A.N.D. - Through the Looking Glass

Wolf had been whipped mercilessly.

“Wolf, what happened to you?” She raised a hand to soothe him, but he was shrinking away, and she was afraid to touch him.

“Prison. Fifty lashes for trying to escape. Another fifty for biting a guard in the attempt. The governor was always big on fifties; we used to say it was the only number he knew how to write.” He peeked over his shoulder, all the dancing mischief in his eyes replaced with sorrow. “Is it terribly ugly? You’re not completely repulsed, are you?”

“I’m not repulsed.” She wasn’t. She was horrified. And she was furious. She wanted to hunt down the people who’d hurt him and make them pay dearly for every lash.

But she couldn’t do that. They were in the Nine Kingdoms, and she was in New York. In a shower stall. With Wolf, who was in desperate need of reassurance. “You’re beautiful, Wolf.” She stepped forward and hugged him from behind, pressing her cheek into the scars. “Nothing about you is ugly or repulsive.”

She held him for a long time, stroking his back with her cheek and kissing along his spine. And slowly, almost timidly, his tail began to wag again.

This time, the muscles moving under the washcloth were relaxing, not flexing. Virginia washed his back with great care, and Wolf leaned into her hand like a cat asking to be petted. At least he wasn’t going to be self-conscious once he knew that she wasn’t going to be put off by the scars, that was a relief. And maybe he’d like... heck everyone likes that!

So Virginia finished up by scratching down his spine; Wolf slumped forward to give her full access, crooning happily.

His tail was still swishing around; she caught it by the tip and contemplated it. It twitched slightly in her hand, still trying to wag.

“Hey, hold still!”

“I’m trying,” Wolf replied, in a tone that suggested he wasn’t. “That thing has a mind of its own.”

“I thought men said that about other things,” Virginia teased, running her fingers through the sodden fur. Petting it was much nicer when it was dry, she had to admit. Right now it was a lot like a sponge and hair was sticking to her hand. It was also rather short, just a little over a foot and a half long. “It looked bigger when we... um, when we were in the woods. Does it grow when... um, you know...”

That devilishly sexy smile came back. “No, but other things will if you tug them like that.”

“Be nice, or I’ll ruff it all backwards.”

He shivered all over. “I’ll be good! It follows my cycle-waxing moon, growing tail. And vice versa.”

She looked at it a little longer, holding it out with the tip clamped between two fingers, gnawing her lip as she thought about it. “Why is it grey? All the rest of your hair is black.”

He shrugged. “Just is. I’ve seen something similar on human men; men with yellow hair and red mustaches, stuff like that. Mama was grey. Her hair was like silver, and her tail looked just like mine.” He stared vaguely off into the mist of the shower. “When she was a wolf, she was silver and grey all over, with a big black spot right on the tip of her nose. Papa used to kiss her there all the time.”

He was still turned away from her, so Virginia kissed his back rather than his nose, then picked up the shampoo bottle. Wolf made that little cooing noise of happiness again as she gently shampooed his tail, although maybe it was just appreciation that she didn’t go against the grain. When she was done, he turned around and reached for the bottle. “My turn.”

Oh my. She had known it was coming, had been anticipating it, but now that it was here, she had a sudden attack of nerves. “Um, wait, there’s one more thing I want to do.”

He scratched, then wiped water off his face. “What?”

“I want to use this.” Virginia grabbed a bottle at random, then read the label. “On your tail.”

Wolf took the bottle and read it with an unconvinced expression. “Virginia, I really don’t think my tail needs instant conditioner with herbal nutrients and highlight enhancers. It doesn’t have highlights. It’s just grey. I keep it in my pants.” He put the conditioner back with a decisive thunk. “And it’s my turn now.”

Virginia shut her eyes and waited. Are we gonna get out of the shower, or are you just going to pin me to the wall? Either way sounded like fun, but if it was the shower version, she hoped they wouldn’t fall. Or get cold. Already the hot water had held out longer than she expected.

To her vast surprise (and a little disappointment), he picked up the shampoo bottle.

Wolf had an interesting bathing style. When she’d been cleaning him, she’d literally held him at arm’s length, looking at him. Wolf was far more tactile; he seemed to think that giving someone a bath meant turning whichever bit wasn’t pressed against him towards the shower head. It was weird. It was oddly comforting, like being hugged. And it was an amazing turn-on.

Until he turned the water straight to cold.

