Without a word the little one sets off, sliding down the tree and taking off the moment he hits the ground. Dorian follows just as swiftly, but without the small shower of tiny branches that had followed his ward out of the tree. He smiles as the youth begins his hunt, staying well back to give him room to proceed and to avoid disturbing anything that would spook his prey. [i]’The way he prowls. . . A real natural this boy. . .’[/i] He smells the hare too and watches the youth move over sticks and fallen leaves silently, his tattered clothing not even brushing the many things reaching out to grab it. [i]’So he [b]can[/b] avoid damaging his clothing’[/i] Smirking, he stills for the final sprint, waiting until he sees James’ head pop up and turn towards him.

Drifting over to the boy and his bunny, Dorian nods in approval at the catch, watching the hare make itself scarce the instant it’s released. Crouching down the elder vampire reaches out and scratches the youth’s head gently in approval before settling on his heels to listen to his question. “Well, I do not rightly know.” He muses. “This investigation will take as long as it does, and after that I pray to return home.” He smiles warmly. “You will have plenty of room to run around at home, as long as you do not worry the horses.”

Humming softly he helps James to his feet and announces that it’s time to head back to the inn. The sky is lightening in a barely perceptible way even to his vampiric gaze, but it is enough to mark their need to return. Wrapping an arm across the young man’s shoulders he gives James a little squeeze as they head back past the buildings at the edge of town. He brings them back in to town a goodly distance from where they fed so they cannot be associated with the location and easily draws them back to the inn before sunrise. He is quite tired now, having not had so much “fun” in that particular fashion in some time.

The inn has a sleepy air about it as they enter, most of the patrons having not woken up yet. Only one man is in the main room besides the person manning the front desk and he seems half asleep at his table, the smell of coffee emanating from the cup resting between his hands. 

Keeping an arm around James, Dorian leads him through the front room and to their room near the back. Once inside he lets the newborn go and locks the door behind them. “Well, that was enjoyable.” he murmurs, looking around to where James is. Smiling he shucks off his outer layers, leaving him in just his leggings as he wanders over to James. “Let us get you out of these things.” he murmurs, helping the newborn out of his tattered, filthy clothing, snatching up a rag to wipe him down a bit so they don’t get the sheets [i]too[/i] dirty.

Once he’s as clean as Dorian can get him the elder leads his young ward over to the bed, crawling in and getting comfortable while leaving plenty of room for the boy to follow. Once all things are in place Dorian wraps an arm around James and sighs softly, the morning light hidden behind the shutters lulling him towards sleep. “You are a good hunter James.” he whispers sleepily. “You should be proud of that.”