He was mad at himself.
No.
He was absolutely furious at himself.
Not only did I not skin him, but I even brought him back and let him grab me while sleeping!
For all the curses he was shouting at himself in his mind, Inkani was completely calm on the surface as he stared down at the werewolf still fast asleep in his arms.
The worst thing, however, was that damned tooth of Ilio's! His pup had practically been teething on him for half the night because that thing kept hurting him in his sleep!
Acting fine on the outside but when you're out cold you cry like a baby from pain.
Of course, he'd yanked the thing out after the brat's fourth bite to his arm, but not before using his tongue to put a bit of his numbing saliva around the damaged area.
Even numb, that should have woken you up. Are you that content simply sleeping beside me?
"Tch, crazy mutt," he finally growled as he walked out the door and down the hall, carrying a partially-clothed Ilio.
He hadn't really planned on being up so early, but when one of his crewmen ran in exclaiming that he'd heard word of the royal navy heading their way, he knew that he couldn't chance it.
Captain Moral was exactly as one would expect him to be when considering his name. Upstanding. Exemplary. Righteous.
Disgusting government rat.
He didn't have to worry about the man taking Ilio, though. It was his crew, and his own head, that he had to watch out for.
No one liked werewolves, besides that strange elder vampire, Vrasje, who had bonded with a crippled pup, but the naval military? They would take one look at Ilio's wolf and immediately cut it down.
The thought made his heart itch, but Inkani simply pushed away the images and finally stepped out into the morning sun. His ship was already being prepared to leave, and, evidently, not a second too soon, too.
A ship was just breaching the horizon, its white sails like little dots on the waterline.
We need to go. Now.
As if on cue, Ilio began to wiggle a bit in his arms, drawing his attention down to the pup that was finally stirring back to life.
I've flicked you more times than I can count for biting me. Then stuck my tongue in your mouth to numb the tooth I pulled out soon afterward, yet now you awaken because of a little sunshine?
In the end, though, Ilio had slept through it all. Now, however, he finally gave out a big, content yawn, then opened his sleepy brown eyes.
The moment they settled on Inkani they seemed to brighten considerably as a smile slid onto his face.
"Inka!" he exclaimed, more than a little excited that he was in his arms.
This dog...
Scoffing in disgust, Inkani abruptly dropped him, but grabbed one of his arms right before he could hit the ground and yanked him up to his feet.
"We are leaving," he said before turning and abruptly walking away toward the pier.
He could hear Ilio scrambling to catch up behind him, but as the pup's footsteps slowed a bit, Inkani glanced over his shoulder curiously.
Ah, it makes sense that it's going to hurt a little now that my numbing saliva has likely worn off.
Ilio was holding his cheek, clearly confused and hurting a bit.
"I took out your bad tooth. It will heal soon," he said before slowing to a stop and, once Ilio caught up, taking his free hand and gently tugging him forward a little faster.
"The royal navy is coming. We need to get back out to sea immediately," he said, as if the pup would even understand such implications.
He'd also grabbed hold of him just in case he tried to hesitate after having been seasick their entire previous voyage.
Evidently, he hadn't needed to worry, though, because before long, Ilio was the one pulling him toward the ship.
You're just going to get sick again, so why are you still wanting to go?
"Lord Inkani's safety is most important to me," Ilio said without missing a second between Inkani's thought.
Hang on a second... did he just—"Inka? How did you take my tooth out without me waking up? I don't sleep that deeply," Ilio said, cutting off his next thought and making Inkani level a glare at him as they finally got to the ramp and headed up.
"Vampire saliva has a natural numbing agent. The strength of it depends on how old the vampire is, or how much they care to numb your pain," he said as a strong gust of wind whipped their clothing about.
Ilio remained quiet for the last minute it took them to ascend the ramp, but as they finally stepped up onto the gently-swaying ship, he turned and looked the slightest bit up at him with a smile that had Inkani's eyes immediately narrowing.
"Elder Inka must like me a whole lot since I didn't even wake up from my tooth being pulled!"
Inkani's face deadpanned before he heard someone walking up the ramp behind them, giving him a chance to break free from their current conversation to see who it was.
As soon as he laid eyes on the man he hurried forward and helped support him.
"Bin, I was going to have someone go get you if you hadn't already been brought up," he chastised, frustrated that his injured first mate was trudging up the ramp all by himself.
Of course, Bin just gave a quiet chuckle in response, making Inkani sigh. They knew each other far too well to bother getting upset at one another.
Where he was extremely stubborn, Bin could be even more-so.
Such a troublesome group of people I've accumulated.
"Hey Bin, has lord Inka ever used his saliv—" Ilio's mouth was silenced by an abrupt shove and growl.
"Go be useful and get his bed ready. He's the first room right below deck," he said as he nodded toward the entrance they were slowly making their way towards.
