We're Just Misguided Ghosts [Past] - Red

[bigby]

Months. It had been months now since the coronation, and in turn months since his official marriage to Red, and some days Bigby woke up and still couldn't believe it was real. Against all odds the son of a woodcutter, and the "wolf" that had been on the run for so many years, had finally settled down to become a king of all things. Surprisingly, the thought didn't scare him as much as he thought he would. Granted, he may still be rather shocked or even unsure about the situation whenever he truly stopped to consider it, but he was managing. Dare he say it, he was happy, though Red was more to thank for that than anything else.

Of course, that didn't mean that the young man wasn't in a transition period of sorts, even as the weeks went on. Not only was there damage control for the towns and the people, the scars left behind by the destructive ways of the 2nd Kingdom's previous king, but there was still the fact both he and his wife were trying to find their own way of ruling really. After all, none of them had been trained for it like many others in royalty. Their determination and love of the land had served them well enough for this beginning period, but sometimes he wondered how long that would last.

Bigby would have to admit, though, one aspect of being King he had already become fond of was the castle. Darlig Ulv Slott was honestly an incredible place, and he was honored that he could call it home. However, one of his goals early on had been to help the staff, as well as Red, try to make it into truly their place. Traces of the old king lingered here and there, and he hoped to slowly turn it into a sanctuary where better memories could be made. So far that involved a lot of moving around of rooms, trading in styles to inspire more comfort, as well as incorporated their new royal color. It was not as if Bigby exactly had the...creative eye for this kind of thing, but for the first time in the long time he had the opportunity to have a real home, which was something he could embrace.

Currently, he had spent the later part of the afternoon exploring a chamber that seemed to be either a game room or a reading room of sorts. He had already stumbled across some old sets of chess and cards, shoved into a cupboard and seemingly long forgotten, but most of the walls were still lined with bookshelves. A set of furniture surrounded a fireplace to the side, though both had been covered by sheets when he first walked in. Perhaps the room as a whole had been as equally forgotten as the chess set, though in his opinion it seemed a like a good place to talk with or entertain others. Maybe this was a room that didn't require much fixing.

((OOC: Sorry if this seems like a really random opening, I blame the fact that it's 1:00 AM lol, but hopefully it still gets us started))

[scarlett]

"I don't understand." Red said plainly, looking towards her maid, Layla, with her eyebrows raised, searching for an explanation. The older woman sighed, clearly frustrated with her new queen and unafraid to show it.

"It's just what's done, Majesty. All the other women at the ball will be wearing them, and folk will talk if you don't." Her voice lowered to a whisper conspiratorially, as though this would be the worst fate in the world.

"Let them. I don't care." She replied stubbornly, unwilling to be cowed into obedience for fear of words.

"But it's not you they'll criticize! It'll be us, the whole kingdom, they'll say we're country bumpkins who don't know how to outfit our own queen, the other servants will snicker at us and think themselves better, call us savages and the like! We'll be looked down upon, next thing you know, it'll be all over the nine kingdoms that we're a joke, an absolute laughingstock, they'll be saying we're too poor to afford proper attire, that we-"

"All right, enough, I get the idea! You're sure all that will happen...because of shoes?" Red interrupted incredulously, glancing down at the tortuous things strapped to her feet with delicate ribbons, the heels making her wobble slightly, her ankles already getting sore. It seemed ridiculous that people would go so crazy over footwear, but Red was trying so hard to be a proper queen, and if that involved impractical footwear, well, it would just be something she had to bear. "The sacrifices I make for my people." She sighed grumpily, and her maid seemed pleased by her compliance, however grudgingly, and instructed her to walk around the castle to get used to her new shoes before she had to be seen in public.

Red's time since taking the throne, when she didn't have real work to do, had been spent mostly in 'Queen Lessons' where her servants took great joy in correcting the worst of her peasant habits. No one had told her that the servants were going to be so bossy when she took the job! She knew they were just trying to help, but some of this stuff seemed so crazy. Nonetheless, Red really wanted to do this right. She didn't feel very much like a queen, and maybe all these crazy rituals would help with that. At least learning to walk in heels was less painful than learning to read was; all that sitting around, trying to make sense of squiggly lines was likely to drive her mad. Walking around afforded her a chance to explore her new home, too, which she always found to be kind of exciting. She hadn't spent much time in castles before, and while she tried to hide it in front of her subjects, she was quite awe-struck by the fact that she was living in one. It was one of the things she wasn't sure she'd ever get used to.

