"I come in peace," Granny announced as soon as the door opened before she had a chance to even raise her hand to knock.
Ashley chuckled at the greeting then stepped aside to let the elder into the apartment. "I'll see you two later okay?" the blond shot back over her shoulder as she slipped out into the hall. "I'll close up if you not back by then," Cinderella added under her breath.
Widow Lucas blink in surprise at that but Ashley shook her head when the other woman started to say something. "They really are cute together." The princess smiled then jerked with her chin toward the small ground floor bedroom before the door swung closed.
"Toto sshh." Dorothy purred when the little dog growled warningly at the newcomer from his position tucked between the two women cuddled together on the bed. "she's a friend." Dorothy whispered glancing over at Granny. The realm jumper was stretched out on top of the covers her jean clad legs crossed in front of her while her granddaughter looked to be sleeping soundly with her head pillowed against her true love's side with the comforter draped over her shoulders.
"It's a natural reaction." Granny chuckled "He's only protecting the rest of his pack." She smiled noticing how Ruby's arm tightened around Dorothy's waist at the comment. Even when the wolf was all but dead to the world with sleep she was still protective. "Finally found her pack." The elder wolf mussed thoughtfully talking too low for the other woman to hope to hear while quietly hoping that the glare from her glasses would hide the happy tears in her eyes.
"Ashley put half a knockout pill in her hot chocolate earlier." Dorothy explained miss reading Granny's expression to her granddaughter's current state: quietly drooling into her true love's borrowed red and black checkered shirt. "it only took effect a few minutes ago." Dorothy sighed threading her fingers in Red's hair absently.
"She must have been in a real state if Ash had to use those." Granny mused then scolded herself when she remembered the enraged golden yellow glow of Ruby's eyes during their argument. "Get the monkey, Wolfie…." Dorothy goaded breaking Granny from her own thoughts "That's it go get it…" the young hero teased just as she would do with Toto when he'd dream hunt during a nap. "That's my girl." Dorothy praised noticing Ruby's proud grin while she pressed her face against the pillow her teeth nearly ripping it open in the process.
"I'm not going far Red." The Oz hero promised pressing the lightest of kisses to Ruby's forehead as Dorothy carefully prized herself away from the sleeping wolf earning an annoyed whimper from the brunet now sprawled out on the bed. "Thank you, Toto." Granny smiled noticing how the terrier was now curled up in the crook of Red's legs resting his chin on her ankle lazily as the farm girl finished tucking the comforter around Ruby's shoulders.
The next full minute was filled with the most uncomfortable silences both women had ever experienced. "Would you like something to drink? I promise not to put anything in it." Dorothy added biting her lip to hide her amusement when Widow Lucas raised an eyebrow at her in silent question. "No thank you, dear," The older wolf answered settling herself on one end of the sofa while Dorothy hesitated at the end corner of the dining room table.
"I was going to come during lunch but…you said it was always crowded so…" Dorothy rambled not wanting another tension-filled quiet again but stopped hastily when her nerves starting to get the better of her under Granny's kind eyes. "And let me guess Red was eminently against it?" The country girl nodded the ghost of a smile crossing her lips.
Widow Lucas chuckled at the answer patting the empty seat on the couch. "I would still like to talk with you." The faint smile slipped from the hero's mouth as she stayed statue like beside the dining table. So, Granny hurried on "I don't completely regret my action during our previous conversation." The wolf broke off holding up her hand when Dorothy's fear scent changed as her eyebrow arched in silent question.
"I regret my treatment of your relationship." The gray-haired woman explained. Dorothy let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding as her grip on the small knife in her pocket loosened "Finding you just means that now I won't have to deal with most of the population in the eastern seaboard traipsing through the hallway at all hours of the night while I'm trying to sleep." She commented gratefully.
"So that's how you see me?" Dorothy asked dryly her arms crossed tightly over her chest. "Just a means of keeping her urges in check? So, if that's all you see me as would you like me better if I was a wolf?" the countrywoman questioned darkly.
"Of course, not girl." Granny countered her green eyes rimming gold in the afternoon light at the challenge in the human's voice. "I don't care one bit that my granddaughter's soulmate turned out to be a human or that you're a woman all I care about is that my Ruby finally has the mate she's been craving since the day she could walk." the elder woman growled "Besides most of my annoyance is with false memories given to me by a curse no matter how real they seem to be." she pointed out "And even without that Red was only ever with Peter and I don't want to talk ill of the dead but what they had was only that young first love little girls dream about until they grow up and really figure out what they want in a partner and a lover."
"You can't know that." Dorothy countered her voice cracking at the denial "I can, and I do. Ruby might not have known she was a wolf when she was younger but even at her worst she never stood up to me as passionately or as enraged as she was defending you." Granny corrected "I really thought she was going for my throat if you hadn't stepped in when you did." the older woman commented her hand drifting up to rub her neck absently.
Dorothy winced at the reminder even when a proud smile pulled at her lips for the same reason "I wouldn't have let her." she promised "But we hardly know each other. I threatened to shoot her with a crossbow when we first met and..."
"And Snow White hit Prince Charming in the face with a rock on their first meeting…" Granny cut in with a dull humored tone. "or was it a jewelry box? The point is she hit him with something and he still has the scar, but he also still has Snow."
Granny noticed Dorothy's amused chuckle at that curiously clear in her eyes. "Look, True Love is never easy, but it also doesn't have a gender it just is and when two people have it then to hell with what they call themselves 'man.' 'woman' 'gay' 'lesbian' so long as both parties involved are happy gender shouldn't matter." Widow Lucas elaborated when Dorothy still didn't look convinced.
Dorothy couldn't hold back the tears and was quietly wiping at her eyes with the corner of her borrowed shirt by the end of Widow Lucas's words. She couldn't help it as she threw her arms around the other woman pulling her in for a tight hug. "You two have the rest of your lives to get to know each other and I'll be around whenever either of you needs to talk should things get tough and trust me I've had to do that more than once for Snow and David." Granny soothed resting her hand on the hunter's shoulder.