Dog Fights

Chapter 5; Reliance

"Since when has that been there?"

Ezra watches Rin pull down the front of a shelf, bracing herself on the floor as a mattress is revealed and rested on the floor. "Always." Mahin laughs. "This is where we sleep. We have a second bed over there for ya with freshly washed sheets and a new-ish pillow. It'll be your resting place until we get ya a room or roommate to bunk with."

Rin steps to another shelf on the other side of the room, doing the same thing to pull it down and settle it on the ground. It's already turned morning, drawing the night owls inside before the sun comes up. "See?" Rin grins. "Clean sheets."

Ezra hesitates, not moving from his spot by the door. Glancing to the bed and back, he stares at the waiting girls. "What?" he asks, running the hem of his sweater sleeve between his fingers.

"Aren't you goin' to lay down?" Mahin asks, "we got to put the covers over you. Please, take no offense, but they have an enchantment on them to calm your nerves during the night. To help newcomers sleep, as well as keep them from trying to strangle us in our sleep- if they feel like they need to."

"I'm not going to attack either of you," Ezra says, tone of his showing no hostility, "it just seems wrong. Like I don't have the right."

"The right for a bed?" Rin asks, letting a small smile slip onto her face before she realizes he's being serious. "Oh- sorry. Of course you have the right to sleep in a bed. I know it's not what you're used to, but I promise it'll be better."

"I'd hope it'd be better than lying in a cage," Ezra comments, slipping the glasses from his face and kicking his shoes off. He sets the glasses on one of the shelves at the top of the bed, nudging the shoes under the wooden supports.

"Oh!" Rin claps, startling the vampire. "You can't sleep in jean shorts- denim isn't healthy to sleep in!"

She quickly steps to the corner with the desk, pulling open the little dresser beside it that Mahin had been sorting through earlier. She quickly pulls out a pair of pants and a tank top, rushing back over to hand them to Ezra.

"Fuzzy," the male states, feeling the soft pale blue and white polka dotted pants stick to the calluses on his hands, "thanks."

"So, change into those and we'll do the same," Mahin says, taking a step towards the dresser, "then we'll get ya in bed and lay down ourselves. We've had a long day, but I got to thank ya for the fun. And the Amelia incident."

"It was scary but awesome," Rin states with a short giggle, following Mahin and taking the pajamas that were handed to her. "And if you're ever asked, we never have, and never will encourage you to do that again. Just to be clear."

"Seems fair," Ezra mutters, ignoring the low churn of his stomach as he changes out of his clothes and pulls on his borrowed sleepwear. The clothes on his body now feel more strange than the sweater and denim shorts; odd yet comforting.

Ezra sits down on the edge of the bed, leaning down to take off his socks as the girls change somewhere behind him. He sticks them in his shoes, pausing as he sees the marks the cloth had left going halfway up his calves.

Pulling his leg up and resting his ankle on his knee as the girls talk behind him, Ezra runs his fingers over the shallow divots. For the first time the marks left on his skin don't fade, because these markings aren't injuries that his body needs to heal. These lines hold no harm.

"Ready for bed?" Rin asks after he finishes changing, rubbing her hands together as she walks back to Ezra's bed.

"Yeah," he clips, scooting back before swinging up his legs and laying back. He moves to shift, but Rin points him down and he doesn't move.