The next few days went by in relative peace. As in, almost peacefully. Besides being awoken up at ungodly hours of the day for breakfast... mainly shortly before noon, Marquise constantly had to weave around Vrasje. The man had evidently changed his work schedule to make sure that he was able to check in on him far too often. He was just always there, like a damned servant waiting on him hand and foot.
And thus, they were at another impasse come Friday evening. Taru was working late at the hospital, and unfortunately had been most of the week. He'd stopped by for lunch once, but he wasn't around enough to notice that Marquise's bandages were becoming itchy and needed to be tended.
He'd done the few that he could reach easily, but he knew that the area where he'd lost his right eye would need more attention than he was able to give.
And now...
"Just let me take care of it. I have some medical knowledge, too. Stop being so stubborn," Vrasje said as he tried to step closer for the fifth time, only to receive a third warning growl and, finally, a bared fang from where Marquise sat on his bed.
He could tell that the man was losing his patience, too, but that wasn't his fault! If he didn't want him touching his face, then he didn't have to let him.
"I've never met such a stubborn dog," Vrasje grumbled as he turned around to continue pacing the same partial lap he'd done of half of the room for the past forty minutes.
"I don't know how you haven't, because I'm looking right at one," Marquise fired back immediately, making Vrasje stop abruptly and lift shaky hands up to yank at his own long, raven-black hair before whirling around and pointing a finger right at him.
"You need your darn bandages changed before the rot on your face begins to spread again!" he yelled, making Marquise scowl before kicking his legs up on his bed and lying down with his arms folded behind his head, dismissing the man with a huff.
He could sense the temperature in the room immediately begin to rise again. It was already too warm because of Vrasje's frustration, but now it was beginning to make him sweat.
He knew that he was literally playing with fire, but he was really getting annoyed with the man's constant attention. He'd left his former pack because of his terrible mistakes, and had intended to die as a lone wolf in the woods, but now...
Now I'm dealing with an annoyingly obsessive vampire when I really belong to his heir, not him.
He heard a huge sigh from the man in response to his thought, but when no words followed the sound, he glanced toward the doorway. He was still there, now leaning against the doorjamb with his arms crossed over his chest.
Your hair is a mess, he thought to him with a slight grin.
For an elder vampire, the man sure lost his temper at the slightest provocation.
"And whose fault is that?" Vrasje growled, making Marquise roll his eyes and lower his head back down to one of his pillows.
Silence stretched between them for another few moments before Vrasje decided to speak again.
"Taru is going to be very upset next time he comes back and sees that his precious heir's injuries have worsened."
Marquise felt his heart twitch in his chest as the right side of his face ached slightly. In all honesty, it had begun to hurt a few days ago, but he'd just brushed it off. Hell, he even hid it from Taru the day he had been over for lunch.
"Listen, just let me change the bandage and clean up the wound if needed, then I'll leave you alone until Taru comes by. You won't see me at all," Vrasje said, making Marquise slowly push himself up onto his arms to stare at the man.
Freedom from the guy suddenly showing up every other moment until his master visited next? It... was actually not a bad deal.
"Fine, I accept," he said as he finished sitting up. "You better keep your word, though."
Vrasje was beside his bed in a flash, making Marquise blink several times to register the sudden movement. Before he could respond physically, his ankles were grabbed and swung over the edge, putting him into a normal sitting position.
The man got busy without another word as he pulled out several pieces of gauze and even a tiny bottle of disinfectant from his suitcoat pocket.
Not wanting to prolong the annoyance, Marquise stayed still and allowed the man to direct his head with his cold hands. In fact, those frigid hands eventually had a shiver running down his spine as Vrasje finally managed to remove all of the bandaging.
"Ah, sorry," the man said before removing his left hand that had been holding his jaw, only to return it a few moments later.
It was no longer frigid. In fact, the warmth it now gave off was pleasant as it spread through his jaw and face, eventually soothing his nerves enough to draw his left eye closed.
Vrasje was extremely careful as he began to gently clean out his injury and did his best to keep his warm left hand against his skin the majority of the time as it moved higher and higher until it was able to partially assist with the task the other was working on.
"It looks much better than I thought it would," he whispered as he gently brushed a piece of gauze along the damaged upper side of Marquise's nose to remove a tiny bit of dead skin.
