An Unplanned Visit

Rein wandered the halls of the E'S Dorm. He was pretty sure he had left a rather hostile zombie here somewhere...it had gotten away from him, and he had fled, trying to give it some time to cool down. Now, he figured he better retrieve it. He rounded a corner and stopped short. There is was...bald head being repeated slammed against the wall, dirty and tattered clothing falling off the skinny and leathered body. It seemed to sense him and turned to pin him with hollowed eyes. His own eyes widening, Rein got a brief hostile flood from the being and that was all he needed before he turned and sprinted down the hall away from the zombie.

His hair whipped behind him as he ran, hearing the stumbling steps of the undead behind him. Really, the thing was agile for a corpse. Glancing behind him, Rein knew he needed to do something. After all, this was a race between two never tiring beings. His only hope right now would be that the zombie falls apart. Unwilling to rely on that happening conveniently, Rein tried to put on another burst of speed. Seeing an approaching open door, he swerved inside it, turning to slam it closed behind him before putting his back to it and sliding down. There was a second thud behind him, signalling the zombie's introduction to the wood. Closing his eyes closed, Rein braced himself against the slamming and concentrated. He tugged at the life behind him and with something like a snap, the pounding from the other side stopped suddenly. There was a last thud and Rein assumed it was the now lifeless body hitting the floor. Of course, there was no way to be certain until he went out and checked...he wasn't exactly ready to do that just yet...

Sighing a breath of relief, Rein opened his eyes and tried to straighten out his hair which was splayed around him and hanging in his face. He brushed it back as best he could and glanced around the room. From the light from the window, he could see that in one corner there was a desk piled with books and a crown. There were a few bags, one on the desk, one on the floor beside it. Six swords leaned against the wall, and on the floor was a black blanket. A blanket, upon which a wolf was laying...next to a half eaten sheep. The tall boy stilled, not recognizing the other student in this form. He currently cursed his luck as his hair fell back in to his face. First a zombie, now a wolf. Hopefully, this one was a little more amiable.

"Hello. Sorry to intrude..." He spoke quietly, coughing lightly.

Raye lifted her head from her aching shoulder when her bedroom door slammed shut. "I think if I were anyone else, I'd be insulted that someone came into my room without asking," she told the boy, lifting herself to her feet. She hissed and shifted her weight so her three uninjured legs would take all of it. The wound on her shoulder was a far cry from the cat scratch it used to be. It was raw and red and, though it wasn't bleeding any more, blood glistened in the low light from the window. The fur around the area was encrusted with clotted and dried blood.

It was obvious right away that she couldn't walk on the injured left without a major limp. She just stood, staring at the boy, head cocked to the side.

"But, seeing as we know each other and there isn't much in here that's worth the effort to steal - except the manga, but most people wouldn't go near that with a ten foot pole - I won't throw a fit about you entering a girls room without permission, ne? In fact, out of the kindness of my heart, I'll even let you stay for a while."

Her tongue lolled out of her mouth in a wolfish grin. "So, another zombie, Rein?"

Rein blinked, but was happy at least that the wolf spoke. He smiled apologetically.

"Right, I am very sorry for bursting in like that. I was being chased...yes, it was another zombie. I am pretty sure this one may have tried to mutilate me." He nodded in thanks and sagged against the door, knees bending as his posture slouched even more. "I thank you for letting me stay a bit. I'm not quite sure it's dead yet. Though...I must ask...do I know you from somewhere?" His skin was slightly flushed from the run having moved his heart to pumping slightly, and he was panting from habit more than anything else. His brain told him he needed air after a run like that, disregarding whether he actually needed it or not. He paused thoughtfully.

"What's a manga?" His head tilted to the side curiously and he brought a hand up to sweep his hair back again. His eyes glowed softly as he looked over the wolf's form, frowning at the injury on her leg. "What did you do? Do you need assistance?" He gestured lightly to her shoulder.

A snort sounded. "Mutilate you? You've got to keep better control of your zombies." Her head shook side to side softly as if disappointed in his lack of control over his zombies; almost as if she had caught his pet dog sniffing around her room and she was disappointed he let it go. It was more than obvious that she wasn't upset at all by the possibility of him being mutilated. "Or at least keep them away from my room. My doors constantly open and I'm not in the best condition to fight at the moment."

