Kingdom Hearts Union Cross: Wolfish Awakening

An Alternate Universe where Ephemer gets attacked by a werewolf when he returned to the foreteller tower at night to investigate. Fortunately, he gets saved in the nick of time by someone and thus, is still alive to become a Union Leader. Other than that, the Chi & Union cross plot stays more or less the same; even if certain story details are changed & certain plot points have to be set back some time just to let a certain dandelion boy recover & get used to his new found powers… You could read it as a fic with some Platonic Ephelayer, what with Player speaking loudly & clearly enough for the subtitler to pick up most often whenever Ephemer is part of the subject of conversation, & the possibility that Ephemer agreed to the Spirit pets for Player's sake… Regardless, enjoy the fiction!

Prologue:

"Should I tell him?" was a debate Ephemer had ever since his relaxation with Player after defeating the Shipwreck Shark heartless, & now as he did his dishes with Player by his side. Player was assisting him the best way he could, at peace as he is without the memories of the Keyblade war & happy as he is to hang out with the Dandelion son. "I mean, trying to give him back the tragic memories of war would probably be a bad idea if what Chirithy reported back to both Skuld & I was any indication…"

Ephemer shook his head. Sure, the initial meetup was to aid Lauriam in his investigation into his sister's whereabouts. But the jolt of memory regarding his quiet friend inspired him to drop his Union Leader duties for the rest of the day, plus the next day, just to hang out with the guy. Make sure both leader & first friend from beyond unions were ok & rested before resuming his duties. Two birds with one stone. It's perfect. "Also, might as well put some of the doubts [Player] has to rest. He is a friend. No question about that. & friends don't keep secrets bottled up forever. It'll take time, no question about it. But in due time, he will reveal everything to him," he promised himself.

"Ephemer? Is something wrong?" Player asked him, having already cleaned his share of the dishes from the dinner they shared.

"Oh! I'm fine," Ephemer told him, now allowing himself to look at his dear friend properly after the dinner. "Hey, why not have a massage? Relieve the stress on your body & all?"

[Player] looked at him quizzically; He'd never heard Ephemer make such an offer before, much less to Skuld. But then again, she did say they both had some shenanigans occur between the both of them, &, him + Ephemer are effectively on a date. So why not hang around & see what happens? With those thoughts in mind, Player nodded. The events that happened next was something he would not have expected from his fluffy haired friend. The boy told him to take off his shirt and lie on the sofa, with the assurance that he'll be with them shortly. The massage that came by was relaxing. What he saw afterwards made him blush deeply & rendered an incoherent mess.

It was Ephemer alright, except the boy had stripped down to just briefs and a bowtie. To his credit, Ephemer was blushing himself, no doubt about what he had decided to do, & Player had decided he should go for the answers.

"E-Ephemer? W-Why are you doing this?", Player managed to ask, trying to keep his eyes on Ephemer's face, not the package he'd bared for his friend to see, scars & all.

"I know, I'm so sorry," Ephemer replied, giving a sheepish smile. "But I felt this to be appropriate."

He sighed. "It's time for me to tell you part of what happened to me the first time we separated."

He crossed his arms behind his back. "I do want you to massage my back as well. But before that, I'm giving you permission to inspect my body and ask whatever questions you wish to get answers for. Where I can & as appropriately as I'm able to, I'll answer them. No more secrets."