Blue moon and Red Fire

Chapter 10: Blue Moon

It didn't repress for long, it seemed like an ominous repetitiveness of receding and returning some how stronger then ever. Worse then ever.

The storm outside left no doubt that it was nothing short of a blizzard, the heavy flakes of pure white snow were pushed in a torrent of strong winds that howled in the night, pounding on everything in it's wake like a raging river. Thick, black clouds covered the sky making the night darker then usual, everything was darker then usual that night...

Houjo didn't know when he woke up, it was hard to tell because a strange thing happened to him that night. For whatever reason might cause it he fell asleep with his eyes open, half-lidded in a manner reminiscence of a zombie. When he awakened he found himself still staring at the ceiling as he had been doing for hours before he became conscious, which is why it was hard to tell.

He could hear it, outside the window, the harsh winds pounding against the glass making it rattle in it's frame. 'Hn...' He was in the living room, some how he'd drifted off of the couch and ended up on the floor in front of it. Souta was upstairs sleeping in his bed and had been for a good portion of the day, the medicine Houjo had gotten for him made him drowsy. Inuyasha of course stayed with him since he had nothing better to do and though he would never admit it he was worried about him.

Houjo placed his hands behind him and pushed himself up, that's when he realized he was clinching at the Shikon jewel shard hanging from his neck in a nervous habit. 'Hmm...' He turned towards the window but it was in vain, visibility was just about zero with the blanket of black clouds covering the sky and the haze of snow. It was... truth be told kinda creepy, he could barely see his hand in front of his face and wouldn't have been able to if it had not been for the various, small lights scattered through out the house.

He understood everything a little better now, if Souta's parents were gone, and if Kagome was gone. It would be just about impossible to get back in weather like this, it had to be a record for snowfall.

That only left a few other mysteries to be solved, and maybe if he was patient he'd figure a few of them out. 'I've never seen it so bad out there.' He continued to stare out of the window, just barely able to make out a portion of the actual snow in the darkness. 'I wonder when it will stop...'

A moan, muddled with sleep, sounded from beside him. “Houjo... do you know how late it is?” With a heavy yawn and a light stretch, Kouga sat up, blue eyes rapidly growing in consciousness. He must have been in a fairly light sleep. “What is it?”

Houjo shook his head, still tightly holding the chain in his hand through is open shirt. “Nothing.”

Kouga rubbed the side of his face and leaned closer, to make sure the expression he was seeing wasn't being misread. Kouga had considerably better night vision then Houjo. “Yeah right. What's bothering you?”

Houjo stared at him silently for a moment before he sighed and let go of the chain. “I don't know, I just have a bad feeling. It's kinda like this...brooding saddness. I don't know why it's there but I just don't feel right.”

“Hn...” Kouga nodded in agreement, he currently was experiencing something similar. “I know the feeling...”

If Houjo didn't know any better, he'd swear he could see the faintest glow of red in Kouga's eyes.

“I know just what will make you feel better.” Kouga said with an impish tone to his voice, abruptly he grabbed Houjo by the shoulders and pushed him back down to the ground. With his usual swift movements Kouga was on his knees above Houjo pinning him down before the boy even realized it.

“Kouga... I don't think that this will help-” Houjo was cut off by soft lips pressing against his, the rest of his words were incoherently muffled until Houjo decided to give up on speaking. He only closed his eyes and allowed Kouga's tongue to slip into his mouth, feeling every seemingly experienced movement as the wolf slid graciously around with a reserved passion. Houjo corresponded accordingly, mingling with Kouga's tongue between their parted lips. He was sure he felt fangs.

Well may not make him feel better but it couldn't hurt.

Kouga hands pressed against his cooled chest pass the open shirt, slowly drifting down his torso. Houjo winced slightly when he felt the unexpected sting of claws against his skin, he was beginning to wonder if Kouga even realized the subtle transformation he was taking on.

A completely oblivious Kouga lent forward and pushed himself deeper into the kiss, what passion there had been being held back came forward in full force so suddenly that it surprised Houjo. His hands took a hold of Houjo's waist and held on with a tight grip, the boy's cheeks flushed when he heard a small growl from the Youkai. If Kouga wasn't sure of what was happening to him before he had to be sure of it now.

