River was on the same page as Wolf regarding shoes, but she enjoyed the snow enough to make up for it. She was less pleased about what the island had done to Serenity, turning their beautiful ship into a big creepy house, but the only thing she could think to do about it was to take Zoe out for a walk.
Zoe was fascinated by the buildings, but they didn't really compare to Wolf, who remained her favorite. "Hi Woof!"
"Hi, Zoe," Wolf answers when he sees them. "Hi, River." Even though he doesn't like shoes or everything that happened to the island, he does like River and Zoe a whole bunch and he's glad to see them, especially now that he doesn't know what their home looks like.
"Your ship is gone," he says. "I didn't know where to find you and I came looking, but everything's all different. All changed and weird. I couldn't find you."
"I know," said River, scowling. "Stupid island messing with Serenity. It's a big house next to the palace, with a sign calling it 'Serenity Manor'. Like that makes it okay." River was pretty disgruntled about the whole thing, but Zoe turned out to be better at looking at the bright side.
Wolf can't read the signs very well, but now that he knows it's next to the palace, he thinks he'll be able to find it. Especially since he knows most of the letters that spell Serenity. He smiles at Zoe, then begins to stuff his feet back into the shoes that he hates so much, because he knows he'll need them to play in the snow.
"Yeah, let's make a snowman!" he says, looking at River for permission. "Can we?"
"We can. We can make the best snowman ever." The winter weather did have its consolations. "The snow out here on the streets is all kind of icky, though. Too many people walking on it and carriages driving on it. We should find some cleaner snow."
River took the building of snowmen very seriously.
Wolf is putting his shoes back on, shoving his feet into them with a grimace and then tying the laces carefully. It's his least favourite part of shoes, those laces.
"I never made snowmen back home," he says, standing. "Never had much snow."
"I did sometimes when I was little. They made the snow on purpose, though, for Christmas. The people controlled the world I came from, not the other way around like here." River mostly thought she preferred the island's more interesting methods, though she really did wish it would leave Serenity alone.
"Snoooowmaaaan," sang Zoe, making sure they all kept on track.
"We're got a little bit of garden around our place. The snow's not so trampled on, so we could go there."
"Okay," Wolf agrees easily, then holds his hand out to Zoe. Some of the snow is very grey and very dirty, so Wolf thinks it's probably a very good idea for them to go somewhere that it hasn't been walked on so much.
"So how come everything is different?" he asks. "Is it like the magic?"
Zoe grabbed Wolf's hand and swung herself up off her feet briefly, giggling and still singing, though she had modified her song a bit to be about a snow Wolf and a snow Zoe. River grinned at her enthusiasm.
"I think so. The island likes to make sure we're paying attention, I think. If everything was always the same all the time we might get lazy.
Wolf isn't sure about that, because everything was always the same back home -- until Jack Sawyer, of course -- and he was never lazy. Maybe sometimes, but only when it was his time off and never when he was supposed to be working.
"Well, I still don't like shoes," he decides. "Even if it's magic."
"Shoes are not my favorite, either," River admitted. "Zoe doesn't seem to mind too much once they're on, but convincing her that she needs them isn't easy. We can't let our feet freeze."
It was a small price to pay for things like snowmen, in River's opinion.
"No, we sure can't," Wolf agrees, but he still sounds a little sad about the shoes. River's right, though, and he knows it, but that doesn't make his shoes pinch any less.
"How come my feet are so big?" he asks. "I mean, how come they don't make shoes for feet like mine?"
"Maybe the people who made the shoes don't know a lot of people who are big like you are, so they didn't think about it." River felt bad for Wolf, because it was bad enough to be forced to do something you didn't want to, like wear shoes, without also having to feel like they weren't even made for you anyway. "Zoe and I will keep an eye out for big ones as well as little ones when we go looking. There are an awful lot of shops around here. At least one of them must have what you really need."
Wolf nods and smiles at River, because it's awfully nice of her to look for shoes for him. The shops are weird and he doesn't like going inside them very much. He's tried a few times, but the people inside are weird and don't feel like they're really there, which scares Wolf a lot.
"The clothes are itchy, too," he says. "I like my other clothes way better."
Zoe was fascinated by the buildings, but they didn't really compare to Wolf, who remained her favorite. "Hi Woof!"
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"Your ship is gone," he says. "I didn't know where to find you and I came looking, but everything's all different. All changed and weird. I couldn't find you."
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"Make snowman?" she asked hopefully.
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"Yeah, let's make a snowman!" he says, looking at River for permission. "Can we?"
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River took the building of snowmen very seriously.
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"I never made snowmen back home," he says, standing. "Never had much snow."
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"Snoooowmaaaan," sang Zoe, making sure they all kept on track.
"We're got a little bit of garden around our place. The snow's not so trampled on, so we could go there."
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"So how come everything is different?" he asks. "Is it like the magic?"
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"I think so. The island likes to make sure we're paying attention, I think. If everything was always the same all the time we might get lazy.
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"Well, I still don't like shoes," he decides. "Even if it's magic."
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It was a small price to pay for things like snowmen, in River's opinion.
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"How come my feet are so big?" he asks. "I mean, how come they don't make shoes for feet like mine?"
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"The clothes are itchy, too," he says. "I like my other clothes way better."
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