Tilly feels like flying. But for the first time in her life she is not scared of falling.
Her feet are light and there is a spring to her steps on her way home. Not the container she used to live in but a home with walls that don't magnify the sound of the rain or of sirens passing by. A heated place with doors and a bathroom all thanks to Detective Rogers who gave her support when nobody else did. Finally everything seems to fall in place. The lonesome, frowned upon orphan found a place to stay, a work to enjoy and person to smile for. All of these good things happened since said person saved her life.
With glee she spins on her feet, doing a pirouette that ends on the border of the sidewalk leading away from Roni's bar. So far she could not get rid of the grin which is glued onto her face since the moment Margot tied the bracelet to her wrist. She does not want to anyway.
Margot has been right. A day with her had taken her out of her head and nurtured her soul.
If possible her grin widens even more as she thinks back to the pretty and astonishing girl with eyes of a color she had never seen before – a complexity of green and gray – rimmed by big round glasses making her look even more sophisticated. And even though they spent most of the day and all evening together Tilly can't wait to see her again.
She looks forward to hear more about Margot's adventures and experiences, Tilly can only picture in her mind. She wants to listen to that silky voice dropping when Margot delivers a pun or a snarky comment. She wants to see the broad smile glowing on Margot's face spreading over her cheeks and marking them with dimples.
Tilly can't really deny it. She is into Margot already. Yet, she feels safe and warm when she is near her. There is no pounding in her head, no doubts chasing her up and down a room and when she looks at Margot she simply knows that she sees her; sees her for who she really is like nobody else ever did as if she knows her. From the moment Margot pulled Tilly away from the car it's as if they are deeply connected, as if they know each other from a past life. The thing between them evolved fast and with such an intensity it should scare her. After all she gets easily scared. Yet, it doesn't. It's more like a missing piece falling into place with a click.
At the next crossing she swings herself around a lantern post to turn right, repeating the word in her head: Click. Click. Click.
The path to Roger's apartment won't take long from here. Soon she will be home and ready to jump into a soft bed, ready to receive dreams of green eyes, dark blonde long tresses until she wakes up, still cushioned in the soft bed, ready for a fun day at work and maybe a glimpse of Margot later in the day.
She does not want to rush into things with Margot, though. Despite Margot's wit and her playful attitude she had a moment of bashfulness after their fingers brushed against each others. It was almost as if Tilly had seen her like this before, shying away and becoming hesitant but she was sure she hadn't and so she offered a smile in response and set her mind on taking it slow. Tilly does not want to scare the other girl away. Although after today, after Margot seeing Tilly at one of her lower moments and still wanting to be there, she is not sure if that will be the case. But good things don't easily happen to Tilly and most times things get taken away from her. So she wants to be careful about this, about Margot, 'cause she is that special.
Sinking her key into the lock, she enters the flat she shares with Rogers. From the hallway she can see the light in the kitchen on, a sign that her rommie is at home either working or having a late evening snack. Tilly can't wait to tell him about her date with Margot and quickly crosses the hallway.
Rogers looks up from a pile of documents and musters her for the blink of an eye before he raises an eyebrow. "Aren't you looking like the cat that ate the canary? What happened to you?"
"Had the best day. You remember Margot with a "t"? We went on a date today. She is so nice and cool and she did so many amazing things in her life," Tilly rambles.
"Ah, young love," Rogers smiles. However, it is crooked and doesn't reach his eyes. His left eyebrow is furrowed, squishing his eye like always when he is stressed, making it look much smaller than the other. Like a mandarin next to an orange.
"What's wrong?" Tilly asks while taking off her coat and placing it on the back of the chair across from the Detective.
He huffs, closes a folder with his good hand, the other resting motionless on his lap, before he leans back into the chair, in a sloping manner.
Tilly waits for him, biting on her lower lip, and fiddles with the ribbon of her hood while Rogers pinches his nose and finally clears his throat.
"Just a case that's toying with the boundaries of the possible," he says, typing fingers on the kitchen table near the folder and the papers. He delivers the line as if the word possible is painful, pressing it and squeezing it out in sharp syllables.
Although Tilly would agree. It is kind of painful to have a world limited to a simple but almighty word like possible, when there could be so much more beyond.