He then went over the same area with a gentle scrubbing rhythm, adding an antibacterial medication to the damaged flesh. Vrasje cleaned a few more small spots as he checked him over, then, surprisingly, bandaged everything up comfortably but snugly, then leaned away, removing his warm hand.
The loss of heat had Marquise's eye sleepily blinking back open, then looking up.
"All set. That should do for at least a few days, but if it starts to hurt again, I'll help you clean it and change out the bandages," Vrasje said as he straightened up and packed up the dirty gauze and bandages in a disposable bag.
Wait a second, you could tell that it was hurting?
"Of course I could. I'm an elder. I've been around a while. Noticing that someone is in pain is second nature at this point," he said, making Marquise give an indistinct grumble and flop back over on his bed.
"Whatever, just keep your end of the deal. Go away until master comes by again," Marquise said with a dismissive wave.
He expected Vrasje to say something about his attitude, but what the man did say in response had Marquise jerking upright in less than a second!
"Taru is coming over later tonight?!"
He almost got lost in his excitement before he realized something.
"Wait a damn minute! You said that you would stay away from me until Taru came over again... but he's going to be here really soon anyways?!"
Vrasje raised an eyebrow and shrugged a shoulder.
"Yes? I didn't say that he wasn't going to be here soon when I had made that deal," the man said in a matter of fact tone.
Marquise felt unbridled rage mix with his little wolf's confused terror beneath his skin and eventually heaved a long, frustrated sigh as he let his anger go so that he didn't stress his wolf out too badly.
It was a bit annoying, especially since it reacted more like his old larger wolf than an extension of his own mind, but he couldn't be upset. He appreciated that he had somehow been given another wolf.
"How is your wolf doing, by the way? I haven't seen it all week," he said, making Marquise scowl as he slowly crossed his legs on the bed.
"It's fine. Go away."
Vrasje clearly wanted to say more, but he managed to bite his tongue and simply nod. As soon as he had slipped out the doors and nudged them closed Marquise let go of the breath he'd been holding while waiting for the man to make a decision and fell back onto his bed for the thousandth time.
The hell is your problem, you fluffy midget?
His wolf perked up in the back of his mind, but didn't seem to understand what he was talking about.
Don't give me that. I wasn't going to let him touch my bandages. Why did you push me to let him?
The pup gave a quiet whine and began to walk circles in his mind, making Marquise glare up at the ceiling.
"I really don't get that guy. It's weird how he hates werewolves, yet now that I'm here everything is different. He didn't even kill any on his last hunt when he's literally known as the best wolf hunter all over town."
Marquise contemplated their awkward situation for several minutes before he felt himself being pulled into his body as fur suddenly sprouted from his skin and he shrunk into a wiggling ball of fluff.
Hey now, this is getting ridiculous. I get that we can't always agree on when to shift, but you can't just take over like this.
Of course, he hadn't exactly been very fair with allowing the pup out. In fact, he hadn't let it out since that time he'd first shifted into it.
His wolf seemed to ignore his rambling as his fresh bandages fell away from its face and body as it straightened out, then gave a good stretch before hopping off their big bed and nonchalantly walking up to the double doors. While they were already pretty big in Marquise's human form, they towered over his tiny wolf.
You want to go out? That's not a good idea, and you probably can't even reach the han—The little brat jumped up and easily grabbed one of the long handles with its teeth and yanked it downward. The door slowly inched open in response.
You... are going to be a problem.
The little wolf quickly wiggled out of the shirt still clinging to it, then padded out the doors.
Okay, what do you want? Are you hungry? Do you need to run around a bit?
Unfortunately, the little guy completely ignored his questions and went about sniffing its way down the hall, seemingly without a care in the world. It didn't even seem to bother with the servants nervously trying to get its attention as it began wandering its way down a winding set of stairs that Marquise couldn't remember having ventured to yet.
We really shouldn't wander around too much. Let's just go back to our room, okay?
His coaxing, once again, fell on deaf ears.
I guess I'll just wait and see where you go... and pray you don't get us into too much trouble.
And go it did.
They explored for what felt like hours, though he doubted it was more than forty minutes or so, until they came across a room that had its door slightly ajar. Not hesitating to take the silent invitation, his little wolf stuck its nose into the darkness beyond the mostly-closed door and sniffed once. Then twice. Then three times.
