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"What the fuck...?"

When Brian got out of the tent he noticed things were not right. Their plates and soup cups had been scattered around the lawn and linked clean, and the toilet bag seemed to be missing. He followed the trail of toothpaste, toothbrushes and other items until he found the torn remains of the bag.  Little pieces of foil were strewn around it and the condoms were all gone except small pieces of rubber.

“Brian, what’s wrong?” Justin peaked out of the tent.

“It seems I underestimated the hunger of those pups” Brian answered and dangled half a condom in the air so that Justin could see it.

“Oh.. My.. God... hahaha! That is soooo funny” Justin fell back into the tent and laughed wholeheartedly.

“Yeah, well… You’re not gonna think it’s funny next time you wanna fuck” Brian spat back at him. He was angry at himself for neglecting to take the bag back into the tent.

“They ate all of them?” Justin’s comment didn't help with Brian’s self-accusation.

“Yes, they ate all the condoms, and chewed on our toothbrushes… and they ate the lube” Brian said in his dangerously calm ‘I don’t give a shit’ voice. “I’m gonna go at wash up our plates and cups which those hopefully soon to become fur coats, licked clean… who knows what sort of rabies or other pests they have.”

Having known Brian so long Justin knew not to say that it was alright. He didn't care that the condoms were gone, they could certainly improvise but he knew as well, that Brian did NOT want to hear that now. He was probably thinking it was his entire fault and that now the trip would be ruined. He poured some water into the pot and when it was boiling he poured most of it into the thermos flasks and then placed their toothbrushes into the rest of the water to disinfect them. He knew Brian would refuse to use them if he thought they had pest on them. He saw Brian coming back and poured some coffee and sugar into one of the flasks.

As Brian silently placed the plates into their kitchen bag, Justin knew for sure that it was bad.

“Brian, hand me the cups will you, there’s coffee.” He knew he didn't want to pretend everything was alright and refused to tiptoe around his brooding man.

When Brian handed him the cups, he grabbed his hand and held it tight. He used Brian as counterweight as he got up.  

“I’m boiling the toothbrushes.  Now let’s have coffee and then we can walk over and ask Nina if she has condoms.“   At the disbelief in Brian’s facial expression he added  “You don’t really think she stays up here the whole summer with all those hot hikers around without such items in her luggage?”

“She’s probably a lesbian, and I don’t think it’s her job to make sure the filthy hikers have safe sex.”  Brian stated without really sounding upset. Of course Justin knew that wasn't necessarily a good sign.

“Well then, let’s have coffee and then eat. I’m not carrying all that food. He turned off the gas and let the toothbrushes stand in the hot water for a while longer.

They ate in silence. “Finish your food Brian” Justin was getting a bit annoyed “and then you can go and pack down the tent. I’m gonna wash the plates.” He walked to the same washing station Brian had been to earlier and cleaned the plates. Then he walked by Nina’s cabin and found a note on the door that said she’d be back at noon, asking visitors to leave her a message.

When he came back Brian was done packing the tent and the sleeping bags into their backpacks.  Justin placed his hand on his shoulder and when Brian didn't flinch he felt better. There was hope.

“Did she have condoms?”  Brian asked. Of course he’d known that Justin would go looking for her to test his theory.  He had known Justin just as long as Justin had known him.  

“She wasn't there.” Justin wisely didn't ask him if he was feeling better, but just kissed him softly on the neck.

I’m gonna rearrange the food. Are you ok with heading out soon?” Brian smiled softly and nodded. He grabbed his toothbrush and the toothpaste, which now had no bag and left Justin to his project.

Justin took out the second chicken and removed most of the bones. He placed the meat back into to the bag and tossed the bones into the angelica.  The foxes would find it to eat after they were gone. He then made some sandwiches with roast beef and cheese, and packed those separately along with some fruit, the pre-boiled rice, eggs and trail mix. That would have to do for lunch. At last he compressed all non-biodegradable trash into the containers from the juice they’d already emptied.  As he finished Brian came back and handed him the toothpaste to use.

