He... doesn't look the same. 

Of course, being naked and being clothed were two very different things. Staring openly at the man roughly half a block away, Seba couldn't help but smile. 

He wasn't happy about randomly seeing Verander out and about, let alone while in his human form, but what pulled a hesitant grin out of him wasn't technically the man, himself, but the little ball of black fluff that was tugging at Verander's wolf tail. 

Evidently, he had the ability to leave some of his wolf features, because he definitely would have remembered seeing a tail when the man had shifted in front of him two days ago. 

"I definitely don't have a tail, but that looks like it might actually hurt," he mumbled as he inched a little closer, wanting to get a better view of what was latched onto the end of it. 

Definitely a little wolf pup... but is it his? 

There was no white on the tiny thing from what he could see, but that didn't exactly mean that it wasn't his. Color could vary pretty widely amongst wolves. 

He watched the pup silently as he felt Ruoka nudge at his left leg a few times, clearly wanting to move on before they were noticed. Instead of heeding his pup's likely-good advice, Seba remained where he was beneath a small tree leaning over part of the cobblestone walkway. 

The pup was honestly going to town trying to pull Verander's long black tail clean off as the man spoke calmly with a person in the doorway of a little shop. They chatted for quite some time as the pup continued its work, sinking its razor sharp daggers into Verander's fur and tugging with all its might in different directions. 

When the two men finally finished their conversation and Verander turned abruptly, Seba felt his heart skip in his chest. He'd been caught staring. The werewolf seemed to hesitate as he considered the situation, but after a few moments he began heading their way. 

Seeing him coming straight for them should have been intimidating, and it kind of was, but at the same time, Seba couldn't help but take note of the guy's outfit. He was dressed incredibly sharp, with a diagonally split black and dark blue shirt. Overtop it was a long, knee-length black leather coat with a few buckles situated here and there. His boots rose to midcalf, and Seba even noticed a little black and white rabbit's foot fastened to the top of the left one. 

As he was finishing his internal appraisal, those perfectly-shined boots stopped right in front of his own, drawing a blush to his face as he slowly looked up until his eyes met bright purple ones. 

They stared at each other in silence until Seba finally lowered his eyes. He knew that the man had been testing him, and that he'd probably just failed and submitted, but he really wasn't the most secure vampire. Sure, back home he could easily handle himself as long as he kept himself well fed, but being in such a big city had knocked his stubbornness down a few pegs. 

His attention diverted away from Verander as he noticed a little fuzzy head poking out from behind the man's right leg. The pup still had the tip of Verander's tail between its tiny jaws as it wrapped its front paws around his leg and stared nervously up at Seba. 

He was about to kneel down and greet the little guy when Ruoka stalked forward, his hackles lifted slightly. A few sniffs were exchanged as the pup ducked behind Verander's leg a few times before gathering its courage and leaning forward to sniff at Ruoka's much bigger nose. 

"What is its name?" Sebastian asked as he finally lifted his eyes back to Verander's. 

The man seemed to consider not answering, but after a few moments he tilted his head slightly, then replied. 

"Sitkea." 

What a cute name. 

"Is he yours?" he asked, honestly curious. 

Verander licked his lips as he looked away for a moment, then back to him with a serious expression. 

"No, but I am his caretaker now." 

Huh? 

"His parents were killed by werewolf hunters two days before we were invited to move here," Verander said, making Sebastian's next question die on his tongue as he looked back down at the little pup. 

It was now reaching toward Ruoka's muzzle with teeny tiny claws. 

His parents were killed? 

He wasn't sure how to feel about that bit of information. He'd participated in several werewolf hunts back in his hometown. He'd killed them, and had celebrated each time with the townsfolk, and yet...

Looking at Sitkea pawing at Ruoka's whiskers as his own wolf laid down to get closer, while appearing less threatening, he just didn't know how to feel. 

A month ago, I would have gladly helped kill Sitkea's parents. I might have even killed him, too. 

His heart constricted in his chest as he carefully lowered himself to sit on the ground. Ruoka looked up at him for a brief moment to check that he wasn't being reprimanded, then returned to nudge at the pup. He watched as the little thing slowly grew more comfortable and finally completely stepped out from behind Verander's leg in order to give an awkward leap toward Ruoka's nose. 

Its little claws managed to snag Ruoka's muzzle on either side of his face, but thankfully his pup knew not to react negatively. Seba was so distracted by the two beginning to play with each other that he didn't notice Verander sitting down in front of him, nor did he realize that the man was reaching toward him until his finger poked his cheek, startling him into a quiet gasp as he jerked his head up. 

Oh...

"Your fang?" Verander said, making Seba open and close his mouth a few times before he realized what he'd meant and felt his face redden. 

"It sometimes gets stuck down after I feed," he said, answering the man's curiosity. 

When Verander simply watched him calmly instead of responding right away, Seba awkwardly lowered his gaze back to the two wolves. Sitkea was now trying to nibble at Ruoka's nose, but there was no way he could hope to fit it into his mouth with the tip of Verander's tail still between his little jaws. 

"It's cute." 

Blinking, Seba took a moment to process the words that he hadn't heard all that well, then looked back up at Verander. 

"What?" 

Surely he'd been talking about the adorable pup he was looking after. When the man didn't respond again, Seba huffed and looked back down at the pup.

Oh? 

Ruoka glanced up at him several times as he tried to figure out what he should do with the tiny thing now latched onto his left ear. 

