An hour later, Wulfric was standing in the home of Ida Calina, hoping that he hadn't made a horrible mistake. The young noblewoman was looking at him with an appraising eye, one hand tapping her chin repeatedly while the other rested on her hip.

Ben stood next to her, looking between Wulfric and Ida. "So... can you help?"

Ida looked the Valdyrkin up and down again. "Hmm... Tricky." She said, going to walk around him. Wulfric turned to keep facing her, making Ida hold up a finger. "Hold still." She ordered flatly, making him go rigid.

Ben, curse him, was grinning at his plight, trying to hide his smirk behind a raised hand. Wulfric gave him a glare and a low growl, which only seemed to make the big man's fit worse, trying to hold back his laughter.

"I'm sorry." He managed to choke out. "Yer not afraid of a dozen armed men but one lady's got you turning pale."

Ida rolled her eyes as she completed her circuit of the Valdyrkin, standing in front of him and giving a little nod. "Tricky." She repeated. "But doable, luckily for you boys, I'm a genius."

Wulfric's trepidation only got worse, looking desperately to Ben. "What's she going to do?" He asked with a little whine slipping into his voice.

Ben opened his mouth to respond, but Ida cut him off with a sharply raised finger. "Ben, out. I need privacy for this."

Ben gave them a knowing wink and headed for the door, Wulfric making motions to follow.

"You know, I could come up with another plan, I'm sure the walls aren't that difficult to scale." He rationalized, taking a step away. "So... thank you for the offer of... whatever but I'll just be-" His voice spiked up into a surprised yelp as she grabbed the tip of one of his long ears and started leading him back.

"Oh no, I've got some ideas now." She said with a chuckle. "And it's been too long since I've gotten to do something interesting."

Wulfric was amazed and a bit disturbed by how easily she was able to lead him back into the room, unable to do anything but stumble after her until she finally released that grip once he was standing before a few wardrobes.

"You could just give me some clothes if that's all this is." Wulfric grumbled, massaging his sensitive ear.

Ida made a little 'tisk tisk' noise and shook her head. "Oh silly boy, you need a lot more than just some set of clothes if you're going to pull this off. You... need to look perfect, if you're going to blend in." She opened the various wardrobes, going through their contents, the drawers full to bursting with various articles of clothing in every color of the rainbow.

Wulfric leaned a little to look past her and try to see what she was doing, perking up a little in curiosity. "No... no... not with his hair... no... certainly not." Ida muttered, pawing through the various items. "Hmm... I'm getting an idea. But first things first."

She walked back over to him, inspecting him with a critical eye. "When was the last time you... bathed?" She asked, her lips curling a little as she examined his hair.

"Er... the other day?" He said lamely.

She raised her brow and gave him a long, solid stare.

"About... nine days ago." He admitted, scratching the back of his neck. "I was chasing down a gang of kidnappers! I didn't have time to jump in a creek along the way, I barely even slept!"

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "And when was the last time you actually washed your hair?"

He just stared at her, mouth open to say something, but his brain wasn't able to formulate an answer she was likely to accept.

She made a little noise and turned, waving for him to follow. "Alright, come along then. I have to get you washed up."

He balked. "What? No come on, I can take care of that myself at least!"

She rounded on him, hands on her hips. "Oh? To you I suppose a bath is jumping in a creek for a few minutes. Not nearly good enough for me. Now, do I have to grab your ear again, or are you brave enough to face a little soap and water?"

Wulfric's ears flicked back at the threat, but he sighed and hung his head. "Fine." He grumbled, walking after a smiling Ida.

The Valdyrkin was led through the house some more until he was drawn into a rather odd little room. Stone tiles on the floor and a large basin in the center. Ida gave him a long look, as if expecting something of him.

Wulfric looked back at her, uncomprehending, until he slowly shrugged. "What?"

The woman sighed. "I have to wash your hair. So..." She made motions towards his shirt. "Off with it."

"Oh." Wulfric said, suddenly understanding. "I expected... something else." He'd thought they would have to leave the house for this, go to the river. But that didn't seem to be how they did things in the cities.

