I dislike it," Blue replied, offering Eivind a smile as they trekked through the dense forest, weaving through families of evergreens that seemed to stretch impossibly high up into the sky. Blue was a hiker, he had always been a hiker. The designated public trails that surrounded the outskirts of the forests had grown dull for Blue a long time ago, and he had satisfied his need for solitary adventure by hiking through nonexistent pathways where few other humans had traveled. Wandering through the forests now, with Eivind confidently leading the way, was nothing less than a dream come true for the mercurial nature lover. He only wished that this trip had been of their own choice, and not something made by necessity. Had the two the opportunity to properly plan, they could have made this a real hiking trip, like the ones his parents use to take him and his sisters on before they got too busy with their careers. As it was now, their travels were an escape, an attempt at running away from everything that threatened them--or, more accurately, everything that threatened Blue.<br/><br/>Eivind confirmed that there were other predators and dangers out there for them to be wary of, and Blue nodded slowly, following the wolf across a small stream and leaping to the other side. "I have no intention of straying from you," Blue said, and he meant it. His history of attempting to run away from werewolves certainly wasn't good by any means, but this time there was no doubt that the wolf next to him was far more of an asset and necessary part of his survival than a threat. He jerked his head toward Eivind when the wolf spoke again, shrugging his shoulders lightly in response. "Excuse me for thinking that maybe two people who are supposed to be together should know something about each other," Blue replied irritably. He tried not to focus on Eivind's nonchalant tone, as he recognized that the wolf hadn't meant his words to be a slight. He was doing something incredible for Blue, and to get caught up on semantics seemed not only unnecessary, but childish. Regardless, Blue still gave the wolf a side glance before continuing to trudge forward.<br/><br/>The hours stretched on as Eivind pushed them forward deeper and deeper into the forest. Blue was managing to keep up well enough, especially on an empty stomach, but by the time they finally settled, the sun at the edge of the horizon and the clouds quickly descending upon them, the young man was feeling rather tired and in dire need of some rest. It was disheartening then when the rain seemed to sneak up on them, taking the two males by surprise and instantly soaking them to the bone, causing them to abandon their initial camping spot and search for something a bit drier. They finally found a thick, gigantic evergreen with low, tightly grouped branches that protected them well enough from the water. Both of them had dumped their bags on to the ground, and the wolf grumbled in irritation.<br/><br/>"It's okay," Blue said gently, his eyes on the ground, moving quickly as if he were searching for something. "It's okay, this is . . . We can make this work." He bit his lower lip as he turned his head toward another tree, one that seemed to have a lot of discarded debris and pine needles resting at its base. "Just stay here, okay? Do me a favor and dig a hole, as close to the base of the tree as you can. Not too deep. I didn't pack a shovel so you might need to shift." Without waiting for confirmation from Eivind, Blue reached down into the bag Eivind had been carrying and pulled out the large knife he had packed, then pushed through the pouring rain to the other tree he had spotted.<br/><br/>Blue was gone for a few minutes, collecting giant handfuls of dead pine needles and twigs of various thickness, though all were approximately the same length. When his arms were full, he would return, dump all he had collected next to the tree where Eivind was, and then venture out into the rain once more. After repeating this process a few times, Blue returned and began hacking at the driest side of the tree with the tip of the knife, pulling off strips of thick red bark. "Fuck, some of this is too wet," he mumbled to himself, stretching out his arms to feel around the trunk until he found a few relatively dry areas where the lower branches were thickest. He removed as much bark as he could, sometimes using his fingers to pry the pieces from the trunk. He sliced up his fingers a bit in doing so but the cuts were minor so he wasn't too concerned.<br/><br/>Some of the low branches had thinner, weak fingers jutting from them. Blue jumped up to grab at these, snapping off many of them and shaking the larger branch in response. When he had finally finished collecting all of this branches, he knelt down beside the hole Eivind had dug for him and began laying a thin layer of twigs at the bottom in a crosshatch pattern. He then dumped the pine needles and various kindling bits on top of the twig bed, constructed a teepee-like structure with more thin twigs, and then a larger teepee with the branches he had torn off around that. He was meticulous in his placement of the wood, careful not to let his drenched clothing drip onto his work. When he was satisfied, he grabbed the box of matches out of their supply bag, thankful that they managed to stay dry during the downpour.<br/><br/>It took Blue four tries for the kindling to begin to smoke, and his cool, careful blows to entice the flames, but his efforts wore off, and soon enough the kindling and fuel began to crackle. "There, fire!" Blue exclaimed, sitting back onto his heels as he stared at the awaking glow. "My dad used to take us camping all the time when we were kids," he said lightly, slowly standing up and bringing the rest of the kindling and fuel to the fireside so they could dry out as much as possible. Blue had used the driest bits up already. "He's a real hard ass. Used to drill into us how to start a fire with only the most basic essentials. I never did quite learn how to start one with just flint and steel, but as long as I have matches I can usually get something going. We're lucky. The rain is heavy but there isn't much wind. You would have had to dig the hole deeper, and there's less of a chance I would have found anything even semi-dry to work with."<br/><br/>He wrapped his arms around himself and shook his head, squeezing at his clothes. "I can't wear these," he complained, pulling the soaked t-shirt up over his head. "It's going to drive me crazy. They might dry better if they're sitting next to the fire, anyway. At least, I can hope. If not, I might have to wait until morning to put them back on." He stretched out the shirt onto the ground as close to the flames as he felt was safe and then undid the button and zipper on his jeans, pulling them down and off of his body, where he then lay them out next to the shirt. Although he hoped that his boxers would be somewhat dry, it seemed that the rain hadn't been negligent. He was completely soaked through. He licked his lips and looked up at Eivind, his damp hair clinging to his forehead. "I might need your help keeping warm tonight," Blue said gently, slowly pushing the wet boxers off of his narrow hips, his eyes never leaving his companion. He set the boxers down hear his pants and stood carefully, his arms close to his body. Although he had been naked in front of Eivind more times than he had been clothed, something about this time,<i>right now</i>felt different. He was not sickly or gravely injured. They were not in the privacy of Eivind's home. They were out in the wilderness, still alone, but exposed. Vulnerable. Something about that vulnerability made Blue nervous and excited all at once, and as his eyes drifted down the wolf's lean form, he couldn't help but mewl just a little under his breath.<br/><br/>"We can cook the meat now, if you want," Blue said, pointing his finger toward the supply bag in an effort to distract himself. "I haven't eaten since yesterday. I'm starving."