I have this head canon that because Killian is such a wordy/talkative/silver-tongued person he'd be really good at word-based games. So I have Henry introducing Killian to Scrabble, which he turns out to be insanely good at.

This is basically third wheel/outsider perspective fluff. Just cause I'm curious also how Henry might possibly see Emma and Killian's relationship and interactions from the outside looking in.

Read and review, and tell me what modern wonder Killian should face next!

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"Just how the hell are you so good at this game? It's your first time playing, it's not even fair."

"I'm known for my silver tongue, which as you're well aware, Swan, has many talents."

Henry was only half-listening to the exchange in front of him, more interested in the lettered tiles at his disposal. It wasn't until he looked up from his set of tiles that he realized his mom was blushing and glaring daggers at the pirate, who held her gaze in delighted challenge, with his tongue running across his lip.

Henry couldn't help but feel like he'd missed something.

He shook his head and tried to put it out of his mind. It was probably another inside joke they had. Knowing it's meaning wouldn't help Henry beat Killian at the game, and he so wanted to beat the pirate, because his mom was right. It just didn't seem fair that Killian could be so good at something from their world that he'd never done before.

When Henry had pulled Scrabble from the closet earlier that evening, he hadn't thought too much about whether or not Killian would be any good at it. He'd just felt like playing, and the pirate wanted to learn. Then his mom had come back to the apartment from the Sheriff's station, seen what they were about to start, and asked to join in.

Back in New York, Emma and Henry played Scrabble all the time. Henry was growing into something of a wordsmith and Emma had to stop pretending to lose to her son when the points became too obviously one-sided in his favor. He had always been good with words. It was something Henry prided himself on. Unfortunately, he'd conveniently forgotten that Hook was as much of a wordsmith as Henry, if not more so.

The pirate was absolutely destroying Emma in points, and had a noticeable lead on Henry. After being the Scrabble-master for so long Henry was starting to feel annoyed by the whole thing.

It didn't even seem like Killian was playing to win though, just playing words that had memories behind them. He was placing words in lucky spots and sending glances at either Emma or Henry, depending on whom the word was really meant for. So far he'd played words like 'stalk' ("You never forget your first", He'd said to Emma. She'd chuckled and muttered "beanstalk" under her breath.), 'hook', and 'cuff'. The look the pirate sent his mom after that last word was absolutely… something. Henry wasn't entirely sure what it was, but he could hear his mom's breathing quicken and got the distinct impression he wasn't supposed to be seeing this.

Henry had a lucky break by placing 'boat' with the 't' on a triple word score (27 points). But when Killian's turn had come again he'd placed 'sail' in front of it and managed to land the 's' on the neighboring triple word score that also connected his 's' to the end of Emma's 'laze' (75 points.).

Killian held a finger over 'sailboat' on the board, shot Henry a look, and asked "Tomorrow, lad?"

Emma sighed and shook her head. "I really shouldn't be letting you steal boats, kid. Your mom is gonna kill me when she finds out I turned you into a small time crook."

"Commandeering, Swan. It's not stealing if we bring them back in working order. And it's merely in the pursuit of knowledge and essential life skills. And to that point, should he successfully prevent the Queen from learning of our duplicitous activities it will be yet another skill he possesses. Much like learning a waltz for an unexpected ball, wouldn't you agree, love?" Henry would have to have been blind not to notice the way Killian's eyes were twinkling at Emma. Anyone could see the man absolutely adored his mom, but mostly Henry was just glad Emma seemed happy.

The corner of his mom's mouth turned upward, her eyes glazed in what Henry was sure was a private, but happy memory. "One ballroom dance that we had to sneak into isn't enough to make it a life skill."

"Aye, but I'd be delighted to have another one anyway."

She had smiled instead of responding, her hand reaching out to brush against his arm, before she turned her attention back to the game board.

Several moves later Emma played 'caps' (a measly 8 points) and Killian had played 'night' in front of it on a double word score (32 points). Killian lowered his eyes at Emma and even though her answering sound was probably meant to be a laugh it came out as more of a snort. "We never did get that nightcap. Did we pirate?" She asked.

"I distinctly remember an unusual interruption." They wore matching smirks and Henry knew without a doubt they were revisiting old memories through the game.

Was this what dating was like for all grown ups, lots of inside jokes and blushing? Henry had noticed Regina definitely smiled a lot more when she was around Robin Hood, and he'd caught Mary Margaret and David sending each other little smiles and touches all the time, but Emma hadn't been like that with Walsh in New York, and technically they'd dated for eight months. Then again, an evil flying monkey from Oz probably wasn't the best example of dating for anyone to follow, no matter how decent a guy he seemed at first. Henry never had any reason to hate Walsh, but back then he'd been more tolerant of the guy than anything else. Not to mention the three of them had never really hung out together the way Killian did with them.

