I keep forgetting to post as i have this fic written out already, whoops.
Saturday night saw Ruby over at the house along with the waitress' current girlfriend, a recent development, Mulan. The four women had put the kids to bed and sat down in the den with a bottle of Regina's favourite cider and a bottle of scotch. They'd drank a little, gossiped. Gotten to know Mulan and catch up on everything relevant.
"Hey why didn't you invite... sexy legs?" Ruby was clearly inebriated. They all were.
"Because she's the hired help?" Zelena asked before Regina could get a word in.
"She is the hired help and last time I got drunk I went to her loft and told her I wanted to sleep with her." Regina explains nonchalantly. Much to the humour of the other woman.
"You what? But I thought you were straight." Zelena laughed jovially.
"I am straight." Regina huffed at her sister.
"She's never experienced the delight of being with a woman." Ruby sounded disappointed even though she obviously couldn't take the grin off of her face.
"Well it can't be that delightful you can't seem to make up your mind." Regina returned sipping her drink.
It took no more encouragement for the group to fall into the ins and outs of sexuality of all sorts. Regina mostly sat back and listened instead of joining in. Coming out stories and sex stories and many embarrassing encounters were shared until one by one, in varying positions and locations, the four women fell asleep.
When Ruby stumbled out the back door the following moment it was to see Emma Swan already in the round yard with the mare lunging her. It was light exercise for the mare and Regina would ride her even if she was lunged but it kept the mare fit. Emma didn't seem to be hating it either.
Wandering slowly in that direction the brunette pulled her phone to call the diner and put in a breakfast order for herself, the girls and the kids. They were all far too hung over to be bothered cooking even though Regina was usually against an unhealthy breakfast. Of course the rest of them were all for a greasy breakfast.
"Hey Em." Ruby greeted fondly.
"Hey Ruby. Big night?" Emma asked clicking her tongue and tugging gently on the lunge line. Viridian came right too her and snuffled.
"You have no idea." Ruby chuckled lightly. Emma did though, Emma had been awake since 3 and when she went for a jog along the road she had heard the women laughing inside.
"Hung over?" Emma grinned playfully.
"Yes. Very much so. Actually I was wondering you might do me a favour?" She grins.
"Want me to go get some food for you?" Emma laughed amused and Ruby nodded a little too enthusiastically.
"Please. I'll owe you... Anything you want." Ruby's tone had dropped suggestively at the last statement there and had Emma quirking an eyebrow.
"That's alright. I haven't had breakfast so I may as well go into town and get some." Emma brushed it off and Ruby tilted her head.
"Regina said she practically threw herself at you and you turned her down." Ruby commented after a moment opening the round yard gate for Emma to bring the mare out.
"She was very drunk." Was all Emma commented.
"So you're just not into women at all then?" Ruby inquired with a look of curiosity.
"I'm not into anyone." Emma's tone was light and since Ruby was behind her the darker expression on her face went unseen.
"Asexual?" Ruby chirped.
"I'm not anything. Does it matter? I'm only here until I become redundant, we don't have to pretend otherwise. Besides, you warned me off Regina and now you're trying to encourage me into her panties? And you sent her up to me? 'Legs to die for and an ass to worship?' Don't objectify me." Emma knew she was kind of losing it. She didn't like being pressed about... pairing up.
Ruby wasn't even sure what happened, didn't really know what she had done. But Emma got awful defensive real quick and pulled the bridle off the mare and lead her into the stall. Before Ruby could even say something Emma was stalking away to the truck, climbing in and heading out. Ruby left standing there mouth agape and confused.
It wasn't that Ruby couldn't see the error of her ways, it was maybe more that she could only now realise that Emma was right. Regina was straight, she'd find another man eventually. Hopefully not a douche bag this time and hopefully someone actually willing to help out and then Emma would be gone, unneeded. It only now occurred to her that maybe Emma was just really insecure despite how confidently she carries herself.
Emma hated it. Not what Ruby had said, but her own reaction too it. Emma had always had the really bad habit of not dealing with things very well. In fact she tried to ignore them, leave a wound unclean until it festers and blows up in her face. It wasn't how she worked at all and she was usually pretty good at ignoring things that would upset her. Not this time.
This time Emma had had that nasty little green freak sitting on her shoulder. She had thought, wrongly obviously, that she and Regina were getting along a bit better. Not enough that Emma would be invited to a girls night though. She was still an outsider. Still just the 'hired help' as it were, and it was what she would always be. She had never had a place, she was still and would always be homeless. Friendless. Alone.
"Well Well well, if it isn't the very tart me mate, Robin was telling me about. Blonde hair, red leather jacket. Emma Swan, aye?" An oddly Gaelic sounding man spoke off to the side, Emma was in the diner nose deep in a cup of coffee when she'd been dragged out of her thoughts.
"Friends with Robin? Move along then." Emma huffed absolutely not in the mood at all.
"Bit rude aren't you, love." The man sat on the stool beside her own.
"Don't call me love." Emma snipped as she took a mouth full of her coffee.
"But I like it. In fact I'd like to call you a lot of things. Maybe we should go to my place and I can give you a few examples... naked." He smirked and Emma honestly just didn't get it. What the fuck was this thinking.
"I'm sorry I think you just called me a tart and now you want to get in my pants? Can you like... go away?" Emma was so not in the mood.
"Oh it always starts out like this but eventually they all give in. Come on I have a room upstairs we can slip up so I can slip in." The odd smelling leather clad marvel smirked, likely thinking he was being charming.
"I'm sorry. But you are going to have to remove yourself from my immediate area." Emma says slowly so he gets it.
He does not get it. In fact he seemed to take it more as encouragement than anything else as the fool leaned forward, clearly with the intent to kiss her. Emma might have smacked him in the face except for the hand that was suddenly on the inside of her thigh. Mal and Cora had walked in just at that moment, just in time to see Emma jerk away and off the stool.
"God fucking dammit. Why can't people leave me the fuck alone!" Emma spoke gruffly but she looked almost panicked.
No one really had a chance to say anything before Emma collected the bag of breakfast she had collected, forgetting her own that was still being cooked and striding out the door past Regina's family. Mal was scowling more at the guy than anything else, Killian Jones was a known sleaze.
The women were a lot more sober than the night before, sitting in the kitchen at the island looking a little confused and guilty. Well three looked a little guilty, one just looked pissed that Emma had apparently been eavesdropping on them the night before. In fact it really irked Regina that Emma was pissy at all. All because she didn't get invited to have a drink?
"She's not really got any right to be pissy! I pay her to work here and I give her somewhere to live in the process." Regina snarked suddenly.
"I mean... yes. But also... she's a person you know and you said you and her had been getting along better." Ruby pointed out gently.
"Yeah having a good rapport with an employee doesn't mean we are friends." Regina sniffed indignantly.
"I mean I guess so sure." Ruby felt the worst because she'd been the one to send Emma off.
Before anyone else could say anything there was a knock at the back door. Henry called that he'd get it and ran to the back door. Emma was standing there a small smile appearing on her face when the woman saw the kid. Emma held out the bag of food and Henry took it greatfully, his own order of waffles was in there.
"Thanks Em! You wanna share my waffles?" He asked smiling but Emma shook her head gently.
"No thanks I've been craving beans." Emma lied but she lied well. She didn't have much of an appetite anymore.
"You sure? I can never finish two waffles." Henry smiled sweetly and it was enough to make Emma feel a little better.
"Positive. Thank you though, go enjoy kiddo." She smiles and gently ruffles his still bed mussed hair.