Though still caught up in remembering all of the times he’d since had with Dynrir, who was now an irreplaceable friend, his eyes drawn down into the sand at his sides, he still had more than enough wit and wherewithal to smack the merman’s hand away from his fish in one swift movement. Though he lifted one of the skewers from the fire and blew on it softly, he didn’t take a bite, still thinking, his eyes fogged with something heavy and loud, but he said nothing about it, only shook his head and turned the fish over in his hands, using it as a center point to regain his focus.

“You’ll meet him for sure.” He said before taking a bite of fish, ripping the flesh away from the spine with his teeth and munching on it, bones and all. He paused to chew, too poised to talk with his mouth full, but it was brief, he was hungry. “He runs most of the labor based affairs at the castle, oversees all farming and construction. He’s kind of everywhere.”

Though he picked up on the merman’s coy curiosity and judged by their actions this day that he was interested in fucking Dynrir more than meeting him, Carjen didn’t suggest anything about it and instead took another bite of his fish. The man would figure it out for himself that Dynrir was about as amiable and fuckable as he was, a little sweet talk, some gentle nudges and some nips on the neck was all it took to get him to bed, Carjen would be a lying fool to imply he hadn’t done it himself once. But Dynrir was gentle, a massive muscular man with enough power in his hands to break bones, yet as a lover he was soft and pliable. Carjen on the other hand was rough and vigorous and desperate in his pursuits, they just didn’t mesh in the bedroom very well and had only messed around once. Perhaps the merman would have more luck, who knew? He certainly didn’t care one way or the other.

Finishing his fish, the jaguar entertained himself by breaking the leftover stick into pieces and tossing each piece individually back into the fire with deft fingers. He shrugged. “It’s just a meeting room. There’s a big table for myself and my most trusted fellows to sit, and then benches for everybody else. I’ve never used the damn thing to be honest but it’s there in case I ever need to address everybody for any reason. Or at least everybody important. Despite the name, it’s kind of small…”

Carjen grinned. He’d never even entertained the idea of fucking someone in his great room, it was a cold harsh space- it had a hearth but was otherwise all stone and dark wood, drafty and musky. He’d just never chosen it as a location over the warmth of the kitchen or the soft pliable fur of a bed. Now that he thought about it though, he was intrigued by the idea, the image of someone bent over the wide dark oak table, the wood rocking and creaking beneath them. Yeah, they’d have to do that. It’d be chilly, the windows were sizeable whereas the fireplace was not but it was a small enough room, maybe if he just wrapped a blanket around himself the whole time…

Titillated by the mere thought, Carjen scrambled to his feet, pausing the brush the sand off of his palms. “Yes, we should go if we want to get there before sunrise…” He paused again, using a bare foot to casually kick sand into the fire to put it out. It took a few swings, a few hefts of dirt before the fire died down to embers, but eventually he seemed satisfied. “It’s just a little ways into Mir so we have a bit of a ways to go. But there will be breakfast and… other such things. We can both get there and continue our oh so romantic evening.”

He trailed off as he turned, situated himself and strode forward, climbing back the way they’d came up the bank to the trail that lead into the woods. He lead the way through the trees, seeming completely at home in the shadows of the forest as the sun set over the horizon and the sky went from red to black. They chatted idly as they went, mostly talking about the stars and what shapes they could see in the clusters of brilliant bright lights. They were hard to see between the trees, still heavy with leaves, the sky slightly streaked with clouds as well, so there were some arguments. Apparently, merfolk had their own gods and deities, their own ideas about what way was up and what was down, compared at least to humans, whose belief system was the only one Carjen knew with any certainty. It didn’t fit him well, like a shoe on the wrong foot, he didn’t like it, but until he found more werebeasts who could teach him some lore, it was all that he had so he argued for human shapes while the merman argued of fish and sharks. Though usually quite stubborn, the jaguar did relent that the shape off to the west did in fact look like a shipwreck more than a man killing a bull.

It was a long tiring walk, Carjen quietly chastised himself for not doing it in animal form, he’d be less exhausted by the end of it. But part of him thought it was only fair that if the merman had to walk and exhaust himself, he should do the same, it would be easier to gauge their activities once they made it there if he was at the same energy level. Finally, just as the sky was lightening again and the first rays of sun reached across the heavens, they came upon the heavy green wooden doors of the keep, sat upon a hill overlooking a crystalline lake. Carjen paused before the great silver cat in chains painted upon the door.

He wanted to ask if the merman wanted to take a dip in the lake before they went inside, walking all night meant he hadn’t gotten a drop of water in hours, it seemed counter-intuitive. But he didn’t know how to word it without sounding racist so he simply paused and looked back at his companion curiously, giving him a moment to take in the sight of the tall but very small castle and its tall stone walls.

