Emma settled back against the rough shingles of her roof, balancing her bottle of root beer on her bent knee. It had been a long few hours. After questioning the majority of the employees of Town Hall and coming up empty, she had called Dusty. He had promised to come up, but not until after Halloween. Then Will Scarlet had been caught trying to break into the Nedakh's shed. Their teenage daughter, Kida, had beaten him into submission and Emma ended up arresting them both. Kida's father was quick to scoop her up from the jail and give Emma a talking to. Will Scarlet had settled happily into his cell for the night, waving merrily as she left. And then a cat had darted across the road, nearly making her wreck, and she ended up having to get out and bring the thing home to keep it's young owner from crying. After that she had been quite done with the day. So she had gone home, grabbed a root beer, and climbed up on the roof to de-stress.
"Excuse me, ma'am."
She looked around at the twang-filled voice, raising an eyebrow.
Ruby, wearing Emma's toolbelt, was climbing over the other side of the roof. The brunette grinned. She stopped, hooking her thumbs in the belt and looking Emma up and down. "I just finished fixing up that loose gutter of yours. I'm gonna have to ask how you're paying today, miss."
Emma crossed her legs at the ankles, laying back on the shingles. "Oh my," she drawled. "I left my checkbook at the office. Is there any other forms of...payment...you accept?"
Ruby slid over to sit beside her, drumming her fingers on the hammer hanging from the belt. "Well, you could let me get a picture of you to send to all my friends. I want to prove to them that angels do exist."
Emma snorted, dropping her playful accent. "You're ridiculous."
"But you love it," Ruby grinned, pulling out her phone. "Say cheese." She leaned closer and snapped a quick picture of the two of them.
A car passed slowly. Emma recognized Duke Wesel's little car and the little man himself driving it, peering up through his round glasses and bushy mustache at them. "Ruby, he's staring at you again."
"Oh, god. That prick." Ruby glared until the car turned the corner. "He was at the diner this morning. Asked me out AGAIN."
"Quit playin'. I know he's your secret crush."
Ruby pretended to gag, clutching at her throat. Her eyes rolled back into her head and she shook.
"Come on, Rubes!" Emma laughed. "He could take you to dinner at his parents' house, where he still lives. Then you could go dancing, where you'd have to get on your knees so he was taller. Then he would leave you on the dance floor to have his hourly phone call with his mother. And then he could take you back to his place and you could have awkwardly silent sex because he doesn't want to wake his mother with the bedsprings."
"Please shut up. I'm really going to throw up."
"All you'd have to do is be real nice and dress up real nice."
Ruby let out a bark of laughter. "The day I dress up for a man is the day they dress me in my coffin to meet Jesus." Completely straight-faced, the brunette closed her eyes, crossed herself, then folded her hands in prayer. Emma rolled around next to her, cackling. The two looked up as a loud crackle of thunder rolled over them. Ruby grinned. "Thought I smelled rain."
"'You know what happens when a toad gets struck by lightning? The same thing that happens to everything else'," Emma quoted, chuckling.
Ruby sighed longingly. "Fucking Halle Berry. She sold that line, man."
"Stone-cold determination," Emma agreed, nodding. "Only she could have pulled that off."
"I'd like to see her pull more than that off," Ruby muttered.
"Cheers." Emma raised her bottle then took a long swig of it.
"So, storm's a-comin'. Movie night?"
"Call the cavalry. Let's do it."
XXXXXXX
Henry's phone dinged in the back seat. A moment later he leaned around the passenger seat, shoving the phone beneath Regina's nose. She blinked down at the picture he'd just received. Ruby was grinning cheesily and Emma was toasting the camera with her root beer, crooked grin in place. Under the picture it read, "Movie night, pups! Me and Em's house! We accept donations! Remember, they keep us out of the poor house and your house!"
Regina chuckled, shaking her head. "Your aunt is..." She searched for the word. "Interesting."
"Tell me about it," Henry chuckled. "But it's movie night! You're going to love it, Regina. We have a movie night whenever a big storm is coming through. That way, if the power goes out, we're all together. And it's always a scary movie. So if the power goes out..." He wagged his fingers and made long, moaning noises like a ghost.
"Scary movies?" Regina said, frowning.