Something smelled good... or at least interesting enough to check out.
His wolf carefully nudged the door open a tiny bit more, just enough to slip through the crack. The room beyond it was lit by a dwindling candle set upon a desk stacked with paperwork and several open books. A few more sniffs in the air and his wolf was wandering closer to the heavy wooden furniture.
While his pup was focused on something clearly edible, Marquise was busy noting all of the bookshelves that lined the walls. Not a single space went unused, and there were even stacks of books neatly settled on top of some of the lower ones, too.
Hurry up and eat whatever is there, then let me have control back, he told his wolf, who gladly obliged with the first request. There had evidently been a cup of cinnamon tea and a few pieces of beef jerky left on the desk. It barely took his wolf ten seconds to devour the morsels, then lap up the bit of remaining tea before knocking the delicate cup onto the floor where it fractured.
Okay, you got your treat and explored. Let me have control again, okay?
It just ignored him as it sniffed around more, but the second they heard the door behind them creak open, Marquise found himself sitting naked on the plush, dark red rug in front of the desk.
You...
Looking over his shoulders, Marquise was about to scowl at the man now standing in the doorway, but his expression faltered when Vrasje began walking toward him with a strange expression on his face.
Oh wait, I just broke his nice tea cup.
"Sorry about that, he doesn't listen to me very well y—" he suddenly felt his face warm and quickly looked away as Vrasje shrugged off his jacket and tossed it on the desk, then unbuttoned his dress shirt before removing that, too.
A faint shiver ran down his spine with the absence of his fur as he nervously waited for Vrasje to do something. Except, when the man did finally do something besides pull off his clothing, it wasn't what he'd expected.
"Your bandages fell off..." Vrasje said as he knelt behind him and draped his warmed shirt over his shoulders.
Marquise quickly tugged the shirt around himself, not minding Vrasje's light scent in exchange for the added warmth the man's ability had provided.
"Would you like me to have a servant go get your cane?" he asked quietly.
Marquise licked his lips and thought for a moment before responding.
"Is master Taru not here yet?"
Vrasje moved away from him as he replied, "he should be here at any time, but no, he's not here yet."
Marquise glanced over his shoulder as he watched the man pull a big cream colored down blanket from a chest next to the doorway.
That looks so soft...
"It is," Vrasje said quietly as he knelt back down beside him and gently wrapped the blanket around his now-shivering body.
"I've never really been cold after shifting back from my wolf form before," Marquise whispered as he tugged the blanket around himself eagerly, trying to quell the shivers that were taking over.
Once he was settled within the thick blanket, Marquise looked up at the vampire now sitting beside him.
"You're... not mad that I broke your teacup?" he asked nervously.
In all honesty, the guy shouldn't have even come into the room since they'd had an agreement about him not being around him until Taru came by, but he couldn't make himself be upset that he'd showed up.
Vrasje shook his head, his long hair moving with the action and drawing Marquise's inner wolf's attention.
Don't even think about it. His hair isn't a toy.
That was all he needed. To pull out an elder vampire's hair because his pup wanted to play with it. Sighing, Marquise instinctively moved closer to the nearby warmth, then quickly straightened back up when he realized that he had nearly let himself fall against Vrasje!
"I don't mind. You're cold and I can create heat," the man said with a careful smile that made Marquise even more suspicious.
Narrowing his eye, Marquise gathered the big blanket around himself tighter and just stared.
"I understand how you can be so untrusting of me. I am a werewolf hunter, and the best in town, too, but I didn't kill any the last time I went out..."
Marquise leaned the slightest bit closer and glared.
"And how many did you kill on the hunt before that?" Marquise asked without missing a beat.
Vrasje's expression immediately fell as he looked away, but then he seemed to pull himself back together almost immediately and return his attention to Marquise, meeting his gaze with his own steady one.
"Fourteen."
Marquise felt his heart drop into his stomach as his body began to shiver again. He did understand that werewolves were usually not friendly, and hell, he'd even killed several while defending territory and what not, but fourteen in one go...
"But I'm not going to hunt anymore," Vrasje said quickly.
He didn't buy that for a second, and Vrasje seemed to realize that he wasn't being fooled, because he calmly turned himself to fully face Marquise.