The time was nearing 11 but they didn't want to wait for Nina.  The evening before she had told them how to find the only trail that would lead them safely into the adjacent valley that led to the mountain pass to Hlöðuvík their next destination.  As they walked past her cabin, Brian placed her thesis in a bag on the door handle.  Justin asked Brian to wait. He quickly removed the trash bag from his backpack, and placed it next to her door. It was one less kilo to carry over the mountains. He wrote her a quick message.

They hiked in relative silence opting to avoid talking about things.  Justin made no comment on what had happened earlier and Brian’s mood seemed to be getting better.  There would be plenty of time for talking hat later Justin thought to himself, and if Brian wanted to talk he would. It had never worked well to push the man.  Besides, the scenery gave no room for difficult conversations.   The first part of the way they needed to follow the shore since the mountain was too steep to climb without equipment. The boulders on the shore were hard to walk in and both men were glad for their good hiking boots and already then they understood Valur warning; “Your ankles and knees won't survive Hornstrandir without a pair of hiking sticks each.”  Soon they got to a near vertical cliff that protruded out into the ocean making it necessary to climb over it using a chain that had been fastened to the wall on each side.

“I guess that Helga woman wasn't kidding,” Brian huffed as he made it up the chain, and they stood on top the rock needing to climb down on the other side. Both men were glad they’d been going to the gym regularly because climbing down proved to be a challenge. “Wow!  This is not for people who don’t like heights” Justin said as he nearly fell on the way. “Yes! We are totally doing this he called out in victory when he had managed to get down safely.

The valley they needed to walk up was very beautiful and the weather was just perfect for hiking, not to hot and slow wind.  They stopped a few times and took pictures. After climbing a short but nearly vertical hill to get upon the valley plateau and crawling over a very unstable bridge made from driftwood, that led over a frisky river they came to a wooden platform, also from driftwood, which Nina had told them about as a good first pitch stop. They ate some apples and drank water and rested for a while in the sun and then started to make their way up the hill that would eventually take them to the first mountain pass they’d have to cross, Atlaskarð. The last couple of hundred meters to the pass were rather steep.  With his longer legs and larger steps Brian made it to the top of the top of Atlaskarð first. When Justin caught up with him he had removed his backpack and just stood silently staring ahead.

"Brian? Is everything alrigh..." Justin inhaled sharply.

Brian didn't need to ask. He helped Justin take off his backpack and took out the little gas stove.

The shallow creek had a decent amount of lowland and steep mountains on all sides and facing directly to the cold North, Brian could just imagine living here would have been hard.  There was a lot more snow here on the north side and the blue heaven made the ocean appear deep azure blue. While Justin sketched the view, Brian scooped some snow into the pan and heated it to make tea.  He then took some pictures and videos of the view in both directions so that they might be able to show friends at home the route they’d traveled.

When the tea was ready, they drank it silently and ate half of the sandwiches.

When they were done eating Justin felt now maybe would be the right time to talk about things. Brian certainly felt more at ease.

“Do you want to talk about this morning.” Justin asked

“No… I mean… It’s ok…  I mean… I shouldn’t have…” Brian stammered.

“You did not leave the bag outside on purpose, and we both knew about it. We did not know the foxes would eat it.  It was not your fault...” Justin said to him kindly “....and you know we can just… not fuck for the next two days. I won’t like it, but we’ll manage, and I promise to give you the best blowjobs you can possibly imagine.  You know I can do that.” Justin told him kindly but with a sexy smile.

Brian gave him a small but knowing smile.  “I know Sunshine. No one has ever come close to beating you in that department, you are like a Hoover when it comes to sucking.”  He now looked more sure of himself and looked straight at Justin as if to make a point.  "Next time we come here I guess we should bring some of those latex ones you don't like the taste of, you are so foxy it shouldn't surprise me the foxes share your taste"

"OR we could hide them better in more places and not put all the eggs in one basket so to speak." Justin suggested.

"OR... we could stop using them." Brian said stroking Justin's hair,   "You haven't been with those nasty bug infested city boys have you?"  Justin gave him an incredulous look that said 'let's not be unreasonable'.

"I know, I know... you are not the promiscuous in the relationship" Brian admitted.

"Brian, I've known you for almost 6 years. We have been through this. I'm not asking you to change."

