@wolf-innsheepsclothing - Tumblr Blog

Breaking Even🔥[Hot Dog]

Gem wanted to bristle again at Wolf's "good" as if he had doubted Gem before his assurance.

He bit his tongue. This wasn't what this conversation was supposed to be about anyway. Gem just was dragging his feet to get there. However, the sooner he could manage that, the sooner he could end this conversation entirely.

He wanted to tell Wolf that he didn't care how much the security cost. Or that he was getting it for cheap from the RAS. Or that he was capable of determining trustworthy sorcerers--

But was he?

Everyone Gem had ever trusted had turned on him. Except his family.

"Thank you," Gem said curtly. There was no warmth to the words, but Gem still meant it. "And--thank you. For the other day."

There. Ripped it off, just like a band-aid.

@wolf-innsheepsclothing

Wolf did not mind the curtness. It was like a business transaction between them, as if they were talking about nothing more than a squeaky door that needed some attention at the Inn. Gem knew well enough that Wolf did these things, not for him, but for Snow.

But the second thank you was different. He could hear the strain of it, the ill-practised sentiment like an unfamiliar muscle.

That made Wolf uncomfortable.

"It was nothing," he shrugged, wishing he could shrug off the strange feeling of Gem's thanks. It was not nothing, though. Wolf wished he had not said that, wished he had more words - better words - that might say accurately what he actually felt.

"I ..." He coughed a little, not knowing how best to talk about it. Instead, grey eyes scanned the lawn and flowerbeds, as familiar as the back of his hand. "I will always look after Snow... help to look after Snow." Wolf added the latter, an uncomfortable, wrenching, tearing sensation in his stomach and his heart.

Wolf did not want to imply that Gem could not. But for so long it had been Wolf's purpose, it was hard to let go. "So I will help you both, when I can."

@gem-mohanty

#gem #breaking even

zanephillips

Calahan Skogman via Instagram

#face #ok hunky

Aftershocks || Snow Wolf

Snow glanced away.

She knew that Wolf was right. Carmen saw her kindness as weakness. Sometimes, she thought that her friends did too-- that it was something that Wolf and Gem, so often at odds, agreed on. Were they really wrong? Hadn't her kindness blinded her to John Cunningham's intentions? Hadn't it already gotten her in trouble again with Mal? How often had the world dug its claws into her because she showed it her soft underbelly?

But she couldn't stop either, could she?

Even if she wanted to-- even if she tried very hard. Snow didn't think she could look at the world the way that Wolf did or Gem did. For better or for worse, she had a heart that was stubborn in its softness. She couldn't even think about turning Mal away if he came to her again.

"We'll-- need to come up with a strategy then. That's all," said Snow. "Some way where we can still help Mal and stop Carmen. We can do that, right, Wolf? That has to be some way."

@wolf-innsheepsclothing

Wolf could hear the pleading in her voice when she asked him that. He wished he could be strong enough to give her a definite answer, but he was torn between the two arguments inside him. He wished he could soothe her with an answer that there had to be a way to do it, that he could promise they would help Mal. He wished he could tell her that no, the seeming-boy was part of the problem and did not want to be saved.

Instead, there was only doubt. He could not promise either of them.

"We can try," Wolf relented, his voice heavy. There was still every chance that Mal did not want their help, but he could promise to help her explore the opportunities...

"But you must speak to us, tell me if you hear more from him."

The merest conversation could be an attempt to fish for information, on either side. "Do you promise, Snow?" He urged her softly. He could not keep her safe if she didn't give him the knowledge he needed of everything that was happening. They had been lucky enough, this time, to escape with little serious damage. He doubted they would be so lucky a second time.

@lady-snow-flower

#snow #aftershocks

Aftershocks || Snow Wolf

"Mal is just a boy, Wolf," said Snow swiftly.

She had heard such protests and skepticism from Gem. He had so easily shut his heart to the boy, feeling no sympathy for him. Well, at least, he insisted he didn't-- but Snow suspected that Gem felt for him too, that Wolf must also feel some pity, despite Mal's actions. He couldn't be older than ten. Snow suspected he was closer to seven or eight. Either way, he had no parents. That, at least, was not a lie as far as Snow was concerned.

In fact, she didn't think Mal had lied to her at all. Yes, he had led her into a trap. But she saw his face. He hadn't realized what he had been doing. Carmen was the liar who had twisted Mal's mind and heart.

She needed to save him from her. Somehow.

"He didn't know what Carmen was planning. He might have thought he was saving me from a haunted house full of ghosts and monsters," Snow pointed out. "If he reaches out, I have to believe there's some way we can save him."