Finally Kouga pulled back from the kiss, leaving Houjo panting for air, something about that kiss made it hard to breath. Either that or he'd managed to somehow forget during the course of it, it had been so intense that that thought seemed viable. Kouga smirked in his usual arrogant way as he ran his tongue across Houjo's cheek and drifted down to his jaw, trailing with small licks and kisses down to his neck.

His claws nearly tore the fabric when Kouga slipped his fingers into the waist band of Houjo's pants. By now a full erection was peeking out of the fur covering Kouga's lower body, with a grunt of frustration from the constricting fabric he lifted off of the boy just enough to slip off the constricting fabric, leaving him completely naked since that was all he had been wearing on account of his a excessive heat through out the day.

With that small obstruction gone, Kouga returned his mouth to Houjo's neck and pushed his fingers down into Houjo's pants. “Kouga...you...” Houjo was cut off by a loud exhale that forced it's way out with a pant, he couldn't help but notice how much deeper Kouga's transformation had gotten. He was about to say something by the as unable to finish. Fangs grazed against his collar bone, claws were almost uncomfortably digging into the flesh of his pelvis.

“Heh...” Kouga's fingers swiftly unbuttoned the fabric that he was only a few seconds away from ripping off, almost impatiently Kouga pulled down and tossed away the clothing, leaving Houjo in nothing more then an open black shirt and white boxers. “You wear too many clothes.” Kouga mumbled accusingly. His claws stretched the woven cloth to it's limits while Kouga nearly tore them off trying to remove them.

With just about all clothing out of his way, the wolf laid himself on top of Houjo, letting out a satisfied growl at the connection as he rested for a moment on the taller form.

Having Kouga laying naked on top of him only farther hardened his erection, Houjo let out a soft groan at the feeling of both of their members pressed against each other almost teasingly. He couldn't stop himself from bucking his hips upward and rubbing his cock between himself and Kouga's torso force upon him. “Aha....”

Kouga returned his hands to Houjo's waist and pushed him back down, though it was unclear if it was in a controlling manner or just one prompting him to be patient. Another small string of kisses lined Houjo's neck down shoulder, where Kouga paused with out explanation. He seemed to become fixed on the spot where he'd marked Houjo before as soon as he saw it again, he stared at it, almost as if he'd never seen it before. After a moment of this Kouga seemed to decide to go forward and run his tongue over them as if they were still fresh wounds.

Seemingly finished with is fixation on that area or finally taking notice of Houjo's needy, almost whimpering moans, Kouga lifted himself up, his hands still firmly planted on Houjo's waist. That same, hungry, confident smirk still hinted at the edge of his mouth as he moved himself upward just enough to sit on Houjo's chest almost as if he was pinning him down, like he'd just caught his pray. Instinctively Houjo lifted his head and wrapped his mouth around the awaiting cock sitting in front of him.

A small grunt pushed it's way out of Kouga's mouth almost immediately, his whole body tensed under the sensitive administrations. Houjo gently sucked Kouga's member, sliding his warm lounge over the heated flesh while being sure to move extra slowly over the sides since the Youkai's legs twitched against his shoulders every time he did that. “H-Houjo...” Kouga tilted his head back with whimpering moan, something that sounded like a small pup crying out.

Kouga winced slightly and finally he fell forward, but managed to plant his hands down on the ground above Houjo's head and catch himself. He was easily more sensitive during this type of situation then Houjo was, who was starting to realize that by his strong reactions.

Kouga began panting though he hadn't been doing anything to particularly make him lose his breath like this, he couldn't even seem to control himself enough to sit still, or keep quite for that matter. “Uhaa...” Unable to take anymore of this, what felt like a teasing, action, Kouga pulled his hips back and drew himself out of Houjo's mouth sharply. With his purpose served, Kouga quickly lifted himself off of Houjo's chest, leaving the boy to look up at him questioningly with out knowing what exactly was to come next.

“Heh heh.” Kouga's smirk returned, fangs peaking out from past his lips and his eyes glowing with a blood red light from some foreign surge that only came about during heat. Kouga relocated himself in front of Houjo, lifting one of the boy's legs on to his shoulder though pausing to guide his awaiting cock to Houjo's entrance, twitching with tense anticipation.

