Marquise yawned and stretched his arms out as far as they would go, taking great pleasure as several muscles popped in his back as they were pulled taut. Giving out a content hum, he allowed his body to relax again after a few moments, then licked his lips a couple times before finally opening his eye. 

Huh? 

He wasn't surprised to see Vrasje still snuggled up with him, but he was surprised to see that his fancy clothing from the previous evening seemed to have been shredded. 

Garlic? 

The pup didn't respond, making him even more confused as he slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position to get a better view of the damage. 

"I woke up when I felt something cutting into my skin, but you were still somehow fast asleep when I checked on you," Vrasje said, making Marquise jump slightly as he whipped his head up to look at the vampire. 

Said vampire was actually pushing himself up to sit beside him, but instead of giving him a head pat or something similar as a good morning, he reached over and tugged on Marquise's shirt. 

The movement drew his attention, making him look down until he saw what the man was trying to show him. 

My shirt is torn...

Not just his shirt, but his pants were also split!

Marquise quickly turned to face away and tug his coat around himself, glad that he'd at least fallen asleep fully clothed and his undergarments hadn't been shredded. 

"Could it have been Garlic?" he questioned, even though he didn't think that the pup was capable of the specific kind of damage. 

The claw marks on Vrasje's chest were also much too large for Garlic to have done. 

"My baby? He would never do such a thing to me, even by mistake," Vrasje said, making Marquise send him a narrowed glare. 

Your baby, huh? 

"Yes, my baby. In fact, I want some love," Vrasje said before reaching forward and gently settling a hand against Marquise's cheek, making his eye widen in surprise. 

"You were well behaved yesterday, little one. Come on out so that I can give you some attention," he said sweetly, making Marquise's eye twitch. 

When Garlic still didn't respond, Marquise brushed off the man's hand with his own. 

"He's still asleep. Besides, shouldn't you be worried about what happened to us instead of trying to play with my wolf?" Marquise asked as he tugged his coat tighter around himself. 

Vrasje just smiled in response before reaching over and wrapping his arms around Marquise's middle, then tugging him all the way backwards until he was settled in his lap!

"What the hell has gotten into you, you stubborn vampire?!" Marquise growled.

The other man still didn't seem to heed his words as he reached up with one hand while leaving the other firmly wrapped around his waist. When his cold fingers grasped his jaw and turned his head a little more toward him, Marquise gave him one hell of a glare!

Vrasje ignored the clear warning and tilted his head as if he saw something worth being curious about. 

Still confused, and now a tiny bit nervous, Marquise looked to either side, then back to Vrasje. 

"Lord Vrasje?"

The man's thumb gently brushed just beneath his eye, and for a split second, he thought he might do something else, but then his hands suddenly moved up to his messy hair and mussed it up so much worse than it already was!

"Hey!" he grumbled as his confusion dissipated and he swatted at the man's annoying hands!

His own hands began to move surprisingly fast, pushing away Vrasje's each time they started to try a new route towards his hair. 

"Not bad, brat, but you have quite a lot of work to do before you can catch up to me in skill," Vrasje said, taunting him with a smirk that Marquise wanted to wipe off his face so badly!

Sensing that Garlic was still likely asleep, Marquise focused on his vampiric side for the first time. His speed increased considerably, somehow allowing him to meet most of Vrasje's attempts with a block of his own!

He seemed to have surprised the man, too, because he even got in a few of his own actions, which happened to be yanking on the man's long hair. 

They sparred like little kids for who knows how long before Marquise finally managed to catch him by surprise one last time and pin him down after winding his hands through his long hair on either side, then shoving him down and using his weight to hold him against the bed as he straddled his chest. 

He was panting heavily as he held the man's hair tightly while also leaning on his shoulders with either hand, but he soon realized something...

You're not even panting. Hell, you're not even breathing at all!

 He should have known better than to think that he could wear out a vampire, much less an elder!

