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In Sheep's Clothing	By : ParisWriter Category: +G through L > Harvest Moon Views: 2169 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Chapter Two

Klaus listened to the clock on the wall behind him ticking away the seconds, the sound practically echoing through the complete silence of the room. With a sigh, he picked up his coffee cup and took a drink, then looked across the table to his companion.

"Well?"

"Well what?" Marian asked, continuing to stare at him with a smirk on his face.

"I know you've got something on your mind," Klaus stated, topping off his cup with some more of the strong, black coffee. "Spit it out, already."

"How was your date?" Marian questioned, grinning like a cheshire cat behind his mug. Klaus let out an annoyed sigh.

"It wasn't a date," he corrected, dropping two sugar cubes into his coffee and giving it a good stir. "She came over for coffee and we talked."

"About what? The color of her panties? Her favorite position?"

Klaus leveled an icy glare at his old friend, and Marian tossed up a hand in surrender. He knew just how to push the perfumer's buttons, but he should have known better than to attempt it when it came to this particular subject.

"Her family," Klaus practically growled in response.

"Oh, how riveting," Marian remarked, rolling his eyes. "Learn anything interesting?"

"Her father was a farmer until he fell ill and had to sell the family farm so they could move closer to the city where the doctors he needed to see are. Her mother is a painter, specializing in natural landscapes."

"Brothers and sisters?"

"She's an only child," Klaus informed him. "However, she has a cousin she's especially close to. Said they were practically sisters growing up, and their families even lived together for a while when hers first relocated to the city. She's a farmer now, as well, over in Echo Village."

Marian's head snapped up at that, his eyes going wide and mouth hanging open slightly.

"This cousin of hers have a name?"

Klaus closed his eyes and rubbed his chin, his brow scrunching up in thought. "Adelina, I think she said."

"That little... Klaus! That's the young woman from the article I showed you in the paper last year. The one who was helping restore Echo Village to its former glory."

"And?" Klaus prompted as he calmly sipped his coffee, waiting for whatever point Marian was trying to make.

"That little bitch lured Allen away from the city!" the effeminate doctor complained, pouting.

"So?" Klaus asked, not really understanding what the great tragedy was.

"My hair hasn't been the same since!" Marian ranted, reaching up and tugging as his short, pink locks. "Ricardo is good and all, but Allen... that boy had magic fingers. Remember how full and luscious it used to look, and now it just lays there like limp noodles!"

"Here's an idea," Klaus suggested. "Why don't you go to Echo Village and visit Allen at his new salon? It's not that far away."

"You make it sound like I can easily just pop over there," Marian whined. "But that's a day trip, at least, and you're forgetting that I'm the town doctor. I can't just up and disappear for an entire day. What if someone fell seriously ill or was injured while I'm away?"

"Isn't that what Angela is for?" Klaus pointed out. "She's been working with you for a while, now. I think she can handle a day on her own, what? Once a month?"

"Good point," Marian agreed, then hummed thoughtfully to himself for a moment before grinning and clapping his hands together excitedly. "It's settled, then! I'll make an appointment and go visit Allen at his new salon. Ooh! Maybe I'll even run into Avery's cousin! Then I can get some dirt on her for you."

"Please don't," Klaus requested with a groan.

"Why not? I know you like her."

"Of course I like her. She's a nice girl."

"Not what I meant, Klaus," Marian said, his tone suddenly very serious. Klaus met his gaze and began to shift uncomfortably under those knowing violet eyes. They continued to stare each other down for a long moment before Klaus suddenly couldn't sit still any longer. He stood from his seat and began to pace, running a hand back through his dark hair.

"I don't like her like that," he insisted.

"Liar," Marian countered. "I've seen the way you look at her."

"I won't deny that she's a good-looking young woman."

"Which explains the way you seem to undress her with your eyes from time to time, but what I'm more curious about are the homeless puppy looks I've seen."

Klaus stopped pacing to look at him questioningly. "Homeless puppy looks?"

