Dystopian Future

"Nothing to apologise for, it's a free city, or it's an illusion of a free city, but you can walk wherever you pleases" Ezra wasn't angry that the other man had found him. He couldn't say he was pleased either, but at least it wasn't a secret hide out, or his home he had found.
"I guess that make somewhat sense"
"No it doesn't. He is a werewolf, and he is a spirit wolf, how on earth can they a family" Rivik protested.
"Just as you can say all spirits are a family"
"But we are not!"
"And you wonder why the others don't like you" Ezra stroke the fox, who didn't bother to response, only making himself more comfortable in Ezra's lap.

Both Rivik and Jax growled when the other man touched him, ready to attack when Ezra hindered them, for the moment at least. He hadn't done it in a hostile way, not yet at least. He heard what the other one said, clearly distressed over it, which wasn't to surprising. He had understood that the other man had a fear of the pits, which was understandable, it was something Ezra didn't fear, but every raced had different things they feared.
"Shit head, I should kill him! What if he lead them here!" Rivik almost jumped the man when Ezra hindered him. A blue flame left his hand as he summoned Corvo and Ceòl once more.
"Can you search the area for hostility?"
"Of course" both ravens soon left his side and he turned towards the man.
"Well vampires are often arses, to put it mildly, dictating as they owned the world"
"They are almost worse than humans" Jax growled.
"Debatable but yeah" Ezra stood up, slowly carrying Rivik in his arms. "And well he wouldn't be the first one who requested that join them, something that I am not interested in"
He managed on his own, had as long as he could remember. He hadn't even went with his own kind when they asked him to. "So if you wished to turn me in, well let's say it wont be pretty, so please let's avoid that, it's just a waste of energy"
Ezra wasn't sure if he could win a fight with a werewolf, but he wouldn't be alive in the end if the other one won, or he would be forced to flee to the spirit world, something he rather avoided.

"But that's quite a pickle you have ended up in" Ezra turned his head towards the water, even if he continued to look at the other man, Rivik refusing to take his eyes of him. "I am grateful that you warned me, however I can't tell you what to do"
"They can live here!" Jax suggested, wagging his tail doing so.
"Absolutely not! Who knows what he may do! Kill him in his sleep!"
"But we can't let him be sent off to the pits! And we have the room" Jax was right, they had the rooms, however Ezra wasn't sure it was a good idea. They were strangers and trusting a stranger was never good, dangerous even, especially since they worked for one of the bigger organisations, who clearly wanted him.
"He deserves to go to the pits, even accepting the job to find Ezra. And after everything he did yesterday!"
"Rivik!" Jax was upset by the other spirits words and Ezra sighed.
"Enough" he told them, trying to think, and the other's bickering hindered him.

"We found no one" Corvo said as he landed on his gloved hand.
"Keep an eye out"
"We will" they lifted once more, at least the stranger hadn't been followed. But if he let him stay it was a huge risk of both of them being found, and Ezra couldn't act as he wished, needing to keep his guard up. But hearing the man's words, that a vampire was after him, well it would't make much difference, he would need to keep his guard up anyway. He needed to find a solution to the problem, and maybe the stranger could help him, knowing the organisation better than Ezra did.

"If you wish, you and your brother can stay here, while you search for a new home" Ezra started.
"Tell me you are joking" Rivik turned towards him instead.
"Far from it" Ezra answered while Jax almost jumped up and down, until Ezra told him to stop. "Throwing away your life that easy seems stupid and selfish. So I suggest you stop the self-pity, and try to find a solution, before you chose the pit!"
Ezra looked at the man, he may not want his help, but he could at least offer it.