Ilio immediately did as told, hurrying off before disappearing down the stairs. There was a quiet yelp a moment later, making Inkani glance sideways at his first mate at the same time Bin looked over at him.
"I believe your pup just fell down the stairs..." Bin noted matter-of-factly.
Inkani just huffed out his annoyance and continued onward, earning another quiet chuckle from Bin.
By the time they got down the steep flight of stairs and stepped into Bin's cabin it was surprisingly neat and tidied up.
"Hmm? If you don't want him I might be interes—" Another shove, this one for Bin, came from Inkani as he pushed the now-fumbling man onto his bed.
Bin grunted a bit as he landed, but it didn't take him long to stretch out, then drift right off to sleep as he hugged a pillow to his chest.
"Tch, ferocious first mate my ass," Inkani grumbled as he turned around and stepped back out of the room.
He could hear Ilio hurrying after him, first on his left side, then on his right. The guy seemed to want some attention, though he really wasn't interested in giving any.
Eventually, Inkani's brows ended up knit together and, finally, he simply stopped and turned around, startling Ilio into skidding to a stop so that he wouldn't bump into him.
"Is this what you want, you darn dog?" he growled as he lifted his arm, then dropped his hand down atop Ilio's messy hair!
Uh...
The look of pure, unadulterated joy that immediately shone through the guy's dark eyes was unsettling, to say the least.
You... like being pet that much?
Inkani waited for Ilio to do something. Literally anything, but the guy kept perfectly still, his hands eagerly clutched together in front of him against his chest, clearly enjoying the fact that his mate's hand was actually settled on top of his head.
Curious, even though he still a bit put-off, Inkani began moving his hand a bit here and there, truly beginning to pet him.
This is so strange.
Even so, Ilio's smile grew with the extra attention, and he even closed his eyes and tilted his head up the slightest bit as if to nuzzle into his touch!
Inkani was just about to remove his hand, having had enough of their odd interaction, when his fingers bumped something they hadn't expected. After a moment of silent scrutiny, Inkani's eyes widened as he gently but firmly grabbed hold of a wolf ear... on top of Ilio's human head!
"What the hell is this?!" he asked as he tugged on it, earning a little yip from Ilio as his new ear tried to wiggle out of his grasp.
Realizing that he was stressing the guy out and likely wouldn't get a response if he continued, he relented and released the ear.
"H-he just wanted some attention, too. It's been a long time since he got to be around anyone..." Ilio said in a hurried, nervous tone.
Inkani was about to say that the wolf had been out plenty the previous day, and caused quite enough trouble in that short span of time, but bit his tongue at the last moment to silence his words.
Instead, he took a slow, calming breath and stared at those two fuzzy wolf ears in the darkness.
"...the next time you shift completely, I'll kill you," he said instead before turning abruptly and continuing down the hallway without another word.
He finally didn't hear the pup's footsteps following him, telling him that Ilio hadn't moved yet and was likely still digesting what he'd said.
I don't need a mutt clinging to me.
Ilio was in his life to become a fur coat. Nothing more, and nothing less. The mate bond had nothing to do with him. He couldn't feel anything from it, and he never would.
Wait a second...
Pausing right before the large doors leading to the galley, Inkani recalled that Ilio had just fallen down the steps before he'd cleaned up Bin's room.
He hadn't noticed any extra bruises besides the ones that Karalius had given him, but it was pretty dark in the hallway.
hmm...
Annoyed, Inkani looked over his shoulder.
"Ilio, get over here!"
His pup immediately ran over, though now that he was actually paying attention, he could hear the slight misstep in his gate.
This dog...
He scooped up the brat as soon as he got close enough to grab, then stepped through the double doors and into a swath of candlelight.
"Hey there, captain! We replenished a good amount of our food and blood supply so feel free to help yourself if you're hungry," one of his cooks said with a wide smile.
Cooked food was more of a luxury for those vampires in his crew that still enjoyed a decent meal once in a while, but the guy sure knew his craft well.
"I'm good," was all Inkani said as he brought Ilio over to an empty, long wooden table and sat him down atop it, then began checking over his leg.
He had favored this a little when I first found him.
It looked like he'd taken another hit to it during that fall, though.
Sighing, he reached up and easily cut all the way around the upper portion of Ilio's already-torn pants, leaving just enough for him to remain decent. He then looked a little closer at the long cut reaching across his knee before making a face and leaning forward.
It only took three licks to seal the wound, but Ilio was surprisingly fidgety during the process, forcing him to hold on tighter to his leg, even after he'd given him a warning growl.
Leaning back up, Inkani was just building a scowl on his face for the mutt, and a few choice words about behaving when someone was actually trying to help him were waiting to be loosed from his mouth, but both of those things abruptly vanished like wisps of smoke when his eyes suddenly widened to the size of saucers.
This dog...
This god damn dog is kissing me!