Cora didn't look away from the road, but she reached over and patted Regina's knee. "Don't worry, darling. I can hold your hand if you like. Or Emma could." Regina glared at the sparkle in her mother's eye.
"Yeah!" Henry exclaimed, grinning. "Mom will hold your hand! She never gets scared!" Then he launched into tales of bumps in the night that Emma had investigated. Regina listened, not realizing how wide her grin had gotten.
When they got to the house, Regina, Henry, and Cora hurried to get their shopping bags while Henry Sr. started the long journey up the driveway on his cane. Regina closed the trunk, balancing the groceries in her arms and making sure Henry had a good hold on the giant bag of dog food. When the boy saw the amount of vehicles parked outside the house, he grinned. "Come on, Regina!" He sprinted to the house.
The brunette glanced at her mother. Cora chuckled. "Prepare for insanity, my darling." The older woman hefted her own bags and followed her husband up the driveway. Regina hung back a little, hearing music as she got closer. Was there a night where the people in this town didn't party?
The music washed over them the second Henry Sr. opened the door. Regina peered over her mother's shoulder, eyes widening at the scene before her.
Mulan, slightly red-faced, but smiling, led the beat with a pair of bongos. Tink was dancing around with her trumpet. David was jamming on an electric guitar. Mary Margaret and Aurora were at the kitchen table, nodding along and peeling potatoes. Granny stood over the stove, cooking. Though she wasn't dancing, Regina saw her toe tapping. Belle and Kathryn were in the living room, bopping around and rearranging the furniture. And Emma, Ruby, and Henry were dancing around the kitchen, laughing and singing. All three had their collars popped ridiculously.
Emma grabbed Ruby, spinning her. "She's into superstitions," she sang. "Black cats and voodoo dolls." The blonde released Ruby. She hopped, crossing her feet, and spun herself, arms above her head. "I feel a premonition. That girl's gonna make me fall."
Regina caught the sheriff's gaze and Emma grinned. Before Regina could comprehend what was happening, Henry Jr. had grabbed the bags from her arms and pushed her towards Emma. And once again, Regina was in the blonde's arms, being pulled into a wild dance around the room. There were no formal steps this time. Emma bounced around her, blonde hair flying. Her hips rolled. And she sang. "She's into new sensations. New kicks in the candle light." Not only could the woman dance, but her voice was like velvet, slightly raspy, but smooth as it slid over the skin of Regina's neck. "She's got a new addiction, for every day and night." Something flashed in her green eyes. A challenge, Regina decided, as Emma raised an eyebrow. The brunette narrowed her eyes, her nostrils flaring. Then she spun into the sheriff, pressing her back to the blonde's front, and rolled her hips to the beat. By the soft gasp near her ear, she knew she'd surprised her dance partner. She smirked, tossing her hair out of her face. But Emma didn't miss a beat, twisting with her as Tink's trumpet blared behind them.
Ruby leapt onto the kitchen island, spinning up to her knees and ignoring Granny's gruff protests. "She'll make you take your clothes off and go dancing in the rain!" She threw her head about dramatically, grabbing her own hair. "She'll make you live her crazy life, but she'll take away your pain like a bullet to your brain. Come on!"
"Upside, inside out!" everyone sang, making Regina laugh.
"She's livin' la vida loca!" Ruby yelled, still jamming on the island.
"She'll push and pull you down!" Regina caught Kathryn head-banging across the room.
"Livin' la vida loca!" Ruby sang.
Emma spun Regina close, dipping her. "Her lips are devil red and her skin's the color of mocha!"
"She will wear you out!" Henry Jr. sang as he danced by with Cora.
"Livin' la vida loca!" Ruby screamed, falling across the island, strumming her invisible guitar.
The next few minutes were full of the insanity her mother had promised. Everyone sang and danced. Granny even let Henry Jr. spin her before she returned to cooking. Ruby pulled Belle into the dance and Aurora and Kathryn quickly followed. Regina felt like she had walked onto the set of a musical. Where one person left off a lyric, another was quick to pick it up. Dance partners were swapped with ease, spinning around the little kitchen without hitting anyone or anything, like it was rehearsed. But the wild abandon in Emma's bouncing steps, Ruby's flinging hair, and even in Henry Jr.'s flapping arms, told her it wasn't. Regina found herself dancing with every person that flew by. Even her father danced, slow and stiff, but still able to swing his hips. Seeing his wide smile and jilted attempts at pelvic thrusts, Regina had to laugh. She let herself go, forgetting that she was surrounded by people she barely knew, and danced. When the song ended and everyone was laughing, Emma pulled Regina close for another second. "And you said you can't dance like that."
