"He's not... up."

Hmm?

"Did you try... him?"

Marquise was dozing in and out of consciousness like a wave drifting onto a beach in the early hours of the morning only to recede back into a comfortable slumber again and again.

"...this."

He was suddenly pulled out of his oncoming dream as he felt a firm hand quickly but carefully begin to rub his belly through the thick blanket overtop of him.

He immediately stretched out, trying to offer as much area to that hand as he could.

"Told you this would work. No pup can resist a good belly rub," Taru said as his voice became more clear.

Marquise couldn't argue. He was absolutely in love with the attention he was getting. He hadn't had a good belly rub in years, and he was surprisingly happy with his first one as a human.

"Sorry to wake you, sweetheart, but master couldn't seem to manage it. He thought it would be rude of him to touch you, and none of his servants were able to rouse you from the door," Taru said cheerfully as a second hand gave his messy hair a gentle pat, finally spurring him on to open his eye.

As soon as he saw his master looking down at him with that familiar warm smile upon his face Marquise immediately sat up, then leaned forward into his waiting arms.

"Mm, master Taru... are you here for dinner?"

Taru gave him a gentle squeeze before reaching up to play with his hair.

"Of course, hun. I'll be over as much as I can until my staff are retrained and the unprofessional ones are removed," he said, making Marquise smile happily as he finally leaned back a bit.

"Is my master treating you well? You seemed quite content with this big bed," Taru said with a pleasant grin.

"Come on, dinner is going to be cold by the time we finally get downstairs," Vrasje said, making Marquise jump slightly as he looked over his master's shoulders toward the vampire leaning against the wall by the doors.

Frowning, Marquise turned his attention back to Taru.

"Yes, he's been there the whole time," Taru said with a quiet chuckle as he stood from the bed, then turned to face him with an outstretched hand.

Marquise gladly accepted it and stood, testing his legs for a moment before he heard Vrasje walking toward them, making him lift his gaze just in time to see what the man was now holding out to him.

My cane! Now I don't have to ask either of them to let me lean on them or carry me!

Vrasje's expression soured slightly as Marquise took the item and settled it at his side with a relieved smile. When he turned that smile toward the elder vampire and thanked him, however, Vrasje's expression immediately softened again.

"Let's go," he said after a moment of silence as he turned and headed for the open doors.

Marquise hurried after him as quickly as he could, overly-excited that his body was actually working reasonably well at the moment.

Maybe shifting for the first time in a while had helped. The new wolf was perfectly healthy, so maybe it's helping me a bit.

"New wolf?"

Marquise inwardly fidgeted as he noticed Taru matching his pace with a curious smile on his face. He was a bit hesitant to go into details about his past life, but the absolute basics should be alright...

"I wasn't joking when I told Vrasje that I was an alpha earlier. I also had a wolf to match that title. It was pitch black and bigger than anything you've ever seen," he said solemnly, his chest aching as he described his former other half.

"You really had such a creature?" Taru asked, his voice filled with wonder instead of doubt.

His excitement made Marquise a little less stressed about the discussion.

"Yes, I had a giant wolf, and it ruled over a massive pack, as well as watched over two others. Unfortunately, I made some terrible mistakes and ended up poisoning him to the point where he tore his soul away from mine and sealed it away within me. I haven't heard or felt anything from him since," he said as they got to the steps.

He intended to simply descend them on his own, but very slowly, when he felt himself being lifted.

"Isn't it better for him to get the exercise in his human form? We can help him if he needs it..." Taru said as Vrasje easily carried Marquise right down the stairs.

"Not waiting any longer. If he'd woken up earlier, we could have played on the stairs, but he needs to eat before the food gets cold," Vrasje said as he got to the bottom of the steps and turned left down a lavishly decorated hall of reds and golds.

It was pretty, but Marquise was too distracted fuming over his lost chance at a useful workout to bother looking around.

"It's okay. We'll get you some exercise after dinner," Taru said, clearly trying to cheer him.

He knew he should have just shrugged off his upset, but because he was feeling quite a bit better, his stubbornness was beginning to push through his former exhaustion and stress.

With a scowl that could match Vrasje's normal expression, Marquise glared over the man's shoulder at nothing as he said with a curt tone.

"Not hungry."

Vrasje stopped walking. His previously gentle grip on Marquise's waist tightened the slightest fraction.

"What did you say?" Vrasje asked, making Marquise fight back an embarrassed blush... because his stomach was growling loudly, as if to protest his words.

