[Uwah, I never expected so many people reading one of my lighter-hearted fics of one of my lighter-hearted favorite shows of all time. All hits and reviews go straight to a soft spot in my heart; you guys make me feel all warm and fuzzy, even more than all the Jane and Gunther fluff that's going on. More reviews please, and I may add a little Jester madness just to stir it all up and add more wonderful chapters. I haven't been in the mood to sketch lately, but I hope the descriptions paint the portraits well enough. Thanks guys!]
[BTW, the first mention of the phrase 'hairy situation' comes out in this chapter! Guess who gets to say it. And so much more was supposed to happen in this chapter, but it ended up too long, so I'll include those in the next update. Cheers! :D]
-.-.-
"A what?" Jane suddenly said, in a loud voice, startling the excited Pepper across the dining table, and the half-asleep Jester beside her. "What did you just say?"
She had just washed her hair that morning and had come down for breakfast with a small towel draped across her shoulders. While drying her hair, it nearly flew out of her hands as she whipped her head at what Pepper had just said.
"The Annual Castle Ball, of course," Pepper said, hands still on her chest in surprise. "Don't tell me you didn't know about it. We have it every year-"
"-thus the 'annual' bit, you see, Jane," Jester interjected.
Jane made a face at him, rearranging the towel on her shoulders from where it had landed on the seat. "Not the Ball - what you said before that."
"Well, your mother - don't tell her I told you, she told me to keep it a secret for now, but well, since you're my friend - has been arranging for a gown to be made for you. She's been asking me about what colors you like, what kind of fabric is your favorite-," Pepper started rambling.
"Oh no, not again," Jane said, burying her face in the wet towel and her massive hair, which by this time, nearly six months from her last haircut, fell around her in a sloppy wet mess to her waist. Drying her hair meant half a day of walking around with wet strands flipping about everywhere, or a couple of hours of flying with Dragon, which seemed to be happening less and less recently, what with all the tasks that had to be done in the castle - in preparation of the Ball, of course.
"I've told her year and year again that I would not attend wearing any blasted gown she picks out for me," she said, gesturing vehemently with one hand.
"And that's why year and year again you've been celebrating it here in the courtyard with us," Jester said, motioning to Pepper, who nodded in agreement.
Pepper suddenly giggled a little. She leaned slightly forward to face Jane. "And not that I want to sound like your mother, but don't you want to attend the ball properly, with a proper gown this once?"
"I am a knight, Pepper," Jane retorted. "Who wants to see a knight in a silly frilly gown?"
"Oh, I can think of more than one person who wants to see you in a nice gown, maybe with your hair done up nicely and sparkling jewelry all around-," Pepper started, her voice trailing off in some midday hallucination.
"Oh come off it, Pepper," Jane hissed, flushing slightly at the thought, and suddenly returned to frisking her waist-length curly red hair. "No one wants to see me in something like that. Right, Jester?" she said, turning to her funny friend.
"Sparkling jewelry-," he said, spaced out. He snapped back into focus and stammered, "Er, uhm, yes, well, what was the question again?"
"Ugh, stupid dresses," she said, vigorously rubbing with the towel in an attempt to get it to dry within the morning. "As if this massive hair wasn't trouble enough-,"
"Hey, now there's an idea!" Jester suddenly said, jumping up from his seat.
"What is it?" Jane and Pepper asked at the same time.
"This is the first time you've had your hair this long, right?" he said, excitedly pointing at her and jumping from foot to foot.
"Yes," Jane said in a drawn-out singsong breath, rather apprehensively, not knowing where Jester was going with all this.
"And you've still got that bet going on with Gunther, right?" he continued.
"Yeah, so?" she said, rolling her eyes at him.
"How about you extend your bet to something like, say-," he said, folding his arms and stroking a non-existent beard on his chin. "Whoever goes to the ball better-dressed and with a better hairstyle gets to end the silly bet, before this 'hairy situation' - he said, making quotation marks in the air with his fingers - grows any more unmanageable!"
"That's a wonderful idea, Jester!" Pepper said, clapping her hands.
"Couldn't there be another, less frilly way to settle the score?" Jane said, in a desperate tone.
"Well, I don't know, Jane," Jester said, in an exaggeratedly singsong voice, pacing back and forth. "There won't be another event like this in another year. I mean, it's the 'mane' event," he said, suddenly outstretching his arms towards her, but when she didn't laugh at his pun, he merely cleared his throat and continued. "This'll be your only chance to show him up; otherwise, you two will just have to keep your hair growing and growing, and growing and growing on and on, and on, and on-,"
"Yes, yes, I get it," Jane said, giggling a little. "Well, if it's the only way," she said, seeming less hesitant than before.
"Oh, wonderful!" Pepper said, standing up and clapping her hands some more. "I'll go tell your mother straightaway!" she said, and ran off into the castle before Jane could stop her.
"Oh well, no turning back now," Jane sighed, slumping back into her seat. "All that's left is to do is to tell Gunther…"
-.-.-
Jane searched the castle after breakfast, after morning duties, and after lunch, but found no sign of the raven-haired squire.
"Ugh," she groaned. "Why is he always there when I don't want him, and nowhere to be seen when I need to talk to him?" she screamed at nothing in particular.
"If people are asking where I went," Dragon suddenly said, descending from the sky and making a less-than-perfect landing in a pile of barrels. "Say that I went to, uh, patrol the air currents above the northern pastures-,"
"Where the cows graze, Dragon?" Jane said, raising an eyebrow at him. "And 'moo' all day long?"
"No, well, yes," he said, pushing off barrels with a large claw. "Official business, I assure you. Now what is this you needed to talk to me about?"
"Oh, so you heard me-, It's not you, it's Gunther. I need to tell him something, but I can't find him anywhere," she said, exasperated.
"Nope, haven't seen him all day. Must be busy with something, what with that short-life annual party coming up again. Don't you short-lives get sick of it?" he said, waving one clawed finger in the air. "Now cows, on the other hand, I could watch my whole life. 'Mooo,'" he imitated, laughing at his own statement.
"Well, if you do see him, tell him I've got something important to say to him, regarding the ball," said Jane. "Oh, and once he's done with his duties, he should meet me tonight, on this parapet."
"Oh, something important about the bal-," Dragon said, then a realization suddenly came to him. "Oh, I see, that kind of something important about the ball."
"What are you thinking, Dragon?" Jane asked, suspicious.
"Oh, nothing, nothing," he said, smiling strangely. "I'll be sure to tell him when I see him, then."
"See you later, then, Dragon," she said, and with a great flapping of dragon wings, she was left standing alone on the castle wall as Dragon went off into the sky.
And behind her, hidden behind the wooden door to the castle, hid Gunther, surprised at what he had just overheard.
-.-.-