Those eyes didn't seem as menacing as they once had to Houjo, for some reason right now, in near pitch black, with a fierce storm raging outside. Right now, that actually seemed comforting, maybe it was the pheromones Kouga was emitting or his Houjo's former uneasiness, but he liked them much more then before. '!!' “K-Kouga!!” Houjo bit down hard on his lip to repress his voice when he felt the hard length push roughly into him.

Kouga held on tightly to Houjo's leg resting on his shoulder and wrapped his other arm the boy's waist before he pushed forward again, thrusting his cock into the slick heat of Houjo's body. He pulled back nearly all the way before he drove himself in again just as hard and rough as the previous time. Self control was lost now, replaced by a driving animal instinct that echoed in his head passed all other thought.

Houjo yelped sharply when another hard thrust pushed Kouga's length completely into him, stretching his inner muscles painfully around the large cock. Kouga's claws dug into his skin hard enough to draw blood, the wolf noticed it's arousing scent as soon as the crimson liquid began to flow and his senses were overwhelmed by it's appeal. With his desire growing a good measure, Kouga lent forward sharply and fell on to Houjo's chest, a large amount of his focus shifting to the small amount of his mate's blood coating his claws and finger tips.

“Ahhaa...Kouga!” Houjo's back arched upward off of the ground, inhaling Kouga's super imposed scent that was so close now that Kouga was laying on top of him with each air starved, panted breath. It hurt, but there was an equal deal of pleasure that came along with all of this. The forceful intrusions of Kouga's cock pounding into him with long, quick thrust brought along a strong pleasurable sensation that washed over him with each one, that feeling seemed to be farther intensified by the pain that came along with it.

Kouga inhaled the uninhibited sent of the boy below him, running his lounge over Houjo's shoulder with out losing a bit of his pace of thrusting. “Houjo...” With a deep, low growl, Kouga pressed his mouth against Houjo's skin and drove his fangs into the old bite mark that resided there, lost in the throws of overwhelming instinct.

“Kouga!!” Houjo couldn't repress the outcry that rose out of him, his body tensed with a sharp spasm and he wrapped his arms tightly around Kouga's neck as to steady himself while he came. The thick white seed spurted from his cock pressed between there two bodies, spilling on to Houjo's stomach with a loud moan.

Kouga still didn't lose any bit of his pace as he came right after, his only dug his teeth harder into the tanned flesh and pushed cock into the lightly convulsing warmth with a few last jabbing thrust. “!!” Kouga threw his head back with an uninhibited howl as a stream of cum rushed out from his softening member, quickly filled Houjo.

Much more tired then before, Kouga put his hands down before he fell on to Houjo and paused to catch his breath.

He wasn't sure what it was, or how this seemed to happen constantly, but in the silence that followed in the moments after Kouga's ears seemed to tune into something specific. The howling winds outside tuned out to him completely as Kouga listened to Houjo's pounding heartbeat. That strange, erratic pulse that just barely held a steady beat to it at all seemed to calm everything his mind, he could only focus on it, that sound, and nothing else... The wolf smiled, he didn't know why, but he loved listening to it.

With breath regained, Kouga began to run his tongue over the wounds he'd caused with gentle, soothing licks. It was an oddly canine like action, though that wasn't surprising that the heat induced transformation hadn't even reverted yet. “Feel better?”

At first Houjo was about to dismiss the question with an indifferent answer until he realized, “Acutally...Yeah, I do.” Houjo nodded, that uneasy feeling he had before was gone and he could finally relax.

With the bleeding from all three spots completely stopped Kouga rested his head on Houjo's chest, gently tucked beneath his chin, and curled up next to him. “Yeah...now go to sleep.” Kouga yawned, he wrapped his arms around Houjo's torso and allowed himself to drift off again, rather quickly.

'Hn...he must have been sleepy...' Houjo rested his arm on top of Kouga and with that he finally felt comfortable again... though someplace in the back of his mind... 'Huh?' Houjo nearly flinched with a dim light appeared on his chest, 'Is that...'

Houjo slowly reached down and pressed his finger against the source of the light...it was the Shikon Jewel shard, glowing with a small velvet radiance. “Wow...It's so cool.” Houjo clinched it tightly in his fist and held it against his heart, he could feel a small warmth from deep in his chest... It really felt like it was apart of him, his most prized possession.

But why was it glowing? Was it reacting to something? Maybe it was reacting to him, or Maybe it was reacting to whatever had been making him feel uneasy, Maybe that something was somewhere around. It may have just been reacting to something else, something around him. But what could that be? 'Maybe it's because of Kouga?'

