Day 5 - OT3 / BrOTP
Prompt from .com: Someone walks in on Ruby/Regina/writer's choice sleeping in bedKnock knock.
Knock knock kn-knock knock.
Knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock.
Emma wrenched open her front door with a growl that would've put Ruby to shame, "What in the hell-" she swallowed, pushing a section of blonde hair behind her ear. "Anna?" she squinted furtively at the redhead. "Do you have any idea what time it- oomph!"
"Oh, Emma, thank god," she crowed, throwing her arms around the blonde. "I-I'm so sorry to bother you but I…it's been hours and I've been so worried. I didn't know where else to go…"
"Anna, slow down," she said, gripping the young redhead's shoulders, "What's wrong?"
"Elsa's gone!"
"Gone?" Emma blinked. "Gone…where?"
"I don't know!" she cried, tears shining in her teal-colored eyes, "If I did, I'd be there!"
"Okay, okay," she said holding her hands up in surrender, "Come inside, sit down, calm down, and jus-" she smothered a yawn with the back of her hand, "Just start from the beginning, okay?"
Slowly, Anna nodded, allowing herself to be led inside and pressed down onto the couch. "You, uhm, want something to drink?"
"Could I have hot chocolate?" she asked, brightening up a little at the prospect.
Emma smiled, despite herself and the lateness of the hour both, always charmed by the younger girls' love of all things sweet. "Sure, Anna. You talk; I'll microwave,"
She nodded again, unconsciously smoothing her skirts as she gathered her thoughts. "I had a nightmare," she began, ducking her head in something like shame, "So I went to Elsa's room; she's always been good at calming me down, even when there was a door between us…"
The redhead trailed off into silence and Emma didn't have to ask why. During her time with the Arendelle sisters, she'd become very familiar with their story, especially where their long separation was concerned.
She pulled herself together quickly, though, never one to wallow when adventure was close at hand. "I knocked forever before I realized the door wasn't even locked. I went in one hundred percent ready and willing to apologize for disturbing her…but she wasn't there. Honestly, from the look of things, I don't think she's ever stepped foot in that room,"
"So, if not there, where's she been staying?" Emma wondered aloud, passing Anna a steaming mug of chocolate, complete with tiny marshmallows as she dropped gracelessly into the chair opposite her. "I mean, you've both been here for a while now; she has to be sleeping somewhere,"
"That's why I came here; I know she stayed with you while you were looking for me and, since the two of you have become so close, I thought…" she sighed, running her finger along the rim of the mug, "It doesn't matter. Obviously, I was wrong," she sighed, dejected, and Emma couldn't deny the need to comfort the younger girl.
"It was a good guess, Anna," she said, squeezing her shoulder comfortingly, "Really,"
They both fell silent, Emma hesitantly curious and Anna, dejectedly sipping at her drink.
"I have to find her," she said, standing suddenly. "What is she's out there somewhere and needs my help? What if there's another, oh what does Henry call them?…Big Bad! - What if there's another Big Bad out there and it has her an-and-"
"Anna, I'm sure she's fine; this is Elsa we're talking about. She can take care of herself," Emma said, loosing a relieved sigh when the redhead sank back into the couch cushions.
She hesitated only a second before leaning forward a little, elbows on her knees, and asking, "Are…are you sure it wouldn't be best to just go back to the Inn and wait for her to come back in the morning?"
Anna shook her head, "Even if she's alright…she's keeping something from me, Emma," she said, "The last time she had a secret she felt like she couldn't tell me, it cost us thirteen years; I can't let anything like that happen again. I won't,"
She sighed, running a hand though her tangled blonde mane. "Well…I can't let you go wandering around town by yourself; we may have taken care of the Snow Queen but Storybrooke's isn't all rainbows and puppies,"
"Does this mean you'll help me?" she asked, gratitude shining in her eyes.
"Yeah, Anna; it's what friends do, right?" she said, offering her a weak smile as she pushed herself wearily to her feet. "Just, uh, let me get dressed first, hmm?"
"Oh!" she nodded, ducking her head, "O-of course! I'll just be here. With my chocolate,"
XxX
After a quick trip upstairs to exchange pj's for jeans and trademark red leather (not to mention a brief stop in Henry's room to assure him the town wasn't under attack quite yet) the two princesses left the apartment in search of the missing queen.
"Now, let's think, Anna. Who else does your sister consider a 'friend' here?"
