Little Red Cinderella and the Three Beanstalks

Previously...

I stood up, only slightly shakily. I held out the blanket to him, and Ezu snatched it out of my hands, clutching it to hisbeautiful bare chest. That act of embarrassment helped me come to my senses, and I gave Ezu an incredulous look.

"You're such a girl." I said. Anger briefly flashed across Ezu's face, and it looked like he was about to deny that, but he was suddenly seized by a violent sneezing fit. He took a shaky step back with one particularly hard sneeze, and somehow managed to get his foot tangled in the dragging corner of the blanket he still held clutched to his chest. He gave a strangled yell and started to fall backwards. I frantically tried to grab his arm and pull him upright, but I got caught up in the momentum. Suddenly we were both falling, the blanket twisting around us like a hungry snake. I landed hard on top of Ezu, pressed uncomfortably close to hisrock hard chest.

And, as if the Gods were doing everything in their power to make my life difficult, at that exact moment the door was flung open, and a very pretty girl came bounding into the room, calling out in a sing song voice as she did so, "Oh Ezu! I've got the-"
And then she spotted us, tangled up on the floor, half naked, each looking decidedly winded.
The bowl she held crashed to the floor and shattered.

**************************

Previously...

Anger briefly flashed across Ezu's face, and it looked like he was about to deny that, but he was suddenly seized by a second violent sneezing fit. He took a shaky step back with one particularly hard sneeze, and somehow managed to get his foot tangled in the dragging corner of the blanket he still held clutched to his chest. He gave a strangled yell and started to fall backwards. I frantically tried to grab his arm and pull him upright, but I got caught up in the momentum. Suddenly we were both falling, the blanket twisting around us like a hungry snake. I landed hard on top of Ezu, pressed uncomfortably close to his rock hard chest.

And, as if the Gods were doing everything in their power to make my life difficult, at that exact moment the door was flung open, and a very pretty girl came bounding into the room, calling out as she did so, "Oh Ezu! I've got the-"

And then she spotted us, tangled up on the floor, half naked, each looking decidedly winded.
The bowl she held crashed to the floor and shattered.
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Ezu literally threw me off of him in his haste. He leapt up--not even bothering to cover himself as he had done with me--as the girl dashed from the room, tears spilling over her rosy cheeks.

"Shit! Mary, it isn't what it looks like! Mary, come back!" He skidded to the open doorway and looked wildly down the hallway. "Crap! Look what you've done!" He said, rounding on me. My mouth fell open.

"Me? Me? What did I do?!" I shrieked indignantly. How dare he blame this on me! I didn't even know who the hell that girl was in the first place! Ezu glared at me, fists clenched. He seemed to be having an internal battle with himself as he stood there, silently fuming and contemplating me. He finally let out an agitated sound and sprinted out of the room, following the girl’s fading footsteps.

I sat there, mouth agape. Some minutes later, I finally found my voice.

"Who the hell was she?!" I shouted, but Ezu was long gone.

For some unfathomable reason, I felt scorned. Of course, I should have seen this coming. Ezu was... well, I'm not usually all boy crazy, but he was quite the catch--visually, anyways. Personality wise, a sack of live, angry wolverines were probably less tempermental that he was...

And yet, when that girl came in, and Ezu freaked out and tried to explain, and then ran after her...

I should have known he'd have a girlfriend. And anyways, I barely know the guy! So why did I feel the way I did? Like he should have at least mentioned it?

I gave an angry huff and actually kicked the floor with my feet in frustration. Jinx, who had been hovering somewhere out of sight, whizzed over and landed on my shoulder. He made a consolidating sound and nuzzled at my neck.

"At least you won't go flying off after some pretty grasshopper, right Jinx?" I pouted. He buzzed once, and I took this as a yes. "Come on, we'd better try to get out of here." I made my way over to the open door and peered out down the hall. It was quite deserted, and I couldn't even hear Ezu's pounding footsteps anymore to guide my way. I glanced at Jinx.

"You wouldn't happen to know the way back would you?" I asked. Jinx buzzed and made a shrugging movement. I had no idea what he meant, but he apparently wasn't about to lead me to... where ever I was trying to go.

This presented another problem, and I concentrated on solving it as I started walking down the hall. Where was I? I remembered the tavern I had ran to when I made it into town, and I suspected I was still there. Although it was possible I had been moved to a way house or something of the sort, I doubted this. Ezu was in no condition to be moved at the time, and, obviously, we weren't separated.

Which brings me to another point. Ezu.

First of all, he appeared to be all better, his mysterious illness cleared up. How long had I been out? I didn't even want to think about that. So I moved on, but my next thought wasn't much better.

That girl. Obviously she and Ezu had some sort of thing going on. And when she had seen me on top of him, she had freaked out. I wondered how Ezu was going to talk himself out of that one. I scoffed. Serves him right too, for not telling me...

But then I faltered, feeling guilty. He had no reason to tell me. We were just two people who happened to run into each other. I needed his help, he was willing to give it to me. Nothing more.

Then why was I so pissed about the girl?

And who was she?

By now I had figured it was pretty evident that I had been shot into this fairy tale world through the Book. So she must be a character, right?

What did Ezu called her?

Mary? Right, Mary!

So that would make her... Mary Mack? Mary Mary quite Contrary? Damn, I wish I knew my nursery rhymes better!

While in my musings, I hadn't noticed where I was going, let alone the large figure hurtling towards me.

Suddenly, I was sent crashing to the floor, Jinx taking off in a whir of noise and a flash of gold, and something very large and very heavy had me pinned to the ground.

