this ship is sinking

Sharp nails suddenly began to dig into Sam’s arms and he grit his teeth, the dull pain shooting up into his shoulders. “Let go, sweetheart. Before you do something you regret.” The hunter wasn’t afraid to defend himself if Lovell drew first blood. Given his rather extensive training and the pup’s lack of powers, he’d drop this poor kid in an instant. It wasn’t the first time he’d heard a supernatural creature drone on and on about how useless and stupid humans were. Regardless of how the speech went, they always made Sam laugh. Nothing was funnier than a sad monologue from a creature who thought themselves superior. Had Lovell actually gotten to know him, he would have realized Sam more or less agreed with him. Hell, he’d fallen in love with a wolf.

“What does that make you all then, hmm?” His patience was wearing thin and Lovell was going to lose another tooth if he wasn’t careful. “Humans aren’t the ones who created this fucked up place.” 

“The only thing in life I regret is trusting humans,” he spat. It wasn’t like Lovell was like the other supernaturals. When he was young, he’d been fascinated with the humans -- he’d enjoyed what seemed to be a peaceful way of life. It was different from the more primitive nature of the wolves, and he’d even sacrificed being with his pack in order to stay with the humans and integrate in their society. Until he’d screwed up and revealed what he was. 

Suddenly feeling himself shoved back to the ground by Lovell, Sam held back the urge to instantly clock the wolf in the jaw and throw him off. But he wasn’t stupid enough to waste his freedom by getting into a fight with some sad, whiny puppy. Deep brown eyes locked with glowing ones, his stare a smug one. He wasn’t intimidated by the glow of Lovell’s eyes knowing he lacked all the abilities a free wolf did and Sam didn’t need fangs and claws to be a deadly. The hunter chuckled, unconvinced and unsympathetic. The didn’t appreciate people who whined and played the victim. It was all rather pathetic to him. He’d been here five years and he was still this mopey? What a waste of energy.

Humans probably didn’t stay around the cells because they were smart. They were fragile and expendable. Why be accessible and abused by to the whole island of perverts when you could learn to live with just one of them? From what he understood, once he became someone’s property, he’d be protected. Of course that would be preferred. “Probably.” Sam smirked. “But have fun staying in the kennel.”

What else was he supposed to waste his energy on? It wasn’t like he was escaping. Even if he did escape, he was branded and would have his abilities limited. He wished he could just go off as a lone wolf and be left alone for however long his life was -- but he didn’t need that. Nails began to dig into Sam’s arms as Lovell got more and more irritated. Did this place not have enough money for two beach houses? Why would they put him with a human?

“So territorial.” Predictable, pathetically wolflike and childish. It was sad Lovell hadn’t changed his tune, Sam had really been willing to be friends. “Actually, yeah. And it was easy too.” Sam said after a long sigh. Though the carnival hadn’t in fact been easy, he wanted to ruffle the other’s feathers. He could play the victim game all night but he hardly felt like it, this was much more amusing. After all, the hunter would never allow himself to be a victim. He was always in control, doing just as he wished just…within the confines of these new, rather restrictive rules. “I’ve actually spent more time on the beach than I have in the cells which is a great win for me.” 

“Oh, I bet.” Sam said with a mocked sincerity.  “Quite frankly I’ve never been more thankful to be human. Must be fuckin’ brutal just sitting there trapped in your own skin. I feel bad for you, sweetheart.”

If Lovell was childish, then Sam was too. Who else would sit there and poke at a wounded wolf? The more the other talked, the more agitated Lovell got until he was up and tackling Sam to the ground. Brown, honestly puppy like eyes, glared down at Sam. “You talk like you know this place or what you’ve gotten into,” he snarled, his eyes glowing dangerously -- though it was one of the only abilities he got to keep with the seal on him. “But you don’t. I’ve been here for five years and I have every right to be pissed, every right to be a wounded animal.” He allowed his face to hover right above the human’s. “I'm sure you’ll eventually be someone’s bitch just to get out of the cells. Seems to be what a lot of you humans do.”

“It’s a nice fire,” Sam said with a shrug, his arms crossing over his chest. “Nice night too.” The slave cast a quick glance up at the star covered sky. It had been quite a while since he had the opportunity to enjoy such a view. He wasn’t going to let a grumpy wolf ruin it. “You can leave if I make you that uncomfortable.” A tight lipped smile passed his lips. “Plenty of beach and house for both of us.”

“So no skinny dippin’ under the full moon, huh?” Sam teased dryly. 

“If you say so.” Lovell was not in a place of mind where he saw the positive of all this. “I’m not leaving. I was here first,” he huffed. If there was one thing the wolf was, he was stubborn. “I guess it’s easy to be in a good mood because you’ve gotten a week of freedom after only being here a few days, huh?” After five years, the mind might have gotten a bit warped.

“Cute. But the full moon is painful with this seal.”

Sam couldn’t help but roll his eyes at Lovell’s hostility. He’d barely approached the other and already it seemed he was looking for a fight. Taking a deep breath before sitting near the fire, Sam attempted to calm himself. It wasn’t his fault he was agitated though. With the full moon so close it was probably only natural. He couldn’t imagine what it felt like being unable to change as a wolf. “Not particularly…” 

The hunter placed another log on the fire with a shrug. “Guess I just wanted to see how you’re holding up.” The flames that nipped at his hands were a reminder of all the terrible tasks he’d done to be here. “You done any swimming? The water’s nice.”

“Then why are you here?” He couldn’t help but be short. He didn’t want to be on this stupid island. He couldn’t even enjoy the nice parts of it with everything in the back of his head. Yeah, the place was beautiful but it was a prison. A prison was a prison no matter how pretty.