"Well, there's you, of course. And your mother," she paused, expression growing thoughtful, "Is it awfully strange, having a mother younger than you are?"
Emma grimaced, "Yes. And, if you want more than that, we're gonna need a ton of alcohol. Or at least a full eight hours," she teased, knocking her hip into the other girls, "But there's no way she's with my parents. If she was, I'd have gotten a preemptive call hours ago, just in case you came looking for her,"
Anna nodded her agreement. "That does sound like Snow," she mused.
"So…who else?" Emma frowned thought, "What about Belle?" She was pretty sure Elsa was a big reader…
"No," Anna said, shaking her head for further emphasis, "She's perfectly nice, of course, but her connection to the Dark One…" she shuddered.
"Right. Sore subject,"
They descended into silence for a few long moments, each absorbed in their own thoughts as they slowly walked along Storybrooke's deserted main street.
"Oh!" Anna exclaimed, her voice unnaturally loud in the stillness that had settled over them, "What about the girl, the kind one, who works at the eatery?"
"You mean Rubes?"
"Ruby! Yes, of course!" she chuckled, "Oh, how could I have forgotten her?! I've never seen Elsa get along with someone so well before…and such an unusual name too!"
"Er, right," she said, shaking her head slightly at the redheads unexpected enthusiasm. You'd think it wasn't four in the morning with the way she acted… "Well, if Rubes wasn't at the Inn – and, trust me, if she was she'd probably be right here looking with us – she's probably at Regina's. So, I guess that's the best place to start. If nothing else, the two of them can help us find her that much faster,"
Anna beamed, "Well then, what are we waiting for?!" she asked, skipping ahead of her. She made it nearly a full block before tripping over her own feet; she'd nearly kissed the sidewalk by the time Emma grabbed her.
"Let's try to get there in one piece, huh?" she asked, breathless.
The redhead nodded sheepishly in agreement.
XxX
Thankfully, the rest of their journey to Regina's was (mostly) uneventful – the two other times Anna tripped really weren't worth mentioning – and they arrived at the manor practically unscathed.
Unfortunately, their journey, short though it was, had done quite a good job at exacerbating Anna's worry. Which was why, when Emma had barely cleared the property line, Anna sprinted ahead, tiny fists of fury trying their damnedest to turn Regina's front door into sawdust.
"Hello? Ruby? Regina? It's Anna! Anna Sølvlykke?"
Sprinting to catch up with her, Emma tried again, "Anna, if you just wait-"
"Ah-ha!" the redhead exclaimed, jiggling the doorknob only to find it unlocked, "Good thing I checked or this would've been like the Inn all over again,"
"You can't just walk insi-" she gasped out as Anna proceeded to do just that, "Anna, that's illegal!"
"Then arrest me! Just help me find Elsa first," she said, moving further into the pitch-black house. "Ruby? Regina?"
Emma rolled her eyes skyward. God help her, she'd rather fight a thousand giant snowmen than keep chasing after this girl. How did Elsa make it look so easy? She'd never been so exhausted (or felt quite so old) in all her life.
"Elsa?!" Anna whisper-yelleded, charging up the stairs. "Elsa?!"
"Anna, wait!" Emma called only to curse under her breath and follow after her. After all, if she left her little sister to face Regina's wrath alone, Elsa would never forgive her.
Climbing the steps two at a time, it was only moments before the young Arendellian reached the top, ducking her head into each room she passed until only one remained. Rolling her shoulders as if preparing for battle, she marched forward and threw the door wide.
"Anna, maybe we shouldn't-" "Elsa, are you-" Anna's voice choked off into a gasp and beside her, Emma just about swallowed her tongue in her hurry to stop talking.
There, sprawled across the room's massive bed in a fashion one could only describe as thoroughly debauched lay not only the former Evil Queen and her lupine lover but, in a shocking turn of events, the ice queen of Arendelle as well. All three women, each an exquisite specimen in their own right, were naked as the day they were born, their bare bodies positioned in such a way that Emma, at least, had no doubts as to what exhausting activity they'd been engaged in. And, if Anna's flushed cheeks and comically wide eyes were any indication she too had a pretty good idea of what her sister and her 'friends' had been, ahem, doing.
The Savior reached out, her hand wrapping loosely around Anna's forearm and tugging slightly to gain her attention. Maybe, if they were quiet and extremely lucky, they could run like mad before anyone was the wiser. A quick exchange of glances made it clear that both unintentional intruders were on the same page and, as one, the pair made to leave-
So, of course, that was the moment the door Anna had flung open in her haste to locate her 'missing' sister found its way to the wall with a resounding crash.
