Humans Alone (G/T)

Chapter Twenty-nine

Michael took his bath in peace, thankful Heath left him alone so he could have his privacy. The warm water soothed his aching muscles and he was able to scrub off the few days worth of dirt, dry blood, and grease from his hair. 

This place was certainly different than Heath and Donnie's hut back where he'd officially met the two. This place had running water, elegantly tiled flooring, curtains to close on the windows, and locks on the doors. 

He wondered if this 'High Council' was so important that they were the only ones who got buildings like this despite how equal the Masonin race considers each other. That thought made him only more nervous.

He could picture this Montgomery fellow as one of those people who think highly of themselves and always have a cigar in their mouth. He then laughed at himself for letting his mind wander and giving him more anxiety than probably needed. 

Michael looked at the bandages on his arm and slowly unrolled the wet gauze. The bite marks underneath were slowly healing but were deep enough they would need more time. And this bath would help fight the infection that looked like was starting to appear in both his leg and arm wounds. 

He thought back to when Heath saved him from those wolves. The first of many times the Masonin protected him. God, he loved that man more than he should. Simply thinking about him and what he's done sent Michael's heart all aflutter. 

"And now he's gone and said...that," Michael groaned and put his face in his hands, sinking further into the water that was finally beginning to lose its warmth. 

A gentle knock on the door startled him, causing him to sink up to his chin in the water. "Yeah?" He called out, listening closely to the familiar voice muffled by the door.

"I was given these clothes to give to you," Heath muttered, looking at the small bundles of fabric in his hand as he opened the door just enough to slide the shirt, pants, and boxers inside the room. 

Michael glanced over his shoulder and watched the large hand exit the room, the door closing behind it before he could even mutter a 'thank you'. The pain he felt grew stronger and he decided it was best to pretend everything was okay. 

When Michael had gotten out of the bath and dressed, he struggled to reach the doorknob but managed. The bedroom on the other side was empty. He wondered where Heath could have already gone, but there was a piece of paper on the bed. A piece of paper, which as he got closer, was actually a note. 

I went ahead to speak to Montgomery. If you leave this room to find me, go down the stairs on the left and it will be the set of double doors at the end of the hallway.

Sighing, he set the paper down and looked at his clothes. They looked fairly normal, but the fabric was amazingly soft, loose, and comfortable. Practically flannel that looked like jeans and a t-shirt. At least he looked better than he had. And his leg felt a thousand times better.

He decided to leave the room and go look for Heath where the note said, not comfortable with being left alone in a place where probably a bunch of the giant beings roamed about. So approaching the door, he just barely managed to reach the doorknob and pushed open the havy wooden door. The sight shocked him.

It was totally different than he ever would have imagined! A few dozen people were roaming the hall, at least a quarter of which were humans. His height. Something he hasn't seen in a few weeks. Maybe even months. And they weren't cowering from the Masonin's, but in fact, some were even interacting with them! There were even a few young children being escorted around by young female giants wearing some form of nanny garb. 

Michael slowly began to walk the hall, passing a few humans and a few more of the Masonin's. He couldn't help but feel a little self-conscious about the bandages showing on his arm, but he wasn't the only one injured.

The humans may have been intermingling, but some of them had obvious wounds. Gauze and bandages wrapped around eyes, one or two on crutches, one of them he saw was even in a wheelchair. This place didn't only shield and protect his kind, it was also like some form of rehabilitation center too. His heart fluttered in joy knowing that not all of Heath's race wanted his own dead. There were a handful that were even helping them. 

It gave him hope that Heath's previous words could be taken back. If even a small number of Masonin's were okay with him, surely he could stay with the man he truly loved.

Following the instructions on the note, Michael found the door Heath spoke of easily. He pushed open the door just enough to poke his head inside, and as soon as he did, it was like a spotlight was directly on him and him alone. 

The room was large, half a dozen of the giants in the room excluding Heath and the esteemed looking man talking with him. All heads turned toward him, a man dressed as Ronald was before stepping forward. 

"You shouldn't be here right now. We're in the middle of a meeting. Do you need something?" He spoke with a firm yet kind tone, seeming to keep a respectful distance from him.

Heath stepped forward and lifted his hand. "He's the one I was talking about. Michael. It's okay, come here," he smiled warmly.

Michael watched realization flood the guard's face and he bowed his head apologetically in silence before stepping to the side. Despite his kind tone, the human still felt nervous and slightly afraid with so many of the larger races eyes on him. 

He wasn't slow in his walk over to Heath, standing close to his legs and even wrapping his arms around one of them. He didn't care if it seemed childish. The closer he was to him, the safer he felt. 

That was when he noticed Heath wasn't in the same clothes, but he too was dressed in the same material Michael was. His hair was clean and slicked back, bruises and wounds were cleaned and looked taken care of just as Michael had done for his own.

The well-dressed man turned to look at Michael, his expression neutral despite his voice being calm and gentle when he finally started to speak. 

"Michael, yes? We've been waiting for you. I have a few things I'd like to say to you."