She shrugged off his thanks. "Nah, its fine. Stay as long as you need. You're the first person I've seen since the C'D party. Company is nice." Her eyes widened and a heart-wrenching whimper shook her form. "Y-you don't remember me?"

She cocked her head towards the desk next to him and more specifically the neat piles of books taking up most of the desk's surface. "Manga's a type of comic book - originated from Japan." Her head shook again and she shifted to press her weight down on her injured leg as if to prove that she could stand on it and it was absolutely fine. She held in a pained wince. "Nah, its fine. Just a little sore, is all."

The boy on the floor pouted. "Hey, they're hard to control, and I've not mastered my powers yet. I'm allowed to not be able to control the harder types. That one was particularly angry." He huffed, but looked more disappointed in himself than annoyed at Raye. He did feel a little guilty, she could have been hurt, injured as she was already. He'd have to try harder.

His eyes widened and he shot up to apologize. "What? Well, I mean, I may have. I just...don't remember meeting a wolf before...but, it's very nice talking to you." He tried a reassuring smile. He had met a few people, but none that he knew of as wolves. The boy nodded vaguely at her saying she was fine, he wasn't about to force her to do anything, but his curiosity was peeked. "Books?" He sounded genuinely curious and interested. He did love books, and this was a type he had yet to hear of. "Do they hold important information? Or...you said comics? Are they just for recreational reading or do they hold important fables and legends that influence society? Would you show me?"

The more he spoke the more eager he became. He loved learning.

She shrugged and sat back on her haunches. "Ah, I couldn't care less if a zombie walked into my room. I'd fight it no matter what condition I'm in. And I can relate to not mastering powers." She looked away and if she were human, she'd definitely be blushing. "I've been practising for a hundred and sixty years and I still can't stay in an object for more than ten minutes."

"You've seen these before." She tapped her nose against her left leg, drawing attention to the brands. They were very visible in the skimpy piece of cloth she had worn on their last meeting. "There won't ever be another person with brands the same as these."

Her head bobbed. "It depends what book you read as to what message the story holds. There are different types of manga just like there are different types of novels. There are the childish ones like Shugo Chara; ones that centre around crime and religion and such like Death Note; and then there are the more adult ones like say... Palace of the Stars. It really depends on which volume you pick up as to what contents you get."

She pushed herself to her feet and limped towards the desk. When she arrived, she hoisted herself up so her forepaws were resting on the edge of the sturdy desk and began to nose piles apart, looking through the different titles. "They're all in Japanese, though. And, after my chat with the pup when the zombies invaded, you don't know Japanese, right? I can translate for you if you'll hold the books. It's been too long since I've read any Yaoi..." She muttered the last sentence to herself. "Hmm... Your call: Palace of the Stars, Blood Honey, Love Knot or Under Grand Hotel."

Rein smiled slightly. "No worries. I'm sure that when I hit a hundred and sixty, I still wont have made any progress. Powers are picky." He shrugged and peered at her arms, then his eyes widened in recognition. "Oh, the girl from the tavern, when I tried to get into Shae's head. The pretty girl laughing on the table. I do remember you, yes." Rein grinned in success. "It is nice to see you again, I did not realize you had a shape shifting ability."

He nodded, either in understanding of what Raye said, or in an attempt to absorb what she was saying. He got most of it, really. He shifted and sat more comfortably as he waited for the wolf to select a book. Rein hummed in thought at the titles. Well, since he didn't recognize any of them, he chose one at random.

"I'd greatly appreciate the effort of translating, you are very kind. How about Palace of the Stars?" It sounded like it might be about a temple or a place of religion. Could be an important story to a culture. Usually palaces and stars were. He was excited. Surely, an old being like Raye would have great stories to share, full of knowledge and wisdom.

"Is it too presumptuous of me to assume we know each other enough for me to ask what you are?" she asked the boy, nudging aside another pile of books. "You're not human, that I know for sure. I can see you just fine and I'm not wearing my contacts."

Calling her pretty stroked the Jinn's ego. She had been called pretty before - that and more - but not when her facial scar had been in plain sight. That scar was far from pretty. It was ugly; a reminder of her abusive mate and her shortcomings in the area of fist-fights. "...Even with the scar?" She couldn't believe that anyone would think she was pretty with that mass of damaged skin spanning across half her face.

