This is gonna be a fic that I type sporadically whenever I'm feeling for it/get inspiration.
The sun smolders on the horizon where it meets the swaying tallgrass, painting each tan strand a shade of deep orange and red. In this corner of the world the sun sets with an exquisitely gorgeous intensity of those oranges and reds shot with rich streaks of gold is unparalleled. If Emma had the camera, she'd be pointing it there. But she doesn't have the camera.
What she does have is mosquitoes. Lots of agitating new companions to keep her company while Regina pays her no attention. She swats at her face, "seriously, can we get back to the tent…" she gives a huff and another slap "...now?"
Regina presses her lips into a thin line.
"These things are driving me crazy."
Regina inhales deeply. "Swan, you're driving me crazy. You promised me that you wouldn't be a distraction if I let you come with me." She didn't hike all this way to be turned around by a few mosquitoes and a whining fiance.
"You have a mosquito the size of Alabama on your thigh!"
"I'm sure that I would have realized it if that were true. Now be quiet or you're going to scare them away."
"They've been sitting there the whole time, not doing anything. I kind of want them to charge us so that we'll have to run back to shelter."
Instead the lion flops onto its side and gives a lazy yawn. It licks at its paw and Regina's eyes light up. She holds up her camera and snaps a few shots. A close up and one with the setting sun casting its rays upon the lion's golden mane. She clicks the camera several more times, an excess is much better than finding that she has only dissatisfactory shots.
"Great, you got your lion shots so we can get away from these bugs now, right?"
Regina sighs. "I still have to find a mother and her cub."
"You don't have to." Emma groans. "You have all week to do that."
"Or I can get it all done with today and…"
Emma gestures to the horizon. "It's going to be dark soon. You didn't bring your nighttime equipment."
Regina hums softly, "I'll have to remember to bring it tomorrow." She taps her chin. "There is one more thing that I would like to capture tonight."
"Do you think that it will be the one?"
Regina shakes her head. "No, but it will still be nice. I hope." She gestures for Emma to follow her.
"Are you even going to be able to get a good photo in this light?"
Regina laughs. "That's the thing about photography, dear, any light is the right light if you know how to use it." She pauses, "this is perfect actually."
She comes to stand in front of a large acacia tree silhouetted by the falling sun. It is very nearly done with its descent. The sky behind the acacia's pale and curling branches is mostly an inky, star glimmered blue with only the thinnest line of orange-red. The last of the African fish eagles and saddle-billed storks are settling in for the night, making room in the sky for bats. The buzz of flies and mosquitoes dies away in favor of much more ambient sounds; the chirp of acridoidea grasshoppers is carried on a hot breeze. Their droning only comes to a halt when it is buried under the distant yipping of wild dogs and the thud of elephant feet.
"Don't tell me that you don't enjoy this, Swan."
Emma shrugs and stuffs her hands into her pockets. "It's nice. But when you said that we were going to Africa I thought that we'd be running through a jungle dodging snakes and booby traps. I thought that we'd be wrestling those lions!"
Regina rolls her eyes, "I'm the Evil Queen, not Indiana Jones." She nudges Emma, "this is better than getting chased by a stamped of hippos, I promise." She falls silent, hoping to let Emma soak in the night.
A few more stars pop into the sky and the savanna grass rustles.
"Here, go stand by the acacia tree."
Emma wanders over to its base as Regina sets the timer on her camera. She hustles to join Emma beneath the canopy. She wraps her arms around the woman and leans her head against the crook of her neck. Finally Emma smiles. She kisses Regina's forehead as the camera flashes. "Wonderful." Regina remarks. "That one will…"
"Go in the scrapbook." Emma finishes with a laugh. "I figured. You always have to get one."
Regina affectionately slides her finger down Emma's nose, "of course."
"Now can we get back to the shelter?"
"Not just yet. Look." She points towards the canopy. At first it is only one bat, then drops a second and a third. And a fourth and then more, until the sound of flapping wings joins that of the grasshopper chirps. They come out in clouds, from this acacia and the surrounding ones.
In the last breath of the sunset, Regina captures what might be her best shot of the night. She clicks her camera several times; different angels and different zooms and then a final long exposure.
She clicks scrolls through her shots until she comes upon one that stands out amid the rest. It is a landscape shot, the acacia stands grandly, proudly at the very center of the image, blacked by a sky that is so richly blue. Stars cast a certain sparkle above the acacia's leaves. And where sky meets tall grass, is the very thin ribbon of gold. But it is the bats that give the photo the magic she was aiming for. Several leathery silhouettes decorate the sky forever captured in the midst of flight. A few more are suspended in a state of take off.
"This one, Emma. This is the one that makes the night worth it."
"Is it the shot?"
Regina shakes her head. "It's lovely. But, it's not exactly what I'm looking for."
"I think that it's perfect." Emma says as she climbs back into the jeep they'd rented.
"It's perfect for tonight, yes." She agrees. But, God, if there isn't a whole world left to explore.