Freedom to Explore

Lino Pianesi walked down the long winding hallways of the mansion alone for the first time he'd been here. He was eager to explore the place, get lost in it. He hoped he'd get lost. He liked mazes, feeling like he wasn't sure what would be behind the next turn he made. It kept things interesting.

He wore a simple grey tank top underneath a long army green button up shirt. Only one button was fastened though, the sleeves falling down past his hands and the ends of the shirt coming down far past his pant line. It looked over sized on the young lycan. His jeans were dark blue and tattered, his sneakers cuffed and worn. His hair was tousled into messy bedhead like waves. He didn't look like someone who cared too much for his appearance, but still somehow he was very handsome in a boyish sort of way. One could judge him for a careless being, while someone else could see him being a down to earth sort of guy. Both would be wrong.

Pale blueish gray eyes scanned the walls, taking in the different paintings and light fixtures they carried. He stopped at one, a portrait of a noble looking man with strong features. Chiseled jaw line, strong muscles. The boy's lips twitched into a slight frown as he stared up at the picture. The man looked confident and strong.

How he wished he could be that way.

Damien looked up from his hiding place, perched on a windowsill, cigarette still in hand. Through the smoke, he could smell a lycan scent. Not one he had come across before. It was young, and... subtle. It wasn't strong like the other wolves'. He took another drag before giving a disappointed sigh, forcing himself to throw it out the open window.

"Oi!"

He called out, waiting for someone to answer.

Lino jumped a little, gasping out softly when he heard the voice call out and echo through the quiet. He hadn't been expecting that. He turned around quickly, his eyes searching for whoever made the noise. But he saw no one.

He bit his lip and let it slowly slide back out through his teeth. Someone was here, someone he couldn't see. And he didn't like this at all. His subconscious wished that Zakhar was there to keep him safe, despite the fact that he was relieved to finally be able to roam free without his master by his side. Such contradicting emotions.

"H-Hello?" He called out finally, his voice sounding meek and a bit raspy. He wrapped his fingers around the cuffs of his sleeves where they hung down past his wrists, eyes still searching for any sign of whoever called out.

He hopped off the windowsill, slowly walking down the stairs, his face splitting into a grin as he saw the young lycan. Huh. This kid looked fun to tease. Perfect timing. He had just been getting bored.

"Hey there, puppy." he grinned, lighting another cigarette, his eyes gleaming. "Lost?"

It amused him how scared the kid looked. Kinda made him want to bully him a bit. He took a drag of his cigarette, savouring the flavour, the smoke drifting out of his mouth in wisps.

The young man turned around once he heard the voice coming from behind him. His eyes finally focused on Damien, taking in the man's presence. He wasn't taller then Lino that was for sure. Maybe even a tiny bit shorter, but it'd be hard to tell.

Despite the man not having any height advantage on the pup, he still felt unnerved by his presence. The tone of his voice and especially that menacing grin did not seem like it was coming from someone who could be trusted. Not that anyone could be trusted. Further more the man looked to be quiet a bit stronger then the teenager.

The boy looked up at him with his big pale eyes, not saying anything. He identified the other as a lycan as well, not really surprised by this though. The guy had a ruggedness about him, an edge even.

He shook his head no to the question, even though he was a little lost, that's how he wanted to be.

"I don't believe you."

Damien grinned, hooking a finger under the boy's collar to drag him closer, inspecting the tag, his face close to the other male's.

"I'll help you find him. I assume you have time to spare from how you're aimlessly wandering the halls?"

He took another drag of his cigarette, sighing in relief.

"Want some?"

Lino let out a soft whimper when the man pulled him by the collar. He closed his eyes a little, worried the other was going to strike or hurt him. But when all the other did was inspect his collar the boy peeked his eyes open again.

"F-fiend 'im?" He stammered out, his voice just over a whisper. He didn't understand, he wasn't looking for anyone. He was looking to get away.

The young lycan looked at the cigarette and shook his head no. He'd only ever smoked once before, and he hated the way it tasted in his mouth, burning away his senses. He didn't mind others doing it, and even enjoyed the smell to an extent. But actually smoking was something he'd never enjoy.

He chuckled, eyes flashing in amusement as the boy flinched. A hand reached over to ruffle the kid's hair playfully.

"Don't look so alarmed. I don't bite."

The grin widened as he gave the brown locks a gentle tug.

"Most of the time, anyway."

The man took another puff of his cigarette, blowing smoke in the boy's face with a smirk. It amused him how easy the kid was to scare. Although he wouldn't want him to be petrified, exactly, it was rather fun to draw the reactions out of him.

"You don't want to go back? We have more time to play, then."

Damien grinned.

