The humiliated part of Ira battering the war torn and bruised mass of self pride and ego was sensible to recognize that taking off for Tortuga without telling Jinx, for letting the impulse and romantic allure of rescuing Bones had not been one of his most clever ideas. In fact it not only ended it utter failure it had nearly brought with it his death. Quick reflexes (and maybe a bit of dumb luck) had been his saving grace and instead of the wild creature’s teeth raking across his jugular, they had raked from the side of his neck to his shoulder. It was an ugly thing and Ira had spent an hour studying the wound of split flesh, the pristine fur stained crimson before he had wadded through the sea, bearing his teeth against the sting as the salt cleansed it until it had grown numb. He still needed training, and the young assassin knew that he needed to go apologize (gasp!) to his mother and grovel at her paws if that was what it took. He had been gone for much longer than he had asked for and he suspected there would be consequences. He just hoped that whatever happened Jinx didn’t hate him for being a idiotic teenager with a crush because he couldn’t stand the idea of her hating him.

Ira was determined to shrug the wound off, though he grimaced at the fact that it might leave a scar, undermining his true beauty that he was shallow enough to appreciate. His pace slowed as he neared the Sunspire, surprised to find that there was a pack there now. It was only because Jace stood out to the Princeling that Ira even recognized him at all, despite that Ira remained far enough away from their borders as he poked about, investigating the urine scents that marked them. He recognized them, of course, and smirked as he imagined why Ferdie and Jace would branch off from Fox even though, really, he didn’t care. He was only looking to pick a word fight, of superior intellect to mend his bruised ego. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t sleeping beauty,” The Princeling called out to the ebon cloaked Jace with a sneer and arrogance laced in his tone. He might have grown into his adult body, might have marred his previous pristine physical beauty but he was still the insolent and sardonic creature he’d always been.

With knowledge of poisons and honed stealth skills which he had blatantly (stupidly) ignored when stealing into Tortuga. “Did you miss me beautiful?” Ira taunted Jace, each word a hiss as his vicious pale blue eyes watched the man’s dominant prance with another sneer. Strut around like a peacock all you want but I’m still sexier, Was the boy’s haughty and shallow thought as he waited for Jace to react.

The low growl that affirmed that he successfully had claimed Jace’s attention was heard when Ira’s ears cupped forth, his sneer haughty and wicked, childhood mischief having morphed into something darker. Of course, it could have just been Jace’s presence. It was no secret that the two ex-Creek wolves held equal amounts of animosity and disdain for one another and Ira had no intentions of changing that. A dark, sardonic laugh lacking with clarity the mirth that was normally associated with such action left Ira seconds after Jace’s low growl had reached the pallid Princeling’s ears. “If you’re going to growl and hiss at me darling you should make it more threatening,” Ira taunted, getting a sick glee out of pushing all of Jace’s buttons like a child, unrestrained in a toy store. That’s exactly what Jace was: a toy to Ira who was looking to wreak havoc for the self fulfillment of mending his wounded and shredded pride.

“Just for you, you cur” Ira tittered in a mimicry of a very high pitched female voice though his boyishly handsome face was contorted and ugly with malice and venom. If he was a King Cobra he would have been swaying with his taunts, eyeing his toy, waiting patiently for the perfect moment to strike. Perhaps, instead of the spawn of Satan as Jace considered Ira was really just a cobra in the form of a wolf. “If you’re going to insult me by calling me the names of your other lovers at least stick with one and use it,” Of course that taunt brought with it the realization that Jace had once confirmed that the pallid Princeling had once thought: that his name Ira did sound rather girly, though there was nothing girly about the Princeling’s body or face as he endured the horrific threshes of puberty. “I’m wounded,” The Princeling said with faux offense at Jace’s blatant incursion of words, though his pale eyes danced with malicious jubilation at their little game.

“Oh you mean the wound? Don’t worry Sleeping Beauty it will heal,” Ira spoke of it dismissively. It might heal, and if he was lucky it wouldn’t scar but he would never forget how he had received, it or why, or what it might cost him in the near future. It was curious however that Jace was in this pack and no longer apart of Swiftcurrent creek and for a moment Ira entertained the notion of if his departure had anything to do with Bones’ kidnapping. Immediately, he wanted to slam the blame on Jace who was supposed to be protecting her but had, obviously failed. He wanted to viciously throw it in this vermin’s face and he would though the direction of their current conversation would depend upon when it was brought up.

For now, Ira was amused by their exchange of petty remarks.

“Ha!” The single laugh burst from Ira, his teeth glistening as his lips curled back to expose them in a wolfish grin. “You have the threat level of a baby rabbit, darling,” Ira had never peed himself, as to his own knowledge of course not including when he was a wee baby and didn’t know any better, and he had no intentions of doing so now. Jace didn’t scare him. In fact, very little did. He had seen so much gore, slaughter and death in his extremely short life so far that he didn’t even, really, fear death. That was not to say that he wanted to die any time soon because he didn’t. He had too much to do. Wolves to antagonize, targets to assassinate, a world to dominate; the usual. “My mistake,” Ira purled viciously, clicking his teeth together at the ending of it, cocking his head to the side, tail lashing once behind him. In reality, it seemed that Jace and him hadn’t progressed much from their previous encounters because here they were still taunting one another. As it was, taunting and pushing all of the buttons like an uncontrolled and thrilled toddler was thrilling. And anyway, Ira was in no condition to fight. In fact, he probably should be seeking medical attention for the wound but still had that annoying ‘youth is invincibility’ despite that he had nearly lost his life when the pirate bitch had attacked him.

