Back Home.

Aodh had been away on the main land with the other pack for days, it was the longest they had been apart since they had met and he was missing the Lycan greatly.

Aeker paced around the kitchen as he busied himself, Aodh was meant to be returning some time tonight and he wanted to have everything ready by the time he got in, he had a surprise for the Wolf.

The Vampire had been cooking all afternoon, using the recipes that Moe had been teaching him.

For the first time in his long life Aeker had baked, that much was evident form the flour that currently dusted his nose.

Potato stew in onion gravy simmered away on the stove while an apple pie was cooking slowly in the oven.

At the moment he could not care less how much Aodh mocked him for being like a wife, he was just excited for him to get home, hopefully not too badly beaten up.

Food.

Like always the pack had run him ragged. He hated going to that pack. At least Zeke was there to get half of the beating this time. He wasn't as bad off as he usually was.

He wasn't as tired as he usually was. He had made Zeke play guard dog when he wanted some sleep. Picking on his nephew was fun at times.

His nose picked up strew and apple pie as he neared the kitchen.

"I don't care who you are, I'm having some of that even if I have to kill you," he called as he walked through the doors.

The Lycan stopped short when he saw Aeker. "...Hi."

Aeker spun around as soon as he heard the sound of Aodh's voice, the Vampire's eyes lit up when landed on the man, he looked exhausted but he was in one piece at least, no torn off limbs or gaping wounds.

"Hi."

He responded simply in reply as the Lycan just looked at him, the death threat made a small smile appear across his lips, well at least Aodh was hungry, as usual Aeker had made an excessive amount of food, more so than usual.

The Vampire pulled out a chair at the table and motioned for the Lycan to sit down, he could only imagine the appetite that the man had at the moment.

"I made you dinner."
He muttered some what shyly as the small smile on his lips widened slightly,

"I can see that."

Instead of sitting down at the seat pulled out for him, Aodh's arms slid around Aeker's neck and he leaned up, tongue running over the flour on Aeker's nose, cleaning it off for him.

"It's all over your face," he chuckled softly, nuzzling his nose against the Vampire's.

Aodh planted a gentle kiss to his lovers lips then smiled. "I'm glad I'm back. I missed you." He didn't like being away from Aeker for long periods of time.

Aeker gave a soft chuckle as the flour was licked off of his nose, he had made a little bit of a mess, he had cleaned up the kitchen but forgotten about himself, though it was all worth it, everything had turned out perfectly.

He rubbed his nose against Aodh's his smile widening until he was practically beaming, he was so glad to have Aodh home safely.

His arms wrapped around him tightly, holding him close as he kissed him back.

"I missed you too, I'm so glad you're home."
He replied, nestling his face in against the Lycan's neck.

Aodh nuzzled against his lover, soft smile curving his lips.

It felt good to be back in Aeker's arms. He'd been gone for nearly a week. He hated leaving for so long.

"Next time I promise I won't be gone so long."

He didn't like having to stay away for so long and he was sure that if he gave the puppy eyes to Alek, he could bolt and leave Alek and Zeke in charge.

"Dinner smells good."

"I'll hold you to that, it was driving me crazy being alone here for so long."

Even his sister had been useless company, she had been too busy chasing after a Lycan of her own to spend much time with him.

He gave Aodh another kiss and pulled away from him, heading back over to the stove.

"Sit down, it's ready now I and I know you must be starving given your earlier death threat."

He replied with a chuckle as he grabbed a large bowl and filled it to the brim with stew and setting it down on the place he had made for Aodh, cutlery and bread already set out on the table.

The Vampire also grabbed a smaller bowl, spooning some stew into it and setting it in the spot across the table from Aodh, a small smile gracing his lips.

Aeker had been really trying to learn to eat solids and a few days ago was the first time he had eaten anything solid that was not blood based without throwing it back up.
As such he was just a little bit excited to be able to eat with Aodh.

"Driving you crazy isn't such a bad thing," he murmured with a small smirk.

The Lycan returned the kiss, tongue flicking over Aeker's lower lip as he pulled away.

"Yes, sir," he chuckled softly, sitting down obediently in the place set out for him, leaning back in his chair to watch the Vampire dole out ...two? bowls of stew. His brows furrowed a little.

He was ambidextrous but he didn't make a habit of eating form two bowls at the same time. He wasn't that much of a pig.

