Dystopian Future

It was luckily that spirits didn't get easily drunk because Jax was already at his second bottle, in the end Ezra had just ordered a bottle and asked for a bowl to the wolf rather than ordering glasses. Rivik had looked at Ezra, almost like an annoyed parents as they only was at their third glass. Maybe it was because they drank wine, not made for drinking fast, or because they wasn't as crazy as the wolf, most likely both.
"I want more" Jax demanded and Ezra only shrugged his shoulders ordering another bottle to the wolf. Maybe it was idiotic to waste money like this, but he had them, and seeing he had already bought the shop, it wasn't like he was saving to anything. The only important thing he needed money for was the rent on his flat, besides that he could live without everything else, or make the spirits steal for him, so he didn't worry.
"You want some?" Jax asked, looking at them.
"That disgusting thing you drinking, no way" Rivik glared at the bottle before he drunk from his own glass.
"I am fine as well" Jax didn't seemed bothered that they turned his offer down, as he soon started drinking again. Ezra made some cigaretts appear and lighten one. He hadn't smoked in awhile, but maybe it would help him relax, together with the alcohol. It hadn't helped so far, but he knew he needed to drink more than he had for it to have any affect, and wine was the wrong thing to drink to get wasted, he knew that.
"So what's wrong?" Jax asked placing his head in the shamans lap. "I mean you rarely go out drinking"
"Everything with Zemin is just fucking complicated"
"Why? You are talking, and making this vampire thing work, right?" sometimes Jax's mind seemed so simple, almost like a child and Ezra sighed, not wishing to think about it and he decided to order some whiskey instead, hoping it would have an larger effect on him.

Well he had gotten drunk, not as much as he had hopped for, but when the spirits became super wasted he felt like they needed to stop. Rivik's sight almost spinned, making Ezra feel sick to his stomach. And after someone tried to talk to him about the sketches, he decided to leave, feeling uncomfortable around the man. As soon as they stepped outside, Jax ran away, barking as he did, most likely chasing something. Rivik was complaining that he felt sick and because the fox couldn't see straight, he couldn't either, soon resolving in him falling into the water. Rivik blinked a few times before he noticed what had happened.
"Ezra I am so sorry" the fox jumped into the water starting to collect his drawing supplies as Ezra stood up, finding his way to the planks, as Jax returned.
"Oh you felt like swimming as well" he laughed splashing in the water making Ezra even wetter and he looked at them.
"I am never going drinking with you again" he complained, feeling that if he was wasted, at least they could be sober enough to take care of him, not the other way around. He tried to summon one of the other spirits to help him, but he felt that he couldn't concentrate enough to manage.
"Let's go home" Rivik said as he handed over the things to Ezra and walked out of the water.
"How? You can't even walk straight for two steps" Ezra sighed, feeling that using Rivik's eyes made him more sick than anything else and he broke the connection.
"Then what are we going to do? Sleep here? Really cozy" Rivik complained and for a second Ezra wanted to tell him to shut up, that all this was his fault. The fox had suggested that they went drinking, he was wasted enough to make Ezra fall into the water, making him cold, but he knew it wasn't the fox's fault. Ezra was old enough to make his own decision and he should know better.
"Lets go to the pub" Jax stated.
"And do what? Sleep in the same bed as the brothers" Rivik snapped and Ezra sighed, he didn't wish to return to the pub, not at all, not only because he knew his thoughts would start acting up, making him confused once more, he had at least avoided that since he became drunk. But he also didn't wont the brothers to see him like this, but he had little choice, it was closer to the pub than his flat, he knew that the spirits wouldn't be able to lead him home, and he didn't know the way well enough to walk it blind. Not that he knew the way to the pub either, but he knew it would be easier for the spirits to take him there.
"Let's go there"

He had avoided falling into the water once more, and falling down at all on the way back, but it took forever, seeing that Rivik didn't concentrate and Ezra had to take it slow not to feel more sick than he already did. As he reached the old house he actually felt relief, since he could end the contact with the fox. Returning to the darkness, and when everything stopped spinning he felt better. He was still cold as fuck, felt a bit sick and tired, but better than before. He placed the messed up sketches on the counter as he leaned towards it, taking a deep breath. He could hear how Rivik made his way to his bed on the counter and feel asleep at once, while Jax ran around, chasing his own tail most likely, and he rested his head on the counter, reminding himself it was the last time he went drinking with the spirits, ever!

