Emerald

"I've always had a soft spot for emeralds"

That sentence spoken in a pleasant tone was the only comment Cruella made about that unexpected gift. Diamonds were her best friends of course, but emeralds were the acquintances she preferred. She looked at herself into the mirror for a little while more and let out a smile; she had to admit that those earrings were in perfect accord with her hair and besides, they brought out the color of her eyes.

Perfect: after the bracelet and the necklaces of the previous weeks, now her parure was complete.

"I told you that green is your color. You should wear it more often!" Archie exclaimed, entering the bathroom in that moment and standing still for some moments, just looking at her with admiration.

The woman turned back slowly and now allowed herself an amused chuckle, before approaching him and placing a light kiss on his lips.

"Don't exaggerate, darling. I only wear black and white…"

And those colors were perfect on him as well, after all. A new pleasant expression appeared in fact on Cruella's face, but this time the reason behind it wasn't her own look, but the man's one. With a black jacket and pants suit, in accord with the tie and the elegant mocassins, but in contrast with the white shirt, doctor Hopper had gained appeal. Even if, actually, it was still her the merit of it, since she had been the one to suggest that outfit.

However, Archie was looking at himself as well and he didn't like the image given back by the mirror at all. And that had nothing to do with the change of look. What was leaving him now almost paralyzed in a disquiet silence had a deeper root, it was a suspect that a recent conversation with Geppetto had fomented.

"Why are you with me?" he eventually said, bluntly, giving voice to the latent doubts he had had since the start of their sort of relationship.

And how could he not have them? It all started with a casual meeting at Granny's and then, after some sessions she had in his office, they ended up somehow feeling closer than the expected; now, two months later, Cruella had pratically moved to him but officially no one still knew about them, even if there were rumors in Storybrooke about it. He never really had a girlfriend, apart from some little affairs before becoming a cricket and he had always thought that when he would have met the right woman, he would have given her any kind of attention.

He had never thought that all of that could have not been enough, though.

In fact, sadly, he had learnt to understand her enough not to realize that she would have never been satisfied with someone so ordinary like him. They were too different and what could have justified such an attraction almost against nature? For Archie the reason was love, but he wasn't so sure that the answer would have been the same for her.

"What do you mean, darling?" Cruella asked confused, stopping for a moment to fix his necktie.

"Why are you with me, why with me? You hate my habits, you don't like my character and I don't deceive myself thinking to have enchanted you with my physical appearance…"

"Oh, you are understimating some of your qualities…"

Archie kindly grabbed her wrist and slightly pushed her away to prevent her from distracting him again with kisses and caresses. There was a cordial smile on his face, but his intention was strong: he wanted the truth and he wanted it right in that moment.

"I'm serious. Why?"

Foer the third time he found himself asking that question and this time finally the woman stopped searching for a way to take time. The urgence in his tone had somehow transmitted that seriousness to her too; her eyes were in fact unwillingly revealing now a certain dose of worry and also almost fear.

"You get me, Archie…" she finally admitted with a deep sigh, rarely calling him by his first name. "And you see me, you see me as I am, as I'm not even able to see myself…. That's why I am with you, because I love seeing me the way you do"

The tone was uncertain but the expression in her eyes was absolutely sincere, so much that, at the end of that hard and reluctant confession, she forced herself to look away and take some steps back. Under the doctor's astonished look, she headed back to the mirror and continued to put her make up on, as if nothing ever happened; however, she seemed to think about it after a short while and, placing down the mascara, she turned around to him again.

"I'm not with you for money … I would have chosen someone like George Spencer or even Rumplestilstskin if it was just for that…" she seriously said. But before he could answer, an amused smile appeared on her face. "In any case, I don't mind receiving certain gifts, darling…" she added in fact, admiring again the new emerald earrings she was wearing.

Archie stared at her surprised and then slowly started to laugh, letting the echo of that chuckle to be his goodbye before going to work.

Actually there was another jewel that was missing to the emerald parure: a ring.

But he still would have waited for that.

Hello! I'm back again with this ship (Devil Cricket is the name I will call it, byt the way), just because I actually like the idea of it very much... I have some ideas to continue this story and make it a long-fiction, but I'm not quite sure about it, should I? Anyway, in case you happen to have a prompt about this ship, I would be glad to write it! Thanks for reading anyway :)