On the occasion of my gorgeous friend the-lady-of-misthaven's birthday, I went in search of a prompt. This one spoke to me...
"I use morse code to talk to my friend during class but it turns out you know morse code too and now you know that I think you have a cute butt" au
It remained one of Ruby's more insane ideas - and yet it turned out it was also one of the most practical. When her friend had suggested they learn morse code as a foolproof way of communicating in class back in their middle school days, Emma had never imagined it would be coming in handy some ten years later as she sat in a seedy bar, drink in hand, waiting for her terminally late friend to arrive.
Because she was almost one hundred percent certain the two guys sitting next to her were using it to have an in depth discussion about the merits of buying her a drink.
If Ruby had been on time, she would never have noticed the rhythmic tapping but as she became more irritated with being kept waiting, every little noise around her began to grate. Emma turned to glare mercilessly at the culprit, but found herself sucking in a sharp breath of disbelief at the instant tug of attraction she felt low in her belly when her green eyes met a pair of sparkling blue ones.
She had never turned her head away so quickly, but she cast what she hoped was a surreptitious glance back at them, just to confirm her initial reaction. The older man with the curly hair was certainly attractive enough, but the tousled dark hair, ginger scruff and perfectly fitted jeans on the younger man were jaw dropping, even to one as cynical about men as Emma Swan.
And she was very cynical.
Just not dead yet.
It was while she sat taking some much needed deep breaths that she realised the noise that had drawn her attention to them was more purposeful than it appeared at first. Tuning in, she started to recognise the patterns of dots and dashes.
Jesus, brother, she's stunning. Emma smiled despite herself when she realised this came from the ridiculously hot one. It crossed her mind that she should, perhaps, be outraged at them secretly discussing her but for now she would take the compliment. And ignore the fact that she and Ruby could just as easily be the conspirators in this situation. Had been the conspirators in situations just like this.
Would have been if Ruby had the ability to tell the time.
Go talk to her, you plonker. Emma frowned at the unfamiliar epithet, as Mr Ginger Scruff ran a hand through his hair, leaving it crumpled and looking for all the world like he had just rolled out of bed. She swallowed hard at that thought. They must have the heating turned up in this place, because Emma Swan didn't have hot flushes at the mere thought of an attractive man. Yet she could feel the colour rise in her cheeks as she tried to look nonchalantly past them, towards the door. Where the hell was Ruby? she thought. A dose of flirtatious brunette would put a stop to this nonsense once and for all and she could resume her normal program of scaring away potential admirers with her well practised glare.
Because at this moment, left to her own devices, all she wanted to do was yell at him to listen to his brother and come talk to her.
Can't. His long fingers wrapped around his glass, and he swirled the amber liquor lazily around before taking a long swig. Emma fought the urge to stare, taking out her phone instead and pretending to be preoccupied with scrolling her messages, or email, or anything, really that wasn't gaping open mouthed at how hot the silver ring on his thumb looked as he held the glass.
Oh God. She was in deep trouble.
Won't. Coward. Scruffy McGee - maybe ridiculous nicknames might diffuse this heat - shrugged and glanced regretfully in Emma's direction as his companion shook his head sadly. Amidst the haze of attraction, she wondered what could possibly have a man who looked like that so uncertain about approaching a woman in a bar?
Calling the barman. Drink for the lady? There was no response.
The older man called the barman over and ordered another drink for them both, and Emma closed her eyes in disbelief as he spoke. That was an accent. Of course it was. And the international male model there would be sure to have one too. Brother, he had said.
Deep, deep trouble.
Are you not attracted to her?
Sod off. Emma chuckled at this reaction and both men looked at her strangely. She busied herself with her phone, hoping to maintain the pretence of her focus being on the device.
Did she laugh at us? There was an anxious edge to the tapping, his blue eyes full of concern.
Course not, who knows morse?
There was a disturbance at the door as a whirlwind of dark hair and short skirt barrelled into the room. Spying Emma by the bar, Ruby made a beeline for her, and all but threw herself onto a stool.
"Sorry Ems, you know how it is." She indicated to the barman for a drink, as her dark eyes roved the room before coming to rest on the brothers at the adjacent stools. Her back to them, Ruby's eyes widened and before Emma could stop her, her long red nails were tapping furiously on the bar.
Jesus, look at those two!
Emma gasped and bit down on her bottom lip as the two men turned and looked at her, open mouthed. Ruby looked from Emma to their neighbours in confusion as Emma tried to look apologetic.
"Sorry?" she said with a shrug before being unable to contain the burst of laughter she could feel bubbling any longer. Ruby was dumbstruck - quite the achievement - as she watched her friend gasp for breath, tears streaming from her eyes. The younger brother's face flushed crimson as the older smirked before erupting into laughter that matched Emma's, steadying himself against the countertop.
"I don't know what the hell is going on," Ruby grinned, "but it looks like my kind of party. "
Calming himself, the older brother held out a hand to Ruby and Emma in turn.
"Liam Jones," he said, "and this is my brother, Killian. You know morse code?"
"Ruby Lucas and Emma Swan. It was great for talking in class." Ruby shot back, clearly sizing up the situation. "You know morse code?"
"Naval officers," Killian replied. Emma hardly noticed the hard squeeze of Ruby's fingers on her shoulder at that answer, lost in an overwhelming vision of Killian in an officer's uniform. Killian. Even his name sounded dangerously attractive.
Killian held out a hand to Ruby, who winked wolfishly at him as she shook it before he turned to Emma. The tips of his ears still had a pinkish tinge as he took her hand, but nevertheless he brought it to his lips and placed a soft kiss on the back of her fingers, his eyes not leaving hers for a second. Emma prayed the soft shudder of desire was in her imagination, that he hadn't felt it.
He hadn't let go of her hand, though.
Until Ruby reached in and took control. She grabbed Killian's hand, holding it palm up in hers as Emma looked on questioningly. Experience told her to be at least a little concerned about where this was going. Ruby was looking intently at Killian as her highly polished fingernail tapped determinedly on his outstretched hand.
"Well Mr Jones, I am sorry to tell you that I need to steal the lovely Ms Swan away - we have places to be this evening that don't involve naval officers, no matter how handsome." Before Emma could protest, the same fingernail that had been working on Killian's hand was against her lips to silence her. Emma watched as something changed in Killian's face, a wide grin appearing that crinkled the skin around his eyes in a way that made her breath catch. Was Ruby kidding?
It appeared not as she placed an arm around Emma's shoulder and led her towards the door of the bar, pausing only to look back over her shoulder at the brothers. "We'll see you again, gentleman. Good night."
When they hit the cool air of the outside, Emma wheeled on Ruby, eyes flashing. "What the hell, Ruby? I didn't even get his number."
Ruby grinned wildly. "No, but he's got yours. If you weren't so busy staring into those ridiculous blue eyes you would know that I wouldn't leave you hanging." A vision of Ruby's fingers tapping against Killian's hand flashed into Emma's head and she shook her head at her friend, chuckling softly. Until a thought hit her.
"And if he didn't get the code?" Emma tried to hide the note of panic in her voice, but before Ruby could answer, her message tone sounded.
Tell Miss Lucas I got her message. I'll call you tomorrow, Swan. _._