The cabin was warm when they came back, almost too warm after the bite of the night air.
Snow still clung to their boots as they stamped them against the mat, the faint smell of iron and smoke carried in with them. The door shut behind them, the bar slid into place, and for a long moment none of them spoke. Just the sound of the fire crackling, wood popping as it adjusted to the flames.
Sera dropped onto the couch with Oogie anchored at her hip, the ridiculous weight of the plush grounding her in a way nothing else could.
The creature inside her was quiet for once, stretched out and purring rather than pacing.
Across the room Alexei flopped into a chair with a groan, throwing his head back and muttering something in his mother tongue that sounded suspiciously like a complaint about his knees.
