"Ruby Lucas, you get your furry butt up out of that bed and talk to me!"
"What the fu-" Ruby's indignant question is interrupted when she realises that Regina is awake, a fireball swirling in the palm of her hand, ready to blast the intruder. Her reflexes kick in and she grabs Regina's wrist before she can hurl it.
Mary Margaret ducks down at the foot of the bed, her eyes appearing a few seconds later to assess the situation. "Not really a morning person, huh Regina?" she mumbles.
Regina turns over, hiding her face in the pillows and mumbling something that Ruby is pretty sure is profane. Standing up straight now that Regina's lethal hands are back under the covers, Mary Margaret plants her hands on her hips and glares at Ruby. "Granny informed me about last night. And the night before," she says.
Ruby groans and rubs her hands over her face. She peers out of the window; the sun is well and truly up over the castle. It must be mid-afternoon, at least, but she's definitely not awake enough for this right now. "Mary Margaret -"
Ruby's silenced by an index finger pointed at her. "I don't want to hear it!"
"Then what are you doing in here?" Regina's voice is muffled, but still sharp.
Ruby wonders whether Regina is fully aware of the situation yet. Mary Margaret must've found the two of them wrapped around each other in bed. Mary Margaret narrows her eyes at the question.
"Well, maybe I do want to hear some things," she amends. "But not excuses about why you didn't think it was necessary to inform me that possessed wolves attacked you two nights in a row."
"Probably because I was incapacitated?" Ruby deadpans.
"You told Regina," Mary Margaret counters, and Ruby tries very hard not to scoff at her friend's childish behaviour. She's about to explain when Regina beats her to it, turning back over, wrestling with the covers when they tangle around her legs.
"She didn't tell me anything," Regina says, finally kicking herself free of the covers. "I saved her idiotic life!"
Ruby is about to protest at the use of the word 'idiotic', but Mary Margaret is on a roll.
"You knew enough to go after her," she argues. "She must have told you something during your little breakfast date yesterday." Mary Margaret turns her attention back to Ruby, who cringes under the accusation in her eyes. "I saw you were back safely and you looked happy so I thought nothing of it. But Granny says Zelena sent wolves after you two nights in a row. Why didn't you tell me?"
Regina sits up suddenly, an arm across her chest, even though she's wearing a sleeping shift. Yep, Ruby thinks, she's just realised what Mary Margaret walked in on.
"Well, this sounds like a private conversation," Regina says, getting out of bed. "So I'll leave the two of you alone."
Ruby grabs Regina's wrist and pulls her back down. "No, she has that look in her eye. I may need a witness." She's joking, mostly. She really doesn't want Regina to leave because she feels she has to. But when Regina offers a small smile and places a hand over Ruby's, she knows that Regina is still leaving.
"If you're not at dinner, I'll send a search party." Ruby sighs and lets Regina go. She gets up off the bed and nods her head once at Mary Margaret. "Ms Blanchard." She brings her arms up, and just like that, she's gone in a puff of a purple smoke.
Mary Margaret raises her eyebrows at Ruby. "Well, that's certainly the first time I've walked in on my best friend and my stepmother in bed together."
Ruby sighs. Sensing Mary Margaret is nowhere near finished, she falls back against the pillows and peels back the covers. "Get in. You may as well be comfortable while you say whatever it is you're gonna say."
"So this is a joke to you?" Mary Margaret asks, turning wet eyes on Ruby. Ruby doesn't miss the tremor in her friend's voice. "I have to find out you've been seriously injured from your grandmother, because you're too busy snuggling with Regina to stop in and let me know?"
"Well, I was actually too busy recovering from serious injuries to stop by for afternoon tea and gossip, Mary Margaret," Ruby says, annoyed by the accusation. "And I wasn't snuggling with Regina. I was…" There was definitely a little snuggling going on. "...recovering."
"Yeah, it sure looked that way."
"Mary Margaret, come on." Ruby gets up; the pain from this morning significantly less than what it was, and allowing her to move more freely. She comes to a stop just by her best friend. "I can't tell what you're more upset about here."
Mary Margaret turns to face her with a frown. "What do you mean?"
"Well, are you upset because I didn't tell you I was injured? Or are you upset because of what you walked in on?" Ruby asks, feeling like it's more the latter. "Which, by the way, wouldn't have happened if you had just knocked on the door like a normal person."
Mary Margaret scoffs, and then scoffs again. "Why would I be upset at walking in on you and Regina sleeping together?"
