Along a quiet stretch of road in the middle of the forest, a small rabbit picked its way through a patch of clover, munching away. The silence was broken by a cloud of purple smoke that appeared from nowhere. This was followed by two people landing in a heap on the ground, where they frantically beat the fire out of their clothes as they coughed harshly into the quiet night.
Robin had slowly gotten to his feet, but remained doubled over breathing heavily and coughing weakly. Because of the way the wind was blowing in the courtyard he had been spared much of the smoke from the fire, which had instead blown directly towards Regina. He looked over to find her still on the ground coughing and trying to catch her breath. He was concerned and looked around, hoping to see some water.
"Milady, I'm going to go look around quickly and see if I can find some water," Robin said. She looked up at him and nodded as she breathed heavily between coughing fits.
Robin hurried up a hill that stretched to his left away from the road. At the top he could hear the sound of running water and spotted a stream not far away. He returned to Regina, whose coughing was improving, although she remained on the ground.
"There's a stream over that hill," he told her. "Can I help you over to it?"
"Yes, please," Regina said weakly, reaching up for his hand. He took her hand and put her arm around his neck, looping his other arm around her waist and lifting her to her feet. Surprised, she turned to look at him and found her face inches from his own. Dark brown eyes stared into deep blue. As his warm breath grazed her cheek she felt a fluttering in her stomach and she let out a soft breath of her own. His eyes flicked briefly to her lips and she felt her breath catch in her throat, leading her to immediately fall into a fit of coughs. Robin tightened his arm around her waist and began making his way back towards the stream.
Regina's coughing was steadily calming down, but Robin still carefully deposited her by the stream and left her to recover as he went to find wood for the fire they would need later (he shuddered at the thought of being close to more fire, but the nights were cold and they had no shelter or warm clothes). As he wandered away into the woods Regina sat by the stream sipping water. Half an hour later Robin returned to find her asleep, sitting propped against a tree. He squatted down beside her and quietly said "Milady, we need to make camp," gently touching her shoulder as he spoke to wake her up. She opened her eyes, looking disoriented for a moment, and then nodded her head and got to her feet.
"Feeling better?" he asked.
"Yes. But ready to go to sleep," she replied.
"Me as well. But we need to make a camp and a fire to keep warm, and somehow find some food."
"I'm not hungry," she said, overwhelmed at the thought of doing all these things when she was still half asleep and annoyed that he wouldn't just leave her alone.
"Milady we haven't eaten anything today, we barely had anything to drink, and neither of us was in fighting form to begin with. I really think we should get a hot meal in our stomachs."
"Stop calling me that," she snapped. "You can call me Regina. It would be 'You Majesty' anyways, not 'Milady'. And I said I'm not hungry."
"Fine, starve to death, see if I care," Robin said hotly. "But we will need a camp. I think we can make a fire in that clearing over there," he gestured to a clearing in the trees next to the stream. "And then we can put together a makeshift shelter with some leafy branches. It looks like rain tonight. We won't get a good nights sleep on the ground, but at least we'll be warm with a fire and something to keep the rain off of us."
"I'm not sleeping on the ground under some twigs! I'm a queen, and bit more refined." she replied.
Robin considered throttling her for a moment. "What exactly do you suggest then?" he replied incredulously. "You want to poof us back to the castle where we were so welcome and claim a nice feather bed for yourself in your half-burned clothes?!"
She glared up at him, and without looking away waved her hand. Two cots with soft pillows and warm blankets appeared in the clearing. She turned and began making her way towards one of the cots.
"We still need the shelter," he called after her.
She turned back towards him. "Seriously? I just made you your own personal feather bed and you're going to complain about how I didn't make a nice tent to go with it?"
"I don't want to wake up your banshee screams in the middle of the night when it starts raining on you, your majestic-ness!" he snapped.
"I don't banshee scream!" she yelled (rather shrilly) back at him. But knowing that he was right and the rain would ruin her plans for a nice long night of uninterrupted sleep, she waved her hand again and a four-sided canvas tent appeared around the cots. "Happy?!" she said as she turned and resumed her walk towards the tent.
"Yes, but still hungry," Robin grumbled quietly.
Regina kept walking away but waved her hand one final time, and 20 granola bars fell out of the air directly over his head, softly bouncing off of him as they fell to the ground. "And if you ask me to make you a fire after what we went through today, I will happily use the rest of your clothes as kindling while they're still on your body," she yelled over her shoulder as she entered the tent, closing the flap behind her.
She wanted to fall straight into the bed, but first needed to get out of her singed clothing. She peeled the dirty clothes off of herself and conjured a pair of black leggings and a black tank top for herself, along with a lamp to light the tent. There weren't many fashions that she would be keeping from Storybrooke, but when it came to comfortable sleepwear they knew what they were doing. Realizing that Robin would also need to get out of his clothes, which were even more badly burnt than hers, she conjured a clean white undershirt and some cotton pajama pants for him, and folded them on his cot. Putting on the leggings and tank top, she slipped into the cot.