In the beginning they waited, they waited for Ezra and his spirits to return so they could eat their hard earned dinner. Not that the ingredients had been difficult to come over, but rather because of the simple fact that it’d been hard work. A lot of hard work. Neither Zemin or Xue usually spent that much time in the kitchen. Mostly because they were somewhat lazy and because they hadn’t had much of a kitchen since many years back. But it also brought back many memories to the days when they’d still lived in the nice neighbourhood, to the days when they’d had separate rooms and been able to enjoy themselves to at least some extent everyday. Enjoyment had since then become a rare pleasure which they rarely enjoyed. Of course there were still times when they could have a good laugh and smile genuinely, but those moments had definitely become a lot fewer since the death of their parents.
“So exactly how long are we going to wait?” Xue asked as he fiddled with his cup of green tea.
“Until he comes back, I mean he said he’d be here”, Zemin mumbled and looked down at his hands, twisting his fingers until the bones snapped lightly.
“Yeah, but we’ve been waiting for almost an hour by now”, Alec pointed out and let out a wide, long yawn. He didn’t even try to hide the fact that he was both annoyed and tired. The oldest of the men already knew what he was waiting for, as it was more than obvious. However Zemin himself had no plans whatsoever to leave the table until the shaman arrived. So he didn’t leave, even though they centrally started eating while the ghoul watched.

To begin with they talked about school and how the younger ones were doing, how their grades were and if they had any favourite subjects. Right now they only had two different courses ongoing, which made life a lot easier since they were given a smidge of more free time.
“Are you two taking the same courses by coincidence or because you deliberately made that decision?” Zemin wondered and raised an eyebrow. He already had an idea of how it all really was, but if they said it out loud he would get the chance to scold them.
“You’re only asking that because you like to nag and be annoying”, Xue muttered and shared a glance with Alec, who actually looked rather amused.
“Well, isn’t it better to base your life decisions on what you actually want?” The older brothers head fell to the side as he let the dark brown gaze slide between the other two. Let’s just say that conversation went on for quite awhile and that the oldest one in the group won in the end, because that was in fact the truth.
When the younger men made their way upstairs, Zemin stayed behind to clean up. He had this lingering, uneasy feeling in his stomach. Had something happened to Ezra? Why hadn’t he shown up? Why had none of them shown? With a small sigh, he leaned against one of the kitchen counters while cleaning one of the plates. Nah, it was probably fine, right? Right? But before he could think any further about that, the front door opened and steps clearly sounded throughout the building.
The now clean plate was immediately put to the side as the wolf rushed out through the siding room, towards the hallway where he came to a sudden stop.
“Really? You leave for a couple of hours and return drunk and soaking wet? What’s wrong with you?” Zemin went right up to the taller man with a sour facial expression creeping across his face. He stopped right in front of him and started up at the face which he found so excruciatingly handsome. Yes, it kind of hurt actually.
“And you missed my dinner, which I made with lots of love and time. That’s a really mean move, Ezra..but whatever, let’s get you into a bath and clean off that alcohol stench. You’re drunk aren’t you? Want me to babysit in the future?” The werewolf continued with fire and hell to the otherwise sweet voice. Nagging about everything was really his thing, and right now all he wanted to do was take care of Ezra - take care of him even though he’d missed the meal and was drunk. It barely even mattered to the younger one, who was till sickly pissed at the shaman. No, he couldn’t get away from that aspect. Not a single chance.