Ruby feels her defences rise at Mary Margaret's tone and tries hard not to react. She guesses it's probably a double blow to the chest for the other woman; finding out nobody thought to tell you that your best friend had nearly died, and then finding said best friend in bed with the woman who made it her mission in life to kill you for the last thirty years or so. She tries to think of how she'd respond in this position, and any remaining anger dissipates. Ruby gestures to the bed. "Can we sit? Please?"
Hesitating briefly, Mary Margaret moves to the bed and sits on the edge of it, her arms crossed. Ruby sits down next to her, one leg folded under her and one dangling over the edge of the bed, so that she can face her friend.
"How are you, anyway?" Mary Margaret asks, and despite her mood, Ruby knows it's a genuine query.
"I'm fine," she assures her friend. "I...I think it was pretty bad last night, but you know me." She gives her friend a hopeful smile. "Nothing keeps me down for long."
"Hmmph." There's a hint of a smile on Mary Margaret's lips now, but it's quickly covered up. "I suppose I can't blame you for not telling me about the wolf attack last night. But you could've told me about the night before."
Ruby thinks about arguing the point; she even opens her mouth to do so. "I should have told you," is what she says. "But in my defence, I didn't tell anyone. Regina knocked on my door, and I wasn't properly dressed and she saw a clawmark I'd been trying to hide. It all went downhill from there."
"So, even before today, you were parading around in your underwear in front of her?"
"Wow!" Ruby lets out, feeling her anger rocket right back up and she stands up. Mary Margaret has teased and taunted Ruby about such things, but only ever in jest. "I can't believe I actually have to say this to you, of all people, but I was fully clothed. My shirt was not done up properly."
Mary Margaret shakes her head. "Are you...are you together?"
"No," Ruby tells her, immediately. "But…look, it's complicated. We acknowledged some stuff that's been going on between us and we're -" she pauses. "Well, I'm not too sure what we're doing. I think we're just… going with it. Seeing what happens. But we're not together." Not that she feels like it's Mary Margaret's business.
Mary Margaret sits up straighter and looks at Ruby with a stony face. "And when were you planning on telling me about that?"
Ruby frowns. "I don't know. Today? Tomorrow? When I felt like I was ready to talk about it? I guess we'll never know because you decided to burst into my chamber and-"
"Find you in bed together?"
"Oh yeah, you found us sleeping, totally scandalous," Ruby says. She tugs at the shift she's wearing. "Do you think I'd be wearing this if we'd been doing anything remotely interesting? It's like something out of Little House on the Prairie."
"Charming likes them," Mary Margaret mumbles and Ruby wants to cover her ears and wipe that from her brain.
"Well, believe me, if I ever sleep with Regina Mills, I will not be putting one of these back on afterwards," Ruby says.
"Some of us like to maintain a little modesty," Mary Margaret huffs, though her cheeks have taken on a pink tinge.
Ruby is left feeling hurt, yet again. "And I don't," she finishes for Mary Margaret. "Is that what you're saying?"
"That's not what I'm saying at all," she responds with a frown.
Ruby sighs and rubs her hands over her face. "Look, I don't want to fight with you." She sighs again. "I get why you're pissed about my not mentioning the fact that I was hurt. And I might even understand you being shocked at finding Regina in my bed. What I don't understand is where this attitude is coming from. This isn't you." She comes back to the bed and sits down again. "So talk to me."
"Oh, come on," Mary Margaret says. "I'm processing. Cut me a little slack! Imagine if you had walked in and found me in bed with Rumpelstiltskin or something. Wouldn't you have been shocked?"
"I don't think I'd compare Regina to Rumplestiltskin…and let's face it, you slept with Frankenstein…" She preempts the indignant response she's sure will come. "I also would've had the decency to knock first." She pauses to search her friend's face, frowning."What's the rest of the story, Snow?"
There's a few moments of tense silence as Mary Margaret is either fighting against saying anything at all or coming up with something that's not the truth. Ruby sighs. She's not about to force her friend to tell her anything; but then again, she's never had to before. The girl obviously wants her secrets and Ruby is in no mood for this game.
"I'm jealous."
Surprised by the quiet admission, Ruby puts a hand on Mary Margaret's leg and dips her head to try to catch her eye, brow furrowed in confusion. "Jealous?" she asks. What could Mary Margaret possibly have to be jealous about?