! - ! - !
! - ! - !

He wasn't really sure what woke him up, he felt so sluggish and sleepy that there was no way he could have woken up on his own.

Inuyasha opened his eyes with an odd feeling he couldn't quite place, something that made a chill wash over his body like a wave, and before he barely had time to realize the feeling it was gone. The first time he felt it he didn't even pay attention, the second time either, or the third, that's how faint it was. But by the fifth time he started to notice, now he was waiting for it to happen again. 'Wh-what is that...'

Half lidded golden eyes rolled over the dark room with unusually jerky movements, he could barely see anything since the usual traces of outside light didn't make it through the window as they normally did. Souta was sleeping peacefully beside him, what ever medicine Houjo had given him seemed to have worked since there hadn't been a sneeze or so much as a sniffle in hours. That was good.

Houjo and Kouga were probably still down stairs sleeping, no doubt about that since it was the middle of the night. So what was it?

Inuyasha forced himself to get out of the very comfortable bed to trudge around the room that seemed much colder with out the warmth of the blankets he'd formerly been sleeping under. He could tell that this temperature difference wasn't the source of the sensation that made him feel like his blood was running cold and heating back up again in the blink of an eye, but what was it? Was it just some strange thing that came about only when he was in heat?

“Geez, I've never seen so much snow fall so fast.” Inuyasha peered out of the window, though unable to see anything but the white powder shrouded in the dark of night...

'?' Another chill ran through him like a shudder, this time a little stronger, 'Is that coming from outside?' It wasn't as strong before, the cause must have been someplace in this direction.

With curiosity getting the better of him, Inuyasha pulled open the window, an action met with a burst of cold air, and jumped out, sure to close it behind him. Now that he was outside he found he could see even less then before, the cold winds sent a flurry of heavy, wet snow washing over him like a strong wave from a stormy ocean. That combined with the dead of night and the thick black clouds permitted no light passed a 20ft radius, leaving everything pitch back. He'd never seen a night like this.

That inward chill came again, even stronger, it was almost completely over shadowed by the freezing cold forced on him externally. 'It's... coming from above.' Inuyasha, who thankfully knew the house's structure, crouched down on freezing surface and lept upward. He couldn't believe his eyes when he landed on the roof. 'Whoa...'

Light.

Light, the only light around on this hopeless night. A single ray of silver light shone through an odd break in the clouds that was just large enough to make out the full moon through. The clouds drifted around the break like a parting river forking off into two path before reconvening at the end of an obstruction, and that single ray of light shined down on a single spot on the roof, on Kouga.

The wolf hanyou sat crouched down in the torrent of heavy snow that covered the slanted surface in a very canine manner. His tail moved in slow and calm sweeps across the snow, his hands planted on the ground before him with his head tilted upward towards the moon. In the silver light his fangs could be seen clearly protruding from his mouth far beyond their normal reach, glowing red eyes and pupils shifted into animalistic slits. Kouga closed his eyes a let out a deep howl, causing another inward chill to shudder through Inuyasha's body.

'He's so... different.' Inuyasha thought to himself, watching the sight with light amazement. “Kouga?”

Kouga glanced back over his shoulder with a growl, until he realized it was Inuyasha, at which point the growl turned into a snort. “Inuyasha.”

“What are you doing out here? It's the middle of the night?” Inuyasha forced himself to close his mouth, which had been hanging open, and walked forward. It was notably harder when the snow was this deep, but he could only scoff to himself and keep moving. 'Damnit, I hate snow.'

“What's wrong mutt, you've never been in a little snow?” Kouga teased, he closed his eyes and smirked with amusement.

“A little?” Inuyasha stood behind him overbearingly, steeping into the bright ray of light that made everything seem dark by comparison. He squinted and lifted his arm over his eyes to shield himself from some of the blinding light. “What about this do you consider little? It's a goddamn blizzard out here.”

“Whatever, It's nothing I can't handle.” Kouga said arrogantly, he looked up at Inuyasha with a victorious look in his red eyes. “Of course I understand if you can't stand the cold. I guess it's to be expected from a mutt.”

Inuyasha yawned and blinked at the bright light he was shrouded in. “I never said I couldn't.” He growled back, though he couldn't stop a small shiver from creeping up his spine from the cold.