Clenching his jaw, Marquise was about to growl when Taru hurried forward and carefully took him from his master, then set him down on his feet.

"Please don't be upset, he's not trying to make you mad. He was just worried that you weren't feeling well. He was about to bring food up to your room if I couldn't wake you, myself," Taru said, making Marquise furrow his brow.

He wanted to say that he didn't believe him, but Vrasje had been a lot nicer to him recently, for some reason.

In fact...

Looking up at the elder vampire with a narrowed gaze, Marquise straightened as best he could using his cane.

"Why are you suddenly being so nice to me? I belong to Taru. You don't have to bother yourself with my safety or feeding me. You said that you didn't want anything to do with me before, so what gives?" he asked in frustration.

Vrasje looked about three seconds away from snapping his neck, so Marquise was a little relieved when Taru stepped a litlte more between them and settled one hand against Vrasje's chest and his other one against Marquise's messy black hair.

"Okay, there's clearly some miscommunication going on," he said as he looked between the two of them.

When he noticed that Marquise only wore a confused expression, but Vrasje looked about ready to bite both of them, his master seemed to realize something and actually turned a slightly-annoyed stare back toward his master.

That got the older vampire to finally calm down a little bit... and abruptly look away with pursed lips and a scowl.

Why does he suddenly look like a pouting dog?!

Vrasje tried to flash him a fanged warning after hearing his thought but to both their surprise, Taru actually snapped his own fangs and hissed, immediately halting his master's expression and making the man look away again.

"Master, have you spoken a single word to him about what you think might have happened? Have you asked him anything?" Taru said, clearly frustrated for the first time since he'd turned him into a vampire.

Vrasje looked like he was wanting to flash his fangs again or growl, or do both at the same time, but the man miraculously kept his cool. He didn't say anything in response, however, making Marquise bristle with annoyance.

"He doesn't need to ask me anything! He's clearly just been trying to be nice to me to make you happy," he said, making the elder vampire send him a glare that Marquise just brushed off.

"What? Tell me that I'm wrong!" he shouted, growling his last word as he grew more frustrated.

He honestly expected his wolf to show up and make his anger even worse, but it seemed like the poor thing was quite scared of the situation and perfectly happy staying hidden within him.

Vrasje looked like he was about to simply storm off when Taru grabbed his wrist and huffed.

"Enough of this, master. Just... just come and listen if you don't want to say anything," he finally grumbled before turning to face Marquise with a forced smile.

Not wanting to make his own master anymore upset, Marquise quickly forced himself to calm down and turned his full attention to him. Taru looked like he was about to reach up and pat his head in response, but he quickly caught himself and gave a quiet cough to clear his throat, and the awkward air.

"This isn't exactly the best place to have this conversation. Would it be alright if we at least go sit down at the table?" he asked after a few moments of silence.

Marquise immediately nodded his agreement, making his master smile, relieved that he hadn't argued. He doubted that he ever would, to be honest. Taru was one of the nicest people he'd ever met and never made him do anything he didn't want to.

"Thank you, sweetheart. Let's go sit down and chat," Taru said as he calmly led them both to the dining room. He'd honestly expected a giant dining hall with chandeliers and what not, along with twenty or so servants, but when they walked through a room that fit the majority of that description, minus eighteen servants and went through another door, he was kind of surprised and a tad confused.

When they stepped into a much smaller room with dark red velvet seats and thick white curtains hugging two massive windows that looked out upon a huge, beautiful garden, Marquise lost his focus for a moment.

Neither vampire bothered him as he drifted off into thoughts of running off into those many different plants and grasses.

I wonder if there's any spot that gets muddy out there...

"There can be."

Blinking out of his daze, Marquise turned toward the two vampires now sitting at the table. Vrasje was still looking away, and sitting at the farthest seat, but he at least looked a little less frustrated.

Taru must have said that.

His master just smiled at him and nodded to the seat across from him at the table.

Marquise immediately walked around and sat down, then focused his attention fully on the man across from him as he folded his hands in his lap.

"Alright, I just want to ask a few questions to get to know werewolves better, if that's alright?" Taru said, making Marquise tilt his head slightly but nod anyway.

He wasn't expecting the questions they wanted to ask to be on that topic, but it was honestly a relief. He should be able to answer them pretty easily.

"Okay, perfect. So, let's start with something I was really curious about. Do werewolves have specific mates?"

Marquise shrugged one shoulder and nodded.

"Of course, it's pretty much like how humans mate," he said nonchalantly.

