CHAPTER 12

Character Development

Red stared disbelievingly at the mirror that Raddy was holding up for him. With the make-up applied to his face (he'd been the one to apply it, because, let's face facts, Red was probably the most skilled with using it amongst their group) the freckles that often helped people distinguish who he was had disappeared. In fact, with the absence of his freckles, quite a bit of the childishness had gone from his face. The slightly tan tone the Fae and the Elf had picked out all but eliminated his fair skin color that might have otherwise made him seem like the feminine little thing he often pretended to be. And with the haircut…

"I look like a man," Red said, stating the obvious.

"I do believe that was what we were hoping for," the Elf chirped, earning himself a glare from the baker.

"You do realize that from now on nobody's going to believe I'm an innocent little fifteen-year old girl when I do my chores, right?" Red asked heatedly. He had calmed down considerably now that he had gotten over the hair issue somewhat, moving from near hysterical depression to tightly-controlled anger. One could tell that the dark-haired man was getting over things by how angry he was right afterwards, and he was pretty angry at the moment.

Azrael took on a thoughtful look as he considered this.

"Oh…I'm afraid I forgot to take that into account," he said slowly. Red's left eye twitched. Azrael smiled. "Ah, well. It'll grow back to its original length."

"Yeah, it'll grow back alright…" Red agreed calmly, crossing his arms and nodding. And then he burst into a loud roar that could have made a mountain rabbit shudder. "…in about twenty bloody years!"

"Now, now, Red…look on the bright side…you look fetching in those clothes," the Elf said, grinning from ear to pointy ear. The baker gave him a disdainful look.

"I look like a pirate," he deadpanned, plucking at the sleeve of his new shirt morosely.

"A handsome pirate," Azrael corrected, taking in the garments that he and Raddy had forced their friend into once they'd gotten back and presented them to him. It had been a rough struggle, but with their superior strength and height, they had overpowered the younger man and stuffed him into the outfit he now wore. Red thought that various pieces would have been fine on their own, but combined together they created one hell of an ensemble.

Azrael had found a spare red bandana tucked away in one of his bags (from a tournament he'd won last spring, according to him, that involved balls called 'pigskins' and many men all dressed up in full body armor tackling each other to the ground—he didn't remember how he'd acquired it, but he did remember blacking out several times), and had tied it around Red's messily cut hair. He noted that though it did look sort of nice the way it was layered from just above Red's jaw line, somebody was going to have to touch it up somewhat. Perhaps that seamstress friend of Red's could do it. He had looked for other red articles for the baker to wear, because the man looked so good in the color, but had seen none at all in the town, which he found somewhat strange.

Together Raddy and Azrael had acquired a new white shirt, proper black pants, a few belts (the pants were a bit loose and the shirt was somewhat long) and a nice black vest with white, spiral embroidery along the trim. And a proper pair of boots, too, because they were quite adamant that no sensible man would be caught dead in the little 'booties' that the baker liked to wear around. Lastly, a heavy, dark brown wool coat to keep off the chill, because he sure as heck couldn't continue to wear his distinguishing red cloak. But the dark-haired man had insisted that he be allowed to keep his usual gloves, and they had let him, seeing as they were innocuous enough.

All in all, Red looked surprisingly masculine at the moment as he studied himself for the third time since his 'transformation'.

I look like my father.

"Well, now that that's all settled, shall we head into town? I reserved us a suite at the Icicle Hotel. If we go now we'll be just in time for dinner!" Azrael said after a few moments.

"I guess," Red said, scratching his neck uncomfortably. Even with the high collar of his new shirt, the back of his neck felt naked.

"Excellent! Away we go, then!"

And so Red and his companions started off once more, eager for the warmth of the indoors and the food promised by the Elf. Red was uncomfortably aware of the absence of his braid, and kept reaching up to touch the shorn ends of his hair. He was also aware that he was being watched by a certain pair of amber eyes, though whenever he glared in Wolf's direction (which was frequently, as he was not at all happy with the man at the moment), Wolf did a very convincing impression of someone who was very interested in the road just ahead of him.

The road they traveled along lead them quickly into town, where Red soon became uncomfortably aware of a very different sort of regard. Everywhere he glanced, it seemed like the townsfolk were glaring at him, whispering behind their hands to one another. He divided his attention on the cobbled road beneath his new boots and the interesting architecture of the buildings that lined the streets.

Most of the houses and shops had two floors, though occasionally there was one with only one floor, or three. They were all built of brick done over with smooth, cream-colored stucco, and accented by dark brown beams that reinforced the corners, roofs, and sometimes the walls of the upper floors. There seemed to be an abundance of window boxes, but unfortunately the climes of the region were rather unforgiving to decorative flora, and so many of the boxes were filled with useful herbs and what green things would grow in icy soil.

"There's the hotel, just across the square there," Azrael said, pointing to a very large, very fancy building. Red gulped slightly. From what he could see of the outside, the establishment looked to be one of those places that charged its guests for the mints on their pillows, and could get away with it because its guests were so ridiculously wealthy that they expected it.

"It looks very…nice," Wolf said. Red glanced at him. He seemed somewhat ill at ease. Before he could wonder as to why, though, he was distracted by a shout from across the square, and two burley, very angry-looking city guards running towards them.

"Halt! Halt in the name of the law, you red-wearing rascal!" one of them yelled. Red furrowed his brows and looked at his friends. Had his disguise not worked after all? The other guard came up, holding a threatening halberd to Red's neck.