Carjen rapped on the wood with one of his knuckles, not even looking to the guard tower standing above them, there weren’t many men out there who’d approach his castle in the nude, he had no doubt that his men would recognize him. He turned to the merman and nodded casually, looking down at his feet for a moment as they waited a beat. “Of course. There’s always food here for anyone with an empty belly. We’ll be a little early for communal breakfast but I can whip us up something before a good nap.”

He spoke wistfully, apparently just as tired of walking as the merman was. They still had a short ways to go, as the grand doors slowly swung open with the sound of creaking and gears, it revealed a small quaint little market place, full of stalls and with a few but not many people milling around. An old man waved to them from his meat stall, calling to Carjen jovially, a greeting which the jaguar returned with a nod and a small smile. But he kept walking after his companion without stopping, taking his time to apparently access the castle’s status. Particularly, his gaze wandered to the right of the main road, where some cranes and scaffolding rose into the sky above a brick and wooden building. Men could be seen already at work in the early morning sun, a few walking along the stilted roof of the place, carrying boards and stone, shouting commands to one another. Carjen nearly paused when a gap in the buildings gave him a good look at the construction site, but he resisted the urge and kept walking, finally returning his attention to his current man of the hour.

He shrugged. Although people bustled by them on the early morning errands, some just stepping out of their houses, yawning and stretching, none of them seemed to bat an eyelash at the naked men in the manor’s center. A boy even brushed past them, carrying a tall pile of logs, but he was so swept up in his task that he barely even noticed the bare skin. He even greeted Carjen quietly, a quick ‘mornin m’lord’ as he trotted by. Carjen simply rested a large hand in the mop of curly blond hair upon the boy’s head, ruffled it a bit and then shoved him on his way. He made a face at the merman, something between coy and supremely cocky, comfortable and confident, similar to his shrug.

“Not always but…” He let the rest of his sentence speak for itself. This was a manor full of werebeasts or at the very least people familiar with them, nudity was just not an issue here and Carjen was very happy to show it off. He gave the merman a playful shove, something that said both ‘stop it’ and ‘never change’ at the same time, before leading the way into the actual castle itself at the end of the road. The cobblestone opened up onto a small plot where a carriage sat parked and ready to go, but who it was for remained a mystery as Carjen walked right by it and inside the keep. He hung a left and led the way down the hallway.

“If you stay with us, the building over there is our communal dining hall. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served there at appropriate times, you’ll smell them before you get used to the schedule. Whether you stay with us for one day or a hundred, feel free to take advantage.”

As they stepped into the kitchen, the place was alive with activity, men and women both hurried around moving pots and pans from fireplaces and ovens, dumping what looked like eggs into giant serving pans. As they passed the center island, Carjen swiftly pillaged a carton of eggs from one of the stacks, if anyone noticed no one said so. They were all his eggs anyway, who had the right to deny him? He carried them over to the back of the kitchen, where a hearth stood ready, fire blazing, a loaf of bread already cooking in the oven. Next to it, sat a small table and four or five wooden chairs, simple and dark but warm and inviting in the fire’s light. The jaguar ignored it and instead stepped over to the small counter space in the cooking station, locating a bowl and a nearby jar of milk.

“How many eggs do you want? I can scramble them or make an omelet.”

Carjen leveled the merman with another look, another round of ‘why must you be the way that you are?’ passing over his face, but it broke with a laughing smile and a shake of his head. He loathed to admit it, absolutely hated it, but he was growing fond of this man’s company. It was strange, they were very different people, almost polar opposites in many ways, but like puzzle pieces with opposing nooks and crannies they fit together easily and it was…. Fun. That was the part the jaguar found so puzzling. He was a grim and serious man, he did not have fun often. But chatting about the stars, talking about Dynrir before a fire, even falling embarrassingly into the river like an idiot, it was all… fun. He was having the time of his life, and they’d only fucked once so far, that was really saying a lot. He’d have to pay the merman for this, it felt almost like stealing to not give him something to express his gratitude, good company was hard to come by for Carjen and though he probably wouldn’t ever describe the merman as such in conversation, he was doing a hell of a decent job so far.

“One of these days you will have to give me a straight answer of some kind.” Shaking his head again, Carjen set about cooking up some eggs for them. With a flourish, he dumped some eggs in a bowl and added some milk, whisking the two together with the deft flick of a wrist. Strands of his hair fell loose as he moved and he just as swiftly just as seamlessly swept them back into place with his free hand, only to have them fall again, tickling his brow. Either he gave up or was too distracted by cooking to notice them a second time.

