Wolf and Mystery Ⅱ

Lawrence sighed. He'd asked her not to drink so much, but Holo had completely ignored him. She'd drunk, and drunk, and drunk some more. By the time they'd made it back to the inn, she'd been almost completely insensate.

Now it was morning, and Holo was sporting an impressive hangover. Her bedraggled appearance was rather amusing, though he was careful not to chuckle too loudly.

"You do realise we need to get on the road today, right?"

Holo groaned.

"We've still got quite a bit of ground to cover."

This time, her groan was surprisingly expressive. 'I am miserable; stop bothering me,' it said.

She was usually good about not getting too drunk when they had to travel the next day. It wouldn't kill her to sleep it off in the wagon, but he'd still prefer her to sober up at least a little.

In the time it took to go downstairs and fill a skin with fresh water, Holo made absolutely no progress toward getting up. He lifted the covers, put the skin next to her hand, and dropped the sheet back down.

There was the quiet sound of the stopper being removed. Slowly, laboriously, a water skin-shaped lump appeared next to Holo's head, accompanied by the sound of drinking. Then, the water skin was shoved out from under the covers, flopping to the floor.

Lawrence sighed.

"If you don't get up, you won't be able to have any breakfast."

"I do not want breakfast," came her hoarse reply.

This might actually be serious.

"Holo..."

"I do not wish to travel today."

"The innkeeper will expect us gone before midday."

"Then go and give her coin for another night and let me sleep!" She was sounding increasingly peevish.

"You can sleep in the wagon."

"My head feels as though it is stuffed with angry mice. If you make it ache more than it already does, I shall bite yours off." She pulled the sheets tight around her, indicating that the discussion was at an end.

Lawrence could only sigh. He wasn't quite feeling up to defying her right now.

A whole day lost was certainly less than ideal, but what concerned him was that Holo had never done this before. It was a little frustrating that she would so unilaterally decide to just halt their progress. It was odd; he'd gotten the impression that she was eager to get north and find Yoitsu.

Perhaps she was still angry over what he'd said yesterday. He felt it unfair for her to be so riled over a trap she'd led him into.

Lawrence made his way downstairs, where the personable mistress was again knitting something. "I do apologise, but would it be possible to pay for another night?"

"Well, of course, but if you don't mind me asking..."

He smiled. "My wife had a bit too much to drink last night, it seems. She insists that travel would be unbearable today," he said, counting out coins.

"Poor dear. Really, you should take better care of her!" she admonished. "Still, I suppose it's for the best."

Lawrence looked up. "Pardon?"

The innkeeper smiled at him. "A hangover is never pleasant, but I fear the road will be even less pleasant today."

"...?"

"See for yourself, just take a gander up the north road."

He finished putting the money on the counter, and walked toward the entrance. Stepping outside, he could see a bank of storm clouds far to the north, pouring through the gaps between the mountains. The innkeeper was right; the roads would be utterly miserable today.

A nasty thought settled in his mind.

"We are stopping here for the night, are we not?"

Stepping back inside, he thanked the proprietress and made his way upstairs. He carefully went over the words he intended to use, then entered their room.

Holo was still bunched up tightly on the bed.

He walked over to the wall and opened the shutters. There really was a clear view to the south. He padded back to his bed and sat on the edge.

"Well, since you're in no fit state to travel, I've paid for another night." He sighed and focused his gaze out the window. "You know, with clear, sunny weather like that, we could have made good progress." He heard a faint rustling sound. "There isn't much else to do, so I suppose I might just take a nap."

With that, he slid himself on to his bed and laid down, hands behind his head.

He just needed to wait.

He was certain that he had not told a lie. That meant Holo would have to decide: either her prediction had been wrong, or he was lying and she couldn't spot it.

The only way to be certain was to either ask him directly about the weather, or check it for herself; if she did either, he would win.

He had her trapped. All he had to do was wait patiently.

...

...

Lawrence scratched his nose.

...

...

He moved his hands to his chest.

...

...

How stubborn was Holo going to be?! She must surely have realised her predicament. It wasn't as though waiting would...

...what if the storm was headed this way? The moment it got close enough to hear, Holo would claim victory.

Urgh... she wasn't trapped; he was! He'd been so sure he had her this time. Had even this been part of her plan...?

...he rolled his eyes. No, that was just paranoia. This wasn't some grand scheme on Holo's part; he'd just blundered into a hole he had dug himself.

So, what now? Defeat was inevitable... the best he could do was to surrender with as much dignity as possible, and do so now before it was too late. Still... he did want to get the better of her. Surprise her. Impress her.

An idea came to him.

Sighing, he sat up. Taking a deep breath, he faced Holo and began. "You predicted the storm yesterday, which was why you didn't hold back on the drinking. You knew that even if we set out, I'd likely turn back and stay here another night, given the condition of the roads."

Holo's ears shifted. "But why, then, did you praise the weather for being so excellent?" Her voice was lacking the usual mocking tone he'd expected; she sounded curious.