"It's okay, love. I had fun," Vrasje said as he tilted his head slightly against his pillow. 

That's... my pillow. 

Marquise mumbled several inaudible curses before releasing the man's silk-like hair and moving off of him and off of the bed entirely. 

He quickly got busy picking out clothing to go out in, drawing the man's attention enough to evidently make him sit back up. 

"Where are you planning on going?" he asked, then added. "You need a bath. You haven't had one in a bit." 

Marquise stared down at the clothing in his arms. He knew that he probably needed to bathe, but he was technically a werewolf... it wasn't as important to him as it would be to a human. He was also technically part zombie, even if that might be a made up race. He really doubted they'd care about cleanliness. 

Before he could put forth his findings and decline, Vrasje was at his side and gently grabbing his left arm. 

"Come on, you. A little water and soap won't hurt."  

Marquise was about to argue that he could absolutely slip on the water, and thus, get hurt, when Vrasje looked over his shoulder at him as he tugged him along, raising an eyebrow as if to say go ahead and say it, I dare you. 

Marquise kept his mouth shut. 

It's just a bath. I'll just clean up real quick, then go out. 

He expected them to simply walk out of the room and find a bathing area like the one at Taru's home, but to his surprise, instead of tugging him toward the door, he redirected them and walked over to the room that joined his and Vrasje's. 

"Where are we going?" he asked once they stepped inside, then headed straight for the opposite door. 

"I have a bathing room within my own. You may use it," he said, making Marquise immediately put on the brakes right as they crossed the threshold to the other man's room. 

"W-wait! Isn't there a big bathing area like at Taru's somewhere downstairs? I can just wash up there," Marquise said quickly, trying to pull his arm out of Vrasje's now vise-like grip. 

The vampire turned toward him after a moment, an unreadable expression on his face. 

"I don't want you bathing down there. That bath is open to the entire household," he said sternly, making Marquise frown and furrow his brows. 

"What does that matter? I'm part of the household right now so it should be fine to use it, shouldn't it?" he asked, not quite understanding what the man was trying to say. 

He asked him to stay with him, even said that he was his mate, and now he's not allowed to use the household bath?

Weird vampire. 

"Fine, just let me go do it. I'm guessing you already had someone bring up water?" he asked as he walked across the man's large room and through a door at the far side. 

As he'd expected, the bathing tub was hot and ready, and surprisingly-large. 

Who needs a tub this big? 

"Alright, ready?" Vrsaje said, making Marquise look over his shoulder just in time to watch the man tug his tattered shirt up and over his head. 

Hang the hell on!

Vrasje let his ruined shirt drop from his fingers before looking back up at him. 

"What? I need to clean off, too, and there's plenty of room." 

This guy...

Marquise was just about to tell him to get his cocky ass out of the bathing room and wait his own damn turn when he suddenly shrunk several feet and gained about thirty pounds of fur. 

You little...

"My handsome Garlic love!" Vrasje said as he immediately walked over and scooped up the wiggling terror. 

You've been out cold forever and now you suddenly want to take over without even asking?! 

Garlic completely ignored him, of course, because what was more important than him? Vrasje, obviously.

Pretty soon, they were both settled in the tub with Garlic snuggling in Vrasje's arms and, of course, Vrasje doting on his pathetically-obsessed other half. 

He was just about to slip to the back of his mind so that he didn't have to watch, when he suddenly felt himself being shoved back into his normal body!

Wh-what are you doing?! 

Garlic gave a nervous grunt and wandered off into the back of his mind, leaving him completely naked in Vrasje's arms. Against Vrasje's very naked body. 

Before he could manage to say anything, Vrasje was gently setting him aside. 

"Let's wash up now that I've had my Garlic love," he said before scooting away a little bit to grab some soap. 

Marquise watched him for several moments, but when the man simply began washing his long hair, he realized that he actually did intend to let him be. 