"Yeah, but I'd prefer not having a bunch of pets have such power over my... our sex life. It's exhausting. Besides, It's only been you for awhile now and... It's... I mean... I don't feel... uuh... It's new for me."

Justin patted him lightly on his thigh. "I have noticed.  You don't let me out of bed when you come to visit. You are much better at this than you give yourself credit for.”  Justin encouraged him.

“Yeah well... it’s easier said than done. How am I gonna keep my hands off you in that small tent? Brian asked

“I’m sure it’s gonna be okay, and if not then we can always change our plans and be back tomorrow night.” Justin suggested as an alternative. He knew he'd like to stay the full five days but rather that than being stuck in sexual frustration with his boyfriend a man who wasn't known to handle any type of frustration well.

Brian was silent for a while looking around himself. He stood up and took a piss.

“You know,  Standing here I can’t help thinking… about the people who used to live here, how hard it must have been and yet how simple. Just basic life needs.” Brian said and paused.  “Almost like the fox, who just hunts for food, pisses, shits and lives being free. It makes me wonder why I keep doing this to myself.  It just makes no sense complicating life like that.  I’m not sure I want to be that person anymore, who is so dependant on little needs that a pack of hairballs can dictate my sex life like that. I much prefer to be in charge myself. Ahhh… who am I kidding? You've called the shots in our relationship since the beginning.

Justin walked over to him and put his arm around his waist. “Hey, look at me. Let’s not decide that here, you know I’ve dreamt of it only being us since day two, but let’s deal with that when we come back home shall we.  Now kiss me.”

Brian did as told and when the broke apart he was laughing. “See, I told you, you call the shots.”

They packed up their bags and started hiking again. They were glad for the snow; it was easier to walk on than the untrustworthy rocks that sometimes would roll when stepped on. Countless times the hiking sticks had saved both men from ankle injury.  Another reason they were glad for the snow was that it was much easier to see the “path” since several hikers had done this hike in the previous weeks and their steps were easier to follow than the confusing paths on the south side that more often than not ended in a swamp of just simply disappeared.

They followed the mountainside in order to not lose a lot of elevation since they needed to cross another mountain ridge to before getting down to Hlöðuvík.

As they came up on the second mountain ridge Justin phone suddenly came a life and vibrated in his pocket. He picked it out and read the message.

Brian was a bit ahead of him and he was the first one to catch a glimpse over the ridge. "Seriously, this has got to be a joke! We're going this way down?  I wonder if we ended up on the wrong path crossing the snow?" Brian was a bit hesitant.  The path seemed to wind its way down the hill that was remarkably steep. He knew the heavy backpacks made their gravity points different and every step could be dangerous.  If they were to fall going down that hill they couldn't necessarily stop and might roll all the way down.

“Well we sort of followed the map, look, this is it, I'm sure. Look over there is one of those yellow sticks" Justin pointed. He was certainly glad there was no fog. This hike was proving to as hard as the woman at the tour office had said. But it was certainly worth it. They carefully started to make their way down the narrow path and both men silently promised themselves to thank Valur for the hiking sticks. Those proved to be excellent for balance. Then Justin slipped and lost his balance. He was walking behind Brian and as he fell he yelled out loud.

“Woah!”

When Brian turned around he could see Justin hanging by his backpack that had gotten stuck on a rock. He froze. “Don’t move Justin” He instructed.

“Well, I can’t move, I’m sort of hanging here… like a teabag.” Justin joked in the surreal situation.

“Are you hurt?” Brian sounded worried.

“No no, I’m fine, I landed on the backpack, stop freaking out and pull me up!  I much prefer that to hanging here.”  Justin was kind of spooked himself but it wouldn't help the situation to freak out.

Thankfully Brian managed to pull him up and for the next several minutes he was overly protective of Justin, almost so that it was annoying.  Thankfully soon the path became easier and less steep and as they were through the worst of it, Brian threw off his backpack, grabbed his pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lid one with shaking hands and smoked it in long drags.  Justin took the bottle out of the bag and poured a shot into its cap and handed to Brian.

“Cowabunga, what a very big drink! Who’s gonna drive home now” Brian retorted but accepted the drink.