"Not jealous jealous," Mary Margaret rushes to clarify. "Just...not even just now, either. I've been jealous since you first started talking to her," she admits, looking down and playing with a piece of lace on her dress. "Regina's always been someone I...looked up to, I guess?" She scrunches her face up. "I know that's crazy, right?" Shaking her head, she lets out an embarrassed laugh. "Even when she was trying to kill me, I thought…'if only I could get her to love me we could fix all of this'." She bumps her shoulder against Ruby's. "And now you've won her over with no effort whatsoever."
Her immediate reaction is to feel guilty that she found it so easy to befriend Regina. While they haven't spoken about it much, Ruby's always known that Mary Margaret held Regina in high esteem. She never really understood it before now. She bites her lip before an apology comes out of her mouth. Yes, it's tragic that Mary Margaret never got the kind of affection she sought from Regina, but that is not Ruby's fault. There's nothing she can say that will make it better, but she feels she should say something after such an admission. Eventually she just pulls her friend into a tight hug, kissing the side of her head.
Mary Margaret shakes her head and lets out a shaky laugh. "I'm fine. I'm just being silly," she whispers. "And hey, this might be my way in, right?" she jokes, hugging Ruby back.
"Maybe you should talk to her?" Ruby suggests after a few moments of silence.
Waving a dismissive hand, Mary Margaret shakes her head again, painting on a smile. "There will be plenty of time for that," she says.
Ruby frowns. "So…" She draws the word out into a question. "Just to clarify, you're not pissed about me and Regina, uh…" She has no idea how to finish that sentence.
"Ruby," Mary Margaret interrupts. "Nothing comes between me and you. Okay? Especially not who you choose to date."
There's a grain of resentment festering at the back of Ruby's mind that flares up when she hears those words. Of course, now that Ruby is potentially entering a relationship, that shouldn't be allowed to interfere with her friendship with Mary Margaret. But Snow was quite happy to completely forget her after she met Charming. And since Emma came into the picture in Storybrooke, Ruby's barely spent any time with her friend. But God forbid she get to spend time with a significant other to the detriment of Mary Margaret.
"Of course not," she says, with a tight smile. There's no point in bringing that stuff out into the open right now. Mary Margaret will get upset and then Ruby will get upset and it won't improve the situation. "But, for the record, I'm not dating Regina."
"Yet," Mary Margaret says, rushing to interrupt before Ruby can protest further. "And when you do, I won't care. Because I love you."
Ruby feels herself being enveloped into a hug that she is hesitant to return, but does so anyway. "Yeah, I love you too," she says, because that is and always has been true. She holds the hug for a moment before withdrawing. Mary Margaret's face grows mischievous.
"So...about the part where you were in bed with Regina…"
Ruby rolls her eyes. "I was injured. And I was tired. And she'd spent the whole night in that horrible armchair. She was exhausted." She holds her hands up. "It was nothing more or less than that."
"So you napped together? That's sweet," Mary Margaret says with a smile.
Ruby smiles back a little. "It was… nice."
"Well, it's nice that you let her care for you," Mary Margaret says. "Sometimes you forget you need people too, Ruby. You're always there for everyone when we need you."
"Yeah, yeah," Ruby says, blushing. She's the faithful friend, the sniffer dog, the babysitter. She's nothing special.
"And you tell Regina that she better treat you right, or she'll have me to answer to," Mary Margaret blusters, with her best intimidating glower. Ruby laughs.
"Ummm, coming from someone who was cowering in fear at the foot of my bed twenty minutes ago, I'm not sure that works as a threat," she says. "And, again, we're not dating. But I appreciate the sentiment."
"I have my own skills," Mary Margaret pouts. "Anyway, are you up to the War Council meeting today? If Zelena's targeting you, we really need to come up with a strategy to counter her methods."
"Oh, a war meeting, joy," Ruby sighs, flopping back down onto the bed. "Uh, no, I don't think I'm healed enough for that yet."
Mary Margaret pokes her in the side, gently. "You're healed fine," she decides. "You're coming. We need all the information we can get on how Zelena operates and, aside from Regina, you're the only one she seems to have gone after specifically."
"Lucky me," Ruby murmurs, putting her hands over her eyes. She could do with another few hours of sleep, but her injuries aren't bothering her anymore. She really has no excuse for not going to the meeting. And Mary Margaret is right, this is the first new information they've had for a while. "Fine. I'll be there."
"Good," Mary Margaret says, standing up and stepping between Ruby's legs so she can look down at her in her prone position. "And make sure to bring your girlfriend."
"Mary Ma-"
"I'm sorry." Her grin suggests she's anything but. "Your kinda-weird-it's-complicated-friend?"
