"Ow! Damn thing!" He snapped when Anna tries to pull the brush out of his hair again. "Sorry! I didn't think it'd be that bad! You really ought to brush it more often, it'd look a lot better for one thing and this wouldn't be so hard to do." She exclaims quickly before yanking on the brush again.
"Dammit, will ya quit yanking on it for a minute?! I prefer my head staying attached to me if ya don't mind!" He exclaimed when she pulled again before quickly dropping it, the handle slapping him in the side of the head and making him slit his eyes a little. "Yeah, it's stuck good." She said simply, shaking her head a little. "Ya think?" He said sarcastically, making her pop him in the back of the head.
"Don't get smart with me." She scolded, a light smirk on her face. He rolled his eyes like he was irritated, but he couldn't help laughing a little. "My bad." He grumbled sarcastically, Talia shaking her head the whole time. "Damn, this is entertaining. It's like you're already brother and sister." She laughed, Anna and Mikael giving her a funny look, making her laugh even harder.
"Hell, you bicker like you are anyway." She chuckles, making Anna giggle a bit while Mikael just shakes his head with an amused smirk on his face. "Hey, Elsa knows I didn't..." He starts before Anna met his eyes. "Kai told her that you left out early this morning and that you'd probably be back before the day's out." She says calmly, a light smile creeping across her lips when she heard him let out a relieved breath.
"Good." He said quietly before fiddling with the brush that was still tangled up in his hair. "This shit ever happen to you?" He looked between them after they burst out laughing. "More than you think." Anna said while she watches him wrestle with the brush.
"You son of a bitch, you're coming out today!" He kind of snarls when he yanks on the brush, nearly ripping his hair out when he does until it finally flies across the room, ricochets off the wall and flies towards the door, nearly hitting Kai in his forehead when he opened it.
He looked towards them with his eyebrow raised and looked like he was about to ask them about it before... "It's a long, complicated story..." Mikael says simply before noticing him nod his head.
"I'm...sorry for interrupting, but I was wanting to check and see if Princess Anna would be attending court today." Kai said simply, making Anna think about it for a minute. "I don't know, Mikael needs to be ready for the festival, but..." She said in a somewhat confused tone. Kai smiled a little.
"What a coincidence, we're actually discussing the festival." He says calmly, Anna smiling a little when he does. She still wasn't sure what to do, she hated being in a cramped room full of stuck up politics, but she wanted to be there for Elsa and of course, she wanted to make sure Mikael would be ready for the festival and that didn't give her much time to work on him.
"Well, considering the little hiccup we ran into, it might be a good idea to save your "royal treatment" thing for later." Mikael suggested calmly, making Anna look at him for a minute before nodding. "Good point." She said with a light giggle before an idea springs up in her head.
"This maybe a bit of a long shot, but can Mikael and Talia come with me?" She asks curiously, making Mikael raise his eyebrow a little. "Oh no she didn't..." He said to himself before Kai looks between them, a kind of mischievous smirk on his face.
"I don't see why not, the council sure loved having them there last time. And, I'm sure Queen Elsa would appreciate having two more friendly faces in court." Kai answers wittily, making Mikael snicker a little bit before Anna and Talia giggle to themselves. "Okay. Mikael, we'll meet you in the throne room. You at least try and brush your hair and get it straightened out then wash your face, no offense, but you look like you've been sleeping in dirt for months." She said quickly, almost making him burst out laughing with the last part.
"Oh the irony..." He thought before kind of rolling your eyes. "Sure, whatever." He laughed a little, making her slit her eyes at him a little. He smirks when he noticed the look she gave him and looks towards them.
"Well, run along. Don't wanna be late for your plays date, now do ya?" He says playfully, making all three of them laugh. "See you there." Anna says calmly before they leave the room, with Mikael heading to the room Elsa offered him the night they met to use the bathroom attached to it so he wouldn't mess Anna's room up. Any more than it was anyway.
He studied himself in the mirror, now realizing what Anna and Talia meant when they said "He needed work.", but then again, neither of them are werewolves, so they really had no idea how difficult "grooming" could get when you're living a sort of "double life" and tend to have some animalistic habits.
But, he said he'd do it and really, it could have been a lot worse. "That damn brush could have killed somebody." He said to himself, kind of laughing when he did. "That'd be a new one..." He shook his head before looking through whatever implements had been provided until he noticed a comb to his right.
He raised his eyebrow a little and picks up the comb before examining it like it was a gem or a piece of evidence. "Hmmm, maybe this'll do a better than that crazy thing Anna was trying to yank through my head." He thought before bringing the comb to the top of his head then pulling it through his hair, getting it stuck about halfway down and trying to pull it out again.
