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couldn't keep Kam awake. He slumped to the side, feeling his face hit Lor's shoulder, and drifted off.
    *~*~*
    Kam woke when something licked his face. He slowly opened his eyes and was greeted with the sight of two barely opened blue puppy eyes staring him right in the face and a wet black nose nudging his cheek. Runt whined.
    "Go find your mamma, if you're hungry," Kam grumbled softly. The cavern was dark and quiet, apparently everyone else was asleep and the fire was slowly dying down.
    Runt whined again. The part of Kam that wasn't mostly still asleep marveled at how mature she was, more like several weeks old than several days. Any worry he still had that she might not survive dissipated.
    "She's over in that direction," Kam told her, pointing over his shoulder in the direction he could feel three slumbering puppies.
    Runt licked Kam's face again and toddled off, her nose working furiously as she whined piteously for her mother to find her. Kam waited until he felt Runt's satisfaction at finally being found before sighing and pulling the sleeping fur higher over his shoulder. He turned his head to tuck his nose back into the warm chest he was pressed against and felt the arm around his waist tighten in response.
    It took Kam a few seconds to realize he was sharing his sleeping fur with someone else and a few moments after that before he understood that a man was holding him tightly. Kam slowly looked up to find Lor's bright blue eyes studying him intently.
    "I wasn't sure if you were going back to sleep," Lor said softly with a small smile.
    "Um," Kam forced out, knowing his mouth was hanging open in surprise. "Hi," he finally said.
    "Hello," Lor answered. "You gave me quite a scare yesterday, you know."
    "Oh, well, thanks for warming me up," Kam stuttered out in reply.
    Lor's arm left Kam's waist, but before Kam could begin to feel regret that Lor was leaving, Lor's hand tilted Kam's head back.
    "Don't vanish on me again," Lor admonished, his blue eyes still and serious. Kam stared into those intent blue orbs, unable to blink or look away as Lor slowly bent closer. Their lips touched, both chapped from the cold wind, but warm and tender. Lor slowly drew away and laughed gently at Kam's shocked face.
    Kam frowned. "What did you do that for?" he grumbled.
    "Why did I kiss you or why did I laugh?" Lor asked, his voice still quiet but too full of humor to be called a whisper. "I kissed you because I thought you were beautiful from the moment I first saw you under that bad witch's spell. But my duty to the clan came first, so I sent those girls and Mae to watch over you. I'm laughing because I should have kissed you when you told me you only liked men while under the influence of my truth potion.
    "You're an idiot when it comes to the ice, but you somehow always come out ahead in the end—with or without my help. But I realized yesterday that you might not return from your next silly mishap. I didn't want to lose my chance of getting to know you better."
    "Oh," Kam replied once Lor had finished his explanation. "I like you, too," he added with a shy smile.
    "Good," Lor said and he gave Kam the first full smile Kam had ever seen grace Lor's lips. It was as beautiful and as blinding as a field of untouched snow and made Kam's heart lurch in his chest. "We should get back to sleep," Lor continued as he reached over Kam to pull up the fallen sleeping fur. "We both had exhausting days yesterday and need rest in order to recuperate."
    Lor pulled Kam down onto his chest and wrapped his arm back around Kam's waist. Kam snuggled into the warm embrace and let his exhaustion drag him back down into sleep.
    When Kam next woke, it was to the noise of people speaking and breakfast dishes clanking. He was alone in the sleeping fur, but moments after he opened his eyes Mae strode up to press a bowl of hot cereal into his hands.
    "Good to see you up," she said with a nod hello. "Lor's just checking on Ness. He'll be back over in a minute."