"Ella, you're shivering."
Ella swallowed thickly as she found a familiar voice creep up to her, whispering softly. Snapping back, she gazed back to find Henry standing over her, his fur cloth tucked under his arm. "I'm fine, I'll survive... go back to sleep."
"Ella-"
"Henry." She snapped, furrowing her brow as she watched his startled expression relax, a pang of guilt bubbled in her gut as she shifted on her sleeping mat, frowning. Henry watched her for a moment, clearly deep in thought as silence overtook them. She could hear a log crack within the fire across the camp-site, the flames danced through the darkness, casting shadowing along the sleeping forms of their companions.
She heard Henry sigh, his boots crunched under the dirt as he strolled towards her, dropping his cloth onto her lap. "Here."
"I told you I'm fine." She muttered, glaring up at the man who watched her solemnly.
He nodded, crouching before her with a slight smile that made her chest tighten. She swallowed as she watched him fall beside her, pressing his legs into his chest as his eyes lingered on her. "I get it, y'know."
She turned her head towards him, shifting herself to face him. His face was lit up by the flames, the crackling echoed, whispering in the soft, yet chilling breezes that swept over the camp. She watched him, truly watched him for what she could assume the first time since they met all those weeks ago, drawing out all she could in what felt like a millennia.
His eyes weren't brown, a dark crisp bark like his mother, but a rich hazel that speckled with a light she just couldn't understand, like he understood so much of the world and yet still marvelled in its wonders. A crisp stubble littered his jaw and upper lip, revealing to her the sharp angle of it.
"I don't understand..."
He spoke out, nodding with that ridiculous smile. "That little girl that came in yesterday, Lila, I think– "
"She needs it more than I do."
"Exactly." He paused for a moment. "You'd rather suffer silently than let a little girl be cold... you're still thinking about, huh?"
Ella sucked a breath of cold air through her teeth, sighing as she curled body inward. "Like I said, I'll survive... I always have."
"That doesn't mean you have to do it alone, Ella." She could feel her chest tighten as he whispered her name, almost like an almighty curse that could swallow him whole. Not of fear, but of a compassion, as if he held her name to the regard of glass – delicate yet powerful. "You gave that girl your blanket because no one ever gave you theirs... guess I'll have to be a first."
"... And what about you, hmm?"
Henry swallowed thickly, raising a brow with a chuckle as he glanced away for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. "To be honest... hadn't really thought I get far enough to think about that detail, I'll figure something out." He loosened a nervous chuckle, rubbing his hand along the back of his neck with a sigh.
"Not a clever move, offering a bargain without anything in return..."
Henry nodded, listening out as a person mumbled out into the night, following a rustle of movement before silence regained the night. "Yeah, well... didn't really think you'd even consider – you're stubborn is all I'll say."
His features relaxed as she sniffled a laugh, nodding as she pursed her lips. "Ah yes... says the man who tracked down the woman who robbed him simply to ask for a dance!" She continued to laugh as he chuckled along, shifting into a more comfortable position by her side.
"It was a fun dance! Minus the whole royal-murder-fiasco..."
She nodded along. "Quite." Rubbing her hands together, she brushed her hair back from her shoulder, allowing it to flood down her back. "Yes... well, I'm afraid that I will have to decline your offer... but thank you. I don't suppose your mother would take kindly to find you frozen by morning-"
"We could... share?"
She bit down onto her lip. "Henry-"
"N-no! We could! It seems big enough, albeit a tight squeeze but-"
"Henry," She sighed, pausing for a moment, catching a glance at the sleeping form of said Queen, holding a breath as she watched her for a moment before turning back to him. "I-I...ugh, am I right to assume that you will be quite persistent, won't you?"
He nodded almost eagerly, rocking slight on his tail-bone with a smirk as he watched her, practically imagining the cogs at work behind her warm eyes. "Maybe...?"
"Fine."
"Wait, what if you get sick and then – what?" He paused for a moment as he stared back at her, his lip curled instantly as she gave him an amused look, arching a brow. "Seriously?"
