"Not the mermaid? What, he doesn't fancy seafood?" But then Fletcher quieted a little as, unbeknownst to her, Aneisha put him on the spot. "Well," he said. "Do you want to be the one to ask the Baroness about that? She's a bit too scary for me. Don't think I'd win. Which means I think your Teddy is stuck here for now. Unless you want to dress him up in a horse costume and make him carry you down the road," he added with an impish chuckle before shaking his head at her last question.
"You'll have to sort that one out for yourself. I should be going, though...should clean up so I don't look like absolute shite." With that, he stood, deftly dropped the sausage back on her plate again, grabbed the buns from his own, and gave her a mock salute off his brow. "Thanks for feeding me," he called over his shoulder to the cook, and disappeared up into the house.
He hurried to his quarters, keeping and eye and an ear out for the Baroness. Thankfully, she was nowhere to be seen, and he slipped through his door before anyone would notice what a mess he was. He locked it and turned, meaning to set the buns aside on the dresser, only to stop in his tracks and stare. At first he thought it was a mistake — that someone had delivered a gift to the wrong room. Then he saw the little card with his pseudonym. Then he glanced around the room, thinking that maybe this was a practical joke, but no...it wasn't. He looked back at the basket, piled high with the sort of baked things he used to dream of stealing as a kid, and clenched his teeth against the unexpected tightness in his throat.
"No," he said to himself, shaking off the feeling. "No. You people aren't real. This doesn't happen." He breathed deep, set the buns carefully next to the basket, and resolved to pretend it wasn't there at all. A few minutes later after a hasty washing up, he emerged looking both preoccupied and irritated, strode up to Pretty Boy's door, and knocked. And waited. Then, realizing what he'd just done, he groaned up at the ceiling and opted simply to stand and wait for the man to appear.