Henry couldn't help but think that the way his mom and Killian acted, the way he saw most of the happy couples of Storybrooke act, was what dating and relationships were supposed to look like. They each had shared experiences and memories that bound them together. They could be light and playful with each other. They were honest and open with each other. Henry knew all to well the history that went into the early stages of those relationships, but it all just seemed so easy once each pair fell into it.

While Henry had been busy with his thoughts, Killian's hand had moved to play with some of Emma's hair at the base of her neck, rubbing the strands between his fingers and smiling softly at her. Then his hand had moved to the side of her neck and she had squirmed at the ticklish feeling. A hushed "Hook!" escaping her in reprimand as his eyes lit up in amusement.

The rest of the game had passed in much the same way. Henry would hunt the depths of his brain for a word to trump Killian, like 'guano' (24 points), and 'qi' (31 points). Emma would scrape together something smaller in points that would actually expand the playable space and move the game forward, like 'sweet' (9 points) and 'alter' (8 points). Then Killian would blow them both out of the water with a word like 'sailboat' (75 points) and 'qat' (39 points. And what was a 'qat' anyway? It shouldn't have mattered that it was in the dictionary if he didn't know what it was.). Then the pirate would shoot a look or comment at Emma that had her either fidgeting or shooting words back at him, and Henry would get the distinct impression they were using the game as their own personal time machine down memory lane.

In the end, Emma held a measly 91 points to Henry's 176, while Killian had crushed them all with 233 points.

Henry never considered himself to be a sore loser, but the point difference had taken a stab at his ego and he wanted to fix it. He adamantly told the pirate he wanted a rematch but Killian had just laughed and his mom told him they'd play another night if he really wanted his wordy vengeance.

"Honestly, kid, you were getting a little cocky at Scrabble before this game. Think of it like a life lesson in humility. I got one every time you and I used to play," Emma noted as the trio cleaned up the board. They put the game back in the closet before Emma declared it was time for bed, and Henry had been sent to brush his teeth.

As he walked out of the living room he heard Killian ask, "So Swan, about that nightcap?"

Henry decided to give them some space for the rest of the night and just go straight to bed. His mom and the pirate bid him good night, and the last Henry saw of them for the evening, Killian was taking out his rum flask and offering it to Emma, who smiled and took a swig.

It was some time later that Henry woke with a start to the sound of something crashing to the apartment floor. There were hushed voices outside, frantic but laughing, which confused Henry even more in his sleep-induced haze. He glanced at the clock next to his bed and realized he'd only been asleep for about three hours. Maybe he'd go check and see what happened, just in case.

If there was one skill Henry was eternally grateful to have learned from his many fairy tale character teachers, it was how to sneak around and be unseen. Between impromptu lessons from Mary Margaret, Robin Hood and the Merry Men, Ruby, and even Granny, Henry found it easy to fall into the steps that would hide the sound of his footfalls. He walked slowly on the balls of his feet, only putting pressure on them when he was sure the floorboard wouldn't creak under his weight, and made his way down the hall towards the living room where the sound came from.

The hushed voices grew clearer as he got closer, and Henry recognized Killian's lilting accent and his mom's usually clear tone, both slightly slurred. Maybe they'd each had a bit too much of Killian's rum and were only just now getting to bed? But then what was the noise he'd heard?

Henry inched his eyes around the corner of the hallway to look into the living room, and smiled at what he saw.

Killian and Emma were swaying on their feet in front of the couch, clinging to each other and half laughing over a pair of broken drinking glasses and spilled liquid. Henry could only assume it was rum that now littered the floor. Killian's hook arm held Emma's hand out to one side, while his other arm was wrapped around her waist and his mom's other hand grasped Killian's shoulder in an attempt to hold them both upright.

"I told you there wasn't enough room for a full waltz Killian. Now we've gotta clean up the glasses," He heard Emma trying to sound angry, but her voice was beaming carelessly in hushed laughter, so the severity was lost.

"Absolutely right, love, and we will, but you know I could never refuse a dance with you. Forgive an old pirate for trying in such close quarters?"

Emma's face moved closer to his until their noses bumped and foreheads touched. "Forgiven, pirate. Always forgiven." And then she kissed him, slow and sweet. Her arm moved from his hook to his shoulder and Killian's arms moved to hold her closer to him as they lost themselves in each other and the moment.

Henry smiled at them, glad for their happiness and how they had found each other. That was what a relationship should look like, he thought. Playful teasing and honesty, with memories built together in moments big and small.

He turned away, determined this time to give them their privacy and go back to bed. This time, he stayed asleep till morning.