"Regina is fine."
"You're so boring," Mary Margaret grumbles. "Fine, bring Regina." She wrinkles her nose. "And have a bath first."
Ruby kicks her friend's ankle, careful to keep her strength under control. "Go away. Go do whatever it is princesses do in fairytale castles."
"I'll see you in an hour," Mary Margaret says, kicking Ruby's ankle in return before tilting her head and smiling at her. "I'm really glad you're okay."
"Me too," Ruby admits, returning the smile. "Now go. I have to get ready"
The sound of her friend's retreating footsteps punctuate Ruby's thoughts as she stares at the ceiling. Although, as she pointed out repeatedly, she's not in a relationship with Regina, in a way, she's glad Mary Margaret knows about the way she feels. If anyone has a right to bear a grudge against Regina, it's her. And she doesn't seem to have any ill-will towards Ruby about the situation. Unlike Granny. She's not even sure what Granny's problem is. Like everybody else in Storybrooke, she saw Regina struggle with her path to redemption, eventually leading to her saving the whole damn town and losing her kid in the process. Surely that's a pretty good indication that she's on their side?
She sighs again. There's little point in trying to second guess what Granny's thinking. It'll come out eventually. She pushes herself into a seated position, feeling her tired body protest at being removed from the soft surface of the bed again. She turns her head to the side and sniffs herself. Yeah, Mary Margaret was right, she needs a bath.
Freshly washed and wearing clean clothes, Ruby feels almost back to normal as she makes her way to the war room. Almost all trace of her injuries has disappeared. One could think the attacks never happened. She heads into the room and is immediately accosted as Belle grabs her arms.
"Are you okay?" the librarian asks, her eyes wide and worried. "People are saying you were attacked by wolves!"
"People should mind their own business," Ruby says, glaring at Granny's back before turning a smile on Belle. "I'm fine. Honestly. You don't have to worry."
Belle appears reassured, and squeezes Ruby's arms once before letting go. "Good," she says, leading the way to the round table where the discussions take place. Mary Margaret and David are already there, engaged in a conversation with Robin and Leroy. Ruby takes her usual seat and they look up. David immediately leaves his seat and comes around to put a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, you look good!" he says, sounding surprised. "I heard you'd been practically ripped in half."
"You know how these gossips like to make everything sound more dramatic than it actually is," Ruby says, waving him off. "I'm fine." A faint scent catches her nose and immediately a smile appears on her face as she turns to the doorway. Sure enough, Regina appears a few seconds later, looking far more refined than she had when she left Ruby's room earlier. She's dressed in a blue velvet dress that looks like liquid midnight as it moves with Regina's curves. Ruby's eyes are glued to her as she approaches, until she notices the raised eyebrow and the smirk the Queen is wearing. She quickly averts her eyes and doesn't look up until Regina has taken the seat opposite her at the table.
"You're looking better," Regina says, heedless of the table's other occupants.
"I feel much better," Ruby confirms, rolling her shoulders as evidence. "You look-" Amazing. "-rested."
"I had a short nap," Regina tells her. "It helped."
Granny snorts, without looking up from her knitting. Mary Margaret clears her throat.
"I think that's everyone here now," she announces. "So, we should probably get started." People shuffle to the table and take their seats. Ruby notices quite a few curious glances being thrown in her direction.
"As you all probably know by now, Ruby was attacked last night," David begins. "She believes that Zelena somehow enchanted a pack of wolves to seek her out and attack her specifically." He holds a hand out to Ruby. "Do you want to tell us what happened?"
Suddenly thrust into the spotlight, Ruby shifts in her seat, uncomfortable. "Uh, not much to tell, really," she starts. "I went out like usual, was doing my wolf thing, and the wolves I ran with the last couple of months...just, turned on me, I guess."
"How do you know Zelena sent them?" Leroy asks. "Seems to me wild animals are pretty unpredictable."
"Their eyes were glowing green," Ruby says, shivering as she remembers several pairs of them staring at her. "And dark magic has a very specific smell. Zelena's magic was definitely at play."
"Why is she targeting you?" Archie asks. "I mean, we know she's gone after Regina a few times, but she has no quarrel with you."
Ruby's eyes snap to meet Regina's, unsure of how much the other woman wants her to reveal.
"It's Regina's fault," Granny pipes up, still concentrating on her knitting.
Ruby watches Regina's face harden, but the Queen doesn't dispute the claim. Ruby shakes her head.
"No, it's not," she says, already knowing more questions will be forthcoming.
