Morning came gently.
Soft sunlight trickled over the furs, warming the cave and brushing over Evan's cheeks like a shy apology for the cold night outside.
He stretched, slow and languid, only to freeze when an arm tightened around his waist.
Silas.
The Snake orc was awake before him, chin resting on Evan's shoulder, emerald eyes half-lidded yet completely focused on him.
There was a look there—quietly satisfied, smug even.
Evan felt heat rush to his ears.
Right. Last night.
He cleared his throat and tried to shift away. Silas only tightened his hold, voice low and husky from sleep.
"Running away already, little one?"
Evan almost choked.
"W-who is running?"
A rumble of amusement vibrated against his back.
From outside the chamber, Kael's groan echoed faintly.
"Moon above… do the two of you ever sleep quietly…? Someone has good hearing too"
Evan buried his face in the furs.
Silas, of course, looked delighted.
.....
When Evan finally escaped Silas's arms, he went to prepare breakfast.
The stew bubbled with meat and vegetables, steam perfuming the entire cave with a cozy warmth.
Kael shuffled out, hair messy, eyes half-dead, wrapped in a fur blanket like a suffering ghost.
Evan greeted him cheerfully.
"Good morning!"
Kael stared at him.
Then at Silas.
Then back at him.
"...You two have no shame.Even though it's natural but I am a single orc , have some mercy on me."
Evan's spoon clattered.
Silas only smirked while sharpening stone tools for the bathroom construction, absolutely unbothered.
Evan swatted Silas's arm, whispering sharply,
"Say something! He thinks—he thinks—"
"That I claimed my mate properly?" Silas murmured, leaning close.
Evan nearly dropped the pot.
Kael slammed his head on the table.
"Please. I haven't even eaten yet."
...
After breakfast, Evan brushed aside lingering embarrassment and focused on the blueprint the system rewarded him.
The glowing screen hovered in front of him — detailed, elegant lines forming a raised bath chamber.
A hollowed basin like a stone jacuzzi.
Drainage holes aligned at perfect angles.
Support structure sketched like ancient architecture.
It was beautiful.
And modern.
And impossible for anyone here to understand unless he explained carefully.
Evan drew it on the cave wall using charcoal, his lines clean and confident.
Silas leaned beside him, watching with a look halfway between admiration and poorly concealed hunger.
Kael watched too.
But his expression leaned more toward disbelief.
"So…" Kael rubbed his head. "This is… for washing?"
"Yes," Evan said brightly. "A warm bath. A clean place. No more freezing ourselves outside. And no slipping on ice when washing your hair."
Kael gave him a long stare.
"Do you think I wash my hair?"
"...You should," Evan said gently.
Silas snorted.
Kael pointed a finger at Silas. "You too. Don't laugh."
Silas pretended not to hear.
.....
When Evan explained the raised six-foot chamber for drainage, Silas lifted him easily, holding him at eye level to the drawn height.
"So high," Silas murmured. "Won't you slip, little one?"
Evan sputtered.
"I won't slip!"
Silas tilted his head. "You silp often , like you slipped last night on.... "
Evan almost dropped the charcoal.
"You....you..."
Kael, in the background, made a strangled choking sound and faced the wall.
"I AM LEAVING," he declared loudly.
"Why i am single???"
...
Silas and Kael gathered stones, packed snow, and cleared the rising ground outside the cave to form the elevated base.
Evan supervised from below, hands on his hips covered in thick furs looking like a fur ball,shouting instructions.
"Not that rock, Silas! The round one!"
Silas held up the wrong rock on purpose.
"This one?"
"No! The round one!"
"This is round."
"That is oval!"
Silas lifted a brow suggestively.
"Last night you didn't complain about—"
"DON'T YOU DARE FINISH THAT SENTENCE!"
Kael dropped the boulder he was carrying.
"Please. Spare me. I am just a single man doing hard labor."
.....
Lunch Break
Evan cooked a hearty meal of seasoned meat, warm taro and vegetable soup, and roasted snow-yam slices.
Kael inhaled the food like a starving wolf.
Silas picked pieces from Evan's plate instead of his own.
"Eat your own!" Evan scolded.
Silas leaned in close, voice silk-smooth.
"I like the taste of yours."
Kael choked on his soup and slammed his bowl down.
"That's it. I'm going outside. Even the cold is better than hearing this."
Silas looked unbothered.
Evan wanted to disappear.
...
"Afternoon Progress"
By midday, the raised platform for the bath chamber was finished — sturdy, smooth, reinforced with carved stones Silas shaped with inhuman precision (obviously he is a orc not human....)
Evan supervised the shaping of the stone basin inside the bath chamber.
Silas carried him up the stairs like a sack of potatoes because the snow was slippery.
"Silas, put me down! I can walk!"
"You walked last night," he murmured near his ear, "but you still fell."
Evan slapped his shoulder.
Kael pretended to be blind.
.....
"Evening Glow"
When the sun dipped behind the mountains, the first day's construction was complete.
A raised chamber for the bath.
Smooth walls.
The beginning of a stone basin.
Evan's chest swelled with pride happiness.
Silas stood behind him, arms sliding around his waist.
"You're amazing," he murmured.
Evan flushed hard.
Kael dragged his mattress to the other side of the cave as far away from them as possible.
"I'm not risking another sleepless night," he muttered.
...
Night fallll.....
That night Evan lay under the furs, exhausted but happy.
Silas curled behind him again, breath warm against his neck.
"You worked hard," Silas murmured, kissing his shoulder lightly. "Does your body ache?"
Before Evan could answer, Silas added with a sly smirk,
"Do you want me to help… like last night?"
Evan slapped a hand over Silas's mouth.
"Don't you dare—"
Silas chuckled against his palm.
Across the cave, Kael groaned loudly into his pillow.
"Moon above… why me…"
"I want a mate too...."
"This shameless snake..."
...