Put On A Pretty Face

Elias managed to make himself be civil at least and give Arya a mumbled "thank you" as she gave him a piece of pie and then continued on, giving everyone a piece. He ended up giving it to someone nearby though, rather than eating it himself. Meanwhile, he continued his conversations, and too soon, everyone was getting up and washing off their dishes and leaving. It was time for sleep, and Elias headed upstairs to do just that.

---

Hickory climbed in the car after him, closing the door behind her, and soon they were on their way to town. She had turned to look out the window at the scenery around her when he asked his question. She turned her eyes back to him, shaking her head. "No, Sir," she said, and it occurred to her then that she didn't know his name. He hadn't offered it, and she hadn't asked the day before. However, she wasn't sure if she should ask. Asking questions seemed to be one of those things that she wasn't supposed to do.

Arya absolutely despised her place in the pack but she had no way of changing it. She was a runt for a reason, after all. When everyone headed up to bed, she turned and made her way into the kitchen where she began to wash everything that had been used for supper. After, she cleaned off the dining room table and wiped it down completely. By the time she was heading to bed, it was nearly 1 in the morning. Locking her door behind her, she shimmied out of her clothes and shifted into her wolf form, promptly curling up into a ball at the foot of her bed.

---

When they arrived to town, Darcy climbed out and held the door open for her. As they began to walk down the street, he set a hand on the small of her back to help guide her. And to show his ownership to any wondering eyes. "If a shop looks interesting, point it out," he murmured, not particularly caring what she dressed in, so long as it was up to his standard. Dresses, skirts, t-shirt and jeans, it didn't matter too much to him. He just didn't want her to look like he didn't have money. Her reputation was a reflection of his after all.

Elias was up early the next morning to go for a run and grab a shower, hopefully before too many of the others were up. He always enjoyed running through the forest early in the morning, and was usually up in time that he could stop to admire the sunrise. Afterwards though, he always took a shower. Even if he was running as well, he was usually pretty sweaty in his human form after the fact. So after his shower, he dressed and headed downstairs to help breakfast, grinning as soon as he smelled pancakes already cooking. Since help wasn't actually needed from him because pancakes were pretty easy, he ended up setting the table for everyone instead, setting out syrup and butter, plates, forks, glasses, milk, orange juice, water, and napkins. The events from the day before were now just static in his mind, and he was actually in a pretty good mood.

---

As they walked down the streets, it was actually easy to forget why they were in town... well, for Hickory at least, who had never actually been in town. Almost everything was new to her, and her senses took it all in accordingly. She was startled out of her mind's state of shock though, by a voice nearby, and that was when she noticed she was being steered about by a hand at the small of her back. She glanced over at him, his expression almost bored, and wondered how anyone could get used to this. It never quite occurred to her that her wolf senses sort of magnified it all in her case. "That might be a problem... everything here is interesting to me."

Arya was already dressed and ready for the day's events by the time she made her way downstairs in a pair of yoga pants and shirt, her runners on her feet and iPod in hand. She made no move to sit at the table, instead choosing just to eat a banana standing at the island. The moment that she finished, she tossed the peel into the trashbin and made her way toward the back door. It was late enough in the day that she could take a run on one of their trails without having to worry that she'd run into any of the others, they would have already went earlier. Putting her ear buds in, she took a minute to stretch her muscles before taking off down the trail.

- - - - -

Darcy nodded at her words but said nothing in reply, his eyes roaming the stores, trying to decide where she might find most interesting. He chose a particular boutique and led her inside, recognised immediately. A sales associate walked over and offered her help, him briefing her on the situation and the girl immediately turned her attention to Hickory. "Follow me, we'll find some clothes for you to try on," she said with a smile, turning to lead her toward the fancier stuff - mostly dresses and skirts.

Though he saw her head outside, Elias didn't bother to attempt to stop the runt. Morning runs were pretty frequent among the pack, and though usually she wasn't supposed to go out on her own, that rule didn't apply to morning runs so long as she was back before breakfast was finished. After that, someone would be sent out to bring her back, depending on whose turn it was. So rather than say or do anything, he just let her go and finished setting the table. The pancakes were done shortly after, and anyone not already awake was woken up as yells of "Breakfast!" were spread throughout the house. Soon everyone was crowded around the table, vying for stacks of four or five pancakes each.