She pursed her lips, exhaling a hard breath. "Only for a short time... just until either of us begin to feel tired, then you return to your mat and not utter a word to the others... understand?" She shifted closer to him. " We're receiving more supplies tomorrow morning, and this will never be mentioned again."
"A-alright...I mean, yes ma'am!"
"Good." She added.
The morning broke much like any other, a sense of stiffness forced Regina to rise from her warm mat, rolling her shoulders with a click as she groaned, reminiscing the wonders of coffee, nevermind the food of Granny's – something she never believed herself to desperately want at any point – as she found herself alerted to a coughing sound.
"Wha-" She froze, finding herself faced with Hook glaring at her from a short pace across the clearing, his cerulean eyes glistening with mischief as he snuffled a chuckle, gesturing across the passage with a ringed finger. He grinned viciously, the sight almost made her sigh.
What ever the de-aged pirate found so hilarious was bound to be either inappropriate or unclear to the non-sailors of the camp. Basically, the wish-made-man found almost anything, be it an extremely fluffy chipmunk or a sultry remark, to be the funniest thing to ever exist and made any who disagree suffer hell with continuous reuse of it; herself a usual victim.
But it was then she spotted Tiana – their respectable host in every regard and, if she was to be honest, the only person she would even consider passing her most treasured recipes onto without fear of ruin – pursing her curled lips as she arched a brow towards the same direction as Hook. Witnessing a sudden urge to join whatever joke was clearly on her, Regina rose to her feet gracefully and gazed over to the direction the two gave.
It was then she saw it. Or more accurately – she saw them.
Her son and Ella – blatantly cuddled for all to see. And no, it was not a simple case of closeness or a crossed leg stretched across in sleepy gesture, but an entire tangle of limbs in which Ella was encased fully in her son's arms and chest, his arms stretched all the way over her and her face pressing into the skin of his neck.
Neither young fighters seemed eager to part, a stir of slurred breathing and a shift of a limb left both relatively the same, and to be quite honest, rather adorable. Ella appeared even smaller in her son's arms, hair spread out and tangled slightly between them and a slight smile etched into her mouth, mumbled to herself.
She couldn't help but feel her lip curl at the sight, her son's feelings towards the beautiful fighter not exactly a secret to any who actually paid attention to the two together, his words lacking their usual grandeur and replaced with a stammering mess around her. As for Ella, well –
"Wha...?" The silence was flattened as Ella peaked herself up from her slumber, still close to the man beside her as she blinked at the trio, almost immediately snapping back down towards Henry with a furious blush. "I-I...We were only-"
Henry groaned beside her, rising to his feet almost as quick as Ella once the situation became clear, dusting himself off as he struggled to speak, his pale skin blistered a passionate pink. "W-we were just...uh."
"Aye, lad." Hook smirked beside her, watching the two untangle in a fit of hysteria as they both stood to their feet, stationing themselves as far as they could from one another. "You two were definitely just-"
Regina stopped him with a glare, snapping back at the pirate with a scowl before turning back to the two. "Hook – stop" She pursed her lips for a moment as she turned back just in time to see Ella brush past them at an alarming speed, her cheeks glowing a vicious red as she avoided eye contact with the ex-Queen. Henry, meanwhile, made himself busy gathering up his blanket and returning it to his mat, failing to meet any of the trio's eyes.
"Uh...yeah." He muttered softly, pursing his lips before nudging his head toward the centre of the camp, only allowing the trio to watch him awkwardly stroll away, a nervous grin curled his lips as he met Hook's eye, quickening his pace. " – great."
To be completely honest, Regina could feel her lip curl as she watched her son push past them, his eyes darted away from her. Her hands found themselves on her hips, rubbing down the leather material she had summoned quickly once they had chosen to stay, her pantsuit and heels not quite suitable for a forest trek – unfortunately.
"That... happened." She heard Tiana state after a moment or two, neither still in sight.
Hook chuckled, brushing a finger over his upper lip. "Glad to see those two are getting cosy, huh...Your Majesty?"
"Y-yes," She swallowed, forcing a frown at the chance of revisiting the sight in memory, particularly the closeness of two. A subtle heat found itself to her cheeks. " – quite... cosy."
Tiana nodded. "Indeed."