"You, sir, are in violation of one of this kingdom's most strictest of strictly strict laws," the man with the halberd said, a bit redundantly.

"And which one would that be?" Raddy asked, moving forward to stand defensively next to Red. The man in armor gawked at the Fae, as if he had a foot growing out of his head. He soon regained his composure, looking somewhat disgruntled at being asked such a question. He looked to his fellow guardsman, who launched into what Red and his friends could tell was an overused explanation of the aforementioned strictest of strictly strict laws.

"Which one? Which one? Why it's one of the most important of all: Red clothing has been banned from the Kingdom of Saison….excluding the eastern portion, of course, but nobody really goes there," the city guard explained, waving an irritable hand. "The point is….we are the Red Watch!"

Red raised an eyebrow. "The who?" he inquired, just as Raddy groaned.

"Oh, I had forgotten about you," the brown fairy muttered darkly from behind his wooden mask. His tone was somewhat embarrassed and more than a little annoyed. His companions looked at him, hoping for some sort of enlightenment, and he sighed and explained. Apparently, the Red Watch was a group of armed men sent out by the Queen herself with the intent to enforce the 'no red' law throughout her kingdom. Anyone found wearing red clothing would be sent straight to jail.

Red frowned at this. Lovely, he thought. If he wasn't being charged with high treason, he was being charged for simply wearing his family's trademark color. Lovely. Just bloody lovely.

He was startled when someone tugged the bandanna from his head. Jerking around, he blinked at Wolf, who was meticulously picking out the knot that had secured the scrap of fabric.

"I'm afraid that simply removing it won't help," one of the guards said. "He was wearing it, blatantly, right in the middle of the city in the middle of the day! The law requires that—" he was cut off when Wolf shook out the bandanna with a loud SNAP. He then folded it in half and lifted it to his face, whereupon he proceeded to loudly blow his nose. Red stared, slightly disgusted, as he then folded it in half once more and shoved it into the back pocket of his trousers.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Wolf said, raising an eyebrow at the guard and sniffing. "I was blowing my nose. You said you're arresting our friend here," he indicated Red with a wave of his hand, "for wearing a red article of clothing? That's funny, because I don't see any red on him at all. Do you?" he turned to Raddy. The brown Fae hesitated for the merest instant before he shook his head.

"Nope. Lots of black and white and some brown, but no red. Azrael?"

The Elf shook his head gravely. "I certainly don't see what they're talking about," he said.

"He was wearing it!" the guard exclaimed, glaring in annoyance at the lot of them.

"Wearing what? My handkerchief?" Wolf asked, sounding incredulous. "I don't know why he'd be wearing something like that; I blow my nose with that."

"The law—"

"Doesn't include handkerchiefs," Raddy interrupted firmly. "I don't know what you thought you saw, but it certainly wasn't our friend bedecked in a bit of red. He can't stand the color, you know."

"But—" the guard was puffing up his chest in indignation. Azrael cut him off.

"Let me put it like this," he said, stepping closer to the guards. Red heard the clink of coins, and a moment later the two men were all politeness and smiles.

"Sorry to have bothered you, sir," the first one said, bowing slightly to Azrael.

"We were mistaken. I do hope it didn't put you to too much trouble," the second chimed in, also bowing.

"Not at all. Please carry on," Azrael said with a smile. The two guards turned and wandered unhurriedly away, satisfied with a job well done. "Well!" the Elf continued, turning around to look at his companions, a cheerful smile on his face. "That was interesting!"

"I'm sorry about the bandanna, Azrael," Wolf said. "I'll wash it..."

"It's quite alright, under the circumstances. And, um...don't worry about it. You can keep it," the Elf assured him. "Now, shall we finish our journey...?"

And so Red and his three companions finished crossing the square and entered the hotel without any further incident

-------------

Snow Castle was quiet and virtually empty; it was cold and in disrepair. The broken stained glass windows were wide open, letting the winter drafts into the hallowed halls, covering spots on the carpeted floor with ice and snow. No one lived here anymore, or willingly entered the tall, intimidating structure at all—not even the soldiers still loyal to the throne, whose barracks had been moved to Icicle Town. All had abandoned the place, except for the Queen who, rumor told, wandered the corridors grandly and talking to a magic mirror that hung on her bedroom wall.

The mirror had been a gift to her from her first husband, a man she had loved at one time, and still held a great deal of fondness for, but who she had come to recognize was not the best father for their son. It had been enchanted heavily to answer not only the truth, but to show her images of various things: For example, where her foes were currently residing within the town not so far away.

The Queen touched the rippling image of young Red in his new disguise, talking mutely to his comrades within a hotel. She smiled sweetly, a small, dark chuckle escaping her lips.

"So...the boy has finally returned," she remarked quietly to no one.

"Yes," the mirror replied, regardless of whether the statement had been directed towards it or not.

The Queen nodded slowly, beginning to move away, disinterested with the image that was soon to fade away from the body of the large floor-length mirror. Normally, the woman would simply watch the mirror and wander aimlessly through her beautiful solitude, but now she feared that that would soon be disturbed if she didn't do something about it. There could be only one reason why Red Reaper would choose to come back to Saison when there was a bounty on his head, and knowing the boy, he would succeed if she did not interfere in some manner.

So it was that Queen Helen du Trois put on her finest fur coat and sat herself down upon the royal sleigh, to which four white horses were hitched, and began her journey towards the kingdom's capital.

-----------

"Alright….first order of business…Red, you need to pick a name."

