System of a Wolf - 5. Chapter 5

An alarm woke Gara early the next morning. The wolf let out a growl at Erith’s phone. He knew that sound; it meant he needed to wake up and let the elf take over again. But he would be free again. Gara could feel the call of the moon in his blood, a pounding throughout his body that made him want to howl in excitement.

He knew better though. The two legs living around his home were fine with him being a wolf, but if Gara started howling in the morning, they’d get upset and that would make Erith upset.

Jumping off the bed, Gara let himself stretch out, ears flattening against the alarm. A quick crunching of shifting bones left Erith in his place, the elf grumbling quietly as he picked himself up. He grabbed the phone and shut off the alarm.

“Is it time to get up?”

The elf let out a yelp, spinning around with his hands held protectively over his groin.

“Blake?! What…”

The previous evening came back to Erith in a rush, and his face burned. Gara was supposed to shift back in the bathroom. Apparently the wolf missed the message. Erith couldn’t blame him; communication between himself and his alter was tenuous at best.

Still, it left him in a horrifying position, standing bare assed naked in front of Blake. Erith hurried from the room, the sound of the bathroom door echoing through the house as he locked himself inside. He took a series of deep breaths before splashing some water on his face.

It was okay. Blake was human, his eyes wouldn’t see too well in the dark. At least Erith hoped they wouldn’t have been able to see him, beyond a nearly invisible shape in the morning twilight.

The elf dressed quickly, startling at a light tapping on the door.

“Erith? I need to pee…”

He could hear Blake dancing around outside, and Erith hurried to pull his shirt on. Opening the door, the elf stepped out of the room, letting the mage relieve himself.

Erith stepped into the kitchen, frowning at the sight of the food bowl sitting in the middle of the floor. He set it on the counter before reaching up for the wolf kibble. It would be one less thing to do that evening.

Pulling the bag out, the elf tensed as the kibble shifted inside the bag. It tilted, and suddenly twenty pounds of food was tumbling down on his head.

Kibble scattered everywhere. Erith stood in shock at the destruction one little tug had caused. He could have sworn the bag was closed.

“Oh…”

The elf looked up from the empty bag in his hand. Blake was standing just outside the room, trying unsuccessfully to hide a grin. He burst into laughter and Erith glanced back down at the bag.

“Sorry… I thought I closed it,” the mage snickered.

“Did… did you feed Gara?” Erith asked, trying to process the fact that all his wolf food for the month was long gone.

It wasn’t that bad. He figured Gara wouldn’t mind a little dust.

“I guess that explains the berry flavour,” he sighed, stepping carefully through the mess to get a broom.

A few minutes’ work had the kibble swept up and returned to the bag. Erith knew he was probably going to regret saving it, but for a silver, he was going to make sure it lasted. He filled the bowl with food and rolled the bag up securely.

“Okay… I need a shower and we need breakfast…”

The elf glanced at Blake, watching the mage juggle kibble without the food ever touching his hands. The food danced above his hands, looking for all the world like a school of tiny fish flying through the air. Suddenly the swarm of kibble exploded, bits of food flying everywhere in a swarm until each piece fell neatly into the bowl.

“Fuck, that was amazing,” Erith breathed.

Blake panted quietly, staring at his feet, but the elf could see the smile spreading across his tired face.

“Thanks. I know everyone hates to practice because of the energy thing, but I don’t care about any limits. I just want to be good at something.”

“You are good at something,” Erith said. “I think Val would say you’re good at taking care of him.”

“Only if I bribe him with bloodworms,” Blake snorted.

“That was really amazing though,” Erith added a moment later.

He could see Blake blushing. The human refused to meet his gaze, and Erith smirked, reaching out to rub the man’s head. Blake flinched slightly as the hand fell toward him, but when Erith pulled away in concern, the mage grabbed his wrist and planted Erith’s hand on his head.

“Are you okay Blake?” Erith frowned.

“Yeah, just skittish,” the man shrugged as his hair was rubbed.

A soft moan escaped Blake, His head twisted under Erith’s touch, trying to key Erith into the better spots to scratch.

“Do I need to change your diaper?” Erith asked as his hand fell.

“N-no,” Blake said quickly. “I mean… not if you don’t want to.”

The elf’s face burned, Erith looking away quickly.

“I… If… if it would help…” he muttered.

“I don’t… I don’t think… I mean, I can do it myself,’ Blake stammered.

“Okay. Because I did some reading last night… and if you need anything, I can try to help.”

“If… if I was little right now, I would probably appreciate the help. As long as you were actually okay with it.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Erith smiled. “Now, before I get all clean for the morning, do you have any requests for breakfast?”

“Oatmeal and applesauce?” Blake asked hopefully.

“Oatmeal sounds good, but I’m not sure about the sauce. Would you like bananas instead?”

The mage nodded happily, taking a seat at the table as he waited. Minutes later, he was staring hungrily at a bowl of oatmeal, a cut up banana sitting on the side.

He could still see Erith standing naked in front of him. And that image stuck in his mind was sending Blake in all sorts of directions.

