"This is going to be stupid." Emma Swan declared as she stopped at the entrance of the hotel. "I'm turning around, grabbing Chinese takeout, a six pack of beer and going home." She pivoted in her heels, set to start marching back to her car, blonde curls bouncing around her shoulders in determination.
Ruby Lucas made a face at her best friend as she grabbed her arm, forcibly escorting her into the building. "Emma. Mary-Margaret already told David we'd come and watch him perform." The two women wound their way through the hotel hallways, Ruby still keeping Emma's arm in a steely death grip to restrain her from leaving. Once entering the mostly full ballroom, she grinned brightly and pointed to the bar, "Hey, at least there's booze to help us through the night."
Emma rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I'm not sure if there is enough alcohol available worldwide to help me watch David prance around in a ridiculous prince costume and possibly sing show tunes."
"Emma! Ruby!" Mary-Margaret's cheery voice called out as she waved them over, effectively interrupting Emma's complaints. They worked their way over to the table through the crowded room, full of excited patrons. "I'm so happy you made it," Mary-Margaret said when they arrived to the table, then shared a meaningful look with Ruby. "When did she try to run?"
"At the front door." Ruby sighed dramatically and collapsed into a chair. "You're a real pain in my ass to have any fun, Ems."
"Funny." Emma mock glared at Ruby and then turned to Mary-Margaret as she settled into her seat, "You know that this…"
"Isn't my sorta thing." Ruby and Mary-Margaret chorused together. "We know."
A uniformed waiter suddenly appeared to drop off their drinks, Mary-Margaret already knowing to order a hard cider for Ruby and a neat whiskey for Emma without having to ask.
Emma huffed slightly as she took a small drink. For practically her entire life, her friends had been on a quest, to get Emma to experience the world more often. It started off innocently enough going to minor high school events, then onward to bigger and better events in college and now, even as they were in their late twenties, they still dragged her out of her apartment to random, insane events. For a girl that never had a family, she knew that she could never deny her best friends anything. So, she went along with their crazy ideas.
Like Fairy Tale Themed Murder Mystery dinners. Who knew there even was such a thing? Did Tinkerbell stab Peter Pan in the conservatory with a knife in the first act?
Emma snorted quietly as she looked around the room, silently judging the people that were filing in. "Anyway. How did David get involved in this again?" She asked Mary-Margaret, who was happily drinking her Diet Coke and looking over the program, scanning the pages for David's name. A slow smile slipped on her face when she found his name - David Nolan ~ Prince Charming near the top of the program.
"A friend of his recommended him for the part of Prince Charming. Said he'd be a natural!" Mary-Margaret beamed as she leaned over in her seat, showing Emma the program. "It was a bit off-putting at first, he said he wasn't a fan of the tight leather pants…"
Ruby bit back a snort.
"But, now that they've done a few shows, he says he really enjoys it!" Mary-Margaret finished as she reached forward to snag a roll from the bread basket.
Internally bemoaning the loss of five hours of her life, Emma rolled her shoulders back and reached for the program, scanning the names and faces of the cast. Peter Pan, Prince Charming… on and on through the black and white faces until she reached the smiling headshot of an actor named Killian Jones, otherwise known as the infamous Captain Hook.
Emma resisted the urge to fan herself with the program. Wow.
With a raised eyebrow, she turned the program to Mary-Margaret. "Is this David's friend?"
"Killian?" Mary-Margaret peered at the picture. "Oh yes, he's a real sweetheart. David tells me that his Captain Hook performance is quite inspired."
Ruby opened her program and whistled. "Damn. I'd like to have him inspire me any day."
Emma smirked at her friend just slightly before the waiters brought their first course and all talk of the handsome actor was abandoned.
About twenty minutes later, a high whistle rang throughout the ballroom. Emma quirked an eyebrow at Ruby as they turned in their chairs. "Greetings, my fairest Lords and Ladies!" David announced as he strode through the ballroom, clad in a decadent, yet slightly ridiculous red waistcoat and leather pants. "I am Prince Charming and tonight I will lead you through an exciting adventure through the Enchanted Forest!" He paused dramatically.
The audience cheered. Mary-Margaret clapped with total glee, while Emma mentally added to the list of jokes she was planning to make at David's expense later.
David moved through the tables, artfully weaving and dodging chairs and people as he continued his speech. "Beware, there are many oddities in the Enchanted Forest. But! Never fear!" He proclaimed as he bowed deeply in front of Mary-Margaret, pulling out her hand and kissing her knuckles with a small grin. "I will be here to protect you from harm!"
Emma and Ruby both rolled their eyes at their friend as he continued past their table, a good-natured grin plastered on his face.
"Ah-ha! But who will protect you from me, my dearies!" A high pitched giggle suddenly rang out through the ballroom as the light swung to project on a smaller man, clad in a scale-like costume, complete with green facial glitter as he bounced out of a side door.