Since he was being left alone, Marquise got busy taking care of his own body, and finished in record time. His hair wasn't long and his body wasn't really dirty, so it took almost no effort at all to scrub himself from head to toe. 

He realized once he was done that Vrasje was still working on his long, dark hair, and raised an eyebrow. 

It's all tangled...

"I regret nothing," Vrsaje said, making Marquise tilt his head in confusion until his face began to tint pink. 

From us wrestling earlier...

Sighing, Marquise scooted a bit closer to Vrasje's back, then gently tugged the long length of hair he was working on back over his shoulder. 

"Just let me do it. You're taking forever," he mumbled as he grabbed some of the detangling soap and got to work. 

And work it was. He wasn't sure how they had managed to tangle the man's hair so unimaginably badly, but they'd somehow done it!

"We need to be careful not to get carried away annoying each other again," he said absentmindedly as he continued to work. 

"But I liked it," Vrasje said after a few moments of silence, making Marquise's fingers still in his hair. 

He'd had a feeling that the man wouldn't mind the attention from before, but he still wasn't sure how he felt about their situation yet. So, he simply gave Vrasje's hair a good tug, earning a quiet growl in response, before getting back to work. 

He actually didn't mind the monotonous task, and even as the thankfully-soapy water grew cold, he continued right up until he could run his fingers cleanly through the man's hair without a single snag. 

"There we go. Finally got it all done," he said as he ran his fingers through it a few more times, just because he could. 

"Hey Marra?" 

Marquise quickly dropped his hands from Vrsaje's hair. 

"Yeah?" 

"Did you feel anything strange earlier, right before we got distracted messing with each other?" Vrasje asked calmly. 

Marquise immediately tensed up, sending an obvious signal that he had, even though he hadn't responded verbally yet. 

"You mentioned that you'd had another wolf before. Is it possible that it is still within you?" Vrasje asked before calmly turning to the side and standing up. 

He was clearly just going to get out of the tub, but for some reason Marquise couldn't help but stare. 

"Marquise?" 

Blinking out of his daze, Marquise quickly spun around on his backside to face the opposite direction. 

The hell am I doing staring at him?! 

 "He's still sealed within me, but I don't know whether he's alive or not. I did feel a familiar surge of rage earlier when you were messing with me, but it dissipated as fast as it had appeared, and I didn't feel his presence like I do Garlic's. Maybe it was just a ghost feeling? Like when someone looses a limb but they sometimes still feel that it's there? Maybe I was just so used to him beneath my skin that I lost control a bit." 

Vrasje was silent for a few moments as he contemplated his words and got dressed. Marquise chanced another look over his shoulder once it seemed like he'd be done, and was relieved to see that the man was now completely clothed, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest and a dry towel draped over his shoulder to keep his still-damp hair from wetting his shirt. 

"I think he's still there. You said before that you poisoned him with silver, and that's where your current injuries came from?" he finally said as Marquise moved to the edge of the tub and climbed out. 

He intended to go grab his own towel that was hanging a few feet away, but Vrasje was already picking it up, having blurred to its location. Thankfully, he brought it over without comment, his mind still clearly focused on their conversation. 

He did stay close, however, in case he lost his footing with his bad leg, but thankfully it held up well enough for him to climb out on his own. 

"Yes, my injuries are from him. He was the one who was poisoned and during that situation, he took all of the rot upon himself. Once he was sealed, however, it began to affect me. It didn't take long, either, before my body began to show severe rot. I was rolling in the mud the day you found me because I felt like I owed it to him. I wanted to give him a chance to be happy again, because I was the one who completely destroyed his life. I figured mine was also close to ending, so why not enjoy my last few moments?" 

Vrasje kept his attention on the far wall as he stood beside him, allowing Marquise to hold onto him when he dried himself off, then whenever he lost his balance a bit trying to put on his undergarments and pants. 

"Did he enjoy it? Did you sense him before I found you?" 

Marquise shook his head. 

"No. I didn't sense him at all." 

