Nathan slowly woke to an ache that seemed to spread throughout his entire body. Carefully stretching he realized it was centered in his back. As he continued to stretch and work out the kinks in his body, Nathan became aware of a warm body wrapped around him. Finally opening his eyes, he looked up at the smiling dragon above him.
"Good morning, sweetness."
Nathan startled as he heard Griffin's voice while his mouth hadn't moved.
"Wha-?"
"The bond links us so we can talk to each other, like we do with our other halves."
Nathan stared blankly at him as he processed this new information while searching inside himself, looking for the presence of the bond. Just as he found the new warmth centered in his chest, Axel made his presence known.
[Enjoy your night, Nate?]
"Axel!" Nathan exclaimed while making sure he had a barrier built against the bond, not wanting Griffin to hear this conversation.
[What? I'm curious. Was he any good?] Axel was amused at Nathan's bashfulness. It made him want to tease him mercilessly.
Suddenly, Kael's voice, previously unknown to them, chimed in, [You're not very nice are you? I'm Kael by the way.]
"Uh, nice to meet you. How'd you get past the barrier?" Nathan asked hesitatingly.
[You blocked Griffin, not me,] Kael responded.
Axel interrupted Nathan's reaction, [How'd they do last night? Nathan won't tell me.]
"Axel!"
[Oooh, I'll tell you all about it.]
Nathan, his face a bright red, blocked out their conversation as he turned his attention back to the arms wrapped around him.
"Everything okay?" Griffin asked, his brow creased in concern.
"Fine!" Nathan blurted. "I'm fine! Just… uh… Kael and Axel are… talking… about last night." His voice trailed off, lowering to almost a whisper.
Griffin took in the nervous twitch in Nathan's eye as he contemplated on how to respond. After a brief moment, he decided to let it go for the time being as he kissed Nathan's forehead.
"How's breakfast sound?" he finally asked.
Nathan finally met his gaze, gratitude written across his face. "Blueberry pancakes?" he asked shyly. He'd found an overflowing wild blueberry bush the other day and had quickly taken a liking to the small fruit.
Griffin grinned as he sat up and threw the blanket off. "Of course."
Nathan immediately averted his eyes when he noticed that Griffin wasn't wearing anything but it didn't last long before he was peeking at the toned backside of his new mate.
Unknown to Nathan, Griffin was laughing to himself as Kael informed him about the eyes watching him. He got dressed without turning around, letting Nathan ogle him without worry of being caught.
Casually, he grabbed fresh clothes for Nathan before slowly turning around, giving the wolf plenty of time to look away if he wanted. Throwing the clothes gently at the foot of the bed, Griffin leaned over, placing his hand on the bed by Nathan's hip. "I'll give you a moment to get dressed while I start breakfast. Join me when you're done."
The bedroom door was almost shut before he heard Nathan's voice, a soft whisper in his head, "Thank you."