The Ties That Bind

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Maxim was ready to go when she returned, just nodding along to her purchases and her desire for more things until she got to the end. An eyebrow raised, he looked her up and down as if that would yield the answer to his questions and gestured to her with something mildly incredulous in his expression.

"What on earth do you need a trench coat for?" He asked, wary of her reasoning even while holding back a chuckle at the image of her skulking around like a cartoon criminal. "Planning to stack the children inside to pass as an adult?"
 
She looked amused by his confusion, smirking a little at his comment. "Do I not look like an adult already?" "Or are you calling me short?"

"Trenchcoat, overcoat whatever you want to call it, they have a belt built into the waist and i use it for.." She lowered her voice a little more, even though they were alone. "Shifting."
 
Maxim made a soft pff under his breath and shook his head at her. "More like implying you were going to sneak them into a movie theater. Feels like something Marina would help with." Loving as she could be to the children, she was still a bit of a menace sometimes. He said it lovingly, at least.

"Ah." Maxim gave his head a little tilt in her direction as if to concede the point and gestured graciously for her to go and look for the aforementioned coat, shrugging slightly. "Not fair. People assume you're wearing a dress. If I wore only a trenchcoat I'd get tackled by police. Though, to be fair, I could walk around shirtless if I felt like it."

He could, if he was careful enough, kick out of his pants without getting too tangled in the middle of a transformation, but her point about the trenchcoat was a decent idea, too. Mostly he was just trying to amuse her. Stories of the times he'd had to shift in public were for another time.
 
She laughed softly, shaking her head. "I would never, sneaking into a movie theatre is a rite of passage to be done with friends, it's more fun that way." She teased playfully, "though Marina does sound like my kinda person."

"You would look pretty suspicious." She replied with amusement, stifling a laugh at the idea of that happening. She picked through the racks, until she found a brown overcoat that when worn with the belt cinched tight, would indeed make it look like she was wearing a cute short dress.

Grabbing the backpack and slip on sneakers, she added them to the basket. "It's pretty handy to have, in case I need to get out of somewhere quickly and I don't have time to get dressed again."

She always tried to find private places to shift, but things could always go wrong. "Or if I'm not alone when I'm doing it." She shrugged a little, "though that doesn't happen often."
 
Maxim sighed but gave in with a shrug, conceding the point. "I suppose. Can't say I never did it myself." But he'd at least been old enough to be where he was, he had only hopped from one theater to the other with a few friends. "I don't know that I want to imagine what trouble the two of you would get into."

They were similar in a few ways, Maxim thought, and with Marina's penchant for having fun despite the fact that it was either not socially acceptable or questionably legal, he could imagine the hilarious but bothersome antics they might get up to. They would be a force to be reckoned with, that was for sure.

Maxim grimaced at the idea of having to recover after shifting in public, not truly bothered by nudity but knowing it was awful in several ways to be stuck naked in public. He wasn't sure what she looked like when shifted, but he at least could pass for a large dog if he ran away fast enough. It was rare, given his current occupation, that he went through a shift when he wasn't inside his own home or on a trip meant specifically for it, but it wasn't impossible.

"I just try to carry pants with me if that happens," he said, though it wasn't likely he would have time for it if he was shifting in an emergency. "But then it mostly looks like I stole someone's pants and ran off with them."
 
Though she was still convinced she wouldn't be with them long enough to make friends, or that she'd even let herself if so, she still couldn't help but wonder if he was right.

It would be fun to have a friend to get into harmless mischief with again, and she felt a faint hint of longing to regain the feeling of friendship and family she once had.

"Well that's what the backpack is for." Amusement clear in her voice at his comment, "it's really rare that i have to shift not in a secluded place or not alone but I just like to be prepared."

"It's mostly at night anyway so that does make it a bit easier."
 
Maxim gave a soft, considering hum as he guided them away from clothing and towards the bathroom decor section. "Ah, I see. Have you perfected the two hands in and then roll strategy, or do you wear it the whole time?"

Having weight on his back when he shifted wasn't ideal, but wasn't the end of the world either. He usually found it better to lay the backpack face down, put his paws through the straps and then roll on top of it to get it on his back. It was the quickest, easiest way he'd found so far, at least, though it was likely she was more flexible than he was when shifted.

"Does nudity bother you terribly?" He asked after a pause, curious rather than judgmental or insinuating anything. "I can't say I know exactly what it's like with others, but for groups like ours walking around half dressed isn't particularly uncommon." In a species that changed shapes at will and lived in close quarters, he had never really found wolves to be very sensitive about seeing a bit of skin, but if it bothered her he would let the others know to avoid it.
 
