Stalking had easily and quickly became one of Ira’s favorite past times, stalking the length of the borders, watching them all, observing and scrutinizing as he slunk in the leeching shadows, eyes hungry with the knowledge he absorbed from simply watching and listening. Patience had not been a virtue that Ira often dabbled in but with each trip it expanded becoming Ira’s friend over and over. Patience bore fruit, and the more he practiced it the better it became. He had found quickly that, eventually if he only waited and exhibited his new friend in patience he would eventually get what he wanted. Selfish to the core, that was the ultimate motivator for the insolent youth. What he wanted. Some things he could not have right when he wanted it - things that were out of anyone’s (namely his) control.

This patience was how he knew, eventually, Jinx would come. Of course she did not know (and if she did she made no show of it) he was waiting for her - his Amazonian warrior Goddess; but he knew. He was at the cusp of the wardens’ districts ended and mixed, the scent of the man she had worn, salty and musk one night. Ira had not commented upon it but the jealousy had raged and seethed under his skin like an infection. It had taken resistance to not hunt down this male and tell him to keep away from Jinx because she was Ira’s, and his alone. It was a dark thing, this need for possession, and shallow to want to be the center of the Kesuk’s attentions. Not to mention of Jinx realized Ira felt that way she would likely entirely disagree with him and tell him to get lost.

Yet, Ira could not help it. She was his Guardian, and he had been there for her when no one else (or so he likes to think anyway) when no one else was, as he would always be. Wrath and Envy had wreaked havoc upon Ira’s insides that night, battling to see which deadly sin was truly that: the deadliest. The whisper of his thoughts were chased away when he scented and heard Jinx’s approach, as he had predicted (or rather hoped), but he did not reveal himself until she spun and started to backtrack.

“Jinx,” He called to her, fierce eyes - a forever icy blue - seeking her form in a familiar greedy fashion.

Ira had promised her that he would work upon honing his skills and his ability to keep his word was likely one of his extremely few and far in-between good qualities. Not that he had a clear grasp on what was cohesively ‘good’ and ‘bad’. In reality, such concepts were just words to him with no deeper meaning than the surface. In a way, the lack of possession on a moral compass as things cross fired within him was kind of ironic given the deadly sins and heavenly virtues that were unknowingly battling it out within him rooting and growing like a seedling in the earth as he developed. “Good,” Ira breathed, accepting her invitation as she gestured for him to join her. It was as close as he would probably ever get to a ‘thank you’. He offered Jinx a charming smile, pleased that she had given him praise. “That sounds like a great time,” Ira concluded noting the wistful tone her voice had taken, studying her wiry smile before his gaze fell to their projected path though in honesty, he was merely following her. Most days and nights Ira felt like he was intruding in on a grievance that he had no business sharing with her, and while there had been a certain amount of jealousy of the life that Jinx had carried, and a horrid amount of hidden happiness that they were not there to compete with him for her attention, now, Ira could feel her pain and he wanted direly to take it away from her. Maybe they could have stolen her attention from him, and his curse meant that he could never have loved them but maybe it didn’t have to be so cut and dry as ‘me or them’. Of course, it wasn’t a concern anymore. “Maybe someday we could do it together,” Ira spoke the other half of his thoughts aloud in a suggestive tone. “Sneak into another pack’s territory and place a hex.” He added as an afterthought.

Not that Ira knew much of anything about hexes. He knew the simplistic power of a talisman because it was all wolf made, but hexes were fairly new to him (though since he was vehement about his curse they really shouldn’t have been). It was true that Jinx had on several occasions mentioned Gods that had brought them together - the warrior Goddess and the insolent Princeling - but her detail had ended there and Ira had never inquired not really sure if he believed in anything beyond what he knew or not.

His guardian’s affectionate nip sent shivers slithering down his spine but Ira ignored them, instead smiling in a decidedly half wicked and half angelic manner at her, “Perhaps,” the Princeling let on elusively, as if it were some sort of massive secret. In truth, it wasn’t. She was right. He had been waiting for her, though his desires were as simple as just wanting to spend time in her presence. She was busy these days with aiding Fox as the Beta, and though Ira had no choice but to accept this he would carve out time for her regardless. If she decided to indulge him or not was entirely up to her. “I met this girl the other day, Bones - what a weird name,” He wasn’t sure what had encouraged Ira to mention the other youth to Jinx but he decided since he had started he might as well finish because there was something about the girl that had bothered him: the fact that even he was complete ass to him she had said that she liked him and it was, he realized, advice he was seeking from Jinx who was truly the only parental figure he had. “she was …interesting,” Ira spoke cautiously, his brow furrowing as they walked as he tried to continuously make sense of her. “I guess I don’t understand why she said she liked me even though I was a complete ass to her.” In Ira’s defense it wasn’t even that ‘boys pick on girls they like’ because Ira was an ass to everyone (except Jinx and Fox) and he had been treating her no different (besides he couldn’t like a girl he’d never met before).

