Dystopian Future

Ezra sipped from his cup as he listen to Zemin, he knew he changed his behavior around him, it wasn't something he did intentionally, not even one bit. It had just happened, everything with Zemin forced him to rethink and redo so much. He wasn't even sure if Zemin knew how much he really affected him, sure to some extent the other man knew, he even noticed, but it was most likely more than the other was aware of.
"I do change my behavior because of you Zemin, you do things I need to act to, often in ways I am not used to, therefore making me take a step back, but after awhile you get used to it. Like I am starting to get used to you being around in your wolf form, making me a bit more comfortable" he confessed, seeing he had accepted that the wolf got a bit close in his wolf form. He was still not used to him being as close when he was in his human form, and he didn't liked it as much. Ezra slowly nodded, he was confused by his own actions.
"Yes, I am" he stated in a low voice. "So much about you are confusing. Can't say it's because it's really you, or if you are the first human that have gotten this close, ever"
He wasn't sure he would have reacted any differently if someone else acted the same way, he would most likely be as confused as now. Maybe it wasn't something others got confused to, seeing the things Zemin did was normal for others, so he really was messed up. Sometimes he even felt like laughing over how he acted, like he got surprised that he had touched the wolf out of his free will, something no other person would think twice about.

"Since I made you confused, I couldn't be sure. I know that you like it, but seeing that you pointed out how confused I made you, I couldn't be sure if you preferred if I didn't do it." Ezra stated, he wasn't even sure what was okay to do. He knew Zemin felt things towards Alec and he wanted the man to be with the ghoul, knowing they would be happy, but Ezra wasn't even sure what was okay to do as friends? He guessed this counted as friendship, but he didn't knew how friends acted around each other, or if they even touched each other. And right there he was confused again. He almost sighed over the situation, feeling he was to tired to think about it all. He felt Zemin's head against his hand again and slowly patted him, lost in thoughts until he started speaking to him again.

"Fall for you? Wow you have high thoughts of yourself" he said in a taunting voice, on his guard at once, he didn't liked those words. He hadn't even thought about them. He didn't knew what he felt towards the other man, he accepted him, and he thought he felt some sort of friendship, but even if he had never falled for someone, he knew that was on a whole other level. "It's true that I have nothing against you being around me for the moment, accepting that, and liking it to some extent, but you do really take things passed what they are"
As soon as he heard Zemin jump he switched to Rivik's eyes without asking, scared of what he did. The fox didn't say anything about it, being strangely absent from the conversation, but he kept an eye on Zemin. And Ezra saw how he got closer and soon started to lick his hair. Ezra froze at once, seeing it was a strange thing to do. The wolf did it all the time to each other, but they were animals, seeing it was somewhat logical, but he was a human, and not used to it.
"What are you doing?" he asked, very suspiciously.

My so called wolf form is my actual form. The human skin is just an illusion, like a mask. I told you before, didn’t I? Zemin asked and continued stroking his tongue across the black locks of hair. For any other person this might’ve seemed ridiculously weird and a step further than odd, but the wolf didn’t think twice about it. He did it towards Xue, so why not do the same to Ezra? It was almost like a motherly thing to do, something that his father had done to both himself and his brother. And the thing was that he remembered how it made him feel safe, calm and homey. Who wouldn’t want to give that feeling to someone they cared for? The shaman had borderline become a part of his pack and this was something pack members did to one another. But of course he understood that someone that wasn’t used to werewolves would feel uneasy around such a strange behaviour. Well, strange behaviour to human beings, the ones that walked on two legs and couldn’t turn into wolves. No, that wasn’t it. More like wolf’s that could turn into humans. Yeah, that was the correct interpretation of the entire subject. Because in the end that was how it worked for the true wolves. Not for the bitten ones though, but that was a completely different conversation.

Being confused wasn’t really the same as being uncomfortable.
You already know I never complain when you stroke my fur or pat my head, Zemin pointed out and couldn’t resist rolling his eyes. The shaman must’ve known how much thewolf actually cared for him and liked him. For Christ sake, the cleaning of the hair was just a point to strengthen that fact! He wouldn’t start cleaning someone’s hair if he didn’t really enjoy their company. Then that instinct wouldn’t even begin to kick in.
However he understood very quickly that he’d crossed the line yet again. But that didn’t mean he was planning on stopping. Ezra had to get used to this puppy behaviour, wether he liked it or not.
Not fall for me in the way You’re thinking about! I mean that you’ve started caring for me..plus the fact that you seem to really like my gorgeous fur, the wolf exclaimed and dug his nose down between the strands of hair with a loud sigh.
What was he doing? He’d already explained it to himself, but how was he going to explain the entire motherly love thing to Ezra? Fuck, life was really complicated and suddenly he wished that he couldn’t speak through his mind. It would’ve been very practical sometimes.
I'm cleaning your hair and spreading my wonderful scent all over you, Zemin eventually muttered and began stroking his head all over the older mans respective. Not weird at all, no no.

