AN: Thank you so much to my beta/cheerleader, keepapplesaday, without whom this fic would not have happened.

Big thanks to forgetthesun, who did the art for this fic!

This was written for the Swan Queen Big Bang Three Dollar Bill Bang.

*inserts standard "I don't own the characters" disclaimer*


"Come onnnn Emma!"

"No."

"But you're a tattoo artist! How can you be a tattoo artist without any tattoos?!" It was a slow day and Ruby had decided to engage in one of her favorite pastimes; try to convince Emma to let Ruby tattoo her.

Emma let out a frustrated sigh and held up her wrist, showing Ruby the small flower tattoo. "I have one."

"That barely counts! Let me tattoo you!"

"No! I don't even know what I want!"

"I can pick something. A nice tribal band perhaps?" Ruby laughed and Emma threw a balled up piece of paper at her.

"If I have one more socks and sandals, visor-wearing, 'bro' come in here and ask for a tribal, I'm going to scream"

"Why? It's easy money."

Emma glared. "I'm not justifying that with a response." She checked the clock above her station and sighed. "Do you have ANY appointments today?"

"No, Emma, for the millionth time, I do not have any appointments." Ruby said exasperated.

Emma sighed again, a dramatic, over the top sigh and got up. "I'm going next door, be right back."

Emma walked out and took a few minutes to enjoy the beautiful day before stepping into Game of Thorns, the flower shop next door to Big Bad Wolf Tattoo. It was convenient to have the florist there so they had real flowers for reference and it helped bring business. When she walked in she made a beeline for the asters and picked a pink one out that looked good.

"Hey Moe? I'm borrowing an aster. I'll bring it back before close, I promise!" With flower in hand, Emma turned to walk out the door but a woman's voice stopped her.

"I beg your pardon?" Emma looked up towards the back of the store where she saw a gorgeous Latina woman behind the counter. The woman was glaring at her, hand on her hips, waiting for an answer.

"Oh. I thought Moe was here, I was just going to borrow this..." Emma held up the flower to show the woman what she had and looked around the store. Moe was nowhere to be seen, which was unusual, he was always there. "Where is he?"

"Mr. French sold this shop to me the other week. I'm the new owner," Said the woman matter-of-factly.

Emma nearly dropped the flower in shock, "What the fuck?! He sold the shop?!"

"I don't understand the need for obscenities, Miss..."

"Swan, Emma."

"Miss Swan. But as I said, Mr. French sold me the shop. I don't know what kind of arrangement the two of you had, but in my shop, the only way a flower leaves is if it's paid for."

"Come on! He must have mentioned us next door! We come in all the time!"

The woman gestured to the register and then crossed her arms, the look on her face indicating there would be no discussion and the matter was over.

Emma set the flower back in its container, threw her arms up in frustration and stormed out of the shop, letting the door slam.

***************
The new owner stared at the space where Emma had been standing and held her posture for a few moments before finally relaxing. She hadn't noticed her friend and co-owner, Kathryn, come out onto the sales floor until she spoke.

"You know, Regina, I distinctly remember Moe telling us about the tattoo shop next door that his daughter works at and how he lets the artists borrow flowers." She looked at Regina with an amused look.

"As do I, he mentioned it between telling us about the back door and how finicky it can be when you try to close it and how we shouldn't bother keeping regular hours several days before Valentine's Day." She turned and smiled at Kathryn "It was just more fun to handle it this way. Besides, do we want those people in the store?"

"'Those people?' Really? They're tattoo artists, not criminals. You're channeling your mother a little there." Kathryn had said it playfully but the glare from Regina indicated that it wasn't well received so she quickly added, "You know, I think I'm going to go finish up unpacking the new shipment," and darted into the back room.

Regina was left to her own thoughts and headed over to where the aster that Emma had put back was. To Regina's annoyance, Emma had haphazardly returned the flower and Regina had to fix it.

Emma stormed back into the tattoo shop "HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL ME MOE SOLD THE SHOP?!"

Both Lacey and Ruby looked at Emma confused. Ruby replied first, "Dude, you were right here when Lacey told us about it. It was like a week before you went on vacation."