Straightening once his lower half was properly clothed, Marquise looked up at the same time Vrasje looked toward him. 

"I think your other half is still there. Maybe us helping heal you has helped him recover, too." 

It was definitely a thought, but at the same time, it sent a cold shiver down Marquise's spine as he reached for his shirt. 

"As happy as I would be to see him well, he's not a wolf that you can trust around humans anymore. They tortured him... and I allowed it, but he won't tolerate being near a human. He will kill them without hesitation," Marquise said, his heart hurting at the thought of his big wolf still alive being alive in this world. 

He'd forced it to stay inside for most of its life, and the rare times that he'd allowed it out, it got poisoned and burned until its flesh rotted away. 

"I deserve what I got... and more," Marquise whispered, then looked up. 

"But if he still is somehow alive within me, he can never come out again. I'll be more careful and pay attention what I'm feeling, especially if I get unreasonably upset. If he is somehow able to escape from the seal my old friend had put on him, I'll consider waring a silver collar to keep him inside." 

Vrsaje had been staring at him the entire time he'd been speaking without much of a reaction, so he expected that he would agree to his idea, but to his surprise, the man immediately frowned and gave his head a slight shake. 

"I disagree. There will be no silver collars, and there will be no forcing him to stay inside if he wishes to come out." 

What...? 

"Did... did you not hear what I just said? He's extremely aggressive towards humans! Whatever positive view I've somehow managed to etch out in this town toward werewolves already is going to disintegrate if he gets out for even five minutes!" 

 Vrasje reached up to likely pat his damp hair, but Marquise quickly swatted his hand away with a frustrated growl. 

"You're not listening! My other wolf is no joke! He can even take on vampires easily!" 

Instead of looking nervous, like he should have, Vrasje simply shrugged one shoulder and took the shirt from Marquise's hands, then lifted it up and over his head. 

"I don't care who he can take on, if he's part of you, then he's also my baby and I'll take care of him," Vrasje said as he tugged Marquise's shirt down a little more so that it settled correctly over his upper body. 

Marquise brushed his hands away before they could withdraw, then began stalking toward the door to leave. 

Of course, he heard Vrasje calmly walking behind him, making himself known even though he could easily move silently. 

"Where are you planning to go today?" Vrasje eventually asked once they had walked all the way back to Marquise's room, then stepped out that bedroom door into the hallway once he'd pulled on his boots and grabbed his cane, and money pouch. 

Figuring that he wouldn't get rid of the man until he answered, Marquise grumbled a response. 

"Out to get Garlic some things to chew on and play with." 

Vrasje immediately sped up as he tied his hair up into a messy bun, making Marquise's eye twitch as he watched. 

I just spent so long untangling that...

Resigned, he faced forward again and started down the stairs. He actually didn't heart Vrasje following, and once he got to the bottom of the steps, he looked up. 

He left? 

He hadn't expected him to, but he was definitely glad that he h—and he was back. 

"Why are you holding such a large money purse?" he asked as he turned back around and headed for the front door. 

Vrasje fastened the purse to his waist, then proceeded to match Marquise's slow but steady pace once they got outside. 

"To spoil my baby, of course."

Why had I even asked? 

"Because you were curious and you wanted me to use a little bit of this money to spoil you, too. Don't worry, I think a nice hearty lunch sounds great before we go shopping, since it's already close to eleven?"  

He... couldn't argue. 

"Lunch it is! What color did you say your bigger wolf is?" 

I don't think I have ever mentioned his color? 

Marquise raised an eyebrow but answered cautiously. 

"He's black. Completely black." 

Vrasje nodded, his grin widening. 

"Then after lunch we're going shopping for my adorable Garlic and Pepper!" Vrasje sang happily as he nonchalantly slid his hand into Marquise's free one and continued walking, swinging their arms gently back and forth. 

Huh?

"You... you named my giant, bloodthirsty, alpha wolf Pepper?!"