"You little bastard." He grumbled before yanking it through his hair, luckily it came out easier than the brush, but he was literally pulling his hair out of his head. He rolls his eyes irritably then chunks the comb back where he got it after pulling his hair out of it.
"You know what, I'm a fucking werewolf, I ain't gotta put up with this crazy shit." He keeps looking through the grooming tools until he found a pair of scissors and starts cutting his hair off as short as he could.
It took maybe twenty minutes for him to finish, his normally shoulder length hair was cut in a military style, which really didn't suit him as much as his having long hair did, but it was decent enough for the moment. "That just looks funny." He shakes his head before running some water then wrapping a bar of soap in a cloth and submerging it in the small basin.
He fiddled around with the cloth for a minute before taking it out then lightly wringing it out then cleaning his face as best he could. Surprisingly, this didn't take as long as cutting his hair did and he definitely looked cleaner than usual. The only thing that really bothered him was the fact that his more questionable scars were a lot more noticeable and he worried it might alert everyone to his nature.
He eyes the white scratches that clearly came from silver weapons that littered his face and even the ones on his chest, which didn't concern him as much, that'd be covered up, but what did irritate him were the somewhat smaller, dark red wounds that came from other werewolves.
Those were the ones that bothered him, there were a couple of bite marks that were pretty distinct in places people would probably be paying attention to and that would definitely arouse suspicions.
"Okay, let's see what we can do here..." He said calmly before digging around for anything that would help cover them up. Luckily, he found a left over thing of blush and he studied it for a moment, slitting his eyes a little when he does. "Well, if it works, use it." He shrugs then uses the powdery substance to blend the more exposed dark red scars in with his own complexion, smirking when he noticed how fast they seemed to disappear.
"Knowing how to use dirt and mud for camouflage has it's advantages." He snickers before looking in the mirror again, noticing that his hair was already down to the top of his ears. "Maybe it'll be done after I get a quick pick me up." He said calmly before reaching for the leather pouch tucked away in his armor and retrieving a small wooden pipe from his pack then leaning out a window, not wanting to get the smell in the castle.
He went back to the mirror after a few minutes and runs his fingers through his fresh new head of hair, which was once again it's proper length. "That'll do it." He said contently before going over to the bath tub. He turned the water on then takes some soap and lathers his hand up before leaning under the faucet, letting the water run through his hair before running his soapy hands through it.
He left the bathroom, kind of irritated by the fact he still smelled like a wet dog despite the fruity soap in his hair, but it has been a little while since he's had a thorough cleaning, especially when he's only been able to clean up in lakes and the like and...it tends to linger. Funny thing is, this is actually the first time he's actually paid it any attention.
He knew what it probably was, though, he was worried Elsa might notice it. "The shit people worry about when they trying to impress somebody." He rolls his eyes before thinking. "Still, she hasn't said anything about it before, maybe it's just subtle enough humans can't smell it." He said to himself before shaking his head and going through different colognes that were laid out on the dresser, his keen sense of smell allowing him to simply look at them and figure good from bad.
"Hmmm...too fruity, too ashy, not ashy enough, WHOO! What the hell is that?!" He said when he examines the cologne bottles until he noticed a small, light blue bottle at the end of the dresser. He picks the bottle up and examines it for a minute, noticing the crisp pine smell around it.
"Huh, interesting." He said while he carefully turns the bottle through his fingers. "Winter pine. That'll work." He said before spraying a little on him, his body twitching a little when the foreign substance hit his skin.
"Now, let's see, should I wear my armor, or would I be better off trying to find something more...appropriate?" He asked himself calmly, twiddling his thumbs curiously while he contemplates the thought. He pulled his pack closer to him and starts digging through it to see if he could find something that would be subtle, but stylish without being too flashy.
He looks through different coats and jackets he's collected over the years, not really sure which one he'd be better off wearing and the fact he's collected so many different styles he could probably open a clothing store just made it harder. "Son of a bitch." He grumbles before looking outside for a minute.
He looks back at the bed and raises his eyebrow curiously when he notices a black jacket barely poking out from under the others. "Hmm." He grabs the jacket and pulls it out to study it. It was a simple, but overall stylish duelist's jack decorated with silver buttons, short coat tails and burgundy shoulder caps.
"Not bad, ain't the best, but I think it'll do the trick." He says simply before laying it to the side then putting the others in his pack. He grabs the lack and slides his arms through the sleeves before buttoning it up before grabbing the silver ring he used to hold his hair in place and returning to the bathroom. He combs his hair, which was a lot easier since it was "new" then pulls it up into it's usual rogue knot before sliding the ring on to hold it in place.
