Notes: After Child of the Moon, this was bound to happen. From the uncontrollable creativity of role player's dawns this page. A friend and I are shipping these two pretty damn hard right now, so expect a lot of things, big and little. We'll be writing separately and collabing fictions from here on out. This was a prompt she gave me, and I wrote it out. It's set after Child of the Moon, and Snow and Emma have not yet returned.
It was well after midnight when David found himself jolting awake due to a round of echoing knocks. They came in rapid succession, meaning to awake those slumbering within. Blinking away the blurry film obscuring his vision, he stretched to peer at the digital clock on the bedside table, groaning inwardly as he registered the numbers. Who could be seeking him at this hour? Immediately, he thought of Henry who had gone to Regina's for the night. Throwing the blankets off of his form, he stood quickly, having to use the wall as a support to steady his drowsy figure. Despite the post-sleep state, he somehow managed to maintain his balance long enough to find the door. If it wasn't Regina bringing Henry home, then it had to be someone needing his services as acting Sheriff. Honestly, his timing couldn't have been worse for taking over the workload Emma had left behind. As prince, however, the duty would have fallen upon his shoulders regardless of this world's law; the people trusted him. Confided in him. Counted on him to be their crutch.
With this in mind, his fingers curled around the cold metal door knob and he turned it quickly, pulling it open with a soft creak. The woman standing on the other side, eyes bright and cheeks flushed, gave him a moments pause. He squinted in the dim light of the pale moon shining through the window. "Ruby?"
"Good morning, David," she breathed, chest heaving. She was near to panting, lips curled high, teeth glistening behind her lips. A sheen of sweat coated her brow, lining the way down her neck and across the swell of her chest, framed by the fitted articles of clothing that she wore.
While she caught her breath, David noted that her cloak was missing, and this reminded him that it was the night of the full moon.
She had been running.
"I know it's early," she averted her eyes in a fashion that stated what he thought might have been embarrassment, but there was no need for it. How long how they known each other? How many runs had he seen her off on, and welcomed her back from? They had traveled together for months, faced countless dangers, and on occasion, he had even taken his horse and ran with her. He remembered how exhilarating it was to feel the wind whipping by, to breathe in the fresh scent of wood and pine, and how fresh the water smelled.
Because of that memory, he couldn't help but smile, eyes twinkling mischievously as he had plenty of ground to tease her. "Early? It's three thirty in the morning."
"I know," Ruby smiled, fidgeting where she stood. At last David moved, inviting her inside. She practically bounced in, the energy palpable. She knew he wouldn't turn her away. Her prince had never cast her back into the shadows. She trusted him, and that was why she was here. Her run had freed her in more ways than one. She could still taste the salty tears that had fallen from her eyes and cascaded down over her lips. To love a man who loved another. It was a fate just shy of being worse than death, she was sure. But that didn't matter right now. What mattered wasn't her heart and how it beat for this daring man standing just on the other side of the kitchen island, what mattered was her best friend and how long had it been since they had shared a meal together as Red and Charming?
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you, I just..." she trailed as she found those blue eyes peering at her curiously. They always made speech difficult.
David, almost frowning from her abrupt silence, leaned forward with his elbows to the countertop, brows rising as he tried to finish for her. "Wanted some company? Like old times?" At least, he hoped that was it. He could use the familiarity. It had never occurred to him until now how much he missed spending time with her. As David, he had had the same instinct, often stopping by the diner for a meal and conversation. As Ruby, Red had always been willing to oblige, providing security and mental stability when David had made a grave mistake. He didn't know who he was anymore, truthfully. Was he David, or James, but he had never been James - that was his brother. He thought he had changed a little, as David. But Ruby and Red were one and the same. The same heart, the same soul; that rambunctious spirit had never faded. It had lost no light, and somehow, she glowed even brighter than before.
She was the moon in his eyes.
His eyes fell when her hands moved over his. Her fingers lingered a little longer than necessary, ghosting over his until she wrapped them around his hands, squeezing. "Come to the diner with me? I haven't felt this alive in a really, really long time and I'm not ready to let this night end. You're the only one," she whispered, forestry gaze never roaming, maintaining it's hold on him, and he wasn't sure if he had even released a breath since she had started talking, or if it was still held captive by his lungs. Her hands tightened, and he opened his fingers more to let hers slide between them. "Like you said, you're the only one in this town who knows me, who has stood by me. And I've made you plenty of meals as Ruby, let me make you one as Red." She squeezed, and if the table had not been between them, he wasn't so sure he wouldn't have pulled her into his arms. "Please?" Let me do this for you, she pressed her lips together, running her tongue along them. She should have known the answer, and when it came, her heart might as well have burst from her chest.