Oh, she was going to kill him! But until then, he was really going to enjoy himself.

Her hands were flailing; he tried to keep her from hitting him or turning the water off, but she was harder to keep hold of than a piglet in mud. With a final wrench she broke free and turned the water off.

“I’m going to get you for that, you, you-wolf!” She shoved him, almost knocking him over, and knocking herself off balance as well. They ended up clinging frantically to each other to keep from falling, and their desperately grasping hands ended up in some pretty personal places. They eventually ended up nose to nose, eye to eye... and, to his relief, she burst out laughing.

Life with that man was never going to be boring, that’s for sure! Virginia squirmed out of his embrace and ducked out of the shower before he could pull any more tricks. She grabbed a towel and started drying herself with one hand, holding the other towel out for Wolf. He didn’t take it right away; instead, he stayed in the tub and shook off like a dog, then wrung out his tail rather like a rag. Finally he reached for the towel... and Virginia had to let go quickly as he jerked it in an attempt to pull her back to him.

“Ha!” She told him in triumph. “I’m on to you!”

“What a wonderful idea!” Wolf replied, hopping out of the tub and pouncing as he swept her up into his arms.

Good thing he was used to being schizophrenic. Part of him wanted to toss her on the bed, jump on top of her, and ravish her. The other part wanted to keep up this delightful teasing game for a little while longer... and then ravish her. Thing is, usually he could tell which side of his nature was on which side of the argument. On the other hand, who cared, so long as it all ended the same way?

And it did all end the same way.

He was scared and happy and excited all at once. The waiters brought out the huge tiered cake, but Virginia didn’t turn to look at it. She was looking at him instead, and her eyes had never been so soft and loving. Time to do it. Time to ask her. Trembling with nerves and anticipation, he reached into his pocket for the golden shell that had the singing ring and put it on the table between them.

“I have a present for you.”

He opened the box and the little pearl began singing, “You are the luckiest girl in the land, for we have a beautiful wedding planned.”

She stared at it, open-mouthed in wonder. “Is this a proposal?” She looked up at him. “Wolf are you asking me to marry you?”

He nodded, watching her intently.

Slowly, almost as if she expected it to disappear or turn into bad magic, Virginia lifted the ring out of the box and put it on her hand. “Yes. My answer is yes.”

She admired the ring for a second as it started singing compliments to her, then leaned over the table to kiss him. He met her halfway, but this time, she wasn’t satisfied with a little peck on the lips. She threw her arms around his neck, practically dragging him across the table. “Wolf, I love you so much!”

And then she was pulling him right under the table and frantically opening the buttons to his suit. “I love you. I want you. I want to have your children,” she told him, busily digging through layers of velvet and cotton.

In a moment his clothes were gone, and she started feverishly disrobing while Wolf silently thanked Destiny that he’d reserved the entire restaurant. Hopefully the waiters wouldn’t interrupt them... but then, the table cloth did go all the way to the floor, and this was Kissingtown.

And then she threw herself at him and he ceased to care if all of Wendell’s horses and all of Wendell’s men might be watching.

Wolf started awake, disoriented. That wasn’t how it had happened. She’d turned him down and left him. And now he was... somewhere else. His thoughts in a whirl, he looked up at the strange ceiling, sniffing deeply.

No mistaking that beautiful scent. That’s right, he was with Virginia in her dimension. In her bed. Their bed. He turned his head to look at her lying on her side a little way away. Her back was to him and her breathing was deep; she must still be asleep.

So this was what it was like to live happily ever after-to wake up and find that all of your dreams had come true. Virginia had finally said yes. She carried his cub. He lived in a world that didn’t hunt and hate wolves.

And last night had been fantastic! Cripes! A plateful of bacon was nothing compared to finally being with his own true love! And now they could do it anytime they wanted…

Moving very slowly to be sure that he didn’t wake her up too quickly, Wolf curled up next to her, his chest against her back, one arm draped over her. Cautiously, he began trailing his fingers along her succulent skin.

She was drowsy, sluggish, sinking slowly into the swamp, twined in vines that were killing her.

Until Wolf appeared.

He plunged into the water, dragging her out to safety on the island. His strong, capable hands ripped the clinging vines from her, throwing them deep into the swamp as they twisted, trying to recapture her.

But he didn’t stop when the vines were gone. Before she realized what he was doing, he’d ripped off her blouse and skirt, flinging them into the dark water as well.