As she wandered around, seemingly aimlessly, she found herself drawn to the sounds of rummaging coming from an open door, and she went to explore, leaning inside the room from the doorway curiously to see her husband there. Guilt trickled down her spine automatically, making her eyes widen slightly as her heart rate increased (although admittedly that could be for more than one reason), and she was contemplating walking away before he noticed her, when she lost her balance on her wobbly shoes and stumbled into the room. She managed to catch herself before she actually fell, righting herself somewhat awkwardly, she looked at Bigby innocently. "Hello husband," she tried to sound normal, flicking her hair back out of her face in what she hoped was a casual way, "what are you doing in here?" She asked, trying not to look as nervous as she felt, and trying to attribute whatever she did look like to her near fall, she glanced around to try and change the subject.

[bigby]

Bigby examined the bookshelves a little more closely, a part of him curious to see what kind of reading material qualified for a royalty. Most of the titles were pieces he certainly didn't recognize. It appeared to be a lot of academic volumes, such as various history books and philosophical musings, all rather serious subjects. Still it got him thinking, maybe he would have to learn some of these topics, or at least he should. Regardless of his new title, he wouldn't mind being more knowledgeable about the world one way or the other. There wasn't much time for studies while you were on the run. He actually did know how to read, at least somewhat. His mother was thinking about being a schoolteacher of sorts before meeting Bigby's father, and when he was a child she was able to teach him the basics. Of course, it had been quite some time since he had any real practice with it.

The young man absentmindedly picked up a thick, dark green book, with the title "History of the 1st Kingdom", and began flipping through the first few pages. Bigby's attention was soon drawn to a sound by the doorway, though, with something making a clacking nose against the stone floors. He smiled lightly when he saw that it was Red, but as his eyes fell on the shoes (no doubt the cause of the stumble), his grin grew a little wider with amusement. "Hello darling," he replied, doing his best to hide a small chuckle. Quite honestly he knew how hard Red was trying, and even adjustments like shoes weren't easy to make. "I see Layla has moved on to footwear now," he added, quite sure the fashion conscious and stubborn woman was to blame for this more recent wardrobe change.

He crossed the room to where she was and gave her a quick kiss as encouragement. "Think of it this way. While hopefully you won't be running at fighting at a ball, wearing those things will make your kick even more dangerous," he said lightly. Up close, Bigby suddenly thought something was a little...off in her expression, but he knew she had been on edge at times with these "queen lessons", and attributed it to that for the moment. "I was seeing what was in this room. I hadn't been in it yet, and it seems like nobody has for a while," he explained, addressing her last question. "It may actually make for a good study just the way it is. And it already has all the proper reading material for you and I," he said, holding up the old book that was still in his hands. "I may have to start sitting in on your lessons though. Can't get much past the title," he added. His reading skills definitely weren't up to par for a book that was so in-depth and scholarly.

He turned slightly, setting the book down on a nearby end table, before looking back to his wife. "What have you been up to? Besides the heels," he asked with a small smile, gently intertwining on of his hands in hers. Bigby's tone was casual, despite the fact that he was suspicious that there was something in particular on her mind. He didn't feel the need to push her, though. He knew that before they found each other, they were rather solitary and private creatures out of habit. During this time of massive change, he didn't want to make anything worse by pressing too hard for information when he didn't really have proof that he should be worried.

[scarlett]

Red tried to look angry when she saw how he was trying not to laugh, but despite her best efforts, his smile only made her smile instead. "Apparently the kingdom will fall if I wear comfortable shoes." She summarized Layla's colorful description of the humiliation she'd bring upon them if she didn't wear the proper shoes. And she couldn't help but laugh when he pointed out how the shoes could turn out to be a weapon, but then the fact that he was making her feel better just made her feel worse, and her laugh tapered off into a nervous chuckle before it died.

She tried to distract herself from thinking about her guilt by looking down at the book he was holding, wrinkling her nose distastefully at the thick volume, her eyes feeling heavy just looking at it. She stepped past him to the nearest bookshelf, reaching up to run her fingers over the spines of the books, unsurprised when her fingertips came away covered with dust. She turned back towards Bigby, rubbing the dust off her fingers, smiling wryly. He wasn't kidding about the room being disused. "You could pinch me when I fall asleep."

[/color] She teased when he suggested sitting in on her lessons, it would be nice to have the servants pick on someone else for a change.

She bit her lip when he asked her what she had been up to, and looked down at their interlocking fingers, avoiding his eyes. It had been a few days since she'd gotten back from her 'hunting trip' in the 3rd Kingdom, where she'd met with Rumplestiltskin, and ever since then, she'd had this nagging guilt about keeping the purpose of her trip from her husband. She was still getting used to the idea that her decisions didn't just affect her own life anymore, but even so, she knew that wasn't any justification for keeping secrets from him.

"I have to tell you something." The words were out of her mouth before she really had time to think about it, her head snapping up to meet his gaze. She didn't even know what she was going to say, but she was tired of avoiding him, or not being able to look him in the eye when they were in the same room, or getting nervous when she was alone with him. She squeezed his hand, her eyes guilty and even a little bit afraid, but she couldn't back out now. "I lied to you."[/blockquote]