"Now?"
She knew him well enough to decipher the playful stall, and was confident from the smile that played over his weary features. How many times had she seen that smile? Enough to know what it meant. Enough to know that this was the man she'd chased for years. That this was the man even her counterpart, Ruby, had pined for.
"You're already awake. I know it isn't so easy for you to fall back to sleep once you've woken. And, I if my memories of this world serve me correctly, you haven't had my pancakes in a while."
Pancakes. David chuckled deeply, finally buckling, not that he wasn't going to to begin with. He'd do anything for her, he had realized this long ago, when King George and his men had been after them. All she need do was ask, and if it was within his power, he would see it done. Nodding, David pulled his hands from hers, their fingers slipping at the tips. "I guess I should get dressed then."
Turning on his heel, he was nearly half way to the next room when he heard her voice come again. Suggestive and convincing. "Or, you could sit down, and I'll make do with what I have here." Why make the short journey to the diner, when they have the loft to themselves, here, now?
David sat watching in the soft orange glow of the overhead light as Ruby danced around the small kitchen, searching for all the necessities that she needed to make their tall and fluffy pancakes. He tried in vain to hold back the laughter that shook his shoulders quietly, chin in his hand. It were as if nothing had changed. Times were different, the era they were used to was gone. But she had remained the same. "You're almost out of, well, everything." she commented, plucking things out of cabinets and pouring ingredients into her mixing bowl. "I'll pick a few things up from the grocery later."
"I've been so busy at the station, food is the last thing on my mind. Henry's been eating at Regina's for the past week or so." And, if he had to admit it, she was a much better cook than he. Stepping down from the stool, he came around the counter, pulling out plates and utensils, setting them out on the table. "Do you need help with anything? I might be tempted to lay down if I have to sit quietly and do nothing any longer."
"You can mix this for me," Red grinned, cracking an egg into the bowl, and then handing it over with a fork. As he reached for it, he was hit with a memory so vivid, it nearly uprooted him.
"We've done this before, haven't we?" Taking the bowl from her, he tucked it between his body and his arm, churning the contents within using the fork provided. She looked at him questioningly, cleaning up the mess she'd made so far, and prepping the pan. Did he really need to elaborate on possibly one of the most embarrassing moments of his entire life. Flinching, he dipped at the knees, cringing playfully. "We were in the Woods of Tharmust. It was my turn to hunt, I tripped over a root and the rabbits…"
"…got away!" Letting out a bark of laughter, Ruby hunched over the counter, trying to contain herself as the memory finally set in. "I can't believe I almost forgot. You couldn't even catch two patch hares, and they're the slowest creatures in Tharmust." Readying the skillet, David handed over the now thick batch of pancake mix. Her smile was contagious, he loved that smile. He wondered if he could make her laugh like that again.
"It was the tree!" he explained, leaning his back against the counter beside her. "It lifted it's root at just the right time."
"A tree tripped you on purpose?" she tossed him a flippant look, biting back her laughter. David gave a shrug to that, folding his arms. She knew what he was doing, and the thought made her smile all the more.
"Anything's possible." Those words hung in the air between them. Her gaze flickered everywhere but him, and his own eyes dropped down to the pancakes taking shape in the skillet. Why did he have to go and say something as painstakingly obvious as that? It was understood all too well the situation surrounding Snow and Emma and how they might never be able to return to this world. If they didn't, would he still wait? Would he honor his past decisions and commitments? Their friendship was anything but secret, but early morning wake up calls like this could raise a few brows.
There might be talk before long.
There might be hidden truths to the rumors that would spread. Both were aware of the whispers, however neither could afford to truly care. To deny them, especially vehemently, would be to confirm them.
To break the timid disquiet, David lightly nudged her arm, the one that wasn't busy flipping the first two pancakes onto a plate. "If you seen them get away, why didn't you chase after them? Maybe they were too fast, even for a wolf?" She was quick on her feet as a human, but remarkably a tad slower than he.
"I couldn't, I was too busy laughing at you."
They sat down beside each other at the kitchen island to eat her infamous pancakes. Moonlight still filtered in through the living room windows, which made him wonder if she'd learned to control her transformations, or if Gold had found another magical item to stay them. It became the topic of conversation for a time; she didn't need her red cape so much anymore, but it still ended up on the back of his couch from time to time.
