singillatim | august catch-all.

[ Snow's been popping over to Bigby's place than not recently — more and more, it just feels like it makes sense for her to be here, with him and Connor, rather than staying in her own house alone. It's likely that her increased presence has something to do with the aftermath of Bigby being shot, and the way she'd fretted over his bedside until he'd finally woken up, but if anyone else has picked up on the two of them spending a lot more time in each other's company, they haven't outwardly remarked on it.

Beyond that, she's finding reassurance from both of the wolves who are already used to living life this way, and have been able to help her understand her own changing instincts, to say nothing of her ability to shift into something that walks on all fours.

So she's at the house again now, since it feels a little safer for them to be grouped up in numbers, but the aforementioned wolf abilities are what make it easier for her to pick up on the sound of something clicking at the front door. It might take longer for her to realize what the sound pertains to, and before she can think twice about what she's doing, she strides across the foyer to answer it, yanking the door open in an effort to surprise whoever's on the other side. ]

Hey! [ She's trying to catch them off-guard, to sound more intimidating than she actually feels — only after she has the door open, Snow's attempt at projecting falters. ] Oh — wait, do I know you?

( she does catch him off guard.

maybe it's the exhaustion setting in, perhaps it's the not expecting bigby to be home and while jason remembers he'd mentioned his kid who also lives here, he'd been under the assumption that they'd both be out.

which, clearly they are, given this is neither bigby nor his kid. jason's immediate reaction of reaching for his knife is, thankfully, cut off by the sound of her voice. it's not one he recognizes either, but this isn't his first time rampaging around bigby's house, and despite being in the wrong shape for it, his nose flares at the memory of a scent that wasn't bigby or connor.

both hands raise, palm up and at shoulder height in surrender: he's not out to hurt her, nor is he trying to scare her, so a show of empty palms feels like the right way of going about - this. )

You're the girl. ( obviously. the closed-lipped grin that spreads across his face is - sheepish. ) Sorry, uh - no, you don't know me. I'm the guy who bled all over the couch 'bout five months ago.

[ Snow does have it in her to feel a little ridiculous, especially for having puffed herself up like you're meant to do with bears — or is that even the correct thing to do with bears? The only three she knows live in upstate New York on the Farm, since they can't successfully disguise themselves in human form, so any personal frame of reference she has might as well be worthless when it comes to dealing with the real thing.

Some of that initial tension leaves her shoulders when she sees the young man on the other side — not that much older than Connor, if she had to judge based on appearances alone. ]

The what? [ Now that he mentions it, she does remember having to try and scrub the couch cushions clean while Bigby had been recovering from his gunshot wound — a task she'd assigned herself as a distraction from otherwise fretting — but for the moment, she simply looks at him with the slow arch of one eyebrow. ]

Snow. [ She thrusts out her hand in purely mayoral fashion; since he's here, they might as well get to formal introductions. ] And you are?

( his hands are still up, when she puts her own out. jason looks down at it and considers the question she's asked. if he should answer, considering it's not as if he's given bigby a name yet. he's only given his actual name out to one person here, and it was less so she'd know what to call him, and more because she was - having a shit day, she'd already told him the name she'd given him was fake and opted to give him her real name instead. so he'd returned the favor.

but bruce had held jason down in the goddamn snow kicking and screaming, yelling you're my kid, jason while jason broke his face with his skull. so the cat's kind of out of the bag there - or at least he's assuming it is, given fuck if he knows if anyone was around to hear it. )

It's complicated. ( it's not a lie, nor a moniker. he could have given her red, or mal, like he's given most of the others here. but he does extend his hand out to grasp hers firmly. ) Bigby just calls me kid. And I meant - I could smell you, 'round the house.

"Complicated."

[ Complicated for him, maybe, but answering with a name seems pretty straightforward as far as Snow's concerned, and she doesn't really feel like she has the upper hand here even if she'd successfully managed to catch him off-guard. She can't overlook the possibility that these new wolf senses are proving to be something of an advantage; at the very least, it's harder for anyone to sneak up on her without her hearing picking up on it. ]

Are you sure you want me calling you "kid" too?

[ Another arched eyebrow, especially when he references the fact that her smell has been hanging around the house; she and Bigby haven't necessarily fessed up to their initially-inadvertent-then-intentional marking of each other, but Snow's also more than aware, now, of more than one Interloper here apparently in possession of the same abilities. There's no missing the fact that his scent is all over her, and vice versa. ]

I don't live here, if that's what you're wondering. But between him and Connor, someone has to pick up after them every once in a while.

You're in the house of a guy named Bigby Wolf an' said your name is Snow. Now I know there's no way in hell you haven't heard it's complicated in response to asking for someone's name before.

( he doesn't know, he's assuming, but he's relatively certain his assumption is accurate. jason drops his hand away after a moment, letting his arms hang loose at his sides with hands fully visible. he's not reaching for anything, nor making a nuisance of himself. see? no weapons here. )

You can call me whatever you want. An' I kind of figured that. I've been around often enough, but we haven't crossed paths directly before.