He walked away briefly, disappearing into a cupboard in a stone wall for a moment, leaving the eggs foolishly unattended in front of a starving merman. Why he would eat raw eggs, Carjen would never guess but he really shouldn’t have assumed that of him in hindsight. He returned with his long arms full of vegetables, which he quickly set down and began cutting into small chunks. Peppers, potatoes, a hearty helping of four different kinds of cheeses, all went into the bowl as well, joining the egg mixture with some tomatoes and carrots. He finally paused in his whirlwind of activity and put a hand to his mouth thoughtfully, mumbling something about stuffings, but he didn’t clarify his thoughts and instead changed the subject.

“And what about you,” Carjen paused suddenly when he realized he would’ve inserted a name there but he had no idea what the merman’s name was. Sure he had moaned Carjen’s name several times in the throes of their lovemaking but Carjen was not the type to do the same. He was solemn and quiet during sex, not really making any noise, let alone saying anything, he was more of a listener. But it was far too late in their relationship to ask so he just paused, blinked, and then kept talking. “Do you cook at all? Or do… really much of anything? Other than stick your dick in people.”

“Patience is a virtue.” Carjen tutted, carefully shouldering the merman back so that he could step over to the fire, bowl tucked safely under his strong arm. He used his freehand to remove the hot pot from the hearth, casually dropping it onto the floor loudly and without caring too much, so that he could replace it with a wrought iron grate onto which he placed a flat pan. He then poured the eggs over the pan and let it simmer, watching it carefully as it heated up. He stepped aside and located a spatula, discarding the bowl onto a counter somewhere, before returning swiftly and attentively, poking at the eggs as they heated up slowly over the fire.

“Are you worshipped at temples or cathedrals, oh great one?” The jaguar asked sarcastically, rolling his eyes at the food without really looking at his companion. He was getting tired of the backwards remarks, he was a more frank individual with a tendency toward straight, simple answers, all of this riddlemaking was a bit irritating. But he tried not to show it and instead focused on his task. The eggs sizzled before him, bubbling up and turning a deep golden color as he stirred and effectively scrambled them, strings of cheese coming away with his every movement. Eventually, he stood, pulling the pan from the fire, it was wide and heavy, solid iron, and the handle was hot but Carjen was in complete control. He artfully flipped the thing not once but twice, flicking the pan so the eggs soared into the air and landed back on its black finish without so much as a splash. Finally, he crossed over to the table and folded the flat sheet of egg onto a plate.

“Careful. It’s hot.” He said as he turned away to make another, having only used half the carton of eggs and half of the vegetables he’d cut up. This one was much faster and easier for him to do, he had to stir it only a little and the pan was still hot from the first one, it cooked easily. Still, he felt the need to address the merman anyway. “Don’t wait for me, dig in.”

As Carjen turned with the second omelet, he was greeted by a happily offered plate and though he rolled his eyes and huffed, he deposited the second set of eggs before the merman without complaint. He was hungry but he wasn’t really interested in eggs, he wanted to hunt, his walk through the forest and their short fishing excursion made him realize how long it had been since he’d rended fresh prey with his claws. So he had no qualms about giving his share to the gluttonous merfolk. He allowed the man to eat in peace, instead turning to clean up his mess. He collected the pans and plates and bowls and stacked them on the edge of the counter, where a servant appeared to whisk them away to be washed. Once the counter was clear, the jaguar moved easily to wipe it down with a damp cloth he pilfered from one of the sinks nearby, sweeping debris into his hand before dumping it in a nearby barrel obviously intended for garbage and scraps.

It was mindless work, it was really all he could do after walking all night. His legs trembled beneath him, threatening to collapse under him, and his eyelids were heavy and his movements slow, purposeful and graceful but sluggish. He wasn’t usually a stranger to a missed night of sleep, he often skipped evenings to work on projects or just to drink himself into a stupor, whichever was more appropriate at the time. He was a bit of an insomniac. But he’d been doing a lot of work this week, a lot of work, many missed nights sleep and lots and lots of traveling by foot. He needed his rest and he needed it now.

Finally turning away from the cooking station, Carjen crossed over to the table where the merman lay snoozing. He shook him awake, or attempted to anyway, grabbing the naked man by the shoulder and shoving him unceremoniously out of his chair and onto the hard stone floor. The loud thud caused some stirring in the servants bustling around the kitchen, they looked up startled, but seeing the way that Carjen stood over the man, looking down at him with a lustful, predatory haze to his generally tired appearance, they didn’t question it and went back to work. Carjen knelt down over the merman, close enough to smell him. He smelled mostly like fish, which the jaguar expected, but there was a hint of egg and pepper on his breath now and, still hungry, it made his mouth water slightly.

“Come on, one last trip to the bedroom. I have a nice bed waiting for us… We can do more than just sleep in it.”