They stared at it, now, each taking plentiful bites, their discussions moving rapidly from one thing to another. In the past, in their past, this was the way their sleepless nights had gone. Sitting before a campfire and whatever game they'd managed to hunt that night; sharing stories or speculating. There was something about her, he had never been able to place just what it was, but it made it so easy for him to just be near her. He never tired of the sound of her voice, nor the ridiculous things she would sometimes ramble about. Despite all of it - when a crisis struck, Red had always been the one he could count on.
She was his advisor, his confidant, and she kept him sane.
If not for her, this town would be in shambles, because he would've been in shambles had she not been there to guide him. Her faith saved him from his inner turmoil, like a light shining through the dark, she had reached into the depths of his growing despair and pulled him from it. Set him back on his feet.
Taking their dishes to the sink, he worked on drying them while she washed. Exhaustion had finally set into her bones, and she was ready to retire for the night. The last time she had checked the clock, it was nearing five in the morning, but the sun still had hours to peek. It was winter, after all. She watched David from her peripheral vision, drying the plates and dishware she handed off. She watched as his muscles worked through the white t-shirt he wore, how the short sleeves cuffed around his biceps and thought about the night of the first full moon in twenty eight years, where her curse was effective. She thought about how she had used comforting him as an excuse to touch those powerful limbs, and how they've been on her mind ever since.
She thought about the hug they had shared when the curse was first broken. Neither of them had wanted to pull away, but it would have been far too suspicious if they had lingered any longer.
"Snow." David muttered seemingly out of no where.
Ruby blanched. She felt her heart fall. "What?" Her voice could have been no more than a startled whisper. Was that what was on his mind when he was with her?
Oblivious to her conclusions, David set down his dish and pointed towards the living room windows. "Snow. It's snowing." he elaborated, blue eyes shifting to her.
Feeling her face flush, she let out a small breathy laugh, handing off the last plate for him to dry. "Oh. So it is. I guess I came back at the right time."
Retreating to the couch, David took to one end, propping his feet up on the coffee table. Ruby fell into sync, stretching out at the other end, her feet resting in his lap. Many nights had ended this way. They didn't speak of those nights, they were just ordinary moments that occurred once he'd return from his duty as Sheriff, and she had just spent the day watching Henry. She enjoyed spending time with the boy, but the real reason she stuck it out was for David, and those stolen moments together.
These moments that would cease once Mary Margaret returned.
If she did.
"David?" Ruby approached, closing her eyes at the feel of his thumbs kneading into the arches of her foot, massaging out the kinks from her run. A low moan escaped the confines of her throat, thankfully unnoticed by the half-sleeping prince at the other end of the couch.
"Hm?" he was too tired to properly answer, barely aware of his actions as it were.
"Thank you." When her voice came, it was small, sincere, and every ounce the Red from his past.
Shifting into the corner of the cushions, he let his head lull to into the comfortable backing. His fingers ceased to rub the soles of her foot, his eyes now held by hers and the spell that begun to weave itself between them. Her lips were curled into a beautiful smile, tired eyes shining with unshed tears. It would have been easy to forget who they were, it would have been too easy to take advantage of the situation they were currently in - and David might have done just that. But Charming could not, and it terrified him that there was no 'would' in there. How could he be so unsure of his intentions, did he not love Snow White?
Tucking away the vying thoughts, he reached along the back of the couch, finding her wrist. With a tug she came willingly, rising to her knees and scooting over between the couch, where there was room, and him. He said nothing as she laid against him, her cheek pressed to his shoulder. Instead, he pulled her cloak from the back of the couch, draping it over them as his arm curled around her waist. It wasn't long before her breathing slowed, and his began to mirror it. But his mind had not slowed at all, and the many what if's that plagued him whenever he laid eyes on this woman were erupt in full flow now.
He had seen the longing looks she would give. Her touches were fleeting, lingering, and they stole with it his warmth, replacing it with her own. He couldn't give her what she wanted, what she needed of him.
But he would give it all to her, if he could.
"I should be the one thanking you," he murmured, pressing his lips to the top of her head. With one last glance towards the window, the snow that fell blurred out the usual scenery. It was almost mocking. Instead of focusing on it, he turned his eyes down to Red, and smiled, the last thing he saw before his eyes closed was how perfectly her body fit against his.
Maybe, just maybe…