"Rumplestiltskin! The Dark One!" David gasped, freezing in place from across the ballroom. "What are you doing here?
Another giggle as the actor danced around the ballroom, laughing and swaying. "You see, I had myself a little deal with this fellow, King Midas…" He swung about, waving his arms at the sudden appearance of a man slumped over in a chair. "...and now someone has killed him to ruin my plans!"
David raised out his hands, still smiling. "Restrain yourself Dark One! This seems to be not of my concern."
Ruby leaned over to Emma. "Admit it, this is better than you expected and we still haven't even seen Captain Hotness yet."
Emma shrugged noncommittally as she leaned forward to listen to the dialogue.
Rumpelstiltskin tittered manically, "Maybe, maybe not dearie! However, it seems that you owe me a favor! I ask that you and these lovely guests of yours…" He gestured at the enraptured audience, looking at their faces carefully. "...shall lend me your aid in uncovering the dastardly perpetrator of this crime!"
Sighing dramatically, David looked around at the audience. "It seems that you have a difficult choice to make. Take it to heart, my dear Lords and Ladies, for agreeing to work with the Dark One… comes with a price." He told them seriously as he looked over the group. "What do you say, will you help me uncover the truth?"
The audience cheered again, Ruby and Mary-Margaret included, while David nodded.
"It sounds like they have made their choice!" The Dark One waved his arms and four plumes of smoke suddenly shot off, raising up from the risers in front of the ballroom. The lights shone down on the four characters that stood as the smoke cleared.
"The Evil Queen - Regina!" Rumple announced as an angry looking woman, dressed entirely in black with a regal looking headdress, stepped forward. She hissed at the audience, who gasped good-naturedly. "Bow before your Queen!" Sparks flew from her hands as she walked further into the ballroom.
Rumplestiltskin laughed as he clapped his hands together. "Introducing - the Wicked Witch of the West - Zelena!" He pointed to the actress covered in green paint, complete with glittering green pendant dangling from her neck. "Oh Rumplestiltskin, you are completely out of your league." She sneered at the audience, fluffed a stuffed monkey perched on her shoulder and walked down from the risers.
When the third section turned up empty, Rumplestiltskin comically turned around to the audience, waving his arms. Finally, a maniacal giggle rang out through the ballroom, the audience swiveling in their seats to find a young man bouncing around, clad from head to toe in green. "I am the one and only Peter Pan!" He announced, striding forward to strike a pose, his eyebrow arching perfectly. "And Rumple, you know better than to involve me in your petty affairs. If I wanted to kill your King, you'd know it! Peter Pan never fails!"
A sudden hush fell over the crowd. Then, the last light slowly shone upwards, starting from the boots and ending on the insanely attractive face of Captain Hook. He was leaning against the back wall, arms crossed and looked bored with the entire proceeding. Clad from head to toe in black, most of which was leather. His bright blue eyes were rimmed with kohl eyeliner. A sword was attached to his hip and the shining silver hook on his left hand gleamed in the light.
Emma felt her breath catch in her throat as he looked up from across the room his blue eyes meeting hers. Their gazes locked for a long moment, before he broke eye contact with a quick wink. The chatter from the audience dimmed as the blood unexpectedly rushed in her ears.
"And finally, the scourge of the seven seas - Captain Hook!" Rumplestiltskin announced in a loud voice, breaking Emma from her trance. Apparently, the audience had a few repeat visitors because a smattering of applause broke out at the mention of his name.
Captain Hook grinned, a long slow grin that had Emma fantasizing about tracing those lips with hers, as he met her gaze once again. He stepped forward into a deep bow. "My reputation precedes me, I see… and I prefer dashing rapscallion, Crocodile." He spoke carefully, his smooth British accent instantly charming the remainder of the audience, and a frozen Emma. With fluid grace, he jumped from the risers and began to circulate through the tables with the rest of the actors. Emma resisted the urge to turn and watch him.
"Does this show sell season tickets?" Ruby whispered excitedly as she leaned across Emma to ask Mary-Margaret. "Because Captain Hook is smoking hot!"
Try as she might, Emma couldn't keep the interested expression off her face as she gave up pretending, her eyes were trained on the Captain's movements. If she was in middle school, she might be tempted to cut out his picture and stick it in the front cover of her folder. Captain Hook was undeniably, for all intents and purposes, hot.
Mary-Margaret grinned. "I'll introduce you guys after the show, but I hate to tell you this, Ruby… It looks like the dear Captain cannot keep his eyes off of Emma."
Ruby's eyes widened for a moment before clapping her hands together happily. Emma shot her friend a wry grin as her eyes tracked back to the devilishly handsome pirate. He instantly found her watching him and another slow lazy smile lit his features.
"Oh yeah, honey. Can we say smitten?" Ruby and Mary-Margaret laughed as the shell-shocked Emma tore her gaze away from him to glare at her friends.
Damn them.