She looked a little confused by his question at first, shrugging a little after a moment once she understood. "I usually just carry it in my teeth, if I haven't got a good spot to stash it."

"Having it on my back messes with my balance, not a lot, but enough to be annoying." It was especially bothersome when she was moving quickly.

The clothes she'd picked out where for the most part pretty simple colour wise, blacks, browns, dark blue, purple etc.. The bathroom decor she picked out, im contrast was a lot more bright, fun and cheerful.

"I mean it's not really come up a lot for me." She joked lightly, shrugging a little. "Personally I wouldn't be comfortable with doing it myself, but as long as you guys aren't running around completely nude all the time, I'm sure it'll be fine."
 
Maybe she used smaller backpacks than he did, or maybe he was just less reliant on balance and more on strength, but it seemed theoretically more difficult to carry that way from his point of view. It must have worked for her, though, if it was the method she'd been using for most of her life.

He gave a soft chuckle at her initial response, just waiting with a small smile as she loaded up the basket again. A subtle appearance for the outside world, but something more lively for her own private spaces. He thought that said a lot about her, though he wasn't going to go too far into mental metaphor.

"As long as it's not going to bother you," He said with a shrug. "No one walks around fully naked, but occasionally not as clothed as most people would like." Not even all the time, but sometimes. "I'm curious to know how familiar you are with groups like ours. Does the idea of platonic bed hopping bother you? For full disclosure, I thought I should mention ahead of time that you may see anyone walking out of any apartment in the morning, other than yours."

Even in human form, there were often nights that someone didn't want to sleep alone and would simply crawl into someone else's bed just like they would sleep in piles as wolves. She was going to be staying with them a while, so it was probably best to explain it early and not have her thinking any of it was sexual. It was possible he was just used to having to explain himself to humans and solitary creatures rather than other pack-based shifters and was warning her about things she was already aware of, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
 
She seemed slightly relieved, not that she'd been that bothered to begin with. "Oh well that's fine then." His warning had made her worried they were nudists or something.

"I know a fair bit about ordinary wolves and wolf shifters but my only experience with shifter packs has been Farkas's, and somehow i don't imagine that's what they're really like, or should be like i guess."

Knowing how close real wolves were, she could understand wanting to co sleep, though she found it a little odd in humans or more specifically, platonic adults. Still she had done it herself as a kid, only with those she was extremely close too of course.

Perhaps that was the problem, she was too mistrustful to let herself be that vulnerable anymore. "It's not something I think of adults doing, but it doesn't bother me at all."
 
Maxim wrinkled his nose a bit about Farkas being her only example, shaking his head at the idea. "I'd say that's more of a gang than a pack, quite honestly." Not a good example, or a typical one.

He only shrugged at her opinion of their sleeping arrangements. "Call it bonding, if it makes it make more sense," he offered, unsure how else to explain it to her without continuing to sound strange. "Instinct says huddle together for warmth, I suppose. The only one that still finds it strange is poor Simon."

It almost made him want to laugh, really. It had taken the human a while to get used to the physically affectionate nature of wolves, but after he'd recovered some from the incident that had crippled him and overcome a fear of touch, he had eventually learned to accept it. He knew they only showered him with an uncomfortable amount of proximity because they cared.

Besides the idea of the others sharing beds, his was likely most visited of all. As alpha he was a protector and caretaker of the pack. If they were afraid or stressed, feeling lonely or dealing with trauma, it was his job to soothe them. Even adults sometimes needed someone to hold them and tell them everything would be all right.
 
She shrugged a little, "yeah I figured as much, that's just what they called it." It was already clear how different Maxim, his pack and the way he led them was from Farkas.

They felt like what a pack should be, from what she'd been told anyway, supportive and loyal to each other. They seemed like a slightly dysfunctional, but ultimately happy and loving family.

She smiled in amusement at his comment about Simon, she was at least a shifter so she could understand certain things even without being a wolf, things must seem pretty weird to a human.

"It does make sense, it's just not something I'm used to." "But I can see the appeal."
 
"He wasn't very fond of physical affection when we found him," Maxim said with a fond little smile, "but he came around eventually."

Their resident human had adjusted to many things about pack life, not limited to simply the fact that not all wolves were out to hurt him. Maxim had kept him very close while he recovered from injury and subsequent night terrors, and eventually Simon had grown used to someone else sleeping at his side, as well as being hugged at random times or snuggled up against while relaxing on a couch or any other seat large enough for someone to squeeze in.