“What are you doing? Wolf? Stop!” Virginia took a step to the edge, trying to get something, anything, back but Wolf caught her from behind.

“No.” His coat flew over her shoulder, then his shirt. When he’d stripped to the waist he grabbed her, pulling her backwards against him. She felt his breath along her neck as he sniffed her, his chest expanding against her back. “Virginia, there’s something I want you to do for me. And I think I deserve it, given my multiple savings of your life.”

Her mouth was going dry. Virginia leaned back into his embrace...

... and woke up to gentle kisses covering the nape of her neck.

“Wolf, what are you doing?”

“Same thing I’ve wanted to do every night and every morning since I met you,” he whispered in her ear, nipping at the lobe for punctuation. “Do you want me to stop?”

When he put it that way... “No. I want you to do more.”

Virginia hummed happily to herself as she washed up and brushed her teeth. Wolf had proved himself a typical male by trying to roll over and go back to sleep (with her in his arms) right after, but she’d resisted the temptation and gone to the bathroom instead.

She smiled in pleased satisfaction at her reflection. Time to figure out how else to entertain a Wolf in New York-because if they kept up amusing themselves like that, she wasn’t going to be able to walk!

Sure enough, when she came out she found Wolf in the middle of their new living room, staring mesmerized upwards. “It’s raining,” he said, never looking away. “Let’s go back to bed.”

She followed his gaze and found that the Murrays had a gigantic skylight right over the center of the room. “Doesn’t look too bad to me. I’ll buy you an umbrella.”

“Oh.” He finally looked around at her, pouting slightly. He might have been trying to look disappointed and horny, but to her, he was simply adorable. Laughing, Virginia kissed him but dodged his attempt to hug her. “You’re not getting me back to bed, Wolf. Don’t you want to go get breakfast and explore the city?”

He shrugged. “Eventually.”

It took some talking and several more kisses to get him give up and get dressed. While he was occupied, Virginia went over the bankbook. She and Dad had almost saved enough for another trip to Vegas; some of it would have to be held back in case they couldn’t find work right away, but it looked like there would still be sufficient money to give her and Wolf a really good week on the town. Call it a honeymoon of sorts. Going from baby to honeymoon to marriage was a little unusual, but then, so was a husband with a tail.

A new thought took the euphoric edge off her newlybed feeling. How do people go out and have fun in New York? It had been so long since there was money to spend on sheer pleasure-even their vacations had been aimed at gambling their way back to affluence. Life had collapsed into work, home, depression, and wishful thinking; Dad escaping nightly into his sports and his beers, dreaming of the days he’d be rich again. And she’d escaped by...

... She hadn’t escaped. Not really. She’d watched the tourists come in and eat and gabble about all the wonders of the city, and she’d slam their food down, shaking her head over how shallow and easy to please they were. Yeah, the shop windows got moderately more interesting around Christmas-but it was also too cold to stop and appreciate them, and besides, only tourists stared. The Met might be nice, but you had to pay to get in and there was always something more important to do with the money. And Broadway... Broadway was something other people got to see, even with the half-price ticket booth.

That was before. She wasn’t the person she used to be, and she didn’t have to live that depressing, invisible life anymore.

Virginia double-checked the bank balance. Y’know, if Wolf hustled a little bit and they had a quick breakfast, they could get into the TKTS line before it got too long, get a half-price ticket to the matinee of Phantom or Les Miz or Scarlet Pimpernel or something else overly romantic-Wolf would like that-and then grab a cab and kill time at the Met until the show started, finally wrapping up the day with another restaurant, maybe one of those steakhouse chains that served portions that would feed a normal family of four. Sooner or later, they would have to buy food of their own to stock the apartment... but Wolf was going to have to be very well fed before she let him discover a supermarket meat counter.

Wolf cocked his head, looking at the list of titles up on the board over the little shack. They’d stood in line for 45 cold, wet minutes to get here, and he still wasn’t entirely sure why. He didn’t know what the titles were for, and he didn’t know why Virginia was so pleased to spend all that time just for a little envelope. Still, it had given him time to look around this strange new world and try to puzzle out how it worked.

Virginia was still staring into that little envelope and was dangerously close to stepping into the street. Wolf grabbed her elbow. “Wait! The light says don’t walk.”

She started, blinking at the light and then staring at him in shock. “Wolf, that’s right! How did you know?”

“Been watching.”