“Good, your lovely cynical self is back, I was worried it got lost on the mountain” Justin shot right back at him.  I’ll swop you another one for a smoke.”  Brian handed him the last of his cigarette and Justin welcomed the nicotine in his lungs. It had been a bit of a stressful decent.  Justin took one short shot from the bottle too.  “Did that help.” he asked Brian who nodded. “Nothing happened, thanks for pulling me up my Hero and protector.” He gave his man a short kiss on the lips. “We still have a couple of hours to, let’s stick to it. First one to the camp gets a blowjob.”

It was late at day when they came to the camp in Hlöðuvík and the somewhat beat hikers, both physically and emotionally, decided to start by taking advantage of the shower, which was gas powered and worked as a pay for use. The user was supposed to put coins in a slot next to the water heater.  A note on the wall declared that 300 krona was enough for a regular shower so they put in 600 which would be something like $5.

Brian was happy that the shower although not spacious by any means was big enough for both of them and having been without a shower for almost 3 days Brian felt that it was the best shower he had had in his life. The fact that Justin had put out on his promise of a blowjob to the one who would be faster to the camp, did definitely help.

After the shower they put on fresh clothes and hung their sweaty hiking clothes and towels to dry in a shed meant for that purpose. Justin then went to work on putting up the tent. Meanwhile Brian started dinner. Again; this night they ate chicken but this time added more rice to the meal because they were both hungry like wolves… or foxes perhaps…

While Brian washed the dinnerware and carefully hid it in the tent Justin heated up some water and mixed with chocolate powder and a very generous amount of whiskey to keep them warm after the sun would set. He had just handed Brian his cup and as they were about to sit and enjoy their nightcap, a sound of a motor could be heard in the distance. It was the first sound of that sort they heard since leaving the boat. The sound seemed to be coming nearer and both men rose curious to know what it was.

They saw the plane as it came down the valley and flew right over the camp out to sea where it made a 180° turn came back right at them swinging with the wings as if to say ‘Hello’.  As it flew over the camping area again, a red bag was thrown from it and then it ascended up the valley again and disappeared over the mountains.

Brian fetched the bag, and opened it up. Inside he found a large pack of condoms and lube as well as small bag with four joints in it.

“What is it?” Justin asked as he came nearer.

“…..”   Brian was speechless.

“Oh… nice.  Valur got my text message” Justin said as he saw the contents of the bag.

“Sunshine… have I told you lately what a genius you are?” Brian said when he got his voice back.  He opened up the pack of condoms and placed two in a pocket of both his and jacket and his pants and then did the same to Justin. He then slipped the joints into his cigarette pack and  handed the pack with the rest of the condoms to Justin. “Go hide that in the tent and get naked. Right now.”   Justin did as told and got naked faster than Brian thought was possible. He then started tearing at Brian’s clothes

“Easy boy! Don’t tear it, I’ve only got this one set”

“Hey, don’t drag this out, I havn't had you for days!” Justin hissed, and Brian didn't care to correct him. He handed Justin the tube. “ Let me watch you prepare yourself”

“Really? …  You want me to do this?” Justin whispered and squirted a liberal amount of it on to his fingers. “Like this?”  He placed two fingers inside himself, scissoring them while moaning hotly.   “No don’t touch me… there just one of me” Justin was in his evil mode getting back at him for his slip earlier.

Brian growled low, he had to admit it once again; he wasn't the strong one in this relationship.   He grabbed his lover and not so gently flipped him on his back. He then swung his legs up over his shoulders.  “You don’t really want to wait, do you?” He asked.

“No. Fuck me. Now!”

- - -

Somewhere in the middle of the bright night Brian woke up alone in the tent. He couldn't understand how Justin had managed to leave their sleeping bag without waking him.

Thinking he had just taken a quick trip to the toilet he waited a few minutes but when there was no sign of Justin he quickly got dressed and went in search of him.  

The Sun had come up over the eastern mountains and it’s cool red morning rays painted the valley in a pink shade.  At first he couldn't see Justin but after walking around the camp he saw him sitting on the foot of the hill in between the dunes.  Brian went back to the tent and grabbed a blanket. He then went to join his lover.

Justin was staring out to see. He was hugging his sketchbook and tears run down his face.

