"You must wear something, Wolf," says Cassie, standing behind him in a mad combination of breeches, an oversized trenchcoat, and a wide hat she quite likes. "Socks, or fur slippers. Otherwise your toes will turn black and fall off, and then you won't have any feet at all."
"Fur slippers!" Wolf repeats, turning around to look at Cassie and he smiles at her, wide and cheerful. She looks so pretty in the cold and Wolf thinks that's the only thing that's nice about the winter. "I don't want my toes to turn black or fall off, I like having feet."
But he's also never thought about fur slippers. They sound better than shoes, warmer and not so tight or uncomfortable. "Can we find me some fur slippers?"
"Of course," says Cassie, beaming at him as she seizes him by his woolen lapels, pretending to haul him up, "We'll find your slippers, and then we'll simply take them from the shop. And some nice cotton to wear beneath the wool, it itches awfully. I've got on three layers of undergarments, so I'm all right."
"It is itchy," Wolf agrees, but he manages to not shift around and scratch in front of Cassie, even though he really, really wants to now that she's mentioned how itchy it can all be. That's not polite, he knows that, Jack taught him that, too. People don't like when you scratch in front of them.
He puts his shoes back on as quick as he can and grins. "Can we really just take them?"
"I've taken everything I have on," says Cassie, on her tiptoes to scratch at his neck where it's itchy and red. "No one's stopped me, so we'll take some more, and if they try to stop us we'll run." She grins. "It will be an adventure."
Wolf grins when Cassie scratches his neck and his head tips a little, enjoying the feeling. When she says they can have an adventure, his smile grows even wider and he bounces on his heels, nodding. "Yes! Wolf! Let's have an adventure, Wolf hasn't had an adventure since he came here!"
And that's not true either, he's chased a monkey through the trees and gone to see the big lizards (die-no-sores, he reminds himself) and he went on the rides, but this will be the best adventure yet.
"Never? Oh Wolf, that won't do at all. Come." Cassie takes his hand. "We'll find your slippers, and then some mischief, and then we'll find some hot cocoa. Do you like chocolate, Wolf?"
"I don't know," Wolf says, happily letting himself be led along. He'll go anywhere Cassie wants to take him, not just because she says it's an adventure. "I like food a whole lot, especially here, food tastes real good all the time!"
He thinks he remembers Jack mentioning chocolate, but he doesn't think they ever got to try it. "I like popcorn," he says, although he doesn't think they're the same thing.
"Only foolish people don't like popcorn," Cassie giggles, peering around his much larger form at the storefronts all around them. "Sometimes they put chocolate on popcorn, and it's wonderful." She spies a shop and all but leaps off the ground.
"Come, Wolf," she says, pulling him forward to the chocolatier. "I've decided we can't wait a moment more." Cassie pushes through the door with Wolf in tow, greeted by a gust of warm chocolate scented air. "Can you smell it?"
Wolf's nostrils flare at the sudden scent of the chocolate and he pauses in the doorway, sniffing deeply. Whatever it is, he thinks he'll like it very much. It's like nothing he's ever smelled before, but at the same time it reminds him of the market at home. Sometimes when he was good, he went with his mother and his litter-brothers, and the smell in the shop reminds him of those times.
"Smells good," he says finally, his nostrils still flaring rapidly. "Cassie, can we eat this smell?"
Cassie laughs outloud, running in spite of her heavy skirts to the counter. "Of course we may," she says, turning to the kindly old shopkeeper. She'd been worried they might be horrid and French like at the hosiery..."Hello," she chirps. "We'll have the chocolate cremes and the caramel cremes and some fudge, and oh, wow." She looks up at Wolf. "They've some in the shape of little wolves, shall we have those as well?"
"Yes!" Wolf says excitedly, because they remind him of the paper wolf Cassie made for him. Which reminds him that he's made a present for her -- it's just shells strung together to make a decoration -- and he grins behind his hands.
"Cassie, I made you a present for the birthday of Man Jesus," he says, then laughs. "But you can't have it 'till then."
"That's a very funny for Christmas," says Cassie, resolving to supplant the term in her own vocabulary at once. "Man Jesus, I like it very much. Oh Wolf, here," she says, excited, and accepts the chocolates from the shopkeeper. "Eat the little wolf, first, and then we'll have caramels!"
Wolf likes making Cassie happy and he thinks saying the Man Jesus made her happy, so he smiles, then takes the little chocolate wolf. It smells so good and he pushes it into his mouth, preparing to chew.
But the chocolate starts to melt on his tongue and Wolf pauses, his mouth half open and he looks at Cassie, eyes wide. "So good," he says, though the words are a little muffled because of the chocolate on his tongue. "Wolf's never gonna bite this."
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But he's also never thought about fur slippers. They sound better than shoes, warmer and not so tight or uncomfortable. "Can we find me some fur slippers?"
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He puts his shoes back on as quick as he can and grins. "Can we really just take them?"
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And that's not true either, he's chased a monkey through the trees and gone to see the big lizards (die-no-sores, he reminds himself) and he went on the rides, but this will be the best adventure yet.
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He thinks he remembers Jack mentioning chocolate, but he doesn't think they ever got to try it. "I like popcorn," he says, although he doesn't think they're the same thing.
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"Come, Wolf," she says, pulling him forward to the chocolatier. "I've decided we can't wait a moment more." Cassie pushes through the door with Wolf in tow, greeted by a gust of warm chocolate scented air. "Can you smell it?"
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"Smells good," he says finally, his nostrils still flaring rapidly. "Cassie, can we eat this smell?"
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"Cassie, I made you a present for the birthday of Man Jesus," he says, then laughs. "But you can't have it 'till then."
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But the chocolate starts to melt on his tongue and Wolf pauses, his mouth half open and he looks at Cassie, eyes wide. "So good," he says, though the words are a little muffled because of the chocolate on his tongue. "Wolf's never gonna bite this."
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