Later that evening, after cleaning up the kitchen and the master bedroom, Griffin and Nathan fell into a deep sleep, both worn out physically, mentally, and emotionally.
As dawn approached, birds chirping in the morning light, Nathan carefully stretched, trying hard to not wake his sleeping mate. After carefully extracting himself from the bed, Nathan walked over to the window and watched as the sun began peaking over the horizon. He wasn't sure how long he'd been standing there when a pair of arms wrapped around his waist and pulled him back into Griffin's warm chest.
"Good morning, love," Griffin's husky voice whispered in Nathan's ear.
Nathan leaned back into Griffin's warmth. "Good morning. I didn't wake you up did I?"
Leaning down, Griffin nuzzled his face into the back of Nathan's neck. "Only with your absence."
They stood there for a few minutes, watching the sunrise when Griffin finally hummed. "Shall we go see about breakfast?"
Nathan nodded. Together they turned and headed down the stairs into the kitchen. When they'd been cleaning the room the night prior, they were pleasantly surprised that the ice chest and running water still worked.
As Griffin got a fire lit in the wood stove he muttered to himself, "I might have to get one of these when we go home."
Nathan smiled, not commenting. As much as it hurt being in his home pack again, he didn't think he'd mind staying here in the long run.
"What are we going to do today?" Nathan asked when Griffin was plating up their simple breakfast of oatmeal and a few sausages they still had.
"Well, we need to restock our meat so I was planning on going hunting," Griffin said while placing the pan in the washbin to be taken care of later.
Nathan hummed as he took a bite of oatmeal, "Alright, I think I'll stay here and start doing a thorough cleaning if that's okay."
Griffin smiled at him, "Absolutely. Do you need my help at all before I head out?"
Nathan took a moment to look around what he could see of the house. Spotting the couch through the doorway into the living room he sighed. "Actually yeah. Can you help me get the furniture outside?
Griffin smiled as he leaned across the table, kissing Nathan quickly. "Of course."
They finished eating in companionable silence. Once all the dishes were in the washbin, Griffin started the water before Nathan stopped him. "Leave them. I'll take care of them in a bit. Just help me move furniture, then you can head out."
Griffin nodded, turning off the water. Together they were able to get all the big pieces of furniture out into the yard in no time. As they set down the last chair, Griffin asked, "Are you sure there isn't anything else you need before I leave?"
Nathan laughed, wrapping his arms around Griffin's waist. "No, I'm good. Thank you. Go hunt, I'm just going to be cleaning all day."
Griffin squeezed Nathan for a brief second before pulling him into a deep, passionate kiss. "Love you. I'll be back this afternoon."
"Love you, too."
Nathan watched as Griffin jogged into the tree line and continued to stand there staring into the forest for a few extra minutes before sighing. "Well, time to get to work. This place isn't going to clean itself."
[Wouldn't that be nice,] Axel suddenly chimed in.
"It would be. Sadly things don't work like that," Nathan chuckled, making his way towards the cabinet he remembered his mother storing cleaning supplies in. "I wonder if any of this stuff is still good."
[The cleaners probably aren't, but the rags and everything else should be. Unless mice got to them.]
Nathan looked around the home, scanning it a little more thoroughly. "I doubt it. There doesn't seem to be any signs of mice. It actually looks the same as far as I can remember. Just dusty."
[Weird. I wonder if the other homes are like this.]
Nathan hummed, pulling out rags, a mop and a couple buckets. "Maybe we can work on other homes after getting this one done."
[Sounds like a plan to me,] Axel said, curling up in a corner of Nathan's mind, ready to keep him company and report what he was doing to Kael.