"Yeah, I'm a Jinn. You know what a Jinn is? I haven't met one person here that knows about us. It's quite shocking 'cause we're a rather wide-spread species."

She cleared her throat when he picked a title - the most adult book in the short list she had given him. "I'm gonna be an adult here and tell you right now that this book is for people over eighteen. You over eighteen?" She could never be sure. With all the different species and their different ways of ageing, she had no way of figuring out his age. And, even though she had no feelings beyond a mild interest and attraction (long hair really did it for her) for him, she thought it best to stick with age limits. If he was over eighteen, she would proceed. If he wasn't, she'd list off some books for the younger people. She had a few titles that weren't eighteen plus with her... Well, I think I do, she thought, locating the first volume at the bottom on a pile.

"Hey, could you come and grab this for me? I don't wanna damage any of the covers with my teeth. These books mean a lot to me and I really don't wanna damage any of them." And if he got a look at the cover he could decide for himself if it was a book he wanted to read or not.

She may be a bitch most of the time but she rarely forced people to do things they didn't want to do. And reading explicit Yaoi was one of those things.

"If you don't like that one, we could read Death Note. That's one of my favourite series. It's about religion."

The boy hummed, he guessed it didn't really matter if she knew.
"I was once entirely human. I'm a Lijk now. An immortal necromancer." He shrugged like it was no big deal, and truthfully, he didn't want to stay on the subject of it, so he quickly changed. "I've heard of Jinn, legends mostly. Never met one, of course, until now I suppose." He grinned. "You should tell me more about the species at some point. I love to gather knowledge."

Standing, he crossed over to her.
"Of course with the scar. I actually hardly noticed it. You're very pretty despite it." Smiling down at her, he leaned to place a hand on her wolf head amiably, hair spilling over his shoulder. "And I'm 47. I'd say I'm adult enough to handle whatever this is to be considered over 18." Straightening, the boy pulled out the book in question. Glancing over the cover, a confused expression crossed his face, puzzlement pulling his lips down just the slightest in to a frown. Out of curiosity and in search for clarity, he opened to a random page. As his softly glowing eyes looked over it, they grew wide. The embarrassment of what was before him was enough to move his stilled hear to beat, and beat faster it did. Red visibly crept up his naturally deathly pale skin until his entire face was glowing hotly. He quickly shut the book and placed it neatly back on the pile, glancing to the side away from Raye. It was overbearingly obvious he was uncomfortable on the subject of that book and very entirely unaccustomed to it. To say he was inexperienced would be an understatement. Rein gave a quiet, awkward cough into his fist and stood rigid.

"Well...47 or not....I-I'm still a 15 year old in b-body so.." His fingers caught a lock of his hair and twisted it around nervously, refusing to look at the wolf girl. "M-maybe...something of a d-different genre..."

Her head snapped up, eyes wide with shock? "You're immortal? Daaaaaaamn, you're the nicest immortal I've ever met. The others I've met have been real bastards." A dark smirk pulled at her wolven lip - looking rather like a snarl. "And not quite as immortal as they claimed to be."

"Finally someone that knows what I am. Sure, I can answer any question you have about us Jinn. You're lucky you have a former member of the HA right in front of you - I've a little more insight into our species than the average Jinn."

"How can you hardly notice something that big?" She nuzzled up into his touch, eyes sliding closed and a curse for her love of being pet floating through her mind.

"Yeah? Then I should warn you that my friend was two hundred and thirteen and he couldn't handle it." Her lips twitched into a grin. Serena could have handled it possibly, but apart from her she hadn't met anyone that hadn't looked at that book and cringed away in disgust.

A silent chuckle shook her frame as she nudged a pile of fifteen books towards him with her muzzle but he was merciful enough not to pull him up on his rather obvious embarrassment. "Then maybe this one. Nothing like what was in Hoshi No Yakata in there. Well... Light and L are chained together for a large amount of the series and there's a large fanbase around that but nothing in the canon story that's like that."

She dropped to the floor again and stopped dead for a second with her jaw clenched as the movement jarred her shoulder. When she had recovered from the shooting pain, she rubbed up against the boy's legs, chest rumbling with a cat-like purr.

Rein rubbed at his cheeks, as if that would wash the red away. He forced his gaze back to Raye and tried a smile.

