While she knew she had wronged him, she also knew that she was not a good enough person to go and dwell with shame and guilt. Perhaps she had an unconscious wish to be lonely, to push everyone away. Yet here she was and she could tell by the immerse stench of weed in the hallway that Cotl was present in his room. She felt the desire to stalk away and walk out into the fresh air, but she refrained from doing so. Instead she returned to her room to lay down the sword that seemed as much a part of her as anything. She was about to head out of the room again, but remembered that one item that could come in handy and went to retrieve it from the upper left drawer in the desk. Cream coloured fingers gently stroke through thick, auburn locks and she let a soft smile fall into her face, melting into her already attractive features.

Her walk was steady and elegant as she moved towards the room inhabited by the two hybrid brothers. There were no longer heavy amounts of smoke dancing in the hallway, but the scent stuck to the walls. She would have to yell at him for that – for polluting the air the way he did. The sweet smell made her want to gag, but the encounter with her hippie uncle seemed to have heightened her tolerance for it. As always she hesitated just outside of the door for a split moment before she tapped her knuckles lightly on the door. She had made a point out of avoiding him lately, so they had not talked at all after she had walked away from him that day. She felt a bit guilty obviously, but she was not choking on it. She was ready to make amends and talk with him again. ”Cotl?”

There was movement from within the room, and a moment after a soft shuffling sound was heard and a thin line of light seemed to appear under the door moments before it opened and she was dragged into a messy room packed by cannabis smoke. She was taken back by his bold actions, but let him do it without scold and violence. An oversized ear flickered as she heard the male lock the door again behind her. She was not at all comfortable with that, but on the other hand she was not a weak girl any longer and Cotl was still considered a friend of sorts. He was bold as anyone, but she had thought he would be meeker, taken into consideration how their last meeting had ended.

Then she was sitting in a chair she found strangely familiar and watched the man find a seat on his bed. She wondered why the hell he was wearing a gasmask, but was not interested enough to ask. She had seen enough weird things lately and when it came to weed she had already seen a series of strange ways to smoke it. It did not make much sense to her, but she figured he had his reason for using the gas mask in the process. She had not at all come back to take him up on his offer, but now when the lithe woman thought about it, she figured she might as well say yes to make him happy. The whisky was already in his hand and she wondered if he had been waiting for her to come back so that he could force some of that foul smelling liquid on her.

She smiled and nodded though, even added a ”Yes, I have,” and shifted slightly in her seat to get more comfortable. She prayed the liquid would not taste as bad as it smelled. Surely there had to be a reason why people adored firewater so.

Her nose wrinkled and she was rather uncomfortable with alcohol and the sweet cannabis aroma surrounded her, but at least she was not sitting in a smoking gasmask like Cotl. Ruby eyes studied the odd sight, but she knew better than to comment it. Her hands were restless on the bottle as the silence seemed to grow inside the badly aired room. Was he waiting for her to take the first sip? Her eyes narrowed as she moved her gaze over on the dusty bottle and the reeking liquid rummaging within. The male seemed different – more serious, but it was hard to say when he was wearing the mask filling up with white smoke. She let the silence stretch out, wondering exactly what he wanted, what he was thinking. Her gaze then moved again to the door with a light hint of longing. Not because she wanted to run away immediately again, but she liked to have escape routes for every situation. She did not like thinking that he was in charge of the situation in such a way. Her thoughts went on as they always did, exaggerating, but opening a door was not a problem at all, whether it was open or locked.

The girl forced her focus back to Cotl and his odd silence and lack of smiles. If he was pissy about her walking out on him that other day then she would do her best to worsen the situation. Halo could be a horrible creature when provoked – it mattered little whether or not the other creature truly deserved the punishment she could lash out with. Eventually a muffled sentence rose from the other. She supposed that was good enough. Her ears flickered backwards towards her skull as she contemplated what he had said, but there was not much to get from it. It reminded her of one of the reasons why she had chosen to interact with him today though. She put the untouched bottle between her copper hued knees and twisted her upper body slightly as both hands went to the small pouch resting on her left hip. The leather had been boiled and prepared and she had been especially lucky with the unusual dark furred rabbit she had managed to hunt down. The skin was not completely dark, but it was darker than the usual hide. The small spikes made out of bone was carefully and elegantly inserted into the dark leather and fastened on the underside of the leather by the limitedly expanded holes in the material that the spikes were threaded through. Another layer of the same hue of dark leather had then been sowed together with thin threads of sinew to combine the two strips of leathers as well as to keep the spikes to their place.

The girl tossed the unique bracelet at the canine in the bed. ”Here’s the payment for the drawing of the tattoo and if you don’t like it then you can toss it awayor burn it,” she nearly barked. She wanted to seem indifferent, but if it became obvious that he did not like it then she knew that she would feel both insulted and disappointed. She had worked for hours with this, and even if it was not identical to something the humans easily had produced masses of, she had gathered the material and put it together herself. She was proud of it, because she had created it from materials she had found in nature. Cotl seemed to adore black, but surely a really dark brown should be enough? She forced her thoughts away and moved immediately moved her focus over to the bottle held up by her knees. Moments after it was in her hand again and she refused to take time to smell it before she lifted it to her lips to taste a few drops. It tasted as horrible as it smelled.

