Scene #882:

Owner	Pose
Snow White	Today has been a day that's proven to be more stressful than usual, if that is even possible. Bluebeard had been insufferable. King Cole had been nervous about it all, and everybody else had seemed to not know what to do with this. Even with the details of the newly discovered warpgate sorted out and spells put in place to keep it under close watch by the witches on the Thirteenth Floor, Snow swore that it was somehow not enough for a majority of Fabletown. What if there are other gates? What if more dragons appear? Are the Elites truly to be trusted? There are so many of them! Even now on her lunch break Snow hears all the questions buzz around in her head, perhaps due to the quiet area she's found in Central Park. Usually she takes her lunch in the Business Office, but not today. Even she needs a little time to herself to eat and sort all of these things out in quiet. Though even as she is eating her sandwich, she is unable to escape work as she skims over a report concerning all the damages that the Farm suffered last night. King Cole is /not/ going to be happy about this...
Bigby Wolf	Today was stressful? Last night was no picnic either. Granted, Bigby didn't actually have to fight the dragon. But on the other hand, he didn't /get/ to fight the dragon. He had to sit in the Business Office being berated and blamed by Bluebeard, sitting on his thumb while scavenging event updates from the radio. At least they HAD the radios. Thank goodness for small favors. Trying to relay action by having birds zipping up and down from the battle site to the village to tell him by phone would have been agonizing. As such, he's been laying low today. Not in the mood for more browbeating; and though he expects Snow to ask for his input on the events he knows better than to barge in on her when she's busy talking Cole off a ledge. So he's been hiding in his tiny office, surrounded by a haze of smoke so thick most people wouldn't be able to see more than shadows through it, and nominally catching up on some back paperwork though really he's mostly been fretting and sighing and staring at the back of his frosted-glass door window with 'B Wolf' printed backward across it. When Snow leaves the building for lunch, he knows. He catches the whiff of her perfume under the crack of his door and through the fog of cigarette haze. Hears her particular stride moving down the hallway. He waits a few minutes so as not to be /painfully obvious/ about it, then gets up and follows her out. The Sheriff is entitled to a lunch break too. Snow's trail is easy to follow. Bigby doesn't even have to be obvious about it, feigning his usual slouching 'I'm thinking leave me alone' stroll as he lets his nose guide him along her trail to the park. He stops some twenty feet behind her, watching the back of her head as she eats and reads for at least another full minute before he sighs, mentally shakes himself for an idiot, and walks up to her bench. "So how bad was it, really?" he introduces his presence with a blunt question.
Snow White	Upon hearing the familiar and gruff voice, Snow blinks and turns her head to look over the back of the bench she is seated on, then sighs quietly. "Not as bad as Bluebeard makes it sound, really." She reaches out and moves her purse to make room for him, and even puts aside the report. "The biggest damage is to the crops, and we will have to buy food for the Farm now at this rate to make sure they don't starve." Which would be bad. "On the other hand, nobody was seriously injured, the buildings are still standing... and the Elites seemed content with taking the remains of the dragon as payment for their help. One of them even offered to help us further should we need it. So I dare say it could have gone worse." It's all about looking on it from a logical stand point. Snow doesn't look without worry however, and she turns her gaze ahead, her lips set in a stern line. "What worries most of the Fables is just how many more warpgates we have left to discover..."
Bigby Wolf	Bigby looks at the cigarette currently smoldering in his hand, thinks for a second and then stubs it out in a public receptacle before he takes Snow's unspoken invitation to sit next to her. "How about making sure WE don't starve," he adds conversationally as he settles down on the bench. "The Farm feeds us too. I guess I could take a hunting expedition up into the Territories if we need the meat; but crops take time to grow and winter's coming on. We may be fucked there, Snow. Unless Bluebeard bails us out again." This last is tacked on in a distasteful sneer. He hates owing anything to that scumbag as much as she does. "As for the warp gates... probably a lot. The mundies have already found several. And best I can tell most worlds have dozens if not hundreds of the things. All interconnected in this spiderweb mess. I think, best we can hope for is to keep the ones close to home a secret so they don't draw any attention to us. Thank god the dragon popped out at the Farm and not in Central Park, on that account." "--But here's something I don't get. I'm not allowed up there, all right, I understand that. But why the hell didn't Weyland have the defense better organized at the start? From what it sounded like it was a total clusterfuck."