"I am aware of that, but it doesn't matter which is your true form or not, since you are the same person. I just have an easier time being around you when you aren't human, because you remind me of Jax's in your wolf form" he simply stated knowing that Zemin already knew that, but it really did a huge difference for him. He was almost surprised that he had managed to be around Zemin yesterday when he was human, even letting him touch him, he wasn't sure if that would ever happen again. He was still a bit suspicious when Zemin touched him as a wolf, but it was easier, and he even enjoyed that to some extent. But having Zemin lick his hair was something else, something none of the spirits had ever done. Sure Jax had licked his hands a few times, behaving like a normal dog, but this was new, and so strange. Ezra wasn't sure what he thought about it, he understood that Zemin did it out of care, something the others seemed to like, but towards him it was just strange.
"I know you do" he only answered, seeing that Zemin didn't wanted him to stop doing it. He wasn't sure he would do it more often, at least not first, but if he did, well it would happen.

He felt Zemin's tongue over his hair again and shivered, okay, he decided he didn't liked this, no matter how much Zemin and the others seemed to like it, it was just weird for him. It was a kind thing, and all, but it still made him uncomfortable.
"Okay, Zemin stop" Ezra took a step back, turning towards the wolf, hoping he didn't insult him, and hoping he could explain it. "I know you mean well, and this seems to be a thing you and the others like, but for me it's just weird. You are licking my hair for god sake."
Ezra took a deep breath, he wasn't upset with it, and it didn't brought back any memories, maybe it would have been easier if it did, seeing he could explain his reaction due to that.
"I know you do it all the time, and you are most likely used to it, being wolfs and all, but I am not. Even if I was used to people you don't lick each others hair! If you want to touch my hair, I am kind of fine with it, just don't lick it" he tried to give the wolf a smile, really unsure of how to handle this situation. He could tell that Rivik was smirking and for a second he wanted to snap at the fox, but he was silent so he ignored the feeling.
"I apologise if I sound cold or anything" he stated "I can assure you, that no one would be allowed to lick my hair, not even the spirits, if it make you feel better"
He leaned against the counter sighing, seeing that he most likely was the one that stepped over some line this time. He really didn't hope that he offended Zemin, but he had to inform him of what he felt comfortable with or not, even if it didn't brought back any memories. He was fine with the other man stroking his hair, he liked it, but licking, no.

Considering they’d had almost the same talk many times before, Zemin was able to fully grasp what Ezra was saying. He understood that the other man felt more comfortable around animals rather than humans, and that he barely was able to function around the wolf in his other form. Or that was an overstatement, but to some extent it was true. That’s why he pulled away and jumped down from the desk, back onto the floor where he shook out the dark fur. So he’d clearly overstepped the line yet again, that was something he was absolutely sure of. Why did he never seem to learn? Because this just seemed to happen over and over again, almost as if it were a game of ping pong. The ball bounced across the table and then back again, back and forth until he missed it and stepped over that important line that was painted over the floor. It was almost starting to become annoying by this point, yet he couldn’t help himself.
I'm sorry..I know I crossed the line once again, Zemin muttered and looked stiffly at the floor. It's just..the same as usual I guess? He continued and laid down on the floor, spreading across the dark rug with a sigh. Why did that behaviour insist on clinging onto him? Just why? Would it ever go away? Would he ever be normal? No, no that would definitely never happen. To be fair all of this begin because he actually started to accept the wolf thing, so maybe he should go back to pushing it away again? That would probably solve many of his ongoing problems.