"That warning would have better before I looked at the book, thanks." He chuckled weakly and tried to pretend nothing was wrong. "I do believe that is one area of activity and knowledge I have not and may very well not ever gain knowledge about." He really did his best to shrug it off, and steadily, his bright red face started to return to normal.

"I didn't notice the scar because it really isn't that bad. I spend my time with zombies, you're utterly beautiful, trust me." Laughing more confidently now, Rein picked up the first volume in the stack of books she had nudged closer. He hesitantly flipped through, but not seeing any sort of leather or whips or inappropriate touching or positioning, he nodded.

"This one looks fine." He smiled and reached down to pat the wolf as she rubbed against her leg. He eyed her a bit warily. "Are you sure you're okay? Would you like to lay down? Really...I may be able to at least look at it as we sit...I promise I wont hurt you. I also wont do anything you don't want me to..."

The muscles of her shoulders rolled in a shrug. "Huh, funny that, Zal said the same thing." She grinned up at him cheekily.

A brow cocked high. Was he really telling her what she thought he was telling her? "Rein, are you a...?"

She ducked her head and looked away. Her embarrassment was clear in her posture. She didn't need a blush. "No one here seems to care much about my scars. I've spent so much time hiding them away because people would look at them in disgust. It's...strange knowing that people don't mind them."

She chuckled again. "Death Note is completely safe. It's the fanbase you've got to watch out for," she warned with a grin. The fanbase for Death Note was filled with rabid fangirls with strong imaginations, Raye among them.

"It's fine. In a couple weeks, it'll just be another scar." Just another stupid thing she did with a physical reminder. Her purr increased in volume and she pressed against him, arching up into his warm hand. "How could you hurt me? Falling short of poking my shoulder, there isn't much you could do to hurt me. If you do poke my shoulder, you'll lose your hand, though," she warned casually with a smile in her voice. It had finally stopped itching. She'd be might unamused (enough so, that if someone tried to touch it, they'd be missing limbs pretty damned quickly) if someone were to irritate it and make it itch again.

"I could probably translate it word-for-word without even looking. You can make yourself comfortable. I'd offer my blanket but-" she cocked her head towards the half-eaten sheep lying in the middle of it "-we'd be sharing it with him. Make yourself comfortable. I'll find a spot when you're settled, ne?"

He looked down at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Am I a what?" He didn't get it. Though he did become slightly worried at her embarrassed posture. He hadn't said something wrong, had he? "Well, why should we don't mind them? Things in life happen. Often times they are things we can not control. I cannot tell you the amount of scars I would have if not for my sepcies, or the amount of times I would have died. Just because you scar and I don't does not make you any less. In fact, it may make you stronger. I will never have to bear any physical reminders of my hard times, you will. I admire you for that." Rein smiled brightly, crouching to be at her level. Glancing at her shoulder, he did wince a bit.

"Looks like it hurts, but fine. I wont poke at it." He looked over to the sheep and chuckled, rather preferring to take a spot leaning against the wall, legs spread out before him, knees bent. He settled the book against his leg and waited for the wolf to join him.

She was so unprepared for his question that she choked. "Definitely not, then. Huh, I can't see why, though. You're a nice boy: pleasant conversation, polite. And you're very easy on the eyes." Her eyes swept him in a deliberately slow movement, drinking in his appearance.

"I got most of these from my utter clumsiness while hunting and my lack of prowess in phasing into objects. Almost all of these scars are from Jinn that got the upper hand in the middle of a hunt. I'm one of the most well-known Hunters in the HA - I shouldn't be letting my prey get the upper hand." She shook her head with a sigh. "Even my mate couldn't look at my scars and tell me I was beautiful. It's difficult to believe that people that barely know me think I'm pretty when my mate of twenty years couldn't think the same."

She lifted her eyes to him. "Yeah, I definitely can't see why you're still a virgin. You're such a nice guy." Her tongue swiped his cheek in a friendly manner, tail wagging behind her. "And you sweet talk like the best of them. You have to have people interested in you."

"Good good. If you poked at it, I'd have removed your hand." When he was settled, she curled up against his side and cleared her throat. "Death Note, Volume One: Boredom."

