Prompt:
Henry, allocating beds for everyone: … and Alice and Robin'll have to make do with the bunkbed.
Henry: Ok, so who's top and who's bottom?
Alice: *nearly chokes on tea*
Robin: *blushes whilst staring at her cousin like he's just grown an extra head*
Henry:
Henry: …what?
Ella: *facepalms*
Alice:
Alice: …top.
Robin:
Alice: What? I just want the top bunk.
Alice: *winks*
Robin:
Henry: *Is even more confused*
"Alright, so I have a very important question for you dear cousin." Henry says coming back to the table
"Oh yeah?" Robin asks setting aside the new arrows she'd been fletching in favor of giving her cousin her full attention. She was intrigued but at the same time weary of that mischievous glint in the young man's eyes after his hushed looking chat with the innkeeper. Not that Robin had chosen her spot just to try and attempt to read her cousin's lips as he spoke or anything, and she was fully ready to deny it should anyone ask her.
Henry nodes setting out two identical-looking keys then a single quarter between them as his eyes lift to meet Robin's. "Head or tails." He prompts
"Seriously?" the young archer laughs leaning back in her chair as she studies the man across from her.
Henry nodes "I wouldn't be asking if I wasn't." He promises "Now heads or tails." He asks again drawing out the question.
Robin eyes the quarter then the two keys on either side then looks back up at her cousin. "What's the catch?" she probes "What are we playing for?"
Henry grins reminding Robin eerily of one of the Dark One's amused smirks before making a deal. "Come on just think of this as fun way of picking the room assignments for the night." He shrugs now spinning the coin between his hands.
"if you think I'm going to be sharing a room with you while I'm supposed to be a date with Alice that's now snowballed into this crazy mini adventure/ double-
This time it's Henry shaking his head "That's not what I'm propositioning. I'm rooming with Ella and you and Alice are getting a room to yourselves." He spells out.
"Next time lead with that." Robin grumbles then pauses her brow furrowing as she thinks of something. "But why are we playing this silly game in the first place if the rooms are identical?"
Henry huffs at the stubborn streak his cousin was putting up. "Gezz when did you stop being fun? Just pick a side before Alice and Ella come back okay?" he insists already reaching for the quarter as she talks.
"Heads." Robin called out as soon as the coin had left Henry's hand and had started flipping in the air over their table.
Henry's smile seemed to grow even more pleased when the coin landed tails up. "Tough luck cuz." He sighs sliding the key on the right toward her.
"No way you rigged the toss." Robin accused one hand closing in a vice around his wrist when he reached for the second room key while the other snatches the coin off the table before her chuckling cousin could take it back. "Two out of three." She demands
"Why would I do a thing like that?" the author scoffed shaking off Robin's restraining grip on his wrist. "Come on you already lost why press your luck?"
Before Robin could answer with more than a repeated hiss of "two out of three" a laughing Ella and Alice return to the table one carrying a tray bearing a steaming pot of tea four mugs while the other's held the traditional warmed stew, hard roll bread and cheese quarters along with the added bonus of some apple slices Alice had thoughtfully added to the mix that was to be their supper for the evening.
"Two out of three what, Robin?" Ella questions setting her tray down as she looks between the now glaring cousins. "Henry, what did you do?" she sighs reclaiming her seat beside her way to pleased looking partner.
"What's with the angry face, Nobin?" Alice wonders already abandoning her self-appointed task of pouring out tea for everyone in favor of trying to soothe the annoyed glare seemed to be etched into her love's features.
"He rigged the toss is what." Robin snapped but she did seem much calmer once Alice's arms had draped around her middle letting the archer pillow her head against Alice's shoulder whilst continuing to glare at her grinning cousin.
"Rigged the toss?" the two newcomers asked at the same time.
"There were only two rooms left for the night and we flipped for who got what room." Henry explained, "Robin is just being a sour loser." The author plays off ripping his portion of the bread loaf in half as he looked to almost every face at their table. "But I did give her a fifty-fifty chance."
