AN: Please do not flame. Critique is fine, comments are fine, compliments are fine, but don't flame.
Disclaimer: I do not own Little Red Riding Hood or the Big Bad Wolf.
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A slight breeze blew into the Conroys' cottage as the heavy door was swung open. Amorette Conroy stood in the entrance and clutched a small, plain basket as she stared out at the dirt road in front of her home. She sighed heavily, not at all enthusiastic about the trip her mother had assigned to her. Visiting Grandma was nice, but she wasn't fond of the forest. She'd been afraid of it's looming trees and blanketing shadows ever since she'd heard her first ghost story about it, and Amorette would be walking right along side those woods for the majority of her journey.
Closing the door and stepping down onto the road, Amorette began walking westward, trying hard not to look at the trees. She knew she had the tendency to imagine things, and staring into the forest would surely make her think that somehow, someone was watching her. Even though it was midday and the bright sun washed over her with its joyous light, Amorette couldn't help feeling butterflies when she heard footsteps behind her. Assuring herself that it was only the echo of her own shoes, she refused to turn around and make sure.
But then the footsteps started getting louder. Frantic, Amorette put her hand in her basket, rummaged around between the cakes, blanket, and wine bottle, and located the knife she had hidden there. She stopped moving for a second and when the footsteps continued, spun around to face what she was certain was a hideous, hungry vampire (never mind the fact that they could only come out at night).
"Hello, Little Red!" Mrs. Emerson greeted, "Where are you off to? I was out picking berries when I saw you walking and realized how far I must've strayed! You know, my daughter should be the one doing this work, the lazy girl! Anyway, where did you say you were going, again?"
Amorette nearly choked with relief. She let out a breath of air she hadn't realized she'd been holding when she saw the cheerful woman and took her hand away from her basket, leaving the knife.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Emerson. I'm on my way to my grandmother's. She's fallen ill, you see."
"Oh, the poor dear. I see your bringing her some good food. Well, that should get her well again right quick, shouldn't it? Oh! Would you look at that sun! It's later than I thought. It's been nice talking with you, Little Red Riding Hood, but I simply must be going now. Goodbye!"
Red smiled, "Goodbye, ma'am!" and watched the talkative lady turn around and walk away, her basket of blackberries swinging on her arm. Turning west again, Little Red pondered over the short conversation she'd just had.
It's been nice talking with you, Little Red Riding Hood, but I simply must be going now. Goodbye!
Little Red Riding Hood. That was Amorette's nickname, ever since her seventh birthday when her mother had given her the carmine cloak she still wore. It had been huge on her, and now it was far too small, only barely reaching her knees.
Once upon a time, Red had liked the name 'Little Red Riding Hood'. It was cute and cute was a good thing. Now, she wanted nothing more than for people to stop referring to her as 'cute' and 'adorable'. She had hips now! She had breasts! A nice, small waist, even! Thick, wavy brown hair and sparkling blue eyes! Blue eyes that she had tried many times to use seductively, but for some reason always failed. She understood when older men called her 'cute', but she was seventeen, and boys only a few years older still seemed to look at her as their younger sister. She simply didn't understand it.
Often, Little Red would blame it all on the fact that she'd known all the men in her life since the day of her birth. This was true, partially, but the biggest reason that she was still seen as a little girl was the way she acted. Despite her curves, Red remained pouty and childish. Though her temper-tantrums no longer consisted of pounding her fists on the floor and kicking at everything that she could, she was just as demanding, and bossy as she had been at age seven, and almost just as naïve. Her vocabulary, however, had grown considerably.
"Oh damn it all! Damn it all to hell! Why can't I be seen as a woman? People still call me 'girl' and 'young lady', but I'm seventeen years old! Other women my age are getting married, and I haven't even started courting yet!" Red cried, aiming her complaints to the heavens and stamping one of her feet.
"I wear high heels and a guy even caught me in my nightdress once and he didn't seem fazed at all!" she directed her words towards her hands now, which played with the hem of her cloak.
"Is that so? If I saw you in your nightdress I'd be howling like a wolf. Do you wear those short gowns to bed? I hear they're popular with young women nowadays," a young man's voice said, and his smirk could practically be heard in the soft, amused tone he had use. Amorette jumped and turned quickly, surprised that someone had been listening and also somewhat frightened. He had sounded dangerously close, and his comment had been alarmingly forward.
Amorette was about to say something incredulous, using her most incredulous expression, and maybe even clutching her cloak tightly around herself to emphasize a feeling of violation, but then she saw the owner of the voice.
He couldn't be older than twenty, and he was just as irritatingly attractive as his voice had been. With dark brown hair, warm, brown eyes, and clear, fair skin, Amorette couldn't help but feel drawn to him. He was by far the prettiest young man she'd ever seen. Not necessarily manly, but very pretty.
Snapping out of her thoughts, Amorette finally responded. "How dare you be so forward! Why don't you show some respect to a lady?" and she turned up her nose haughtily.
"I'm so sorry. Sometimes my thoughts come out my mouth before I can wonder if they're rude," he attempted to look sincere but failed as his lips curled into a smile.
"That's the stupidest excuse I've ever heard," Amorette stated, not nearly as amused as this man seemed to be. His grin only widened at her comment.
"What's your name?" he asked.
Amorette looked at him suspiciously, but finally decided she could at least let him know her nickname. "Everyone calls me Little Red Riding Hood."
"I guess I understand where that comes from," he eyed her cloak, "but for the life of me don't know how they came up with 'little'," and his iris's quickly flicked away from the red cape to look at Amorette's ankles, which her skirt did not cover.
"Ah! Don't stare, you disgusting beast!" she cried, wishing she had worn boots instead of her nice shoes. She'd only recently gotten them and had ignored her mother's orders to only wear them for special occasions, being too excited to show off the red high heels to hide them away. They matched her cloak and looked nice with her black stockings, so she simply couldn't choose her ugly black boots over the pretty shoes. She hadn't thought for one moment that she would run into a man, and now she was deeply regretting her poor judgment.
"Well you have them out to be looked at, do you really thinking I'm going to pass up the chance to see a girl's ankles?" he wasn't even looking at them anymore, but Amorette felt she should still be scolding him.
"It's not my fault I outgrew this skirt! I can't control my height! Now, if you'd excuse me, I must be going!" and she stomped off angrily, oblivious to the fact that her vigorous gait only kicked her skirt up higher, showing most of her calves to the man as she walked away.
"Now wait a minute! I want to know your real name!" and he ran after her, grabbing her shoulder as he caught up.
Amorette jerked away from his grasp and huffed, "Fine. But you have to tell me your name first."
He smiled, "That's fair enough. My name's Seff. Seff Sullivan."
Amorette glowered at him, "I'm Amorette Conroy."
"Beautiful name," Seff smirked, "How do you do?" he extended his hand. Amorette stared at it warily but eventually took it. She expected him to shake her hand as any man would, but instead he lifted it gently to his lips, placing a soft kiss just behind her knuckles.
Amorette was pleasantly surprised, but refused to let him know it. She kept her nose in the air proudly and drew her arm back to her side. Her light blush gave her away, however, and he smiled playfully as he realized his action had had exactly the effect he'd been hoping for.
"I'm well, thank you," she paused, unsure of what to say next, and so finally decided there was nothing more to say. "Goodbye," she finished, and turned to leave again. This time, Seff did not go after her.
"Goodbye, Little Red!" he called out, and suppressed a snicker when she looked back at him nervously but did not stop walking. After she had gotten out of hearing distance, he slipped into the cover of the forest.