Ezra barely had time to react before Zemin entered the shop, and the man didn't talk louder than normally, but it still felt like he was shouting. It was actually strange seeing that someone cared about what he did, that someone even schooled him for it. Ezra wasn't sure if he liked that or not, a part of him actually was a bit touched that someone cared, the other part got angry because someone told him off.
"Hi Zemin" Jax barked happier than usual as he rushed towards them. "He is wet because Rivik made him fall into the water"
Jax almost laughed as he jumped Ezra, who fell, since he couldn't see what the wolf was about to do, and had no chance to prepare himself. Jax rolled around on the ground to drunk to even care for once. And once again Ezra reminded himself that he should never go drinking with the spirits!
"I am not as drunk as I wish, and what's wrong with me? Last time I looked I was a grownup man, and could make my own decisions" he answered as he stood up, with a bit of struggle, trying to find something he could hold on to, since he didn't saw anything. Jax had started chasing his own tail again, playing happily, while Rivik snored, for once not even reacting to the world around him.
"However I do apologise that I missed your dinner Zemin. I thought after seeing that you got upset by my words, it would be better to leave you alone, with your brother someone that didn't hurt you" Ezra confessed, but clearly he had once again been wrong. It didn't seem to matter what he did, everything was the wrong move and he sighed as he leaned onto the counter.
"Are you feeling sick? Are you that drunk?" Jax stopped for a second, walking over more carefully.
"It's because Rivik made everything fucking spin. He couldn't even walk straight, and if he can't do that and see things without making it spinning, I feel sick. It's just worse when I have to watch it a longer time, and I actually wish it was because I was that drunk, then it had at least been my fault. Or maybe it was, taking you two drinking"
"It was fun. I drunk 5 bottles" Jax bragged to Zemin wagging his tail as he did something good.
"If you want to babysit, you can babysit them, as I go drinking on my own" he stated as he tried to feel a bit better. "And there is no need for you to take care of me. You are clearly pissed with me, so you can school me some more if you want and then go and do something you like. I will go to my office and sleep, hoping Rivik is feeling better in the morning so I can go home"
"I can help you home otherwise" Jax offered.
"If you feel better, you are more drunk than he is" Ezra sighed as he stood up, glad everything had stopped spinning as he turned towards the direction he thought Zemin was.
"I am sorry that you had to see me like this, but really I am fine, so go do something fun, before I do something else that hurt you" he said with a small smile

“For Christ’s sake, Ezra! Can you for once just trust me and let me take care of you? You’re basically shivering and I’m not allowing you to sleep in your stupid office!” Zemin exclaimed and thereafter stood there, breathing heavily. The entire body was tensed up and the otherwise brown eyes shimmered towards the golden side, revealed his true self which was hidden just barely under the surface. He hastily looked away, tried to keep his breathing under control as to not trigger the change. And eventually it paid off, as the heartbeat calmed itself and the breathing got slower.
“I’m not going to babysit either Jax or Rivik, weather you want it or not”, he continued and smiled towards Jax before looking up towards the older man, yet again. “And you know what? It’s fine if you hurt me, right now I don’t care for shit, so jut let me do what I’m best at..taking care of everyone and everything”, the wolf mumbled before pulling a folded blanket from one of the armchairs. With a small smile across his lips, he handed the soft sheet of fabric to the shaman. Acting angry and cross all night wouldn’t make anything any better, so he just had to suck it up and be nice. Well, he was nice and kind by default, but this time the other one had made him quite angry by not showing up to dinner. It hadn’t gotten any better when he’d returned to the pub completely drenched and tipsy, especially not since Zemin had been worried close to sick about him! Who would worry? They were after all allies and on the boarder to friends, so of course he worried.

