So I saw OTP at the beach prompts (from otpmusings on tumblr) and this happened... Kind of a warm up while I get back to my multichap, not much but I'm really into Killian disliking swimming/actually being in water! A little AU because I wanted Henry to be younger.
Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon A Time or its associated characters.
"You coming?" Emma asks, looking down at Killian. He fiddles with the edge of the towel he's sitting on, avoiding her gaze.
"Um," he says.
"Um?"
"Well, you know I'm not really... fond of water." He looks up almost apologetically, and the corner of her mouth curves up into a smile.
"You don't have to go in that far," she promises.
"Or I could, alternatively, not go in at all," he counters.
Henry, down by the water's edge, calls up to them.
"Are you guys coming too?" Killian glances up to see how excited the boy is and sighs.
"Alright, I'm not going to be a source of disappointment," he mutters, standing and taking Emma's hand as she leads him down to the water. Henry is nearly jumping with joy as he wades into the sea, the water reaching his waist before he turns back to them expectantly. Killian steps forward enough for the water to wash over his toes and immediately jumps back in shock, both Henry and Emma laughing at his expression.
"It's not that bad," Henry assures him. "You're gonna come in, right?" And, shit, Killian can't say no when Henry looks at him with those puppy eyes and when he remembers that the beach is all the boy has talked about all week, even drawing a special pirate ship picture for Killian in school and proudly presenting it to him with the smile that he got from his mother.
"Of course," Killian replies, smiling before he looks back at the water in front of him.
"You don't have to," Emma reminds him.
"No, no, I want to." He smiles at Henry again and then meets Emma's eyes with a helpless expression. "Um," he says again. She grins.
"Very eloquent today." He can feel heat rush into his cheeks.
"Will you, um - would you, perhaps... Can I have a piggyback?" He scratches the back of his neck nervously as he asks.
"Hop on," she says easily. Killian is slightly concerned about what Henry will think of him before Emma steps into the sea while he's on her back. The water is barely past her knees before he clings to her for dear life.
"Emma, the water's going to touch me," he whispers, panicked. She stops walking and puts her hand over his where it grips her shoulder.
"It won't, look, we'll stop here. See? Not too deep." He looks down and swears he sees a crab scuttling along the sand near Emma's feet, causing him to hide his face in her neck and close his eyes.
"This should be fine," he says, hearing how unsure his traitor voice sounds.
"Mom! Look! I found a shell!" Henry really is jumping in excitement now, Killian can hear the water splash around him as he does. Emma takes a step closer to him and Killian feels his grip falter.
"Emma, I'm slipping!" He feels the water on his toes again, only making him more frantic. "Emma! Go back! It's touching me!" He tries to hold on tighter as he feels her move again, the water receding from him. She squeezes his hand.
"You can look now," she says gently. Killian opens his eyes to see sand beneath them and lets his feet touch ground once more, stepping back from Emma. He's about to apologise and shamefully avoid the curious gazes he's attracted when he feels Henry put the shell he found into his hand.
"My friend Grace is scared of water, too," he says simply. "It's okay because I can find the shells with mom and then you can take care of them." Killian grins at him and promises to keep his shells safe.
By the time they get around to eating the picnic they packed, Killian has a small mound of shells in his lap that he watches over as if it were treasure. By the time they have to leave, there are two whole buckets full of seashells, and neither Killian nor Emma has the heart to return any of them to the sea, even after Henry falls asleep on his superhero towel. Killian carries him to the car carefully, and he only half wakes up when he's put in his seat.
"You got all of them?" he checks as Killian belts him in.
"Every one," Killian swears.
"Thanks, dad." He's asleep again before Killian's sure he heard correctly, turning to Emma with a look of wonder. She smiles and presses a small kiss to his lips.
"Let's go home."