Rein's brow lowered and his eyes displayed innocent puzzlement. He would have asked 'Definitely not what?' because he girl was acting strange, he thought. He had no idea what she was talking about. Though, he did become slightly uncomfortable at the look she trailed over him. Some red resurfaced to his cheeks and he shifted uneasily. "Uhm, thank you." He tried to joke again to ease his discomfort. "It's strange, receiving compliments from a wolf. Though, it is sad to hear that someone would think you anything less than desirable over such a silly thing." He trailed off, and as he listened, his eyes went wide, and he was shocked at the lick to his cheek.

"Wh-what?!" The echoing voice almost squeaked and his blush was back full force. He stuttered and waved his hands frantically in front of him to ward off the idea. "Oh, nonono. Nice I may be, but I am far from desirable. For example, there are people better. Someone who ages, or dies or....or will change physically at all. I will perpetually be as I am. Even if...even if...well...it will not change. Nothing will change. Physically, it will be as if it never happened. There's....really no point. And...well, I am a scholar." He finished lamely, looking away. He had rambled, and now he just figured he should shut his mouth.

Rein lifted his arm as Raye settled at his side, still not wanting to look at her. He rested the limb back down, lightly settled on her as he held the book open against his drawn up knees. He nodded silently and opened the book as Raye started, staring at the pictures.

"I'm still a woman, no matter what for I'm in." Her eyes rolled up to him and her lips teased apart into a grin. "Desirable, am I~?"

A chuckle rumbled through her. "I disagree with you there, darlin'. You're desirable. I'm sure there are plenty of people around that agree with me. Those qualities aren't all that bad, y'know? Not everyone ages, so having a lover that ages wouldn't be the best. I don't age. Well, I don't think I'll start ageing again, anyhow. And as for dying? My feelings go out to you. It's terrible to outlive someone you're close to."

She arched a brow. "'Even if it will not change'?" she repeated. "Can you not...?" She hoped to god he knew what she was asking. Another chuckle filled the air. "And? There are many scholars that can still uphold relationships."

She nuzzled closer to him when he dropped his arm around her and her eyes flicked over the page, reading it through before beginning the act of translating it for the boy.

Rein reluctantly looked down at Raye, face still a rather brilliant red. He nodded in acknowldegement, but he didn't know if it was a good thing she was a woman whether or not she was a wolf. Dealing with just a wolf might be easier for him right now. He tried a small smile.

"Really. I can commit suicide any time I want, but it certainly wont be pleasant. It's the age thing that is a problem. I'm a 47 year old in a 15 year old body. Relationships don't work..." The boy gave a small, weak laugh. His smile fell though and he gave her a reluctantly curious look.

"Can I not...what?" He seemed particularly reluctant to ask, as well he should be, considering the topic they were on. "Yes...I supposed scholars can hold relationships, but my existence is supposed to be dedicated to collecting and recording knowledge....besides I never really...thought about it. I-..." He sighed. Well, there was the majority of the truth, there. He had simply not often thought of having a sexual partner. He did not have someone compatible.

"I'm a hundred and sixty two year old in a nineteen year old body that can't see half of the sentient population of Earth and hasn't had one relationship that hasn't gone to the dogs - trust me, I know about relationships not working." Her eyes drifted over to the neat line of swords on the wall opposite. "But we've got to put effort into them to make them work, ne?"

She shook her head with a roll of her eyes and a small amused smirk. The boy was completely clueless in that area. "Doesn't matter."

"Supposed to be is the key phrase in that sentence. I don't know anyone that hasn't strayed. My life - as a Jinn - is supposed to be dedicated to destroying humans. I've killed less than five hundred in my life. And again, as a Hunter, I'm supposed to kill any Jinn that's fallen into their insanity. At the moment, I'm doing neither of those things."

Her head cocked to the side. "Huh... You hadn't thought about it, ne?" She could understand that. Quite honestly, if she hadn't met the right person, she wouldn't have thought about it, either.

She bowed to nudge the hand holding the book with her wet nose. "Are we gonna read or not?"

Rein scoffed lightly in amusement. "Then you should understand why I have had no relations with anyone." He inclined his head towards her slightly, raising an eyebrow. "My effort goes in to other things."

Puzzlement crossed his face again as Raye didn't clarify. He still had no idea what she was going to ask him before, but he wasn't about to press. For some reason, he didn't want to go down that topic. Rather, Rein just nodded and smirked.