"You know," Marian attempted to explain, waving a hand about as he searched for the right words. "It's like... when you see a stray dog in the city, and it's dirty and looks like it hasn't had a good meal in weeks. Then they see you sitting there eating a bagel and they have this look of longing and hunger in their eyes. I always end up giving them my bagel and a pat on their mangy little heads."

Klaus scoffed and rolled his eyes as he resumed his pacing. "I'm not some stray dog looking for scraps."

"Oh? And when was the last time you had a bagel, Klaus?" Marian asked, smirking behind his coffee cup.

"If you're asking how long it's been since I've had sex, I think you already know the answer to that question."

Marian swallowed so suddenly he began coughing, and Klaus turned his attention to the doctor to make sure he was okay. Marian's eyes were wide with shock, and his mouth hung open as he set his mug back down before him on the table.

"You mean to tell me you haven't been with anyone since...?" he intentionally let his voice trail off, not wanting to bring up the incident and upset Klaus further. At his nod of confirmation, the doctor's expression became even more shocked.

"Klaus! It's been..." he paused to mentally count back in time. "Seven years?!"

"Almost eight," Klaus corrected, placing his hands on the back of the chair he had been sitting in and leaning forward.

"I'm assuming not for lack of trying?"

"I have been trying nothing, but there certainly hasn't been a lack of trying from women – and the occasional man."

Marian let out a small chuckle, and Klaus looked at him through the dark hair which had fallen over his eyes, quirking a single eyebrow.

"You know... Back in the day, you'd be bragging about how you nailed every one of them. The women, at any rate."

Klaus shrugged. "I was young and stupid back then. These days, none of them ignite my passions the way they used to."

"Except for Avery," Marian added, his devilish smirk returning.

Klaus drew in a sharp breath and straightened his posture, his hands gripping the back of the chair more tightly. He knew he could try to deny the accusation, but the other man would see right through the lie. They'd known each other for over fifteen years and Marian had seen him at his worst. There was no use trying to hide his true feelings in front of him.

"I dream about her," he admitted, his voice barely audible. "Then I wake up and I... I fantasize about her. I can't help it. There's just something... I don't know what it is. But what I do know is that nothing can ever come of it."

"Why not?" Marian wondered with a shrug. "You're both consenting adults."

"She is barely an adult, and I'm practically twice her age."

"You're thirty-six," Marian reminded him.

"And she's twenty," Klaus countered.

"Almost twenty-one," Marian informed him, holding up one finger. "Her birthday is at the end of the season. On the 29th, to be exact."

Klaus shook his head. "She deserves better. She needs someone closer to her age, someone who isn't as damaged."

"Someone like Raeger?" Marian suggested, earning a glare from Klaus. "The two of them seem pretty close, you know. She eats at his restaurant every day. In fact, I'm fairly sure she goes to visit him after hours, too."

Klaus knew he was being baited. He had more or less confessed to having some sort of feelings toward Avery, and here Marian was pointing out that the girl might very well be pursuing something with the biggest playboy in town. It made his blood boil to think that the younger man could end up doing to her what he'd done to countless women in his own youth. She deserved better than that. She deserved to be showered with love and worshiped like a goddess, to have sweet words whispered to her in the night and kisses laid upon every inch of her smooth, porcelain skin.

"You're thinking about her right now, aren't you?" Marian asked in a sing-song voice.

"What makes you say that?" Klaus wondered.

"Your respiratory rate just increased, and your pupils are dilated. I would love to know what dirty little thoughts are going through your mind right now, but I should be getting to the clinic. Besides, I doubt you'd tell me."

Marian finished the last of his coffee, then stood and rounded the table to where Klaus was standing. He reached up and gave his friend an encouraging pat on the shoulder as he bent down to his height.

"Stop trying to pull the wool over your own eyes, honey," he told him quietly. "Let this happen. You deserve a little happiness in your life."

He gave Klaus a quick peck on the cheek and then left. Klaus promptly locked the door behind him, needing some time alone with his thoughts.

"Voila! My newest creation!" Raeger announced, setting a fancy silver platter holding an entire cake in front of Avery. She looked from the cake to him, then back once more and shook her head.