“Sunshine… what’s wrong?” Justin jumped a bit. He hadn’t heard him approaching. Brian knelt down beside him and lifted him so that he was sitting on his lap and covered them both with the blanket.

“Oh… it’s just… it’s so beautiful here… and I feel… I haven’t been this happy in a long time. I don’t want to go back to New York. I want to go home… to Pittsburgh… with you” Justin said in a low voice.

Justin trembled in his arms. He was cold and this was certainly not a good place to catch a cold. Brian rubbed his back to warm him up.  “I need you in my life Brian, every day…” He whispered almost to low to hear.

“Yeah… me too.” Brian told him. He took a deep breath. “I’ve had time to think, do you remember on the second day when you were freaking out in the car because I didn’t reply to all of your questions…”

“I wasn’t freaking out…”Justin tried to interrupt.

“Listen to me…” Brian insisted. “Are you listening?” Justin nodded. “I was watching the glacier getting lost in the clouds wondering if we’d miss seeing it. And about how I sometimes feel I’m missing our life together.  That’s when I knew I had to ask you to come back to Pittsburgh… and marry me. For real this time...”

Justin nodded and looked Brian straight in the eyes. He then gently placed his arms around him and hugged him tightly.  “No golden gardenias this time, I don’t need that anymore. I know you will always love me.” He whispered into Brian’s ear.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a condom. “I didn’t want to wake you but I was hoping you’d wake up and join me” he said quietly and blushed. He was so adorable getting shy like that still after so many years.

Brian nudged Justin of off him and spread the blanked out on the ground. While doing that he didn't break eye contact and when Justin made moves of taking of his sweater Brian stopped him. “No, leave it on. I don’t want you to be cold.”  He then took the foil from Justin and directed him to lay down on his side and then spooned him and pushed his pants slightly down. As Brian slit slowly into him both men caught their breaths. They slowly rocked together in their perfect rhythm and Justin turned his upper body towards his kisses. Their lips only broke apart when oxygen became an issue.  Soon the speed picked up and their excitement prevented the long leisure kissing as their union turned into a more frantic state. This time they didn't care if they woke up the rest of the valley.  After all, one of the items on the list of essential things to bring to Hornstrandir, were earplugs.

After a near knockout orgasm for both men they lay lazily for a while. Brian had pulled the blanket around them and the sun’s rays were getting warmer. In the perfect calm of the morning it was almost warm enough, and the blanket certainly came in handy. Neither man minded spending the rest of the night right there in each other arms.

“Look” Justin whispered low so as not to scare them away “We have audience”

“Hmmp. They probably just want to eat the condom kinky little bastards. I don’t blame them…there is top quality juice in there. Not so sure I like the taste of the latex though.  He reached for the condom and tossed it at the little group, causing them to scatter off, but soon enough one brave one came back and started chewing on the condom.

“Eww…  This is just… ahh… Do you think anyone is gonna believe that.”  Justin asked between his fits of laughter.

“Perhaps not you mother, but Debbie will.” Brian stated and he was probably right.

Brian reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and pulled out his pack of cigarettes. He pulled out one of the joints, lit it and shared it with Justin. It was good quality weed and both men got comfortably high and sat together on the beach enjoying the early morning while the sun crawled up the sky.

- - -

A large rock stood a bit out of the rest of the mountain. The sun rays reflected of it's walls which were covered with guano from the thousands of birds nesting on its cliffs. At least that's what it looked like from the outside. From the inside it was a large palace with floor to ceiling windows, obsidian floors and crystal adorned walls and ceilings.

"Finally, I was beginning to think we needed to intervene more. I liked what you had the foxes do, now that was a brilliant move,” the tall handsome elf told his lover.

"Yeah, well... I somehow had to top your little stunt when you hid his jeans in the cabin… and the thunder to get the kids out of the plane… now that was quick thinking!" the younger looking elf replied.  "I guess we can turn off the volcano now, it has caused enough troubles already” he added.

"The humans will get over it, they always do. This was more important. Now let's go to bed. I've learned a few things following those hot men in the last few days that I'd like to try with you." The two beautiful elves turned away from the window and headed for their super king size elevated bed, located deep within the rock in what looked surprisingly much like a certain Pittsburgh bedroom.

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