At the sound, the bed's occupants, well, two of the three, sat bolt upright and, upon realizing they weren't alone, began frantically tugging at the sheets that had fallen by the wayside at some point during their, uh, activities. The third, one Regina Mills, merely eyed the two intruders with a quirked brow and an almost painfully annoyed expression. "Don't you ever knock, Miss Swan?"
"I…uh…" Emma turned her eyes to the ceiling, deciding quickly that it was the safest place to look. (Admittedly that choice was made easy when her first glance to the floor revealed far more about Regina and Ruby's underwear drawer than she ever wanted to see). "Anna was, we were, uhm, looking for Elsa?" she supplied weakly, silently – and violently – cursing her kind nature for making her get out of bed in the first place. Things like this never happened to 'bad' people.
Lucky bastards.
Regina smirked. She couldn't even see it but, when she spoke, she could hear it in the other woman's voice as surely as if she'd been looking right at her, "Well, as you can see, Miss Sølvlykke is right here and absolutely no worse for wear,"
The none-to-subtle reminder that her sister was there or, more accurately, that she was there and very, very naked, was, apparently, Anna's limit. With a muffled, "Ohmygodohmygodohmygod", the young redhead turned and fled with as much dignity as she could muster (which, considering the circumstances, wasn't much). Still, it got the job done and, in a flash, the youngest Sølvlykke sister was out of sight.
And then, before anyone could truly register her departure, Elsa was up and moving, her icy ensemble appearing with each step she took. It wasn't her best work, perhaps, but it was enough to keep Emma from having to shield her eyes as she passed her. "Anna!" she called, her voice hoarse from things the elder blonde really didn't want to think about.
But, despite her obvious worry, her manners, or perhaps her affection?, found her hesitating at the door. Turning back to face the beds remaining occupants, her expression torn she said, "I-I'm sorry, but I-"
"Els, it's your sister," Ruby said, offering the young sorceress a reassuring smile, "Go,"
Regina, never much for words when actions spoke far louder, offered her a calming nod.
Elsa, clearly relieved, smiled wide and vanished.
Which, unfortunately for Emma, left her with a (still) mostly naked Ruby and Regina. Rubbing nervously at the back of her neck and trying, with varying degrees of success, to ignore both her friends nakedness and her ever-mounting embarrassment, she cleared her throat, "So, uhm, yeah, I'm just gonna…" she jerked her thumb towards the door, her eyes still on the ceiling (her sanity, she was sure, depended on it).
"I'm really sorry, Em," Ruby called, her voice husky. "She, well, we, planned to head back to the Inn but we just got sorta…sidetracked,"
"It's fine, Rubes," she said. "All in a night's work,"
"Yes, well, some of us were too busy sleeping to run about rescuing kittens from trees, Swan," Regina snapped, though the obvious amusement in her voice leeched the bite from her words. For a moment, Emma wished she was angry. Angry!Regina was far more familiar territory where she was concerned. Amused!Regina usually meant trouble, benign in nature or not.
"Is that what we're calling Elsa now?" Ruby asked and the wickedness of her tone nearly made the Savior turn tail and run, "'Cos I'm pretty sure she started purring when you-"
"Please, stop," Emma entreated weakly, inching towards the door, "I'm so close to leaving without any new mental scars. Please don't take that from me,"
"Wouldn't dream of it, Emski," the she-wolf quipped, snuggling beneath the blankets. "Regina?"
"Hmm? Oh, fine," she huffed, "Goodnight, Miss Swan. Do try not to shoot anything on your way out,"
"I'll do my best," she muttered sarcastically.
"Oh, and Emma?"
She hesitated, her hand clasped around the bedroom's doorknob, a horrible, sinking feeling in her chest telling her she should run, now, while she had the chance to escape this 'encounter' unscathed. "What is it, Regina?"
"If you should happen to see Miss Sølvlykke on your way home…"
"Yes?" she ground out.
"Please tell her she's welcome back anytime,"
"Argh! God dammit, Regina!" she cried, slamming the door closed as hard as she could.
And, as she stomped down the stairs, muttering curses under her breath, her only companion was the sound of Regina's gleeful laughter.
On a sidenote, I hope everyone likes the surname I made up for Elsa & Anna. Sølvlykke means 'silver luck' or 'silver happiness' depending on the source. (I mostly think it's kinda pretty and also sounds neat, so, yeah :D)