---

Hickory followed the girl, briefly casting the dresses and skirts a look of distrust. She'd honestly never been forced to wear a dress or skirt, though she'd seen them plenty of course. Honestly, she wasn't even sure what was wrong with the clothes she usually wore. They were comfortable, lightweight, and cool. Since wolves naturally produced more heat and liked to move around quite a bit, these were all good traits for the clothes. She certainly liked them well enough. She knew better than to question the man that was now her owner though, and so she allowed herself to be pulled through the store by the girl. Before long, there seemed to be a huge mound of clothes filling Hickory's arms that she was supposed to try on, and only then was she ushered towards a dressing room. Most of the clothing consisted of dresses and a few skirts, with only maybe a couple pair of shorts or jeans.

Arya paused for a moment, half way through the trail and checked the time so she knew which way she should take when she met a fork in the way. Still having plenty of time left, Arya decided to take the longer route and only just barely made her way back to the house before she would have been considered 'late'. She kept her earbuds in, simply going right to the task of cleaning the dishes that had been used for breakfast. At least that wouldn't need to be done after she showered and she wouldn't have to hear anyone complain that she had left a mess for too long. Her head was lowered as she entered the dining room, removing any empty plates or dishes that were left abandoned. She packed whatever food away before washing everythiing else, humming under her breath as she worked.

---

Darcy sat down in a chair opposite the dressing room she had been led to and awaited her first outfit. When she walked out, his eyes roamed over her body before coming to a rest on her face. It was a pretty enough dress and he certainly wouldn't mind watching her walk around in it, that wasn't something he was going to deny, but he was still taking her feelings into consideration. For now. "Is the dress comfortable?" He asked, "be truthful," he added after a moment, not wanting her to lie simply for his own benefit.

After breakfast, Elias joined a couple of others outside. While no one was supposed to actually fight and try to hurt another packmember, 'sparring' or 'wrestling' or whatever you wanted to call it, was acceptable. So that was how he ended up outside with a couple of others, all of them having shifted into wolves and were messing around. They were leaping on each other and trying to pin each other to the ground and snapping at each others' tails, etc. It was all good fun, and it was something all the wolves generally enjoyed.

---

Hickory had somehow ended up first in a light blue dress that was about the color of her eyes and was a couple of inches from reaching her knees in length. All of the... sequins threw her off, as well as the feeling of a dress rather than shorts, but it wasn't uncomfortable. So she gave a small nod along with a "yes, sir" in answer to the question she was asked, watching him, and then glanced down at herself for a moment, deciding that dresses felt off though not necessarily bad.

Arya finished cleaning off the dining room table once she had showered since the table had been abandoned. She glanced out the kitchen window and almost joined the wolves outside but chose against it at the last moment. Mostly because she would either get hurt (based solely on her size) or she would have to ask someone to take it easy with her and that just made the other's frustrations made worse. She didn't want to cause any problems, so, instead, she made her way back to her room where she pulled out drawing supplies. It was how she passed most of her time and at least it kept her out of the way.

---

Darcy nodded at her response, happy that she wasn't uncomfortable in the dress. While he understood that wolves were more at ease in just a shirt and jeans (an old slave had once explained it to him when he had asked), that didn't mean he wasn't going to want them to wear something else on the occasion. "Very well, it looks good on you," he said, looking up to her, the corners of his mouth twitching upward in a half-smile. He was in a good mood, hopefully the mood would stick around for the rest of the day.

By the time they had finished messing around, mainly because they were hungry, they were being called inside for lunch. Then it was a race for the front door, this time in human form, with a lot of shoving and trying to get to the food first. But somehow they all managed to plop down at the table at the same time, their "competition" soon forgotten at the prospect of food.

---

The half-smile was probably the most emotion Hickory had so far seen from this man. He just didn't seem to be the sort of person who expressed a lot of emotion, and Stella had been the same during the short periods of time that Hickory had been around her. But while her mind considered that, she nodded, taking his comment as a dismissal as well, and went back into the dressing room to take the dress off and try on the next item.

Sometime later, they exited the store with a few bags of clothing that Hickory carried. She supposed they were finished with the little adventure into town.

Arya had already set the table and was sitting by the time everyone else made their way inside. She was already nibbling at her hot roast beef sandwich, quiet as she tried to decide whether she was full, after every bite. Nearly half way done the sandwich, she decided she was and stood to excuse herself from the table. She made her way into the kitchen and tossed the rest of her sandwich, cleaning her plate. She waited nervously until everyone had finished before asking her alpha if she could go into town for a bit... she hadn't gotten since last month and while she didn't always like being around humans, she wanted to buy a few new things for her drawings. She received approval under one condition - Elias went with her. She tensed and almost considered not even bothering to ask but she wanted to go too badly. Clearing her throat as she went to find him, she stood back for a moment before looking to him. "Can you take me into town? It won't take long," she mumbled, shifting her weight from one foot to the next, nervously.