"Hey! Get off me!" I barked, pushing at the thing.

"Ow! Hey. Hey, I'm going! Stop kicking!" It said, and pushed itself off of my prone form. I struggled into a sitting position, but barely had time to sit up before my hand was grabbed in a firm grip and I was hauled unceremoniously to my feet. I lost my balance and stumbled forwards, letting out a cry of surprise.

"Hey! Whoa there! You are the most uncoordinated person I have ever met!" The person said, catching me about the waist before I face planted straight into the ground. I shoved away from the person, squirming out of their grip, and took three hasty steps back to get a better look at whoever had been the source of all this trouble.

A tall boy, no older than me, stood there appraising me with wide brown eyes, hands on hips. He was tall and gangly, all elbows, but still managed to have a sort of loping, endearing quality about him. His hair fell a bit longer than Ezu's, almost brushing his shoulders. It was dark brown, and was constantly falling into his eyes, and when it did so he flicked it back with a casual toss of the head. He was wearing a loose fitting cream colored tunic, and brown cloth pants. His feet were clad in scuffed leather boots.

He looked distinctly dashing, in his own awkward way.

I crossed my arms over my chest and glared stubbornly up at him.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked. He stared at me for a moment, his mouth slightly open. Then he laughed loudly. At me.

"I could be asking you the same thing! Here I am, minding my own business, when suddenly I collide with a strange girl in only her night clothes, who then proceeds to fall all over herself, and then demands to know who I am!" He said between guffaws. My face fell.

"Well, you don't need to make it sound that bad..." I muttered. The boy grinned at me, crossing his arms, and mirroring my pose.

"Oh come now, don't get all mopey. No harm done."

I just glared at him, in no mood to be amused. He sighed, and stuck out a hand stiffly.

"I'm Big Jack." He said. I stared at his hand like it was a fish or something, unsure of whether to shake it or not.

"It's a hand. You're supposed to shake it." The boy said slowly, as if I was a mentally deficient toddler.

"I know that!" I snapped at him, grabbing his hand firmly and shaking it once before dropping it.

"Jack?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. I wondered...

The boy's grin widened and he nodded. "Yeah. And your name?" He asked.

"Rikki." I said. "And would you by any chance know the way out of here?" I asked, waving my hand around in a vague way at the surrounding hallway. Jack laughed again, and lunged at me. Before could make a move, he snatched me around my waist and spun me in the air, plopping me down in the opposite direction.

"It might help if you are going the right way." He said.

"...Oh." I seemed to be saying that an awful lot lately. But before I could think of anything more articulate to say, Jack was off, stopping only to grab my hand and pull me along with him. He set off at a fair pace, his long strides leaving me desperately trying to keep up without tripping myself.

"This place belongs to my aunt," Jack was explaining as we went. "And my uncle. The only place to get a decent drink in town. I work here most of the time, and will inherit the tavern when they kick the bucket. They don't have any kids, so the place goes to me." He prattled on, leading me through a labyrinth of twisting hallways.

"So this is the tavern, then?" I asked, interrupting him.

"Yeah. Well, downstairs is the bar. Upstairs, up here, is the inn. Nobody really comes to town, so it isn't used very often, but we keep most of the rooms clean in case they are needed. Good thing too, or you and Ezu would be sleeping on about ten years of dust." I stumbled when he said Ezu's name, just barely able to regain my balance.

"You know Ezu?" I gasped. Jack scoffed.

"Of course I do! Who doesn't?" He said, as if this were evident. I felt my face flush slightly, and I was glad he wasn't looking at me.

"Oh, well, I figured since he lived so far away..." I trailed off uncertainly.

"He does, but he's always hanging around here. Doing all sorts of odds and ends for the towns folks. Don't know how we would get on if he weren't around." I detected a slight note of contempt in Jack's voice when he said this, but I didn't mention it. But it made me remember something, and I decided to take a chance.

"Um... earlier I..." I searched for the right word, "Saw this girl. Blonde hair, tied up, named Mary, she was shorter than me, about yay high," I waved vaguely in the air with my hand, "And ran off screaming when she saw me with Ezu? I finished nonchalantly, as if this sort of thing happened to me everyday.

Quite suddenly, Jack stopped walking without warning, causing me to crash into him. I gave out a cry as I started to tumble to the ground, but once again I was grabbed and swung back to my feet. But before I could thank Jack for his help, a sudden, sharp, bark of laughter nearly sent me sprawling again. Jack wasn't able to catch me this time, but I managed to keep my footing, if only barely. Jack was bent double, heaving with laughter.

"Mary... walked in on... you and E-e-ezu? Together?... D...doing what?" He managed to choke out between guffaws.

"Hey! Don't laugh!" I reprimanded, crossing my arms indignantly.

"S-sorry," Jack giggled, wiping tears from his eyes. "It's just... Mary... and, you know... Lord, what were you two doing?" He asked, a wide grin still plastered on his face.

"Nothing!" I insisted, my voice rising an octave or two against my will. "We just kind of... tripped... and landed... on each other... and then that girl... kind walked in on us like that..." I weakly attempted to explain, knowing how pathetic my story sounded, true as it may be.
Jack, fortunately, was apparently a very trusting person. He whistled lowly.

"Wow. That sucks. You're sure in in for it. Tough luck." He said, shrugging. I glared at him.

"Gee, thanks." I said sourly. "But that still doesn't answer my question. Who is this Mary girl?" Jack grinned ruefully.

"Ezu's girlfriend." He said simply.