"Why would it be Regina's fault?" David asks, looking between the two women, and then at Granny.
"Because she and Ruby have been cavorting all over the place like a couple of teenagers," Granny explains, plainly. "So Zelena's obviously decided that Ruby is a prime target in whatever her little game is." She turns her glare on Regina. "Because of her association with you."
Regina's gaze drops to the table and Ruby wants to physically hurt someone.
"Cav-" David begins, confusion clear on his face. "Huh?" Leroy's mouth is hanging open and Robin is grinning like an idiot at her.
"I don't think we're trying to assign blame, here," Mary Margaret cuts in. "We're looking at what we can do to make sure Ruby is safe."
"She'd be safe if she stayed away from her," Granny says, with a nod towards Regina, and Ruby can't stand it any longer. She stands up, knocking her chair over in the process. Leaning both hands on the table, she waits until her grandmother meets her eyes.
"I'm not staying away from her," she says, her voice low and clear. "So that's not a viable plan. Let's move on."
"So, the two of you are-" David makes a strange gesture between herself and Regina.
"No," Ruby confirms. "We're friends. And if you think Regina is somehow to blame for her psychotic sister sending a pack of wild animals after me, then you're wrong. The moon is full again tonight, and I expect them to be after me again. I thought you wanted to help me, not judge me."
"Nobody's judging you, Ruby," Mary Margaret soothes.
"I am," Leroy says.
"Nobody except Leroy is judging you," Mary Margaret amends. "Please, sit down and we can talk about this."
"Talk about what? My non-existent love life?" Ruby snaps. She feels like she's been cornered and she's lashing out.
"Just like old times," Leroy says, jumping when Granny's knitting needle embeds itself into the table, very close to his hand. Ruby grits her teeth in annoyance. Granny can't publicly ridicule her one second and then jump to her defense the next.
"Ruby." Regina's soft voice cuts into her mind and draws her attention back to the woman in question. "Please sit down. I'm sure we can all be adults about this very serious matter."
Her breath is coming quick. Wolfstime always brings her emotions to the surface. She closes her eyes and takes a few deep breaths before turning to pick up her fallen chair, and then sitting in it. Leroy lets out a humourless laugh.
"Wow, didn't take long for you to get pussy whi-"
"Leroy!" Mary Margaret screeches, and everyone at the table jumps. The shock is probably the only thing that prevents Ruby from jumping across the table and pounding Leroy's leering face.
"One more remark like that and you will not be welcome at this table," David tells the dwarf, and Ruby's heart swells a little at the support.
Leroy grunts his agreement, but continues to glare at Ruby. David waits until the tension has lowered marginally before continuing.
"Regardless of the reason," he begins, his eyes straying to Granny. "Ruby is a target for Zelena at the moment and we all know how powerful Zelena is, which means we need to do everything in our power to protect Ruby."
"And how are we supposed to do that?" Leroy asks. "It's not like we know how to defeat her today any more than we did yesterday. Just 'cause Ruby's gone and got herself into trouble, doesn't mean we can do anything about it."
"My men and I can add the wolves' territory to our patrols," Robin offers. Ruby shakes her head..
"No, I don't want the wolves hurt, it's not their fault."
"Leroy's correct," Regina says, drawing some surprised looks. She shrugs. "It's true, we know nothing more of the witch than we did previously. All we can do is ensure that Ruby is not left vulnerable at any time. As Mrs Lucas has already pointed out, her connection to me has made her a target and we have to mitigate that by not letting my darling sister get a clean shot."
"I told you already, I'm not having her turn me into a prisoner," Ruby protests, wondering if Regina has even been listening to her at all. "I will not run scared from her."
"Then you'll die, girl," Granny interjects, looking Ruby directly in the eye. "I saw you last night. Another few minutes with those wolves and they'd have ripped you apart." Briefly, she thinks she sees a shimmer of tears behind Granny's glasses. Both Mary Margaret and Regina turn away at the words. Granny's eyes turn hard once more. "Don't be an idiot."
"So that's the big plan, huh?" Ruby asks, throwing her arms up in frustration. "I hide away for the rest of my life?"
"For now," Regina confirms, her face neutral. "Until we can figure something else out."
"While I agree with the plan we have," Mary Margaret starts, "What's to stop the wolves from coming directly to the castle under the Witch's instruction, knowing that Ruby is here? Is she really safe?"
"She is still in the room," Ruby snaps, narrowing her eyes at everyone who is gaping at her.