"You don't actually want me to eat all of this, do you?" she asked, pointing at the cake with her fork. "I mean... are you trying to make me fat?"

Raeger rolled his eyes. "Like you'd ever get fat. Even with that sweet tooth of yours, you still run around in the mountains and on that farm of yours enough every day to work it off. I see your point, though."

He bent down and moved some things around under the counter, then stood back up and handed her a plate. Avery took the plate from him and held it out while he used a large knife to cut a slice and serve it to her, then he slid the rest of the cake aside and leaned forward to prop his head in one hand while he observed her.

"Well?" he prompted, and she cut a small bite from the end of the slice and put it in her mouth. He watched her intently as she chewed and swallowed, a smile lighting up his face. He loved it when people ate his cooking, and Avery was always more than happy to try out his latest dishes.

"No," she finally said with a shake of her head, her lips set in a tight line. The smile fell from Raeger's face and he stood to his full height, snatching the fork and plate away from her to try to cake himself.

"What's wrong with it?" he asked, holding a forkful up to the light to examine its texture.

"Too sweet," she told him, earning herself an incredulous look. He knew she had a love of all things sweet, so much so that she always ordered enough cream and sugar in her coffee so it was as though she was drinking melted coffee ice cream.

"I mean, it's good!" she clarified. "It's just... missing something. It needs tartness... lemon maybe?"

Raeger groaned and the fork made an audible sound as it hit the plate when he dropped it to smack his hand to his forehead. Without a word, he moved farther down the counter and reached underneath, then produced a small white bowl with a pastry brush sticking out of it.

"Idiot," he berated himself, raising the brush out of the bowl and painting the white glaze over the top of her slice of cake. "I forgot the glaze. How can you have lemon chiffon cake without the lemon glaze?

"Try it now," he ordered, pushing the plate back toward her after he'd applied a thick layer of the glaze. Avery took another bite and grinned happily, eating a second and third bite with an emphatic nod of her head before finally speaking.

"Perfect!" she said, clapping. "The master chef has created another masterpiece!"

"You know why I forgot the glaze?" he said, chuckling as she continued to shovel forkful after forkful of the cake into her mouth like an eager child.

"Why?" she asked between bites.

"Because I was excited to hear all about your date with Klaus."

The fork made an even louder noise when it hit the plate a second time, this time having been thrown down angrily by Avery.

"It wasn't a date!" she insisted. "I mean... Okay, yeah... When we made the arrangements he said, 'It's a date,' but he didn't mean it that way."

"Did he kiss you?"

"No."

"I bet he did!" Raeger teased. "With tongue!"

"There was no kissing," Avery corrected him, the pitch of her voice rising and her cheeks turning bright red. "We barely even held hands!"

"Barely?" Raeger echoed. "So there was hand-holding?"

"I..." Avery's voice died in her throat and she hid her face in her hands as she let out a loud, frustrated groan. Raeger had tricked her. He knew Klaus was too much of a gentleman to try anything overly sexual, but that something must have happened. Of course, she had probably spurred his suspicions herself by not being forthcoming about the events of her so-called date with Klaus from the moment she walked in.

"We we talking about our families," she finally told him, lowering her hands into her lap. "He told me about how his parents died, and I just instinctively reached out and took his hand."

"And?" Raeger prompted.

"And nothing. He held my hand for, like, a second, and then he pulled his hand away and apologized."

"Tch, prude," Raeger muttered. "You know, if you want him you're just going to have to hold him down and ride him like a horse."

"Ride who?"

They both looked toward the doorway and saw Marian walking toward them. Neither of them had heard him coming in, and while Avery sat with her face turning redder than a tomato Raeger was quickly coming up with a logical answer for the doctor.

"Her horse, Pinot," he said, flashing his most charming smile. "Who else would we be talking about?"

"No," Marian replied, slowly shaking his head from side to side. "You said 'like a horse,' suggesting that the subject of the riding is not, in fact, an actual horse."

"Fine," Raeger gave in, sighing. "We're talking about Klaus."