"What?" Red blinked in surprise at Wolf.

Azrael smiled adorably at his friend's confused face. Once settled into their lush hotel room the four of them thought that a meeting to sort things out would be prudent to reviving the slumbering Snow White. They had just started after a few rounds of idle small-talk, and were finally getting down to business.

"Another lovely point, Sir Wolf," the Elf noted with an acknowledging nod of his head. He turned his blue gaze to Red, all smiles and sunshine daisies. "As seen, it'd be best if none of us—particularly you—get into any trouble with the local authorities until we've sorted this whole mess with Snow White out and she gives you a full pardon—"

"That's not bloody likely," Red interrupted bleakly.

"—and we can go on with our lives," Azrael finished with a pointed look. "And since Saison can't seem to stand the color red in most of its forms, it would probably be prudent to call you by another name, as Sir Wolf suggested…"

Red groaned quietly. This was turning out to be way more complicated than even he'd imagined. He caught sight of his reflection in the mirror across the way and gave a start, unused to seeing a young man who looked to be in his early twenties, and who also looked remarkably like his father, reflected back at him. He stared into the mirror for several moments before he realized his friends were waiting for him to speak. Well, why not? He looked like the man, might as well...

"Call me Jack," he said, unable to prevent a faint smile from twitching at his lips.

"Jack?" Raddy repeated. He sounded surprised. Red looked at him and nodded.

"Jack," he confirmed. "Jack Inlaw the Red-handed."

"The 'Red-handed'?" this time it was Wolf who echoed him in an incredulous tone.

"Perhaps we'd best leave that last bit off," Azrael said. Then he smiled at Red. "But that's a good name. It's very..."

"Pirate-y?" Red suggested, his voice tinged with a smidge of irony.

Azrael snorted in amusement. "You're not letting that go, are you?"

Red gestured at the mirror. The young man that was his reflection gestured back. "I just call it like I see it," he said with a shrug. "And now that we've got that out of the way, is there anything else you think I ought to modify about myself before we finally get around to uncursing Snow?"

"I think we've done quite enough," Wolf broke in before Azrael could respond. He was looking hard at the Elf, not quite glaring, but clearly daring Azrael to contradict him. Azrael did not seem inclined to do so, smiling innocently as he was wont to doing.

"The changes we've made should be sufficient," he said pleasantly. "And of course we should proceed to our plans for helping Snow. Radamanthus, you seem to be the best informed of all of us..." he trailed off, turning to look at Raddy, who nodded and cleared his throat. Wulf, who had, thus far been quietly lying down in a corner, perked up in slight interest. The pup got up from his spot, stretched a bit, and then moved so that he was seated right next to Red. The baker reached down and absently scratched the dog behind his ears.

"Well, some time ago, I was approached by a strange gentleman who told me that our lady Snow White was not struck dead by poison, but somehow cursed into a deep slumber," the muddy fairy began to explain, floating up higher into the air as he did so. He paced--well, floated--the floor, one hand under his chin, the other supporting the elbow of the other hand. His wings fluttered uneasily on his back as he moved until Azrael made him settle down into a chair.

"We know that part already, my friend...Now please tell us how we can bring Snow back," the Elf said, crossing his arms as he waited patiently for the solution to their problem.

Raddy looked at the floor.

"We have to find Snow's True Love...only his kiss can break the spell she's under," he told the others.

A brief silence settled over the room.

Then Red groaned, covering his face with his hands, bemoaning the fact that he always seemed to be pairing people off; Wolf smirked a bit, thinking about the time he'd had to kiss Red awake (not that he had known his kiss would have broken Wicked's curse) back in Tempus. Azrael just blinked.

"That's all?" he asked in surprise. He also looked somewhat disappointed. "You mean we can't go around, questing throughout the entire countryside looking for some obscure artifact that can only be found by following riddle-esque clues left behind by wizened old men who once worshipped the great God of Underpants, randomly walking into people's houses for no apparent reason, taking their things without asking, all in the slim hope that it could cure our friend, only to find out that we must fight some fiendish overlord in order to even activate said artifact?"

"I personally find Raddy's solution preferable to the one you just suggested, Azrael," Red stated, looking hard at the Elf. "It sounds like it would be a lot less bothersome."

Azrael pouted cutely. "But I like adventuring!" he said, sounding forlorn.

"There aren't even any fiendish overlords in this part of the world anymore," Wolf pointed out. Azrael looked positively disappointed, his long ears drooping as his last hope for wild adventure was shot down. Then he perked up briefly as he remembered something.

"What about that Loosestrife fellow--?" he began to say, but Wolf cut him off.

"He got married and retired over thirty years ago."

"But—"

"We don't need to drag any evil overlords, retired or not, into this," Red interrupted. He glanced at Wolf curiously. He'd heard rumors that the evil overlord Wolfgang Loosestrife had settled down long ago and started a family, but Wolf seemed to take those rumors for fact, he sounded so certain…

"That's right," Raddy said, picking up the thread where Red had left off. "We just need to find Snow White's True Love. Once he kisses her, the spell will break, and then we can all go back to our normal lives."

"But where are we going to find her True Love?" Wolf asked, leaning back in his chair and relaxing slightly now that the topic of former evil overlords seemed to have been thoroughly squashed.

"Maybe a contest?" Red suggested. Wulf licked his hand and whined, and he realized he'd been neglecting his ear-scratching duties. He started up again. "We can announce that we're seeking a strong, heroic man to break the dreadful curse of the beautiful princess? Hero-types tend to flock to those sorts of rumors."