"What?" Ida asked, with a little smile. "Never seen a bathtub before?"

"No, actually." He admitted, pulling the shirt off and going over to hang it on a wall hook.

"They not have them where you're..." Ida asked, trailing off.

Wulfric turned, ears perking up. "What?"

Ida blinked. "Sorry, I mean to say, they don't have them where you're from?" She asked, nodding to the large basin.

He shook his head. "No, not that I've seen. At least we don't use anything like that for bathing, it would be a little inconvenient to have to carry something like that around with you whenever you move."

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Ida was getting out various bottles and other little items he couldn't recognize, glancing to him with a raised brow. "Oh? You move around a lot then?"

He nodded. "You could call us nomads I suppose. At least a lot of us are like that. Some have a good reason to stay put for a while, but a lot of the time we have to keep on the move. Follow the herds, move with the seasons, not many can afford to stay in one place for too long. The snow shifts and you have to move with it."

"That's a nice phrase. I'll have to remember that." Ida said with a cheerful grin. She leaned down and pulled a little lever on the tub, and Wulfric jumped as there was a rumbling noise and water started pouring out of a little metal spigot.

Ida looked up in surprise, and Wulfric silently cursed, realizing how silly he looked, his hackles up and his ears peaked. The Valdyrkin grumbled and straightened himself, not meeting her gaze.

"I guess they don't have indoor plumbing where you come from either?" She asked, voice soft.

Somehow her gentle approach made his embarrassment worse and he just grunted, not meeting her eyes.

"Alright, come on down here so we can get started." She asked.

Wulfric knelt down at the edge of the tub, wrinkling his nose at the overpowering scent of flowers that was coming off the gunk she was pouring onto a soft cloth.

"Why do you people cover yourself in this?" He asked, giving the bottle it had come from a little glare.

Ida worked it into a thick bubbly lather, looking at him with a raised brow. "What do you mean?"

He motioned at the foul smelling cloth. "All these smells, flowers and honey and... stuff."

"To... cover up less pleasant scents?" She offered, filling a pitcher with water from the tub.

The Valdyrkin grunted again. "It would be better to smell natural, rather than as if you'd tumbled through a flower patch." He liked being clean as much as anyone but covering himself in sweet smelling gunk didn't appeal to him at all. It seemed a pointless exchange, going from one kind of foul stench to another.

"Well... to each their own I suppose." Ida said with a little roll of her eyes. "But if you want to blend in with the nobility..." She put her hand on the back of his neck and firmly pushed him forward, dumping the pitcher over his head.

"Hey!" He snarled, starting to rise back up. "I wasn't reaaa!" His protest trailed off into a yelp as she grabbed his ear again, holding him down as she started scrubbing his head with the foul smelling cloth. She wasn't just rubbing it against him either, the madwoman was digging her fingers into his scalp! And whatever soap she was using burned and prickled his skin like an army of biting insects was attacking him.

"Oh hush, you big baby." Ida grumbled, holding him down with surprising strength.

"My head is on fire!" He protested, his hand slipping on the wet rim of the tub to knock something over, making Ida yelp.

"Now you've gone and spilled soap everywhere!" She hissed, redoubling her assault on his head, which felt like she was trying to rip his hair out rather than wash it.

Wulfric finally managed to escape her grasp and stood up quickly. "Okay!" He declared loudly. "That's enough of that thank you!" He spun on his heels to head to the door when he felt his feet slipping on the wet tiles and suddenly falling out from under him. He teetered in place, before falling back into the tub with a resounding splash. Water went everywhere, soaking himself, the walls, and Ida herself, who glared at him.

Wulfric spluttered as he got to the surface, seeing her steady glare gazing down at him. He slowly broke out into a sheepish, desperate grin. "Um... sorry about that?"

She said nothing, slowly raising the dreaded soap again.

Wulfric whimpered for mercy. He found none.

A half hour later the ordeal was finished, and they were both drying off, Ida wrapping her long hair in a cloth and perching the whole affair atop her head. "Seriously Wulfric, it would have all been over much faster if you'd just cooperated."