The confused furrow of his brows straightened out when Aeker sat down with the smaller bowl. He was eating solid foods.

"You've been spending a lot of time with Moe," he noted with a small smile. He liked the fact that Aeker could accept the rest of his family as his own and spend some time with them.

The Vampire cut a piece of potato with the end of his spoon before scooping it up and placing it into his mouth, chewing slowly before swallowing it with a small smile.

The first time he had tried to eat solids he had to run out of the room to vomit it back up, as well as the blood he had drunk the night before, luckily Aodh hadn't been around and Moe had been very understanding and hadn't got offended.

"With you lot gone she was by herself so I spent a few days down in the cottage with her."

He replied as he ate a spoonful a gravy to help wash down the potato.

Eating was a slow process for him and he still didn't eat much, baby steps.

He smiled up at Aodh and licked some of the stew from his lips, the Vampire was really quite proud of himself, not many purebloods could boast about being able to eat human food.

Aodh tensed up, staring ahead blankly.

She was by herself... She was alone.

Fuck, how had none of them seen that? Of course she'd be by herself! Zeke guarded her usually and when he didn't, Alek did. With both of them gone and Coilean MIA there had been no one there to protect her.

What could have happened? She could have been attacked or killed or- The colour drained from Aodh's cheeks.

He didn't want to think about it.

The Lycan swallowed thickly then gave Aeker a weak smile as he lifted his spoon to his mouth again.

Aeker had noticed how Aodh's demeanor changed and shook his head, clearly he was only just realizing that they had left Moe alone.

"I watched that cottage like a hawk every night, Aodh, no one went near it."

When Aeker realized that Zeke had gone with them he took it upon himself to watch over her, even if he could only do it during the evenings, it was better than nothing.

Everyone seemed to forget that despite the fact that Moe was young she was a strong young lady, very capable of looking after herself, even if she was pregnant.
Plus, Aeker wasn't about to let something happen to his future nieces and nephews.

"Thank you," he murmured softly.

Aeker was old and strong. He would have made a great guard for Moe. During the night. But what about during the day? She had a habit of wandering off on her own during the day and he was worried something might have happened.

He swallowed again then began eating.

Mind away from that topic. Aeker had been looking after her, she was fine. No troubles, no worried. Everything was fine.

"This is good," he muttered around a mouthful.

"You don't need to thank me, she is my family now too."
He replied, Aeker took care of his family, that much was evident by the way he watched over his sister even throughout her madness.

"I'm glad you're enjoying it."

He replied with a smile and he scooped up another small mouthful, by the time they went of their trip he would be able to eat as if he had been doing it his whole life, hopefully that would make going days on end without blood a little easier for him.

"Quite a bit has been happening since you've been gone."

He replied with a soft smile and he shook his head, grabbing a piece of bread and drowning it in the gravy before eating it.

"How could I not enjoy it? My favourite meal cooked by my little housewife."

He grinned at the Vampire, silver eyes sparkling. He loved teasing Aeker about being the more wifely of the two of them. Aeker was in control; he was the man of the relationship in bed, but otherwise he was very much the housewife that followed lazy Aodh around cleaning after him and cooking for him. It was amusing.

"Things always happen when I'm gone."

He pouted. He always missed the interesting stuff.

Aeker snorted at the use of that pet name, he supposed he had earned it, but that didn't mean he had to enjoy it.

"Well I wouldn't want to disappoint my husband having him come home tired from work by making he cook his own dinner."

He replied with a roll of his eyes, shaking his head softly as he ate another spoonful of stew.

"Mhmm, seems Alexis can't be too cut up about us dating, she has a boyfriend now."

A smile graced his lips and he gave a soft chuckle.

Aodh arched a brow.

"Do you really think I'd be cooking my own meal?" He'd just bully someone else out of their food. That was always the way with him. He knows how to cook and he was a damned good cook but he was just too lazy to cook for just himself.

"She has a boyfriend?" Well well.

He hadn't expected Alexis to find someone she liked so soon after the incident between the three of them.

"I'm glad she's found someone."

"Definitely not, but at least you didn't have to wait for food to be ready."
He replied, happily chewing on his meal, the Vampire was quite fond of food, it was a hassle and took a lot of getting used to but he like the variation in his diet.

