"Alright, that's enough..." Granny sighed under her breath looking out the round window from the backroom into the main diner.
It was a testament to just how out of it her granddaughter was that her whispered concerns hadn't done a thing to change Ruby's slumped posture as the young wolf propped her elbow up on the side of the table while the hand not tucked around her chin was busy toying with the forgotten food the older wolf had set in front of her at the start of her break.
"So what's the problem?" Granny Lucas wondered as she slid into the open seat across from her daydreaming granddaughter. "Not enough salt on the fries or is it that the burgers, not rear enough to cope with 'that time of the moon cycle'?" she offered ignoring the small start of surprise at her appearance giving the younger woman one of her over her glasses stares. Though unlike the others that got that look the old wolf's eyes were full of nothing but concern, not annoyance or anger.
"Nothing's wrong," Ruby answered and really she was telling the truth. It wasn't that it had been a hard day. A rarity in its self when it comes to the things that normally happen in a town called Storybrooke, Maine. It had just been a long one. Slowly draining the waitress's energies as it woar on.
"Is that farm girl causing problems?" her grandmother questioned but Ruby shook her head with a shy blushing smile on her lips that would shame all the love-struck teenagers that frequented the eatery for there after-school dates."Kansas and I are perfectly happy Gran." she soothed nibbling absently on the end of a french fry. "Actually, to be honest, I didn't want to come in in the first place." the young wolf admitted, "but then Dorothy dragged me out of bed with that annoyingly adorable smirk she knows I can't say no to cause apparently she wasn't about to let me play hooky just to spend time with her and Toto." she rambled not realizing that she was still talking out loud while she was lost in thought.
"She actually knew what that meant?" Granny chuckled earning another startled shudder from the other woman. "She does now." Ruby's mouth twitched up in the first real smile she'd had since she left the apartment. "But she still said I had to come." Ruby sulked dropping her chin back on her folded arms watching the darkening sky outside the window again.
"Well yeah but only because you spend time with us all the time so I thought you'd enjoy a break, and if you remember Wolfie I did start that comment with 'You promised you'd help out while we're here,' remember?" Dorothy added the hint of a joking tone in her voice as she slipped in past some customers daring to brave the changing weather.
"Kansas." Ruby greeted eagerly not caring one bit about the fresh and melted mix of snow clinging onto her girlfriend's jacket or that Toto was still cradled protectively against her chest while the wolf tackled the other woman in a tight hug. "Shii...nikies your freezing," Red complained changing her words mid curse when she noticed that Ashly had brought little Ellie and Aurora was still cradling Phillip Jr. not far away.
"Nice save Wolfie." Dorothy grinned hanging up her coat at the door while Ruby's arms re-wrapped themselves around her waist. "Thanks." Red winked while Dorothy let the squirming terrier jump out of her arms after a hearing a delighted squeal from Ellie. "And yeah it's like the temperature of a blizzard out there." the farm girl continued leaning into the much-needed warmth her wolf provided.
"You do know that one of these times El will try and take him home with her?" Granny commented watching the toddler happily hugging the little dog as tightly as her little arms would allow. "I'm not that worried. He knows where home is." Dorothy smiled chuckling under her breath when her dog extracted himself from the girl with lots of puppy kisses then came trotting back over to them.
"She has trained us well hasn't she." Ruby sighed playfully nudging Dorothy's side while Toto huffed in agreement curling up between them under the table. "Hey, it's not like you two haven't been doing the same thing to me." Dorothy defended draping her arm over the back of Ruby's chair when the waitress leaned into her side. "besides we only came just to be sure you really came here and didn't skip out like you'd planned to." she added "You would have been the first to know if I babe, besides if that was true then you could have come earlier and not while I was on a break." Ruby cut in tilting her head to press her lips against the exposed skin of Dorothy's neck. "A break that ended four and a half minutes ago." Dorothy commented challengingly nodding to the nearest clock.
"Don't remind her." Ruby pouted hiding her face against Dorothy's shoulder while Granny could only stare between them in amazement. "Do you two practice all this adorableness while you're trekking through Oz?" The question caught both women off guard both with the context and because of the honest hint of envy behind the words. "I wouldn't call it trekking." Ruby answered her hand slipping reassuringly into Dorothy's under the table. "I would sometimes." Dorothy countered pillowing her head against Ruby's shoulder. "That isn't an answer to the main question ladies." Widow Lucas reminded them humorously.
"Oh, My Oz..." Dorothy gasped by way of changing the subject her eyes now locked on the window over Granny's shoulder. Her exclamation was eclipsed by an even louder squeal from the toddler while Ellie pressed her little face against the glass in amazement. "Come on come on, come on, come on." Dorothy pleaded dragging Ruby with her as she raced the four-year-old toward the front door with an impatient burst of childlike eagerness none of the people in the diner had ever seen from the warrior.
"What?" Granny asked turning in her seat to see what was causing such a commotion with her customers while Ruby's beaming smile grew wider as she watched her true love scramble for her coat. "Let's go, Wolfie," Dorothy complained bouncing eagerly on the balls of her feet beside the door. "I have to make sure I can actually leave for the day then clock out first Kansas." Ruby reminded her while she pulled herself out of Dorothy's grip earning an angry groan from her lover and an amused eyebrow raised look from her grandmother. "Since when has that ever stopped you before?" Granny wondered at the same time Dorothy wined "But its snowing." while nodding to the white flakes now piled up on the other side of the window.
"I had to fall in love with a big kid huh?" Ruby teased zipping up her own jacket while Dorothy was distracted with helping Ellie into her own just as Ashly finished gathering up the rest of her daughter's toys and stored them safely in Ellie's backpack for her. "Thanks for your help." the blonde smiled gratefully as she pulled the strap of the little girl's backpack over her own shoulder.
"We're closing momentarily. Everyone who wants..." Granny called but the rest of her words were cut off by the bell above the door clanged loudly telling the mother and the wolf that their girls were now out rolling around happily in the fresh Storybrooke snow.