Snow White	He has a point... though Snow sighs as she looks at Bigby when he sits down. "Unlike us, they don't have 7-11 right down the road. We can make due somehow..." Yet the hunting idea doesn't seem like a bad one. She of all Fables know just how useful Bigby can be in that capacity as well as being the sheriff. "We will solve it one way or the other, no matter what we have to do," she reminds him in a gentle, but firm tone. Don't think that she likes dealing with Bluebeard either, Bigby! But Fabletown comes first rather than their discomfort at dealing with an ass who has the money to help his fellow Fables. The thought of a dragon appearing in Central Park... oh man, she doesn't even want to imagine it. Snow reaches up to brush some hair away from her face, half closing her eyes at the thought. "It would have been harder to deal with that. Considering there are more people here too, I dare say we would have had to deal with several casualties as well. As well as risk the mundys finding out." That next point is something she herself found curious as well yesterday, and Snow nods, her expression clearly showing her displeasure. "I know. It's not like Weyland at all. He is not the sort to not be around when something like that happens, and they all seemed to be helpless, most of them. And I could tell that they do not trust the Elites, at least not most of them." The woman looks tired as she picks up her sandwich again and takes a large bite of it, chewing with a pensive look on her face.
Bigby Wolf	"Well if Weyland's gone somewhere -- and correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't he supposed to TELL the Business Office if he leaves his post? -- then who's in charge? Arrow told me it was practically every Fable for himself up there. /Shere Khan/ trying to take military control. It's insane, Snow, and it can't stand. Someone has to... to administrate!" A beat. "--at least if I can't be there knocking sense into heads," Bigby adds with a small smile to take some of the sting out of his outburst. He's not mad at her; he's mad at... the situation. Life. Everything. "I'm glad Harry and Inga showed up, at least," he sighs. "I don't know the others, but I assume they heard word either through the Syndicate or through Dresden. I don't like having to lean on outsiders for help though. Even if the problem came from outside, itself. Either the Farm administration needs to get its shit together, or we need to revisit that 'No Big Bad Wolves' rule, Snow."
Snow White	"Yes, which is why I like this situation even less! I might appear calm Bigby, but don't assume I don't take this seriously," Snow says after she finishes chewing and swallowing the food in her mouth. "Shere Khan was ready to interfere and take charge if I hadn't told him to back down... though it didn't seem like he was happy with it. We need to find Weyland, though something tells me we need to do it in a discrete way. Something was wrong there, and not just because of the dragon." No, she knows that he isn't mad at her. And if he were... well, it wouldn't be the first time she has stood up to him, is it? It was a good thing that the Elites came and helped out. Otherwise things would certainly have had a far more drastic outcome. But just how will the Farm Fables react to Elites coming again if all hell breaks loose? Of the two alternatives... there's only one option. Which is why Snow turns her head to give Bigby a firm look, though it doesn't quite reach her eyes. "You know they would never allow you there... not even if there were ten dragons there. For most of them, /you/ are the real threat. Even with the general amnesty..." She doesn't finish that sentence, instead she sighs and reaches a hand up to rub at her forehead. "We need to find Weyland." No, they would /not/ allow Bigby up there.
Bigby Wolf	Bigby spreads his hands in a helpless gesture. "Well, what do you want me to do about it? I can't run an investigation by remote..." a thought occurs to him. His lips purse and his brow furrows in a thoughtful scowl. "There's Dresden," he muses out loud. "You might be able to hire him. He's a detective, and he's used to dealing with magical bullshit. But he's an outsider. Not sure how much farther he'd be able to get than me. And he's not familiar with the cast of characters, either. Well, no more than the usual mundy." Bigby casts a sideways look at Snow as she rubs her forehead. She's too stressed. He hates seeing and smelling her like this. He considers putting a hand on her back to show support; half lifts his arm; then chickens out and looks away, his hand folding into a fist on his thigh. "I'll have the Mouse Police find out what they can," he sighs. "Hell, maybe there's plain word on the street in Smalltown. Meantime though, is there any plan to get a temporary administrator up there?"
Snow White	What does she want him to do about it? "I'm afraid we will have to solve this without breaking the rules... which means you stay away from the Farm. I will figure something out." Though it appears that Bigby comes up with an idea first, and she blinks, turning her face towards him as she lowers her hand. Now that... is an idea. "Even if he is an outsider, he seemed to get along well enough with the Fables." An idea begins to take shape in her head. "With the multiverse being as it is, we can invite Dresden to help with the defense of the Farm. And have him investigate and perhaps draw the attention of the Farm fables..." Snow muses, narrowing her eyes. Yes. This could work. "I will contact him. He seems like a trustworthy guy, and considering he has already been on the Farm, it wouldn't be too farfetched to invite him back for further assistance. The Mouse Police will be useful as well, and the inhabitants of Smalltown ought to have seen or heard anything of note." They have a plan. Good. Even if she still looks tired, she seems far more focused on the issues they are dealing with, and Snow nods. "But who would /want/ that job? It's not easy taking care of the Farm..." She sighs. "I will have an answer within the next days." Her hand grips her sandwich a bit tighter. "It's a good thing there aren't too many issues with the daily life in Fabletown now. Not more than the usual issues and bickering, anyway..." Putting on a tired smile, Snow looks at Bigby. "I'm sorry that I can't ask you to do more about this. But they seem upset enough with the presence of Elites on the Farm as it is..."
