Simmer Down

The tree line thinned to the clearing that was the home of our hot spring. Upright on my hind paws, my running ceased, and I padded over the chalky ground, leaving prints beside the tyre tracks the jeep had made on our previous visits. This was the first time we'd come by foot and wing.

In the dim light of the waning crescent moon, I watched Hayashi land elegantly at the bank of the spring. As he turned to peer over his shoulder at me, his beak disappeared into the flatness of his face, and the man I'd become familiar with stared at me. His feathers disintegrated in a furl of black smoke, leaving his bronzed arms bare. The faint, silver light caught his edges, and as he shed the rest of his clothes, I saw more and more of them. The shape of every muscle was flattered, highlighted by the Goddess as if she wanted my eyes on him. Silently, Hayashi stepped into the water as I stood still in the clearing, entranced by how his gait moved his legs and buttocks. Through the gentle bubbles and steam, he submerged into the deep centre and back onto the shallow on the far side, where he turned and sat himself on a rock shelf. The cloudy water lulled modestly about his hips, hiding his intimate parts, yet how he'd positioned, on thigh to peak out of water was provocative. He lounged there, waiting for me.

One slow step after another, I neared the hot spring. My height dropped, as my clawed paws returned to feet. My skin bared to the moonlight, as my fur fell away. I flexed my jaw as my muzzle shrank back into my face. Standing on the steep bank of the hot spring, aware that his eyes were panning over my naked body; just as I had his, I couldn't help but ask, "Why're you lookin' at me like that?"

"I've never seen you shift before."

"Me neither," I said, submerging myself into the water. "'til earlier, when you flew over the wall." Standing in the deepest dip of the bedrock, I relaxed in the warm water, up to my chest and sighed, contentedly.

"Your rage has calmed," Hayashi noted.

"Yeah." A pang of shame hit me, I sensed my abundance of rage upset him. "Sorry I'm such a angry guy."

"I told you I don't want an apology, Nate. Ever. Not for who you are," Hayashi's voice was as tranquil as ever it was. Slipped down from the rock shelf, he joined me in the deep water, up to his shoulders. He hair fanned out over the milky water like lace.

"You still stopped me from taking him down."

"Your son was watching."

"Good. He needs to see that I'm not weak."

"He already knows your strength."

"He thinks he needs to take down his uncle and become Alpha."

"You mean he admires you so much that he wants to emulate you, and continue your legacy? Isn't that the Lycan way?"

"This feels like we're bickering," I said, because I couldn't deny his truth.

"Like an old married couple." Hayashi grinned, and I grimaced. "What did you brother call me?"

"My Jap—"

"On second thought, no," his fingers pressed to my lips; shushing me. "But it was something like "Wife", yes?"

"Mhmm," I nodded, "that's why I was gonna hit him."

"I think I would make a beautiful wife." He turned away from me, and waded through the water.

"You'd be a husband, not a wife, Hayashi," I explained, figuring he didn't understand the gendered words in English. I cautiously watched his next move; he climbed from the water.

"But I'd still be beautiful?" He asked, standing proudly on the shelf he'd sat upon earlier, in a display of full frontal nudity. I feared the Goddess was not on my side, she cast her rays onto his body like a spot light. The water glistened over his smooth skin and silken black hair, of which their was little speak of; his chest, arms and legs weren't coated like mine. The straight strands that trailed from his navel and framed his manhood were all the hair he had.

Letting out a slow uneasy breath, I internally thanked the Goddess for the waters murkiness; I could feel myself throbbing, a float in the water that surrounded my hips. The sight of him was utterly arousing. He was unquestionably beautiful in my eyes, in a way that felt much more significant than how I'd admired Alison's beauty. It left me wanton, greedily in fact. As if he sensed my desire to have him close, he slipped back into the hot spring, and stepped back into the deep water with me.

"You're blushing."

"You're naked."

"We're both naked, Nate."

"You're mock—"

"Teasing. I'm teasing you."

"And I'm trying to be a good man."

"You are a good man." He stated as if he were certain of it and laughed, lilting and impish, like my doubt was foolish.

"You're a good man, I'm—"

"Handsome."

"You're handsome," I said, realising a moment too late what I'd admitted, "and that's why I'm not a good man." I frowned, perhaps poutily, I wanted him to stop toying with me. This all felt so unfair. I was trying so hard.

"Thank you. You're very handsome, but a bit small minded." He moved, intending to close the space between us and instinctively I grapsed his arms to stop him; and held him away from me. I couldn't bare the shame if he'd felt my errection brush up against him. It terrified me how I might react, if he got too close. "Nate… " His black brows creased, displeased by the distance I kept. "Your sexuality has no bearing on whether you're a good man."

"Please stop teasing me." I begged, my eyes overflowing. His fingers reached to sweep the tears from my cheek.

"I mean no malice, I'm fond of you."

"That's why it hurts." I gulped down my sorrow, and sniffled up my tears. "You're my friend and I know you want me to open my mind to the ways of the world, but I can't change how I was raised. It's the Lycan way."

"Make your own way. You're strong enough, you just have to believe in yourself."

Hayashi, left the water, announced that we should get back before before Nocturnal curfew, and took to the sky; his clothes clutched in his left foot. I took another minute or two to simmer down and shake off my arousal, before I exited the hot spring, and took off into the wood; following him back to the Compound.

Before daybreak we went our separate ways, without talking anymore of what had been said at the hot springs. It seemed that what happened there, stayed there. It was our secret place. It kept our secrets.