The jingle of the bell above the door went unnoticed as the pirate entered the diner, with everyone too distracted by the newest addition to the Charming family, 'oohing' and 'aahing' over the tot as his mother held him in one of the booths. He peered through the crowd, everyone seemed to be laughing and chatting, even Emma was too distracted by her new brother and parents to so much as glance in his direction. Not for the first time, Killian hung back, feeling out of place among the happy smiles and familiarity of their family, wondering if he should even bother staying.
He and Emma had grown closer since New York, and yet, he couldn't shake the niggling doubt that he didn't belong in her life, that he never would. He had given up so much to be here with her, his ship, his crew, even his revenge, and yet she was still unwilling to make room for him here. He couldn't help but feel a slight seed of resentment swell inside of him, a desire to make her feel as unwanted and unnecessary as he felt because of her, and that was when his eyes landed on a dark-haired woman checking her text messages one booth over.
She was also alone, although he saw her look up and catch Mary Margaret's eye with a warm smile before she put her phone away. He wondered how he'd failed to see her in town before, his eyes slowly travelling over her body, he was sure he'd remember seeing a creature like that before. She stood out among the others, dressed in tight leather pants and an almost sheer wine colored top that hinted at black lingerie underneath. Her dark, wavy hair was loose, hanging halfway down her back, and despite her smile at Mary Margaret, there was a definite tightness about her ruby painted lips, her boredom obvious as soon as the new mother looked away.
As though sensing his eyes on her, the woman looked up, and Killian found himself frozen for a moment, caught in her gaze like a fly in a web. The indeterminate color of the sea, he couldn't tell from here if her eyes were grey or green or even blue, but the predatory gleam was unmistakable as she sized him up in much the same way he'd been checking her out. She tilted her head to the side slightly, and Killian took that as his cue to slide into the empty booth seat across from her.
"You must be Captain Hook," she guessed, a smile playing across her lips.
"What gave me away?" He answered, a smirk pulling his own lip up even as her eyes flickered down to where his tell-tale hook rested on the table, before returning to his face. "I prefer to go by Killian Jones these days, milady. What can I call you?"
She chuckled slightly, brushing her hair back behind her ear. "I'm not a lady, trust me… just call me Ruby." She gave a slight shake of her head, and Killian couldn't help but smile at the sound of her laugh.
"Ruby… so how come you're not over there with the rest, clamouring to hold the little prince?" He nodded towards the crowd of adoring townsfolk making moony eyes at the new baby, and Ruby chuckled.
"Because anyone with sense can see that Snow isn't handing that kid over to anyone, not yet at least. Granny's been working on her since this morning, and look at all the progress she's made." She nodded over to her grandmother, who was talking to a few of the dwarves, although Ruby could see her glancing covetously towards Snow and the baby out of the corner of her eye, and Ruby gave another soft chuckle. The old woman sure did love her babies.
"You can't exactly blame her, with what she's been through," Killian shrugged.
"No, I'm not." Ruby glanced towards the happy family, smiling a little, but there was sadness in her eyes. She caught Killian looking at her curiously, and she shrugged, forcing a bright smile, but through it, he could feel that same loneliness he had felt mere moments ago, that longing for a place to belong.
"You want to get out of here, love?" Killian quirked an eyebrow at her, and Ruby looked at him, a slight smirk tugging her lips up in one corner.
"Tink warned me about you," she shook her head, her tone incredulous as she looked at him. "I thought you and Emma had a… thing going on?" Ruby looked unimpressed, leaning back and folding her arms over her chest. Killian gave a low, frustrated chuckle. "There was a whole spotlight on your budding romance on Good Morning, Storybrooke. Apparently the whole town is caught up in the 'will they, won't they' dramatics."
Killian lifted his hand to his chin, rubbing his beard thoughtfully. In truth, he hadn't thought of the blonde at all since he'd learned Ruby's name. "Whatever 'thing' we may have… I'm fairly certain Swan is determined that we won't."
Ruby lifted an eyebrow. "And here I thought you were determined to wait three hundred years before you were willing to give up on a thing," Killian made a face like he was wounded, and in truth, those words did sting a bit… but he wasn't about to lose face by making that apparent. He had thicker skin than that,
"I wouldn't say I'm giving up, just looking for a bit of a… distraction." He shrugged slightly, a wicked smirk playing across his lips as he lifted his eyebrows suggestively. "I don't suppose you'd be interested, love?"
He could see the temptation passing through her eyes, her delicious red lips pressing tightly together thoughtfully, the cogs turning under those beautiful dark curls as she weighed her better judgement against the promise gleaming in his too blue eyes. She hated to admit that she'd felt an immediate, almost magnetic attraction to the pirate, electricity running through her skin when she'd first felt his eyes on her, it was a current that had failed to dissipate, instead coiling in her gut, only intensifying under his smoulder.
"Don't be ridiculous, Jones. I've no interest in anything you have to offer," Ruby scoffed, rolling her eyes as she pushed to her feet and stalked off. Killian grinned, turning to watch her go despite the sting of rejection, licking his bottom lip as his eyes locked on her leather-clad ass. He let his breath out in a mournful sigh, but that was when he saw her turn back, their eyes locking for the briefest of moments, but in those few seconds, Killian could hear her breathy moans in his ear, rising into shrieks of ecstasy. He could taste her skin on his tongue, sweet and slick with sweat, he could feel her nails raking his back and he could smell the soft scent of the forest in her hair, and he knew that they were only just getting started.
Breaking the moment, Ruby looked away, letting her breath out in a rush, blinking rapidly. Fucking pirate. It was so on.
Twenty minutes later, nobody noticed the absence of Ruby or Killian from the party, but Granny could be seen to be glaring up at the ceiling of the diner, shaking her head and rolling her eyes, muttering about 'decency,' and 'it's a baby shower for heaven's sake.'