"No you didn't! Are you sure you didn't just think about telling me but hadn't gotten around to it?"

Lacey answered, "No, I told you both at the same time." Then her eyes got really big, "Ohhhhhhhhhh. Rubes, do you remember that day?"

It took a moment for Ruby to realize what Lacey was talking about, "Ohh! That was the day the hot blonde and her sister came in!" Lacey smiled and nodded. Ruby turned to Emma, "You remember her, don't ya? Spent a while talking to them and giving them a "consult.'"

Emma started to turn red and mumbled "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you do!" The blonde was wearing that low cut top. They wanted to do something simple, like a snowflake or something, but for some reason it took like an hour?"

"They wanted white ink, I was explaining some of the issues with that."

"Riiight" Ruby replied. "Last time I discussed white ink with a customer, it took like 15 minutes, but maybe I wasn't as thorough as you were. Do you want to go over it together so I know I'm not missing anything?" Ruby winked at her.

Emma gave Ruby a playful shove and then headed over to her station while Ruby headed to the lounge area they had in the shop. Emma's only appointment was with a wannabe pirate who wanted a nautical tattoo, but he couldn't decide on what. She wanted to add some more to her sketches before he came in, even though she was pretty sure he would go with something boring and generic, like an anchor. Emma thought about just showing him the Sailor Jerry flash and being done with it, but even if he didn't choose one of her designs, someone else might.

"Hey Lace? What time is my appointment?"

"Uh. Hold on." She heard the clicking from Lacey's keyboard, "He's supposed to be here at 3:00."

"Thanks!" Emma checked the time and noted that she had 10 minutes before her appointment. She decided to straighten up her station and make sure she had everything that she needed, despite already knowing that she had restocked it last night.

"So Emma, what do you think of our new neighbor, Regina?" Ruby had reappeared at her own station, under the guise of getting some work done.

"She's…"

"Hot? Intimidating? Hot?"

"You said hot twice, Ruby."

"I know, I was making a point."

"She's a little intense. She did not like me popping over to borrow a flower."

"Moe probably warned her that you like to take them and then give them back days later when they start to look funny."

"I only did that one time and I paid for it!"

"Yeah, yeah. Bet she'd let me take one."

"You're crazy."

Without another word, Ruby sprung up out of her chair and walked outside.

Five minutes later, Ruby returned with a rose in hand and a huge grin on her face.

"Seriously?!"

"Told you. Moe must have warned her about you." Ruby wasn't going to tell Emma that the reason she got the flower was because she gave a short explanation to the blonde, Kathryn, who worked at the flower shop, not the brunette that got angry with Emma. Kathryn was amused by the entire thing and thought it would be even funnier if Ruby was successful. She did make Ruby promise to return the flower by the end of the day and to make Emma believe that it was Regina who gave her the flower. Ruby half-skipped to the back room of the shop, past the room they used for customers who wanted more privacy when getting tattooed or pierced, and the bathroom. She stopped at the supply closet near the kitchenette to look for one of the many vases they kept in the shop. Ruby found one she liked, filled it up with water and carefully placed the flower in the vase. She walked the flower back up to the front of the store and placed it on Lacey's desk.

Ruby stuck her tongue out at Emma, but before she could respond, the bell on the front door rang. Emma's appointment had arrived, and she groaned internally. She had been half hoping he wouldn't show up, even if it meant that she'd miss out on the money. He was dressed in leather head to toe and walked with a swagger; he was really pushing the pirate thing hard. Not even the Irish accent could help him win some points with Emma, he was that obnoxious.

"Hello, love. I'm here for my appointment with Emma." He smiled at Lacey, trying to be charming but came off skeezy instead.

Lacey got up and pointed to one of the chairs near the front door, "Just have a seat and she'll be right with you." She turned towards Emma and gave her a look that said, 'Please don't drag this on.'

Emma sighed, quiet enough so that only Ruby could hear her, stood up, and walked over to him. "Nice to see you again, Mr. Jones." She wasn't normally this formal with her clients, but she was hoping to set some clear boundaries with him. He had asked her out for a drink twice already and she had turned him down both times.

"Call me Killian, love."

"Only if you stop calling me 'love.'"

