Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT blah blah blah

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Rounding the corner, Emma made her voice firm to face whomever was intruding, shouting as she stomped with one worn boot. "Who are you!?"

Looking up to the person that had just entered the stall, Regina grinned. The stranger didn't even know who she was? This was getting more curious by the second. The man who was usually working here certainly knew who he was working for.

"I could ask you the same thing." Arching an eyebrow, Regina got up from the ground and put her hands on her hips. She obviously had more reason to be here than the stranger; the stables belonged to her family. "I've never seen you here before. How come you're doing the stable work?"

Eyeing the stranger suspiciously, Regina felt that something was off about his appearance. She couldn't pinpoint what exactly it was, but she could definitely tell that the person standing in front of her was a lot younger than the man who was supposed to work here.

At being faced with a girl likely no older than her, Emma froze, mouth open. There was no one this could be other than the daughter of the house, no one who would dress so finely. This was possibly the very worst situation Emma could have found herself in, short of turning herself in to the slightly sadistic lady of the house for doing what would normally be a young man's job.

"I-uh..my father was the stable hand. He has taken ill." Words are falling from Emma's lips quickly, but hopefully not so quickly that it makes her voice high enough to notice. Crossing her arms, Emma backed away and tried to half hide under the brim of her hat, "What can I help you with, miss?" The sooner she got the other girl out of the stables, the better.

What was the girl's name? She couldn't think, remembering only once or twice when the lady of the house had scolded the other girl in a high pitched voice for speaking to Emma while she tended the swans. Regina. She could remember the haughty tone the other woman had said the name in, remembering the fear she held inside when the lady's eyes had passed over her in a haze of..not hatred, maybe disgust? It wasn't something her small self could identify.

The stranger had seemed to recognize who Regina was, addressing her as 'miss', and slowly backing off. Regina's grin grew even wider as she noticed the sudden change of the person's body language, clearly retreating and acting more subservient than anything else. "Oh, so your father is ill and you didn't inform the family of the house about it?" Arching an eyebrow, she'd now crossed her arms in front of her.

She was going to play this game a little longer; because - when was she ever allowed to speak to someone else? When did she ever get the chance of interacting with someone closer to her own age?

Trying to hold back another giggle, she took one step into the stranger's direction. "I could easily tell my mother about this, you know." Examining the person's appearance further, Regina noticed that the clothes he was wearing were clearly too big for him. Why wasn't he wearing proper clothes? He could've easily slipped on the mud with the pants that didn't seem to fit him, and been trampled over by the horses.

Regina was actually genuinely sad and worried about the fact she'd just learned. She'd liked the man working at the stables. Who knew what her mother would do the stranger's father if she'd found out. "What's your name anyway? I didn't know your father had a son."

Emma's breath caught when Regina mentioned her mother, her rebellious brain instantly concocting all of the worst case scenarios. Thoughts of her father, sick in bed in the little hut near the gardener's shack, haunted Emma.

"E-Eric. I worked in the village, and when my father took ill, I returned to care for him." Yes, it was a blatant lie, but the truth was far more dangerous. Tugging the coat sleeves down over her long skinny fingers, Emma tried to square her shoulders and look taller. If Regina stepped forward and questioned her further, she wouldn't pass for a boy,

The precarious edge where she perched was making Emma dizzy. Shuffling to the side, away from Regina a bit, the blonde tried to make an excuse. "If you'll pardon me, I should be going, the hay needs to be bundled before I can go." True, but all the hay that was needed had been bundled. Emma just wanted something that sounded relatively boring to any normal girl in hopes that Regina would go away and not ruin the little life Emma was trying to hold together.

"Ah, Eric. You should've informed someone about the situation." Regina said with her head held up high. She pushed further, but she wasn't going to be able to hold back her giggles for much longer. She also knew it wasn't nice of her to scare the boy; they all feared her mother, just like she did. She'd felt her wrath enough times, and she couldn't escape it either.

When the stranger mentioned that he was about to leave, Regina made a grimace. "No." She only realized that the word had escaped her mouth after it had happened, and she avoided the boy's eyes. "I mean.. you can't leave yet." Afraid of being left alone yet again, Regina bit her lip, and corrected, "You shouldn't leave yet."