Even though the situation really didn’t call for it at that moment, Zemin slowly became more and more pissed. It wasn’t because of the man with the white eyes, but rather the fox. And while it was nothing more than childish and stupid, he still wanted to tear that spirit to pieces and spit on his corpse. He obviously knew it would never be a possibility, as spirits were just that - spirits, but the still deeply wished for it to happen.
“Aren’t you like a thousand years old or something?” Zemin asked the spirit, with no kindness in his voice whatsoever. “If you are you should know that wolves and werewolves are essentially the same! The only difference is that I carry two forms instead of one, and the human part of me is the mask, not the other way around”, he continued and glared at the animal, hatred quickly filling his dark gaze. Maybe the werewolf did deserve to go to the pits, but his brother didn’t. Then there was of course the tiny part lingering inside that didn’t want to kill others of his kind. And tiny was an understatement for sure.
“Just to make myself clear, I’m not going to kill anyone that helps me and I didn’t even mean to find this place!” Zemin said with a strain on his voice. Sooner or later it would just break and refuse to return until days later. All the screaming and shouting had not done much good, that was easy to state. Was the man sure about the living part tho? Because the two brother could really be burdensome and sometimes they were no better than animals. He absolutely needed to make sure everything was decided for sure before he called Xue, or it could all end up badly if they were unlucky.
“Are you sure?” The werewolf finally asked and looked towards the white eyes. “We’re messy and loud and sometimes even quite gross”, he thereafter explained and made a grimace. “If you are, I’ll just call I’m right here and now so that he can get away from the apartment as soon as possible.”

And there he’d magically stumbled upon yet another problem; getting his brother away from the apartment without anyone following him. One good thing was that Xue probably sat at a lecture at the university, but what if someone followed him from there as well? It was closer to the old pub, yet many more people moved around in that area of the city. The best move would probably be to have him shift in an alley and meet up somewhere in the way towards the building. Maybe Jax could do it? However then there’d be two wolves instead of one, and if they were seen somebody would probably report it. Furthermore; even if the report didn’t go directly to the association, it would get there soon enough and then they’d all be screwed beyond repair. Fucking hell.
Zemin closed his eyes and let out yet another sigh, clutching his jaws together as he tried to stay as calm as possible. Everything had become such a mess in some innocent hours. His life had once again been turned upside down and he didn’t know what to make of it all. The strange man was very kind, but the wolf just felt as if he was being a burden. A really big, heavy burden.

“I mean I would like to stay if you can deal with sharing the place with two werewolves. And I’m not saying that to wiggle myself out of the offer, it’s just the truth”, Zemin suddenly began, opening his mouth again. He wasn’t sure if he’d come across as rude earlier and wanted to explain his words for what they actually were. “..but I guess you’re used to sharing a living space with idiots, just by the look and sound of that ill mannered fox of yours”, he mumbled in a continuing matter and gave a short laugh. This time it wasn’t cold or unfeeling, but genuine and warm. Funny how something you hate can make you rather happy.

"Wow, how stupid are you. He is a spirit. True he has the appearance of a wolf, but he is not a wolf, idiot"
"Rivik, you know as well as I do that other races don't know all the facts about spirits, so why lecture him!" Ezra told him. He knew that spirits could take any form, often by choice, or because the one who summoned them chose the form, in the spirit world, they had no form. But unless you could visit the spirit world, you couldn't know that.
"Because I can!" it was a childish answer and Ezra sighed, feeling that he sometimes needed to teach Rivik how to be polite. Maybe he shouldn't allowed him to be so freespirit, but Ezra knew that wouldn't happen. He loved Rivik's ways.
"Isn't that insuring, a strangers words, like they would mean anything. You could try to kill him if you wished, no matter words"
"Don't listen to him, he don't trust anyone, because no one likes him!" Jaw bit back, defending the werewolf and Ezra signed.
"I should have asked Corvo and Ceòl to stay instead" he said more to himself than anyone, before he turned towards the man.

"Can't say I am sure no, but not because of your behavior" he confessed. So far the man had given him no reason to dislike him because that he was a werewolf. What made him unsure was the idiot vampire he had worked for, and that wouldn't change no matter how the brothers were. "And I am not living in the building, so I could easily return home if you become to much"
"Or banish them to the spirit world" Rivik threatened, well that was true, he could most likely do that, or at least try.
"Well lets not punish the other spirits, they have enough of a hard time when you are there"
"They have a blest when I am there" Ezra stroke the fox, not commenting it, knowing that Rivik hated being in the spirit world, since everyone hated him.
"If you wish to stay its not a problem, and don't care that you are a werewolves"
"So we are going to have them in the building now? Fucking great" Rivik answered "And as you are more behaved, fucking moron!"
"Well I would say that the biggest question is, can you be around Rivik?" Ezra smiled and the fox left his arms and landed on the ground. "You are going to get dirty"
"Rather that then be around that idiot" Rivik asked as he walked ack to the building and Ezra switched his sight to Jax's.