The light changed and they crossed in the crowd. Once safely across the street, Virginia grabbed his arm and yanked him under the shelter of an overhang. “Wolf, what else have you learned?”

“Nothin’ much. People wave if they want one of the yellow carriages to stop and pick them up. The colored lights tell you when to walk and the lines tell you where to walk. There are flashing lights everywhere and nobody looks at them. Nobody looks at the people trying to hand out things either. Why did you pull me away from one? There’s something under the streets that sounds and smells like dwarf trains-are there dwarves here or are they something else, like the Giants were? Can we see them? Um, what else... the streets going this way have names or small numbers, and the streets going the other way have big numbers but no names. And Thigh food smells too spicy; anytime anybody spices stuff that much, they’re probably hiding meat that’s gone off, so we’d better not eat there. It wouldn’t be good for you in your condition.”

Virginia was still staring at him, with her mouth open. Did she think he’d learn everything right away? He’d been studying his own world for years before he’d guided her and Tony around it. “I know it’s not much, but I’ve only been here two days,” he reminded her defensively.

Her mouth moved a couple of times, but it took a minute before anything resembling words came out. “Thigh food?”

Wolf pointed across the busy streets to a restaurant with T-H-A-I flashing in its window. “They’re not really serving thighs, are they?” he asked her anxiously. “I don’t wanna be accused of eating anything I shouldn’t.”

Besides, thighs weren’t the best part anyway.

Virginia wanted to hail one of the stinky yellow carriages, but Wolf talked her into walking up to the place she called “the Met.” They bought an umbrella from someone on the street and walked slowly, their arms around each other. It was cold, it was wet, he still didn’t know his way around-and Wolf was happier than he had ever been in his life.

There was a big marble gate where the city ended and the Park began, but Virginia told him where they were going was “more impressive from the front,” so they walked between the park and the street. Fascinating as the Tenth Kingdom was, it was a relief to know that in the middle of it all was that big expanse of trees and grass. So long as he could skulk through underbrush now and then-ooo, a rabbit! Rabbits were good eating-he could live happily in this place of stone and metal. The most incredible place, this city. More people than in all the kingdoms, and everywhere you looked, another restaurant.

Was this where they were going? There was a building ahead, he could see it though the trees on both sides of the walkway. A big pale building with crowds... “Goodness gracious, Virginia, this is a palace!”

Wendell would be so jealous! Oh, it was smaller than the White castle, and the king would never let commoners enter in droves like that. But this one had two beautiful rectangular reflecting pools with little fountains on either side of a huge staircase, and big, big colorful banners hung between fancy columns. They weren’t heraldic banners, though-no “W” with crossed spears, or “C” with a glass slipper or “RRH” with a severed wolf tail. Especially no RRH. Instead, these said things about Egypt and Vermeer and other people he didn’t know. Maybe he’d meet them. That would be interesting.

Virginia was discovering just how hard it was to guess Wolf’s tastes. She started by taking him to the Arms and Armor Hall; it was the classic “guy part” of the museum. But Wolf took one look, shuddered, and hustled her out of the room. “Too many wolves end up on the pointy end of that stuff,” he muttered as he hauled her away.

The huge filigree choir gate in the Medieval room reminded him of prison, as did the crucifixes. (She didn’t ask. She didn’t want to know.) He was polite about the various cultural artifacts in the Greek and Roman galleries, but they obviously weren’t holding his interest either... until he saw the statue of Aphrodite.

Great. All the splendors of world art through history, and he wants to look at naked women. Okay, off to 18th and 19th Century European Art. He’d probably love Rubens.

He did. All of the lush, romantic artists were big hits with Wolf. Impressionists made him squint, the larger than life-sized portrait of a wolf hunt horrified him, but the “tasty” women of Rubens and Renoir were exactly what he liked, and the melodramatic Pre-Raphaelite stuff like Waterhouse and Rossetti and Watts attracted him almost as much as the scent of meat. He was a few feet down the gallery from her now, standing a little too close to a small painting-with his tongue hanging happily out.

Strangling down the jealousy that had gotten worse with every fleshy painting and voluptuous sculpture, Virginia went to see what got him lolling this time.

Huh? It wasn’t a nude at all, it was a landscape. A little bitty landscape with rolling hills and a sunset and... sheep. A fluffy flock of grazing sheep. Watched over by a little painted shepherdess.

“Succulent!” Wolf told her, reaching to put an arm around her shoulders.