"Then how about Alice and I take the next toss?" Ella offers ladling out some of the warmed stew for herself as she shares a shrug with the blue-eyed girl sitting on her other side. "Sure. Two tosses out of three shouldn't be that bad" Alice agreed although why her suggestion had brought a round of giggles from the Mills cousins was a question for another time despite Ella and Alice's growing curiously as to why Henry was grumbling about something called meatloaf had Robin almost falling out of her chair in a laughing fit.
"Must be a Storybrooke thing." Ella determines biting into an apple slice as she spoke. "Must be." Alice agrees adding another splash of tea to her mug.
The second toss ends up going to Alice evening the score.
"Ah ah ah. No more coin tossing until after supper." The realm jumper scolds noting how Robin and Henry now seemed to be glaring harder than ever at the small metal thing laying tails up when they were supposed to be enjoying the meals sitting half touched on the table in front of them.
"I still don't get why this is so important when the rooms here are all the same." Ella sighs once again lifting her teacup to her lips for a drink.
"That's what I'd like to know too." Robin agrees as she takes a bit of an apple slice. As soon as she'd swallowed Alice leans in for a kiss. "Not that I'm complaining." Robin blushed while Alice leaned back in her chair with a pleased looking smile "But what was that for?" the dazed archer wonders.
Alice pauses draining the last of her tea and pouring a second cup before she lifts her eyes to meet Robin's gaze. "From what you've told me your family has a history of poisoned apples, love." The realm jumper reminds as if the couple needed another reason to trade kisses. "I didn't want to risk you falling under a sleeping curse."
Robin blushes ten different shades of pinks and reds while Ella awws over the adorableness that is Robin and Alice's romance whilst Henry sulks as he finishes the last few bites of his stew. "Just flip the coin before the place catches fire from the heart eyes you two are throwing at each other." If it hadn't been from the playful wink, he sends her way Robin would have followed up in her ideas of hitting Henry around the head with the serving tray.
"Well then." Henry declares as soon as the small silver coin had stopped spinning. "Looks like you two will just have to make do with the bunkbeds." His eyes lift to meet Robin's first then slide over to Alice's and back again drinking in the dazed look in his cousin's eyes at the information.
"Wait a minute this place actually has bunk beds?"
"What's a bunk bed?"
It's Henry rather than Robin who answers the doubled question while his cousin continues blinking in surprise. "It's really cool actually. One bed is on the floor like in a normal room but then another bed is secured over the top of the first one." He explains even sketching out a rough drawing of one when Alice and Ella still didn't seem to understand the idea of this 'bed sandwich' as Alice called it.
"So, I guess the only question now is who's on top and who's the bottom."
The effect was instant with Alice chocking on the last swallow of her tea while a severely blushing Robin is half glaring half staring at her smirking cousin had just grown a second or even a third head.
"What?" Henry asks looking between the couple with an expectant yet puzzled look. "It's a valid question." He defends while beside him his fiancée rests her face against her palm. "You really don't have to answer that." Ella promises sending a warning elbow into the author's ribs to quiet him when Henry starts to argue.
"Top." Alice smiles with an uninterested shrug of her shoulders that has Robin blushing if possible, an even darker shape of pink at the confession. "What?" the realm jumper laughs spying Ella's rather flushed cheeks while Henry seemed as puzzled as ever by her answer to his question. "I've never slept on a sandwich bed before, so I want the top bunk."
Even Robin seemed convened by the innocent enough clarification if it wasn't for the wink her girlfriend sent her.
"Okay, then well goodnight." The archer announces rather abruptly putting an end to the tense feeling standoff that had settled over the table as she snatches up the room key as Alice's hand finds her own.
"Wait what about—" Henry starts to say when Robin simply walks away from the table with Alice close at her side each leaving their travel bags and in Robin's case her prized bow behind in their eagerness to get to their room.
"Why-" the puzzled author questions earning a barely contained laugh from the woman at his side while he continues looking between Ella's amused face and the entry way separating the small dining area from the rest of the inn.
"I'll tell you when you're older." Ella promises pressing a kiss against her boyfriend's cheek.