Playing Chase

"Care to share?" he asked, eyeing the cigarette in the younger wolf's mouth.

He hadn't smoked in a while. Coilean and Alek didn't like smoking so he could only do it when the two of them weren't around.

He caught the pack. "Thanks." He lit a smoke and inhaled, leaning back on one hand as he exhaled, shoulders relaxing.

He watched the man try to wash the blood from his hair with keen silver eyes.

"I'd suggest eating greens and red meat for the next few days." He knew he'd be doing that.

"Y'know, Tony would love to cook for you," he mused, only half to the younger wolf. "She used to cook for me and Lean when we used to nearly drain each other dry in a fight. It was difficult to stick to that diet when we were on a ship. Especially fifteen hundred years ago."

Okay, that was a little lie. Coilean never got too banged up. It was always Aodh and his careless way of fighting that got him stuck on a red meat and green leaf diet for weeks.

He arched a brow at the question, turning his eyes to the red-cast sky.

"Yeah, it should be fine. We have a few hundred spare rooms dotted around the mansion. I'm sure Tony'll let you hole yourself up in one of them."

"She's the owner of this place. The Vampire Elder." He ran his tongue over his lips before spitting out a mouthful of blood-laced spit. "Her real name's Giacinto."

He followed the younger wolf's eyes to the mansion. "Aye, Lean'll be surprised that we're both still in one piece." His eyes turned to Zeke's throat. "...More or less."

They were both in a fine state and he just knew he'd get chewed out for getting into another fight.

Zeke chuckled and unbandaged his neck.
The cuts had healed over but evidence of a fight was still evident on his throat, light scarring that would fade within a day.
"Vampires huh? Well that usual for us."
Vampires and lycans were never found in the same place unless that were at war for turf.
This place was proving far more interesting than he had first expected.

His lips quirked into a grin. "It gets even more unusual."

"There aren't just Vampires and Lycan here. We've got Elves and Necromancers, too."

He stretched his arms above his head, moaning in satisfaction as his joints popped. "The Vampire Elder and the Lycan Alpha used to be mates." That was just about the weirdest thing in this mansion. Giacinto and Aleksandr had been mates for over a thousand years and had many hybrid children.

It proved that the two species could live in harmony.

Zeke burst into laughter at latest news.
"Got the entire freak show up in here."
He calmed to a chuckle and scratched his head.
"Didn't think something like this would actually work without a hell of a lot of fighting.

"I'm still waiting for a troll to walk past me in the hall and bid me good day." It would just make his day if trolls appeared.

He ran his hand through his hair, grimacing when he felt the blood matted in his hair and on the back of his neck.

"Do you know how much of a bitch it is to clean blood out of my hair...?" he griped with a frown.

"I'm sure there'll be a fair amount of fighting in the future." Aodh had a pretty nasty temper. He even fought with his friends, family and superiors if he was riled up enough.

"Tch, I should make you clean it out with your tongue." A smirk pulled at his lips, dissolving the harshness of the words.

"You'll be following my trail. It's enough that I have to deal with elves and vampires. Anything else and Alek can go fuck himself." He didn't mind vampires all that much, but sharing a room with three of them was more than enough to piss him off.

Elves were another story all-together. He loathed elves with a passion.

"Implying that I didn't hurt your ego, flooring you like that." He grinned smugly at the younger wolf.

"Oh, babe, my heart bleeds for you." He pressed a hand to his chest as if that gesture would make his words sincere. "How could I be so cruel as to pick a fight with you in that state?"

The 'nice' act soon dissolved into chuckles.

He inhaled, exhaling the smoke and leaning back. "Remind me to pick another fight when you're not half-starved, aye?"

He snorted. "Oh yeah, all my doing. Whatever helps you sleep at night, pup."

Yes, it was mostly Aodh's fault that they had nearly torn each other's throats out, but Zeke wasn't totally innocent. The older Lycan blamed his temper for throwing the punch. He was worse than a pup at times for snapping over little things.

"Next time you wont get the chance to get on my back. I know how strong you are now, princess. It'll be a much easier to win next time."

"Aye, we'll see."

He grinned, lying back in the grass, looking up at the other Lycan. "Just don't run off crying with your tail between your legs when beat you."

As pissed off with this guy as he was when they first met, he was actually enjoying the company now. Zeke wasn't like Coilean or Alek. He could stand some rough treatment and insults.

Coilean ddn't like rough fighting and you'd be dead before the insult left your mouth with Alek.

"You never know. I've reduced grown men to tears." He gave a sidelong glance to the younger wolf, grinning. "It shouldn't be too hard with you, pup."

"Uh..." He pursed his lips thoughtfully. "I dont actually know that many people here. I know two of the Elder's personally; Aleksandr the Lycan Elder and Giacinto the Vampire Elder. Do what they say and never piss them off. I've seen people piss them off and it's not a pretty sight."

"Those two have known each other something stupid like three thousand years. They're thick as thieves, even after she nearly killed him and took off." He sighed softy as he pictured the nasty scar on his Master's throat. It had been almost torn out and it hadn't healed all that well - even after fifteen hundred years. "Piss one off and you piss off the other, too. Having one of them angry at you is like signing a death warrant. If you piss both of them off you might as well dig your own grave and buy yourself in it. Starving to death is a much nicer fate than having either of them try to kill you."

He snorted. "Everyone says that. They never saw him a few hundred years ago." Up until a few hundred years ago, Coilean had been the worse of the two. Aodh had still been as rowdy and boisterous as he was now; Coilean had just been worse. He'd snap at things not even the elder twin would snap at. He'd kill for shits and giggles.

"We'll see."

He chuckled quietly. "That's only how long they've known each other for. Alek's going on three and a half thousand, I think. Ancient Greek. Way back in the BC times."

A grin quirked his lips. "Tony one-ups him on that front, though. She's from slap bang in the middle of the Apennine Culture - the Italian Broze Age. She must be easily forty five hundred years old."

He waved a hand, sighing in exasperation. "Ever since sprout was born he's been stupidly docile. He doesn't fight as often and he doesn't anger very easily unless you hit a sensitive spot - his wife is what I usually use. But, yeah, having a kid has really done wonders for his temper. It sucks that we haven't seen her in a century." He missed his niece.