The mage had spent so long forgetting the feel of hands on his body, the pain of being taken by someone who had no right touching him. And now his body seemed to want to undo all his work. Blake found himself retreating back into little space, trying to keep the thoughts of Erith out of his mind. He wanted the elf, but he didn’t want the elf. He couldn’t want Erith. It would hurt too much.

“Blake?”

His head glanced up from his half eaten meal. Erith was looking at him in concern, the elf’s bowl already clean.

“Are you okay? I know my privates hanging out in front of you was probably not a good way to wake up.”

Blake shrugged silently.

“I tried to shift in the bathroom. I didn’t want you to see that-”

“Is okay Ewith…” Blake murmured.

“Okay…”

It was clear the elf wasn’t convinced, but Blake just didn’t have the mental energy to keep trying to help Erith feel better right now.

“Well… I’m going to take my shower. You can take one too, if you want. After me, I mean,” Erith added quickly.

“I like you Ewith.”

“I like you too Blake,” the elf replied after a moment’s hesitation. “Do you want me to turn on the TV before my shower?”

Blake nodded, poking at his oatmeal. He heard the TV turn on a moment later, a cartoon neko racing through a maze of deadly obstacles catching his attention. It was a nice distraction from his issues, and the mage ate the rest of his breakfast absently as he watched.

Once he felt sufficiently removed from his issues, the werewolf began easing himself back into his more adult mindset. He wasn’t supposed to be little during the day; Dr. Marin had always tried to keep him from slipping into the headspace during the day.

Standing up, Blake headed back to Erith’s bedroom. He stripped quickly, discarding the diaper in favour of a pair of briefs. There was a quiet knock as he pulled on his pants, and the man opened the door.

Erith’s eyes fell to Blake’s chest. The mage pulled a shirt over his head, covering his torso, and the elf cleared his throat.

“I thought we could go for a walk, if you want. Elias Park isn’t too far from here,” he suggested.

“Okay,” Blake shrugged, pulling on his shoes.

The mage grabbed his headphones, slipping them over his ears before searching for a noise cancelling playlist on his phone.

“I’m ready to go when you are.”

He headed out to the front door, waiting silently as Erith put on his own shoes. Minutes later, they were stepping outside.

“So I was thinking,” Erith said as they walked down the street. “A pond would probably be kind of nice in the backyard. Something I can swim in, while still looking nice and natural in the yard. Do you know anything that would help keep it somewhat clean without too many filters?”

“Pleco,” Blake said instantly. “The Saifin Plecostomus would be great for a bottom feeder, but you need to make sure they have at least a thousand gallons of water each if you have more than one. You could try a catfish too, but you need warm water. Silver Dollars will act as dithers in case there are too many birds or foxes trying to eat the other fish.”

He faltered at the look Erith gave him, his heart skipping a beat.

“What?” he demanded.

“Nothing,” Erith said quickly, a small smile on the elf’s lips. “You know a lot about fish.”

“I like fish. They’re cool to read about,” Blake shrugged. “Mainly fish from Sarelin though. Mydaran fish are boring. All cold and fighting river currents or freezing in icy lakes.”

“Okay, but are they safe to swim with?”

Blake frowned thoughtfully.

“Probably. But try to keep away from them as much as possible. And you need pants on or they’ll try to eat you.”

“Well yeah, I’m not trying to feed my dick to a bunch of fish,” Erith laughed. “I’ll set out some treats tonight and Gara can start digging out the perimeter of the pond.”

“You let Gara dig?”

“Oh absolutely. Did you think I dug all the holes for the plants in the front yard by hand? No, they happened by paw. It’s a great way for him to get exercise. We may share a body, but he needs his entertainment too, and it allows me to get a little more work done during the full moon.”

Blake shrugged, deciding to take the elf’s word for it.

“Does that mean we’re digging holes tonight?”

“Well… Gara probably will be.”

“So no cuddling?”

Erith stopped suddenly, and Blake sucked in a breath, wondering if he had messed up somehow. A car drove by, the sound cutting through the music playing through his headphones. It was like a knife slicing through his protections, and Blake hunched up slightly as the world invaded his space.

“You still want to cuddle with me?”

“Y… yeah?”

“I thought you didn’t want those kinds of touches when you were in little space.”

“What kind of touches?” Blake frowned. “I just want to be held.”

The elf echoed his frown.

“So… this isn’t you coming onto me,” he said.

“No?”

Erith sighed quietly, starting to walk again.

“I’m sorry, I think we’re talking about different things. You don’t want to cuddle me, you want me to hug you. It’s different, right?”

“Different from what?”

He was feeling more confused by the second. Cuddling was just cuddling. Why was Erith making it more complicated?

“I mean, my uncle always cuddled me, and it always ended badly,” the elf scowled. “I just don’t want to do that, you know?”

Understanding flooded Blake’s mind.

“Oh no, I would never do that to you!” he said quickly.

“Okay. Then… then yeah… we can cuddle.”