'What the -!' he exclaimed as he was attacked by what seemed to be a blur of white fur as he climbed aboard the Rogue. It left deep scratches in his arms and he winced as he grabbed a rag to press to his wounds. The furry creature had disappeared and Duke had no idea where it had gone.
'Jennifer!?' he suddenly shouted, a little afraid. He remembered an old Trouble, with the taxidermist and even though he was pretty sure Jennifer had never hunted an animal in her entire life, he was still afraid because the rules weren't the rules anymore and William's arrival had meant that no one in Haven was safe. Especially not an outsider who didn't know the Troubles as well as the locals did.
'Jennifer!' he shouted again. She had to be somewhere on the boat. He had left her there after she came back from the Herald and they had been planning a nice dinner together with the groceries he had been sent out to buy.
'Jennifer!' he called again, walking towards his their bedroom. And suddenly, there she was, lying on her stomach, reading something, with her headphones in her ears which explained why she hadn't replied. He sighed in relief and smiled at her fondly.
And then he saw the white furred creature at the foot of their bed, just waiting to jump on Jennifer and he felt a rush similar to the blood rush he feels because of his curse as he dived forward to grab the creature. At the very last moment, he realized it was just a cat and stopped suddenly, missing its angry claws by inches, ending up flailing over the foot of the bed while Jennifer was still lying on it, oblivious to his paranoid actions and his almost attack on a harmless fluffy cat.
Almost dizzy with relief, Duke fell into bed, almost on top of Jennifer, who screamed loudly.
'DUKE! God, why did you scare me like that!' her heart beat a mile a minute but Duke just grinned and pressed his mouth to hers, his fingers tangled in her short hair.
'Mind telling me what this white fur ball is doing on our boat?' he asked, pressing little kisses to her neck.
'Oh, that's Freddie. He needed a new home. I found him wandering on the deck after you left.' She reaches out to pat the cat.
'Freddie, huh?' Duke considered the little cat who was glaring up at him.
'Yeah! Isn't he adorable!' Jennifer sat up and picked him up, touching her nose to his.
'Yeah, very adorable.' He agreed sarcastically, sitting up too.
'So. Did you get the groceries? What are we cooking?' Jennifer looked up at him excitedly.
'Ah, well. The groceries might be on the deck.' Duke grinned a little sheepishly.
'On the deck? Why?' Jennifer asked in confusion.
'Long story.' He replied, leaning closer, his hands on her waist.
'Yeah, well, Duke, much as I would love to continue this, I am really starving.' She said a little apologetically.
Duke sighed. 'What do you think of… peanut butter on toast?' he said with a flourish.
'Ugh, Duke.' She said, making a face.
'Well, I'll go up to the deck and see if I can salvage some of the groceries.'