Virginia just glared at him until he yanked his tongue back in and straightened up. “Is something wrong, my tasty little...” his voice trailed off as he glanced between the painting and her expression and figured it out. “Errr, perhaps you’d like to look at another section of the museum?”

“Let’s.” Virginia hadn’t meant to sound so angry. She turned on her heel and Wolf stayed by her side, not even twisting back for a last look at the sheep.

“What’s your favorite part of the museum?” Wolf asked conversationally, keeping up easily as Virginia stalked off.

It was a good question. Did she have a favorite part, or was she just dragging Wolf away because she felt jealous? She’d always liked those paintings too... until he started drooling at them. No, wait, there was one part of the museum, unlike any other in the city. Somewhere calm and timeless.

“The Temple of Dendur. I always liked that.”

“Then let’s go see it.” Wolf followed her through the maze-like halls and behaved himself, although she knew he was still sneaking glances at naked sculptures. His next question totally rocked her. “What’s a temple?”

“It’s a place where people worship. You know, practice their religion.”

“I don’t know, Virginia. What is worship, and how do you practice religion? Is it a musical instrument?”

Whoa. “You don’t have...? Wolf, do people pray in your world? Ask for greater powers than human to grant them something or help them?”

“Yeah.” Wolf sounded like he didn’t believe she didn’t know something so simple and obvious. “Everyone wants to use magic to make their lives better. Simple spells and charms, mostly. Sometimes people ask for Fairy Godmothers, or call on the great heroines like Snow White. But that doesn’t mean they always answer.”

It made sense, in a weird way. Why call on a divine power when you could work your own magic? “Well, in this world, we can’t do magic. So people call on God or Jesus or Buddha or somebody, depending on who they believe in, to help them.”

“Do they answer?”

Virginia thought back to her childhood. Mother had hauled her off to church every Sunday. For a year after the abandonment she had gone alone, praying for the same thing week after week, repeating herself with every bead... please, God, bring my mommy home.

After a year she’d given up, thrown away her rosary, and never gone to church again. What was there to believe in when no one answered?

“Sometimes people think there’s an answer. So they believe.”

Wolf gave her one of those piercing looks that burned right through her defenses and illusions. “You don’t anymore. But you used to.”

Virginia looked away, only to find that they had ended up back in the Byzantine gallery and she was nose-to-nose with a statue of Mary holding a baby Jesus. Her first seven years, she’d knelt to statues like this. For the next, she’d hated them as a nasty reminder of a maternal love she’d never know again. Finally the belief and the pain and betrayal had all faded into nothing.

“I used to,” she told Wolf, turning to go.

He caught her arm with a soft, sad whine. “So you really were completely alone. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Virginia tried to shake him off. This was not a conversation to be holding in the middle of a museum! “I’m okay. I’m fine.”

“You will be. You’re not alone anymore, either,” he reminded her. He let go of her arm and took her hand instead, squeezing it companionably. “Did you stop going to the temple then?”

“What, the Temple of Dendur? Nobody goes there now, except to see it. It was built a long, long time ago. Nobody believes in those gods anymore.”

“Poor gods.” They walked the rest of the way in silence.

Wolf gasped as they stepped in to the Sackler Wing. He didn’t know which way to look first-at the descriptions on the walls that explained what the little building was, the big animal-headed statues, or at the building itself. It was very old and banged up, but still there was something amazing about it, something that radiated peace and eternity. No wonder Ginny liked it. He liked it too.

“Virginia, this is beautiful!”

“You like it?”

“It’s perfect!” Wolf jumped up on the platform with the temple, prowling around the square columns and peering into the tiny stone rooms. “This is the sort of thing I always wanted to do-travel, see new places. When I was a little cub, I was gonna grow up to be a great explorer.”

“Oh, you were?” Virginia smiled at him.

“Oh, yes!” Wolf trotted back to her side so he could lean over and whisper in her ear. “I was going to find a new kingdom, you see. A wonderful magical place to live where wolves would be safe.”

“Congratulations, then.”

“Huh?” Wolf had been about to go running back to look at the temple again, but he stopped in surprise. “Why?”

“For achieving your childhood dreams. You live in a new world.” Her gesture took in not only the temple but the city barely visible through the rain-streaked glass wall beyond. “And with the pardon, you’ve made the whole Fourth Kingdom safe for your people.”

Wolf felt his jaw drop. Cripes! He had!