It was obvious that her expression and body language had suddenly changed, and she shrugged. Even if he had to finish the stable work, she'd go with him. She loved to be around the horses, and maybe she could even help? She wasn't completely oblivious to how things worked, since she had watched the boy's father work here at least a few times.

"Maybe.. I could help?"

The offer to help surprised Emma more than anything, making her pause and consider. Letting Regina help would give the brunette plenty of opportunity to realize that 'Eric' was definitely not what he seemed. However, refusing might look even more suspicious.

Mentally cursing, Emma went for something better. "I..was going to polish the saddles as well. Perhaps you could help with that?" Not only would it mean that Emma could hide in the hay and keep Regina farther away on a work bench, but also Emma didn't think a small noble girl would be very helpful with physical labor anyway.

Curiosity settled in as her nerves began to calm, leaving Emma wanting to ask as to why Regina would be lurking about the stables. If Emma remembered correctly, Regina's mother wasn't the type to want her daughter anywhere near any servants.

Almost pouting, Regina expressed her disappointment. "But I thought.. maybe we could.. talk?" She couldn't have put it more awkwardly, but that was really all Regina had wanted. A simple conversation with someone, without her mother watching over her, or telling her to stop. "I.. how old are you anyway? Working the stables is hard, I know."

The clothes that didn't seem to fit the stranger were still bothering Regina, but there was something else. Eric seemed to hide underneath the hat, and she wondered why. Now that she'd found out who he was, and why he was working here, there was really no reason to be afraid. So why.. oh. "Hey Eric, I'm not going to tell anyone." The boy was probably afraid of what was about to happen after he'd leave the stables, or what Regina would tell her parents.

Regina wasn't sure how to explain the situation she was in, had she never really talked to anyone about it. There was no one she felt close to, except for her horses. After acting all confident, she now felt a bit lost.

"I'm fourteen." The age when most girls were poking their fathers to find out their dowry and begging their mothers to put one more ruffle on their nice gown to catch the attention of a certain boy. Emma was anything but a normal girl and she knew this, but the thoughts of what should have been made her voice just slightly bitter.

Turning and walking towards the end of the barn where work was done, Emma gestured to Regina. She wanted to talk..that would be difficult. Maybe.. "Why were you hiding in here?" There, a question, good enough to stall a bit..hopefully.

Emma reached and fiddled with the hat as she walked, trying to adjust it without looking too obvious, or letting any of the long blonde locks tumble free.

Smiling at the stranger now, Regina nodded. "I'm fourteen too!" Excited about her new discovery, Regina added, "We're the same age!" even though it was obvious. She never got the chance to talk to anyone her age. It wasn't going to take long until she was going to start feeling paranoid.. her mother would certainly look for her if she stayed away from home for too long.

Sighing, Regina turned to the boy, and simply answered his question. "I wasn't really.. hiding." She rolled her eyes. "I was trying to get some space. Usually, the stables are empty. Except for when your father works here, you know." Walking past the boy and out of the stall, she added, "I only hid in the stall to scare you." and giggled.

Still wondering why the boy seemed so intimidated, Regina gestured him to follow. Maybe he was really just afraid of her telling on him.

When Regina took the lead towards the work area, Emma accepted it, just relieved that the other girl wasn't looking as hard at her anymore. How much longer could she keep this up?

"To scare me? That's not very nice." Emma let the humour filter in her voice. Yes, Regina was a child, a privileged child, but so was Emma, and she was liking this chatting despite the air of danger. Regina was happy and accepting, but would she be the same if she knew Emma was not what she said? Would she go running to her mother if she knew that a girl was doing all the work in the stables and outwards?

Reaching up to the shelf where the polish is kept, Emma pushed up onto her toes, only just barely tall enough to reach the jar. Having such high shelves was often a pain, but it kept everything out of reach of the feed and such. Breathing out as she reached the polish, Emma took a look at Regina as she put the jar on the workbench and went to retrieve the saddle that needed a shine. The girl was growing, that much was obvious, but she seemed delicate in a way. Emma could only suppose that was how all noblegirls looked. If she weren't trying to pass for a boy at the moment, Emma might feel self conscious.

"How do you feel about fairytales?" Emma had started to think of the stories her mother would tell, and the few her father would while he worked and she helped. It was nostalgic and part of her couldn't resist sharing with Regina. After all, she rarely got to share with anyone who could actually speak back.

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