He looked with subdued hopefulness to Jinx wondering if she'd have any thing that would help him understand.

Jinx was open to the idea of Headhunting together and Ira was filled with a sense of genuine rapture at the idea of him and Jinx sneaking into another’s territory and making mischief. Jinx’s words had caught the Princeling’s attention abruptly, ears cupping forth atop his skull as his eyes appraised her wordlessly as he let her words sink it and stew for a moment. The only logical conclusion he could come too was that there was a possibility that she might be planning on branching off. “Are you suggesting that,” His voice dropped lower in the case that someone was eavesdropping upon them, though he rather doubted it. If anything he was the one that others needed to worry about eavesdropping. Still, he encouraged his inner caution. “ we’re leaving?” He whispered in a low tone that was meant only for her. He felt the abrupt suspicion that there were things she was not telling him but was hopeful that he would not have to ask outright for details - that his question would be enough to inspire them.

Their conversation made it’s way back to inability to understand Bones and the fact that despite his warnings and despite her teasing that she only liked him a “little bit” Ira was still bothered by the fact that she liked him even in a little bit. Ira was thoughtful as he processed Jinx’s suggestion about Bones being a slut - and having never heard the term before he assumed that she was right in her use of it. “Maybe,” Ira allowed in a soft murmur, shrugging his shoulders. “It really doesn’t matter it was just weird.” If they were leaving it wasn’t as if he was going to see her again, and so having convinced himself that it was no measure of a deal at all, he let his previous concern roll of his shoulders carelessly.

Jinx confirmed that his guess had, indeed as he had silently suspected, been correct. She had been suggesting moving, and further more presented him with ample reasons for her newest desire. Ira listened to them silently, considering them and finding them to be satisfactory though, in truth, he would have followed Jinx anyway. It was true that he didn’t need her like he once had, at six months he was capable of taking care of himself yet, she was the closest thing to a mother, hell the closest thing to a friend Ira had, and he had sworn that he would not abandon her. “If they continue to meddle in the new place, I will see to their destruction,” Ira murmured with a cruel sneer, knowing that if their destruction wasn’t required then he could poison them, or something. He was clever enough to find a way. Subtly, it had been Ira’s way of saying that he would go with her though it had never been in question. “Yes,” Ira nearly hissed, letting out a sigh that was not aimed at Jinx but instead Bones despite that the girl was far away from them. “I am cursed, I know I am. I have to be and she doesn’t seem to understand that even liking me a little bit is dangerous.” At this point, he wasn’t really looking for answers from Jinx, simply, it had been a small measure of relief to get it off of his chest, both about Bones and his curse - of which he had never spoken to Jinx about before.

“It doesn’t matter now, anyway. We’ll leave and she’ll be a forgotten memory as I am sure I will be.” The prospect was exciting, and made him gleeful if only because he considered he’d be getting away from Jace whom since their two day sentence Ira had avoided like the literal plague because there was a mutual understanding that they would only stand so much of one another before someone finally did something.

Assassin. It sounded decadently …tempting. Lethal. Deadly. It sounded perfect. “What does an assassin do?” Ira couldn’t help but ask after a few moments of deliberating trepidation. Ira loathed to admit that he didn’t know what exactly an assassin was, merely that he had drawn clumsy yet accurate conclusions upon the sound of the word as it left his guardian’s lips. “I still want to be your Princeling, and someday a King,” It didn’t have to be of her mountain, of course, he would be capable of doing his own thing when he was old enough to claim such a hefty title, but still. It was a clear goal he had since she had mentioned it many months ago, now. But he also wanted to be an assassin because, well, it sounded badass. “Did you want me to go with you?” He asked her softly, though not in any way that could be considered demure. He knew she was capable of taking care of herself - had no illusions of her abilities - but still. It hurt nothing to merely offer.

Ira was measurably surprised by how she took his statement about being cursed, her tone serious as opposed to the jesting one he had assumed she might have taken. He blinked his icy eyes at her, before they flickered to glimpse away. “I do not know,” Ira responded honestly, wishing desperately that he did, but even if he did know whom had done it (never mind that how he chose to define bad luck instead of being an actual thing) it was too late. He was so used to pushing every one away, allowing himself Jinx and Jinx only in secret, as if that would keep his curse at some sort of bay, that he wasn’t sure he would be able to stop. “It can’t,” He whispered in a miserable tone, feeling heat rise to his eyes, pricking at the corners. “You believe me? That I am cursed?” Ira inquired in hopes of trying to alter the conversation to distract himself from the stupid tears that he could feel behind his eyes.

He didn't cry. He had vowed to never cry again once his eyes had dried from the massacre he had witnessed as a smaller child.