If Ira had known that Jace had not even been with a woman yet, he would have had a field day with it. Though Bones and him had been much too young for that kind of intimacy they had talked about it, about their future together …a future that perhaps in a sheer streak of irony ended very much like her ‘Romeo and Juliet’ story. Except neither of them were dead, they were apart and the future they had imagined was gone. That thought shot a pang through his heart like an arrow piercing it, but he shook it off. The point was, at least Ira had a girlfriend and it had been pretty glorious while it had lasted. “Of course. It isn’t easy being this demonic, you know.” Jace was unknowingly hitting close to home with his snide comments spurred by Ira’s own. Though Ira didn’t consider himself a demon (despite being inspired by the personification of the sin of Wrath) he knew he was cursed. Over and over again it was proven.

Temper flared when he spoke of Jinx so ill, his black, leathery nostrils flaring as the whole irritation with Swiftcurrent’s inaction with Bones was dredged up violently. “Don’t speak about my mother like that,” Ira warned his tone flat and serious all pretenses of taunting dropped as he stared at Jace. He would rather die than listen to someone bad mouth Jinx in front of him, wound be damned. “I did what none of you fuckers had the courage to do. I went to rescue Bones.” Her absence only reminded him of his abject failure but at least he had damned well tried. “Anything else you want to know Princess?” The angered youth snapped at his dark companion.

The apology offered to the pallid Princeling was …unexpected. He had insulted Jinx and in the next breath was apologizing for it, which, had stilled the tempest of wrath inside the youth for the moment. He could take insult after insult, got a sick thrill from it, even. Ira enjoyed the berating Jace gave him if only because he was far too shallow and arrogant to let it bother him. The perks of being conceited. Words tended not to carry the sting they otherwise would have if Ira had gave two rat shits about what Jace — or any one else for that matter — thought about him. The ebon beasts’ blue gaze took an impossible red gleam that Ira played off as merely a trick of the sunlight, though typically the sunlight made eyes lighter not darker. Jace tried to get his point across to Ira, for whatever it was worth, but all Ira heard was excuses. Pathetic ones to him, at that.

“Is that supposed to impress me? They’re only excuses. So you killed one. Big. Fucking. Deal.What? Are you incapable of defying orders? If Fox told you to jump off a cliff into the ocean would you have done it? Hmm? Likewise, don’t you act the savior and martyr. There’s a reason you’re no longer in the Creek and you were a loyal mongrel.” Ira’s words twisted in his fury, trying to work them deep while also trying to get out of him what he and Ferdie were no longer at Swiftcurrent. Not that he truly cared.

“So because I left with my mother that means I had no more ties to the Creek?” Ira demanded with another harsh laugh, wondering why it was Jace hadn’t been able to put the pieces together yet as to why Ira cared so much. “I care you idiotic cur because Bones is my inamorata,” He took a deep breath to steady himself, to attempt to reign in the wrath that seethed like a demon under his skin vying for control. “In simpler terms we are romantically involved.” Or were was the better word to use but considering neither youth had consented to end it technically they were still involved with one another as far as Ira was concerned.

Jace let lose a menacing growl that failed to perturb the pallid Princeling who raised his brow in a really? fashion as they continued to banter back and forth with one another like …well like boys. Nemesis. Maybe that’s what they were: each other’s nemesis. Not that Ira cared either way. This was far too much fun to stop because it was easy to get Jace riled up likely as easy as it was to pull Ira’s temper from the dredges of his core. “How the fuck am I supposed to know why you’re no longer a Creek member? I was at the other side of the Wilds, dumbass,” Ira returned the explicit in kind and then grinned cruelly. “I’ll speak of you and judge your actions in any way I want.” Ira defied the words, though they were eerily similar to the words he would eventually use against Kaname when he made his way towards Silvertip Mountain. “Because you asked,” Ira responded in a hushed tenor grasping a hold of his armor quickly before it could expose the chinks within. The last thing he wanted was Jace to realize he had chinks in his armor and begin to expose them. Telling him he had been romantically involved with Bones had probably been telling him too much as it was. It wasn’t exactly true though, about Jace asking because he had not actually came out and asked it but the question had been present when he implied that Ira didn’t care because he’d left Swiftcurrent Creek.

“I don’t want pity. Not yours, not anyone’s. I did my best for her,” But his best wasn’t good enough having been attacked nearly three seconds after he had barged into their borders feeling high and mighty only to have to flee when he had, thanks to quick movements, managed to suffer the killing aim of teeth on his neck instead of his jugular where they had meant to find purchase. He did not tell Jace that his best wasn’t good enough, nor that he had nearly lost his lives to those insufferable low lives that had stolen her from him because that would have resulted in exposing way too much though his wound probably spoke some sort of tale for him.