Regina smirked at Emma's awed grin and her wide eyes. "I said I don't, dear." And she spun on her heel, moving to help Cora and Henry put away the things they'd bought. She was thrilled at her small victory of leaving the blonde speechless. It was about time she was the one to surprise Emma.
They had just finished dinner and cleared the table when Cora handed Regina a large plastic bowl full of dog food. "Can you put this by the back door, darling?"
Regina obeyed, weaving through the people moving around the house to crouch and place the bowl on the floor. When she looked up, she found herself staring into piercing eyes, one pitch black and one blood red. Her stomach flipped and she fell backwards, arms flailing uselessly. Her backside landed painfully on the hardwood floor, but she ignored it, pushing herself away from the large beast that was silently slipping through the dog door.
"Whoa, whoa. Regina." Emma's rough hands grabbed her under the arms, easily lifting her to her feet. "It's just Wolf. Our dog. It's okay." Emma rounded her to stand next to the beast, laying one palm on his muzzle. The wolf nuzzled into her hand, closing its eyes.
"That is not a dog, Miss Swan!" Regina said, her voice a little higher than normal.
But Emma ignored her, crouching to bury her face in the creature's fur. "Hey, buddy. Glad you made it home before the storm." Henry, still across the room, clapped his hands and whistled. Wolf left Emma on the floor and hurried to the boy's side, tail wagging. The sheriff slowly rose, hooking her thumbs in her back pockets. "See? He's a big baby."
Regina just glared at her, still trying to calm her racing heart.
Thunder sizzled outside and lightning lit the windows. Emma grinned. "Time for movie night! Into your pajamas, family!"
It was only then that Regina realized everyone who wasn't currently living there was indeed in pajamas. She wasn't sure how she missed Tink's bright orange Garfield pants, but she just shook her head. Ruby led the way upstairs, claiming the bathroom before Henry Jr. could. Cora handed Regina the bag of clothes she'd bought that day before joining her husband in Ruby's bedroom.
Emma gave a tight-lipped smile, bouncing on her heels. "You can change in our room and I can go to the downstairs bathroom, if you like."
Regina was debating what to reply when Emma's words actually registered. "Our room, Miss Swan?" she said, smirking.
To her delight, the sheriff's cheeks turned pink. "Uh, I mean-"
"We can both change in the room. I trust you can behave?" She swept past Emma, sauntering down the hall.
Emma chuckled behind her. "Can doesn't mean I will, Miss Mills."
Regina paused at the door, glancing back over her shoulder. "In that case...do hurry along, dear." This time Emma's entire face went red, starting with her ears. It was too cute. Seemed like Emma could dish it out, but as soon as Regina played back, she became shy. The brunette smirked even more, tossing her hair as she turned back to the room. Her lips twitched as she heard a soft groan behind her before Emma joined her.
Despite her coy challenge, Regina had to fight to keep her hands from shaking as she opened the bag of clothes she'd bought. She felt like a school girl again, nervous to change in front of the other woman. When Emma disappeared into the closet to change, Regina let go of the breath she'd been holding and quickly stripped. She had just finished pulling on her pajama pants when Emma emerged, wearing red basketball shorts and a black muscle shirt. Regina raised an eyebrow at the slogan across the shirt.
"'Good girls go to Heaven. Bad girls go to Mardi Gras'? Really, Miss Swan?"
Emma shrugged, eyeing Regina's matching, silk pajamas. "Spent some time in Louisiana. Mardi Gras was insane."
"So you're a bad girl then?" She hadn't meant it to come out as throaty as it did and she felt her own cheeks turning red.
Emma, already blushing, just shrugged. "If I want to be." Then she winked and left the room, taking the tension and sudden heat Regina had felt with her. But it was quite a few more minutes before the brunette's pulse stopped racing enough to leave the room.