"I guess the difference is you were born a Jinn, no? I was not born like this. I made myself a Lijk, I very purposefully chose this path. Though...I do suppose it's good you're not out killing people...though, I wouldn't mind if you gave me the bodies." He tilted his head and laughed. It was a joke...and it wasn't.

Rein was brought out of this musing, though, when a wet nose was pressed against his hand. He wasn't sensitive to temperature, but the moistness was well received and it startled him marginally. He apologized quickly and flipped the page.

"I do," she replied. And she really did. It was terrible seeing relationships fall through. So many times she had promised herself that she wouldn't get involved in another relationship because it was just so painful to see them crumble. And each and every time she had gone and got caught up in another relationship. "Other things; like collecting and recording information, ne?"

"I wasn't born a hunter, though. I chose that path myself." She cocked a brow up at him. "And let you reanimate them? Not a chance. They'd be out to kill me in cold blood. I...have a very particular Modus Operandi that really pisses my prey off. I don't want any of them coming back any time soon."

She translated the page for him - even going as far as to change her voice for each new role. She loved reading to people. She used to always read to her pups. The memories of her reading stories to her children using eccentric and wild voices and body movements had a soft smile forming on her face as she slumped against the boy, nuzzling her head against his side.

"Yes, actually." He chuckled lightly and looked down at the wolf. "And the corpses, once I reanimate them, they wont be your enemies anymore. It's not like I bring them back, really, I just take control over the body. They are in there, but they have to do as I say, as I'm the one supplying them with life." He explained in a factual tone, but then paused, blinked and flipped his hand. "Of course, it doesn't always work that way. I don't actually control my own power most of the time...and sometimes they do come back in to the body fully...and I can't really do anything about it...without like...re-killing them..." He blinked again a little owlishly, staring in to space in a contemplative way. "You know, I'm actually not sure how that works." He gave. The hand he flipped came up to tap at his chin thoughtfully before he shrugged. "Well, it's supposed to get more powerful with age. I'm really not that old yet, so who knows."

He looked back to the book as it was read to him, glancing over the pictures. Such a strange book...
Flipping the page, he wondered what the purpose behind the graphics were. Why not use text...?
It was an interesting way of preserving information though...no confusion as to what the characters looked like at least. As the head nuzzled in to his side, Rein absent-mindedly placed his hand down on the fur, stroking it gently and threading long cello-player's fingers through it, scratching lightly.

"They were't enemies. They were targets. The HA works kind of like human assassins... Someone needs to die, the HA sends someone to make it happen. But, with the people I killed, I'm actually not too sure if they'd remember me or not..." She stared at the wall opposite, brows furrowed in deep thought. "They were all... We'll call it possessed; that's one of the easiest ways of explaining it. They were all possessed when I killed them. Most of them didn't know me before the day that I killed them. And when you're possessed like that you have no memories of your life previous. After they died, would they revert back to how they were before they became possessed or would they continue on as if the moment of their death never happened?"

She didn't expect an answer from him. She was merely musing aloud.

"Most powers mature as we do. My phasing is supposed to. I'm just a dud." She chuckled to herself. By her age, she should be able to phase right into the ground. And if she had trained, she'd be able to use that as a mode of transport. But, as she stood with them, she'd never reach that level. Not in just a few short years. "And then there's the old phrase practise makes perfect that comes into play."

Her eyes slid closed and her head leaned into his hand. She didn't miss a beat in her translating, even with her eyes closed. Though, with the canine's equivalent of a purr rumbling through her chest, the voices that she had previously been using sounded slightly off.

"Ah." He acknowledged lamely, not sure what else to do. "I do not know." There was a uncomfortable pause, at least for Rein. Looking down at her, he chuckled lightly. "Well, practice or time doesn't necessarily make it any easier to learn initially though." He hummed lightly and looked over the pages in the book, blushing lightly at the strange purring noise coming from the wolf. It was strange for him, that is wolf he was currently petting was once a nice girl he had met.

Something thudded on the other side of the door and the boy jumped slightly. Staring wide-eyed at the wooden wall between them and a possibly-still-animated hostile zombie, Rein gulped.

"Right, sorry...I should...probably go clean that up..." He sighed and moved to shut the book and slip out from next to the wolf carefully, trying not to disturb her too badly. "I am sorry to have intruded, but I thank you for letting me use your room as a hide away for a bit." He gave a slightly sheepish and apologetic smile down at the wolf, but it was warm as well.