@wolf-innsheepsclothing

#snow #aftershocks #oh wolf you are changing #they are changing you slowly

"Perhaps-" Wolf countered. He was by no means so convinced that Mal was entirely innocent. There were magicks who could shift their shape or appearance to appear innocent and young, to keep playing on Snow's heartstrings.

Had MAFIA known, he wondered, about the baby? Was this all another cruel tactic designed to manipulate her pain and love? The thought alone made him want to curl his fist so tight it might crack a pen.

"But if he reaches out, we have to be aware that Carmen might be behind it. It could easily be another trap." She had used the boy once before, whether he went willingly or not, and would not hesitate to do it again, he had no doubt. "You cannot trust that she is not using him again."

The boy was ... if indeed a boy he was, potentially in the woman's power. "She will know you are good." Wolf said more softly. "She will try to use it against you."

The boy would be an ample source of danger for that. Perhaps he would have counselled that she should cut herself off from him instantly, if it weren't for the memory of a small hand in his that tugged at him like a leash.

@lady-snow-flower

Breaking Even🔥[Hot Dog]

Gem did not need the security guard mansplaining security to him. He'd installed plenty of security systems with all manner of fancy this or that. Not magical, of course, but he was pretty sure Wolf couldn't do that either.

He kept his mouth shut, though, because he already felt guilty enough needing any of it in the first place. Snow should not have to live in such circumstances. Neither should their child.

If she was marrying someone else, she wouldn't have to.

He was on thin ice as it was. Probably shouldn't piss off Wolf. There were few people who could convince Snow not to marry him--but Wolf, or Wolf-through-Ting-Ting seemed a pretty damn good bet. And, despite himself, he still wanted to marry Snow. Even if would be easier, and safer for her, if he just blew up everything.

His instincts were screaming at him to do so.

"Yes, I'm getting quotes from sorcerers now," Gem said, because he had been doing exactly that. "I'm taking this seriously." He turned to Wolf for the first time. It grated against his pride to feel like he needed to convince the other man...but here they were. For Snow, he'd do it.

@wolf-innsheepsclothing

"Good." Wolf said curtly. Gem ought to be taking it more than seriously. This was life or death, if the other night had not proved it to him. It had been utterly naive to assume anything other than that there would still be repercussions. But then, Gem had always tried to take things un-seriously, as far as Wolf could see.

"I can also provide some recommendations." There were sorcerers he had worked with before, ones that he trusted. It was hard to trust that kind of defence to just anyone; anyone could be working with the remnants of MAFIA, or at least sympathetic to their cause.

Wolf searched the man's dark eyes with sincerity. He did not know that he trusted Gem Mohanty still, but he did trust that they were united in the will to protect Snow.

"There are some sorcerers I would trust with this," he explained. "And they will be more likely to give you a good quote. For Snow." He wished there was more that he could do, that he could ask permission to hunt Carmen down and make sure she never troubled them again, but for now he held his tongue. His pride was hard to swallow around it.

"I will help. With ... whatever you need." Wolf ground out, uncomfortably.

@gem-mohanty

#breaking even #gem

Once Upon a Dream || Wolfing

“Don’t worry,” Ting said. “I think it’s much funnier if I’m the only one making a silly face and you being oh-so stoic.”

She bumped her shoulder against his and squeezed his hand as they took place in the line for the photobooth.

“Do you want any of these accessories?” she asked, looking over the selection. It was a pretty robust collection — cowboy hats, Sidneyland mouse ears, crowns, Regency-style fans… Ting picked up one of those and fanned it against herself. “Takes you back, doesn’t it, Captain?”

@wolf-innsheepsclothing

Wolf's face softened a little more, questioning her silently. Did she really feel that way, or was it simply her making concessions to him as she might so often do? He went with her into the line and waited patiently, silently judging everyone else's costumes.

Who would really want to have come as some of these themes, really?

Perhaps his own bias was showing, but if any dream were tolerable to repeat, surely it was the regency ones?

Her calling him Captain sent a tiny shiver up his spine, that he hid well. Her in that dress, fanning herself gently. It reminded him of all the impassable miles that had once seemed between them.

"It does, my Lady," he said, inclining his head to her. Had they been in private he might have lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it. But they were not, and he did not care to have Swynlake see a gesture so precious.

@princess-ting-ting

#Once Upon a Dream #ting

Aftershocks || Snow Wolf

Well, that was true.