---

"You aren't required to wear the dresses or skirts all the time, they're more for when we have guests over or we go out. You should look proper around them, werewolves aren't complete animals and they shouldn't act it," Darcy spoke as they neared their vehicle. He hadn't meant anything he said rudely, just as more of an observation than anything. He opened the trunk and allowed her to place the bags inside before they climbed into the back. "Are you hungry?" He asked, noting that it was nearly noon already, they had been in the store longer than he had realised.

Elias usually ignored the runt as much as possible, but that was pretty much impossible to do with her standing right there in front of him, shifting from foot to foot and looking like she wanted to say something. He was about to snap that she just spit it out already too, when she finally told him what she wanted. Considering that there were at least a dozen other wolves in the house she could've asked that she got along with better, he quickly figured out that she'd probably been told that it had to be him. What a pain in the ass... Still, he figured that even if he told her no, their alpha would probably make him anyway. So he let out a sigh as he stood. "Yeah, let's go, runt."

---

Hickory was relieved to hear that she wouldn't be expected to wear dresses all the time considering that shorts and t-shirts were still more comfortable to her than dresses. She naturally prickled a little at his comment about wolves, but bit her lip to keep from saying anything as they climbed into the car once more. "Uh, yes, actually... sir." It was still odd for her tongue to say that, but she hadn't messed up since yesterday, and that actually probably helped her situation more than anything else she'd done so far.

Arya was mildly shocked when Elias agreed to it, having already mentally prepared herself for him to say no. So when he agreed, she hesitantly nodded and turned to run and grab her bag. She was back outside moments later with her head lowered as she headed toward the car he was already in. Arya squirmed once she had sat down, tensing as she looked out the window. She wasn't going to make this any more painful than it was already going to be. "I just want to go to the art supply store. That's all, it shouldn't take long," she murmured, still looking out the window as she held onto her purse.

---

Darcy nodded and leaned forward to tell the driver to stop at a restaurant so that they could eat. He wasn't much in the mood for being home at the moment so he figured it couldn't hurt to go out. When they arrived, he told her to stay put before heading around to the trunk. He returned, holding one of his favourites from today. "Wear this," he said, half debating on staying and watching her change but he wasn't all that into making her too uncomfortable. At least, not yet. So he stepped out of the car to give her privacy.

As Arya went off to get whatever she was going for, Elias headed off to grab the keys to one of the cars (the pack owned a few). Then he got in the car, cranked it, and turned some music on -low volume- as he let down the windows and waited. He didn't have to wait long either. "Okay," he answered, and put the car in gear. Soon they were driving along the pack's 'driveway' which was basically a dirt trail that wound through the woods forever before it finally ended out on a main road.

---

Hickory was surprised when he came back with a dress for her to change into. And apparently she was supposed to change while in the back of a car. She sighed softly as he stepped out and closed the door, and just stared at the dress for a few moments before she started to pull off her clothes and then changed with an air of resignation. When she was finished, she opened the door and stepped out, and started tugging the dress down since she hadn't been able to do that properly while sitting in a car.

Arya was silent for the rest of the ride, only bothering to open her mouth when he needed to turn. SHe doubted he knew the way to the place she wanted to go, he had probably only taken her into town a handful of times in the last nineteen years. When they arrived, she quickly climbed out and made her way into the store, not expecting him to follow her. The only problem was that she lost track of time so quickly, trying to decide between the different drawings pads and utensils that nearly an hour had passed before she was checking out. When she realised how long that she had been, she found herself rushing through checkout. Her head was lowered as she headed out of the store, holding two large bags full of things.

---

"You can order as you please, no alcohol however," Darcy said to her as they entered the restaurant and he asked for a private room. He didn't care to be bothered by whispers or looks from anyone. All he cared for was to be able to enjoy their meal before they headed home. It was always a stressful time, having to teach a wolf what they were to do. There was only so much the schools could teach them. Darcy had preferences of his own, that the school didn't cover.

Elias was pretty much silent, basically just nodding along to her instructions as she gave them, and then they were in town soon enough. He parked in front of the store and just continued to sit there as she got out and headed inside. Seeing as how she said it wouldn't take long, he figured she'd be half an hour at best. However, as that time came and passed and still she didn't emerge, so Elias became impatient. He turned off the car, shoving the keys in his pocket, and then got out to go look for her. Unfortunately, they ended up running right into each other right as he was walking through the door. He caught her by the arm and gave her a flat look. "Shouldn't take too long, huh?"

