No Strings || August & Red
Who: Red & August
Where: Granny's Inn
When: Present
Notes: None
Red woke up earlier than usual that morning. With Ella gone, the duty of keeping the inn clean now fell on Red until they managed to find a new maid for the inn. It didn't bother Red, however. She was happy Ella no longer needed to work and could focus on her studies and the baby. And the early hours weren't exactly new to her, given Granny's proclivity for waking her up especially early on the nights she went out during the curse.
Cleaning caddy in hand, she ascended the stairs towards the upstairs rooms, deciding to start with the rooms at the end of the hallway and work her way back downstairs. Seeing the 'Do Not Disturb' sign still hanging, she bit down on her bottom lip, unsure of whether she should go in or not. Remembering this had been August's room before the curse broke, she wasn't sure whether or not it had been cleared out since the curse broke. Noticing the light dust that had collected on the doorknob, she decided it must have been empty, and reached into her apron for the keys to unlock what she presumed to be a vacant suite.
Making her way in, noticing the empty bed, she put her caddy down, pulling out a dust cloth and cleaning spray, and began tidying up the shelves, removing small decorative trinkets Granny had placed there ('The better to make guests feel at home' she would often say). Turning towards the desk, she then noticed out-of-place trinkets sprawled around, not a single one resembling any of the objects her grandmother was prone to buying for the inn.
Recognizing the toy whale sitting in the middle of the desk, she picked up wooden toy, turning it over in her hand as she tried to recall where she had seen it last. It had certainly not been here, she thought, but could vaguely recall small dimpled hands guiding the small toy across old stone floors. Catching the scent lingering on the small toy, her thoughts flitted to the night of Snow and Charming's last meeting at the castle, and a little boy belonging to Geppetto sitting by his feet, muttering to himself about a creature he liked to call 'Monstro' as he pushed the solid wooden whale across the floor and under the ornate table's legs.