Bigby Wolf	"I know," Bigby interrupts, looking off into the middle distance... or maybe just at the rabbit across the way hunkered in a patch of crabgrass. Hard for him not to notice those things. He sighs through his nose. "And it's not your fault. Maybe," he suggests with a rueful smile, "if I'd eaten a few less people back in the day..." the smile fades and he looks down at his hands, troubled. "But what's past is in the past," he declares firmly. "We've gotta keep moving forward now. /Especially/ now. I helped out Harry with some bad shit in his world. He might feel like he owes me one. I hate to say take advantage of that, but... well, I'm just letting you know," he concludes in a mutter. "As far as who'd want to run the place, hell, I don't know. Probably no one WE'D want running things. But anyone'd be better than fucking /Shere Khan/. /Toad/ would be better."
Snow White	Oh, don't you dare suggest that this is her fault! Though Snow notes that look on his face. He really is different from the wolf that they first met that time all those years ago... even if the Farm Fables still doesn't think so. Most likely he would have laughed in contempt back then if he was told how he would be today. Instead she looks ahead. Just what is he looking at? "What's done is done. You haven't eaten any people lately, which is what matters according to the laws and rules, remember?" Yes, moving forward. As for his comment... "We will do what we must." So what if they take advantage of the man? If Bigby helped him out, then she has no problems appealing to any sympathy the wizard might have if it means that things will go more smoothly. Snow puts the rest of her sandwich into her mouth and chews it before she swallows it and starts clearing up her paperwork. "That's the problem. I will look into it myself, so don't worry too much. Just do what you can with the Mouse Police. I just hope things will clear up before Remembrance Day..." she says with a sigh and rises from the bench, putting her items back into her purse. It's always such a pain in the ass.
Bigby Wolf	Bigby smirks, and drawls sardonically, "Oh, yeah, wouldn't want anything to tarnish Bluebeard's big donation day." He can't help but stare a little bit at Snow's ass, pain in it or no as she lifts it off the bench. But he rises hastily behind her before she can catch him at it. "You know," he offers another idea as it occurs to him, pondering over Remembrance Day and dragons and him not being able to be everywhere, "it might not be a bad idea to get everyone some organized militia training. Just in case anything else nasty comes through one of the gates. Here OR there. We've gotten kind of complacent about that. Everyone could probably use a refresher course in the current state of mundy military tech. We'll need it anyway, if we're ever gonna..." do the thing that Remembrance Day is supposed to be about. "And I mean up at the Farm, too. Us human-looking Fables aren't the only ones who might have to fight."
Snow White	"We need him, Bigby," Snow laments, hating to admit it. But who else managed to escape the Homelands with all their riches intact? "And it gives us hope that we might be able to return one day. Fabletown /needs/ it." The suggestion makes her turn towards him, blinking as she looks a bit surprised at that idea. "Militia training...?" Somehow the sound of it does leave a foul taste in her mouth. There are some fearless fighters among the fables, though she can't help but wonder. "It's easy for us who have a human form one way or the other... but what about the Farm fables? Not all of them have hands, Bigby, nor are all of them able to fight using magic either." The mundy technology is something else, but... can it really be used in an efficient way? She doesn't miss the way his voice trails off, and Snow sighs slightly, lowering her head. "I know." There's just so many other things that require her attention right now. So she looks up at him again. "It would help if you could organize that. I should be able to give fencing lessons if..." She interrupts herself, looking slightly irritated. "-if Charming is unavailable or unable to do so." Knowing him, he's most likely busy with other matters. Matters that she doesn't want to think about.
Bigby Wolf	"I'll organize what I can, Snow, but the Farm Fables are gonna be another story," Bigby shrugs as he falls into step beside her on the way back to the grind. "I'm just thinking that there may be more dragons -- literal or metaphorical -- that we need to defend ourselves from. The Multiverse isn't gonna let us pull our heads inside our shells anymore. As was demonstrably proven last night, even the Farm isn't a safe refuge anymore." He grimaces. "God dammit, Weyland, why NOW. You know he's the guy who could figure out how to adapt mundy tech for those of us without hands. If anyone can."