"I would try to shave, but I'd probably have a full beard by the time I got to the throne room." He thinks to himself as he studies the light stubble on his face before shaking his head. "Eh, fuck it." He said simply before leaving the bathroom and making his way to the door leading out of the room.
He took the liberty of removing his weapons and putting them to the side before leaving so he could avoid any conflict with the guards, especially with his shady reputation. "I think whoever designed this place had a thing for colors." He said calmly as he studied the corridors before looking down and noticing the wood floors, raising an interested eyebrow.
"Huh, that's an interesting switch, they're usually stone." He said, nodding his head contently before looking back up, his stomach grumbling irritably afterwards. "Oh yeah, didn't catch breakfast." He said dully, slitting his eyes a little.
He rolls his eyes and heads back to his room to eat a piece of chocolate or two so his hunger wouldn't drive him nuts, especially being around so many people.
Anna and Talia decided not to tell Elsa that Mikael would be arriving shortly, thinking it'd be more entertaining to surprise her. "I can't wait to see the look on her face." Anna giggles quietly. "I know, right? It's gonna be awesome." Talia whispers, smirking the whole time before both of them turn their attention to the door, expecting him to come in any minute.
"Do you think he got another brush stuck in his hair?" Anna asks, almost making Talia burst out laughing in front of everybody. "Probably." She chuckles. "So, everything's in order?" Elsa asked calmly, the rest of the court nodding in agreement.
"Almost, your majesty. We...still need a theme." Kai answers. "Hmmm. Any ideas?" She asks curiously, making everyone in the room start thinking until they heard the door leading to the corridors open. Everyone's attention went to the door, Elsa's face lighting up when she noticed Mikael enter and study the crowded throne room.
"He cleans up pretty good." Anna says simply, Talia nodding her head in agreement. "Yeah, I was half expecting his hair to be gone or something." She laughed a little, Mikael smirking to himself when he heard the comment before locking eyes with Elsa, whose eyes were shimmering like stars when they met his while a surprised and inviting smile crosses her lips, which very much complemented the light blush on her cheeks.
"Weird, I never thought it'd feel this funny seeing somebody smile." He thinks when he started getting that "butterflies in your stomach" feeling again as he starts approaching the throne, the councilman from yesterday, William cutting him off before he got too close to the rest of the court.
"You're not supposed to be in here. Members of the royal court only, unless of course you have business with the court itself." He said in a rather cold voice, Elsa's smile fading when she saw him step out in front of Mikael.
The throne room fell silent as everyone's attention shot to Mikael and William while Mikael himself simply moves his eyes from Elsa to the "arrogant bastard" who had the stones to step in his path, the silver gems briefly flashing gold when they met William's.
"Is that so? Well, Princess Anna seems to think otherwise considering she personally asked for my presence here today on the off chance that a werewolf or two managed to infiltrate the court." He said simply, William giving him a cold glare.
"Isn't that what she's for?" He asked dully, motioning to Talia. Mikael simply nodded and smirks a little. "We agreed it would be a good idea to have an extra set of eyes." He states, William going silent after hearing his response before looking between him and Anna, who was trying not to giggle.
"Do I really need to teach you a lesson two days in a row?" Mikael asks sarcastically, William watching him for a minute before shaking his head then returning to his seat. "Didn't think so." He said quietly before turning his attention back to the throne. The crowd splits when Mikael starts moving towards them again, Elsa thinking about how the pack of wolves from last night did the same thing when the alpha showed up.
"Mind if I join you, your majesty?" He asks simply when he approached Elsa, making her smile again and motion him forward. "Of course, come on." She said warmly. He bows and goes to stand next to her, a light smile forming on his face when his eyes cut to Elsa.
She cut her eyes back to him and smiles a little more, almost forgetting that they were in the middle of court. "Elsa?" Anna calls to her playfully, snapping her out of her trance and making her blush again. "Sorry about that." Mikael mouthed to her, making her giggle quietly before nodding a bit then turning back to the court.
"Now, where were we?" She asks quickly, trying to divert everyone's attention from her little moment. "We were discussing a theme for the festival, your majesty." Kai reminds her in a kind tone.
"Oh, of course. So, what should we do this year?" She says calmly, the entire room falling silent as everyone tried to come up with ideas. "Masquerade ball?" Gerda suggested, catching everyone's attention. "Interesting." Elsa smiles a little.
"Personally, I'd like to know what your "friend" would suggest." William called out with a sneer, making everyone turn their attention to Mikael who was flicking a coin through his fingers.
