What it Means to Have You

Balance

Kine

Breakfast was delicious and quite fulfilling now that I didn't have to pretend to be a dog and only eat a certain amount of human food. I wolfed down a good pound or two of food before leaning back in my chair with a loud belch.

"Nice," Miguel said with a snicker.

I smirked at him, then glanced over at Cody. He was reading as he picked at his food, but I wasn't upset about him ignoring us. Heck, whatever made him able to cope, he could do, short of hurting himself or others.

"So... I think today would be a good day to get to know you guys," I said, looking up at Nagol with an obvious look.

"Yeah, I agree. Miguel, wanna go hang out while Kine and Cody chill for a bit?"

We all knew why Nagol made the offer to hang out with Miguel... so that I could work with Cody's wolf. Thankfully Miguel eagerly hopped up, nodding as Nagol stood and motioned for him to follow him to the living room.

"Let's see how good you are at Mario Kart, hm?"

Miguel laughed and ran over to the television to grab a controller and get ready to beat Nagol. I grinned, then turned my attention to Cody. I caught him right before his eyes moved from his friend back down to his book. They were wide and slightly dilated, no doubt from worry.

"Hey, can we go upstairs and talk for a bit?" I asked him, unsure of what he would answer. When he shrugged and began to get up, I gave a quiet sigh of relief and stood as well, leaving the dishes at the table to be cleaned up later. I let Cody take his time and ran ahead to make the bed and clean up any dirty clothing lying about. And by clean up, I mean just throw the dirty clothes into the closet and shut the door. By the time Cody was stepping into the room, I had it decently clean and was sitting patiently on the bed.

"Hey. So let's talk about that pup I met downstairs."

I knew I was rushing the conversation a bit, but I needed to know why he had reacted so negatively to another wolf, even though I hadn't forced him to show me his. He should have been excited to see a possible new pack member, but he acted like I might try to kill him where he stood, yet also a tiny bit hopeful, considering he had shifted. The look he was giving me now also wasn't very favorable, but since he wasn't turning around and running yet, I was going to chalk it up as a positive.

"I-I don't w-want to talk about i-it," he finally stuttered quietly as he held his book with a white-knuckled grip in both hands.

Hmm.

That left me in a predicament. I wanted to know why he reacted as he did, but it was crystal clear that at least a good portion of that reaction was from a past he didn't wish to explain.

Well, I can accept that. If there's one person who can understand not wanting their past dug up, it's me.

"Alright."

His head jerked back in surprise, eyes widening.

"A-alright?" he asked, confused and wary.

Shrugging my shoulders, I nodded and flopped back on the bed after taking a deep breath and blowing it out calmly. "Yup. That's it."

When he didn't speak for several minutes, I knew he was thinking. I heard the pages of the book he held turn a few times as well, but then, to my surprise, Cody walked over to the edge of the bed and awkwardly climbed in. He stayed on the corner, barely on the bed enough to not slip off. I gave him a small smile of encouragement, then shifted into my wolf form and stretched after kicking off my shorts, turning my back on him. I thought it might help relax him to know that I wasn't watching, and after another minute, it seemed to have worked, because the bed depressed a little closer.