To say that dinner that night with the Charmings was awkward would be an understatement.
Mary Margaret throws herself into dinner preparations after their conversation at the table. She ends up making a small feast of items to accompany the noodle casserole, including homemade bread rolls and hand-sliced slow-roasted vegetables.
David puts in a DVD and settles in to watch it. He claims that Killian must see this popular pirate movie, one that David himself had recently been introduced to and enjoyed, although each attempt at talking about it falls flat. He continually forgets which face to direct his comments to and then gets flustered at his mistake.
Henry, though, continues to try to be the helpful one. Although his research doesn't turn up anything particularly helpful for their curse, he rattles off several facts obtained from books and movies on the subject, historical phenomenon that matches their problem, and even some related "magic spells" that he finds online.
At one point, Neal begins crying out from his crib. Emma gets up to get him, hoping that his simple innocence would draw attention away from the body switch problem. However, at Mary Margaret's instinctual panic, the slightly widened eyes at a pirate with a hook reaching for her child, Emma drops back down into her seat on the couch with a huff.
It doesn't help that Emma and Killian are still adapting to their new bodies. Emma is having problems with the hook, and once she stabs the table, the couch, and nearly Henry, Killian reaches over and removes the hook from the brace. About thirty minutes later, while getting up to go to the bathroom, Killian lifts himself up with a bit too much force for Emma's smaller frame and launches himself at the TV. Emma grabs the back of her red leather jacket and prevents any major destruction of the apartment.
By the time everyone is sitting around the dinner table, all attempts at conversation have ceased. For nearly an hour, only the sounds of chewing and clanking silverware fill the loft. The only exception is Neal, who coos and plays with his food while sitting in the high chair next to Mary Margaret.
Once dishes are cleared, Emma tries to make an exit.
"Well, I'm glad we got a chance to talk about everything, but we should probably be heading out."
She spares Killian a glance, who nods. "Aye, we should. Thank you for dinner, milady."
Mary Margaret lifts Neal from his high chair and folds him into her arms before turning to look at the pair with a furrowed brow. "Are you not staying here tonight?" Her gaze drifts from Emma's body to Killian's and she lets out a gasp. "Oh."
Emma doesn't even pause for a moment. She just shakes her head. While staying at the loft with her family will be good in terms of having back up just in case something were to happen, she also knows that there would be some sort of awkward arrangement of her, as Killian, up in her bedroom while Killian, as her, slept on the couch. But then her father would make comments about not wanting a boy in her bed. While her parents have been ignoring the literal implications of the body switch, Emma is well aware of the realities she and Killian are faced with. The most obvious change being that Emma now has two new appendages, a hook and a penis, and David would prefer not to think about his daughter becoming acquainted with either one of them.
So back to Granny's it is.
"I think we'd be better going back to Granny's. That way we aren't in the way around here but we can still be together just in case we switch back or something worse happens."
David looks as though he wants to argue, because of course he doesn't want the pair sleeping together somewhere else either, but he just pleads, "And you'll call us as soon as anything happens?"
"Of course."
"So that's it, you're just going to leave?" Henry calls out from his spot on the couch, where he is once again searching the internet.
Emma shrugs. "There's not much else we can do right now, so it's best that we get some rest. The Blue Fairy said that she would let us know if she found anything. Until then we're at a standstill. Besides, shouldn't you be going back over to Regina's? Does she know you're still over here?"
He groans. "I texted her earlier that I was staying over here for a while. Do I have to go back? I want to stay with you and figure out how to fix this. Operation Friday, remember?"
Killian took a step forward. "We appreciate the help, lad. But—"
"But there is nothing we can do until we figure out how to break the curse. So why don't we all meet up at Granny's in the morning for breakfast and figure out what to do next, okay?"
"I agree." Mary Margaret says, still bouncing Neal on her hip. "Emma can walk you back over to Regina's and we can look at this with fresh eyes in the morning."
Henry's face drops, but resignation settles on his features. "I'd rather stay here. Can I just sleep upstairs tonight?"
David drops down beside him on the couch and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Of course, kid. Just let Regina know, we don't need her hunting you down in the middle of the night." As Henry pulls out his phone and sends a brief text, David looks over at his daughter. "You two… just be careful. And I mean it, let us know if anything changes."
Emma nods and murmurs a 'good night' to everyone before pulling the door open and leaving the loft.
They're halfway down the stairs when Killian asks, "So now will you tell me what you're thinking, love?"
"Excuse me?"
"You've been nearly silent all afternoon and now you're running out of there like you're being chased. I thought you wanted to talk to your parents about this."
She sighs. "I did. Well, I thought I did. I don't know. I know it's good to have them involved, but I think we just freaked them out too much."
"To be fair, this did freak us out as well. It's an abnormal quandary we're stuck in." He points this out simply, but silence falls as the words settle heavily between them. They walk down the street side-by-side, heading towards Granny's.
"Look, for the longest time, I didn't have anybody to go to, okay? I was alone for my entire life, until suddenly now I've got parents and a son and I'm working really hard to let them all in and have us all be a family. I'm trying, I really am. And that involves talking to them about my problems. It's just that undoing a body switching curse isn't in the family job description."
Killian lets out a short, harsh laugh. "At least you have a family to talk to."