"Who Mikael? Me Mikael? Nah." He said sarcastically then shook his head, still flicking the coin through his fingers while most of the court laughed at his response. "Come on, I'm sure you could think of something." Anna urged in an encouraging tone, making him laugh.
"Yeah, I could, but ain't none of it really appropriate for a "high class" party." He flicks the coin up in the air before catching it in his teeth then flicking it back in his hand with his tongue.
"Please?" She begs when he noticed everyone staring at him like they were begging him to do it, even Elsa was giving him puppy dog eyes. "Trust me, none of ya want to know, our parties could get so damn wild, you'd swear we were a bunch of animals." He says simply, but nobody seemed to acknowledge that.
"Just make a suggestion, if we don't like it, we'll let you know." Elsa told him in a gentle tone, a soft smile on her face when she does. He shrugged. "Okay, don't say I didn't warn ya, though." He said calmly before thinking for a minute. "How did you celebrate autumn when you were...?" She started softly before he meets her eyes.
"Usually getting drunk and throwing pumpkins at each other until one of us was still standing. Then they'd usually pass out." He said calmly while Elsa, Anna and Talia try to stifle giggling in case he got offended by it. "Go on, laugh. I did." He smirks when he noticed. Elsa took a breath and looks back at him.
"Well, I don't think nobles would appreciate someone throwing pumpkins at them, but we'll keep it in mind." She said through a light giggle, which made him smile a little more. "Why pumpkins?" Gerda asks in a confused tone.
"Long story short, you take a band of drunk, bored brigands who just got threw raiding a caravan that just so happened to have a pumpkin cart and put them together, you never know what's gonna happen." He says simply, making everyone around him start laughing again.
"So, you decided to throw them at each other?" Anna asked before noticing Mikael shake his head a little. "Not all of them, I shot a few out of a cannon and knocked some guys out real quick." He laughed mischievously, making Elsa raise her eyebrow a little, but she was still smiling.
"How are you even still standing right now?" She asked quietly, which made his smile fade just a little, but nobody noticed it. "Dumb, blind luck, I think." He answered. She watched him for a moment, something about the way he acted telling her that he didn't like talking about whatever he had to do to survive living among the clan, but she just couldn't figure out why.
She was about to ask him something else when the doors open again, drawing everyone's attention to it. "Your majesty." Cedric bows respectfully before approaching the throne. "What's wrong?" She asks concerned, Mikael moving a little closer to her in case somebody tried to jump her.
"Um, nothing. I just wanted to let you know your uncle and cousin from Corona have arrived." Cedric answered simply before noticing Mikael at her side, who was slowly returning to a more passive stance.
"Hmmm. If they don't end up getting married, I might have to talk to him about joining the royal guard." He thought to himself before turning his attention back to Elsa, who had a much more content look on her face. "Great! Send them in." She said calmly, Cedric bowing respectfully before going to retrieve them. Mikael relaxed a bit, but he wasn't quite sure if he should stay or not.
Chances were, he probably had a bad relationship with the king of Corona and considering he's apparently Elsa and Anna's uncle, he'd most likely point whatever relationship that was and talk her into throwing him in the dungeons and there was almost nothing worse than a pissed off, hungry werewolf being locked in a cage.
He discreetly looks for a spot where he'd be able to slip away from the court if he needed to until he felt Elsa gently grab his hand which made him look back at her to see a comforting look on her face. "Relax. They're nice." She says gently, her touch and the sound of her voice soothing his nerves.
"Sit down, it might help." She suggests quietly, motioning for Kai to bring him a chair while she tries to help him calm down. After a few seconds, Kai returned with the chair and offers it to Mikael.
"Thanks." He said simply before reluctantly sitting down, kind of annoyed by the fact it would be a little more difficult to keep an eye on things from the chair, but his hearing, smell and so on would compensate for the otherwise minor "handicap".
After a few minutes, the doors open again and Mikael looked up to see a man with black hair that had touches of grey in it and a relatively thick beard, the man himself looked to be in his forties or fifties and was wearing a medium blue suit.
He was accompanied by a young woman with short brown hair that looked like she was maybe around twenty and wearing a light pink dress whose arm was locked with a younger man who had maybe dark brown hair with a light goatee and looked like he was maybe in his late twenties or early thirties.
He raised his eyebrow when he noticed the younger man. "Wait, I know that lout..." He said to himself as he studied the group. They stop in front of them and bow respectfully, Elsa smiling and motioning for them to stand afterwards, though the younger man frowned a little when he saw Mikael.
