Aurem felt like he was inside of a furnace. He groaned softly in his sleep, and shifted in discomfort. He was burning up. It felt like he was on fire. In front of him, something soft, and hot snuggled against him. And behind, he felt the thundering of a heart, and muscles. Something pressed against his backside, and as Aurem wriggled, he heard a grunt from behind.

It was that sound that woke him up, as well as the realization that he was completely naked. And there was someone behind him, radiating enough warmth to cause his overheating. Aurem snapped his eyes open, seeing a familiar sheen of silver fur in the dark light of the tent. A tent much larger than the small one he had grown used to. Craning his neck around, Aurem let out a yelp of surprise when he saw a pair of red eyes blinking sleepily at him. Aurem blinked once and then sat straight up, the furs sliding from around his frame.

To his left, Aurem heard Siira give a sleepy grumble, seeing one golden eye open, and fix him with an irritated look. He heard the whimper of pups, and for a moment let his attention wander to the wriggling forms as they fed.

“Sleep?”

The gruff voice snapped his attention back on the man at his other side. Knowing he must have been staring like some sort of startled deer, Aurem forced himself to clear his throat, and tried to speak evenly. “What the hell am I doing here?” Unfortunately, it came out as more of a squawk than anything.

Turuk gave that infuriating as usual smirk, those red hues gleaming briefly. “Sleep,” he mentioned, and then patted the bed of furs below them both. As Aurem glanced downward, his cheeks flushed, seeing that Turuk was naked as well. Aurem pursed his lips tightly together, and tore his eyes away from the well-crafted frame of the man. His muscles were defined, and for a moment, Aurem had to resist the urge to reach out, and run his fingers along…

Aurem grunted, and then whisked a hand through his hair, staring at a spot on the tent- very pointedly away from Turuk. The man gave a laugh that made Aurem’s stomach tighten in an odd way. He scowled deeply, blaming the dark shadow on the tent’s side for his reaction. “Where are my clothes?” He finally asked, afraid to let his gaze rest back on the man’s frame.

“Dirty. Blood,” Turuk said, and Aurem felt him shifting on the furs. He shivered as the furs exposed a bit more of his ochre skin, finally casting a glance over to Turuk. Immediately regretting it, of course, as he caught a flash of the man’s back muscles, and then backside as the man stood. Aurem took in a sharp breath, and then curse softly under his breath- mainly at himself. No matter what had happened, he was still a prisoner, and Turuk was still the enemy. They were neither friends, nor family. And yet, why had he slept in Turuk’s own tent, instead of the supply tent? And oddly, he felt well rested. Despite overusing his magic the night before, he felt full of energy, and only a tiny bit sore.

Rubbing a hand over his chest, Aurem frowned, and glanced down to his own lap. He wasn’t exactly shy about being naked, but something about it bothered. Judging from the way he felt, nothing sinister had happened while he was unconscious. But given that Turuk had shown no inclination towards that, Aurem rather doubted it would happen. Something bubbled inside of him, causing him to set his teeth. He was ¬not going to allow himself to feel disappointed at that. For gods’ sake, he was an enemy! And his captor. He had heard of people in the past succumbing to the will of their captors, and defending them. Was it happening to him now?

Aurem grunted, involved in his thoughts so deeply he nearly forgot Turuk was there, until he heard a snort. The sound jolted him from his thoughts, and the scowled deeper, lifting his gaze to the man as he stood nearby. Now that Turuk was clothed, Aurem allowed himself to relax slightly, simply bundling the fur blankets over his own frame. “What happened…?” he finally asked, shifting his gaze back to the wolf laying down at his side.

His heart warmed then, as he saw the little pups nestled up to their mother. Aurem started to reach out, and then hesitated, seeing that Siira was watching him carefully. He swallowed hard, and started lowering his hand. “Touch. You can,” Turuk grunted out, and then plopped down at his side. The man grabbed his wrist, and Aurem tensed for a moment, as Turuk pressed his hand into Siira’s fur.

The wolf only blinked sleepily, and then closed her eyes, and Aurem held his breath for a long moment. He let out a startled laugh, and when Turuk released his hand, he stroked the silver fur a few times, eyes dropping down to the pups. Now that some time had passed, their fur patterns had settled a bit, though Aurem had a feeling they would be even more beautiful when fully fledged, and grown.

His eyes were drawn last, but pointedly, to the little black form wriggling along the edge. Aurem’s head tilted to the side slightly, reaching out to touch the littlest one. His fur had seemed pure black the night before, but now it seemed as if a lighter color streaked the black. In the light of the tent, he couldn’t quite make it out. But he rubbed the runt’s snout, smiling when it gave a soft whimpering sound. If he was being honest with himself, they were all adorable. But the little runt- the one he’d poured his magic into- held a special place in his heart. He tickled his fingers over the pup’s snout, biting his lip to keep from laughing, as the pup gave a little snort, and then whined.

“They all made it…good,” he murmured quietly, shuddering faintly as he remembered how close they had come to losing Siira and the pups. If Turuk hadn’t trusted him with his magic….

Aurem frowned, and glanced down to his hand, wondering if he had made the right choice. If Siira had died, it would have dealt a serious blow to the enemy. And yet, he knew he’d never have forgiven himself if he’d done so. Try as his country might, he was not really a soldier. He did what he needed to keep living, and have a place to call home. But he didn’t enjoy it. Killing someone in battle was an entirely different matter, than watching sokeone die when you had the means to save them.

