Chapter 21 – The last one.
"Hey, they brought in a waffle truck today. It's on production."
"No way! Want me to get us an order?"
"Hell yeah, Swan. Get me something with ice cream and chocolate."
"It's Swan-Mills, Leroy." Twenty three year old Henry grins, swatting the camera operator on the shoulder as he makes his way out of stage 7. Just next to circus is a bright yellow food truck offering all kinds of dessert waffles, and he hops into the small lineup of crew and puts in an order for his team.
"Name and department?" the woman taking orders asks.
"Henry, camera department. Thanks, ladies." He flashes a smile, charming to the bone, and the waffle truck women titter over his handsome looks as they cheerfully get to work. Henry stands off to one side out of the way and fiddles on his phone for a moment before slender arms snake their way around his waist and a smaller body hugs him from behind.
"Charming the waffle ladies now?" Ivy purrs into his ear, smiling mischievously at the way he shivers. "Should I be worried?"
"Never," he says with a chuckle, turning around in her arms to face her and press a kiss to the top of her head. She pouts, head craned up to look at him, and he hunches down a great deal to land a kiss on her lips. "You getting a waffle too, shorty?"
He gets a warning squint for that.
"Nah, too much sugar... I'll just steal bites of yours."
"Get your own," he whines, slipping away from her when his name is called, carefully grabbing the takeaway tray of desserts. He starts walking back towards stage 7 with Ivy hot on his heels, pinching pieces of waffle from his dessert and swiping it through the ice cream before stuffing it into her mouth. She at least has the decency to hold open the stage door for him.
"Quit it," he complains loudly and jokingly, holding the tray up high above his much shorter girlfriend as she scampers around him with grabby fingers. Laughing, he hands off desserts to Leroy and their other camera assistant, then clutches his own to his chest as Ivy tries wrestling him for it. "You monster, it's mine!"
"Sharing is caring," Ivy wheedles, suddenly groping his ass hard enough that he squeals in a decidedly un-manly way and bursts out laughing.
"Oh my god, my eyes!" Emma shrieks dramatically, and both Henry and Ivy look up to find Emma and Regina staring at them in amusement.
"Honestly, children," Regina sighs, rolling her eyes fondly. Her blonde wife is in stitches by her side, one hand clutching her stomach and the other thrown across her eyes. Both are already fully done up in hair, makeup, and costume. Regina has Reina's newly designed crown on her head—Reina had taken over Drizella's kingdom as well and cursed Drizella into having a new, much more agreeable personality—and Emma's fur lined vest has been given a few upgrades, most noticeably the glossy black feathers that detail the collar in a stark, dramatic fashion, and the gleaming white wolf pelt that drapes around her shoulders. They both look like legends, and Henry's grin is proud and warm as he regards them both.
"Hey, moms, let's do a quick livestream! Ivy?" He offers her the waffle and Ivy takes it for him, stealing more bites of the dessert as Henry positions himself between his two mothers and holds up his phone.
"Hey guys! It's your favourite dark prince!" Henry greets his camera as he starts a recording, smiling his lopsided smirk. As he's grown older and more handsome, he's amassed a fanbase of his own, and he loves peacocking for his snapchat followers. "I'm here on set with my moms for day one of filming season ten! Are you guys ready for this?"
Emma and Regina both lean in, sandwiching Henry between them with big smiles and little waves at the camera.
"Season ten!" they cheer, grinning as Henry ends the recording and sends it off to social media. When they look back, Ivy has chocolate sauce on the edge of her mouth and an unapologetic grin on her face.
"Traitor!" Henry shouts, lunging playfully for his girlfriend, who shrieks and runs off with the remaining dessert held above her head. They bolt around the corner of a set and disappear out of sight, Ivy's squeals and Henry's laughter echoing throughout the stage. Regina chuckles lowly as she slides into Emma's space, nestling in beneath the blonde's chin when arms settle around her waist like a puzzle piece slotting into place.
"I can't believe our friend is dating our son," Regina murmurs, shaking her head in amusement and moving towards set when Tina waves at them from afar. Ivy and Henry had started dating just a year prior and it's still a bizarre concept to the two older women.
"Well, Ivy is younger than us by a good deal," Emma points out, watching as Regina drops down into her throne and then sitting down in her own smaller throne just next to the Queen's. "And I'd rather Henry date her than that snobby girl that guest starred with us last season—"
"Ugh, she was awful, pawing at Henry the way she did. And she called me ma'am as if I were an old woman. Can you believe the nerve of her?"
"Nope. You're sexy as fuck."
"Emma!"
"What? You are! And I'll show you exactly how much tonight when I—"
"Too much information," Neal complains from the edge of set, looking disturbed as he clutches his walkie in hand. Belle, on the other hand, is happily tucked under Ruby's arm in front of the monitors and shooting them both a gleeful smirk.
"Oh, please continue," she teases, prompting her fiancée to laugh.
"Not in your wildest dreams, French," Regina snarks, grinning at Belle before pointing a finger warningly at Emma. "Behave, darling."
"Lame," Emma says with a playful little roll of her eyes, slumping down into her throne with a dramatic sigh, chin propped on her hand and looking very much like a bored warlord in that moment; hair braided back, new scars adorning her face, a luxurious white wolf pelt draped around her shoulders. Regina stares approvingly, leaning from her throne to run her fingers along a muscled bicep. Emma flexes for her.
"You two are gross," Neal groans, stepping off the set and motioning at the crew. "Let's go before they get worse. Picture's up. Roll sound, please."
Henry darts over to the camera, holding the slate out in front of the lens. "Scene one-oh-eight apple, take one."
Leroy readjusts the camera slightly before nodding. "Mark it."
The clapperboard snaps shut and Henry darts back out of the way, watching over Leroy's shoulder as the older man lines up the shot.
"Frame," he says. Belle leans forward in her seat, eyes intent on the monitors as Regina and Emma transform seamlessly into Reina and Kavalan before her very eyes, a Queen and her Guardian, utterly and hopelessly in love.
"Action!"