"Aye, very well then. What can I call you?"

"Emma works. Shall we get this done?" Emma gestured to her station but Killian didn't move and mimicked the gesture.

"Ladies first."

The second she turned her back, Emma knew that he was looking at her ass. She closed her eyes and quickly counted to ten to avoid turning around and calling him out on it. Most of her clients respected her but she had the occasional one, like the pirate, who didn't seem to understand the meaning of the word.

"So do you have any ideas or are you still good with 'Anything that a pirate would don?'" She used air quotes and Ruby started laughing silently behind Killian.

"I was thinking of a mermaid on my bicep, so that she'd wiggle when I flexed."

Emma had to stop herself from bursting out laughing. She was very sure that her muscles were bigger than his. Thankfully, she had sketched a few mermaids and when she showed him the sketches, he chose one he liked. Naturally, it was the topless one.

Killian signed his consent and rolled up his sleeve. Emma began to prepare the area and when she started to unwrap a disposable razor, he threw his hand up to stop her. "Hey wait a minute, love, what are you doing there?"

Emma was used to this reaction to men who were getting their first tattoos and knew nothing about the process. "Your arm has hair on it, hair gets in way of my tattooing, hair has to go." She replied in a monotone.

"Oh no, I don't shave anywhere but the face." He winked at her and added, "Unless you want me to."

That was enough for Emma. She slammed the razor down, stood up, and pointed to the front door. "Out!"

Killian didn't even register that what he said was inappropriate. "What about my tattoo?"

"I don't care what you get or where, I don't care if it's a topless mermaid or a fucking Rainbow Dash tattoo, get the hell out of this shop because nobody here is tattooing a misogynistic asshole."

"At least let me take you out for dinner, love?"

"Not interested."

"What about a drink then?"

Ruby walked over to stand next to Emma, "She told you she wasn't interested."

Killian looked between the two women, "Ah. I see what's going on. Well loves, if you need a man to show you what you're missing..."

"I'll be sure to find one" Ruby bit back. "Now get out of here and don't ever come back."

"Fine, love, have it your way." Killian got up and walked out, stopping to scribble his number down on a scrap piece of paper and hand it to Lacey with a wink.

Lacey made a show of ripping up the piece of paper and adding his consent form to a folder they kept for blacklisted clientele. She would call a couple of the other shops in the area and give them a heads up about him later.

"Nicely handled, ladies." The three women turned to see Ruby's grandmother and owner of the shop standing near the back room. None of them had noticed her come downstairs, but assumed that she had heard everything. Granny was older, but her hearing was crazy good and she had a knack for showing up downstairs when the more rowdy customers were in the shop.

"Thanks, Granny."

"He was the only appointment on the schedule today, wasn't he?"

Both Ruby and Emma nodded and Granny sighed. "Shame when the assholes are the only ones on the schedule." They moved into the lounge area and Ruby and Emma sat on the couch while Granny sat on the big comfy chair. "You ladies ready for this weekend? $25 piercings above the belt."

Emma had completely forgotten that they were running that special this weekend. It always brought in more customers but sometimes made the first timers really nervous when there was a lot of people coming in and out of the shop. It was worth it to see some of the customer's reactions when they were told Granny was the piercer. She couldn't tattoo anymore because it was too hard on her joints, but she could still pierce.

"You forgot about it didn't you?" Ruby accused Emma.

Emma looked at her sheepishly, "Maybe a little... It's been a nutty day and it's only 3:30, Ruby, give me a break."

"Can you ladies hand out fliers to the businesses around here? You know which ones to pass out to."

"Sure, we can do that tomorrow morning before the shop opens. Maybe Ruby and I can split it up."

"You just don't wanna go into the flower shop."

Granny looked at Emma, confused, "What's wrong with the flower shop? From what Moe said, the owners are nice. Although he did mention that the brunette was a little rough around the edges." Granny winked and added, "And not in that fun biker way."

Ruby made an over-exaggerated face like she was going to gag, "Gross, Gran! Why did you have to go and say something like that?" Emma started howling with laughter and Ruby picked up a pillow and hit her in the chest.