If Ira would have been capable of getting gooseflesh, he would have had them at Jinx’s drop in tones and explanation of what an assassin was. Armed with the knowledge of what it was, Ira felt a concrete interest in it. It was without a doubt perfect. “I want to learn to be an assassin,” Ira informed Jinx in a matter-of-fact tone, a shiver slithering down his spine in the form of a chill - which was close as he could probably get to gooseflesh. The insolent child’s steps had slowed some and paused shortly after he realized that she had stopped. He watched as she took a step towards him, a silent invitation he took it to be, but hesitated fearing for the darkest of moments that she might get hurt further if he reached out and took comfort from her. Weary eyes studied her for a moment before he moved forward to cautiously press his nose against her shoulder and then let the crown of his skull touch where her shoulder and neck joined only to pull back after a few seconds of it. He would allow himself no more comfort. She had already suffered once from his affections (or so this was what he thought her miscarriage had been the result of). “Do you remember when we first met I told you “To love is to destroy, to be loved is to be destroyed”? Well, that is my curse. Those that love me will be destroyed and those that I love will also be destroyed. I…” Ira choked on the simple word, taking a deep breath as he wondered why he was admitting all this to her and what semblance it had to anything, other than he wanted her to be aware so if she didn’t want him anymore she could tell him.

“I thought it meant death but it doesn’t. Not everyone dies. It is worse, though, to see the suffering.” He murmured coolly, fully admitting that he would much rather witness death than something that was continuous and utterly destructive. “Aside from Jace you mean?” The insolent pre-teen snorted out loud, “No. I’ve had this curse for a long time, Jinx. Since my birth possibly.” He couldn’t pinpoint the start of it other than when his parents had abandoned him - though maybe the curse was why they had left him to die in the first place.

Ira had all but entirely forgotten much about Tark, his rapidly expanding mental capacity deleting what it had deemed was no longer necessary. Despite that it remained in the recent past it had became abruptly aware to Ira that he could no longer remember the parents he had felt a disconnected and dead nothingness for. “I have seen it Jinx. I saw it when those creatures,” Ira could not remember anymore (partially because Tokio can’t, aha) if they were wolves or not, besides him being incredibly young at the time it had also been relatively dark and gloomy out that night. “as they slaughtered the wolves, watched as they tore apart my caretaker at that time. I watched it from the shadows, I watched Tark die,” He had not made it seem like he had particularly cared at the time and maybe a small part of him didn’t, truly, but he had been comfort and familiarity in the alien-ness of this place. “I’m beginning to think that maybe Jace was right, maybe I am a demon. Maybe that’s why the ones that made me left me to die.” He refused to call them ‘parents’ in the same way he refused to really acknowledge that they had ever existed at all.

He glimpsed at her morbidly when she stated that he did not destroy her, having must have caught on to the trail of his thoughts. It was true, she was a resilient creature, but Ira could not forget the pain he had sensed that was well hidden within her shortly after she had lost the children that had been growing within her. Neither could he forget how feverishly he had wished to make it go away, to take it upon himself if he could have so she would not have to bare it at all. “I know,” He said because he did not want her to think that he was implicating she wasn’t strong when it was obvious she was. “No,” It was a panicked, breathless sort of command, brows furrowing. “I don’t need them to like me. I don’t want them too,” She, of course, was the one exception he allowed himself in his world. “I am used to it.” In truth, he was scared that if she somehow managed to find a way to lift it. Without it who would he be? What would it make of him? He didn’t have the answers and like any child would, clung to what was known as if it were a desperate and precious life line.

"Ok," Ira breathed, albeit with some reluctance to her suggestion that he stay. "Be careful, Jinx. Come back to me." Ira spoke softly, not wanting her to go without him for the fear that she might not return to him (since wolves had a tendency to do that to him).

Jinx told him that the creatures did not come because of him, and that furthermore Tark did not die because of him but he could only see the ways in which they had, believing as futilely as he did in the existence of his “curse”. Yet, he did not say these things to Jinx instead mustering a nod as if to say that her words made sense. In a way, they did, but in a way he denied them whether it was out of familiarity of the “curse” or fear of it. “Maybe,” Ira murmured in contemplation to her suggestion, coming to the eventual conclusion that it might prove to be worth something if he pretended to act like a saint as opposed to letting the (supposed) “real” him show through. As any child, and further more as an insolent child wanted to do, he felt the urge to argue with her, to make her see that it had, indeed, affected her - though bid his tongue if only because it was a waste of his breath and her confirmation that she cared had, admittedly, taken the Princeling off his guard. She cared? She cared. About him.

Ira tucked that away to examine at a later date, instead focusing upon her following words. He was not to tell Fox where she had gone, nor of his intentions if the fire kissed Alpha were to approach him in Jinx’s absence. “I won’t tell a soul,” He promised her fiercely, making his insolence suddenly seem like a good thing. He could tell those that might approach him to get lost, that he didn’t know anything in the rudest way possible and he would probably be believed because he was always rude. When they began to walk once more, Ira followed beside Jinx closely, feeling that while he still wore his curse like a weight had been lifted, nevertheless, coveting their newly minted secret to himself.