onepassingnight | .006 These Woods Are Lovely, Dark and Deep

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.006 These Woods Are Lovely, Dark and Deep

Once upon a time, for all good stories start with once upon a time, there was a great forest. It stretched on for days, for countries, for unclaimed fairy tale after unclaimed fairy tale in fact. This was the Great Wood, the Olde Wood, the Place Where All Things Start. This was the forest of all the old tales and it will ever be, until men are legends that dogs tell each other around the fires at night. Everything lives in the depths of these woods and nothing at all. Be careful what you whisper when you go into the dark for even the trees are listening and stories have a way of happening here whether you want them to or not.

Deep in the darkness, in one of the less traveled spots, there lives a wolf. The Wolf, if you will. For he is the Big Bad, the Howler at the Door, the Winter Wolf, the Devourer, the Nightmare That Creeps In Windows, the Child's Warning and, occasionally, the Huffer and Puffer, though he's taken to outsourcing the last one after one particularly embarrassing incident involving a hay allergy. He's the wise talking beast or the prehistoric feral fear. He is, in short, whatever your story needs him to be.

Don't expect him to be particularly pleased or even helpful about it though. He's been doing this job for a while now and he's getting sick of getting yanked out of rolling in dead animals just so that he can trot his fuzzy butt over to make menacing, half-assed attempts at your basket of treats and God help you if he has to dress in old lady drag One More Time!

OOC: so. Here's Cloud to provide all your Big Bad Wolf TM needs. Or frankly, the forest isn't above dragging him in to take over any animal need. There appears to be a shortage of fairy animals going around at the moment, something about better paying jobs in Hollywood. Does your story need a talking bear? Suddenly you've got a snarky wolf as your guide. Your brothers got the mill and all you got was a cat? Well, it's a wolf now and it's not happy about having to wear boots or do all your work for you, you dolt. Need that straw spun into gold by morning? Looks like you're duck out of luck. Wolves can't spin, though he does a very impressive cats cradle if you give him enough yarn and tie the knots for him. Point being, if your fairy tale has an animal of any sort in it, you've now got a very grumpy wolf who can't say 'not interested' the way he'd really rather. And, of course, he's still here for all your big bad wolfish metaphorical needs as well.

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He's already decided to help her before she even finishes talking. Because she's pretty and smells good, because she's kind and because she's got nice fingers. And because he can't stand it when that smile isn't real and her green eyes go wet. He's not sure about all of that but he's lived in Stories long enough that he's got a general idea. Dress. Shoes. Tiara. Sexy cologne. ~~Racy~~ Fancy underwear. Sneak in in disguise.

Yep.

Got it.

So his chest puffs out a little bit and he sits up even straighter when she asks, ears flicking forward to show he's paying attention. The girl with the forest eyes wants to be cute.

side quest here he comes!

With a huff, he dips his head, mimicking a nod as best as he can. Aerith, you're going to be the healthiest looking girl at the party! Trust him.

...Maybe she should choose the dress herself. And Mister Wolf, you do not need to start thinking about her panties. Wow.

Anyhow, she swallows down her surprise when he gives such an earnest-looking wolf-nod, and the smile that emerges is real, broad and bright. "Thank you...thank you! Let's get all those pesky feathers off. You must have really shocked that chicken..." As she chatters, her finger makes neat work of the mess on Cloud's face, cleaning it up feather by feather.

Cloud's only thinking about your panties for your own good, Aerith. Sheesh. It's not like he's a notorious panty stealing pervert or anything.

...

lately.

oh hush, you.

But he does sit patiently while she defeathers him, holding in the sneezes that they make him feel like giving as they get pulled away from his nose. She's really very good at this. Soon she has a decent pile of down in her hand and Cloud is markedly less fluffy than he was before. Now it's just wolf fluff. Manly wolf fluff.

Once she's done, he stands up, glowing eyes determined in his wolfy face. She's going to be the prettiest girl at the ball and he's going to get her the dress so she can go and prove it. He knows just where. With a pointed look he heads for the gate.

Edited 2012-05-01 15:55 (UTC)

She'll zip her lips as long as they don't go mysteriously missing, panty snatcher.

Aerith's following steps aren't pointed but light and fleet and--giddy. Definitely giddy. "Where to, Mister Wolf?" She wonders if maybe something or someone at the marketplace could help them.

You mistake him for a messed up guy with the mentality of a teenager, sweet lady. He'd be insulted if he was capable of denying it without lying. In the meantime though, he's off to get her a dress and while he'll be careful not to outpace her, he's moving pretty quickly on those four legs of his.