Emma picked up a pillow to retaliate but one look from Granny put an end to it. She looked around the shop and settled on the Game Cube plugged into the television. Emma looked at Ruby and asked, "Mario Kart? Loser buys dinner?"

Ruby jumped off of the couch to grab the controllers, "You're on! Best two out of three!"

Granny shook her head and went up front to talk to Lacey.

Ruby and Emma were both very competitive and it didn't take long for obscenities to start flying and for them to start playing dirty. After a particularly nasty run on Rainbow Road that resulted in Emma being knocked off the track so many times she lost count, Emma started blocking Ruby's vision every time she gained a small lead. One of the times Emma tried blocking, she lost a grip of the controller and it went flying behind her, nearly hitting a framed picture at Ruby's station. When she turned around, Granny and Lacey were both standing with their hands on their hips shaking their heads. Emma looked sheepishly at them as she got up and collected her controller. Her antics put a stop to the game.

"I win, Emma, you owe me dinner."

"Ruby, we tied, I won the first round, and you won the second."

"And I won the third."

"We never finished that round!"

"Because you cheated! Which means that I win."

Emma crossed her arms. "Fine."

Before Emma and Ruby could leave for dinner, two couples had walked in and wanted to get small, matching tattoos. Two hours later, when they were all done and out of the store, Emma grimaced. Ruby caught the look, "What? Your couple seemed nice."

"Oh they were, but they wanted to get each other's names tattooed with a little heart. Guess how long they've been together?"

"Oh no... How long?"

"Four months." Ruby cringed and Emma continued, "How do you decide to get someone's name tattooed after being together for only four months? In what realm is that a good idea?"

Ruby shrugged and shook her head, "Maybe they'll come to you for the cover up."

"Maybe. Let's just hope one of them doesn't come back for a cover up and someone else's name."

Ruby laughed, "Ready for dinner?"

Emma nodded, "Sure, where to?"

"Dunno yet," Ruby replied, grabbing Emma's arm and pulling her out the door. Ruby returned a minute later and picked up the rose, she was pretty sure Kathryn wouldn't mind her hanging on to it, but she did promise to return it by the end of the day.

The two returned the flower and had an uneventful evening. The next morning, Emma got up earlier than usual so that she and Ruby could pass out flyers. She decided to wear her favorite red leather jacket, as it was still a little chilly, although she barely needed an excuse to wear it. She arrived to the tattoo shop to meet Ruby 10 minutes late. Ruby didn't bother giving Emma shit about being late, she was always late and Ruby was pretty sure the day Emma arrived before the scheduled time, it would be a sign of the apocalypse. At the very least, it would be a good day to purchase a lotto ticket. Emma was at least always apologetic about being late and greeted her with, "I'm so sorry."

Ruby just waved it away. "Ready to get started?"

Emma took the stack of flyers Ruby handed her "Sure! You go right and I go left?"

Ruby looked at her surprised. "Wait, you were serious about splitting up? I really thought you were joking."

"We can cover more ground if we split up."

Ruby put her hands on her hips as best she could with the flyers in her hand, "And this has nothing to do with a certain brunette who co-owns the flower shop next door?"

Emma scoffed, "No..."

"Well I don't want to go by myself, it takes the fun out of it if we don't do it together." Ruby really didn't care one way or another if she and Emma went together. There was just a large part of her that wanted to see Emma and the brunette together.

"Come on Rubes... Please?"

Ruby crossed her arms, "Nope, not happening. We're going together or you're telling Granny why the flyers didn't go out today."

"Ugh. Fine. Where do you want to start first?"

Ruby perked up, "Let's go left" and led the way out of the shop

Emma started grumbling and followed Ruby.

When they walked into the flower shop, Emma was annoyed to see Regina behind the counter.

When she heard the door, Regina launched into her standard, "Welcome to Game of Thorns" greeting, but stopped when she saw Emma. "Come to steal another flower, Miss Swan? Or would you rather your associate do it for you?"

"Nobody stole anything. It might not be a good idea to accuse your customers of theft."

"My apologies, what will you be purchasing today?" Regina asked as Ruby and Emma approached the counter.

Ruby jumped in before Emma could reply, "Actually, we were wondering if you would one of our flyers in the window?"