For some stupid reason that thought got stuck in Zemins brain, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t seem to get rid of it. It had rooted itself deep in his brain stem, demanding almost every single ounce of his attention.
I-I'm sorry..there’s something I need to figure out, the wolf finally blurred out and rushed out from the room, through the corridor and up the stairs towards the attic. The air was caught up in his throat and suddenly it became extremely hard to breath. He could barely get any oxygen in, nor any of it out. It was just plain out stuck.
After climbing up what felt like hundreds of steps, Zemin came to a halt and fell down onto the floor in a pile of fur and sweat. Every single muscle was complaining as the bones started shifting and the fur pulled back, but he didn’t care. It was time to change, time to turn back time. Not literally of course, tho in some sense. He was going back to his old self, the wolf hating self. That part of him, even though it was his actual self, didn’t have to take up space. No, fuck that aspect of him. He was going to ignore it for as long as possible, even if it eventually was going to make him sick. In the end it didn’t matter as long as he stopped bothering Ezra and basically everyone else. Nobody else was going to suffer or feel uncomfortable because of that dumb wolf form, with its dumb consequences. Fuck all of that shit.

Ezra shook his head and tried to smile towards the wolf.
"You didn't cross the line, or not in the same way you normally do. You didn't scare me, or made me remember something. I guess this was just a way to cross the line, for like normal people" Ezra tried, having no idea if that was true, but it felt different from the other times. "So need to apologise. I would say normal people cross the lines as well, in normal ways. I mean people who aren't fucked up as I am, has their lines as well, things they don't like, so see it like that. Try to see it more like a friend showing another friend something they didn't like, so no damage done, I guess. I don't even know if it makes sense, sorry Zemin, I am a bit confused"
Ezra laughed a bit, almost wishing to curse himself how something normal could make him confused. How he couldn't even explain something like that, something that didn't messed him up or anything. He almost preferred when it was something that messed him up, and he didn't made sense, because then he had a reason at least, and it was alright if it was strange to the other one. Few people knew what he had gone through, few understood making it hard to explain, but this sounded like a normal problem and he couldn't even explained that. Sometimes he wondered if Zemin thought of him as stupid, he really didn't hope so, being far to proud over his intellect and knowledge.

Ezra had been lost in thoughts when Zemin stod up and rushed away, not giving him a chance to answer, or even ask questions. He had no idea what just happened, or why. He heard how the wolf disappeared towards the attic and he turned towards Rivik, who just shrugged his shoulders. Ezra hadn't expected the fox to have any answers to give him, but it would have been useful. For a second he thought about following the other man, but he decided to give him some space, unsure of why he had rushed away. Maybe he had been offended by Ezra's words, but he hoped he would say so, or maybe it was something else, something he didn't wish to talk about. The questions was many, and Ezra only hoped he would get an answer later on.
"Let's get some sleep" he took Rivik into his arms, to the fox's surprise. "I am still upset over yesterday, but I want you close if I am going to sleep here"
"Of course" Rivik pressed himself against Ezra's chest, wishing to apologise, but the shaman didn't say anything about it as he walked into the office, closing the door. The firer was warm and he smiled as he placed himself on the floor. He could sleep in one of the chairs, but then he needed to place himself in a uncomfortable angle, so the floor was actually better, and he was used to it. The made a pillow and blanket appar, as he cuddled up against Rivik. The fox placed his head on his arm, being on a look out as Ezra felt asleep.

A coupe of hours managed to pass by before Xue and Alec arrived with the food, followed closely by Jax who soon went to find Ezra. Zemin could clearly hear them talking on their way up the stairs, taking one step after another. Luckily he’d been able to compose himself and move into the bedroom, where he now sat on the bed looking absolutely miserable. He borderline despised himself after all that’s gone down the last couple of weeks, found himself as both annoying and absolutely insane. Why, just why, did he always have to be so up in peoples faces? How hard could it really be to just take a deep breath and act normally? Apparently very hard, as he seemed to have lost all of that self control. However he was currently planning on stealing it back from where it was hiding, no matter how much it took in the end. If they were gonna have a shot against the vampire, he had to be able to focus clearly. Otherwise it was all going to hell, something he was sure of by that point.

“Hey, why are you sitting in here?” Alec asked and peaked inside the bedroom, curious as always. His red hair was slightly wet from the light rain falling outside and the septum piercing in his nose crooked. But even so, he still managed to look ridiculously good. How was that even possible?
“Why does it matter? Maybe I just really like sitting on the bed”, Zemin replied and raised an eyebrow, trying to hide all emotions that’d just been rushing through his head.
“Well, then I suppose I like it as well”, Alec said and shrugged, before he sat down next to the older man. A small smile ran across his inviting lips and he quickly put his arms around the slim waist of the other one.
“You were gone quite some time, weren’t you?” Zemin mumbled and buried his face in Alec's neck, trying even harder to delete every ounce of tenseness that was running through his veins.
“We were”, the younger one began as he carefully started running his fingers through the thick, dark hair. “There were so many people everywhere and they obviously didn’t like either Xue or Jax, even though only one of them is an actual wolf”, he continued and pulled his eyebrows together. “But I don’t understand why people even bother to care. I mean, werewolves are people too, right?”
As a matter of fact they weren’t human by nature, though many people believed they were. Bitten werewolves could be put into that category, but both Xue and Zemin were born that way.
“Some are, and some are not..but it shouldn’t really matter”, Zemin whispered and pulled himself closer to the strong, lean body.

