Emma loved the city. She loved the noise. She loved not having to wave to everyone as she walked down the street. She loved being alone while surrounded by hundreds of people she passed every day. She loved not having to care if she looked perfect, or if someone saw her do something strange; she would probably never see them again any way.
She knew why she didn't come into the city often, it wasn't just around the corner. After recently moving to Storybrooke over an hour away, Emma had seriously started to miss the city even though it had only been a couple months. She still came in sometimes though, when Henry had sleep overs.
Today was one of those days. Henry would be spending the night at Avery's house, and Emma would be spending the night in the city. She had booked a hotel room and a dinner reservation, and had decided to walk around a bit and see some of the stores. She stopped in a used book store for another fairy tale book for Henry. He had just finished all things Hans Christian Andersen, and Emma found a nice copy of a collection of the Grimm's Brothers.
She had decided to walk to a café for lunch when she noticed a short man with a large dog. Now Emma was in fact a grown woman, but come one. Dogs are awesome. So of course she just had to see if she could pet him.
"Can I say hi?" Emma asked the round little man, who jumped slightly and shifted his old red hat across his head.
"Oh, um, sure. I mean- of course." He gave almost a little bow as he stepped back to let her pet the dog.
Emma knelt down to the dog's level, looking straight into his blue eyes. She had never seen such beautiful eyes on a dog before.
"Well aren't you beautiful." She whispered softly to him, before reaching up her hands to scratch both his ears. The dog gave her the strangest expression – almost indignation – before realizing how good it felt to have his ears scratched.
"What's his name?" She asked looking up to the man in the red cap.
"It's, uh, it's Hook." He stuttered.
"As in Captain Hook?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes." He said quickly, with almost a look of hope in his eyes. "You've heard of him."
"I think pretty much everyone has seen Peter Pan at one point or another." She laughed, still rubbing Hook's ears as his leg and tail began to thump on the ground in rhythm with her hands. He stopped as soon as he had done it, shaking his head in what Emma could have sworn was part disbelief and part annoyance.
"Oh, yes. I suppose they have." The hope had gone from the man's eyes to be replaced by something just short of despair.
The man was a strange one alright, as was the dogs.
"He's a German Sheppard right? Just one of the darker ones?" Emma asked, trying to steer the conversation back into normal territory.
"Ah, yes he is." A contemplative look had swept across the man's face as Emma had spoke. "Would you mind terribly holding his leash while I fix my shoe laces?" He asked quickly.
"Sure thing." Emma smiled, strangeness aside, he was a beautiful dog. She had knelt down again to pet Hook when the man suddenly took off at a sprint in the opposite direction.
"Sorry!" He yelled over his shoulder before Emma could process what had just happened.
"Wait, he's coming back. Right?" She asked, looking down at the dog.
Hook seemed pissed, his lips were drawn up over his teeth as he stared after the man who was now gone.
"He's not coming back." Emma said to herself before looking down at Hook. "Seriously?" She complained.
That caused Hook's attention to snap back to her. He gave her a wolfish grin that seemed to say you're stuck with me now.
"I'm not an animal shelter." She muttered before gathering up more of his leash to lead Hook down the street. "Okay boy," She began looking down at the mutt next to her. "It's gonna be alright. You're owner might have taken off on you, but don't you worry." She paused to rub his ear as they walked. Once again the pup looked offended before leaning further into her touch. "I'm gonna find you a great home."
Emma didn't just want to drop him off at any shelter. She knew half of those places would sooner put a dog to sleep than take the time to find a proper home. Lucky for her she had a friend who worked in Storybrooke's animal shelter.
"Okay buddy, we are gonna go see David."
Bloody hell. Hook thought, looking at the yellow death trap this lass seemed to call her vessel. Hook was having a rough day. It was bad enough that the bloody Queen of Hearts had gotten pissed off at him and thrown him into a portal before the curse had broken, but to add insult to injury the witched had given him paws and a tail before she did. Not to mention the fact that the only companion she had given him was the sorry excuse for a human that had just left him with this, while beautiful, clueless lass. So yes, he was having a rough day, and he was not going to top it off by sitting in the backseat of that contraption.
How does she expect me to fit in something so small? Is there any room to move in that thing?
"Come on boy." The blonde urged him, trying to get him to jump in.
Oh no lass, if you want me in I'm going in the front.
She seemed to catch on to his line of thought. "Oh no, don't you dare-"she began before Hook launched all four of his legs into the little yellow devil before bounding straight into the passenger seat.
"Hey!" Emma yelled. "No! Bad dog, in the back. She pointed furiously to the back seat.
Not happening lass, he thought with a lick to his lips.
"Fine." She snapped, slamming the door with more force than necessary. "You're lucky you're so cute."
Cute? Captain Hook is not cute! I prefer dashing rapscallion.
"What?" She asked, looking over to him as the metal beast roared to life. "You're offended that I called you cute?"
Smart lass, he thought observing her closely.
"Tough shit buddy. You're a cutie." She rubbed her hand across his head to make her point. In retaliation, he licked her hand.
"Oh come on!" She complained, wiping her hand down his coat to get the slime off. "Not cool."
She had hit the high way now, and she rolled down the window to let the evening summer air flow into the car. Hook like the windows down. He stuck his head part way out, before realizing he was acting like a cabin boy on his first sail, leaning his head over the railing as the waves sloshed beneath them. He pulled his head back in quickly.
"What kind of dog doesn't keep their head out the window?" Emma asked, throwing him a befuddled look.
Oh lass, if only you knew.
"Either way," She sighed. "When we get to Storybrooke, you get to go live with David."
Storybrooke. Perhaps the witch didn't screw me over like she intended, Hook thought, watching the road disappear beneath the front of the car. Perhaps this lass is just what I need to get my revenge.