Regina took the flyer Ruby was holding out and surveyed it, "And why would I want to put a flyer in my shop advertising your special deal to put holes in your customers?"

Ruby raised her eyebrows, "Helping out a local business? Moe let us put flyers up all the time."

Regina scoffed, "I'm all for supporting small businesses, I just don't see the point of supporting yours. What service do you provide besides disfiguring the population?"

Ruby gaped and Emma jumped in, "You know what? We don't need you to put up any flyers. We'll just be going." She turned around, guiding Ruby to do so as well and added, "Just remember, you're not the only florist around, and we carry weight in this town." Just like she did the day before, Emma let the door slam on her way out.

Kathryn walked up to Regina. "Smooth Regina, real smooth. You couldn't just get over yourself for a few days and put up a damn flyer? What is so terrible about them? They seem like nice girls."

"I simply disagree with their lifestyle choices, Kathryn."

"Once again, they aren't drug lords, they're artists." Kathryn took the flyer out of Regina's hands, "Damn, $25 piercings above the belt? That's a good deal." Regina scowled at her, "What? That does include ears, you know."

Ruby was still surprised by how rude Regina had been in the flower shop, "Dude, what did you say to her yesterday? She really doesn't like you."

"Why does it always have to be something I did?" Ruby raised an eyebrow, "I really didn't do anything this time, I promise. All I did yesterday was walk over and grab a flower, then explain that Moe used to let us do it all the time."

"By explain do you mean you actually talked to her in a nice way or did you cuss at her?"

Emma shrugged, "There may have been an f-bomb dropped."

"There you go, she seems like the type of person who wouldn't appreciate someone coming into their shop, taking a flower, and then dropping an f-bomb."

Emma sighed, "Alright, you win. I may have messed that one up. But you also have to admit that she seems to have a thing against tattoo artists."

"Yeah, that was really weird." They stopped in front of a shoe store, "I forget, is this the one that lets us put our stuff up in the window or is it the other one?"

Emma checked the name, "This is the one that lets us put stuff up. You should know that because Ashley works here."

"Oh yeah! Why do I always forget that?" Ruby started to walk in but paused when she saw Ashley helping a customer, "Do you wanna take this one?"

"Are you two not on speaking terms right now?" Ruby stepped away from the door and started shifting her weight. "Ruby..."

"I may have forgotten to call her when we... hung out..."

Emma swatted at Ruby with the flyers, "Ruby you didn't!" Ruby gave her a half-smile in response, "I thought she was straight?"

"She wasn't that night," Ruby replied with a wink. "Now, will you please take this one?"

Emma smirked and Ruby knew she was screwed. "Nopee.'It's no fun if we don't do it together.'"

"Damn it!" The two walked in and to no surprise, Ashley saw them first.

Ruby had tried hiding behind Emma, but Emma wouldn't let her.

Ashley walked over with a big smile on her face - they were pretty sure it was only there because she was at work, "Hey guys! Long time no talk."

"Hey Ashley, how've you been?" Emma asked.

"Oh you know... Same old, same old... What can I help you with?" Emma held up the flyers to show her, "I've been waiting for $25 piercings! Been thinking about doing something fun, like my belly button. Or you know..." She gestured to her chest.

Emma noticed Ruby's eyes get a little big and she nudged her, before replying, "Well come on in, it's both days this weekend and Lacey'll be piercing too, just in case you feel weird having Granny do it." She laughed slightly uncomfortably. She usually had no problem discussing piercings with people but being thrown in the middle of Ruby and the friend she didn't call back after sleeping with her was not Emma's ideal social situation. Ashley talking about a more... intimate piercing was not helping matters.

"Sounds good. I'll give you a call." She turned to Ruby, "Bye Ruby, it was nice seeing you."

"Nice seeing you too, Ashley." Ashley walked away to help another customer and Ruby and Emma left the store.

When they were back out on the sidewalk and a few stores down from the shoe store, Emma started giving Ruby a hard time. "You could have talked to her a little bit, I mean damn. That was just a little awkward."

"I know, I know. I just didn't know what to say."