The Valdyrkin pouted, drying himself and tugging on the soft underclothes he'd been given. "I was... caught off guard." He mumbled.

"Ben told me you were brave enough to face ten men and win, and you lose your nerve at a bath?" She asked, leading him back to the dressing room.

"I'd rather face ten men than let you at my head again." He grumbled, prodding his sensitive scalp. "My scent's all messed up too and I think you've done permanent damage to my ears."

Ida gave him an infuriatingly bright smile, getting out the clothes she'd selected earlier. "Oh hush, just put these on and you're good to go."

Wulfric eyed the clothes dubiously, they were very soft looking, black fabric with gold piping and ornamentation. He did as he was asked though, donning the impractical outfit, though he needed a little help putting it together right.

He held up his arms, looking down at himself. A longsleeve shirt, button up vest, boots that went halfway to his knees and a belt that was more like a sash wrapped around his waist.

"Lots of nobles like ornamental swords and daggers and the like, so you should be able to carry your axe in the open." Ida informed him, the Valdyrkin fixing the axe onto his belt after some experimentation. "So... what do you think?"

He moved around a little, feeling soft billowy clothes move on him, frowning as he looked down at the getup. "I feel ridiculous."

Ida sighed. "Well, how do you think you look?" She asked, pointing to a full length mirror on the wall.

Wulfric looked into the mirror, and was surprised to see a very handsome, sharply dressed young man looking back. It was of course himself, but an almost unrecognizable version of himself. His hair was normally left in a barely managed wild mess, or tied back in a ponytail if it got too long, but now it was well groomed and controlled, and clean to a glossy shine. His stubble was gone, leaving him cleanshaven and smooth. The clothes, much as they felt odd, were a very good fit on him, the black matching his hair, and the gold his eyes. He didn't look like a pompous princeling as he'd feared, but more like a gentleman pirate from a storybook, fancy but understated, and the clothes didn't restrict his movement too much. That and the somewhat close fit showed off his well-built form rather nicely.

"Well?" Ida asked, leaning in a little.

Wulfric glanced to her, and felt a bit ashamed for having protested so much, giving her a sheepish look before he turned a circle, examining himself some more. "It's... not really my style." He admitted, still preferring his traveling clothes. "But I do admit, I look good."

"That you do." She agreed with a large grin, giving him a pat on the back. "Though I may not help you blend in all that much... actually you might draw a little too much attention to yourself. Now, if you want my advice on how to act at this event... I think you should be yourself, mostly."

He turned, raising a brow, ears perking in curiosity.

"Do... your ears always do that?" She asked, sidetracked.

"When I'm curious, yeah, or paying attention."

"Huh... well it's kinda cute, so do that some too." She advised. "But yes, just be yourself. A little mysterious, a little dangerous, and you already look exotic and handsome. You'll go down well I think. So just mix with the socialites and do... whatever it is you do."

"Frankly my only chance is if I get close enough to pick up a scent. But if they're doing this at the party then it makes sense that the hostage would be close by, there's no point in using an event like this as cover and then going somewhere far away to do the exchange."

"Makes you wonder why they're doing it at a party at all." Ida wondered aloud. "Seems like it would be a greater risk."

Wulfric shrugged. "I don't know either. They must have a reason though. The manor this is happening at is connected to the smuggling tunnels, so they have an escape route. Maybe the one they're making the deal with is a noble himself, so they're doing this at what looks like a legitimate outing. What I do know is that it's a planned doublecross, though in service of what greater plan, I don't know."

Ida gave him a reassuring nod. "Well, just be careful and look after yourself. And Ben too, he's a dear friend."

"We'll be fine. And Ben is strictly backup." Wulfric assured her, heading for the door. "He'll be on stakeout down in the tunnels to cut off their escape route."

"Alright. I'd just hate to see either of you get hurt. Maybe when this is all over we can get together for something a little less life threatening?" She asked hopefully.

Wulfric turned, giving her a smile. "I think I'd like that." He admitted, before he turned and left.