"My men and I shall take post outside the castle walls," Robin interrupts. He looks at Ruby almost apologetically. "I know you don't wish for any harm to come to the wolves, m'lady, but should they come near and appear to attack… Well I'm afraid we'll be left with no choice."
"There will be no need for that," Regina says before Ruby can open her mouth to protest. "I can raise wards around the castle. Zelena may be able to break through my blood magic, but I doubt she imbued the wolves with the same ability. The forcefield will stun them, nothing more."
Ruby looks at Regina and smiles. "Thank you."
Regina smiles back, but it lacks warmth. "As you said, it's not the wolves' fault this is happening."
"And it's not yours either," Ruby says softly.
"Yes, well I'm sure others, including myself would disagree with you."
Leroy's face has lit up. "Hey, here's an idea. How's about instead of working your magic, Regina, you just offer yourself up as a sacrifice and we can all be done with the Witch and with you?"
Ruby is up and out of her chair like a shot, but before she's even reached the dwarf, she's engulfed in purple smoke. When it clears, she's back in her bedchamber. Regina's there too, scowling.
"That was a foolish move, Ruby," Regina says, and Ruby rounds on her.
"So I should've just let him speak about you that way?" she asks, still hyped up from the argument and the impending full moon.
"He's not the only one thinking it," Regina says, moving to the window, her eyes on the setting sun in the distance. "Maybe he's not completely wrong."
Ruby marches over and grabs Regina's arm, turning her so they're facing each other. "Don't say that," she warns. "You don't get to wrap me in cotton and then throw yourself to the wolves. That's not how it works."
"Isn't it?" Regina questions with a raise of her eyebrow. "Isn't that exactly how you people think? Do whatever brings the greatest good to the most people?"
"It won't just end with you," Ruby tells her. "And how do you think Henry would feel about that?"
Regina smiles, tears appearing in her eyes. "I'm sure he'd be proud that I'd died a hero," she says. "Protecting people, rather than terrorising them."
"You're already a hero to him, Regina," Ruby says, almost pleading with Regina to agree with her. "You need to give us more time to find out what Zelena's plan is before you go and sacrifice yourself needlessly."
"Oh, it's needed," Regina mumbles and Ruby growls in her face. Regina raises an eyebrow in response. "That doesn't scare me, dear." Her lips turn up at the edges. "Amusing though."
"This isn't a joke, Regina!"
"I don't believe I'm laughing," Regina counters.
Ruby fixes her with a glare. "I'm not going to have you commit suicide when it won't change anything. With or without you, Zelena will keep coming. And if we ever get back to Storybrooke someone is going to have to look into your little boy's eyes and tell him what happened. It is admirable, but it is also stupid." And she doesn't want to lose Regina.
"So then you understand why you cannot go out there tonight," Regina says, quietly. "Or next month, or the month after until she's defeated."
"So this was all just to prove a point?" Ruby asks through a frown.
Regina is shaking her head even before Ruby is finished speaking. "No, it wasn't. But how you feel about me going to seek my sister, is how I feel about you going out to fight the wolves. Only you'll be far more missed than I will."
"So you want to hear how much you'll be missed?" Ruby asks incredulously. "Is that it?"
"I know exactly how much I'd be missed, Ms Lucas," Regina says, her face growing hard. "I'm not seeking your platitudes, merely pointing out facts."
"You hardly know me, and yet you're standing there spouting 'facts' about my life?" Ruby knows, somewhere in her head, that she's not really angry at Regina. She's angry at the whole situation. She's angry at herself. But Regina's the one in front of her and the moon will be up soon, which means Regina will bear the brunt of whatever Ruby has to throw. She points vaguely in the direction of the War Room. "They'd miss me approximately the same amount as they'd miss Pongo."
Regina shakes her head. The disappointed look on her face takes a little of the wind out of Ruby's sails.
"You have no idea how lucky you are, Ruby," Regina says, quietly, turning and walking to the door. She pauses with her hand on the doorknob and Ruby thinks she might not leave. Regina looks over her shoulder, the hard look is back. "Now, be a good dog, and stay."
She's gone before Ruby can respond. She stands and stares at the door, growling. How dare Regina think she knows Ruby's life after speaking to her for a few months. How fucking dare she. Turning to the window, she swipes a hand across the curtain, shredding it with the claws that have appeared. The moon is visible in the sky now and Ruby's blood is singing with the need to run and howl. She turns away, closing her eyes tightly and wrapping her arms around herself.
It's going to be a long night.