XXXXXXX
When Regina returned to the living room, she found the couch from the office had been moved into the living room. It, the living room couch, the love seat, and the armchair had been pushed together in a semi-circle around the T.V. The area where the coffee table usually was had been filled with blankets and pillows, making a plush pallet big enough for nearly everyone. Her father had taken the armchair. Beside him, in the love seat, was Cora and Granny. The space on the couch beside them was empty. Then Emma and Mary Margaret filled the rest of it. The second couch had Ruby, Belle, and Kathryn. The three women were stretched out, covered with their own blankets and chatting amongst themselves. The rest of the group had settled onto the pallet before the T.V. Henry was wrapped neatly in a huge comforter between Aurora and Tink, his messy hair sticking up out of his little blanket cocoon. Wolf was curled up at his feet. On Aurora's other side, Mulan was seated, cross-legged and stiff. David sat beside Tink, leaning back against the couch where Mary Margaret sat. Her fingers were combing idly through his hair. Bowls of popcorn were being passed around. Outside, she could hear the rain starting.
Emma looked up and smiled her crooked smile, patting the empty space beside her. Regina rounded the row of seats and stepped between Aurora and Henry to take her place. She folded her legs under her, leaning against the arm of the couch. Emma, who was slouched beside her with her legs folded, grabbed an extra blanket from the floor and offered half of it to Regina. She accepted it with a small nod.
"Alright, so what's the movie tonight?" Tink spoke up. "Did Cora pick again? Last time she picked I slept through the entire movie."
"I picked," Henry said before Cora could say anything. "It's Silent Hill."
Regina shuddered, already regretting agreeing to this.
Henry put the movie in and rushed across the room to turn off the lights. Seated in the dark, with just the dull glow of the T.V., Regina snuggled deeper into the couch, covering herself more securely with the blanket. Beside her, Emma shifted too. By how warm her right side became, Regina knew she had moved closer, nearly touching shoulders. She forced herself to focus on the screen.
It didn't take her long to notice the Swan's strange reactions to the movie. Any time something scary happened, causing most of the people around them to jump, Granny and her kids would laugh instead of jumping. At one point, while the main character was arguing with the cop and an armless, gray-skinned creature suddenly appeared on screen, Regina nearly leapt out of her seat. Her hand flew to the couch cushion, as if she meant to raise it as a shield. Her heart leapt into her throat and she struggled to not gasp out loud. But Henry snorted in front of her, Ruby and Granny were chuckling, and Emma let out a quiet bark of laughter. Regina glared at her.
"What?" Emma whispered, catching her look.
"What is so funny?" Regina hissed back.
Emma shook with silent laughter. "I'll tell you later. Watch the movie."
Regina turned back just in time to see the creature spit some kind of acid on the cop and her body jerked again, pushing farther back into the couch. She almost jumped again when she felt a warm hand touch hers. Emma just smiled, cocking an eyebrow. Then her hand withdrew, but Regina could somehow sense that it was still close to hers. She kept her hand very still after that. She allowed herself to admit that she wanted the blonde to touch her hand again.
As the movie went on, Emma became quieter and Regina started having trouble focusing on the screen. Each time Emma's hand twitched or she adjusted the way a finger lay, Regina's stomach would tighten. Nearly halfway through the movie, Emma's hand moved, sliding just an inch closer to Regina's. Trying to make it seem completely innocent, Regina shifted her own hand closer to the sheriff. For two more scenes, neither of them moved. The tension in Regina's arms and legs was starting to burn, but she refused to budge. She didn't want to cross any lines. She wasn't even sure the sheriff was moving closer on purpose. But if she was, Regina fully intended to respond. She had just convinced herself that Emma wasn't going to move again when a callused finger grazed her pinky. The touch was so light she thought she might have imagined it. She took a quick breath and moved her pinky to the side, returning the ghost of a caress to Emma's hand. Her body ran hot when Emma's ring finger lifted, catching her pinky as it moved away. She glanced quickly at the sheriff, but Emma's eyes were locked on the screen. Gathering her courage, Regina gave a soft tug with her pinky. The very corner of Emma's mouth curled up and she released the captured pinky, her fingertips brushing across Regina's knuckles instead. The touch sent a shiver down the brunette's spine. She rolled her hand over, letting it lie limp between them. Emma responded with ghosting fingertips over her palm. Her nails slid up Regina's fingers, sending thrills through the brunette's arm. She trailed them back down to the still open palm, tracing the lines of Regina's hand. Where she touched a cold tingle was left, though the rest of Regina's body felt like it was slowly catching on fire. Then Emma's fingertips moved back up until they touched against Regina's own. For a brief moment, neither of them moved. Only then did Regina feel the slight shaking of the sheriff's hand. Her stomach coiled tighter and she forced herself to breathe normally. Emma's fingers shifted, dropping into the gaps between Regina's. When their palms touched, butterflies erupted in the brunette's stomach. She curled her fingers around Emma's, shivering as calluses brushed against the back of her hand and a warm thumb ran over her own. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Emma's nostrils flare before the woman pulled her lower lip between her teeth.
