Nathan couldn't sleep. He'd laid awake for hours already, listening to the soft breathing of the large man lying next to him. Slowly, trying to not disturb the man, he sat up, intent on getting out of bed and moving to the main room.
[Where are you going?] Axel's sleepy voice suddenly asked.
"I can't sleep. I thought I might as well go tend to the fire," as he spoke, Nathan swung his legs out of the bed.
[Right.] Axel stood before pacing in the back of Nathan's mind. [Because that worked so well last night.]
~Previous Night~
"Axel," Nathan called to his wolf.
[What is it? I'm trying to sleep, you know.]
"I know, but the fire's dying. I really don't want it to. Do you think I should try to throw some more wood on it?" Nathan sat in front of the dying fire, wondering if he could do it or if he should go get Griffin.
[I'd say go for it,] Axel said. [But be careful. Last thing you need is to set yourself on fire. Then you'd really need the dragon's help.]
Nathan mulled over the idea before deciding to just try. Worst comes to worst, he'd just have to go get some help.
What a mistake that was.
After several failed attempts, Nathan finally figured out how to pick up the wood with his teeth before being faced with another difficulty. Putting it on the fire.
The first attempt landed at the front of the fireplace where there was nothing but cold ash. As he tried to nudge it further in, he stirred up a large amount of ash, causing him to start sneezing heavily and the log to roll right out of the fireplace.
Several more attempts yielded similar results. Frustrated, Nathan was ready to call it quits and get Griffin to add the wood.
[Wait!] Axel cried, forcibly stopping Nathan's steps. [Let's try just once more before getting the dragon. Maybe if you stepped onto the edge you'd be able to get the wood far enough back.]
Nathan turned and looked at the fireplace once again. "Fine. Just one more try."
As he tried again, this time using the ledge as a step, Nathan was able to get the wood into the correct spot. Unfortunately, because of the way he dropped it, it also caused a small storm of embers to fly up, catching Nathan off guard.
"Woah!" He jumped back quickly. Feeling the embers heat, he started shaking out his coat, trying to make sure they didn't land on him.
Unfortunately, all it did was start a small fire on his shoulder.
[Fire! Nate, you're on fire!] Axel panicked, realizing that the whole thing was a bad idea from the start.
Nathan immediately headed to the front door, glad he'd been watching when Griffin had latched it. He knew how to unlatch it and that it'd be simple enough, even as a wolf. As quickly as he could, he got the door open and was out in the rain. He rushed to a large puddle between the cabin and the shed, immediately diving into it and rolling around, trying to put out the small flame.
Exhausted from the excitement, Nathan laid there in the mud for over 15 minutes.
"I don't want to do that ever again," he grumbled.
Axel let out a soft whine. [I'm sorry. It's my fault that you tried that and got hurt. I should have just let you get the dragon in the first place.]
Nathan huffed as he got to his feet. "Don't worry about it. Besides, I'm not hurt. Startled, yes. But not hurt." He shook hard trying to get as much mud off as possible before looking at his shoulder. "And it's not even noticeable. That part was already black."
Nathan made his way back to the front door before stopping on the stone front step. He sat there, waiting for the rain to wash the rest of the mud from his coat.
[Still…]
"It's fine, Axel. Now we know for the future to not drop it like that." Nathan grinned. "Thankfully sunrise isn't too far away so the fire shouldn't need another log before that man gets up."
After several minutes, Nathan's coat was finally clean enough for him to go back inside. He'd waited solely because he didn't want to track mud into the cabin.
As he sat in front of the rekindled fire, he began the slow process of grooming to make sure there was no real evidence of the incident.
~Present~
"I don't need a reminder of that Axel. Besides, I can use my hands this time." Nathan was thrilled to try feeding the fire again.
[Yeah,] Axel groaned, [ones that you still don't know how to use properly. You'll probably set yourself on fire again. Can you even get out there? You were barely able to make it a few steps before.]
Nathan paused. He'd forgotten about that. He was just so excited to try to do things as a human. As he let out a soft sigh, he said, "You're right. I probably won't be able to make it that far."
With nothing better to do, Nathan laid back down but this time, he turned so that he was facing Griffin.