But Snow also didn't keep secrets from Ting-Ting. It never even occured to her to do so (except for the fact she was pregnant-- only Gem knew. And her doctors. She felt like if she breathed the fact out loud before the right time, she might compromise everything). So she'd probably talk to her about the attack anyway, at some point.

Wolf ought to do the same. It seemed like the kind of thing a boyfriend ought to tell their girlfriend.

But Snow wasn't going to push that too hard.

Instead, she sighed and lowered herself into a seat. "No, not really. I don't think Carmen will attack in Swynlake. She probably knows better, considering the RAS are stationed here. Even so, I was just... I kept imagining her smashing through the front door." She frowned. "And I'm so worried for poor Mal."

@wolf-innsheepsclothing

#aftershocks #snow #tw pregnancy #(for Snow's reply)

"She might," Wolf agreed. It was a poor tactical decision, to attack a place on which they had the home advantage - at the Inn he had every manner of protection set up that they could manage, and he would be ensuring the same was true of Snow's new house as soon as he could.

But Carmen was a wounded beast now, snarling and raging. There was no knowing what she might do, and what consequences she did not fear to bring upon herself.

Desperate people were dangerous ones.

"But we cannot guarantee it. We will make sure that the new house is secure too," he said, solemnly, his voice taught with warning.

He had no such worries for Mal. As far as he was concerned, with what little he knew of it all, Mal had been complicit.

"Mal was with Carmen," he reminded her gently. "You must be careful now if he reaches out at all."

It would surely be another trap, trying to play on those tender heartstrings of hers.

@lady-snow-flower

Breaking Even🔥[Hot Dog]

Gem tensed slightly when Wolf came nearer, but he tried to hide it in the shift of his feet on the porch. He turned to rest his forearms on the railing, like that was what he was planning to do anyway.

Wolf still stood a respectable distance away and didn't come any closer. So, for the moment, Gem at least thought he was safe enough from Wolf trying to beat his ass. Without his magic, Gem figured he could hold up pretty well--but realistically, Wolf would probably win that fight.

Though, Gem wasn't trying to provoke him.

That was, in fact, the opposite of what he was trying to do. Yet, despite that, he was very good at pissing people off. And as much as he was willing to admit that without his magic, Wolf could probably pummel him, he had a harder time admitting that it was Wolf who had saved Snow. That it was Gem that had put him in danger.

He sucked another puff of his cigarette and shook his head, smoke streaming from his nostrils.

"No. I don't think she knows we live there. Mal didn't. Just that we were moving. I asked Snow. She didn't tell him, thank fuck. I'm installing security anyway." Fat lot of good it would do him, Carmen could easily short it out. But it was what he had.

@wolf-innsheepsclothing

#breaking even #gem #there are times when it's really obvious that Wolf's entire essence is just 'Snow's dog but cursed to come alive'

Wolf's mind was racing, although he was still tired. His mind stumbled a little, flagging as it went but the destination was too important for him to stop.

He chewed over what Gem had said, gnawing at it and turning it over in his mind.

"Good." He settled on eventually.

That gave them a head start. If Carmen did not know where to find them, she could soon find out, but they had a chance at least to get out ahead of it.

"I can help with setting up security," Wolf offered. It was too important not to. "You should make sure that if it is tripped, it alerts others as well, in case she comes for you when you are in. And there are magical protections too, they can help."

Wolf did not like the thought of letting Snow rest under another roof while this hung over here, but if she had to, he would do everything in his power to keep it safe. He would sleep curled up on the front step if he had to.

@gem-mohanty

Once Upon a Dream || Wolfing

“I hear it’s big enough for ten regular people!” Ting said. “Which means it should fit one of you. Maybe two.” She bumped his shoulder playfully. “But yes — that’s for later in the evening. For now…”

She scanned around, looking around at the gorgeously decorated ballroom.

“Oh! Photos! Duh! That’s always a good thing to do first while I still look put together.” She circled her arm through Wolf’s. “I won’t make you smile if you don’t want to. I promise. I just think it’d be nice to have a little memento. Maybe I can frame it and put it on my desk at work.”

@wolf-innsheepsclothing

"Hm," said Wolf, in the tone that essentially constituted a laugh from him, the small noise of amusement. "Sounds cosy," he added as she bumped his shoulder. He would prefer that somewhere else, but...

"You always look put together," Wolf said doggedly, not ready to allow Ting-Ting to put herself down. She looked beautiful tonight, but no more than she always did! But he was walking along with her, his arm feeling the gentle weight of hers. They had very few photos together. He had very few photos at all. Incriminating signs of his still being alive. But he could... he could allow her that, surely?