”Your fox really is an ass, you know that right?” Zemin asked the man and flowed the spirit as he walked towards the house. “It’s nice by the way, knowing you’re not concerned because of my race. Most people tend to be genereally hostile once they find out”, he said and shrugged his shoulders. “Well anywas..thank you, this is extremely kind of you.” The werewolf held one of his pale hands out towards the other being and gave him a brief smile. Yesterday this person had sent shivers up his spine and kept him ridiculously weary and alert. But the more he actually got to know the man, the more he started to enjoy his company. Sure, both him and the fox could be rude, but the other actions made up for that part. And to be fair he hadn’t actually been rude this day, not even after finding out about Zemins little mission. Should he become suspicious or just take it for a nice gesture, that was one of the final questions moving around inside his brain.
“I’ll just call my brother then”, he concluded after a while and started searching for his phone in the pockets of the jacket. It didn’t take very long for him to find it and soon the ringtone made its way through the speakers.

“Yeah, What do you want? I was class in like five minutes so be quick.” Xues voice was loud and clear, yet still so distant. At least that’s how it felt for the older brother whom had to swallow before speaking.
“We’re moving, I need you to go to that old pub on the east side by the river. You know the one we passed when running last summer?” Zemin managed to say and the other line became eerily quiet for quite a long moment.
“I need to get my stuff though”, the younger one answered.
“No, you can’t! Xue, I’m sorry but we can’t go back there. Not now, not tomorrow, not in a week. We just can’t risk it.”
“Wait, what the fuck did you do, Zemin? I bet this is your stupid fault!” The boice had immediately turned angry and distraught, but the older brother couldn’t really blame he. It was only natural to drive to that conclusion without any actual thought behind it.
“They wanted you”, Zemin whispered and started feeling ashamed over his actions. “..you and the man from yesterday. I just can’t do it, I’m too goddam nice to follow through with the masters orders..I’m sorry.” Yet again the other lines stayed completely silent for some period of time, before Xue finally spoke again.
“It’s not your fault, I’ll head right over, okay?”
“Good, be careful and watch out for any weird, pale people with sunglasses.”
“Got it, see ya.”
The other wolf hung up and Zemin let out the last of the tears he had stored. Not long after that, he’d started sobbing and the snot was gushing out from the straight nose.

“I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry”, he wailed and slid down on the ground, with hus face buried in hos hands. ”Vampiges really are evil little shits”, he continues and starter wiping away the salty tears. ”

Ezra couldn't hinder himself from laughing.
"I have never noticed it before" he answered sarcastically, knowing all to well that few people got along with the fox. Maybe that's why Rivik was so over protected of him, don't wishing to lose him.
"Well most races got hostile when they meet another race. Can't say if it's more towards werewolves or not, since I normally don't met others, except spirits" he stroke Jax's and the wolf wagged his tail, before he noticed the strangers hand, making Ezra noticed as well. Ezra couldn't remember the last time he shook someones hand. a strange gesture he thought but he took the other once, still wearing gloves, hoping he wouldn't mind, just as he shrugged his shoulders. It was true that he helped the other man, but it wasn't only out of kindness, it was also for selfish reasons, hoping he could help him avoid the vampire.

As the man talked with his brother, Ezra turned away, or at least his body did, since Jax's continued looking at the man. Ezra let a low whistle escape his lips and the ravens soon returned.
"Would you be so kind and hand his brother two pair of extra eyes" Ezra gave them the description of the brother, knowing they would find him, it may take some time but they would do it. He didn't doubt that the brother knew what he was doing, but having a birds overview could be helpful. Especially if they dealt with fucking vampires.