“Can you like get a room or something? I’m going to puke if you go on like that”, Xue warned them, as he entered the room with a nasty look across his face. “I love here too, you know!”
“Obviously, otherwise we’d be doing more than this”, Alec hastily answered, with a mean smirk growing on the plump lips. Gross, actually so fucking gross.
“You’re disgusting”, the other one complained and made a grimace, before turning his dark eyes towards his older brother. “Why are you human again? You know very well it’s not heathy to shift too often!” He continued, clearly scolding the older one for his dumb choices.
“I know, I just didn’t feel like staying in that form any longer”, Zemin explained and leaned his head against Alec's shoulder, instead of snuggling up against his neck.
“And where’s Ezra?” Xue asked and rolled his eyes, extremely annoyed at the big baby in front of him.
“Why do I care? I guess he’s downstairs or something?” Okay, so now he’d made it obvious something was lowkey wrong. It didn’t matter that it was his fault, nope.
“Something happened again, didn’t it? Get a hold of yourself for Christ sake! Maybe he’ll end up throwing us out if you go in like that?” Yup, now the scolding was definitely going to intensify.

Ezra almost jumped when something touched him, and he was surprised, for a second or two, that Rivik hadn't warned him, until he noticed that it was Jax's.
"Sorry" the wolf apologised as he placed himself behind Ezra. the shaman only grunted in response, to tired to do something else. He was unsure of how long he had been asleep, but not enough to give him all his energy back. "Are you unwell?"
"Just tired, I didn't slept last night" Ezra closed his eyes again, not that id made any difference, seeing he had no contact with Rivik's eyes. The fox had snuggled closer to his chest, and seemed to be perfectly happy where he was. The shaman didn't comment it, knowing that Rivik liked to snuggle from time to time as well. And he also guessed that the spirit tried to apologise for last night.
"You wish to go back to sleep?" Jax asked, almost sounding hopeful, and Ezra only nodded, feeling safer with both spirits by his side. The sound from the fire was calming, just like the heat and company, and even if he slept on the floor, he was perfectly fine.

"Did everything go well?"
"It did, it was really fun. Xue is so nice, and Alec seems to be nice as well" Ezra could feel how Jax wagged his tail.
"You think everyone is nice" Rivik pointed out, complaining about it, something Ezra didn't care to comment on.
"We went to places you normally don't go, so it was fun to see something new" Jax clearly ignored the fox, making Rivik snort, unpleased by it, but he didn't said anything.
"Well I normally don't go shopping myself, so no surprise"
"We should! It was really fun, even if people avoided me. I guess I look a bit scary"
"You are a freaking wolf, of course you do!"
"But I am nice, and fluffy" Jax complained and Ezra almost feel asleep to their bickering, not listening, when they suddenly stopped.

"Ha, seems like Zemin gets schooled by his brother" Rivik was more than pleased.
"What happened?" Jax wondered and Ezra sighed, and told him in as few words as he could, wishing to return to sleep. "But it's the best, I love when they clean my fur, maybe he did it wrong? Maybe you would like it in another way, want me to try?"
"No! If I want t clean my hair, I take a shower!" Ezra said, hindering Jax from trying, making Rivik smirk, even if neither of them could see it.
"Rivik doesn't like it either" Jax sounded more sad than anything else.
"You have the idiotic brothers to help you now, and like I would ever let any of you mess up my precious fur!" Rivik pointed out, curling his tail around him, and Ezra's hands, making the Shaman feel the fur between the gloves and shirt.
"Pfft, your fur is nothing special, far form as nice as mine!" Jax answered, resulting in the spirits bickering again, while Ezra drifted back to sleep once more, with a peaceful smile on his lips.