He may not be a magic bird that can somehow summon much less carry the weight of a full dress complete with accoutrements but he IS a wolf that knows what's going on in town thanks to the gossips (don't ask. For some reason all Cloud has to do is be nearby to have people spilling information. It's a ~~curse~~ gift). So they'll end up outside the back door of the tailor's shop that's been locked up for the night and Cloud will happily dig away the loose brick on the side of the wall that the spare key's been hidden behind for her.

Bird, schmird. He's got this fairy thing SO covered.

Edited 2012-05-07 12:38 (UTC)

"...Are you sure you're not magic?" It's the only thing she can think to say after she sees him zero in on the brick that turns out to be hiding the key. In her excitement, the dull shine of tarnished metal is as good as glittering gold, and she giggles as she picks it up before impulsively giving Mr. Wolf a good scratch behind the ears. "You're definitely the smartest boy I've ever met!"

That's including the human ones.

Then she's up on her feet again, jiggling with the key a bit to slip it in the lock. After a scrape or two it slides in and she opens the door to slip inside the darkened shop, leaving the door ajar for her companion.

He IS a good boy and Aerith's praise goes straight to his head, accompanied by a very pleasant scratch he enjoys a great deal. She really does have the nicest fingers. Except they're on a mission and this is serious, so he huffs out a little sound and trots through the shop's door behind her.

The interior dim but the large display windows at the front let in plenty of street and moon light. There are quite a few pieces of clothing on display and several dresses as well but that's not where Cloud heads. Instead he heads to the back of the store. The tailor was working overtime on a dress for one of his patrons that came down sick and couldn't wear to the ball at the last minute and from all the white and pink and gold trim Cloud saw in the single cart that passed him on the way here, he's willing to guess it's a dress fit for a queen.

Which means it will be perfect for the girl with the smart fingers. Flat on, he headbutts the thin door, knocking it off its latch and lets himself into the back room.

Where there's a dress waiting on a clothing form that seems to catch and share every glint of moonlight that's in the air tonight.

Not knowing what else lays hidden in the shop, Aerith's distracted at first by a dark red gown, a bit... racy for a ball, but beautiful all the same and something about the cut appeals to her.

Though when she hears that headbutt her head snaps up-- "Mister Wolf?" Don't tell her he's in any trouble!

She gasps when she sees what he's revealed. Aerith can no longer be surprised that he was walking on their walls, not when he's pulled yet another trick out of his bag to reveal exactly where the best dress is tucked away. It's soft and it shimmers...for all its detailing it doesn't seem bulky like other dresses, but light and delicate. There's even a small pink choker over the neck, a final touch that's just right to her.

She's already right in front of the dress before she starts thinking and realizes: a dress like this must already have a name on it. "Oh, I just couldn't... it's too nice, isn't it someone's?" she asks the wolf, because he's sure to know. Then she steals another look at the dress. "But...whoever it is, they're not using it tonight, so as long as I get it back it's just a little borrowing, right?"

...Yeah, she really doesn't need that much persuasion here, she can justify it on her own.

She's his kind of lady with her reasoning and he trots behind her, pleased with the look on her face, to butt his head against the backs of her knees toward the dress. It should be fine to borrow it for the night. No one's going to come looking for it and as long as she gets it's back by cock's crow - or midnight - no one will miss it. It'll even do the tailor a favor and advertise his work on the pretties girl at the ball. She's doing him a favor in fact by borrowing the dress.

None of which Cloud can articulate but they're long past the magic bird part of this tale and it's time to do things ~~AVALANCHE~~ budget style. He hopes the bumping against the backs of her knees is convincing enough because he's prepared to do it all night until she gives in.

She takes a wobbly step forward at his headbutt, a small "Hey!" bursting past her lips though it's soon followed by laughter. "I've got it. I can't help it if I'm not as naughty as a big bad wolf." Though the smile and the look in her eyes is hardly claiming innocence--they're co-conspirators in this, now. And she's going to the ball!

She reaches to lift the dress gingerly off the sewing model, gathering up the material in her arms. She looks around for a place to change, but--well, the tailor's shop wasn't really meant for that, so she turns to Mister Wolf again. "Okay, I need you to turn around so I can change. No peeking!"

Peeking? Cloud manages to look affronted. It's like she thinks he's some kind of peeping wolf or something just because he barges into people houses and listens in on their conversations and speculates on their underwear. Clearly, she doesn't know his type at all.