"He... can move quite quickly, it seems," Seba said as he heard Verander chuckle, then saw him reach forward into his line of sight. He automatically withdrew this time, leaning back just enough so that he wasn't touched. Except, the man didn't seem to even make note of his behavior as he redirected his hand immediately down toward Ruoka. 

Is he teasing me on purpose? 

He saw his own wolf pin its right ear down in warning, but Ruoka actually relaxed when Verander gently removed Sitkea from his poor left ear. 

 "You get used to it," he said as he settled the squirming pup against his chest. 

He tried to keep it there, but the thing was just too stubborn and refused to settle down. 

"Can I...?" Seba asked nervously as he reached forward a little. 

Verander eyed him for a few moments, suspicion clear in his bright eyes, but then he seemed to calm down and offered the wiggling pup to him. 

"Just a warning... he bites," he said sarcastically as Seba carefully took the little guy. 

It squirmed like crazy until he managed to settle it against his own chest. Then, somehow, it stopped abruptly and stared up at him with wide, soft brown eyes as its tiny pink tongue slipped in and out of its little panting mouth. 

How is a werewolf so cute? 

He felt a set of eyes on him, while he saw Ruoka stare determinedly at the pup. 

"I don't think I've ever seen a wolf that Ruoka actually wants to be around," he said as he gently began to pet Sitkea's fuzzy head. 

Ruoka pinned his ears at his words, but then got over them just as quickly as he leaned closer and tilted his head. When he tried to nibble the little pup's right ear, clearly thinking that it was okay since the pup had nipped his own, Seba gave a warning nudge with his elbow. Sitkea ducked his head at the same time Ruoka did, mimicking the bigger wolf, even though he likely didn't understand what the gesture was for. 

"He's letting you hold him without trying to bite." 

Glancing back up at Verander, Seba frowned slightly. 

"Is it so strange?" he asked as he looked back down at the pup now resting in his arms. 

Verander slowly tilted his head as he contemplated the situation further, then replied. 

"He only allows me to hold him, and still he'll try to bite most of that time if he can," he said, making Seba hug the pup a little tighter. 

"How old is he?" 

Verander reached over and settled his hand atop Sitkea's head, immediately drawing the pup's attention. The man soon had little dagger-like teeth nibbling at his fingers. 

"Eight weeks or so," he said, making Seba's eyes widen. 

He didn't know much about wolves, but that seemed awfully young to be away from its parents. Not that there had been much of a choice, but should it not be with a woman? Perhaps one who had recently had a child of her own?

Verander seemed to realize what he was thinking because he carefully but quickly took the pup back. 

"There is no one within my pack that is currently nursing, and I refuse to let him be raised by any other," he said, his tone bringing an end to the discussion that had barely begun. 

"We have plenty of milk from both goats and cows. He drinks well and has started nibbling at meat," he added, making Seba relax a tiny bit. 

He settled his hand atop Ruoka's head as he replied. 

"That's good. I hope he grows up well with you," Seba said as he got to his feet. 

Verander and Ruoka followed suit, but before Seba could dismiss himself, Ruoka stepped forward and lifted his head as high as it would go so that he could nudge Sitkea's back left foot. 

He got a tiny kick for his efforts, as well as a light chuckle from Verander before the man returned his attention to Seba. 

"I still want your wolf, but I will leave our interaction as it is for today. I have things to see to," he said as his long tail blew to the side along with his dark hair. 

Seba felt his mouth go dry as he openly stared at the man, forgetting his manners until Ruoka nipped the fingers of his left hand, making him jump... much to Verander's evident amusement. 

"See you next—" 

"Wait!" Seba said, cutting off Verander's farewell. 

Swallowing down his sudden bout of nerves, Seba straightened his shoulders and looked Verander in the eyes. 

"Why did you not try to control me at all today? Could you not have made me relinquish my ownership of Ruoka?" 

He might have attacked Verander two days ago, but he'd also drank quite a bit from the alpha, too. 

Verander took a step closer, putting them nearly toe to toe as he leaned the slightest bit forward. He was a tad too close for Seba's comfort but he refused to step back. 

"While I am not the nicest werewolf you will meet in this city, by far, I do not stoop to such tactics. Besides, even if I forced you to relinquish ownership of him, it would do me no good. In fact, it would likely cause more harm to my plan than anything," Verander said as he straightened back up and bowed his head, but refused to break eye contact. 

"Now then, if you'll please excuse me,  Pieni Hammas." 

Seba blinked at the Finnish words. Many people tended to pass through the town back where he lived on their way to bigger and, to them, better places. Quite a few of them tended to be Finnish, so he'd easily picked up the basics of the language.. which made him scowl when he realized what he'd been called. 

Small tooth...

Shaking off the childish jab about his stuck fang, Seba stepped forward, but the man was already walking away, his hair and tail rustling in the breeze as Sitkea peeked the slightest bit over his shoulder at them. 

"I'm not exactly sure what just happened, but it definitely wasn't what I was expecting."

Ruoka nudged his fingers until he gave his head a pat, then looked down at him with an entertained grin. 

"I guess it could have gone much worse?" he said as he turned and began walking back toward his master's home. 

He also couldn't help but think that the guy acted quite a bit differently when he was with Sitkea. The long tail also, for some reason, made him seem a lot less threatening than he had before...

(Edited)