The two of them continued bickering as they walked. They had gotten out of the forest and were walking down a trodden dirt path when they heard the sound of hooves coming up behind them. Wanting to make way, they moved to the side of the path. A horse pulling a small buggy, guided by an older man, calmly stopped by them.

“Well, hello there, young travelers,” the old man greeted. His hair was white as snow and his face wrinkled with smile and laugh lines. The clothes he was wearing were not the best, and had quite a few holes in them, but he was pleasant and seemed kind. “Would you be traveling to our town?” he asked.

“We actually are,” Chanyeol replied with a nod of his head. 

“Would you like a lift then? It’ll be faster traveling this way than on foot,” the old man offered, giving his cart a few pats with his hand. "And with these cold winds I can't imagine your treck is pleasant."

Baekhyun and Chanyeol glanced at each other before nodding their heads, accepting the man's offer. It would save them time and energy.

“Climb in the back,” the old man told them, pointing to the rear of the buggy where there was space.

The two of them climbed in, Chanyeol making his way towards the front so he could talk with the man, and Baekhyun settling for somewhere in the middle.

“Your buddy there seems quiet,” the old man commented after they had been traveling for a little while.

“Ah...that’s my younger brother actually. He’s more timid,” Chanyeol quickly explained. “He doesn't feel as comfortable talking to strangers as I do.”

“Mmmm, I see. That’s not a good trait to have though,” the old man commented while he rubbed his chin. “If you’re going to be traveling, then he needs to be able to make friends with people in villages. People might find him suspicious if all he does is stay quiet and keep to himself.”

“Did you hear that, brother?” Chanyeol asked, turning around to Baekhyun, the wind now pushing his hair in front of his face. “We’ll work on it...together.”

Baekhyun picked up his head and looked at Chanyeol with hopeful eyes. Did he actually mean it when he said he would help him? The corners of his mouth perked up slightly as he continued looking at Chanyeol.

The rest of the ride into town Chanyeol and the old man talked and laughed. He even let Chanyeol drive the buggy for a while as they talked. But Baekhyun never left his seat, and instead played with his ring through his glove, twisting it and moving it up and down as far as it would budge.

They arrived at the town quicker than Baekhyun thought they would, and were soon getting off the buggy. By the time Baekhyun had stood up,  Chanyeol had already hopped off the wagon and was extending his hand towards him to help him down.

"I can do it myself…" groused Baekhyun slightly. 

"Your legs were already wobbly after just sitting," Chanyeol kindly pointed out. "Take my hand."

A few words passed under Baekhyun’s breath before he took Chanyeol’s hand and hopped down. As he landed, he fell forward slightly and crashed into the wizard with his face smashed against Chanyeol’s chest. He straightened himself out as quickly as he could and turned away to busy himself with fixing his clothes.

Thanking the man for his help, Chanyeol gave him a couple of coins for his troubles and wished him well. The old man then went on his way, and Chanyeol and Baekhyun began to decide what they needed to do.

“First, we should find a place that will let us stay for the night,” Chanyeol brought up as he started glancing around. “Usually, from my experiences, places that are pubs have living arrangements on the top level, so we can try some of those places first.” 

“Alright, sounds like a plan. But...do you mind doing the talking?” Baekhyun asked, grimacing a little at the thought of having to talk with a stranger.

Chanyeol smiled and put his hand on Baekhyun’s shoulder in reassurance. He then started to walk towards a building that had a wooden sign hanging from it in the shape of a mug of ale. The metal squeaked in the wind as it blew back and forth, giving it an eerie feeling. Baekhyun felt hesitant to enter the establishment but followed when Chanyeol confidently pushed on the door. 

The door swung open and no one in there bothered even looking up from their drinks or meals. Chanyeol led the way to the bar counter and leaned against it as if he had frequented there dozens of times.

“Can I get you something, cherry head?” a woman asked as she placed one of her hands on the counter and leaned towards him. 

Her chest was nearly falling out of her top which caused Chanyeol to immediately avert his eyes out of respect. She appeared to notice and giggled at him as she leaned forward slightly more.

“Would you happen to have a room available for the night? Or know where we could find one? We’re looking for a place to stay,” Chanyeol explained with ease.

The woman gave Chanyeol a look and then saw Baekhyun standing behind him and motioned for Chanyeol to step to the side a little. Baekhyun had his hood up and was looking down so that his face was being hidden. His hands were nervously held in front of his body, making himself look smaller as his shoulders folded in.

“So...you’re looking for a fun night?” the woman asked with an interested smile.

“This is my brother,” Chanyeol stated right away, pulling Baekhyun in closer and lifting his hood slightly.

Baekhyun lifted his face quickly, made eye contact with this woman, and just as quickly lowered his head again, pulling his hood back over his face.

“Your brother could pull off fooling so many people that he’s a young woman,” the pub owner stated. “But if you want a room, I have one for you. It’s not big or terribly warm...but it’s a room.”

“Can we see it?” Chanyeol asked, keeping Baekhyun close to him because a lot more people had suddenly come in and he could sense how unsettled Baekhyun had become.

The woman simply made a waving motion with her hand and started walking towards a flight of stairs off to the side. She led the way up the creaking stairs and down a short, dimly lit hallway, all the way to the end where there was a door that would not stay closed in the doorframe.

