Adrift-mxm

Chapter 2

The gentle swaying of his hammock drifted into his dreams, making him feel like he was somehow standing on one of those massive ships down at the harbor. It was overwhelming, at first, but as his mind focused and he stumbled a little back and forth, trying to get his balance, he managed to realize one specific thing...

Jerking his eyes open suddenly, he fumbled and flailed until he was unceremoniously deposited onto the grass below his hammock. Not a second later he was on his hands and knees, vomiting what little he'd eaten the previous evening. 

Why am I so dizzy? 

He felt like he'd been spun in circles by frustrating pups for over an hour! 

After emptying the contents of his stomach, he fell over onto the crisp grass, panting up at the still-dark sky. 

Why in the world did I dream of being on a ship? 

He could barely swim passably. There was no way he'd ever find his way onto a ship!

Shaking his head in the grass, he felt the cold dew brush against his cheeks. The faint chill allowed him to calm down more, cooling his risen temperature back down to normal. 

He rested for a while before slowly pushing himself back up, then the rest of the way to his bare feet. The thought to return to his pup and check on it had him turning toward the house, but the scent of sweat quickly stopped him. 

He'd worked himself up vomiting...

I suppose I can go wash off. 

He had no interest in using the vampire's bathing facilities, though. A pond or fountain worked just as well as long as it wasn't inundated with algae. 

So, with a purse of his lips he turned back around and stalked off toward a fountain he knew the vampire had running near the back of his gardens. It was similar to the one in the front, but smaller and much less frequented. 

Content, he made his way to his target without any interruption, only limping slightly even though his leg was beginning to ache quite a bit. Once there, he stripped off his clothing and tossed it to the side before hopping into the little fountain. 

He quickly rinsed off, then grabbed the small box of soap he'd been allowed to bring out to use. He wasn't really a fan of the stuff, and he'd gotten the lightest scented one, which was rose and honey, but still... a wolf had no reason for human soaps. 

If Vrasje hadn't made it mandatory to wash once in a while in order to come into his house, he wouldn't have touched the stuff. 

Glowering to himself, he began lifting the bar to his most troublesome area, according to the vampire. 

Stupid human armpits. 

His wolf had never smelled bad to others. 

"Morning, little Ilio." 

Huh?

Looking up, since he'd found himself a nice spot to sit down in the water, he realized that he now had a visitor. 

Why is he here? 

He knew that the pirate wasn't on great terms with lord Vrasje, considering what the man's friend had mentioned at the market the other day. 

So what reason would he have to come to such a place? 

"I was just in the neighborhood and caught your scent," the man said as he nimbly hopped up onto the edge of the fountain, then grinned down at him as he nudged the brim of his hat with a light flick.