“Yes. Because magic. Because Aurem,” Turuk grunted, and Aurem tensed as his chin was taken. Scowling, Aurem returned Turuk’s gaze, brows knitting when Turuk snorted at his expression. He was trying to look irritated at the man’s touch. But it was so very hard to. The man released his chin, but Aurem held his gaze.

“Why did you bring me to your tent?” He asked, dreading the answer, in some way. His fingers idly shifted through Siira’s fur as the wolf slept, and he felt Turuk’s eyes staring at him, as if looking straight through him. Finally, Turuk snorted, and then shrugged a shoulder.

He muttered something in his own language, and then huffed lightly, gesturing with his hand. Apparently, he didn’t know enough Delfin to properly explain himself. Aurem’s slender brow rose, and he bit back his own snort, watching the man struggle to come up with an answer. “Siira chose. I follow,” he finally said, glancing towards the sleeping wolf.

Aurem blinked, and then followed his gaze, seeing she hadn’t stirred in the past few minutes. Her breathing was even, showing no signs of the strain of the birthing. Aurem had been worried he wasn’t able to heal all of the damage done, so it was a relief to see her doing so well. And all of the pups. “So, she decided I sleep in your tent last night?”

“Siira wanted Aurem, and Turuk come with Siira,” he explained with a nod of finality, as if that explained everything. Aurem wrinkled his nose.

“What if I don’t want Turuk,” he said, and then scoffed, hating that he’d gotten caught up in the man’s manner of speech.

Turuk gave a fanged smile, and then thumped his chest. “Aurem do,” he said, the grin growing infuriating. Aurem scoffed, and then scooted away from Turuk, which only caused the Undari to grin even wider. “Don't fear, Turuk won’t hurt Aurem.”

Aurem scowled at the man, but he couldn’t deny that. Despite breaking out of the tent, and breaking his bonds…and a few other things, Turuk had not once harmed him. Not since the initial battle, in any case. And that was only to be expected on the battlefield.

But thinking of the battle brought thoughts of Soren to mind. “What about Soren? Is he all right? Is he in the tent?” Had someone gone to harm him, while Turuk was distracted with Siira and the pups? Aurem clenched his jaw, hoping that wasn’t the case. He didn’t know what to do, if something had happened with Soren. Even if Turuk was kind as far as captors went, Aurem still held no power here.

Silenced as he was, he couldn’t- Aurem gasped suddenly, clasping a hand to his neck. He hadn’t noticed until thoughts of the collar had risen- but Aurem’s senses were not dull like they had been before. The collar was still there, but it wasn’t completely sealing his magic. Aurem eyes darted to Turuk’s, meeting his serious gaze. There was a twinkle of something sly in the man’s gaze, and Aurem’s lips parted uselessly, unsure what to say.

“Act like sealed, no magic,” Turuk said, cocking his head to the side. Aurem took in a sharp breath, and then nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

He would be a fool to use any sort of magic- he wasn’t completely silenced, but he couldn’t cause any real damage to the warriors. Not before he was killed. But still- the simple fact that he was allowed some of his magic was unexpected. After a minute of silence, Aurem still wasn’t sure what to say. He idly rubbed at Siira’s neck, not sure how to deal with the rapid changes that had seemingly occurred over one night. Turuk was one man that Aurem wasn’t sure he could understand. He must have stood to gain something from this. Aurem just couldn’t figure out what it was.

“So, am I going to run around naked now, for your pleasure?” he asked dryly, finally finding his voice. He heard Turuk snort, and arched a brow, seeing the man eye him. His cheeks flushed, not realizing that Turuk would completely understand him. He cleared his throat sharply, and then focused more completely on petting Siira’s back.

Turuk grunted after a moment, and then stood, walking away for a few moments. When the man returned, Aurem felt a bundle hit his lap, and glanced down. His heart clenched slightly, seeing the Undari furs that had landed on his lap. He lifted his gaze up, pursing his lips lightly.

“We move soon. Give other mage,” he said with a grunt, and motioned. Aurem realized after a moment that there were two sets of clothing. Sighing faintly, Aurem nodded his head, and shifted under the blankets, starting to dress in the furs.

They felt a bit odd, as he slipped them on. Warm, and soft, softer than he had expected. The inner part of the outfit was lined with soft fur, and something close to a bird’s down feathers. While the outer layer was a harder, stiffer leather to block out the elements. Shifting slightly, Aurem tugged his long pale locks out of the shirt, and let them cascade of his shoulders. He could feel Turuk watching him, but tried his best to ignore that piercing gaze.

He tugged the pants on, feeling a bit awkward without a layer in between his clothing. But he hadn’t seen any sort of smallclothes, or underpants. And Turuk hadn’t put any on either, Aurem noticed, out of the corner of his eye. And only out the corner of his eye. Aurem swallowed hard, and shoved his thoughts away, pulling on one boot at a time. He wasn’t sure how the other Undari would react to this, seeing an enemy decked out in their leathers and fur. Aurem only hoped Turuk had enough control over the others, so that no one lashed out.

“How will the rest of them feel about this?” He mused idly, not really expected an answer. “Puny man won’t be happy at all, will he?”

“Puny man will survive,” Turuk said with a deep laugh, causing that odd tightness to return to Aurem’s heart. He cursed softly and then pushed it away lifting his eyes, questioningly, to the man. “Undari people respect strength. Aurem saved Siira. Magic scares, but it saved family.” He scrunched his face up, but then relaxed, perhaps finding his explanation adequate enough.