"Ok. But I will not be pulling silly faces," he teased, very gravely, knowing she would never force him to.

@princess-ting-ting

#Once Upon a Dream #ting

Aftershocks || Snow Wolf

Snow opened her mouth to argue but-- well, she supposed it was a good idea to move somewhere private first.

So she did. And she kept glancing worriedly at Wolf, looking for any signs of injury. Werewolves healed much quicker than many mundus and magicks, but he still had taken two intense shocks to the system. She had spent a lot of time last night looking up potential symptoms of electrocution, her worry increasing with every article. This was why she had wanted Gem to go to the hospital. And Wolf too! Except that he couldn't, of course, because he was a werewolf.

When they arrived in the kitchen, she took a breath and expelled it from her lungs just as quickly: a short burst of air that left her feeling empty and tired.

"I'm-- fine. I barely even got a scratch," she said. She had bruises on her knees, actually. "You're the one who got electrocuted. You should go to Ting-Ting. Have her check your yin-yang," she pressed.

@wolf-innsheepsclothing

When they got to the kitchen, Wolf crossed to the kettle, instinctively, and put it on.

He had probably had enough caffeine to fuel a small warship by now, but the tiredness was lingering. "She will worry," Wolf frowned. He did not want Ting-Ting to have to know that her best friend was in danger once again, or that he himself had been thrown back into the middle of it.

"I promise I am fine." That he could do easily. He had had worse in his life. This would not even leave a mark on him.

"Are you sure? You have had a ..." He wanted to say a shock... But that was not the good word to use. His forehead creased a little as he tried to think of a better word to use instead.

"An upset." Wolf finished with the word uncomfortable on his tongue. "Were you ok last night? Did you get any sleep?"

@lady-snow-flower

#snow #aftershocks

Breaking Even🔥[Hot Dog]

Gem figured that Wolf was guarded because he hated Gem more than he had before after the disaster of the MAFIA attack. Not that Gem really blamed him.

Point was: there was nothing in his mind that might make him think it was anything else. After all, Gem had known Wolf was a werewolf for years. And he'd been friends with plenty of them in MAFIA. He'd lived in Swynlake his whole life. Even though werewolves were still on the fringes, he'd seen them once or twice before. Not to mention other shapeshifters.

The only reason to be wary of them was if they were out of control and gonna bite.

Though, at this point, maybe Gem would take being a wolf over not having any magic at all.

He let his cigarette wither halfway down before he said anything else.

"There hasn't been anything weird around has there?" Gem asked, half turning to lean his hip on the porch railing.

@wolf-innsheepsclothing

Wolf could smell the smoke curling from Gem's cigarette, wisping through the air, all of its harsh bitter chemical notes that smelled wrong. Part of, but not the same as, Gem's usual smell of smoke.

Anything weird around here. On another day, Wolf might have allowed himself a smile. There was plenty weird around here, but none of it the sort of out of the ordinary that Gem was referring to.

"Not yet," Wolf shrugged, slowly standing himself up and crossing to the railing so that he could look out over the lawns as well.

Would they target here, now that Gem and Snow were no longer staying here? Or would they simply go straight for them... Would they come here simply to try to hurt them...

"What about at the house?" Wolf asked, jaw tight with concern. The house, by comparison, was vulnerable.

@gem-mohanty

#breaking even #gem

Aftershocks || Snow Wolf

They had barely escaped the MAFIA member with their lives.

MAFIA. Carmen. Snow repeated that woman's name to herself throughout the night after the attack, trying to make her seem less powerful. She was just a woman in the end-- a hurt woman, who had lost her brother. Of course, Snow didn't think she deserved to die because of her twisted need for revenge, but the point was: she wasn't MAFIA itself. MAFIA was still in tatters.

Still, those pieces were affecting all of them. Including Wolf, who had taken several powerful electrical shocks last night.

Snow showed up to the Hauntley as early as she could manage (she'd slept terribly last night) and found him.

"Wolf, there you are. How are you feeling?" she frowned, eyes full of concern.

@wolf-innsheepsclothing

[Outfit]

Wolf had been up for a while; pacing the grounds and manning the wards. If MAFIA wanted to hurt Snow, as surely they did, then this was the next place they might strike. That... or Snow's new house. He had been loath to let her out of his sight at all.

When he caught the faintest scent of her, Wolf had strode towards the front, and found her in the hallway.

He let out a breath that had been lodged somewhere in his throat since the moment they had separated.