He curled into himself as Sam continued to speak. “As well as one can. I think this bit of supposed freedom is. It’s just a tease. A lie.” He scowled further. “No. I haven’t done any swimming. One of the Masters who is fond of me likes to go to the sea often anyways.”

The wolf was spread out on the beach, staring at the ocean as a dimly lit fire stayed up near him. He really didn’t know what else to do and honestly felt rather lost. After five years of slavery, what was he supposed to do with a week of freedom?

“Is there something you want?” he grumbled upon hearing footsteps approach him.

“Yeah…just got here.” So it was obvious he was fresh meat. Watching the other sniff the air, Sam assumed the other was a wolf. Given their current situation, it didn’t bother him in the slightest. The two were in the same boat and there was no use for his judgements now. Five years? Shit, no wonder the guy was jumpy. How the hell had he lasted that long here? “Name’s Sam by the way.” Not the he’d care. But given how long the guy had been here, maybe he could get some insights from him on who to avoid. 

Lovell watched the other warily as he introduced himself. It was clear that he had no intent on leaving the area, so it was probably useless being grumpy at him. “My name is Lovell,” he murmured softly. “Why are you so intent in sitting in front of my cell though?” It was also weird how calm the other seemed despite being new in a situation like this.

Wasn’t this one an absolute peach. But alright. Sam should have expected a stupid answer to a stupid question. “Fair enough.” The hunter shrugged and slumped against one of the walls. “How long you been here?”

And he was going to stay. Of course. Scooching closer to the bars, he sniffed the air around the other before groaning. A human. “Five years. I’m assuming you’re new though.” Most slaves weren’t this talkative, or maybe Lovell just wasn’t usually that friendly. 

“In my experience, bad smelling flowers have a tendency to make people much sadder when they’re already grieving.” Noah grabbed a binder from the bookshelf behind his desk and set it down to flip through the pages. “But I’m glad to hear things are going okay. I can’t really say much else to help…” Noah admittedly did engage in his own activities with those from Infernum. Some work related – as apparent by Lovell. And some not so work related. “So on today’s agenda, we have to pick some flowers out for a funeral coming up. The spouse has made the request that they must be vibrant so the prettier, the better. And after that we’ve got some… not so fun tasks. But it’ll keep you out of Infernum for a bit.”

“Maybe. I don’t know. The only thing I’ve ever grieved is my freedom,” he replied with a shrug. As for Noah’s partaking in Infernum, it was probably better for their relationship that Lovell simply didn’t think about it. After all, it was currently easy to see the other as a friend instead of a master. “How bad are the not so fun tasks? Rotting corpses? Corpses in pieces? Comforting people?”

Sam spent most of his time now quietly watching and listening. It was the way he learned best and in a place like this, his gut told him he’d better learn fast. Apparently, it was now free time and he’d been given two hours of it. How generous of his new keepers. Itching at the new tattoo on his arm, the hunter watched the figure curled up on the floor. Seemed this place had done quite the number on him. Concerning. He guessed this time was about as good a time as any to start making friends and figuring out what this place was. “You alright there, bud?”

Lovell glanced up at the other in front of him before wrinkling his nose and letting out a soft growl. “Am I alright?” he asked. “Really?” Was this one stupid? Perhaps he was new. There were no slaves that were alright in Corpus. “No one who lives in this place is alright.”

“I can’t say that I know Eric personally,” Noah isn’t much sure that he actually wanted to know the vampire either. “Careful with who you owe in this world. I’ve learned far too many times that being in someone’s debt can spell disaster. Remind me to tell you the rose bush story one of these days…” Noah shuddered. One of his not so fond memories when his inability to pick up on some things got him into trouble. “And I tend to end up with corpses on my doorstep and don’t mind them, but other people aren’t so fond of them. I’d prefer you not to meet the wrath of Rae. I like you in one piece.” Noah reached out finally, deciding what the fuck to do with his hands and ruffling up Lovell’s hair. “Do you want anything before you go back out? I’ve got hot chocolate made. Also there’s some delicious cheesecake.” A result of his sweet tooth.

Well, he could do that. His place wasn’t too far. “You’ve really had one helluva night.” With a sigh, he moved to finish his beer before he tossed it into a nearby trash can and made his way back over to Lovell. “Alright then, let’s go.” Leander said as he walked over to the other wolf and wasted no time in lifting him up and over his shoulder. He said carry him, so Leander would do just that. “If you throw up down my back, I’ll drop ya.” And he wouldn’t hesitate. He’d been thrown up on enough times by other people in much different situations, he wasn’t about to have that happen again tonight. Leander started his way toward the docks where his house was located. “Color me curious, why the fuck bother with it all? I get it, there’s a reward. But they ain’t about to give you your freedom.”

Noah felt shock double-fold. One because Lovell was so close and it was still taking some adjustment to having a wolf around. And two, the mention witch had Noah on high alert. There could really only be one witch that was being referred to and Noah wasn’t too keen on that. “Leave Rae alone, she has enough on her plate to deal with and I’ll have to be the one to clean it up.” An easy task but not one that Noah was particularly keen on taking time out of his day to do. “And don’t trust all vampires, Lovell. Some of them are good but some of them are just wanting to create chaos.” He set the folder down and turned to Lovell, hands awkwardly trying to find a place for themselves before he just slipped them into his pockets. “Try dropping it off at the Alpha’s or the King, I’m sure one of them would enjoy that.”

While Lovell rejected much of his species, being born a wolf meant he still had very wolfish tendencies...like invading peoples’ personal bubble. Really, Lovell was a giant puppy more than a wolf. “I don’t trust Eric,” he replied quickly. “But I owe him for healing me now anyways. I think most people on this island want chaos. It’s just the nature of living here.” He watched the other’s awkward movements curiously. He would have thought Noah would be more used to him. “I mean, does anyone like corpses on their doorstep?”