"Oh, but it is. Out of this particular room's window, anyway."

Her ears twitched. "Ah." Holo's head popped out from under the covers, a smile on her face. "You do grow more cunning. It seems I should indeed be more cautious." Her smile faded into a questioning look. "And yet, to concede so quickly... why is that, I wonder?"

He smiled. "I was hoping that, if I confessed, you would give me a small concession."

"Oh? What sort of boon do you seek?"

"An answer. A truthful one... and one I will understand."

Holo frowned. "I have no reason to agree to such..."

"And yet I intend to ask anyway."

She studied his face for a long moment, before turning her nose up and away from him. "Very well, but I do not promise I shall receive your question without reprisal."

He nodded and cleared his throat. Then, he stood, stepped forward, and knelt beside Holo's bed. In his most fantastically pompous voice, he spake, "is there anything you would ask of of me to ease your suffering, my darling wife?"

Holo's eyes went wide as she stared at him. Then, she started laughing, her small body shaking with mirth under the sheets. For his part, Lawrence carefully held his pose and expression.

Eventually, her laughter subsided into mere giggles, her left hand holding her forehead. She looked back up at him, a stray tear in her eyes. She looked as though she was about to say something, stopped herself, grinned, then lowered her face. When it rose again, she was the very picture of a demure, poorly-feeling maiden.

"Oh, my dear, sweet husband," she said in an exaggerated voice, "I need but a little rest to recover, although..."

"Yes?"

"...'tis a little cold. Could I ask you to lend me your warmth, that I might banish this chill of mine?" Her eyes shifted from open and guileless, to half-lidded and seductive. "I am certain that I could warm you, too."

As he felt heat spread up his face, he reflected that she really couldn't give him an easy victory. She knew his sense of propriety all too well.

No... it was shyness. He'd have to do something about that; he was determined on that score.

He gave a cough and turned his head. "Well, that..."

Holo smirked, having gotten the response she expected. It was what he had been waiting for.

Moving quickly to forestall any attempts to counter him, he pulled the covers up, slid himself into bed beside her, and pulled her into an embrace. In the moment of her surprise, he wrapped one arm around her waist, the other cradling her head to his chest.

"Are you warm now, my..." mustn't reuse a phrase, needed a new one... so he said the first thing that came to mind, "...precious love?"

Holo didn't laugh; in fact, she was so still, he wondered if he'd said something wrong. But, after a moment, she snuggled against him and said in a voice he couldn't quite determine the honesty of, "Indeed."

He reflected that it might not have been paranoia after all.

Really, this wasn't so bad. He couldn't think of much that would be a more pleasant way to spend some time in a sleepy village. Holo was warm and soft, her scent sweet, and her tail was now resting across the both of them.

He couldn't quite remember why he was always so resistant.

Still...

"You could have told me, you know."

Holo's ears twiched, flicking ticklishly against his neck. Her nose rubbed his chest. "Ah, but it is as that woman said. 'Tis no fun without a bit of mystery."

Lawrence wondered whether she was referring to herself or whatever god had decided to bring them together.

He found he didn't much mind, either way. He wasn't even bothered that she didn't even seem nearly as hungover any more.

He held her a little tighter.

"Are you warm now, my... precious love?"

With those words, she had lost utterly. It took a few moments for the shock to wear off. When it had, there was naught she could do but burrow against his chest to hide the blood rushing unbidden to her cheeks. Surely, he couldn't have used them deliberately, but even so...

"Indeed."

'Twas entirely unfair. She had been the one to lay in ambush. He had fallen into her jaws exactly as she had intended, and yet... and yet she had failed to anticipate how much his careless words would hurt. Of course he had never said as such, but to hear him deny it out loud...

She had no need to feign shock and pain in that moment, and as such had been shocked all the more. She knew well her own heart... or had believed she did. She was fond of him. Truly, she was. But hearing those words said with such ease...

As he made his fumbling attempts to mollify her, she'd realised that, though she had inflated the grandeur of their journey, there was a none-too-small part of her that wanted to believe those final words.

And then, in a tiny moment of surprise, he had bested her.

"... my precious love."

He was doing to her what she had done to him. But she knew what lay behind the façade. She knew it from the nights he gazed at her, drawing his hand back before it could touch her sleeping body. From his desperate flailing against other males. From the way he argued so defiantly with her. From the innumerable small things he did to please her, even as he feigned his aggrievement.

There was a none-too-small part of him that...

She didn't want to think of it.

The game was changing in its nature.

"You could have told me, you know."

Her ears flicked, the dropped stone breaking the image that held her gaze. She let the stress drain out of her, rubbing him with her nose as thanks for the unintentional distraction. "Ah, but it is as that woman said. 'Tis no fun without a bit of mystery."

She wondered if he would ever realise that his snare had been faulty from the start? She had her hearing, after all, and the woman did so love to talk.

Still. He did not do that badly, all told.

He was not yet quite so cunning. She could stay like this for a time.

For a time.