"Well at some point you might want to apologize for never calling her... Just a thought."

"Are you really going to start lecturing me on women, Emma? When was the last time you went on a date? Dude, when was the last time you got laid?"

Emma started to think about it and tried to figure out how long it had been when Ruby added, "If you have to think about it, it's been too long. What was wrong with the blonde you were flirting with a couple weeks ago?"

"I was not flirting! I was giving her a consult!"

"Okay, what happened to that girl you were consulting?"

"She and her sister are supposed to come in this week to get their tattoos."

"Good, you should ask her out."

"Isn't that a little inappropriate?"

"Why?"

"Because she's a customer!"

"Soo? I'm not saying ask her out before you tattoo her and if she turns you down either don't do the tattoo or fuck it up. Do the tattoo, then ask her out. Just for drinks. It'll be good for you to get out."

Emma shifted uncomfortably, "I don't know, Ruby..."

"What do you have to lose?" Ruby looped her arm in Emma's, "Come on, let's go finish this up."

The two passed out flyers for another hour and they returned to Big Bad Wolf just in time to open. Lacey was already in and checking the messages, when she was finished, she handed two "While You Were Out" slips to Ruby and one to Emma. Emma was interrupted while reading hers by Ruby fist pumping and yelling "YES!"

"What the hell?" Emma tried to look at the slip in Ruby's hand but Ruby was holding it in a way that made it difficult to read.

"Do you remember that shop we talked to a couple months ago about sharing booth space at the next convention?"

"Yeah, the owner is August something, right?"

"Yeah. Well, he said they're game to split it if we're still interested. It should end up being like 275 each."

"Sweet! You gotta talk to Granny though, you know how she feels about conventions."

"I know, I know. It's not like she has to close completely, just open up for piercing. She could always run another special that weekend."

Granny walked into the shop right as Ruby was finishing her sentence, "Why am I running another special and what weekend?"

"Shit," Ruby said under her breath. "The Boston Tattoo Convention is the weekend of August 21st, the guys over at Ink-Side-Out said they'd be willing to share a booth and save some money. You could run another piercing special or something that weekend so you don't have to close."

"No."

"What? Why?"

"Because I run a tattoo shop, I need my artists in the shop."

"Come on. Please? It's really good money for Emma and I and it helps get our name out there and build a reputation."

Granny scowled and crossed her arms, "I didn't realize we needed to build a reputation for the shop that I've had for 35 years."

Ruby tried backtracking, "That's not what I meant. I meant for Emma and I to build a reputation. Wouldn't it be good if our names stood on their own like yours does?"

Granny considered what she said, "I still don't like the idea of not having my artists for a weekend. But I'll think about it."

Ruby hugged her, "Thanks Gran!"

"I didn't say yes yet. Now what are you girls doing? Get to work!"

Ruby gave her a mock salute, "Yes ma'am!" and headed over to her station.

At Game of Thorns, business was slow, they had only seen a handful of customers and Kathryn and Regina were just standing at the register chatting.

"You don't think they were serious about telling people not to come in, do you?" Regina asked, trying not to show any concern.

Kathryn laughed, "No, Regina, I think it's Tuesday afternoon and people don't necessarily need flowers. I think they made their point though, they were trying to rattle you."

"I don't have any idea what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't. What is your problem with Emma anyway?"

"Emma?" Regina questioned.

"Oh don't play stupid, you know exactly who I'm talking about. 'Miss Swan' the hot blonde in the red leather jacket that you're being unreasonably rude to. The one I'm about 90% sure you were checking out both times she came in."

Regina scoffed but didn't deny the accusation "I told you, I disagree with her life choices."

"You have never cared that much about tattoo artists or tattoos, despite what your mother has tried to instill. And you can't even say it was because of the flower thing because Moe told us about that beforehand and you didn't have any objections then. But if you don't want to share then I will work on finding out on my own." Kathryn softened her tone and put her hand on Regina's, "You know it'd be okay if you were interested in her, right?"

Regina glared, "I'm not."

Kathryn pulled back "Okay." Kathryn changed the subject to the differences between the Harry Potter movies and books, something Regina could talk about for hours.

The day passed without too much excitement for both shops.