The tension was still there, so Regina shifted until she was more comfortable. Her shoulder pressed against Emma's and neither of them did anything about it. It suddenly felt too warm under the blanket, but they remained covered, both staring adamantly at the T.V.
XXXXXXX
The movie was just about to end when the power went out. Someone screamed and David's voice said, "Tink! Really?"
"Sorry!" Tink squeaked back.
Emma slid from the couch, reluctantly releasing Regina's warm hand. She fumbled towards the kitchen, tripping over David's legs and accidentally smacking Kathryn in the chest.
"Ow! That's my boobs!"
"Sorry, Kat!"
"Emma! How dare you molest me in the dark!"
"You wish," Emma snorted. Belle was the first to pull out her cell phone and turn on its flashlight. She swung it towards the kitchen and Emma gratefully avoided the stool she had been on a collision course with. She yanked open a drawer, pulling out three flashlights and a pack of batteries that she laid on the counter. "Everybody okay?" A chorus of "yeah"s answered her. She wound her way back through the living room. She passed one flashlight to Mulan, one to David, and kept the other for herself. "You know the drill, folks. We checked the house earlier when everyone arrived, but now we check again. Will Scarlet may be in jail, but it doesn't mean somebody else isn't looking to loot during the power outage."
The group quickly split up. Emma took Henry and Ruby up to check the second floor, Wolf padding along. Regina and Kathryn went with David, checking all the windows and doors on the first floor. Belle and Tink went to check the garage with Mulan. The rest of the group stayed in the living room, phones lit. Cora started receiving calls very soon after that from citizens wanting to know when the power would be back on.
Emma led her son and sister through the upstairs, checking all the windows. They ended in Ruby's room with Henry nodding the affirmative after he pushed on the window. "All good, Sheriff" he said.
"You know," Ruby said. "You were awfully quiet during that movie, Em. Were you actually scared for once?"
Emma laughed it off, pointing the flashlight at the floor so they wouldn't see how red her face was. "Please. It just wasn't even scary enough to make me laugh."
"Speak for yourself then," Henry said. "That part with the nurses that didn't move? And she had to squeeze between them?" He chuckled.
"Did you see Regina jumping, Hen?" Ruby laughed. "I was not expecting that reaction. She seems so...together."
"Well, she did nearly get blown up recently. I'd be jumpy too."
"Wait, weren't you also nearly blown up?"
"Oh, yeah. Truth." Emma laughed. "Never mind."
Her son stepped over a pile of jeans near the window. "Speaking of. Do you have any idea who could have done it?"
Emma shook her head. "Nobody comes to mind. I mean, when I think 'arsonist', I picture bigger cities with more than four people working for the sheriff's department."
"Four?" Ruby frowned.
"Yeah, I hired Vinny Santorini to work nights."
"Vinny? Isn't that the Italian guy? Used to work as a demolitionist down at the mines?"
"Yep," Emma said, turning to head back downstairs.
Ruby hurried to catch up, Henry trailing behind. "You hired a guy who blew stuff up for a living right after almost getting blown up?"
"Yep," Emma said again, tossing her roommate a big grin.
XXXXXXX
Regina watched as Kathryn stood on the downstairs toilet to make sure the small window there was locked. David had gone to check the front porch, so she was holding her cell phone up so Kathryn could see. "Houses are creepy without power in them," Kathryn huffed. "I don't know how they did it in the old days."
"We could always ask my mother," Regina quipped, making Kathryn snort.
"She was too busy dodging dinosaurs to worry about a house."
Regina chuckled, offering her hand to help Kathryn hop back down to the tile floor. "Why are we doing this anyway? Is this town really that dangerous?"