This didn't go unnoticed by Kouga. “Heh, I knew you couldn't take it, go back in side mutt.”

“You know you have a lot of mouth you mangy wolf.” Inuyasha shot back, growing offensively. “Even in the middle of the night. Do you ever shut off?”

“Mouth huh?” Kouga sprang to his feet and turn towards Inuyasha with a hard glare, holding his fist a little to close to be simple threatening. “You never give it a rest huh Inuyasha, your all talk.”

“Really” Inuyasha smirked anticipatly, resting his hand on the hilt of the Tetsusaiga. “You wanna see how much talk I am?”

Kouga's eyes flared up and his slightly extending claws dug into his palm tensely. “Yeah, lets see if you got as much bite as you have bark dog boy.”

Inuyasha took a hard step forward, leaning towards Kouga about to draw the Tetsugaiga... though unfortunately that step was much too hard and rattled the roof's surface. And those sharp vibrations loosened the heavy snowfall just enough to cause a small avalanche. “!!” Inuyasha jumped back as the snow began sliding off of the slanted surface like a rapid river, he was able to land on the chimney safely out of the way.

Kouga however had been to focused on Inuyasha to realize what was happening until it was too late. “Whoooaaaaa!” the sheer amount of downward shifting snow swept him off his feet and sent him tumbling off of the roof in a torrent of it.

A highly amused Inuyasha was overwhelmed with laughter, very heavy laughter. Between that and the snow he could barely breath as he jumped down off of the stone structure and made his way over to the edge. “Heh heh, stupid wolf.” He was just in time to see Kouga dangling over the edge, just barely holding on by his claws. “What's wrong, it's just a little snow.” He said mockingly

“Inuyasha you-”

He was cut off when Inuyasha stomped down hard, causing Kouga to lose what little grip he had and tumble down into the darkness and snow three stories down. “Ha ha ha! That what you get!” Inuyasha laughed, and just as soon as he spoke those words out a large snowball came sailing up through the darkness and right not to his face. “Damn you.” With his amusement ruined, Inuyasha wiped away the snow from his face and shook it out of his hair. Another one immediately followed afterworlds and struck him in the chest and a third hit him in the face.

“It's not so funny now huh!” With his usual speed Kouga appeared beside Inuyasha, growling furiously. His eyes were different now, instead of the glowing red that had once been there, now resided it's usual deep blue. Only they were glowing with the same radiance the red ones had, and his body still seemed to be under the effects of induced heat. The fangs and the claws were still their extended size, though noticeably the markings on his face had become bolder, outlined in a deep red. Maybe this was just a different, stronger variations of the Heat's effects.

Inuyasha didn't notice, by the time he'd wiped the snow out of his face he'd saw a different sight of the wolf tribe leader. Kouga was completely plastered in snow and ice, his face the most but it was also embedded in his hair and his tail, especially the fur he wore. When Inuyasha saw the sight he laughed again, even harder then the last time. “Yeah it is!”

Kouga had finally caught on to what Inuyasha was laughing at and angrily shook himself to rid himself of the snow on his face... By then another chill shook through Inuyasha's body, one that made him freeze completely. '...Wh-What... is that?' Inuyasha looked around in confusion, where was that feeling coming from, what was causing it?

He looked to Kouga and took a noticeable moment to look upon the changes that had come about. Before he had time to inquire about them another chill bore through him, much different from the cold surrounding him on the outside. “What happened to you?”

Kouga rubbed his head and laughed. “Geez, you really are a moron. You should look at yourself.”

“Huh?” Inuyasha looked frantically over his body trying to figure out what Kouga was talking about. He moved with quick steps to the ray of light that shone oddly on that single spot near the center of the room, completely unmoving, to his delight a small spot of it had frozen over giving it a reflective sheen. There he could see his appearance. And where ever Kouga's glowing eyes had went he seemed to find them since his eyes were shining a bright crimson, purple lines showed boldly on his face like poisoned claw marks, and his own fangs had grown visibly... that must have been what woken him up, this transformation.

Kouga climbed up the small slope with slow steps, returning to his spot at the center of the moon's ray. “You feel it to don't you?” Kouga sat down hard, tilting his head upward again and staring at the flurry of falling snowflakes that came like the rains of a hurricane. He felt like he was in the spot light, in the center of a dark stage, completely alone... Except for Inuyasha.