Robin watched her disappear into the tent as the last of the granola bars dropped onto his head. Honestly the woman was infuriating. He should leave her to fend for herself in the woods. Although after that last display she would probably be fine, he had to admit. He bent to get some water from the stream, then grabbed the strange packages of food (most of them at least) and headed for the tent himself. When he arrived she was already in her cot, although still awake. "Thanks for the bed, shelter, and food," he said quietly as he made his way to his cot, dumping a pile of the strange food packages on the ground between the two of them.
"You're welcome. Sorry I pummeled you with granola bars," she replied.
Robin chuckled a bit, sitting on his cot and opening one of the packages. He took a bite of it, and decided that while it certainly wasn't a dinner, it would tide him over until they could find some food the next day. Regina sheepishly reached for one of the granola bars herself, sitting up in her cot to eat it. The blanket fell away to reveal her tank-top clad top half and Robin admired her long toned arms and delicate shoulders before he could stop himself. Finishing his granola bar and reaching for a second he said "So we need to figure out how we're going to survive here without getting burned at the stake."
"We?" she asked.
"Oh. I just assumed… I mean… of course if you want to go our separate ways…" he stuttered.
"No!" Regina said, a bit more vehemently than she had intended. "I mean… I just assumed you would probably want to set out on your own, given what just happened to you because of me." She wanted him to stay, and in fact it physically hurt somewhere deep inside her to imagine watching him walking away from her. But she couldn't imagine anyone sticking by her side while she was chased through this world by peasants, armies, and anyone else that crossed her path.
"Getting burned at the stake wasn't the high point in my life, I'll admit. But then you conjured the most comfortable bed I've ever seen, and food and shelter from nowhere, so that makes you one of the better traveling companions I've ever had," he joked. Honestly it hadn't seriously occurred to him to go his separate way from her. He wasn't sure why, as it was true he would be safer if he wasn't with her. But the thought of never seeing her again made something ache deep in his chest.
"Robin there is a literal army that wants me and anyone associated with me dead," she said seriously.
"Sounds like an adventure," he said, smiling at her and finishing the last bite of his granola bar. He then unhooked his cloak, tossing it aside, and leaned down to take off his boots.
"I left some pajamas on your bed," she said to him as she finished her own granola bar.
"These?" he said unfolding the shirt and pants and looking at them. She nodded. "These are the softest pieces of clothing I've ever felt. They're for me?" he asked.
"They're just a cotton shirt and pants, Robin," she said chuckling and shaking her head.
"As I said I think you're one of the better traveling companions I've ever had," he replied, heading out of the tent to change into the clean clothes. He re-entered and she took a moment to admire the defined muscles in his arms that had previously been hidden by his shirt and cloak. The other Robin had also been muscled and fit, but the years in Storybrooke had definitely softened him a bit. These arms and shoulders looked like they had been freshly chiseled by a sculptor.
"So… about the clothes and the magic," he said, shaking her from her thoughts.
"What about them?" she asked.
"If we're to fit in here, we need to make sure that at all costs, no one knows who you are."
"So no magic around other people," she replied.
"Certainly no magic. But we also need to deal with your wardrobe and general demeanor."
"I happen to like my clothes," she said haughtily.
"Oh, believe me, I like them too," he replied, one side of his mouth twisting up in a mischievous smirk. "But they don't exactly blend in."
"I'm not going to wear burlap sacks like some peasant, if that's what you're suggesting," she said.
"You don't have to wear burlap," he said, exasperated. "But no jeweled corsets, no giant diamond jewelry, and put those things away, would you?" he said, looking embarrassed and gesturing lamely at her chest.
It was her turn for a mischievous smirk this time. "You didn't seem to mind them this morning."
"Yes, well, neither did anyone else. You're already the most gorgeous woman in any room, we don't need people taking more notice of you," he said, exasperated.
She was surprised by his frank statement, but tried not to dwell on it. A lot of men found her attractive; it didn't mean they actually liked her. He had clearly noticed her… assets… but she wouldn't assume he liked anything below the surface. She had yelled at him multiple times today and pummeled him with granola bars, after all. She still didn't understand why he was sticking around. "Fine. I'll wear something that will blend in a bit more tomorrow, and I'll make sure to keep the magic confined to when we're alone."
"Good. This is the key to our staying alive and living some semblance of a normal life for the time being: do not let anyone find out who you are," he said solemnly.
She nodded, arranging her pillows and blankets before lying down. "Fine. Regina the Queen is hereby banished, and I'll work on Regina the commoner."
He felt a sudden pang at the thought of losing 'Regina the Queen'. This sassy, bossy, stubborn, smart, gorgeous woman was apparently worming her way in deeper than he ever could have imagined. "Right. Regina the peasant," he echoed faintly, climbing into his cot. He reached over and extinguished the lamp, then settled into the soft warm bed she had provided.
With that the two traveling companions closed their eyes, pulled into a deep and dreamless sleep in seconds.