Writer's Block (and all the other things that happen in the average day of Henry Daniel Mills)
Henry finds that even the great Author can get a serious case of writer's block. Emma and Regina try and give inspiration, only to find that muses are found in the most unorthodox places.
XXX
"I thought Mom said you shouldn't be moving around too much." Emma shot her son a small glare. But reluctantly resumed her place on the couch. Her leg was wrapped in some kind of magically infused bandage that absorbed the impurities that touched the skin. According to Regina, it would temporarily slow the effects of the poison until she could produce a proper antidote.
That is, if it didn't stop her heart first.
"Don't you have a paper to write or something?" Henry snorted.
"Ma, if I couldn't write at lunch, what makes you think I can possibly focus now?" The teen ducked to avoid a pillow aimed at his head. Said pillow was deftly caught by his adoptive mother, narrowly missing a vase.
"Henry! Don't patronize your mother!" Emma snickered and stuck her tongue out at her son from her place on the couch. "Thank you Regina."
"Don't. You'll be replacing anything you break, Miss Swan." A startled yip escaped the blondes mouth when Regina none too gently plucked a few hairs from her scalp.
"Hey! I'm on my deathbed here!"
Regina poked her head out from the kitchen to glare at the couch ridden woman. "You are not going t-"
As these waves crash against the highway cliffs
I'm so scared they'll flood me where I sit
When roads they change to waterways
They never carry home…
"Hello?"
"Emma!" The blonde cringed at the sheer volume of her mother's voice. "Where have you been? You were supposed to be home two hours ago!"
You'd think that after 5 years, Snow White would have eased up on her mothering role. Seeing as though her daughter was over 30 with a child of her own, but no. More often than not, she acted as though Emma was a rebellious teenager who was in desperate need of her mother's guidance. Now was one of these such times it seemed.
"Emma?"
"I'm at Regina's, Snow." The words pained her to say. She could almost see Snow White`s enraged countenance as she marched toward her apartment door, her puppy of a husband trailing at her heels.
"Emma! What have we told you about-" And with that, the sheriff muted the phone. Henry burst into another fit of laughter. A small grimace flicked across Emma face as her leg throbbed. She reached down to run her finger over the warm bandages and hissed.
"Miss Swan! What have I told you about touching it?" Small hands batted her own away. Regina then proceeded to unwrap the wound in order to check its progress. Emma grit her teeth as the cool air in the mansion stung her skin.
"Ow…" Concerned hazel eyes flicked to the blonde's face. Emma's eyes were fixed on the ceiling, bottom lip caught in between her teeth. "Please tell me its better than it feels."
"Well if you don't want to know- "
"Mom!"
"It's moving more rapidly than I first anticipated. Henry have you narrowed down the list of plants in the yard?" The teen produced a small list from his back pocket and handed it over. "thank you rear. Now, will you run upstairs and grab the Sherriff a dose of pain relievers from my bathroom? She`ll need it in the next few hours."
XXX
A loud grumbling could be heard in the kitchen. The sun had set an hour ago and still no progress had been made on the antidote. Regina had called her into the kitchen when the smell of herbs was strongest. Unfortunately, so was the scent of the Chicken parmesan Henry was eating for dinner.
"Remind me why I'm being denied actual food again?" The mayor didn't even turn around. "As I said before, anything in your system has the potential to counteract the antidote. That includes food and anything other than water. Besides, you wont be able to keep anything down."
Emma grimaced at the (very recent) memory. "Doesn't mean want to stave."
"Here, drink this." Emma eyed the brightly colored liquid warily, Regina had been feeding her potions for the last half hour in hopes of buying herself more time to finish the actual antidote. Most of them had left Emma feeling more than a little nauseous. And if Henry wasn't staring at them from the dining room table she would have downed enough cider to stop caring at this point.
It was a quarter til 9 when the doorbell rang.
"Not it!" Henry chimed before darting up the stairs. Regina huffed, "No running in the house! I swear he only does that when you're here."
"Well what am I supposed to-" The doorbell rang again accompanied by an insistent knock.
Regina marched over to the front door and wrenched it open, glaring at Snow White and her husband. "And what do you think you're doing disturbing me at such an hour?"
"Regina we just want to know if you've seen- "
"What have you done with Emma?" David shot his wife a disapproving look. "Snow, we've discussed this. We can't just accuse her of- "
"But her shoes are right there! How can you stand there and defend her when-"?
"Enough!" Emma had appeared on the stairs in the foyer, arms crossed and glaring heatedly at her parents. In the back of her mind, Regina noted she had pulled her pants leg down to cover the marks of her injury.
"Emma!" Snow exclaimed. You would think she hadn't seen her daughter in moths and not just hours.
"A word outside please? "She didn't give them any time to protest, ushering them out of the doorway and shutting the door behind them. Without thinking, Regina conjured one of her thinker coats and tossed it over the blonde's head. 'If she insists on going barefoot she can at least wear a coat…'
XXX
Emma rounded on her parents with an unyielding stare. "Well? "
"We were worried something happened to you, honey." Snow defended. "I don't know how many times I've told you not to come over here but- "
"Excuse me?" David winced, he could tell this was going to get out of hand quickly. "Emma what your mother meant was- "
"No David, I want to hear what she was going to say." Emma watched Snow flounder for words for a few seconds before raising her chin and opening her mouth.
"She`s no good sweetheart. I don't know why you insist on wasting so much time with her. And you subject poor Henry to it as well. If you choose to put your life at risk day in and day out by being here at least make sure he`s safe by leaving him at home. I thought you knew better than this Emma."
"…. can you even hear yourself right now?" The blond seethed, "Because from where I'm standing, all I hear is bullshit."
"Emma Swan! I am your mother and you will not speak to me that way. "Snow looked scandalized, her face turning a bright shade of red.
"And I'm supposed to just let you talk about Regina like that? Hell no. Regina is one of the only people in this town I trust with my life. I don't care what you think she's up to. She has been in this house since we came back. And despite what you want to believe, she's a damn good mother to Henry, she would never hurt him. She loves that kid more than you two would ever know. And that's exactly why we come over here, because he is our son and I refuse to withhold him from her. She's the reason I even see him at all. So until you can accept that as reality, you can go play house with the kid that actually needs you to be his parents. "
From the other side of the front door, Regina stared unseeing at the lit chandelier. 'What? She can't really mean that.'
Can she?
The mayor had just enough time to retreat to the kitchen and pretend she wasn't eavesdropping when the front door slammed shut. Regina braced herself on the sink. "I'm guessing they left." It wasn't a question, didn't need an answer.
Silence reigned and then, "Hey Regina?"
"Yes dear?"
"What was in that last potion?" dark brows furrowed in confusion, dark red lips parted to question the blondes sudden interest when none was shown before. Regina never got to ask, when she turned around, she could only catch a glimpse of Emma Swans body crumpling to her linoleum floor.
XXX
So yeah... thanks for reading and review!
-rozenmiko