Jax walked over, trying to comfort the man, and Ezra broke the connection, feeling that the man didn't need to be stared at. He was far from a person that comforted anyone, he couldn't even remember if he had ever done it. With the spirits, it was different, so he decided not to try. He would most likely make it more awkward, instead he gave him time.
"Nothing to apologising for. We all have a breaking point, especially when we are forced into a corner" he had done the same as a kid, if not worse. "And yes they are. But seeing that a lot of them were humans to begin with, maybe it isn't as surprising"

The white wolf made the sobbing werewolf feel a tiny bit better. Even if the spirit wasn’t actually a wolf, he still looked like one and that was enough to win Zemin over. Maybe he wasn’t as complex as he’d thought. Maybe, just maybe, he was actually a helpless animal with no actual human skills. Considering what a dumb failure he was, that was most certainly it. All he could do that was even remotely human seemed to be shaking another humanoid creatures hand. What an achievement! Applause!
“I wasn’t even forced into the corner, I just got stuck there because of my own stupidity”, Zemin clarified and looked up towards the man, while still stroking Jax white fur. For the first time in years, he actually missed his own fur and secretly longed for it. It was just an element of comfort and warmth.
”Can vampires even be born? It wouldn’t really make any sense if they could as they’re essentially dead”, he later continued and forced himself back up on his legs, wobbling for a moment before finding his balance. “I mean ghouls can have kids, but that makes more sense as they’re not dead.” Zemin had only met a ghoul once and it was right after he’d fled the family mansion with his brother. If he remembered correctly, it had been a woman with one of those haunting eyes - black sclera and red irises.

Zemin though about for a short couple of seconds, before he looked at the man. The tears still seemed to linger in his eyes, but he felt collected enough to move away from the park bench area and go inside. Who knew what’d eventually find them if they stayed outside? Prove property or not, it didn’t matter in the society they lived in.
“Do you mind showing me around the place?” He asked and, once again, looked extremely guilty. Asking, asking, asking, all he ever did seemed to be demand stuff of other. Sure, demanding was more rude in his eyes and what he did wasn’t actually demanding anything, but that how it felt.
“We only need one room and access to a bathroom and that’s it! We’ve always slept in the same bed anyways and basically share all our stuff”, Zemin explained and looked towards the old building. It was large, kind of scary and old. Plus the smell of alcohol. Still better than the reeking of sewage though, and for that matter the werewolf didn’t have any problems with liquor.

For a second he got lost in memories. He remembered few things from his childhood, before he realised what he was, but one he couldn't shake was how he got caught. It had been raining, making the place he stayed flooded and forced him to wonder the streets, searching for a new place to stay. He had been cold, most likely hungry as well, when he felt a lovely smell, one he knew only his kind could smell, one that he hated. A lot of shamans used the herb, but as soon as he got hold of one, he burned it. But the smell lured him to it, resulting in him being captured, only because he had been stupid enough not to trust his instincts, telling him to runaway. That simply misstake lead to over ten years of torture, he could almost laugh at it now, but contained himself.
"We all do stupid things, the important thing is to learn from them" a smart person did. He thought about the others question.
"Don't know. I know far to little about their kind. They may have some way to make it possible, or if they wish for a child, they turn one" Ezra had never thought about it, not really caring either. When the other one mentioned ghouls he nodded. "Maybe that's where the vampires get their children, seeing that their is some similarities between them"

Ezra turned towards where he thought the man was standing, before he reconnected his sight with Jax's.
"It's not much to see, but if you wish for it" he looked at the building, before he looked at the man, starting to walk towards the building, with Jax's by his side, jumping up and down. "Jax, take it easy"
"Oh sorry Ezra" the wolf said, feeling guilty, but Ezra just patted him. The wolf wasn't used to be his eyes, not as much as Rivik was. the fox had learned what he could do, and how. They worked well together.
"I bought the place today, so it's still kind of empty" he explained before he went inside.