“I’m sorry”, the werewolf mumbled and shook his head. “Sure, I am somewhat pissed at you, but that’s only because I was worried! You should’ve given me a call at least”, he muttered and held out a hand towards the shaman. The other one would probably protest a lot, however he did need some dry clothes and maybe even a bath. Then Zemin could place him in front of the fireplace in the attic and make him a cup of tea. He thought it was an excellent plan and because Ezra was in the state he currently was in, he couldn’t really do anything about it.
“You know, I’m the only one awake that’s sober. Both Alec and Xue are asleep upstairs so just..please follow me there so I can actually help you out? A warm bath definitely won’t hurt you and you can’t say anything about needing dry clothes. I have a bunch and so does my brother, which is important in this context since I’m a lot shorter than you”, Zemin stated and slowly let his hand brush against the other mans respective one. “Like i said, I’m the only one who’s sober so that should make the decision pretty easy. And no, I’m not going to try anything funny.”

Once again he wasn't sure if he was happy that Zemin cared or pissed for schooling him. True he understood why, it was clear, but yet it was so strange. He never thought he would make the other man worried because he left, that thought never crossed his mind. Was that how normal people reacted? He didn't know, because he had never had anyone around besides the spirits, and they was always with him, or in the spirit world, so it didn't matter. True Rivik could get worried, and angry but it wasn't the same. Ezra took the blanket in his hands but didn't do anything with it. He knew Zemin was right, he wasn't stupid but he still didn't liked the idea of someone taking care of him, it just felt wrong, letting someone else care for him.
"Hon on earth can you be fine with me hurting you? You really are an idiot!" he stated in a low voice, still not moving or placing the blanket around himself. "I am not fine with it, and you shouldn't either. It really is the stupidest thing I have ever heard"
He didn't want Zemin to be okay with that. Even if he got pissed that the other man schooled him, he preferred that over hearing that he was okay with him hurting him. And at once all the confusion was back, he really hated it. He didn't care if he hurt people, not one bit, and here he was, being angry for Zemin to say that it was alright. For a second he almost walked out from the pub, leaving Zemin behind to go and drink more, until he was drunk enough to stop thinking. But he knew that would end in disaster, not only because he couldn't see, but also because he was left defenseless if something happened.

"Do it Ezra, it feels nice when someone takes care of you. You always takes care of us, and that's the best" Jax stated as he walked up to the Shaman wagging his tail. Ezra rolled his eyes, that wasn't the same thing, not according to him, but maybe it was according to others? He didn't know, he felt like a fucking child at the moment, a child that had no clue on how the world works, how to behave or act around others. What was normal and not. He almost felt like laughing over how he acted, it was so ridicules. How he cared about Zemin, but not enough to think that his actions could hurt him more. How he had offered him help when he was hurt, bu refused to accept it himself. But accepting that someone helped him, it made him feel so vulnerable, leaving him in the hands of another person, it really scared him, especially since he could't see. He didn't thought Zemin would try something, but yet. He couldn't see Zemin but he turned towards him, most likely looking like a fucking wreck, fear written all over his face.
"Fine, just be gentle okay, no one has ever taken care of me besides this two idiots" he stated, whispering. Even if Zemin had just offered him a bath and some clothes, it was just the thought of someone helping him that was scary, having someone so close.
"He is holding out a hand for you" Jax told him and Ezra got a bit unsure before he carefully took it, almost as he expected Zemin to chain him.
"Walk slowly because I can't see anything, okay" he tried to smile, something he didn't manage at all before he turned towards Jax. "You stay here, and take care of Rivik if he needs it"
"As you wish" the wolf said and laid down beneath Rivik's bed as Ezra prepared to follow Zemin, still very unsure.