Taru nodded in return, then continued speaking.

"That makes sense, so the next question I have relates to that. Do you guys have a destined mate? Like, do your instincts pull you to a certain person, no matter how much you might not consider choosing them normally?"

Marquise frowned, then shrugged again.

"Yeah, we do sometimes, but it's more complicated than that."

Taru smiled and nodded a few times, clearly appreciating the little bits of information he was being given.

"Okay, that's good to know. You said that it's more complicated, but is there a simple explanation for what it involves?"

Thinking for a few moments, Marquise sifted through the information he had, then chose what he thought waere the most useful parts for their conversation.

"Well, it all depends on the specific wolf. Some go head-over-heels for another, while others don't feel a whole lot, if anything."

Taru leaned forward with his arms on the table, clearly interested as his eyes lit up with curiosity. Wanting to please his master further, Marquise leaned forward a little, too, ready for his next question.

"So, has my handsome heir ever had any interest in another wolf?"

Marquise leaned back slowly as his smile turned slightly downward.

"U-um... no, that's not possible," he mumbled awkwardly as he averted his gaze for a moment.

He could sense his master's confusion at his response, then his hesitation to ask what they both knew came next. Not wanting Taru to feel uncomfortable, Marquise quickly shook the nervousness from his mind and forced his smile back into place.

"I'm sorry, I should have clarified. Alpha's never feel the bond. It's only omegas and betas that sometimes develop it, and only if their wolf is just as interested as they are," he said, speaking a little quicker than he normally would so that he could get the words out as fast as possible.

Once he had finished, he noticed that his master seemed lost in thought, so he kept himself quiet as he mulled over his words.

It was torture. The man could have had an entire conversation in his head by the time he finally spoke up some five or so minutes later.

"So... you mentioned that you're an alpha if I remember correctly, right?"

Marquise nodded immediately.

"I am, though this new wolf of mine is somehow an omega."

He could practically sense Vrasje rolling his eyes from where he sat several feet away, but decided to ignore the man in favor of his amazing master.

"Okay, so if you're an alpha, you won't feel the mate bond even if another person does?" he asked, trying to confirm the pieces of what he'd told him.

Marquise nodded in response.

"That's how it works. Someone could fall in love with me just like that, but I would never know unless they said something to my face," he said, his tone of voice quieting a little towards the end.

"That has never happened, though, and honestly, I probably wouldn't accept anyone as a mate, anyways. It's not like I'm exactly a great catch now," he added in a near-whisper as his shoulders sagged the tiniest amount.

Taru hurried to turn the conversation away from that little bit of sadness.

"I'm sorry for bringing up something that's upsetting. That was really all I wanted to ask," he said, making Marquise raise an eyebrow.

"I thought you guys wanted to ask other things, too..."

Shrugging, Taru looked toward the door at the same time a single servant came in with a tray holding glasses of blood.

"Would you like a drink before we got work on some stairs?" he asked as he took a glass for himself, then tipped it slightly toward him with a warm smile.

Glad that the stressful situation had ended rather quickly, and without anymore hostility, Marquise gladly accepted a glass from the servant and quickly began sipping it as he leaned back and lifted it to his lips with both hands.

Did elder Vrasje not have anything he wanted to say? he asked through their bond as quietly as he could so that the other vampire might not be able to hear.

He heard Taru's faint chuckle in the back of his mind in response, then a few calm words.

Nah, he's fine. He was just curious about the same thing, but didn't know how to ask you.

Marquise finally snuck a glance toward Vrasje as he sipped his drink a bit more and was surprised to see the man staring right at him. Except, he actually didn't seem to be staring at him, or really focusing, since he didn't react to him returning his stare.

Curious, and a little amused, Marquise slowly lowered the glass away from his lips and watched as Vrasje's eyes followed its movement perfectly.

Another faint chuckle in the back of his mind had his attention returning to his master's right as the man slid his seat back and stood up, his glass of blood already drained.

"Let's go play on those steps, then maybe, if you'd like, some dinner afterward?" he asked as he walked around the table and offered him a hand up.

Marquise gladly accepted the assistance and gave a hum of agreement in response as they headed toward the door. He was a bit confused when Taru suddenly stopped there, though, and looked back toward his master.

"We'll be back in a bit for dinner, if you'd like to join us," he said with a smile that made Vrasje sigh as he turned his head to look out the windows, then lean back in his chair, seemingly intent on waiting for them to return but unwilling to say so.