“Anyways”, Xue began after a moment of silence, as the staring competition between the two brothers slowly faded. “We stumbled into Aron on our way home and..well I managed to shake him off, but he’ll definitely tell his official that he saw us. You know what this means, right? The vampire is onto us”, he said with an icy hint to his voice, which made Zemin shiver.
The room fell silent once again, leaving an uneasy feeling rumbling in the air. All three of them knew that if the bloodsucker was actually onto them, their time was undoubtedly limited. Neither were sure what would come to happen, but they already figured it wouldn’t be pleasant. To be completely honest, the oldest one of them didn’t fully understand why the tick wanted him so badly. It was easier to see why he could benefit from Ezra, but Zemin? Sure, he was an amazing tracker and skilled intellectual, however that was about it. If he had nothing to drive him, he was plain out useless.
Eventually he started coming back to his senses, allowing the black eyes to travel between Alec and Xue. What conclusion was he even supposed to come to? That they had to leave immediately or prepare for a fight they’d never win? In that case, the first alternative was a hundred times more opted for them, no question about it.

“Goddammit, Xue! That was literally the first thing you should have told me when you sat your foot here!” Zemin finally exclaimed and buried his face in his hands, letting out an irritated sigh. “We have to tell Ezra. Now”, he continued and came to his feet, pulling his hands through the thick locks covering his head.
“Your little love affair distracted me”, the younger one quickly defended himself, with the lower lip pouting. “Should I start packing? What do you want me to do?” He thereafter asked and locked eyes with the older wolf, being absolutely serious about both questions. The one and only time Xue listened - when their lives were in danger. Only a tiny bit sad and annoying.
“Yeah, just pack the most necessary things..and by that I don’t mean all your clothes and accessories”, Zemin warned the younger one, before he hastily moved out through the open door, crossing the living room and rushing down the stairs. If they were going to leave, which they were, he had to make sure Ezra cake with them. Maybe he would take the news lightly, but that wasn’t important for the time being.
The slender fingers trembled as he moved closer to the shamans office and his already shallowing breathing became even more of a struggle. Fuck it, he had to go inside and tell the older man how it was. No more being weird and primal, absolutely not. This was serious business and nothing more. There was only one side to this, one and no more, no less.
“I’m sorry for barging in like this but..but we have to leave”, Zemin said as he walked into the room, not even taking notice of either Rivik or Jax. “The vampire..he-..he’s onto us and if we don’t leave..well..if we stay we’ll probably end up dinner or something like that”, he continued and tried to steady his breathing, to no avail.

Ezra barely had time to wake, before Zemin entered the room. Rivik had woken him gently, warning him, however, it didn't mean he was fully awake. He had heard how Zemin opened the door, but he didn't bother to make contact with Rivik's eyes. Instead he rolled over, onto his back, placing his arm over his eyes, still sleepy. He heard Zemin's words, but it took him sometime to register what he said.
"What the fuck did you do know?" Rivik asked, clearly more awake than his owner, but it wasn't a surprise, seeing that the spirit didn't need to rest.
"It's not Zemin's fault" Jax defended him, and hearing the two of them bickering once more, almost made Ezra fall back to sleep.
"All of this is his fault from the beginning. With him hear, we are in more danger than before!"
"We are not! He is even helping us, clearly doing more than you do!" Jax growled and Ezra sighed, slowly moving to a sitting position.

"Who cares about who's fault it is. The situation is what it is" he told the spirits, as he tried to wake up some more. The few hours of sleep he got wasn't as much as he had hoped for, but he could function without problem, almost. Drinking the day before didn't really help, but he had been in worse situation. Sometimes he could almost thanking the humans for teaching him how to survive different situations, but only almost.
"I care! We just bought this place, I like it!" Rivik complained.
"I like being alive" Ezra only answered him, as he stood up.

"Do you have any thoughts of where we should leave?" he asked Zemin.
"I bet he doesn't"
"As you have any idea's" Jax glared at Rivik, who barked at him and Ezra sighed.
"Rivik, can you prepare some tea, I will need a lot of energy"
"Why?"
"Because I aim to move my belongings to the spirit world" Ezra explained, and even if he couldn't see, he could tell that Rivik nodded, and soon left the room. "Jax, can I borrow your eyes?"
"Of course" Jax jumped up and down, until he saw the look Ezra was giving him, and stopped, and the Shaman soon made contact with the wolf's eyes, soon seeing Zemin. He could tell that Zemin was taken by the situation.
"Breath, the situation is what it is, lets solve it, the best way we can. When are you ready to leave?" Ezra asked before he turned towards the room, and started making things disappear to the spirit world.