"That might work," Raddy said, nodding slowly. "I wouldn't feel comfortable unless we were monitoring it somehow…I don't want just anyone going up to Snow and kissing her…" Red thought his friend's voice sounded odd, but he couldn't see Raddy's face, as always, so he wondered if he was just imagining it. Raddy tried to stand up to resume his nervous pacing, but Azrael made him sit once more.

"That does sound like a good plan, Red," Azrael admitted, if somewhat grudgingly. He was still disappointed that there was to be no questing. Why don't we work out the details, then? Afterwards, we can go to the Blessed Garden and visit Snow White." His blue eyes flicked to the room's large window. Outside, he could see an orange haze creeping through the clouds. "Or perhaps we should go tomorrow, as it's getting somewhat late," he said, amending his last suggestion.

"That's a sensible enough idea," Wolf said, yawning into his hand. His namesake gave a doggy yawn on the floor in agreement. It had been one busy and long day for all of them, what with all the fleeing from Balrogs, mountain rabbits, and crazy old men in grey robes--not to mention the brush with the law they'd had a little while ago. It would be best for the group's chances of succeeding in their endeavor if they were well-rested for whatever insanity would come their way next.

Raddy felt that he'd like to visit the princess as soon as possible, but conceded that being exhausted would not help her in the least. "Yes, let's work out the details then..."

Red smiled, already forming an idea as to how they could go about this contest.

"Alright...first off, we can do this to get word of mouth spreading..."

The four planned well into the evening, over a dinner of fine, hot rabbit stew (that nobody seemed to be able to eat once they found out what it was) and into the night. They couldn't come to agreements over certain things, mainly about the criteria in which they were to judge the heroes come to call. Did they have to be handsome? Some argued that he had to be, others said they shouldn't be so picky as long as they did what they were supposed to do. Should they critique personality? Fighting skill? Achievements? Singing? There were many things that the group went over until they were near tired of having to argue over it.

In the end, it was decided that Raddy, Red, and Wolf would be the ones to judge who could be Snow's possible True Love. Raddy and Red because they were the princess' friends and they knew the girl's personality enough to try and find a match. Wolf was picked, because he wasn't an acquaintance of the girl's, nor knew much about her in general. They needed one judge who wouldn't be biased against any particular person. Azrael would be keeping track of who came in and who left, as well as playing security. The Elf may not look it, but he could toss a fully grown man across a room with one hand.

It was late when the four men adjourned to their separate rooms within the suite. Wulf curled up happily at the foot of Red's bed. The baker was grateful for the company, though he felt his thoughts drifting to the similarly-named man who was taking his own rest on the other side of the wall. Red frowned at the direction of his thoughts and punched his pillow a few times to fluff it, hoping to distract himself. But once he'd settled down, there was nothing to keep his mind from drifting back to the amber-eyed man next door.

Fortunately for him, he fell asleep soon after, though he was still half-irritated and half-confused by the direction of his traitorous thoughts.

-----------------

They were sitting on a bed together, face to face. His hands were holding onto the hem of the older man's green t-shirt. Nearby was a little table with a bucket of some sort situated upon it. There was also a brush; it must have been for the white, generic walls around them. What type of paint was it? Who was going to do the painting? Did he really care? In one quick moment he pulled the shirt off and marveled at the hard muscles running underneath his caressing hand. Wolf smirked at him.

"Do you like what you see?" he asked seductively, running his hands along Red's bare arms in soothing motions. The baker looked up at him, captivated by the gaze staring intently at him as he was gently pushed back into the mattress.

"My...what big eyes you have..." the dark-haired man whispered as Wolf slowly undressed him.

"All the better to see you with, my bonnie lad."

Hands moved all around his torso as the older male straddled him, keeping Red down with all of his weight. He shivered as pleasure ran through the length of his body and a moan escaped his lips.

"My...what big hands you have..." Red remarked as the other man massaged and caressed him.

"All the better to pleasure you, my bonnie lad." The voice came as a soft, feral growl. It was a sound that should have frightened him, but it managed to arouse him even more than Wolf's wonderful ministrations did. Red hissed as something hot and wet was pressed against the hollow of his neck and he soon found out that it was the silver-haired man's tongue pressing heated circles into his skin. He titled his head a little, to give Wolf further access to even more skin, which he happily kissed, bit, and licked.

"And m-my..." Red breathed out, almost gasping. "...what a large...tongue you have."

Wolf's dark chuckle filled his ears and made him shiver with anticipation.

"All the better to lick you clean of chocolate, my love..."

Lick him clean of chocolate? Ah, so that was what that bucket of paint was for. It must be filled to the brim with sultry, melted, warm, liquid chocolate. The thought of being covered in the stuff and then licked clean was very enticing, but, somehow, the baker felt it was unfair that Wolf got all the fun. As he pondered this as the older man was having his naughty way with him, he began to feel somewhat playful and a little...aggressive? Red rubbed Wolf's bare thighs (when had he removed those leather pants?) softly, his only warning before he found a strength he normally did not possess to flip them over so that he could be on top and the taller man--gasping in surprise--on the bottom.

He straddled Wolf's hips, smiling triumphantly. Holding a finger up, he tauntingly wagged it at him. The weight of Red pressing against Wolf's hips was distracting, but that wagging finger was absolutely tempting. Propping himself up on his forearms, Wolf caught the finger between his teeth, smiling at Red. He gently sucked on it, eagerly anticipating the other's reaction.