When Ezra actually accepted the offer, Zemin couldn’t help but feel genuinely happy. Not satisfied or pleased, just happy that the other one was willing to receive some aid from another being but the spirits. It must’ve been a huge step for him and that was something the wolf had finally started to come to terms with. He had no plans on acting without thoughts, the be rough or anything in those lines. No, for once he was going to contain himself and keep steady, clam and concentrated. Now that Alec was back in the picture, all of those things seemed to had gotten a lot easier and that, that was a huge relief. Maybe he could even show the shaman his real self and not only the part of him that was abrupt, exited and messy as hell.
“I’ll be gentle and..and I’m not an idiot!” Zemin protested after some silence and rolled his eyes with a small sigh. It was only by then that he noticed the fear that stroke itself across the older mans face. For some odd reason it made the wolf smile briefly and he hastily loosened his grip a tad. He didn’t want to become too much or step over the line. That’d already happened one too many times by then and to be completely fair, he didn’t want for it to happen yet another time.
“You know, I’m not as dumb and childlike as you think I am”, Zemin began and carefully led Ezra up the steps that led towards the attic - the attic that both brothers now knew as home. “And you’re not as cold and unfeeling as you put yourself out to be”, he continued with a tiny laugh, with the dark brown eyes directed towards the broken door at the top of the stairs. “So will you please trust me when i say that I’ll actually take care of you and nothing more?” He allowed the question to keep hanging there in the coldish air before pushing the broken door wide open.

The living room was completely dark and not a single lamp was lit. Zemin dragged the shaman along to the bathroom, where he turned on one of the lights for his own comfort. It was true that he could see fairly well in the dark, but that didn’t mean that he liked it. Darkness was something he’d always been scared of as a child and it seemed those fears still lingered somewhere deep down.
He let go of Ezras hand and squatted down before the spot free bathtub, which was soon filling up with warm water. The eyelids were closed for awhile while he sat there, thinking back on his childhood and his parents, how he and Xue had used to bathe together during the winter months. Those were happy memories, yet they made the wolf tear up. Damn, he really was a sensitive guy after all? But this time he held back the flood of tears that pushed against the eyelids, stood back up and turned towards the older man with a determined look on his face.
“You realise you have to strip before getting in right? If you want I could leave, but since you don’t actually know this bathroom..ehm..I won’t even look, okay?” Zemin mumbled with quite an extensive stutter.

Ezra was about to protest, saying that the man was an idiot, maybe because that was what Rivik would have answered, or maybe for another reason, but he knew it wasn't true.
"Thank you" he said relieved, he hadn't accepted Zemin to be anything but gentle, but he still had to ask the man to be just that. Maybe out of fear, he didn't know. "And I don't think you are an idiot Zemin. sure you have your stupid moments, but that doesn't make you an idiot"
Ezra carefully followed Zemin, counting the steps in his mind as they walked so he wouldn't miss one. Going up to the first floor was the easiest since that was the ones he used to do. But he was actually glad that he had Zemin with him because he knew he would need his help when they came to the room. He had been there, but he hadn't walked around enough to learn how far it was between things not to collide with things.
"I am aware that you are more than your childish acts Zemin, if you hadn't been I hadn't accepted to work with you bringing down the vampire" he told him as they walked. It was so strange holding someones hand, trusting them to show him the way. Well sure Zemin could lead him into a trap or something, something he didn't expect, but besides that it wasn't like he could lead him out on a cliff and let him fall, but it was still a bit scary. Trusting someone to show the way.
"I don't pretend to be that Zemin, that is who I normally am, have been since I was a child. It's just around you and your brother I am different, that's why I am so fucking confused around you two" He admitted, being more honest than normally, maybe he was more drunk than he thought.
"I...I trust you" he stated, well it was not a complete lie, he trusted Zemin to some part, otherwise he would never have accepted this, but he didn't trust him fully. He didn't thought he would do something, it was just that he didn't trust any person fully.

Ezra followed the other one to the bathroom and he stood where Zemin had let go of his hand. He had no desire to trip over something, hurting himself, making Zemin take care of him further. He was silent until Zemin spoke again, almost cursing himself, that he hadn't thought about that. That thought almost made him leave the room, and Zemin's words well even if the wolf was honest it wasn't like he would know. He couldn't tell if Zemin looked at him or not. Zemin could have placed acid in the tub and he wouldn't know. He hesitated, he wasn't scared that Zemin would do something, strangely enough, no he just didn't like the thought of someone seeing his scarred body. The wound after the whip on his back, the burns all over his body, the scares from knife, both stab wounds and cuts covering his chest and legs, just like the markings from the chains holding him for all those years. Then he sighed, Zemin had told him he wasn't bothered by the his scares, he was the one who was bothered, but right now he was fucking cold, and he couldn't find the tub on his own.
"It doesn't matter, I will need your help to find the tub anyway" he knew he wouldn't give in if he wasn't drunk, but he didn't feel like arguing and he just wanted to get clean more than warm actually. He started taking of hos clothes waiting for Zemin to help him when he was done.

