Red Swan (Red/Emma). Fluff. Deal with it ;P
SUMMARY: FTL. Red sneaks into the palace but comes up short when she enters Emma's room. To her utter displeasure, Emma's not alone.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Once upon a Time or its characters. I am not making a profit from this story. In fact, if you recognize it… I probably don't own it. Actually, I'm kind of happy I don't own it; I had a hard enough time keeping my fish alive.
Green Eyed Monstrosity
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"What is that?"
Emma jumped, startled out of her wits as a voice broke the otherwise quiet stillness that had befallen her bedroom. "Shit." She mumbled, trying to wipe off the large orange stain from her pajamas, ignoring the hissing fit her indignant companion started to throw after being splashed.
"Dammit, Ruby," Emma set down her glass on the windowsill and spun around to face the cloaked figure, scowling. "Don't do that." She was happy to see her girlfriend after their prolonged separation, but she still hadn't gotten used to her penchant for sneaking up on her.
"What is that-that thing doing here?" Red growled, glaring at the lithe body that was moments ago curled up next to Emma.
Glancing around to make sure the door was shut, Emma began peeling off her soaked clothes, making faces at the feeling of the juice covered cloth sticking to her skin. "What, you mean Snuggles?" Emma spared the girl a questioning glance as she began working on the buttons of her shirt. "Wait- are you growling?"
Red's eyes narrowed as the rodent rose from its sitting position and made towards her Emma. Her nearly inaudible growl rose in pitch in warning, a warning the cat took no heed of. In fact, the furry monstrosity had the audacity to raise its head, flick its tail at her and rub its body against Emma's legs, purring. Emma's bare legs. Unable to contain herself any longer in the face of such a blatant territorial display, Red flashed over to the pair, grabbed the cat by its scruff, and delighted in its indignant hissing as it landed in a tree after being tossed out the window.
"Did you just…?" Emma asked shocked, before yelping as she suddenly found herself lying on her bed, her girlfriend on top of her.
Red nuzzled her head into Emma's neck, delighting in the extended access the half unbuttoned shirt gave her. Trying to cover every inch of skin, Red whined slightly as she suddenly found herself face to face with Emma, the other girl looking almost as disappointed as Red in having to stop her.
"What just happened?" Red tried to look away only to have Emma's hands bring their eyes back into contact, the movement making her sensitive nose twitch and causing her to growl slightly.
"You still smell like it," Red grumbled under her breath as she wrinkled her nose and attempted to bring her head back down to nuzzle Emma some more, hoping to replace the thing's scent with her own.
"Red." Red winced slightly as Emma's expression became dangerously flat, though she grumbled internally that lately Emma only used her real name when she was angry. Or serious. Or seriously angry. Either way, Red had learned to be wary when her name passed her love's lips.
"That-that thing was…" Red's voiced trailed off in a grumbled huff as she thought back to when she had snuck into the room earlier only to witness the rodent getting cozy with her Emma.
Emma's eyebrows rose as she took in the almost petulant look upon her girls face. "I'm sorry; I didn't catch that last part." Red frowned and started again, being only marginally more intelligible than last time. "And now maybe with a bit more English and a bit less canine?" Emma asked dryly.
Red huffed, growling slightly under her breath, though acquiescing to her lover's demands. "That thing was marking you as his territory. You're mine."
Emma was unable to keep her face flat and disapproving, no matter the fact that her girlfriend had just tossed her cat out of the palace window, and a slight curve found its way to her lips. "You were jealous."
Red's eyes snapped to the ones under her, a growl heavily lacing her voice. "I was not jealous of that- that overgrown rodent!"
Emma let her face relax into an amused smile, no longer able to hold it in. Though she wore the red cloak and wolf's time had ended last night, it was times like these that Emma was reminded just how much the wolf affected her love. She had come to terms with Ruby's enhanced senses back when they lived in Storybrooke, though they had admittedly become sharper once the curse was broken. No, it was little displays like these that served to remind her of her girlfriend's dual nature. "Of course you weren't."
"I wasn't!" Red defended herself indignantly.
"Mhmm." Emma nodded along with a smirk as she gazed into yellow-specked brown eyes.
Red growled, bringing their faces closer until their noses bumped. "I. Am. Not. Jealous."
"If you say so," Emma grinned as she gave the other an eskimo kiss, effectively deflating her.
"I'm… not…" Red lost her train of thought as Emma placed a chaste kiss on her lips after a few more eskimo kisses. Unwilling to accept such a short hello kiss, Red surprised Emma by diving down and pressing their lips firmly together, her actions causing Emma's hands to slip from her cheeks and bury themselves in her red streaked curls.
Emma sighed happily into the kiss, not surprised when she felt a tongue slip past her lips and rub softly against her own. It had been too long, nearly a month, since she had last seen her lover, let alone kissed her. When air became an issue, Emma wasn't sure which one of them whimpered, or if both of them did, as Red slowly pulled away. Opening her eyes slowly, Emma's gaze was held captive by the soft eyes gazing at her, seemingly into her, full of love. The moment was broken, however, when her eyes caught movement lightly lower than her love's eyes.
Red licked her lips slowly, her head cocked slightly to the side. "…You taste like oranges."
"M-mhm, do I?" Emma stuttered slightly as her eyes closed, her head tilting to the side as Red seemingly remembered her earlier intention. "They-ah, they don't really do the whole apple juice thing here, so I-I, uh, orange..." Emma replied distractedly to the silent question before relaxing into her comfy bed with her arms wrapped around Red as the girl settled down.
Satisfied with her progress for the moment, Red curled up into Emma's arms and sighed contentedly. Long, lazy moments passed as the two became reacquainted with each other's presence. After a while of listening, quite smugly, to the rodent's sounds of displeasure far below, a niggling thought wormed its way to the forefront of Red's mind. "Em?"
"Hm?" Emma cracked an eye open to look at her, though her hands never stopped their circular motion on her back.
"Why do you have that thing in the first place?" Red couldn't stop herself from sneering slightly as she mentioned the rodent.
Amused once more, Emma opened both her eyes. "My…parents noticed I was getting depressed. They didn't know why, but Ma-Snow figured it would help to have a companion to snuggle with, hence Mr. Snuggles."
"Couldn't she have gotten you a teddy bear or something?" Red mumbled, displeased with her friend's ill made choice.
"Don't be jealous," Emma started, cutting off her girlfriend's defensive growling before it could even begin. "I have everything I need to snuggle with right in my arms." Emma soothed the grumpy beast with a few strokes of her hand through silky locks. Finding an ear, she whispered, "you give the best snuggles, anyhow."
"Damn straight I do," Red mumbled, leaning into to caress. "And don't you forget it."
"Though," Emma began, almost contemplatively, "I suppose actions should be taken, to head off future misunderstandings, you understand."
"Oh?" Red raised her head, intrigued.
"Well, yes," Emma grinned, brow raised. "I can't very well have everyone in the forest thinking I'm up for grabs, can I?"
"No. No, we can't have that." Red strongly agreed with her princess.
"I suppose the only thing to do, then, would be for you to claim me. Mark me as…" Emma looked teasingly up into predatory eyes. "Yours."
This time, instead of an amused smirk, Red's growl caused Emma to erupt in a full body shiver.
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A/N: I adore this pairing, I really do, but I have no idea where the hell this story came from. I was blindsided.