While the story wasn't a pleasant one, it was something for Ezra to focus on while he rubbed salve over the burns. He explained the shadows and how they could plague someone in the worst ways. He felt even more guilty now for locking Ezra up alone and telling everyone to ignore his cried. It seemed as if loneliness damaged their minds and that was as real a danger as any, even if Reis still didn't really now what to think of the shadows.<br/><br/>It seemed to make the asha a little upset, which probably wasn't helping with the night, and neither did Reis' next question. Why had he burned himself?<br/><br/><i>I did not burn myself.</i><br/><br/>Reis' brows drew together and before he could question what he meant Ezra was going on further. Reis had told him to stay. Ezra was trying to stay.. and then he was talking about another, someone Reis could quite easily guess, asking Ezra to open his legs and touching when he knew very well that he shouldn't.<br/><br/>“He.. he,” Reis was stammering, trying to catch up with the conflicting stories. Ezra looked angry, though for what exactly he really couldn't pinpoint. That he'd been burned? That he'd been touched? Or that Andras was trying to drag him downstairs when Reis had told him to stay in his bedroom? Reis didn't know how Ezra had ended up under the desk but that was where he picked up his retelling. It was just bits and pieces. He wasn't trying to incriminate Andras. He didn't have the mind for that but he didn't want to be blamed for being<i>bad</i>and burning himself deliberately. Ezra told him exactly what Andras had said and no way he could have made that up. It was very Andras and Ezra was simply not manipulative enough. He'd known the asha for a far shorter time than he'd known his cousin but it was enough for him to know this.<br/><br/>Ezra had done something Andras didn't like or wasn't listening. It was hard to believe his cousin would have gone far enough to burn the asha, something that didn't even belong to him, yet why should he be surprised? That was exactly what he did with his toys when he was younger. Fury washed over Reis, a cool chill through his blood, and he stood up, setting the cream aside before storming out.<br/><br/>Andras was drinking wine in the entertainment room; very much alone. He looked up in surprise when he saw Reis, but smiled, pouring and then extending him a glass. Reis slapped his hand away, the glass crashing down against the carpet.<br/><br/>“This is my household.<i> I</i>make the rules here.” This was the one place that Reis could. “I told you not to touch him. No sooner did my head hit the pillow I find that you've not only managed to molest him, but you've burned him as well!” He was shouting, as much as Reis shouted anyway.<br/><br/>“Reis, calm down. We got in a bit of a tussle, is all, but him getting burned was most assuredly his own fault. He's an asha pet, on top of that. He was practically begging for it since you have him abstaining for reasons I cannot fathom. I only have what I know about you, and your dislike of the inexperienced. What sort of cousin would I be if I didn't teach your pet a few tricks?” Even caught, Andras was quick to try and twist this to his favor. “Maybe then you could actually enjoy him.”<br/><br/>“He's not here to learn tricks or to warm my bed, and most assuredly<i>he's not here to warm yours,” </i>Reis snarled, fist clenching at the way Andras blew him off. He wasn't taking him seriously.<br/><br/>“Do you want me to go, dear cousin? Since you worry so much about your little pet's virtue? You want it for yourself, don't you Reis? You want him writhing and begging beneath you and you're angry at me because I could have had it. Really, Reis, you don't have to act like you don't with me. It's<i>okay </i>to want to fuck your pet. You don't even have to acquiescence to their needs like you might a lover. There's a good chance you'll like this better. If you didn't repress<i>your</i>needs and lock yourself away like some princess in a dungeon I might have known better what you wanted. This fit from you wasn't necessary.” Andras topped off his glass, motioning to the one Reis had broken. His words were carefully placed barbs that had Reis withdrawing, his anger no less potent, but something he was packing down deep inside of himself.<br/><br/>“I thought I'd already made it clear enough. And it has nothing to do with what I want. I simply do not want<i>you</i>to have him. It will be no issue because he will not be within your reach again, rest assured. You don't get to have everything, Andras. But please, stay,<i>dear cousin</i>. I would never turn you from my home. We are family.” Reis was staring at Andras, half turned from him and smiling.<br/><br/>“Are we children fighting over toys again?”<br/><br/>“That's what you think but he's not a toy,” Reis told him evenly. He couldn't very well send Andras out without causing rift in the family but he could keep Ezra away from him. At least while he wasn't around. He doubted he wouldn't be so blatant again. He'd been caught and Reis would now warn Yhet, Ita, and Horvath to keep an eye on what his cousin was doing in his home. Especially when it pertained to his pets. He turned to find Ezra had followed him downstairs, likely believing Reis when he said he wouldn't put him in a cage again. He'd not been bad, after all.