Humans Alone (G/T)

Chapter Seven

Michael groaned, sinking down into the warm water. He could feel the dirt just float off of him. It'd been so long since he'd managed to bathe in warm water, and not freezing cold river water. Heath had been kind enough to put a sheet up to block him from the rest of the world. 

The metal tub was outside, and though it was dark Michael could see the light from the hut through the sheets. It was more comforting knowing Heath was just a shout away. He even had soap! Sure, it was just a bunch of dish soap, but it was soap nonetheless.

Stretching his arms over his head, he cringed in pain when he couldn't use his dominant arm to reach his back. The more he tried, the more it hurt. And he couldn't get his other arm where he needed it to be. 

Soap suds rolled down his arms as he lowered them back into the water. "What luck." He grumbled softly to no one, jumping as Heath's voice came from behind him.

"I came out to see if you were done. But something seems to be bothering you." Heath mumbled, peering down at the human with a curious gaze. 

Michael was glad it was dish soap now because there were plenty of bubbles that concealed himself. "What's wrong with you?! You can't just walk in on people when they're bathing, it's wrong!" He sunk lower into the water with a scowl, glad he wasn't a girl. 

"Is it? Where I'm from it's completely alright, as long as the being is the same gender as you. I'm sorry, I didn't know that humans did it any different." Heath chuckled quietly, now understanding why Michael's face was as red as it was. 

Michael grumbled in response, once again stretching his arm back to try and scrub away the dirt on his back but against cringed in pain.

"I know you are already uncomfortable, but there is no point in taking a bath when you can't clean off the dirt. Let me help you." Heath knelt in the grass, still standing behind the black haired human and could tell he was in a tremendous amount of pain.

"Are you crazy?!" Michael hissed and was ready to smack Heath, but despite his answer, he could feel large hands scrubbing his back. He knew his face had to be even redder than it was before. But he knew that even if he fought, the Masonin would win...again. So he stayed perfectly still, praying for this embarrassing moment to end as quickly as it began.

Michael waited until Heath was done and gone before quickly getting out of the water and threw his clothes back on even though he was still wet from the water. He just wanted to get as covered as possible. He felt a little violated. Even if the Masonin was just trying to help, he could have given him a bath brush to scrub his back with.

Slowly, he started to go inside, pushing open the wooden door that was left open a crack, thankfully, only to be greeted by a glaring Donnie. He let out a quiet, nervous laugh. "Uh...hi." He muttered as quietly as he could, trying to slide along the wall to avoid going near the teenage giant. 

"Donnie, take a step back," Heath ordered, folding his arms over his chest as he approached Michael with a blanket and pillow. "These are for you. Set them up wherever you like and you can sleep there."

Michael took the large bed items, nearly dropping them from the sheer weight. It had to be, what, twenty pounds? Giving Heath a quick nod he scurried across the room to as far away from Heath's and Donnie's beds as he could to lay out the blanket. 

Heath took this chance to pull Donnie outside and grabbed his adopted son's wrist gently. "He didn't know about the baby, Donnie. Not all humans knew. We might be able to bring this planet back to its full potential. So I want you to be nice to him. He's not a bad human. He's frightened of you. So leave him be, do you understand me?"

"Dad, how do you know he isn't just playing dumb?" The green-eyed Masonin said with a scowl, looking into the window of the hut where he could see Michael fumbling with the large blanket.

"The look on his face is how I know he wasn't playing dumb Donnie. He looked horrified. Now get inside and get some sleep, we have a lot of work to do tomorrow for the trip."

"Trip? What trip?" Donnie scowl turned into a frown.

"We're going to see the High Council. We're going to discuss peace." Heath said as a smile spread across his face. "So get your butt inside and go to bed."

Donnie didn't respond as he went in and laid down, pulling the wolf skin blanket up to his shoulders. He didn't like the idea of peace. He enjoyed being able to have power over the humans. They didn't deserve anything after what they did. No forgiveness. No power. And definitely not peace.