"Perhaps you should reset the boundaries you believe in then," she says to him. He is never able to see the world like Tilly does but he always takes her words into account and gets ideas.
"What do you mean?"
"I think nothing is impossible. Sometimes we need a change of perspective. As in spin the hat, crack a mirror or –" She eyes the bracelet Margot gave to her. A colorful bracelet and Margot had said it reminded it of her. Crazy Tilly has all colors. Now she herself thinks that might be a good thing, too. Her life had been gray for so long, she had not seen any colors. But now she does, they are bright and powerful. There are so many of them. She can appreciate the colors and even the gray now. It's not wrong not to be like everyone else. "Or meet someone who makes you see things differently."
When Tilly rises her gaze to the Detective again, she sees him wear the certain gaze he has, whenever he is onto something. He knocks his fingertips once more onto the wood of the kitchen table and while that might have unnerved Tilly before, making her feel uncomfortable and stressed, she feels perfectly normal now.
His mouth breaks into a smile again and this time it looks more honest and heartfelt. "As much as I appreciate the lovesick puppy advice, I think it's time for you to head to bed. If I remember correctly, Sabine wants you to start early and help her prepare the truck tomorrow, doesn't she?"
"Yep, that's what she said. Have a good night then and good luck on what you're working on."
Waving one last time at Detective Rogers, she smiles and spins around before heading to her room down the hall.
When her door falls into its hinges with a click she can't help but think about Margot again. Click, click, click.
She falls back on the bed with a giggle and a relieved sigh. Picturing Margot's face and her pretty smile, Tilly feels one spread on her own face.
She is not scared of falling at all.
Tilly wants to fly.
A/N: Okay, okay. I had not expected that I'd ever write OUAT fanfiction again (posted on ). It had been my favorite show but starting with season 4 it got increasingly weird. After they killed off Robin and destroyed my OTP (OutlawQueen) I held a lot of bitter feelings towards this show. Nevertheless I had watched it no matter my disinterest and how often I thought about abondoning this show for good.
Season 7 had been promising at the start but the romantic couples had been too forced. Henry and Jacinda have no chemistry, Sabine should be with Rogers although they keep Nevine in the picture and when Regina did the walk of shame leaving Facilier's place, I thought it was over for me.
A few days ago I thought to give it at least a try and started watching "The Girl in the Hightower"... which led me to catching up in one session because - as you can guess - I found a new addiction: Mad Archer / Curious Archer. To think I almost missed this adorable couple is so ironic. Had the promo for 7x13 shown them, I might have come around more quickly.
Why Alice | Tilly / Robin | Margot is well written romance:
1. They comfort each other, give each other advice.
2. They are on equal ground.
3. Despite the flashforward on their canonic relationship, the writing is not too fast. We see them being nervous and giddy around each other in the past after their first encounter which introduced the couple with witty banter, playfull namecalling, intimate conversations and bonding as well as longing glances *somebody booked the romance package A for them*.
4. They are established with cross-reference to other iconic couples like Snowing "I will always find you." - "We will always know each other even if we don't." and Rumbelle as in seeing something in the other person nobody did before.
5. Tilly x Margot is AWESOME. I love their cursed personas, even more so because they have exchanged backgrounds, Tilly is the thief and Margot is the adventurer, but yet are the same to each other. Plus it's written with so many cute little details like the bracelet, the candy food, the heart-shaped sweets, the books of Alice in Wonderland being green and Robin Hood being red etc. Nobin becomes Targo, Tower girl becomes Ben girl, "all the best people are mad" is said by Margot while it was Alice who said that before. This romance is the most established in season 7 already, although they had only scenes in two episodes and a short reference in another. Makes you wonder why the writers did not even try to make that happen for the lead couple of this season.
6. It is not a "coming out" story or a story dealing with homophobia. I know how important those stories can be for homosexuals but I feel like there need to be more stories that take homosexual relationships for granted. And since OUAT is a fantasy show about L-O-V-E it is very nice that they don't treat this couple like something that needs to be explained. They just are.
Don't be afraid to leave a comment about the story in general or the ship.^^
By the way, it was only during writing this that I noticed that every good thing happened to Tilly after Margot came into her life. Detective Rogers and Weaver/Rumple were always supportive and helpful but it seemed like Tilly could not really catch her breath on bad things happening to her.