"Tell me, Red," he purred, bathing the digit with his tongue. "What are you going to do with me now?"

Instead of answering, Red pressed his lips against his cheek, beginning to kiss and nip slowly downwards as he drew his finger away from the other man's mouth. With every new inch of skin he explored below Wolf's collar, he felt that something was missing and grinned to himself for forgetting before.

Oh, well. At least one of them was going to be covered in chocolate.

He pressed Wolf as firmly down as he could as his attention was laid upon the bucket of melted chocolate just begging to be used. Shifting a bit so he had more room to work, he picked up the brush from the bucket and began to draw little chocolate tattoos onto his lover's body, starting from his Adam's apple, down his chest to his navel, upon his thighs...

When he was satisfied, he deposited the paintbrush back into its bucket and left it forgotten on the nearby nightstand. The dark-haired man smiled devilishly as he held onto Wolf's shoulders in order to keep him still as well as to gain a bit of leverage. He soon lowered his lips and began to 'devour' the wolfish man, starting from the top., Wolf enjoyed every minute of it. The silver-haired man growled at the back of his throat, showing he appreciated everything the baker was doing, not doubting Red's ability to use his tongue to clean the milky, smooth confection from his body.

The feeling of the warm chocolate over Wolf's skin was incredible...

Red stirred restlessly in his sleep as the dream faded, leaving behind only impressions of intimacy and the faint memory of chocolate as he drifted into a deeper sleep...

--------------

"She's...gone."

The next morning had dawned crystal clear, if chilly. There was a fresh layer of snow on the ground. Red and his companions had woken early, breakfasted, and begun the journey to the Blessed Garden where Snow White had been laid to rest in her glass coffin, as chill and cold as the frost surrounding her.

The four men stood in silence for some time after Raddy's statement, staring at the stone dais in the center of the Garden that had formerly been the resting place of the princess in her coffin.

"But...who could have done this?" Azrael finally asked, confusion plain in his voice. "The townsfolk will be most upset when they discover she's gone missing," he added.

"I don't care who did it! Where is she!?" Raddy sounded more angry and upset than Red had ever heard him before. It upset Wulf, who had been trailing after the group as he was wont to doing now, sending the dog to hide behind Red's legs, whimpering. No one answered him immediately. Then Red finally spoke up.

"We'll know when we find her," he said, trying to reassure his friend and calm him down. "We'll just have to look for her, is all." He could see Raddy was still tense with rage, staring at the stone dais as though he could return the sleeping princess back to her proper place through mere force of will. Red touched his shoulder briefly. "It's not so bad. I'm good at finding missing princesses," he said. And then poisoning them...or stabbing them with cursed spindles, he thought immediately after, and winced.

Raddy seemed somewhat calmed by his assurances, however, and turned resolutely away from the empty dais. "You're right," he said. Taking a deep breath, he turned his masked face to look first at Red, then to Azrael, then finally to Wolf. "We should split up and search for her," he continued. "I'll search the surrounding forest. Azrael, perhaps you can make inquiries with the local nobility...?" the Elf nodded his head gracefully. "And Red," Raddy hesitated. "You'd probably better stick with Wolf."

"What!? Why!?" Red demanded, firmly not looking at Wolf. Raddy seemed to glance around, as if checking for possible eavesdroppers. Then he said quietly, "You of all of us is most likely to get arrested...if that happens, it will be best if someone knows right away, and can find and inform myself and Azrael."

"I'm wearing this ridiculous outfit," Red argued, "make-up, and you made me cut my hair," he practically hissed the last few words, his voice filled with barely contained anger. "And you still think I'm going to be recognized!?"

"There is always the possibility," Azrael spoke up when Raddy lapsed into guilty silence. "Please Red," he continued. "We're worried enough about Snow. Don't make us worry about you too."

Red crossed his arms and glared at the ground. When he raised no further objection, his friends took that as assent.

"We'll meet back at the hotel at noon to discuss what we've found," Raddy said. Azrael and Wolf nodded. Then the brown Fae leapt into the air, his wings moving so quickly the were a mere muddy blur. They watched him fly off in the direction of the nearby forest until he was out of sight.

"I shall take my leave as well, then," Azrael said once they could no longer see the fairy. "Best of luck, my friends. I'll see you back at the hotel." And with a smile and a nod, he turned on his heel and strode briskly off.

There was silence between Red and Wolf for some minutes after. Red finally chanced a glance at Wolf, and saw the man was watching him with an unhappy expression. Red quickly dropped his gaze. When Wolf looked at him like that, he somehow felt like he had just kicked a puppy. Wulf, who was a puppy, came out from hiding. The dog looked curiously between the two men, wondering at this sudden calm and silence.

"Well, come on then," the baker said curtly, beginning to move away from the dais. He didn't cover too much ground, however, as he found that something was latching onto his wrist. That something happened to be Wolf's hand, and it was so gloriously warm against his skin. He stared at it a moment, letting the older man get away with holding him like this before tugging away from his grasp--and not particularly succeeding.

"Wolf, I know that the others wanted you to keep an eye on me, but I'm not a bloody child. Let go." The dark-haired man pulled insistently, but to no avail. Though it was gentle, Wolf's hold on him was very firm. Finding he had no choice, but to look into Wolf's eyes to prove his point with a heated glare and a quick shake of his arm. The expression he saw was almost enough to throw him. The silver-haired man's amber eyes had always been an interesting sight to him, as they were rare as far as humans went--even when crossbred with another species--and right now, they were regarding him with an emotion that seemed somewhat foreign to them, something that Red had never imagined to see in them.