( he's rampaged through bigby's house, sat down on the couch with a bottle of march's moonshine, bled all over it another occasion. even if she hadn't been in, there would have been more obvious evidence of her presence if she had moved in. )

[ Snow's first reaction is to open her mouth... and then close it, almost as quickly. ]

... fair enough.

[ The words follow on a mild chuckle, because he does raise a good point, but from where Snow's standing, "kid" feels a little too dismissive, like she doesn't care enough about him to designate him more uniquely. ]

Sure you wouldn't prefer some kind of nickname?

[ She's fully anticipating a rejection, but she still wants to double-check — and, unlikely Bigby, she's not inclined to just reach for the most convenient moniker. She's also retreating into the house again, leaving the door ajar behind her, a clear invitation for him to follow if he's willing. ]

( her insistence at getting something out of him is almost, almost suspicious. they're standing by bigby's front door, why the hell does she care what to call him? it'd be just as easy to refer to him as "that weird guy who showed up at bigby's place" if she needed to, or just physically describe him. they're a small bunch here, and while jason knows black hair and blue eyes doesn't necessarily narrow it down by a lot, he's sure they can figure it out.

but they are a small bunch.

jason lifts his shoulders in a shrug, but follows her inside since she left the door open. )

You can call me Red, if you want. ( not one of the couple names most people out here have for him, but it's a nickname she can use. he's already laid the groundwork for it's complicated, so she can't bitch if it doesn't line up later. )

Bigby not in?

Red it is.

[ Snow's smile is small, but sincere, and appreciative — she has the keen sense that he's kind of just obliging her, and there's almost an irony in the nickname given her own personal frame of reference for it, but there's no way he would know that. As many people as there are who have somehow recognized her by name, how many of them would react the same about Red and her story, especially since she'd never ended up in Fabletown with the rest of them? ]

Not right now, but I can tell him you stopped by. Unless... his not being here was the point?

[ He had been attempting to break in, after all, and Snow fixes him with a version of a look she tends to use when she and Bigby are in interrogation mode. Very few have been able to withstand it before, especially when it's paired with the slow cross of her arms over the front of her body. ]

I came over to fuck with him.

( it's not a secret, and certainly nothing jason really needs to hide. he shares it without hesitation, because - well. look at bigby. who wouldn't want to fuck with him. ) Have you seen that guy when he's all irritated? It's hilarious.

( except jason also doesn't try to piss him off that badly. he could; finding just the right thing to say to piss people off and drive them over the edge is one of jason's specialties, thanks. but he does like bigby, despite the affronted fucking with. this isn't a pissing a guy off to watch him fall off the edge situation, it's playful negging.

now that he's inside properly, he almost, almost considers wandering off to go find shit to fuck with, but given the look snow's throwing his way, he instead opts to just - raise a brow.

what's she going to do, tell him not to fuck with bigby? )

[ Snow's lips part, followed by the slow press of her mouth into an amused line. ] I'm well-acquainted.

[ And who knows? Maybe this is something that the two of them have going between them, something that Bigby might pretend not to like but actually has a begrudging admiration for.

She knew people like that in Fabletown too, the ones who got their kicks from messing with him but never posed anything more than an inconsistent source of annoyance. Besides, if Bigby really doesn't like someone, he doesn't make any secret of it — and way back when, he wouldn't have hesitated to really deal with them in a way that involved teeth and claws.

So after a moment, she gestures with her hand, arm sweeping out to indicate that the way is clear for whatever Red wants to do while he's here. ]

( she gives him permission, which is good enough for jason. there's a playful quirk to the corners of his lips, before he gives a slight nod of his head and - starts off towards the kitchen. )

You're just gonna let me do whatever? Damn. ( it's not a complaint, just an observation. he knows her scent is all over this stupid house, she likely knows bigby much better than jason does. so this is fine. which brings him to another point of - )

Snow, huh? Are you from the same place the Big Bad Wolf is?

( it's not a question he particularly needs an answer for. but given her presence here, her scent lingering all over, and bigby's origins - well. don't mind jason as he starts sifting through cabinets. )

[ From Snow's perspective, whatever's already going on between the two of them isn't really her business, but if it only amounts to harmless fun, she doesn't see any reason not to... conveniently avoid standing in the way of that. Hence the small shrug that she offers when Red questions just being allowed to come inside and enact whatever plan he wants to go through with.

As much as she's left her mark on this house — some of it not entirely on purpose — she and Bigby haven't really had a conversation about her staying here permanently, but there's no way Red can do anything that's as bad as some of what she had to clean up when she first started coming around. ]

Fabletown.

[ She's not sure if Bigby has ever mentioned their home by name, but there already seems to be at least some understanding here of who they really are. ]

But he showed up here way before I did. Meanwhile, when I arrived, it'd only been hours since I last saw him.

august catch-all.

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and then I took a hiatus! but sliding back to this

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