"I am fine," he assured her. He truly was. Hungry, perhaps, and tired after hunching over his computer trying to work out what more he could do to keep his people safe until sleep had overcome him, but his body had healed with little more than the deep ache of fatigue and a little stiffness to show for it.

"Here," he gestured with his head towards the kitchen. Better to talk somewhere private.

"What about you," Wolf asked, grey eyes softened with worry. "Are you ok?"

@lady-snow-flower

#snow #aftershocks

Breaking Even🔥[Hot Dog]

@wolf-innsheepsclothing

Gem was at the Hauntley for the first time in a few days, which he was pleased about. It wasn't that he didn't love the Hauntley, but absence certainly made the heart grow fonder and he was more than happy to not be wedged in like sardines with other employees and guests of the Hauntley. It had all just been a little much for him.

But now, he could appreciate it's liveliness. He saw it as all of Snow's hard work, paying off.

He was waiting for Snow as she finished up a few things. They had plans tonight that had, of course, been waylaid.

Gem stepped out onto the porch, lighting a cigarette in the fading daylight. It was until he let his first breath of smoke out that he noticed Wolf at his usual perch.

"Hey," Gem said, taking another drag.

[outfit]

Wolf was spending more time on the porch than ever these days. At least on the porch, he could forget about the emptiness that lived within the house once more, in those hours when Snow had left to go to her new house.

He heard Gem coming, footsteps that had crept into the realm of the recognisable in all his long visits to the old house. The only other one who knew every creaky step on the floorboards.

Wolf was content to melt into the shadows and become yet another ghost, as he so often did when Gem came out for a smoke, but the other - for as much as he didn't make eye contact - said Hey.

Hey, he said, as if there was nothing but a mutual friend between them. As if Wolf hadn't had to spring to action barely days ago to try and tear someone limb from limb because of this man - for Wolf had no doubt that it was related to his past and not Snow's.

"Hello." Wolf said, a little guarded.

Gem had seen, once and for all, the great grey shape of the wolf that night. He had said little at the time, but...

@gem-mohanty

#breaking even #gem

Once Upon a Dream || Wolfing

“Noted,” Ting said with a smile.

She liked parties, especially costume parties, so this theme was perfect. But one of Ting’s most favorite things was leaving a party — temporarily ducking out, specifically. Finding a quiet corner in a crowded room or even exiting right outside.

So if Wolf ducked out, Ting might make it a mission to look for him so that they could be alone together.

“I heard there’s a pillow fort,” she said. “Cute idea, but I wonder about the practicality.” Her eyes glimmered. “We should definitely find it, though.”

@wolf-innsheepsclothing

"Pillow fort?" Wolf said sceptically. "Will it be big enough?"

He was not the sort of person to easily cram himself into some small space, not without sacrificing whatever dignity he had left at this absurd event.

Besides, he secretly though; they could do better by themselves. He could make one far more exciting for her and Matilda.

But Ting-Ting's eyes were shining with excitement, to finally be here at Prom and having fun, and he felt his resolve slipping.

"Perhaps later, if it is quiet," Wolf conceded, with a small softening of his eyes. "What would you like to do first?"

@princess-ting-ting

#Once Upon a Dream #ting

School's Out || Snow Quartz ft. Wolf

Summary: Set on June 26. Snow visits Mal at his "home"-- but brings a few guests with her. Things quickly escalate when a surprise guest shows up...

Follows after If "You Give A Magick Boy A Cookie"

@gem-mohanty @wolf-innsheepsclothing

SNOW:

It took them roughly forty-five minutes to travel to the school Mal mentioned.

They pulled into an empty lot, the asphalt cracked, and the white lines faded practically to nothing. Even from this glimpse alone, Snow could tell the school had been abandoned for a long time— a decade, maybe more? She climbed out of the rental car, one hand hovering on the door as she gazed up the brick stairs toward the building. It was nearly sunset, and so the school—also brick, with an old roof in desperate need of repair— was shrouded in shadows. She shivered. She couldn’t imagine a little boy living here, even if, as Mal had said, it had a playground out back.

Taking a deep breath, Snow reached for Gem’s hand, and they climbed those stairs together, then headed toward the school.

“Mal?” she called. Mal was not waiting for them outside. He hadn’t really said he would. Tentatively, she pushed open the door, which creaked horribly on its hinges. She peered into the hallway, which was already very dark, and getting darker, as the sun slipped lower and lower.

“Mal?” she said again. Still, nothing.

“He might actually be at the playground,” she mentioned to Gem.

[Read here!]

#snow #gem #school's out