---

Hickory nodded to him as they were soon led to the private room that he had asked for. There were whispers as they passed along with some pointing, something she'd noticed that had been happening for the better part of the morning, not to mention that anyone dealing with him used the utmost respect. They were seated, asked what they wanted to drink, and then left with a couple of menus. After the drinks were brought back, they were asked what they wanted to eat, and once that was done, they were left alone. "Can I ask a question?" Hickory had been attempting to stay quiet, but curiosity seemed to be against her.

Arya let out a squeak as she smacked into someone, stumbling a step backward before she regained her balance. She looked up, ready to apologise to a stranger and was met with Elias' face instead. She bit her lip at his grip, swallowing a lump that had formed in her throat. "I didn't mean to, Elias. It's just that I haven't been here in so long," she murmured, clutching her bags in one hand now, waiting for him to move before she did.

---

Darcy had decided on a seafood and steak combination and was sipping at his drink once they were left alone. He was enjoying the silence, so, he was surprised when she spoke. The shock showed on his face and he raised an eyebrow as he looked up to her. "I believe you just did," he answered, a smirk finding its' way onto his features before he gave a slight nod. "Ask your question," he said after a moment of watching her squirm, wondering what she could possibly want to know.

Elias sighed, muttering something that didn't sound particularly nice. "Yeah, whatever," he then said where he could be heard, letting go of her arm and opening the door. "Let's just get back since you're done, okay?" He followed her out of the store, and then got in the car, starting it up again. Soon he was backing out of the store's parking lot and they were on their way back. "What did you want to come to town for anyway?" he asked after some time, glancing over at her and the bags she had clutched in her lap.

---

From the shocked expression he had, Hickory guessed that he probably wasn't asked a lot of questions... or something like that, and she thought for a few moments that she wouldn't get to ask her question. "Well, I was just wondering..." she hesitated, attempting to come up with a way that just wasn't bad to phrase her question, but there didn't seem to be any. "I guess I was just wondering who you are, exactly," she finally finished. "People kind of whisper and point wherever we go, and I highly doubt its me."

Arya moved quickly to the car, not wanting to take any longer than she already had now. She climbed inside and held her bags on her lap, her purse at ther feet. She didn't want anything to get damaged on the ride home so she chose to keep them safely on her lap. She nearly jumped when he spoke, looking up to Elias in surprise. Her eyes narrowed, trying to figure out why he was asking but she couldn't seem to figure it out. After a moment, she shrugged her shoulders. "Just art supplies," she murmured, looking away once again.

---

"An heir to a forture," Darcy answered simply, shrugging his shoulders as if the answer was the most simple of all the answers in the world. He tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes a bit. Figuring she wanted a bit more of an answer, he licked over his lips before he chose to give further information. "I come from a long line of people who delve into the underworld, I simply took over the family's business," he said, wondering if she was suddenly going to be afraid of him.

Elias grunted to let her know he'd heard, but said nothing else. He'd really just asked because he'd been kind of curious why he'd had to drive her to town. He'd never bothered to ask the other times he'd had to do it, so he just figured he would now. Apparently the runt spent a lot of time doing art projects... but soon they were pulling up to the house and Elias turned off the car and got out, heading back inside. He deposited the keys back where he'd found them and then was invited to play a game. Apparently they were playing COD Black Ops 2, and he definitely wasn't going to say no to that.

---

Hickory considered his answer for a few moments before she nodded. "It must be some business then, for you to incite the reaction you do," she finally told him. She supposed that did answer a few questions that had been building since yesterday though. Hickory had always been a rather curious person, actually. She always asked questions and poked her nose into things that she probably shouldn't, and though that trait in her had been discouraged, it hadn't been eradicated. She just knew how to put a lid on it for the most part.

Arya had just finished setting up an elaborate prank that she was wanting to pull on another pack member, Benjamin. He was one of the people she was the closest to. There was a string that was set just at the bottom of the doorway into the bathroom, that led up to a small bucket that mostly had glue and tons of glitter inside of it. It would cause a mess but it still could be cleaned up - with a little bit of hard work but still. The bathroom was used mainly by the wolves closest to it so Arya, Benjamin, and a few others. She went into her room and left the door ajar just enough so she could see the entrance of the bathroom so she could see the results just as they happened.

---

A few days later, Darcy had decided to throw a party with his closest friends. It had been a long enough time since he had thrown a party so he had figured they were all due for one. He had instructed Hickory to pick out a dress and to sit while he had a hairdresser do her hair and make up. She had to be presentable to his guests, after all. She was an extension of him, after all.