Few could do what she did, but it didn’t have to mean that it was good. The girl was content with his reaction though and settled with that. She really wished she could create things similar to what the humans had managed to make, but she simply did not have what it took to reach that level. Her two hands were skilled, but materials from the human era was mostly ruined and without use. She was proud of the result as it was 100 percent hers, but she knew it did not match the human quality. She pushed the negative thoughts away and decided that Cotl should just be damn lucky she bothered to make him this gift. He should have gotten it the day where she announced that she would not be branded, but yeah, things had turned out differently than anticipated and it had not happened. She had wanted to rip the spiked bracelet apart back then and was happy she had managed to resist the violent urge to do so.

A small smile settled on her lovely face when he thanked her and she thought it could be fun to try a collar for a change. She let two cream coloured fingers trace her tooth necklace idly and let her focus linger on the foul taste in her mouth. How could anyone willingly drink this? It was the worst thing she had ever tasted. She put the bottle on the floor and did not offer it another glance. She swallowed disgustedly and hoped she would get rid of the aftertaste quickly. Ears danced on top of her auburn locks and she glared at the gasmask with doubt apparent in her ruby eyes. She did not like the thought of messing with substances that could alter her thoughts. It had been frightening to witness. Of course she was curious, but she was very sceptical to this. She had touched no bong nor gasmask so she wouldn’t know what to do.

Would she have to analyse and resist everything nonstop? She shrugged and crossed her legs as she made herself more comfortable in her seat. If she had to choose then she would want to go with the lightest stuff. There was no way she wanted to end up like Kaena had that evening when the pack gathered to celebrate Anselm’s birthday. ”Whatever you want I suppose. You’ll have to show me how to use it though.” Of course she regretted the moment she had spoken these words out loud. She wanted to be pure and untainted by the bad stuff.

During the long second it took him to react to her words she simply stared at his form. She seemed good at this staring thing. There was a form of reluctance clinging to her—they both clearly noticed it. She was unable to discover what exactly it was made out of, but she embraced it and wondered why she could not find peace and confidence in the presence of a friend. Cotl certainly deserved that title by now. He had put up with a few rounds of her unpleasant way to vent and explode and he was offering her comradeship right now. The girl tried to consciously appreciate him, turning the coin and placing a smile on her attractive face that she hoped would turn more genuine soon. She found that she was nervous about this bong that he had gotten up and retrieved now. Why on earth had she accepted the invitation? Ruby gaze studied the glass and its odd form. Water and weed? She squinted slightly and watched his hands make it ready for use. Profanity shot through the room, but the girl had grown used to his problem; allowing merely an ear to flicker back temporarily.

It was not the first time she had seen a bong be used, but she was somewhat fascinated as he lit the weed. Smoke danced inside the beholder and when it rose to the top the male removed the stem and inhaled it. It looked so odd. The room already carried the heavy stench of the marijuana, but the smoke he exhaled brought a new load of sweetness into the heavy air. Her red gaze drifted towards the window, aching for a breath of a fresh, untainted breeze. She did not understand what he was talking about when he said there was another way where she would not have to hit the bong. The sight of the water down inside the glass made it somehow seem cleaner and purer to her. Obediently, the woman started to reach out for the bong he was handing her, but as he offered to light the bowl for her, she moved over to the bed and sat down next to him. She had never tried to lit fire with the odd human objects and not eager to show him her ignorance. ”Yes please,” her soft voice accepted, her smile blooming.

Fingers lightly pressed against the bong and she found that it was warm; though not uncomfortably so. Replaying his demonstration inside her head, she watched as he lit the flame and went through the same procedure; though when the smoke rose to the top he let his palm shut the opening and indicated that it was now she was supposed to inhale it. She felt disgustingly nervous, and though this was not the case at all, she felt rushed into it as he removed his hand from the opening. She leaned down and made her lungs suck in what felt like warm, polluted air. Surprised by the fact that she could taste it, her inhale became sharp while it should be slow, and the smoke rushed down into her lungs and burned. Her mouth clasped shut and she pushed the bong away abruptly and shut down the airway as series of coughs wanted to pulse through her and rid her body of the burning mass of smog. She knew enough to know that she was supposed to hold her breath for a little while before breathing out, but her body responded poorly to the rough smoke. It was the same unpleasant experience every first timer had to go through, she supposed.

It hurt to inhale and orbs burned behind tightly shut eyelids. What a foolish thing to do, and yes, she blamed Cotl for this. Perhaps she should tell it straight to his face. Just to crush his self confidence and their odd friendship a little more. She turned to him and, oh… She could feel it. It was the most peculiar sensation, but it made her hesitate and remain quiet. Nothing changed, but everything changed nevertheless. The blood running through her vein turned thick and started slowing down. Or that was somehow what it felt like. The world breathed with her and seemed to blur around her in the strangest of ways. Her eyesight was nothing less of perfect still, but it was her brain that suddenly had a need to interpret the world differently. She couldn’t put her finger on what it was. She found her own hard, mental edges soften and turn into a sea.

She did not know how to answer on his comment, because she had never tasted tobacco. The taste of weed was nothing like a fresh carcass or similar fruits of nature. It was sharp and clung to her tongue in a way she did not approve of, but it was better than the strong fire liquid she had tried earlier. ”I don’t know,” she said just to say something, tilting her head and watching the other hybrid with a gaze without the “glare”. She watched him take a sip of the whisky and turned her face away as the scent of it danced into her nostrils. Blergh. ”I haven’t smoked before..” she revealed slowly as he sought an answer from her. ”I haven’t done anything of this in the past.” She felt an odd need to smile at him, and so she did; adding some charm into the gentle lines as her lips started to curve upwards.