Her friend shrugged. "Despite the two fires that have happened since you got here, this place is usually really quiet. We have our criminals, like Will Scarlet, but he's just a thief." Kathryn hopped up on the counter, crossing her legs daintily. She opened the little box beside the sink and sorted through the lipsticks inside, reading their names and pursing her lips.
"Kat," Regina whispered, moving closer. She paused, unsure if she really wanted to tell her friend about what had happened during the movie. She hadn't been that on edge about simply holding hands since she was a little girl. But the sheriff's callused palms had made her more anxious than the very first time she'd held another girl's hand. She had just opened her mouth to continue when a voice spoke behind her.
"Everything all right in here?"
Both women jumped, screaming. In the doorway, David chuckled, rubbing his ears. "David!" Kathryn growled, slapping at his arms. She'd fallen clean off the counter and was not happy. "That wasn't funny!" That just made him laugh harder. The three of them stepped back out into the living room. Mulan's team was already back and Emma was just coming down the stairs.
"All clear?" Emma asked and got nods all around. "Good." Everyone settled back into their places, chatting as the storm raged outside. It wasn't long before Cora and Henry Sr. took their leave.
"I've got a splitting headache now. I spent ten minutes on the phone with Leroy, assuring him that we have someone working on getting the power back up. And the whole time my phone was beeping because Mother Superior was repeatedly calling to tell me the power was out. As if I didn't know." She sighed heavily. "Goodnight all." She kissed Regina's cheek and led her husband up the stairs.
Half an hour later the power came back on. Henry happily scrambled to the T.V. to put the movie back on and they settled in to watch the ending. As the credits ran, everyone scattered to go to bed.
Henry wanted to stay downstairs with Wolf, so Ruby and Belle took his bed. Granny settled in to sleep on the armchair. David and Mary Margaret claimed one couch, Aurora dragged Mulan onto the other one, and Tink got the love seat to herself, while Henry curled up on the pile of pillows on the floor.
Emma and Regina wished them goodnight, following the Ruby and Belle upstairs. The two brunettes waved, disappearing into Henry's room, and Emma led the way to the bedroom.
Once the door was shut behind them, Regina felt all of the tension from earlier return. She pretended to be very busy folding down her side of the bed, keeping her eyes averted from the blonde that was standing awkwardly by the door. Then, "So, I was wondering what you were doing night after tomorrow."
Regina looked up, blinking. Emma shuffled from one foot to the other, her arms crossed over her chest. Regina smiled at her sudden shyness. "I assume the same thing I'm doing now, unless my house has been cleared."
"The team is supposed to come day after tomorrow, so you should be back home then." Emma rounded the bed to her own side, but didn't get in. "But I was thinking that maybe you'd want to go out with me after that was finished. That way you could have your own clothes available and all."
"Unless my house is rigged to explode," Regina said, smirking.
"Unless your house is rigged to explode," Emma agreed. "But if it isn't, would you? Uh, want to go out with me, that is. Not explode." Her face turned red and she dropped her head so her hair covered it. She opened the drawer beside the bed and pulled out her glasses, slipping them on. They would soon be going to sleep, but Regina assumed she just needed something to do.
Regina laughed. "I think I would like that, Sheriff."
Green eyes flicked back up to hers and that crooked grin Regina was coming to know appeared. "Great! I mean, that's good. Yeah. Good. But, uh," Emma cleared her throat. "I feel like we've done things a little out of order. I mean, normally it's date, then dance together, then hold hands, then end up sleeping in the same bed, but I'm not complaining." She chuckled, pushing her glasses back up her nose. "But I wanted to make sure you knew that I don't intend to...do...anything tonight or tomorrow night. Earlier, with the uh," she fumbled for words and finally just held up a hand, smirking. "That was...intense. I felt like a kid again, honestly. And though there is nothing I'd like more than to see where that leads, it won't be tonight. You deserve a date first. Then...then we'll see. If you want." Emma trailed off, biting her lip and rubbing the back of her neck nervously.
Warmth spread through Regina's chest and she didn't try to hide the grin that was taking over her face. "You really are quite the gentleman. Gentlewoman?"
"I'm just charming," Emma replied, smiling.
Kailor: Thank you for reading, dearies! Please review! I love hearing your feedback! Hope you enjoyed!