Why? Why was Ezra acting so differently around the two brothers? Maybe because they showed him what a real family could actually be like, even though the other man had his spirits to keep him company. But in the end there would always be a difference between having spirits and people. Not only because they were completely different species, but also because they lived in separated worlds. Zemin looked away as the other man started undressing, directing his brown, round eyes towards the wall above the sink. The mirror reflected his gaze however and he could see small glimpses of the older man, which made him redirect his stare yet again.
A smile spread across the lips when the shaman said how he trusted the wolf - who knew that wasn’t the full truth. He scratched his neck with an absent expression stroking lightly across the cute, yet handsome, face. Instead of peaking at Ezra in the mirror, he decided to take a look at himself instead. For the time being the skin looked rather nice, even and fair with small freckles covering the nose and cheek. Then there was the brown hair where the black roots had started growing out and the fringe was a tad too long. Maybe he could cut it while the other man took a bath? Not only cut his hair but also wash his face and apply moisturiser, something that was very hard to get your hands on. Luckily he had a large amount of bottles with face cream stored, however when that was all used up there’d be nothing left. He couldn’t exactly return to his dealer, a middle aged woman who worked at the black market selling all sorts of forbidden goods. That’s where he’d gotten many of his supplies, such as knives, arrows and god knew what. During those days life hadn’t been easy at all and he’d been way too skilled at both archery and knife throwing. When the boss sent him out on special missions he counted on the wolf actually going as just that - a wolf. But back then Zemin rarely shifted and preferred the human way. Things had really changed in that aspect, hadn’t they?
He smiled to himself in the mirror, before shaking his head and looking down towards the bare feet. For a short moment he wriggled his toes, fascinated by their movements. What was he even doing in the bathroom again? Oh, right! He was going to help Ezra into the tub and..and? After that? Jesus, the questions immediately started flooding the younger mans head and he made a quick grimace.
”Are you done?” Zemin wondered and glanced over his shoulder to check. Unfortunately the gaze got stuck there, at the naked body. The brown eyes followed the scars up and down, followed their patterns as a shiver traveled up his own spine. He still couldn’t understand how people could do such things to each other. Killing, sure, but torture and long lasting pain? No, that wasn’t even close to okay. Not in the world they currently resided in and not before either. The stories about the old world told them about almost equally disgusting behaviour by humans, so it wasn’t anything new. Being a werewolf might not have been the best thing in the entire world, but it was better than being human. It sounded ironic as he was currently standing up on two legs with the exact appearance of a normal man. If one looked closer however, they’d soon realise how it was everything but ironic.

Ezra wasn't sure if he should feel colder without clothes or not, but the heat from the water had warmed the room to some extent, not that it really mattered to him. He heard Zemin's words.
"Well as long as I am not to take of my skin I am done" he answered, soon feeling how the other one helped him find the tub. Well being in someone else tub wasn't the strangest feeling, mostly because he rarely thought about mine and yours, seeing if he had needed a bath and founded one somewhere, he wouldn't have cared if it belonged to someone else. He wouldn't break in, not only because stealth was hard to do when you didn't see, forcing him to use the door not the windows, but also because he felt like it was beneath him. No it was rather strange not seeing the water, yet feeling it around him in the way he did now. He rarely took baths, since he didn't had one, and normally didn't like to take one, not lingering in the water. True he couldn't see himself without the spirits, but he could feel the scars and he didn't like to do that. When he took a shower it was over fast, and he could soon get dressed, but that wasn't the case in baths. He couldn't make himself relax, not only because Zemin was in the room, being strange to be naked next to someone. He hadn't been that, not complete since he was in prison, the times he had sexed or tried to be close to someone in his younger days, he hadn't taken of more than he needed. But the main reason he couldn't relax was because he could feel every scar where the skin touched skin. And just sitting in the water was, well to him not relaxing, so he just sat there, legs pressed against his chest, his head resting on his knees as he slowly started taking of the bandaged since they had become wet as well. He wasn't sure how the wounds even looked, he couldn't feel much change in the skin, but that only told him it wasn't deep cuts or scars, everything in between was a mystery to him.