And for that moment he seemed to forget his strong dislike of the other hanyou in favor something else, at the moment it was just too much work. “Houjo had said something before that something didn't feel right, I guess I should have noticed it then.”

Inuyasha seemed to do the same. “Noticed what?”

Kouga smirked nervously, like someone who had just excepted their own death and found a black humor or a sense of irony in it. “I don't know... but don't you feel it too? Some thing's off. Somethings not right. Something is-”

“Out of place.” Inuyasha announced. Maybe that was the chills he was getting, maybe that's why it got worse when he went outside, what ever it was may just have been out here... Maybe it was out of a common interest or an estranged... for lack of a better word, respect. But for the second time they forget about their general dislike of each other, like when Souta...

Flashes of what Kouga had said ran through Inuyasha's mind...

Kouga's body glimmered in the silver light that intensified his glowing blue eyes, his mouth opened wide with fangs bared and he howled. One that made Inuyasha shudder for a different reason then the other times when he heard it, it was filled with uncertainty, a sense of sadness, even loneliness, it was so clear that it was unmissable.

Even Inuyasha noticed it, something also wasn't right with Kouga. 'What's wrong with him?' Inuyasha just stood back and listened, a small wondering forming.

Something changed.

An aura rose up from the wolf, a deep blue energy that caused the winds themselves to shift and blow in the direction he was facing. Pounding at his back with it's full furry and ruffling his tail in the strong current. Kouga didn't even seemed to notice. He only opened his mouth and bellowed out another howl, one holding that same deep seated sadness that came with the last.

Then the single ray of light expanded outward like a flood large enough to encompass the whole roof's surface, with it more and more of the sliver rays broke through he deep black clouds causing more spot lights to form throughout the darkness. From here they seemed like strings of light that ran across the ground with the clouds and the wind, like one.

“K-Kouga?!” Inuyasha looked around, unable to hide the amazement in his eyes nor his voice as he basked the moon light that seemed to shimmer like an ocean when the sun struck it just right with the small shavings of ice and heavy snow hanging in the air kicked up by the wind.

It was a brilliant sight to see as more and more of those shimmering rays formed in the distance, a single light in a sea of darkness. Kouga opened his eyes and stared outward, immersing himself in the surreal artwork like beauty, he felt... apart of it, like he was painting his own masterpiece. And he wasn't finished yet. He shut his eyes tightly and tried his best to burn this vision, this experience in to his memory. The cold and pure white snow of winter that hung in the air, the ice that sparkled when moonlight hit it, the ray he currently resided in that took advantage of all of these.

Another howl forced it's way out, the calm aura around him shone even brighter with more deeply rooted loneliness hidden someplace inside of him.

The winds picked up in a flurry of scattering snow flakes that swirled around like leaves in the mist of fall. The bright ray shining down on them suddenly widened even farther as the dark clouds swept away if like dust in the wind and the moonlight washed over everything. With the clouds went the snowfall, and storm, leaving behind a sea of stars to replace the ocean of darkness and a completely full blue moon that seemed to be shinning only on Kouga.

He felt like he alone in that sea at the moment, only him, and Inuyasha.

“How did you do that?” Inuyasha felt like a child, an impressed child anxious to learn how the most amazing thing they had ever seen worked. He could only stare at Kouga standing before him, framed by the largest moon he'd ever seen.

“I... don't know.” Kouga shrugged as he lifted himself on to his feet, he walked passed Inuyasha in the clearly illuminated roof top, his head downcast. He felt like he'd just realized something, something depressing, maybe that had been why his howls sounded so saddened. “I bet you wish you could do something like that?”

Inuyasha quickly looked away from him and snorted. “It wasn't that impressive, don't get ahead of yourself Kouga.”

Something about that made Kouga smirk as he lifted his head. “You just can't admit anything can you mutt.” He sigh exaggeratedly, stopping at the edge of the slanted surface. “I don't know why anyone puts up with someone as stubborn as you.” He said, just before he jumped off.

Inuyasha was tempted by the idea of going after him, but even he didn't feel like it, right now it just seemed like too much work. “Whatever.” He was much too busy thinking about what he had just heard in Kouga's voice, it struck a curiosity that he didn't feel like dealing with. “Damn wolf.”