It was silly but that classic story line always popped into his head whenever he saw a human bleed. The whole story behind Red Riding Hood was largely exaggerated but there were truths at its core. While it wasn't often that a wolf killed a human, it was also not uncommon to hear about it. But what was he thinking? It was just a story. An old one. So what if Charlie just happened to have red hair? It wasn't like he was thirsting for her blood like some filthy fang.
The blood was a little distracting.
Royce slid his gaze from Charlie's darling white shirt to her thumb currently being sucked in her mouth. The smell of fresh blood, though small, was instant. It was metallic and strong, like someone had shoved a copper penny straight into his mouth. When she went to the sink and put her thumb under the water, the smell went away but that tangy copper taste wouldn't leave him. It reminded him of shaggy brown rabbits in the summer ......
"-help me?" Charlie's voice cut through the old memory and he lifted his head from her hand to her face. He grinned apologetically and nodded. "Uh, yeah. I can-" what was it she said? Chopping? He looked over to where she had been, spotted the cutting board and various vegetables on it. "I can cut stuff up, sure," was his more than eager reply. He needed something to focus on so bad that he completely forgot to ask if her thumb was alright.
Picking up the same knife that Charlie had used, he wiped it on a nearby towel (being a guy, he didn't think about the sanitary conditions of said towel) and resumed cutting up the rest of her tomato. With something for his brain to actually focus on, he began to ease up. "Is your thumb alright?" He chuckled. "Maybe you can call in a sick day from the Doc."
Rosemary had surprisingly gone to the fridge and pulled out the cookie dough without a single word. Maybe it was because she tired of complaining. Or maybe she just wanted more cookies. But the tub was taken out and dropped on the counter next to Charlie. This being the closest she had been to Charlie in her human form, it was a little weird to see her face to face. And talking to her. The talking part was still weird. It was like talking to a stranger but not. "What do I do now?" She tapped the top of the tub, liking the hollow sound that it made. Not waiting for the next instruction, she pulled back the lid and dug a finger into the dough. And yes, then put that finger directly into her mouth. Chewing on that bit of deliciousness, she pulled the tub closer to her and took another scoop. "This is GOOD!"
"Um, Rosemary, you're supposed to cook the cookie dough."
"Meh, I'm saving a step." Savoring the weird but fun consistency of uncooked cookie in her mouth, Rosey jerked her chin toward Charlie's thumb. "You need a band-aid for that. I've got one." Shoving her cookie-d fingers into her left back pocket, she wriggled around until she found what she was looking for and pulled out a bright neon green band-aid, then handed it over to Charlie to use. "They're glow-in-the-dark." She added, wriggling her eyebrows.