There's a huff as he turns away, tail high in the air and swishing for good measure but in all actuality, he's still got some last minute jobs to run if he's going to do this whole fairy godwolf thing right. With a 'woof' and his head angled back enough so that she's knows it's for her but he can't be accused of peeking, he does his best to tell her to stay put. Then he's out the door and out of the shop and racing down the street. He's a stickler when it comes to making sure he gets every item on a sidequest and he's not done yet.

His huff elicits another of her easily given smiles, increasing when her own peek over the shoulder lets her see his swishy high tail. What a ham. But--

"Ah?" He's off! For a moment she's troubled and takes a few cautious steps after him--yes, even half-dressed--but he did woof at her. Even if she doesn't speak wolf she's quickly learned that he's a smart boy and has got his own ideas. He was talking to her, so he's probably not just abandoning her...

Brows furrowed as she tries to figure this out, she resumes dressing. Once that's done (the lacing itself takes a good few minutes), she's padding along the tailor's shop, fussing hands at her hair and thinking about how she should update her hair ribbon to match her dress. Except, it's a memento...she just can't.

Besides, what she really needs is a way to get to the ball. There's a thought that she needs to start hoofing it, pronto, and though she stays at the door to look out for Mister Wolf there's a notable impatience in how she cranes her neck to look around the street, bobbing up and down on her feet. Where oh where is he, and what is he up to?

Some quest items are harder to find than others. Especially if you're intent on getting the Very Best. And Cloud is. He's going to send the pretty girl off to the ball and he's going to do it so much better than any little 'magic' bird ever could. So it's a little bit of time but not too much before there's the distant and growing rattle of a carriage approaching the door of the tailor's. And what a carriage it is too. Drawn by four snow white horses (who look a little ragged and wild eyed) and painted in pure white with pink gold gilt trim around it (except in that spot on the coachman's now empty seat where it looks like it got pulled off when someone tried to hang on to something - unsuccessfully). No one's driving it and there's no one on the footman's perch but the driverless carriage pulls to a only slightly rough stop outside the door Aerith is waiting at and seconds later, Cloud, tongue lolling in pleasure, slips out from between the traces where the skitterish horses are waiting to trot proudly over to the girl in the doorway. He's quite proud of managing to play sheep dog to a bunch of horses but he's even more proud of what he's managed to get inside the carriage.

A pair of comfortable fur lined ~~Ugg boots~~ slippers. Because he's a sensible wolf and if she's going to be on her feet all night he's made sure to get her sensible shoes to hide under the long train of her dress.

Beat that birdie!

She's nervous when the carriage first pulls up, ducking back into the tailor's so she doesn't get caught--except, then she realizes that far from anyone yelling at her, there's no one on there to even notice her, only the four horses who look a bit skittish. She's drawing out again to see if she can calm them down when the source of agitation becomes apparent. And looking quite pleased with himself, too! She's staring for a moment before realizing what it means, and then she claps her hands in delight.

She'd shout, too, but she's not about to make those horses bolt.

"You...must be a big troublemaker, wherever you come from," she tells Mister Wolf when he trots up to her, the words warm as she leans over to look him in the eye. "Thank you."

And she hasn't even seen ~~dem boots~~ the slippers yet, though she'll discover them soon. She's already stepping up into the carriage when something occurs to her. She steps back down, putting her anticipation off for the moment. "Hey...I know it's probably not a wolf thing but...would you want to come with? It might not be normal, but." Instead of finishing that thought in words, she just chuckles quietly. 'Weird' is looking more and more fun tonight.

His chest manages to puff out a bit at her praise, because of course it's praise and his jaws open to let that tongue hang just a little bit more. He's done better than good for her and that's what matters to him. His eyes glow a happy blue when they meet the green of hers. At her invitation though, they go a bit wider in his face and then he turns his head to make a hacking noise over his shoulder.

That would be a no.

Social situations and Cloud don't seem to mix well. He can't imagine why. He will however wait outside the ball for her, one she's not going to have to rush out of because he certainly hasn't set a time limit on her fun like some stick in the mud bird.

Just in case she needs any help or someone to chop anything off.

And after that...

After that who says she has to go home? The world's a big place to find adventure in for a brave girl and a clever wolf...

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.006 These Woods Are Lovely, Dark and Deep

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oh god the icon made me snort.

XD My work here is done

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Time to about wrap this up? Unless Cloud's coming to the ball too :)

wrap up sounds good. They've certainly had their fun XD