Or maybe he had just never noticed before?

At first Red felt like a cat who had just had a bad scare, its hackles raised high. But as he stared into those eyes, he felt himself calming down, and didn't resist when Wolf pulled him closer.

"Red?" Wolf asked softly.

"Yes?" Red answered, slightly breathless as the other man raised a hand to caress his cheek. His make-up-caked cheek, he reminded himself, suddenly feeling irritated all over again. The other man must have realized this, as his hand dropped down to hold up the baker's small chin instead.

"You know that I'm sorry, right?"

"What's there sorry to be about?"

"Red..." There was an edge to Wolf's voice; a hard one. The man's voice was low as he uttered his name and it made him shiver somewhat to hear it spoken so...so...enticingly. He was almost weak in his knees.

"Let me make it up to you," the man said, leaning closer to Red.

"Oh, really...How?" Red asked, tilting his head up a bit as he put a hand to Wolf's chest. They stared at one another for a quiet moment and Wulf, forgotten in this moment by the two adult humans, began pacing back and forth, glaring a puppy-dog glare at the tall man, close to growling as he smelt the beginnings of a mating ritual. He looked about. What could he do?

Wolf let go of Red's hand, moving his own up so that it could cradle the back of the baker's head. Smiling, he leaned in to kiss the younger man before he could say or do something to ruin the moment. Wulf began jumping about.

"Like s--Augh! You filthy bugger! Get off of me, you rotten mutt!" Wolf flailed about angrily and in pain as his attention was pulled away by the beast that was trying to chew off his ponytail. Wulf growled deep in his throat, not letting go for the world. It had taken him quite a few tries, but he had managed to jump high enough to catch the human's strange head tail.

Wolf managed to remove the dog from his hair, and shoved it violently away from him, glaring all the while. Wulf raised his hackles and snarled, growling. Red watched the two, wide-eyed. He found he was having a hard time catching his breath. He wasn't sure if he was grateful for the puppy's interruption or irritated by it. His face felt flushed and his stomach was doing funny things; he was somewhat surprised a moment later when he worked out that he was feeling irritation at the interruption. He was surprised again when in the next instant Wolf whirled from his glaring contest with Wulf, grabbed Red's hand, and began walking out of the Garden, tugging Red along behind. It took him a moment to remember how to work his legs properly, so he stumbled a bit at first, but was soon walking beside Wolf, hand in hand.

As he had the day before once he was certain Red was following him on his own, Wolf tried to let go of Red's hand. Just as he had the previous day, Red pretended not to notice and tightened his grip. His heart was beating somewhat erratically, and he blushed crimson when he glanced up at Wolf and saw the man's wondering, happy expression. Wulf followed behind them, nipping in irritation at Wolf's heels. He subsided for a while when Red chastised him, but was soon once more making his displeasure at the silver-haired man's presence known.

The trio walked more or less in silence all the way back to the hotel. Red glanced curiously at Wolf, but the man didn't seem to notice; his attention had mostly been focused the entire time on the dog at his heels, and making sure that it didn't bite him. The silver-haired man lead the baker and the dog all the way back to the suite Azrael had reserved. Red wondered what was going through the man's mind, but found out a moment later when he opened the door, picked the growling puppy up by the scruff of his neck, and tossed him inside, slamming the door firmly closed after. Intensely put out at this turn of events, Wulf made his displeasure known by barking and whining and scratching frantically at the door.

"Is it alright if we just leave him there?" Red asked as he followed Wolf back down the stairs into the lobby.

"Better than having him chew me into pieces whenever I look at you." Wolf said with some heat. He approached the front desk and had a few words with the man working there. Then he returned to Red, and the two of them walked out into the street. "They'll send a maid up to look after him in an hour or so," Wolf said. "He seemed to like Hannah alright. I think he's one of those annoying mutts that only likes women," he paused. "And you," he added after a moment. Red nodded. Now that he'd been reassured about Wulf, he found himself hoping that maybe the two of them could reestablish the moment they'd shared in the Blessed Garden, but Wolf seemed to be all business now. "Let's get started looking, shall we?"

Red tried not to look disappointed as he nodded in agreement.

As Red and Wolf went out into the town proper to investigate the whereabouts of the missing body of Snow White, a maid arrived within the hour at the suite as promised. She hummed as she went through her apron pockets to find the keys to the door. She was sure she could hear the scratch, scratch of claws and the pathetic whines of a young husky. Taking her sweet time (and not checking the numbered labels), she went through every single key on the large iron ring she had until she found the correct one for the suite. Tucking longish black hair behind an ear, she opened the door.

"Awoo?" came the questioning sound of the pup left behind. He stared at the person bedecked in the frilly black and white maid's outfit before sniffing experimentally. Once he caught a whiff of the stranger's scent (which was a mixture of brimstone, ash, and burnt cookies), his tongue came out of his mouth excitedly as he wagged his tail in utter delight. He barked as he pranced around, avoiding questing arms that would most definitely hold him in a wonderfully painful, yet joyful embrace.

It was his master.

"Hello, Wulf...my, you sure are causing a lot of trouble down here," the woman said, closing the door quietly behind her. She crouched down and reached out a hand to scratch him right underneath his chin. She laughed as the dog began to drool a little, probably experiencing bliss. "Can't I leave you alone for one second?"