Aeker gave a soft laugh.
"I think she has a fondness for Lycan's, first you and now this new guy, I haven't met him yet but she had nothing but good things to say about him."

He gave a soft nod, he agreed, it was about time that his sister found someone, they had both been alone for far too long.

"Aye. I love it when foods sat out waiting for me." He loved knowing that he had someone close that would cook for him.

Aodh's lips twitched. "Of course, us Lycan are irresistible. Haven't you noticed?"

The Lycan gave a cocky grin, silver eyes flashing.

"I'm going to have to hunt this boyfriend down and interrogate him. My sister can only have the best." He had fallen into over protective older brother fairly easily.

"Oh? All Lycan's are irresistible? Here I was thinking it was just you, seems I was wrong in thinking you were special."

He replied with a large smirk, sometimes Aodh just made it far too easy to tease him.

"Scope him out for me, she's not letting me meet him yet but he is in your pack so I sure you'll be able to sniff him out pretty quickly.

I doubt she hangs out with a lot of Lycan so none of them should have her scent on them besides him."

She hadn't even given Aeker a name, only that he was a Lycan.

"Lets just hope this one can handle her, don't want her with a man that will die on her when she's in a bad mood."

"I'm the most irresistible." He stuck his tongue out childishly.

Lycan had a rugged charm about them that was hard fr anyone to resist. They were good lovers and they were good protectors. It just took a little to dig beneath the hard shell they erected.

"I'll hunt him down and interrogate him."

He'd have to. He had to vet everyone his family decided to date.

"I agree."
He replied with a flirty little grin, he had missed Aodh so he saw no harm in stroking his ego a little.

"Try not to scare him away, it's hard enough for Alexis to make friends let alone actually find a boyfriend she doesn't want to drain and leave in a gutter."

He added with a soft sigh, his sister was not the easiest person to get along with.
His brows furrowed slightly as he remembered something.

"When you talk to him for the love of God mention the whole blood poisoning thing, if she gets sick I'll tear him apart."

"How about tonight you show me how irresistible I am?" he purred softly, leering at the Vampire with a little smirk.

Aodh gave a little shrug, pursing his lips as he chased a chunk of potato around his bowl. "I won't make any promises." If Alexis' boyfriend didn't fit the bill, he'd chase him off. Only the best for his family.

The Lycan snorted. "Please, that's one of the first things I was going to mention. Vampire-Lycan relationships hold dangers that both partners have to know about. I'm going to make sure both of them know about it."

He wouldn't let them go on if they didn't know what damage they could cause to each other.

"I had planned on it, if you can stay awake that long, once you are properly fed that is."
He replied, giving the Lycan a little smirk of his own.

"Just keep in mind that she may be your sister now too but she is far from perfect, everyone has faults, he will be no different."

He smiled at Aodh warmly, he was more of a protective brother than he was, granted he had lived with Alexis for much longer, he knew that a lot of the time she didn't need protection.

"That's good, though I suppose we can't really be role models in that department, can we..."

He replied with a shy smile, the first time he lay with Aodh he had taken his blood and the day after as well, he just had to be extremely careful from now on.

Aodh gave a soft snort. "Having Zeke around had its advantages."

When he wanted sleep, he just had Zeke guard him. The pup got a little beaten up, but he had done well keeping the other Lycan away from him. Zeke was a strong boy; he was happy leaving the Pack in his hands when he left.

The Lycan stuck his tongue out. "I know, I know. I gotta look over the minor flaws."

The Irishman shrugged. "We haven't poisoned each other yet, we're doing fine."

Until one of them was doubled over, hurling to get rid of the poison of the others blood because they had taken too much (not a problem for Aodh but very much a problem for Aeker) they would be doing fine.

It hadn't happened yet so they were good.

"I hope you didn't run the boy into the ground on his first trip."
He replied, shaking his head a little, oh well Zeke would have to get use to not sleeping since his pups would be born soon.

A grin spread across his lips.
"Dibs not coming with you if you decide he is no good and go to tell her that you've chased him off."

The last thing he wanted was to deal with his sisters wrath for messing with her new beau.

"I know, and I would never willingly drink from you, I just hope there is never a time where I fall into a frenzy."

If he went too long without feeding the blood lust would take over and he'd drink from anything he could sink his teeth into.

"When we go traveling I am hiding blood bags in my luggage."