“This is the last room we have available,” the woman stated as she pushed the door open and let them walk in. 

The room was indeed small. The ceiling was slanted so much that they could only walk about halfway into the room without hitting their heads on it or crouching. There was a single bed in the room, which looked like it was only meant for one person. A two drawer dresser also sat against one of the walls, but the wood looked partially rotted through. There was no closet, no mirror, and no rug on the floor. It was simply a room with a bed, dresser, window, and light. Even though they had only been in the room for not even a minute yet, they could feel how cold it was as the draft from the window and patchy roof seeped in. 

“So do you want the room?” the woman asked. “The door doesn’t fully close either but...that’s what you have.”

Chanyeol looked over to the bed where Baekhyun was now sitting, clearly tired from the previous day. It would be better for Baekhyun to sleep inside somewhere, even if the conditions were not the best.

“You won’t find a lot of open rooms at other places in this town, if any at all,” the woman told him, getting impatient that he was not making up his mind fast enough. “I have to get back downstairs to make sure no one’s stealing anything so make up your mind.”

“We’ll take it,” Chanyeol quickly answered. “How much for a night?”

The woman rubbed her chin and hummed slightly. She then leaned in and whispered a price to Chanyeol. 

“You have to be kidding me!” Chanyeol shouted in surprise. “I could see that for a bigger and better room...but this one is just a small thing thrown together.”

“Pay or leave,” the woman told him firmly, arms crossed over her chest.

Chanyeol scowled slightly at the woman before pulling out a pouch of coins and fishing out the correct coins and amount. After he passed it to the woman, she counted it and then gave him a cheeky smile before turning away.

“Enjoy your stay,” she told them before walking away happily and sliding the coins into her pocket. “The name’s Tiffany if you need me,” she said after.

“So the room is ours for the night?” Baekhyun asked as Chanyeol closed the door and leaned against it to keep it closed.

“For a much higher cost than it should have been,” Chanyeol stated with a scowl on his face. “But we need a plan for today. What do we need?”

“Umm...food?” Baekhyun asked. “I don’t know what kind of food would keep well...but at least something to take with us.”

“Alright, we will look around and see what there is that we can take with us. That also means we will need some sort of bag to carry the food in,” Chanyeol said while tapping his chin. “I also think we should get you lighter clothes.”

“Lighter clothes? Why?” Baekhyun questioned as he hugged his cloak tighter around him. 

“Have you ever been in that heavy material when it’s soaked with rain?” Chanyeol asked.

“N-no...I tried not to go out in the rain,” Baekhyun explained.

“Well that material is heavy enough as it is. Right?” the wizard asked.

“It can be...because it’s thick and the fur adds weight too,” Baekhyun explained simply.

“Now imagine it soaked in rain. How much heavier do you think it’ll get?” Chanyeol paused and raised an eyebrow. “It wouldn't be pleasant to drag that around on your body. Autumn is known to be rainy and you being tired from lugging around waterlogged clothing would slow us down.”

Baekhyun stayed silent and drooped his shoulders down. He knew Chanyeol was only trying to help him but he did not want to give up his nice cloak.

“Maybe I’ll get a lighter weight one just in case...but I want to keep this one,” Baekhyun told him firmly, hugging his cloak to himself.

Chanyeol only sighed. He supposed he was dealing with a prince, and talking some sense into him would be harder than just saying it and having him accept it.

“Let’s at least go out and start gathering things and have some breakfast,” Chanyeol told him, running a hand over his face.

“Wouldn’t it be closer to lunchtime now?” Baekhyun questioned.

“Perhaps it is…” Chanyeol went over to the only window in their small,  cramped room and looked out to see that the sun was higher in the sky than he had thought. “Then I guess we’ll go grab lunch.”

Baekhyun nodded his head and got up from the bed. Following behind him, Chanyeol closed the door which bumped around in the doorframe and then creaked back open slightly. The noise caught Baekhyun’s attention and caused him to turn back around.

“I guess we have nothing in the room so it doesn't matter too much that it won’t close…” Baekhyun said, since he did not see anything wrong with the door not closing.

Releasing the handle of the door, they watched as it creaked open once again. “Alright then, off we go,” Chanyeol agreed as he abandoned his efforts at trying to get the door to close.

The two of them were then off, walking back down the stairs and out into the open chilly air once more. They started by walking around and seeing what there was in the town. When they came across a really good smelling bakery, Baekhyun had eagerly run to it and gone inside, not able to help his growling stomach that was craving for a bite to eat. When Chanyeol followed in after him, he found the prince standing and looking at a painted menu that was hanging behind a counter.

“You can sit down, love. I’ll be with you in a moment!” a young woman called to Baekhyun.

Right away Baekhyun lowered his head and found a table as close to the corner as he possibly could. Seconds later, Chanyeol pulled out another chair at the table and took a seat. The wizard was slightly out of breath from bolting after him but brushed it off as he fixed his wind tousled hair.

“You bolted in here right away,” Chanyeol commented, combing his fingers through his hair one last time.

“It smelled so good and I couldn't help myself. The wind blew the scent right to me and I had to come in,” Baekhyun explained, scratching his nail lightly against the table as if he was a child who had just gotten scolded for running off.

“Don’t just sprint off like that when we’re in town though,” Chanyeol told him sternly. “If you run away and I can’t find