He barked something inquisitive.

She smiled and sat on the floor, letting Wulf crawl into her lap. Her hand moved to roam across his back, soothing him as she lovingly stroked it with feather soft caresses. He growled something under his breath, and shifted a bit in her lap to get more comfortable.

"Well, no, he's more like the great grandson of a bitch, but I suppose I know what you mean by that, Wulf." She unceremoniously whacked her dog in the head, scowling at him. He jumped out of her lap, surprised. He growled at her for this unfair treatment as she gazed back, looking just as angry. She stood up and put her hands on her hips. "That's what you get for getting in between Red and Wolf!"

He barked madly at her.

"No! No! Bad dog! Behave! Not gay doggy sex for you!" Wulf did not listen to her, as he continued with his howling and barking. She sighed.

"Hellhounds….can't live with them, can't rule the world without them…" she muttered to herself, putting a hand to her forehead. As a headache began to form, she gave an exasperated groan and stomped her foot. "Shut up or I'm getting you fixed."

Wulf stopped mid bark.

The puppy whimpered as he put his tail between his legs, falling to the floor in what one could consider a very cute pose. But since she was the owner of this hellish dog she was not easily fooled by his seemingly innocent appearance. Just look at her; she didn't even work at the hotel and yet when she had walked in, the manager had immediately sent her up to take care of Wulf.

She smirked. "Good boy. Now…listen closely if you want to get back at Wolf for throwing you in here, my sweet, affectionate little darling…" The dog raised his head off the floor, cocking it to the side as he regarded her with wide, curious eyes. She shrugged at her dog. Well, she was here. She might as well sow a little mischief before going back home.

Meanwhile, as a girl and her dog were plotting vengeance against a certain leather-clad, silver-haired man, said aforementioned man sneezed in the middle of a conversation with an old man pushing around a cart full of shoes.

"Are you alright, Wolf?" Red asked, looking concerned for him. Was the cold affecting him? Looking the man up and down, he wondered if the leather coat was warm enough for the harsh, frozen climate of Saison. He didn't even have a scarf to wrap around his neck. He was sure to catch a cold without the proper winter gear...

The older man was tempted to use the bandana in his pocket to blow his nose, but thought better of it. Wouldn't want to cause a panic by flashing a bit of red around, after all. Sniffling, he went back to talking to the peddler about what he had seen the other night during his travels.

"Yes, yes..." the little old man crooned, stroking his beard. "Saw something large, being as I was passing by the Blessed Garden...Monsters have a habit of roaming at night, you know, and Saison hasn't had an end of them--not since the first queen went mad." The peddler shook his bald head, looking quite sad. Red was surprised.

"Monsters?" he repeated, wanting to make quite sure that the old man wasn't senile or pulling his leg.

"Yes, monsters...big old brutes...probably not too smart...Don't know what they were carrying off, really--but I know they must have gone through the Spring Fields." The old man made a vague gesture in some direction, but neither man needed to be pointed in the direction of that place. Everyone knew that the grass was much greener in the eastern part of Saison, and many people from the west often flocked towards the fields and the lands beyond in the hopes of finding a better (and hopefully warmer) life.

"Thank you, sir," Wolf said with an inclination of his head. The old man waved them off.

"Not a problem...not a problem..." he said, before going off and pushing his shoe cart along. Both Red and Wolf watched as he went off until they could no longer see him, standing side by side. Red looked up at his companion.

"Well…it's a lead," he said, at length. The older man agreed with an absentminded nod, pulling out a pocket watch the baker had never seen before. It was silver, polished, and looked very, very, very, very expensive. It was a piece of sophistication Red wouldn't have linked with the person standing next to him.

And then it was gone, having served its purpose. Inquisitive brown eyes trailed back up away from the leather-clad man's sides until they met with pleased amber ones paired up with a soft smirk.

"Good thing, too. We've been at this for hours—it's almost noon. And to think…we've eavesdropped on twenty little old biddies, gossiped with a bunch of school kids, and talked to about oh….half a dozen 'wizened old men'?" Wolf chuckled. "And we've only managed one good solid lead." He began to walk back in the direction of their hotel, savoring the thought of getting something to eat after a hard day's work; yet in the back of his mind, he had a feeling he would be greeted with something other than food…

"It was only last night…I'm sure they couldn't have gone too far," Red pointed out, following the other male.

"Yes…perhaps…But your friend Raddy might want to go and secure her, just in case…who knows what might happen along the way…"

"I guess…" Red allowed. "But we won't really know what to do until we hear what Raddy and Azrael have been up to."

"That's true enough," Wolf agreed easily. Red glanced at him; he was looking ahead, watching where he was going. The baker surreptitiously studied the man's profile, something he'd only really done once before, over ten years ago when they had first met in the Sleeping Forest and Wolf had offered to keep him company on his way to his grandmothers…It was a very nice profile. He'd thought so then, too. Strong, clean jaw-line (though dotted with stubble, as usual), high cheekbones, an aristocratic nose…

"Um…Wolf?" Red hadn't known he was going to say anything until the words came out of his mouth, seemingly of their own accord. Wolf glanced down at him, curious.

"Yes?"

"Um…" Now he really had no idea what to say. He looked away, blushing. "Nothing."

"Alright," Wolf said agreeably enough. The pair then lapsed into silence, in which Red squirmed uncomfortably. He had no idea what he wanted to say or do. All he knew was that he wanted to talk to Wolf, have a real conversation, about anything at all, and he couldn't for the life of him think of anything to discuss. He looked somewhat desperately around the street they were walking along. Then something caught his eye, and he couldn't help the words that came a moment later.

