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It was hot. Summer was in full swing and the air was sweltering.
Marianne sat on a small log at the edge of a pond that lay on the boarder between the Fairy Kingdom and the Dark Forest, dipping her bare feet in the water in an effort to cool off. She wiped a sheen of sweat off of her forehead.
She glanced up at the sky, where the sun was just beginning its descent to the horizon. She'd sent word to Bog to meet her here at sunset. She'd been brimming with excitement to show Bog her recent discovery, afraid to leave it alone even to fetch him, out of fear someone or something would make off with it. Most likely a foolish concern, given its size and the fact it had clearly been here quite a while without being disturbed, but it didn't hurt to be careful.
Now, however, the oppressive heat was taking its toll on her and her enthusiasm had been replaced with discomfort and a heat-induced exhaustion. Her clothes clung to her body, leaving her feeling sticky and disgusting.
The pond in front of her looked tantalizingly refreshing and she lamented that she hadn't brought any swimming attire. She considered going into the water with her clothes on, but dismissed the idea. In this humidity, it'd be ages before they dried out again. Not to mention that they'd be left smelling like pond water.
Of course, a small voice in her head chimed, she could always go without clothes.
Immediately Marianne flushed and shook her head at the idea. Skinny dipping? It was such a juvenile idea. Besides, what if someone came by and saw her?
Although...
Even though the borders between the Fairy Kingdom and the Dark Forest were no longer closed, inhabitants on both sides tended to avoid hanging around the border out of habit. By the looks of her surroundings, no one had visited this particular area in months. The sun was only just beginning to set, so Bog would likely not be here for an hour or more. Taking off her clothes for a bit would also give them a little time to air out and dry some of the sweat.
The more she thought about it, the more the idea made sense. As long as she kept her hair and her wings out of the water, she'd be dried off before Bog arrived, reinvigorated and ready to share her surprise.
Feeling a buzz of nervous excitement, Marianne stripped out of her clothes before she could second guess herself and laid them on the log she had been sitting on. She kept glancing around to make sure no one was spying on her, and wrapped her wings as best she could around her body. Once she was absolutely sure she wasn't being watched, she unfurled her wings from around herself and waded carefully into the water.
She shivered. The water was cooler than she'd expected, but not so much as to be unpleasant. She held her wings aloft with one arm and used the other to pull a small lily pad towards her, then laid her wings carefully down on it.
Perfect. Now she could wade into deeper water and her wings would be held away from the water. She couldn't, however, admire her ingenuity for long. She took a step forward onto to have her foot slide suddenly across a stone beneath the water, slick with pond scum.
"Woah!" Marianne exclaimed.
Windmilling her arms, Marianne just barely managed to keep her balance.
She let out a sigh of relief.
"Marianne?"
The voice from behind her nearly made Marianne jump out of her skin.
She let out a yelp and tried to turn around. In her haste, her feet slid out from under her and she fell backwards into the water with a great "SPLASH!"
"Marianne!" the intruder cried. "Love, are you alright?"
After a moment of scrambling, Marianne managed to find her footing again.
"BOG!" she cried, covering her chest with her arms and sinking down into the water. "What are you doing here?!"
"What am I...?" Bog began, cocking his head. "You invited me--"
"Don't look!" Marianne demanded. "Turn around!"
Bog obeyed, but not without a good deal of snickering. "I take it this wasn't what you wanted to show me?" he said, chuckling.
Marianne glared at his back.
"I said to come at sunset!" She huffed.
Bog pointed to the sky. "The sun is setting." he noted.
"You could say that about any time after midday!" Marianne snapped. "You know, if you just learned about hours, this kind of thing wouldn't happen!"
Marianne couldn't see Bog's face but she could hear the wicked grin in his voice.
"Well that's hardly incentive to learn now, is it?" he said, wryly.
Bog let out a yelp as a ball of mud collided with the back of his head.
"No fair!" he exclaimed.
He turned back around to see Marianne, chest deep in water, a wry grin of her own plastered on her face.
"Hey! No looking!" Marianne commanded. "Turn back around."
Bog gave an exaggeratedly exasperated sigh, but complied.
"Ugh! My clothes are all wet now. Look what you made me do." Marianne moaned. "But don't really look." She added. "Stay turned around."
"Need I inquire why you were swimming, naked, in a pond?" Bog asked.
"It's hot out!" Marianne said as she dressed herself, face flushed with anger that served to mask her embarrassment. "I didn't expect you so soon and not all of us go around naked all the time like some people."
She adjusted the last strap on her shirt and began to pull her shoes back onto her feet.
"You can turn around now." She said with huff.
Bog chuckled again. "Then, you had something you wanted to show me?" he asked. "Unless the message got confused along the mushroom line?"
"I'm pretty sure that stopped happening as soon as you put Stuff in charge of relaying their messages." Marianne said with a smirk. "Why was Thang ever in charge of that in the first place?"
"It was something for him to do." Bog shrugged. "To feel useful. I didn't expect him to be quite so bad at it."
"A softy under all that armor, aren't you?" Marianne said. Ignoring his attempts at a rebuttal, Marianne continued, "I do have a surprise for you, though."
"What is it?" Bog asked.
"Follow me." Marianne said, leading him away from the pond and into the surrounding forest.
"So," Marianne began, grinning excitedly. "Construction has been going well at your new castle, but I felt like it just doesn't have the same 'homey' feeling as your last."
"Homey...?" Bog repeated, incredulously.
"Exactly." Marianne said, turning a corner into an overgrown section of grass. "So I was out flying today and I just so happen to stumble upon THIS!"
She parted a section of the grass to reveal a small clearing and, more importantly, what was at the center of it.
Bog's jaw dropped.
"Wha...what is...?" he stammered.
"It's a bear skull!" Marianne exclaimed, happily. "You know, for the entranceway! I mean, it'll take a bit of cleaning up, I'm sure, but it looks like it's in pretty much perfect shape otherwise."
Bog said nothing, mouth agape.
Marianne shifted her feet, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.
"I...I mean, I know your last one was a deer skull but I figured that it would be similar enough." She said. "Is...is it ok?"
Suddenly Marianne was caught up in a flurry of wingbeats and Bog grabbed her and swung her around, excitedly, carrying them both up, into the sky.
"Oh Marianne, it's absolutely perfect!" He beamed. "I can't believe you found this!"
He blinked as he saw Marianne's face, eye wide. She clung to him tightly.
"Marianne, are you--?"
"Wet wings!" Marianne explained. "Can't fly!"
"Oh!" Bog exclaimed, quickly landing.
"I'm so sorry." He said, bashfully. "I was just excited. Will your wings be alright?" He asked, concerned. "I forgot faries can't get them wet."
"Fairy wings aren't as delicate as stories would have you believe." Marianne assured him. "They'll be fine as soon as the dry out. You like it then?" she asked, gesturing to the skull.
"Marianne, I love it!" Bog said. "Thank you so much."
He then rubbed the back of his neck.
"And I am sorry for walking in on you." He said, sheepishly. "You're sure your wings will be alright?"
"I'm sure." Marianne said. "Unfortunately it'll be an hour or more for them to dry in this humitity." Then she gave him a sly look. "However will we fill the time?" she asked.
Bog grinned in return.
"I can think of a few ways."