A/N: Hello lovely people! I recommend warm drinks and fluffy blankets with this chapter ❄️✨☕️ I hope you like it! Please heart and comment 💙

Note: I exceeded the word limit and this chapter is split into two parts.

Chapter 4.

Matthew woke to soft kisses on his throat and jaw. Fie was twined around him, body firm and warm. He lifted a hand to the alien's spine and felt a leaden ache in his arm.

A slight shift revealed a soreness in his entire body; muscles strained and overexerted from the previous day.

He groaned and Fie nuzzled his ear.

"Come on. We go first." The alien whispered and sat up.

Matthew missed the smaller boy's weight instantly. The cave was still pitch black and he could hear the shift of bodies and vulpine breaths all around him, raising the hairs on the back of his neck.

"F-Fie?" He gripped the seal-hide thighs on either side of his hips and Fie's hands settled on his wrists, pulling him gently into sitting position.

Matthew winced at the burn in his spine and wrapped his arms around Fie's small waist, feeling the dense fur brush over his fingers.

"Can't you see at all?"

Fie's breath warmed Matthew's cheek and he turned blindly towards it. "No. Not in the dark."

There was a moment of silence and then Fie nuzzled his jaw.

"Come on." The alien repeated and urged Matthew to his feet.

His steps were painful and stiff at first, but it distracted from the bestial sounds.

Bodies whispered past them and Matthew jolted when a tiny shape darted between his legs.

Fie guided him to the cold lip of the tunnel and Matthew attempted to climb inside, but it was too steep and Fie wasn't large enough to carry him.

"Wait here." Fie's nose touched Matthew's nape briefly and then he was gone.

Matthew hunched on the stone slope and his senses expanded, compensating for his lack of sight, and each shape that passed him felt like a physical weight.

"I'm here."

He jumped when Fie lightly touched his shoulder. Then jumped again when huge hands gripped his waist. They were rough and warm with long claws.

"W-who..." Matthew reached out blindly and felt hard muscles beneath his fingers.

"Quiet." Talan's deep voice rumbled and Matthew pressed his lips together, heart pounding.

Talan lifted him and, with Fie's assistance, he latched onto the larger male's back.

Talan's skin was hot and damp beneath his fur and Matthew was painfully aware that his naked groin was pressing into the alien's spine.

Talan climbed, muscles stretching and bunching, and Matthew's arms and thighs burned as he tightened his grip.

Claws clacked over the stone behind them, fading fast, and Matthew knew Fie was struggling to keep up.

The air gradually chilled until it was freezing, but a light sparked at the end of the tunnel.

They reached the top and entered a large room, with the glittering black walls, that Matthew remembered from the day before.

A fire blazed in an oval fireplace and aliens moved purposefully around them, fuzzy alien children in their arms or following at their heels.

"Down." Talan growled.

Matthew obeyed so fast, he stumbled onto the stone floor.

Talan straightened to his full height, dwarfing the human by three heads, and this close Matthew could see several large scars marring the alien's fur.

Fie arrived a moment later, out of breath.

"You interrupted." Talan stared down at Fie and the small alien's ears instantly flattened, eyes dropping to the ground. "Next time, you ask someone else."

Fie nodded quickly and whined, plumey tail tucking between his legs.

Talan eyed him for a moment longer, then turned back to Matthew, who was shivering hard enough for his teeth to clack together. The fire hadn't warmed the stone yet and the floor was icy beneath his feet.

"You think he belongs here?"

Talan's claws raked through Matthew's hair and he barely controlled his flinch.

Fie's large ears lifted a fraction and he peaked up through his lashes. "Yes. I felt him." He whispered.

Talan leaned down and now Matthew did flinch, but he managed to stay still.

Talan's body radiated heat like a furnace and his nose pressed against Matthew's neck, inhaling deeply. A hot tongue rolled over his pulse and the human made a small sound.

He remembered those long canines and thought frantically of wolves in the wild and their display of dominance and submission.

Slowly, hoping to god he was reading the situation, he tilted his head to offer more of his throat.

Warm breaths gusted over his skin and Matthew dug his nails into his palms and swallowed convulsively. Finally, Talan straightened.

He ruffled Fie's dandelion hair in silent approval - and the boy's ears perked, fuzzy tail wagging - and loped back down the tunnel.

Matthew's breathed out harshly and wiped his neck with a trembling hand. "I'm sorry, I got you in trouble..."

Fie's white mouth curved and he stepped forward to stroke down Matthew's arm, blinking curiously at his goosebumps.

"No, it was my mistake. Come, this way." Fie led him to another tunnel and a low bark sounded across the room.

"I need a hand." Said a small female with an angular face and two struggling babies in her arms; batting at each other with tiny fangs and claws.

"I can't, Senna." Fie answered softly, ears lowering a fraction. "I have other duties."

Senna huffed and her black eyes briefly narrowed on Matthew, before she ducked into a passage.

Matthew followed Fie down a path where the black stone faded to blue and the air grew humid and warm, like a sauna.

Red torches lit the walls, providing just enough light to lead them into a cave filled with springs.

Steam rose from the water and the sounds of light splashes, yips and quiet laughter echoed throughout the cavern.

"Every morning we light the fires and wash the kits." Fie explained softly and led Matthew to an unoccupied spring lined with white bowls.

The glow of the torches played over the dark water and it was impossible to judge its depth.

Matthew hesitated uncertainly by the edge and Fie stepped in first. The water reached the alien's chest and Fie looked up expectantly.

Reassured, the human followed. His feet flowed through liquid warmth and met a rough stone ledge. He sat and sighed when the heat eased his sore muscles.

Fie reached back and pulled one of the bowls closer. "This is Tera." He poured some glittering crystals into his hands. "It cleans our fur."

Fie rubbed a small portion onto Matthew's shoulder, pausing when his skin turned pink. "...does it feel good?"

"It's fine." Matthew cupped water into his hands and carefully rinsed the blood from his tender nose. He inhaled a wonderfully clear breath and exhaled slowly.

The alien made a canine sound of acknowledgement and ran the grains gentler over Matthew's neck and chest.

"Remember the ears." Fie whispered and rubbed Matthew's ear softly.

It felt strange to be washed there. To be washed by another person at all and Matthew found himself smiling.

"Lift up." Fie instructed and the torches caught the gleam of his small fangs as he smiled back.

Matthew hesitated. Fie had already seen him naked. Had kissed him. Touched him. But somehow this felt more intimate and he wasn't sure why.