Heyho lovely readers!

This one is rather short, but as you've been waiting for it for an embarrassingly long time already I didn't want to wait with the next update until it got longer.

Real life has been rather difficult lately and I hope it will get better and I will have more energy and time to write.

Thank you all for your support, favs, alerts and most of all reviews – you're all amazing people!

Now, enjoy!

No warnings.

"Erik."

"Mmpf?"

"Are you awake?"

Erik opens one eye blearily to squint at his mate. Although Charles has been trying to whisper as quietly as possible as to not wake his Alpha, he is clearly excited. A glance at the window shows Erik that it is still well before sunrise. Charles is never up at this time.

Erik sits up and rubs a hand across his face. "What's up?"

Charles grins and bounces in place a bit. "Today we go to see the houses!"

Erik has to smile at his mate's enthusiasm and tugs him into a hug. "Looking forward to it, are we?"

Charles nods against him and stays still for just a moment to hug him back, before he disentangles himself and hops down from the bed, holding out a hand to Erik.

"C'mon, I made breakfast!"

Erik shakes his head fondly. "Honey, you know we won't be looking at houses before sunrise, right?"

Charles waves his hand impatiently. "Yeah, yeah. By the time the chores are done it will be a reasonable enough time to go look at houses."

Erik gets up, it's not as if he has a problem with early mornings. It's just very amusing to see Charles bouncing in place and chattering excitedly at this hour when normally Erik has to lure him from the bed with fresh tea and he isn't up for much talk until he's downed a few cups.

Erik will enjoy it while it lasts.

It doesn't take them all that long to finish breakfast and then the morning chores and then they're off to see the houses. Erik insisted they first go to the neighbouring villages and save the ones in their own village for last so they can go straight home when they're finished. There are only six houses in total they will be looking at, but the walks between them are not really short, so they'll probably be exhausted at the end of the day.

The first one they look at is quite nice, in Erik's opinion, but Charles only takes one good look around and then politely asks the owner to please excuse them for a moment before he steps outside with Erik.

Erik rises his eyebrows at him.

"It's too small." Charles tells him. "Can we go on to the other houses?"

Erik grins and ruffles Charles' hair. "Sure. It's your money we're going to be spending."

Charles grimaces. "Technically, it's yours now. And I'm sorry if I'm rushing you, it just... it's not the right house."

Erik draws his mate into a hug. "Hey. As far as I'm concerned, it is and it stays your money and you can do with it whatever you please. And as it's me who is the head of our little household, that's my call to make. I don't care about tradition or what anyone else is thinking, okay?"

Charles nods and gives him a quick kiss, trying to move out of Erik's arms but not succeeding as Erik doesn't let go. "Also, I want to move to a house that makes you feel at home. So if you know from a first glance a house isn't going to be it, that's perfectly fine and we'll move on. All right?"

A tentative smile blossoms on Charles' face then and he leans in to Erik's embrace. "I love you, you know that?" Charles whispers against his shoulder.

Erik kisses him on the top of his head. "I know. And I love you, too. Let's wrap this up and move on, shall we?"

In the course of the morning, they look at two more houses, which both do not really convince Charles, though one is "not too bad" in his words. They stop for lunch in a tavern, which is a novelty in itself. They've never eaten out together and Charles keeps looking around curiously while they're waiting for their food.

"Have you not been in a tavern before?" Erik asks him quizzically.

Charles shrugs. "Not out in the open among other people. I wasn't travelling much to begin with and only with my family. When we did have to stop somewhere we always ended up in an extra room and a small feast laid out for us. It's nice, being able to see what's going on."

Erik smiles at his mate. He's come a far way from his first days after the heat where he would make his disdain for all things concerning village live and villagers in particular perfectly clear. (Even if he stopped running his mouth after a few well-placed swats.)

The meal is good and fresh and Charles is very gleeful about not having to do the dishes. Erik enjoys seeing him that happy rather a lot.

When they walk on to the next house, Erik gently cups Charles' face and kisses him. Charles kisses him back enthusiastically, and then draws back and smiles at Erik.

"What was that for?"

Erik smiles back. "I'm just happy to have you with me and see you enjoying yourself."

Charles' eyes take on a mischievous glint. "Well... you could see me enjoying myself everyday if you'd hire some servants to do the housework while I conduct experiments."

Erik shakes his head fondly while he walks on. "Not in our kitchen, my lad."

Charles runs to catch up with him and takes his hand. "I'd use the study, of course."

"We'll see."

Charles fells a warm and happy feeling settling over him, because that's not a no. Maybe there is hope to salvage this villager's life, after all.

The house Charles had set his hopes on is, of course, the last they look at.

Charles falls in love at first sight.

Erik smiles indulgently while Charles takes him by the hand and leads him through the whole house, pointing out everything in rising excitement.

When they arrive at the backyard, Charles' breath is momentarily taken away. Everything is so … perfect. All buildings are in excellent shape, there is so much space and everything is full of opportunities...

Charles has been probably staring for a few minutes when he becomes aware of Erik squeezing his hand and gently calling his name.

He blinks at his Alpha, feeling a little dazed. Erik smiles.

"All right?"

Charles nods and impulsively throws his arms around Erik's neck, whispering to his ear: "Can we buy this one?"

Erik hugs him and whispers back "Of course, Liebling."

They stay like that for a while, then Erik turns to the very patient Mr Brown who has been showing them around and announces "We'll take it. Can you have the paperwork drawn up, please?"

Mr Brown smiles and nods. "We'll have it done within the week. Thank you both, I'm sure you'll be very happy here." He shakes their hands and then leaves them to explore the backyard, outer buildings and the farmland.

There is one point when Erik goes very still and gets a faraway look on his face that Charles doesn't dare to disturb. They're in one of the outer buildings, a bright and friendly room with some sturdy work benches and a small furnace.

Charles leaves Erik to his thoughts and wanders on to the next building.

Later that evening, when they're home and laying in bed together, Charles turns inside Erik's arms. He presses kisses all over the skin of his mate, tentative at first, but becoming bolder at Erik's enthusiastic responses, whispering "Thank you" between kisses over and over.

The future is looking brighter than it ever has since the heat.

Thanks for reading!