"I didn't kill any of the wolves during the hunt a few days ago. We even got hurt a bit during it, but every single one walked away alive. Does that mean nothing?" he asked, his voice teetering on the edge of sounding overly stressed.
Why would you want it to matter? You're not my master!
"But it matters!" Vrasje snapped back after clearly having heard his thoughts.
"Why?!" Marquise snarled back, not interested in playing these games anymore.
Vrasje looked just as frustrated, but he was clearly trying to hold himself back.
"Spit it out!" Marquise growled.
Vrasje ran shaky fingers through his long hair as he tried to calm himself down, which only made Marquise more frustrated as his wolf howled in his mind.
Stop making so much noise, you brat. I'm trying to deal with something important right n—and then he was a wolf again.
Oh shit!
His little garlic, dust, and mud colored wolf wiggled its way free from the large blanket that had suddenly buried it within its depths and before Marquise could even tell it not to, it sank its little teeth into Vrasje's lower arm with the most pathetic growl he'd ever heard.
He could tell that it was just reacting to his building stress and trying to protect him, and thus, itself, too, but...
Marquise turned his attention away from the situation, knowing that they were likely about to be punished, but when nothing happened, he hesitantly returned his focus out of his pup's eye.
"It's okay, little one. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stress you out so badly. You're so brave coming out to protect your human self," Vrasje said as he remained still, even though the wolf was still holding onto his arm with its teeth.
Marquise could feel the confusion from his pup, but he didn't really understand the situation, either. They'd been yelling at each other, and then his wolf had bitten him. Vrasje should have at least tossed the little beast, yet he wasn't doing a single thing except apologizing.
What the heck is going on?
His little wolf waited a few moments, but when Vrasje still didn't do anything, it hesitantly loosened its grip, then nibbled a tiny bit before releasing his arm entirely.
"Thank you, little one," Vrasje said with a smile that had the little wolf tilting its head curiously.
To Marquise's surprise, the little wolf slowly crawled into the man's lap, then sat down so that it could look up at him more easily.
"Hello there, you're a pretty guy," Vrasje said, making Marquise roll his eyes internally.
He knew that the man was joking, because, come on! His wolf looked like it had rolled in mud, then a spice cabinet, but he bit his internal tongue when he heard an abrupt shh! in the back of his mind.
"You're a beautiful guy, don't listen to him," Vrasje said as he lifted a hand for the wolf to sniff, then gently settled it against its fuzzy left shoulder for a brief pat.
Marquise scowled.
He couldn't understand how a wolf with a missing eye and a coat colored like vomit could be any kind of nice to look at, but Vrasje just kept peppering praise upon the now-wiggling pup in his lap.
It was pathetic to watch.
Don't be jealous, I can pet you if you want to switch back to your human form.
I'd rather die.
His wolf, however, was more than happy to accept some attention now that the danger had seemingly passed. It was all up in Vrasje's business, nuzzling here, licking there, and just being an all-around nuisance as it tried to bite at his long hair.
The guy actually, somehow, seemed to be enjoying the little ball of overly-excited fur, though, and Marquise wasn't sure how.
Well, either way, he wasn't interested in snuggling up to the vampire, so Marquise decided to just let himself rest for a while. That would give his wolf full control, but honestly, the thing was already pretty much in charge at the moment anyways.
Look after it for me for a while, I'm taking a nap.
Vrasje frowned a little as he hugged the wiggling wolf to his bare chest.
"Really? You're just going to go to sleep with him out?"
Yes. You seem perfectly capable of handling him, and I don't like watching you pet my other half, so I'm going to sleep. I'll wake up when Taru gets here.
The elder vampire didn't seem too happy with the idea, but he didn't fight him on it.
"Alright, I'll look after little Garlic until you decide to grace us with your presence again."
Gar... You did not just name my wolf that.
"Have a good nap," Vrasje said with a renewed grin as he stood up, easily lifting the little pup in his arms.
"Let's go outside and play in the mud until your master gets here, little guy," he said as Marquise bit back a few choice words he wanted to yell as he turned his attention inward so that he no longer had to see what was going on.
Those words he chose not to voice were something along the lines of: That name is terrible, stop carrying me, and I want to go play in the mud, too...