Emma glares at him, trying to ignore the fact that she still has to look down slightly to look at him. "Come on, Killian. You've got me." She reaches out to take his hand.
"Do I? Most of the time I'm not even sure whether or not you truly want me in your life, Emma. And what am I supposed to say, anyway?" He laughs again, the sound dark and raspy. "Am I supposed to tell you that I'm bloody terrified of this curse? I'm worried something's going to happen to you and I won't be able to stop it."
"I'll be fine, Killian. I'm the savior."
"But why won't you let me be your savior?" Her eyes go wide, but she says nothing. He continues, his voice rising. "I'm worried that something worse is coming. I'm worried about you and the hook." He freezes in place, tugging Emma to stand in front of him. "Bloody hell, I'm worried about me and the hook. I've lived without a hand for longer than you can imagine but one day with a hand and it feels like it never happened. But I don't want to forget that day, forget Milah. I don't want to forget how to use the hook, I don't want the pains to come back. I—"
Swiftly, Emma reaches up and curves her—his—hand around his—her—cheek. She lifts his face up but his gaze refuses to meet hers. "Hey, hey, okay, hey. Relax. You won't forget about the hook, or about Milah. I'm sure we will figure out a way to reverse this soon. And if we don't, well, we'll get to spend lots of time together, okay?"
He reaches up and rubs at his forehead with one hand, then meets her gaze. But he doesn't, he can't, relax.
Emma grabs his hand once more and then starts walking down the street again. Neither of them say anything as they make their way into the diner. She spots Leroy sitting at the counter with a beer and Ruby wiping down tables across the room. She is tempted to stop and get some comforting hot chocolate with cinnamon, her usual, but things are still tense between her and Killian and she knows it won't help.
They keep going until they reach his room and enter it. She locks the door behind them. She doesn't bother turning on any lights, as the moonlight shining through the window is just enough to see each other by.
"So are we both staying here tonight?" Killian is sitting on the edge of the bed, having already taken off the leather jacket and is in the process of taking off his shoes.
Emma glances around at the strange wallpaper, the bedside table where Killian has just laid the hook down, the bedsheets left tousled from her early morning panic. She shrugs, realizing that she hadn't actually discussed sleeping arrangements with him yet.
"I thought it might be a good idea, if you're okay with it. This way, we can stay with our bodies in case something happens. I can go get another room, though, if you'd like." With the low incidence of tourists in Storybrooke, there would definitely be another open room.
"This is fine. I'll be taking the floor, then?"
"No, no, no." She rushes out. "I mean, we're together, right? We can share a bed."
"When I pictured sharing a bed with you, love," He looks down at the curves of the body he is in and then back up to her with his eyebrows raised, "this isn't what I had in mind."
She chuckles. "Okay, well keep your thoughts to yourself, mister." She takes off the leather jacket, although it takes a bit of awkward shuffling to get it off without her other hand. The shoes are easier to kick off and in moments, she settles down onto the bed beside Killian. She lies on top of the covers, but props herself up slightly against the headboard. Killian follows her movements and lies back, although he curls up on his side to face her.
"Emma, I—"
"I'm scared too, you know. I'm afraid that my family is never going to look at me the same again. I'm worried that Blue isn't going to find a cure. I'm scared of losing a fight because I don't know how to use the hook, and that someone is going to die because I can't save them. I'm worried about this happening to more people. What if this happened all over town?" She rolls onto his side to face him and reaches out to hold his hand again. "Everyone expects me to fix things, but I just don't know how!"
"No matter what happens, Swan, I believe in you. I have been awed by your strength and commitment and capacity for love since I met you, and that doesn't stop just because we've switched lives or souls or whatever the devil this is."
She grins at him. "Thank you, Killian. And although we didn't meet under the best circumstances—"
"Hey, you're the one that tied me to a bloody tree!"
"Like I said, although you lied to me and betrayed me when we first met, there was something about you that drew me in and I just couldn't—"
Killian snorts. "Couldn't trust me right away? You left me on top of the beanstalk, remember?"
"But don't you see?" Emma shakes her head. "That's why I had to leave you behind. I was already feeling like I could trust you, like I wanted to get to know you, but I didn't know how to let you in. Not yet."
"And now you are?"
She nods. "Yes, now I am. I have." She stares up at him for a few more seconds, imagining his blue eyes and scruffy jaw in place of the blonde hair and round cheeks she is staring at. As her body relaxes into the mattress, she sighs. While they had spent plenty of downtime at her parents' loft, it had been full of tension and awkward silences. But here, in this dark room with only her boyfriend as company, she feels herself completely relax.
Just as her eyes start to slide shut, he leans forward and brushes their lips together. The kiss is soft and sweet, and thankfully not awkward. The press of lips against lips is instinctual and soothing. A burst of familiarity, of affection, of something neither of them knows how to name passes between them. The day's worth of tension unwinds as their bodies sink into the mattress and their minds descend into darkness.
Ahhhh! I love how awkward the Charmings are, and I love how freaking cute Emma and Killian are. I had to have an emotional scene between them. I mean, come on. Can you imagine switching bodies with a significant other? It would be pretty weird, especially when CS is kinda stunted already. Okay, well, there you have it. Let me know what you think!