A/N: This first Netflix-inspired fic is brought to us by The Office, and an all-time classic of a quote - 'We have a gym at home. It's called the bedroom.' Funny yes, but not exactly the kind of thing you say at a family breakfast at Granny's. Just a cute little oneshot about what happens when it is said post-5B but without a looming big bad. Hope you enjoy!
Nestled into the unofficial Charming family booth at Granny's one morning a few weeks after their stint in the Underworld, Emma couldn't keep the smile off of her face. Things were going really well and the new normal they were all finding was one Emma never wanted to give up.
Sitting here, waiting for cocoa and waffles while she held Killian's hand and got to spend time with her son, her parents, and her little brother was a magical thing and it felt right to Emma that they should all be here. If this was the happiness she'd been fighting for all this time, it was worth it.
Today also marked a first for Emma and Killian – they both of them had a whole day off, away from the station and the forces of good and evil. They were starting it off like this, but Emma had no idea where the rest of the day would lead. Luckily they had had some practice recently in what to do with downtime.
Aside from Emma and Killian working at the station, and Henry catching up on the school that he'd missed, things in Storybrooke were quiet, and for the first time easy. To cope with the sudden abundance of time, Emma and Henry had taken it upon themselves to complete a 'land with no magic' education for a certain pirate, and it was going… about as well as could be expected.
In the past few weeks alone, Emma had made a million memories all of which she'd cherish forever. She was seeing her kid happy and the man who had her whole heart feeling the same. The lingering tensions and sadness from everything that had happened were starting to slip away, and now all Emma felt was grateful to all the forces that had kept Killian alive and with her. She was getting all of this happiness because of that.
"All right, I should really be going. That algebra isn't going to learn itself," Henry joked, pulling a laugh from the rest of the family.
Since coming back, Henry had reached out to a couple of other kids at the Storybrooke school for some help, and in the process of catching up, was starting to actually make some friends. But as Henry grabbed his backpack, he looked to Emma and Killian.
"We still on for movie night tonight?"
"Aye lad. Wouldn't miss it," Emma squeezed Killian's hand underneath the table as she nodded at Henry too who smiled and waved goodbye before heading out the diner door.
With that Henry was off to face the day in their small town unperturbed by darkness. It made Emma glad to see him coming out of his shell and finding friends outside of the family. Henry was a kid after all, and he needed the chance away from this brood if he had any hope of a semi-normal childhood.
"Oh to be young like that again," David mused as he sat back in his chair placing a hand on his stomach. "The fact that he ate twice as much as I did and can move that quick is a miracle." Emma smiled before replying.
"Or just the plight of a teenage boy." Everyone laughed at the comment as her father continued on.
"Seriously though, if we're going to go through a darkness dry spell, Storybrooke should probably get a gym. I'm out of shape after a few weeks off like this. It's getting bad, Leroy nearly out ran me yesterday in that post office incident."
At the mention of a gym, Emma felt a trickling of worry run through her, but she couldn't quite put her finger on why. All she knew was her instincts were warning her that something might be coming, and she realized what that something was as soon as Killian replied.
"We have a gym at home. It's called the bedroom." And there it was, the reason her nerves had been frayed for a moment come to life in Killian's cocky words. Emma nearly groaned aloud, but realized she should probably say something to offset the look on her father's face. He was flabbergasted, no doubt thrown for a loop by Killian's cavalier reply, but before Emma could say anything her mother broke out into a laugh so loud it filled the entire diner.
"Oh my God, have you guys been watching The Office?" Killian grinned and nodded, and the look of relief on David's face in that moment was profound. Emma couldn't help but laugh at the mini emotional rollercoaster her father had just been on, but brought her mouth up to smother it.
"Aye. Henry and Emma thought it a good piece of my education on this world. I'm told most people have jobs in a setting like that and not fighting off villains and demons as we do." Snow nodded enthusiastically.
"I loved that show so much – well technically that was my cursed life, but still it was so funny. Are you guys going to be watching more? Maybe we could come over too!" Emma watched as her mother went on and on, so excited at the prospect of some Netflix binging of her own, and while she kept her father busy with these musings Killian whispered into Emma's ear.
"I guess we got rather lucky that she knew the joke, love." Emma flicked her eyes up to Killian, unable to keep the smile from her lips.
"Yeah, no kidding. Why would you ever think to say that in front of my parents?" Killian grinned.
"Besides the fact that it's arguably true, love?" Emma gave him a look, trying not to give away that his reminder of them in their bedroom affected her. "In all honesty I just wanted to see Dave's reaction. Well worth it in the end."
Emma looked back to her father who was still a bit in shock, but slowly coming down from Killian's outburst. It was funny to see how the two men, though bonded in friendship now, still had moments of strangeness. David would always be Emma's father first, but at the end of the day they were 'mates' as Killian would say.
"Is this going to be a new thing? Quoting random shows to get a rise out of people just because?" Killian shrugged.
"Perhaps. I think it might be a fun game, love. To tide us all over until the next crisis hits." Emma sighed but pressed a soft kiss to his lips nonetheless.
"Just try not to get yourself in too much trouble." Killian's eyes lit up at the mention of trouble.
"So you're not accepting my challenge love?" Emma straightened up in her seat beside him.
"I never said that. But you should know that if we do play this game, you'll lose. I can quote with the best of them." Killian's eyes lit up in amusement.
"In this adventure you'll certainly have the advantage, Swan. You have years of experience on me, but I wouldn't count me out just yet." With that Killian pressed a gentle kiss to Emma's temple and made their excuses to her parents and to Neal only after promising Snow could come watch some Netflix with them soon.
"Where are we going?" Emma asked when they were finally back out on the street.
"Well home of course, love. If I'm going to win this thing I'll need to do a bit more research."
Despite his words, Killian's inquiries for the day had far less to do with classic movies and TV and more to do with Emma. His 'research' mostly consisted of pretending to watch something only to then maneuver Emma into far more pleasurable situations. Not that Emma minded, when it meant their day away was as fantastic as this one. She only hoped they had many many more like this to come in the not so distant future.
Post-Note: So there we have it. Just the tiniest little shot of CS fluff and ridiculousness today. I'm also hoping to get a mixtape chapter out today too, but this idea of having Killian make this joke in front of David and Snow has been with me since last week and just needed to be written. Anyway, thanks for reading and have a lovely day!