He felt how the water made him warmer, would have been strange if it hadn't, but he knew he needed to wash himself to get clean, but he didn't feel like moving at all at the moment, not touching himself more than he needed to. Maybe the feelings was stronger because he was drunk, maybe it was because he was in a bath or because Zemin was there he didn't know, but he hated it. He really hated this feeling, and it almost made him rush out of the bath, but he was still to cold to do that, and if he left the tub now, well he would be even colder. But leaving the tub and walking down to his office, placing himself in front of the fire sounded more lovely than this. He closed his eyes, not that it made any difference as he tried to keep his disgust under control, not wishing to break down completely when Zemin was there, but he soon felt his tears start falling and he almost laughed, wow he really was a mess. He lowered his head, resting the forehead against the knees, hiding his eyes, trying to hid what he felt when it came to himself.

Even though Ezra didn’t actually say that he was uncomfortable, Zemin could clearly feel it. To be honest it spread a tad, making the younger man feel somewhat awkward as well. But he didn’t want to leave the bathroom because who knew what the shaman might do? What if he sank down under the water surface and drowned or something? That was very unlikely but still! He didn’t want to take any chances, so instead of leaving he started cutting his hair with a pair of tiny scissors. Tiny yet very effective. Strands of cut hair soon made their way towards the clean floor, where they eventually came to a soft landing and started piling up. The fringe wasn’t that bad which essentially meant it didn’t take him very long to get the hair under absolute control, to make it lay perfectly on top of the head. No flaws, nothing visible at least.
Zemin studied himself in the mirror, carefully allowing his slim hands to travel up the freckled cheeks. They were rosy during that moment, very cute and puffy. He’d used to hate them so goddam much, always trying to cover the redness and freckles up with the use of makeup. Almost in the same way in which he’d neglected his own nature. Fuck, it really was laughable now that he thought back on it. Well, now he really liked them at least, so that was that.
The hands fell down towards the sides again and the wolf turned around, with both arms crossed over the slender chest. It would’ve been an understatement to say that the other man looked uncomfortable, since it was clearly more than that. Carefully, as to not scare the shaman, Zemin squatted down next to the tub and rested his elbows on the edge. His head had fallen slightly to one of the sides and the eyebrows were both tightly pulled together. What was he even about to say? What could he even say?

“You’re really uncomfortable”, the younger one stated quietly. “But I don’t know if it’s because of me or something else. Do you want me to leave? Because I totally can..I mean, the door is only a few feet away, so it wouldn’t be that hard to open it”, he continued with a small laugh, in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere a bit. “Not that I want to or anything, I just wanted to make sure that you’re not feeling so uneasy because of me.”
A small sigh left the plump lips and the werewolf shook found himself sitting on the floor, with his legs crossed and the fingers fiddling with his bare toes. There was a large, wide scar across one of the hands from his younger days. Back then he hadn’t had any control whatsoever, which luckily had changed after a year of intensive training. What would even had happened if his dad hadn’t been there to guide him through? Bitten werewolves were known to never achieve total control, but the born ones usually did. Would Zemin had managed to achieve that though? Considering he still totally blacked out from time to time? He smiled to himself and shook his head. No, no he probably would’ve never gotten there. Xue however, had almost always been in full control of himself, as the perfect younger brother he was. Not during the first or second change, but at least not after his hundredth one! There was quite a difference between five and one hundred and eleven. No kidding.