"Great, he's inside now" Rivik glared at them from his place on the counter.
"You wish to be my eyes, or stay down here?" he asked the fox who seemed to think about it, before he walked over. Ezra lifted the fox to his shoulders, taking his eyes instead. Once Jax's was free he started running upstairs.
"This is going to be the shop, so please try not to mess this up" he smiled towards the man before he went after Jax. "The first floors are holding my office" he pointed at the looked door "Try not to open it, it will only hurt you"
He warned the man with a smile before he pointed at the two other rooms.
"Crafting and potion room, well you can enter them, but don't touch anything, more for our safety than anything else" he continued up, to the empty floor. It needed more renovation than the others, missing some window-glas, boards in the floor, had wholes in the walls. "Not sure what to do with this yet. Need repar them first"
Ezra continued up to the large attic, high ceiling, few windows, including two rooms, and a bathroom.
"You can take this is you wish for it. The kitchen is on the first floor, but I hope that's okay. Maybe not the brightest places but yeah... feel free to paint it or something"
"You letting them decide" Rivik who had been quiet all the time asked.
"Well I am not letting you decide! And as I told you before, I am not to bothered by the colours, since everything would be complete darkness if I used it" Rivik sighed, but kept quiet, and for once Ezra was pleased by it.

To a person just floating around in space the words ‘oh sorry Ezra’ wouldn’t have made a big deal, but for some one like Zemin it certainly did. The werewolf obediently agreed to not go into any of the rooms - he didn’t really feel any need to and it definitely wasn’t worth the risk. When they lastly reached the attic, he felt as blown away as he’d done in the vampires grand office. Of course this wasn’t even close to the same standard, but it was large and the ceilings were high. There even were a couple of windows!
“This is perfect”, Zemin whispered, as tears started filling his eyes once again. He was such a baby, wasn’t he? Crying over absolutely everything at the moment. It just seemed so surreal to live in such a large space again, and his emotions simply overcame him. In their previous apartment there had only been two rooms: the kitchen-living room and bedroom. But this, this space had two rooms and a bathroom, excluding the kitchen. With other words - it was gigantic beyond belief.
“Thank you, Ezra”, he said, really letting the feelings of gratefulness flooding through. “I mean it, you’ve probably saved my life twice by now”, the wolf continued and looked towards his new found friend. Then Zemin did something he probably shouldn’t have, by leaning in closer, wrapping his arms tightly around the other ones body, resting his head against the mans chest. For some odd reason it felt right and safe, as if nothing bad could ever touch him ever again. And that feeling was simply nice and desirable. Odd or not, he didn’t care in that moment.

Meanwhile, Xue made his way towards the old pub. The brother was smart and tried to hide in the shadows as much as possible, creeping close to the wall. He’d always been a smart kid and had never gotten a single bad grade. Just the fact that he was still enrolled at the university spoke for itself, even though it was mostly because of Zemin. Without the older brother, Xue wouldn’t have had much of a future. But now he did and it was all possible because of the older ones sacrifices. As the werewolf walked on one of the empty backstreets, he suddenly remembered the first time Zemin had come home. He had been completely covered in blood and the tears didn’t stop falling for no less than three whole days. The slim body had been trembling endlessly and ever since he’d refuse to shift until absolutely necessary. What a contrast to how it was before. Then everything had been so simple and ordinary, easy to handle and live an everyday life. Now the world seemed to have become more of a grey sludge and Xue knew for a fact that Zemin was miserable. Maybe it would stop since this day forward, since he was finally quitting his job?
Well, he couldn’t exactly go around wandering all day, exploring old memories and ending up being caught. For all he knew the older brother could currently be crying his eyes out, and be far from all reason. It wouldn’t be a surprise if that’s what actually was the case.