"Well…that's awkward."

"What is?" Wolf asked, glancing curiously at Red.

"That." Red nodded his head in the direction of the young couple he had noticed standing together a little way down the street.

The two that the baker had pointed out were obviously inexperienced as they sloppily kissed one another, hands groping onto just about anything. The man was somewhat disgusted, although he did stare longer than was probably good for him. At the back of his mind, as the two were mindlessly snogging nearby, Red wondered if he had ever acted in such a manner before. He was sure he had never kissed anyone like that (the few times that he managed it, at any rate).

"That is the worst try at a kiss I've ever seen," the dark-haired man remarked.

"You're no prize yourself."

Red blinked, then glared heatedly at Wolf, who looked down at him with a smug smirk.

"What did you say?" Red asked, grinding his teeth. The awkwardness that had fallen upon him totally dissipated as his anger took over once again. He would have slapped Wolf for saying such a thing, but he had made it a point not to do any physical harm to the silver-haired man every time he got annoyed. So, he merely huffed and whirled around on his heel. Wolf's words stopped him from taking another step further, his voice somewhat mocking.

"I mean...after all...how many times have you been kissed? I distinctly remember stealing your first all those years ago..." The man crossed his arms and recalled the beginning of his decade-long obsession, quietly satisfied with how the younger male slowly turned around so he could give him a furious stare. He was privately somewhat amazed that he hadn't been slapped yet, and a bit of hope began fluttering about in his chest as he realized this. Red was holding back. "But don't worry...I can teach you." Before the baker could say anything, he quickly grabbed the man's wrist and pulled him close to his body, wrapping an arm tightly around the other's waist.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing? Let go!" Red yelled, squirming.

"Not until you've learned your lesson," Wolf said in a low voice, leaning down to nip Red's neck. The unexpected love bite both shocked and subdued the smaller man somewhat. He was too startled to do anything, as his mind tried to register what had just happened. With his free hand, Wolf tilted the younger man's chin up so that they could be eye to eye with one another as Wolf told him what was what.

"First off, my bonnie lad...you start off light. Like this." He lightly pressed his lips against Red's, pulling back a little so that they were only an inch apart from one another. "And then you start to play around...just enough to make your partner want more from you..." The silver-haired man caught the other male's lower lip, sucking and nibbling on it gently. As he alternated between a bit of playing and tasting the other's lips, his hands moved accordingly. He adjusted his grasp around Red's waist and moved the baker's arms so that they were around his neck, so that the smaller man could gain a bit of leverage as they kissed.

Wolf pulled away again to speak and was amused and pleased to hear a small whimper of disappointment escape the dark-haired man's lips. He noted that Red was becoming a bit flushed, despite the amount of make-up on his face. Chuckling, he placed another quick kiss upon the corner of Red's rather eager mouth.

"And do you know what comes next?" he asked coyly.

"No...what?" Red asked uncertainly, doubt beginning to cloud his brown eyes as his common sense struggled to return to him. Wolf would not let him get away this time. Who knew when he would next have a chance like this? And so, without saying anything, he swooped down just as Red was about to speak, capturing pink lips in the deepest kiss they had shared in the years they had known one another.

It was hot. Very hot. Perhaps the weather was affecting their bodies or something else was at work, but neither men felt the cold air around them as they held on tightly, sharing a moment. Wolf's tongue was everywhere; it memorized every part of Red's mouth, moving slowly compared to the rushed, passionate kiss they had shared in his grandmother's cottage nearly eleven years ago. Red could taste vague traces of strawberries, a fond memory of that morning's breakfast. He idly wondered in the back of his mind if he'd ever be able to eat strawberries again without remembering this moment.

It was a kiss that could have gone straight into eternity and could have been too short once it ended. The baker's knees had been turned to jelly by this time, leaving him leaning heavily on Wolf for support. Dazed brown eyes met up with smoldering amber ones...and a smile that spoke of contentment.

"And that's how you kiss someone properly," he said. Sighing blissfully, Wolf released him and turned about to continue on his way towards the hotel, not even looking back to see if Red was following him. Red, bereft of his support, sank wobbly-legged to sit on the ground.

Red stared at his retreating back for some time, trying to catch his breath and calm down. When the man disappeared around a corner, he realized that he was sitting on his behind in the middle of the frozen walkway right in the center of town. He got clumsily to his feet, and felt some of the pleasant sensation Wolf had created within him slide away under a surge of irritation at the unresponsiveness of his knees. He took a few stumbling steps forward, and by the time he caught up with Wolf, he had worked himself up into a good, righteous indignation. He was going to give the man a piece of his mind, see if he didn't!

Wolf glanced at him and smiled so happily, however, that all of the things he'd been thinking to say flew right out of his mind. He contented himself with glaring as best as he could manage and shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket before refusing to look at Wolf any further. He stubbornly didn't want to give Wolf the satisfaction of knowing he'd gotten to him, even though Red realized he did know; he'd collapsed in the snow once Wolf had stopped supporting him, after all. But he was going to pretend he hadn't, and vehemently deny any suggestion to that effect.

Wolf, for his part, didn't seem inclined to say anything to him, regarding their impromptu kissing lesson or otherwise. So the two men walked back to the hotel together in silence, one content, the other confused, annoyed, embarrassed, and trying very hard not to admit to himself how nice it had been.