built my house out of sails and wood.

[fidior]

Who: Edward Little & Konstantin Veshnyakov + you!
What: plotted threads with Jhey's boatman & spaceman
When: the months of August, September, & October
Where: various places in Milton / possibly Lakeside

burned it down and it's gone for good

Comments

[bigbaddy]

[ Sorry, Edward. There's bad news for you. There's the clear sound of footsteps across the snow that make it very obvious that Bigby is heading in your direction.

Sure, he understands that the other is Victorian enough to need to cover up in the first place, and Bigby kind of understands that even the coat by itself likely is not enough for that, but he also feels like it's a little ridiculous to have this sort of conversation while Bigby is standing there and looking like he's talking to absolutely no one while the other man is hiding himself behind a tree.

He lets out a sigh as he steps. ]

You don't have to apologize.

[ People apologizing to him is weird enough in the first place. It's not something people do.

Let alone Edward's absolutely excessive amount of it. ]

I just-- I don't get it. [ Perhaps it's a little blunt, but Bigby feels like it's the easiest way to move this conversation along. It sounds like the other is having trouble even finding the right words, so maybe what Bigby has to do here is force the other to talk, to at least be a little more direct about all this. ] What are you so worried about?

[ He'd almost say 'it's not like it's a problem for me to see your dick', but.. uh, well, that might just make Edward pass out on the spot. At least Bigby is aware enough when it comes to that. ]

[fidior]

[ Oh god, he's approaching...! Edward exhales sharply and crouches down a little, one hand clasped to the front of the coat, making sure everything stays covered... ]

Mr. Wolf, please—!

[ What is he so worried about? What isn't he so worried about?! This is horrible! From start to finish, the whole thing— ]

I'm— I'm indecent— [ That word again. Sure, Little has spent the majority of his adult life around sailors, but from his very beginning, it was always very formal, proper. Certainly upon his promotion to lieutenant and then his rise in rank from there, he maintained utmost propriety in such manners. One would never find him undressing in front of the men...! ]

It is a terrible enough punishment to become a beast, but that I might be like this when I turn back...!

[bigbaddy]

You're wearing a coat now, right?

[ .. granted, there may be some nuances to covering up that Bigby - being the way he is - may not entirely understand yet. Yes, he gets that a lot of humans don't want to be seen naked by other people, but in his mind covering up the most delicate parts with Bigby's long coat should be enough to nullify that worry, right? Who cares about someone seeing their knees? Or a bit of thigh?

(To not even get started on the delicate Victorian ankles..)

And, indeed - when Bigby fully moves into the treeline, he can see that Little is more or less covered up by the coat. Not entirely, but.. you know. Enough from Bigby's point of view. At least he's thankfully mostly looking at the other man's face. ]

See? It's fine. I've been walking around without clothes for longer than I have been wearing them, you know. I'm the last person in this place to think anything about it. [ .. not that it might help Little's poor nerves.

But at least Bigby is.. trying.. in his own way.. ]

Besides, what's so punishing about being a wolf?

[fidior]

Yes, but— It is but one simple coat!

[ Edward sputters. Listen, he wears, at minimum, three layers of clothing at all times. He doesn't even have an undershirt on...!

He tenses back as Bigby moves around enough to see him, one hand pressed flat to his chest to keep the coat front against himself like that. Bigby's reply about walking around without clothes on for longer than he's been wearing them is... certainly... a response. Edward's brows shoot up, flushed and embarrassed, and mortified, but it's that next question that has his mind remembering that the man he's speaking to... isn't actually a man at all.

That's right. Bigby's a wolf, in his world. And even here.... Kate had mentioned that the sheriff had acquired this power here, too. Little swallows, now worried that he might have offended the other... ]

I apologise— I know it is your... your natural state, but... Well, this.. ability was placed upon me after... June's horrific events.

[ It catches in his throat a little, like a new confession all of its own. ]

I know this is a punishment for my actions. For what.... I've done.

[bigbaddy]

[ If it was anyone else, Bigby might have made a dry joke about whether or not he has to take off his pants to share with the other as well.. but he's pretty sure a joke like that would absolutely murder Edward. Better to not go there, especially when he doesn't want to keep the other man out here like this forever. He might freeze, even while wearing Bigby's coat. ]

...

[ Bigby seems a little dumbstruck by the other's comments that aren't related quite as much to his state of undress though. He isn't sure what to say at first, especially when the other man's line of thinking is so far away from his own.

Then he frowns, raising a hand to helplessly scratch the back of his head a little. ]

Edward, you heard what we said at the meeting after that, right? No one could help what happened that month. The Darkwalker was all up in our heads. Why would you need to be punished for that? Especially when being a wolf is far from a punishment in the first place?