"Raeger!" Avery shouted, reaching over the counter and smacking at him violently with both hands. "You ass! Now the whole town is going to know!"

"Open your mouth," Marian ordered, looking to Avery. She stared back dumbly at the doctor, confused by the request.

"Just do it," he insisted when she failed to comply.

Avery looked to Raeger, who merely looked as confused as she was. He shrugged and she moved her gaze back to Marian, then opened her mouth as she was instructed. Marian leaned forward to peer inside.

"Now, say 'ahh,'" he told her, and she did so. With a nod, he finally leaned back and took a seat at the counter.

"You don't have strep," he announced, pointing to the nearby cake and then the empty counter in front of him to signal that Raeger should serve him a slice. Raeger rolled his eyes and retrieved a clean plate from under the counter, then cut a slice of the cake and began to apply the glaze.

"Um... thanks?" Avery said, even more confused than she had been before.

"I've just examined you, as your doctor," Marian explained. "So from hereon out anything you tell me right here and now will be considered as having been told to me in confidence under doctor-patient confidentiality. I will not be able to repeat a word or it to another living soul, no matter how juicy it might be."

"Really?" Avery asked, narrowing her brown eyes at the doctor. "And I'm supposed to believe that?"

"Look," Marian said with a sigh, pausing to thank Raeger when he set his piece of cake before him. "I know I have a reputation for being a gossip. I'm quite proud of that reputation, actually. When it comes to my work, however, I take it very seriously. I swear I will not breathe a word of whatever you tell me today to anyone."

Avery looked to Raeger for his opinion. He'd been living in Oak Tree Town longer than she had and knew Marian better than she did. He rolled his eyes a bit and shrugged, but ended up nodding in agreement. Avery turned back to Marian, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. She knew that he was close with Klaus, and she was worried that if she told him about her crush it would get back to Klaus and one of two things would happen. Either he would admit to liking her, as well – which would be wonderful – or he would laugh and turn her down, crushing her dreams.

"Pinky promise," Marian said, holding up his right hand with the pinky extended. He then wiggled his finger and Avery finally smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Fine," she said, picking up her fork to finish the last bit of her cake. "We were talking about Klaus."

"So... You have a thing for him?" Marian asked, taking a bite of his cake, as well. As soon as the confection hit his tongue he made a loud noise of appreciation and gave Raeger a thumbs-up.

"It's just a crush," Avery insisted, but Raeger scoffed at her statement.

"It's a little more than that, I think," he corrected.

"How so?" Marian asked before Avery could get a word in.

"Last week, yeah... it was a crush. But today it's different. Now she likes him."

"What are you talking about?" Avery wondered, her mouth agape at how confidently he was assessing her emotional state regarding Klaus.

"Babe, trust me. Something's changed," he told her. "I've been unfortunate enough to have been on the receiving end a couple of times when a girl went from simply wanting me to wanting to be with me."

"Like it matters," Avery moped. "A perfect guy like him would never want to be with someone as inexperienced as me."

Marian laughed. "Klaus is far from perfect, sweetie. Trust me. He just hides it well."

"Either way, it doesn't matter," Avery stated firmly, standing from her seat at the counter. "I'm not the kind of girl you're used to, Raeger. I'm not just going to... throw myself at him."

"You might have to, if you really want him," Marian informed her with a sigh.

Avery remained frozen in the spot, looking back and forth between Marian and Raeger. She could tell from their expressions that they were both thinking the same thing. Klaus wasn't going to simply decide one day that he wanted her and ask her to be his girlfriend. She knew they were right, and it caused her heart to sink a little. Still, she would wait it out. She would continue to visit him and hopefully as they got to know each other better he might start to see her as someone he would like to date for real. It was a long shot, but she wasn't about to give up. Of course, if it seemed that he was too oblivious to her feelings after a while, maybe she really would have to...

"I'm not that kind of girl," she repeated with a shake of her head, her voice a mere whisper.

She thanked Raeger for the cake and left the restaurant, not even realizing as she walked home that she had taken the long way in order to walk by Klaus' house.
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In Sheep's Clothing