Ezra wondered if he had thought it was perfect if he hadn't had his own flat? Or if it had been back in the days, after he left the prison. He couldn't tell, but at least the other man thought it was acceptabel.
"Wow his taste are bad as well" Rivik pointed out.
"Okay, Rivik, for once, try to be nice" Ezra actually schooled the fox. He wasn't sure why the man was so taken by the attic, but he was, and Ezra didn't feel like commenting it, or having Rivik say anything bad for once. The man had a though day, and Ezra knew that the smallest gesture could mean the world than. He was surprised that he had been the one offering. Okay it wasn't a small gesture, and it was for selfish reason, but he had still offered.
"Glad it's to your liking" he said instead, it wouldn't have made much difference if the man hadn't liked it, because Ezra couldn't have changed that.
"Nothing to thank me for. And I would say Jax's is more to blame for it than me" Okay maybe blame wasn't the right word, but without the wolf, he had never met the man, or helped him. Ezra looked in the direction he sensed the spirit when he suddenly felt a set of arms around him, and the man's head against his chest. At once he become stiff, unprepared for it. He couldn't ever remember being hold in a nice way, and in a second all the memories fro his childhood washed over him, and he didn't react when Rivik acted. Jax had growled, seeing how Ezra became uncomfortable with the situation, while Rivik scratched the other man over his cheek, before he jumped down on the floor, snatched after the man.
"How dare you do that! You stupid, imbecile, what is wrong with you?"
The sound of Rivik's voice made Ezra wake up from his memories.

"Rivik, enough" he told the fox, who took a step back, but didn't stop growling and Ezra sighed. The scratch wasn't all to bad, bleeding some, but nothing worse than that.
"I apologise, they are a bit over protective, and well I don't handle sudden contact all to well" he only explained. Well that was a understatement, seeing how he and the spirits reacted, but he didn't wish to talk about that. Ezra made a handkerchief appear in his hands and he offered it the other man.
"Let's wait for your brother on the first floor" without saying anything more he started walking down to the first floor, trying to relax. It had been nothing more than a hug, and thinking about it now, it had been kind of nice, even if it woke the memories.

“What the fuck did you do that for?” The werewolf cried out, covering the scratch marks with both hands. “You little fuck, why are you even so mean to me? What did I ever do to deserve all your shitty disapproval?” Zemin continued, as he followed the man with hurried steps. “Growling, fine! But giving me a scratch because of a hug? I already understood that he was uncomfortable.”
With an angry snort he snapped up the handkerchief that Ezra had offered him. He knew he had no right to be angry, but he couldn’t stop himself. The spirit had drawn the straw very close to the last one, as simple as that. Zemin didn’t like to consider murder and such things, but he really enjoyed dreaming about killing the stupid fox. They say you may always dream, and so he did, whilst following the man downstairs to wait for Xue. It was a good thing they did, as the younger brother could soon be heard knocking on the front door.
“It’s me!” He shouted and banged some more, impatient as usual.
“Yeah, we already got that”, the older brother assured him and went through all the locks, before the door swung open.
“Well hello good sir”, Xue began before suddenly stopping right in his tracks. “Dude, what happened to your cheek. Those are some really adorable scratch marks you’ve got there”, he thereafter laughed and gave Zemin a pat on the shoulder, before stepping inside.
“Ask the ass over there”, Zemin replied and nodded towards the spirit. “He’s the one responsible for clawing at my face and now I simply have to murder him”, he continued and bared his teeth - something that probably looked extremely weird considering his current form.
“If you’re going to growl and snarl, you might as well just shift right here and now”, the younger one pointed out. He then turned his attention towards the stranger from the day before and bowed lightly.
”So we meet again, what did he do this time? Obviously not turn, but I’m sure it’s something equally as bad”, Xue said and grinned towards Ezra. “It’s very kind of you to let us stay here. I’m not even sure why we can’t just go back to our own apartment.”

Well, he might not have understood the situation right there and then, but Zemin was going to tell him later that evening. But in that moment all he wanted to do was to kill the fox and hug his brother. He knew very well now that hugging Ezra wasn’t an option, so that wasn’t even to think of. Ever again.
“Hey, Xue,” the werewolf whined and tiptoed over to the younger one, holding out his arms like a child wanting a hug from his parent. “I need a hug.”
“Already figured”, the other wolf answered and wrapped his arms around Zemin, holding him tightly for a moment before letting go. “But we’re safe for now and I’m sure we’ll figure something out. This man seems pretty clever so I’m sure he can help us”, he said and looked towards Ezra.
“His name is Ezra, you know..”
“What?”
“Yea.”
“How do you know that?”
“I’m magic.”