"In regards to sleeping arrangements, though, now that you're aware of it you don't have to feel strange about waking me up if you should need anything during the night." If there was someone else in his bed, he could assure her that nothing was happening except sleeping, so if she opened his door and saw more than one person she didn't have to feel scandalized.
 
She was a little surprised to hear that, considering how happy and well adjusted he seemed. Then again, she didn't really know any of their stories, perhaps he'd had his own struggles to overcome.

It could just be that he wasn't a touchy feelly sort of person, though she suspected it was something a bit more serious than that.

Though she doubted she'd ever take him up on that offer, she decided not to say so since she didn't want to offend him. "I'll keep that in mind."

"I think that's everything." She said softly, after glancing at the now pretty full basket.
 
Maxim cracked a little smile at her reaction, making a soft sound as if he were trying not to laugh. "I just meant it as a warning," he explained, with clear amusement in his voice. "I don't anticipate you knocking on my door very often."

Not if she could help it, he was sure. Anything short of a suspected intruder was something he was sure she would stubbornly deal with on her own.

He looked down at the basket with an appraising eye and a slight shrug. "Seems like it. We'll make a swing through toiletries and be on our way then. I'm sure you'd prefer not to keep borrowing our soaps every time you want to shower or wash your hands."
 
Judging by his obvious amusement, it was clear he knew just how unlikely she was to bug him. Perhaps it was just because of his job, but he seemed to have a pretty good read on her after such a short time.

Then again, maybe she was just super obvious. "Well rest assured, i won't be disturbing you." She smiled a little, "I wouldn't want to interrupt your much needed beauty sleep after all." She teased lightly.

"Yeah okay." She breathed with a soft sigh, the price tag was getting higher and higher. She hoped he would get reimbursed right away, though it still made her uncomfortable owing this much on top of everything else.
 
"I need it to keep up my boyish charm." Maxim said with a little gesture towards his own face, though he could hardly keep himself from smiling, and afterwards gave a soft chuckle. "Don't worry so much about it. With so many adults and children around, I'm used to it."

He had never given anyone a hard time for waking him up in the middle of the night. Like a parent with their children, they would say they couldn't sleep and he would simply move over and lift the blankets. He would just have more coffee than usual the next day. It was all a part of taking care of his pack, and for the time being he was somewhat 'taking care of' her as well.

"Don't sound so sad." He said with a shake of his head as they walked towards the soaps to pick a few. "It's not like we're stocking the whole house. These are just basics. Once we do this, we won't have to shop again for a long time. You don't even need to stock the kitchen."

Anything she needed that wasn't in their basket, she could just walk across the small lobby to his apartment and ask for it. For now, anyway. If her stay with them became more long term, they would reassess later on.
 
She smiled in amusement at his reply, though she seriously doubted anything would cause her to visit him in the middle of the night, she still found the offer sweet.

Though with how bad some of her nightmares got, the idea of having someone else to talk to, just to be with, was certainly a tempting one.

She looked slightly embrassed as she started adding all the toiletries she needed to the basket, "I know, i just don't like being in debt."

"I'm sick of feeling unequal, like a burden to everyone, and I already owe you a lot you know?" She glanced at the bottle she held, but her mind was elsewhere.
 
"If it makes you feel better," Maxim offered when she began to feel upset about money again, "I'm likely going to get reimbursed for at least half of this. Call it a work expense." Her basic care items, at least, though not the 'unnecessary' decor.

"Let's call it a running tab." He tried again as she set the last few things in the basket, giving a little shrug and trying not to make it sound as if he considered her a charity case. "All we're doing now is taking care of your necessities. That's more a human right than a debt, in my opinion. You aren't going to bankrupt me, and I'll keep a total written down somewhere that you can eventually work on paying off. Does that help?"

He sincerely didn't want her to be upset about it, though he wasn't sure exactly how to fix that. The fact was that she was going to be relying on him financially for a while yet.
 
She was embarrassed by how obvious her discomfort was, and she knew drawing attention to it being a problem was making it worse but she couldn't help it.

Old wounds were being reopened with the position she was in, she felt worthless, a burden, a weight around their neck, dragging them down.

Even though she knew, deep down, that was bullshit, it was hard to ignore the hateful, toxic whispers from the past, or the crushing guilt.

"That does help, thank you." She said softly, "I'm sorry for being weird about it.." "It's just... I'm used to being totally self reliant, independent you know?"
 
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