"Ah, that is you, ain't it?" He thought to himself, trying not to burst out laughing when he saw his expression. "Good to see you again." The older man said kindly, Elsa and Anna smiling when he does.
"Good to see you too." Elsa said softly when he and the young woman turn their attention to Mikael, a smile crossing the young woman's face. "Who's this?" She asks curiously, a rather inviting tone to her voice. "This is Mikael. He's helping us deal with a little...problem." Elsa answers softly, not really wanting to tell them about the werewolves just yet.
The younger man raised an eyebrow then approached him. "Mikael...Robert's enforcer?" He asked curiously, everyone, especially Elsa studying him curiously when he mentioned Robert. "Used to be." Mikael said simply, confusing the young man a little.
"Since..." He started curiously, his eyes not leaving him. "I'd rather not get into that right now. Let's just say we had a little difference in opinion and I left." Mikael said before the young man nodded a little, not really sure what else to say. "You've met?" The young woman asks curiously.
"Back when I was still...you know, I was trying to get out of the city and he made it happen." He answered calmly, Mikael pointing at him with a kind of "ah-ha!" look on his face. "Oh yeah, Flynn, right?" He asks curiously, almost making him tense up.
"Yeah..." Flynn answered somewhat dully. "Nice to see ya made it out in one piece. And married to a princess? Not bad, not bad." Mikael chuckles a bit and shakes his head. "Gotta say, I didn't see that coming." He said simply, the young woman studying them curiously. "Did...something happen between you two?" She asked hesitantly.
"No, nothing major. Unless you wanna count the time he tried to get out of paying me after I got him out of there." He shrugs, making Flynn's head drop. "I told you I'd pay you as soon as I could, I just...ran into a lot of trouble before I could." He explained reluctantly, an almost terrified look on his face, which almost made Mikael fall out of his chair laughing.
"Kid, if I was really worried about pocket change, don't you think I would have collected it by now?" He asked sarcastically, everyone studying him curiously, especially after they heard him say "kid.". "Well, I would have thought Robert would have sent you after me." Flynn answered, making Mikael shake his head a little.
"Let's be honest here, man. That little smuggling ring, that was my game, my money. Robert didn't know a damn thing about it and if he ever went near that piece of business, he ended up in a coma for about a week. Trust me, I was making a fortune off of poor bastards like you every hour, one person refuses to pay out of maybe a few hundred thousand or more a day, ain't no skin off my nose." He explains with a light smirk, Flynn still watching him cautiously.
"You're off the hook, Ryder. If I cared anything about that money, we wouldn't be talking right now." He states simply. "Now, that we've got that out of the way..." He leans back before turning his attention to the other guests.
"I'm princess Rapunzel of Corona. Elsa and Anna are my cousins." The young woman curtsies, Mikael nods his head respectfully. "King Harknir of Corona." The king introduced himself respectfully, Mikael bowing his head a little. "Nice to meet ya." He said simply when he noticed Rapunzel leaning close to Elsa's ear.
"Are you and him...together?" She whispered in a happy tone, making him and Elsa blush madly. "Yeah, they're definitely related." He thought to himself when he noticed Harknir and Flynn chuckling at their reaction. Elsa smiled softly and looks to him.
"Not yet. I'm...not sure if he wants to stay in Arendelle or not." She says softly, Rapunzel's mouth dropping when she heard her answer before she turned her attention to Mikael. "Why wouldn't you stay?" She asked, sounding a little hurt when she does. Mikael frowns, he wanted so badly to tell the truth, to tell Elsa about his true nature, the near death experience he delivered to her, everything, but he couldn't.
Everyone could tell that something was bothering him, though and that whatever it was; it was killing him just trying to hold it back. "It's complicated..." He answers a little dully, not really meeting anyone's eyes when he does. She was about to ask something else, but Elsa shakes her head a little, suggesting that it'd be best to leave it alone. Rapunzel nods reluctantly before she and the others take their seats, Mikael simply looking straight ahead until he felt Elsa's fingers comfortably lace around his hand again...
Hell of a way to end a chapter, huh? I ain't gonna lie, this one didn't turn out like I expected it to, but I think it's at least a little
decent considering I was wrestling with writer's block the whole time I was writing it.
I was hoping to include Rapunzel and Flynn in a later chapter, but I figured it'd be interesting to have them arrive early
so I wouldn't try to cram a lot of arrivals into one chapter (Because something big's gonna happen during the party.) and considering
she's supposed to be Elsa and Anna's cousin; it just made sense if you ask me.
So, anyway, here's Damn, number 10? I'll try to have another up a little quicker and see ya next time...