Lino tensed even further as the man ran his fingers through his hair, biting down hard on his lip by now.

"tutti morsi." He muttered under his breath. Though to someone who didn't speak Italian it might have sounded as if he was asking for "mercy" instead of saying "morsi."

He whimpered softly at the last thing the man said and tried to back away.

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"Everyone bites."

He snickered, imitating the whimper. Then his eyes flashed maliciously, seizing the boy by the collar suddenly, dragging him in closer so that their noses were almost touching.

His lip curled, letting out a threatening snarl.

"Stop whining and whimpering before I really give you something to be scared of."

The pup gasped out as he felt the older wolf yank him in closer by the collar, getting right up in his face.

The way he snarled the words out made Lino's knees weak. He squeezed his eyes shut and bit his lip, letting the other man antagonize him like this, not trying to bite back or anything.

He tried desperately to not let another whimper or whine escape his through but it did anyway. He had always been a whimpering person, and once he was turned into a lycan it only got worse. He was embarrassed greatly by it, and this specific encounter with another lycan was not doing anything to help that either.

His eyes narrowed, yanking the boy's hair roughly.

As he fought to keep a straight face, his chest began to shake, eyes shimmering with mirth. A snort slipped out of his mouth, followed by a short hiccup. And then burst into peals of laughter, slapping his thighs.

He tried to control himself, forcing back a chuckle.

"Oh my god, your face." he ruffled the boy's hair, laughing loudly again. "It's ok, I won't hurt you. I just couldn't resist bullying you a bit."

He cried out softly as his hair was yanked and braced himself for a beating or worse. He covered his face defensively to try and black any punches, but nothing happened. He heard the short chortles and suddenly the laughter, finally looking up.

He slumped back against the wall when he realized the other lycan was just messing with him. He felt like he could faint he was so scared. He let out a little relieved breath but didn't laugh or smile along.

"Well Iem glad'ee was abol to keep you entartain'ed" He grumbled, looking down at his feet. It was one of the more bold things he'd let escape from his lips, and he didn't even realized he had vocalized it out loud.

As soon as he did though he looked back up quickly to see if the man would become angry or lash out again, a small glimmer of the fear returning to his eyes.

The man crouched down to ruffle the kid's hair again, snickering softly to himself.

"Name's Damien." he held out a hand with a crooked smile of amusement. "You can give me your name, but I'm afraid you're pretty much stuck as puppy now."

The kid definitely had puppy eyes at any rate. He pinched one of the kid's cheeks playfully, moving his face around with a pout.

"Cheer up, pup."

Lino just stared at the man with a displeased expression on his face.

He didn't like the way this stranger touched his hair or his cheeks. That wasn't his property. It was Zakhar's.

If only his master could see the way this man mocked him as if he was some sort of infant.

He wanted to turn his face away defiantly, but defiance was not in his nature. So instead he let the man pinch and ruffle and whatnot. But he wasn't going to say anything. Not even his name.

He pecked him on the lips playfully before pulling away to lie on the floor, waving his legs idly in the air.

"C'mon. Talk to me, I'm bored enough as it is." he whined, pouting. "And don't glare at me like that. I can guarantee the rest of the pack will bully you just as much as I have, if not more."

His eyes flickered over the dying cigarette in displeasure and stubbed it out on his arm, hissing a little at the pain, but at the same time, not particularly caring. He lit another, the thought barely flickering through his mind that three was probably enough to have in a row, but quickly brushing it aside.

"When did you arrive here, anyway, puppy? Haven't seen you around."

The boy's eyes grew wide when Damien pecked him on the lips. His cheeks flushed red and he quickly used the back of his sleeve to wipe off his mouth.

If Zakhar had seen that there would be pain.

"E dont'a speake vera good English." He stated flatly, looking down at his feet. It was good he didn't see the man put the cigarette out on his own flesh. That would have made him cringe.

"We got'a'ere yestardae." He told him, still not making eye contact. It was just something he rarely ever did.

"So, whaddaya think?"

Truth be told, he wasn't sure how well the kid would fit in here. There were some very strong members of all the species and this kid didn't exactly seem strong. He kind of wondered how long he would last if he reacted that badly to a bit of teasing. But it would be funny, at any rate.

"Made any new friends?"

The young lycan continued to stare at the other man with a not very amused expression.

"Non ha capito quello che ho detto?" he wondered, referring to how he had told the other male that his English was not good.

As he didn't see the other being too much of a threat anymore, Lino decided he was done with this. He shoved his hands in his pockets and awkwardly just started walking away.

He kept his guard up though, in case the other were to get nasty and start picking on him again for showing disrespect.

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Did he not understand what I just said?