I should be updating Catch Me but...ya lol! So here's a new chapter! Brought in a couple new friends ;) I hope you enjoy it! Please leave a review :)
Henry was playing with the dogs in the courtyard, happy and laughing as the dogs barked and chased him for the stick he held in his hand. It had been nearly a week since David's proposal and the castle was busy and just bustling with preparations for the wedding. It was thrilling. The queen was ecstatic all the time and David made sure of it. Henry was quite certain that the palace grounds had never been as happy as they had been these past several days. He even caught the queen's stoic seamstress smiling that morning when she was in there taking special measurements for the wedding gown.
Henry laughed and skipped and threw the stick and the four hounds took off after it barking to their heart's content. And then there was a loud thud that shook the ground beneath his feet and caused him to yelp as he spun around with his hands up by his head. He didn't quite believe what he was looking at when his eyes focused on iridescent dark purple scales and enormous black claws that were curled and sharper than he thought possible. Then a hot huff of air had his eyes snapping up as his hair blew across his forehead. His eyes met huge bright green eyes that were bigger than his head and a pair of spiralled black horns. Dragon.
His heart was racing and his blood was filled with adrenaline as he looked over the dragon's enormous head and at the smoke wafting from its nostrils. What was he supposed to do with a dragon, "uh...you here for the wedding?" He laughed nervously as a joke and then could have sworn the dragon started smiling and breathed out a low laugh from its smokey nostrils. But that couldn't be right. Unless dragons in the Enchanted Forest were like Smaug in the Hobbit book his mother had read him...but he hadn't gotten that impression from the stories David had told him in Storybrooke about dragons.
He took a small step backward as the dragon lifted its head and held its neck like that of a swan. And then it spread its enormous wings and Henry watched in awe as the sunlight shone through membrane of its purple wings leaving the fingers dark and strong as they opened the wings. And then the wings folded around its body like a curtain and with a twist it's figure shrunk and the wings became purple fabric and a tall staff, the horns became a crown, and the purple scales became pale skin and blonde hair.
"Whoa," he breathed out slowly as he looked her up and down.
"Yes, darling pet. Now where is the queen. I need to speak with her."
"She's inside," he answered and she nodded and moved to walk past him, "you're Maleficent aren't you!" He grinned, his boyish enthusiasm restored as he was able to meet another infamous fairytale.
"I can't say I have ever been greeted with such excitement before," she drawled out as she looked him up and down and walked past him. Her even paces faltered a little and she did a double take when he eagerly fell in step beside her and continued to speak.
"Well what is there to not be excited about!? You get to turn in to a dragon whenever you like! You get to fly around and breathe fire!"
"I do," she agreed with a nod and looked sideways at him, befuddled by his grin, "I also burn villages to the ground, turn princes in to feared beasts, and charm princesses in to endless sleeps where they are tormented for the rest of time itself."
"Yeah but you're still a dragon," Henry nodded with a raise of his eyebrows and the sorceress breathed out a single laugh with a nod.
"Who are you, boy?"
"Well that's a complicated story. Probably one that the queen should tell you. But you can call me Henry," he smiled as he walked with her.
"And why are you here at the palace?"
"Because I'm a likeable kid," he teased and Maleficent laughed with a shake of her head, "but seriously it is so awesome that I have finally gotten to meet you! I'm freaking out right now!"
"Your dialect and choice of words are odd, child. Where are you from?"
"Storybrooke."
"Never heard of it."
"No one has. Hey! Can I ride on your back when you're a dragon?!"
"No."
"Awe come on! It would be so cool!"
"I am not a pony."
"No, you're a dragon! And it's so freaking awesome!" He bounced and she opened her mouth to answer but they were both stopped by laughter and an opening and closing of a door. Henry laughed under his breath and shook his head as David caught Regina by her waist and she let him turn her back around and pin her back to the wall.
She laughed as he grinned and hummed and stepped in to her as he looped an arm around the small of her back to pull her hips flush against his. "You're not going anywhere, little minx," he teased lowly and she laughed through her teeth as she closed her eyes and slowly slid her arms above her head and against the wall.
"We will never get anything done at this rate," she laughed and his breath mixed with hers and made her heart skip in excitement as her gaze fell to his lips.
"Isn't that what the hired help is for," he teased and she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as she rocked her hips in to his while her shoulders remained against the wall and her arms were kept above her head. Then he was laughing low in his throat and through his teeth and she laughed with him as she tilted her head back and he didn't hesitate to kiss her throat. Her laughter vibrated against his lips and as his breath tickled her skin she moaned and shivered beneath him which had him eager for more.
Henry shook his head with a roll of his eyes when David kissed her. Again. It was all they did these days. He started walking toward them with a smile and he took a breath to speak and interrupt them but Maleficent beat him to it.
"Please tell me this is the delightful mistress in you shining through and this is not the fool you intend to marry," Maleficent greeted as she stopped walking with one final thump of her staff against the stone floor. The man looked at her curiously, deciding on how to react to such a statement while Regina laughed and kissed her lover's jaw before sliding out from between him and the wall.
"Hello Maleficent. What brings you here?"
"Well, dear, you've got the entire kingdom absolutely raving. Wedding bells were clanging in every village I flew over."
"I apologize for the inconvenience," she smirked and Maleficent looked her up and down in mock disgust.
"You simply reek of happiness and sex," she shook her head and Regina simply laughed some more as she stopped in front of her.
"Is that jealousy I hear?" Regina smirked with a raise of her brow and Maleficent looked up at her entirely unimpressed.
"If I ever fall in to this rut you have found yourself in, please kill me."
Regina simply laughed through her teeth and shook her head, "you have yet to tell me why it is you've travelled all this way."
"Well when your only decent companion finds herself engaged it is worth your while to see who it is to."
"So you've come for the wedding have you?" Regina teased with a smirk and Maleficent let out a sigh through her nose, "dear Mal, here to see her friend off to her happy ending."
"I do hate it when you call me that," she stated and didn't miss the excitement light up in those dark eyes of her younger friend when that was her only objection, "is this the husband to be? Or your last plaything as an unmarried woman?"
"Maleficent this is David," Regina introduced with a light laugh as she pivoted and motioned for David, "David this is Maleficent. She's a dear friend."
"It's nice to meet you," David smiled as he stepped up beside Regina and Maleficent scrutinized him from head to toe.
He was strong and decently handsome. Kind eyes, good mouth, good hands. But what really had her sold was the words of the young boy standing just off to her side.
"He's the guy that was running around with Snow," Henry chimed in and Regina looked at him with a lightly scolding expression but it was worth it when a wide eyed Maleficent spun her head to look at him.
At his nod of confirmation with his smirk, Maleficent started laughing and looked back at David, "my dear Regina, however did you manage such a prize?" She laughed in disbelief and amusement. She was pleased to find that this David character had a sense of humour for he was smiling and shaking his head in amusement, "and here I thought you had lost your touch. Taking the man of your darling enemy for yourself. Brilliant," she laughed heartily as she swayed away from her staff, "now I must stay for the wedding!"
"For what it's worth, it was unintentional," Regina offered but Maleficent didn't care, "in fact a lot of it was Henry's idea."
"And who is this boy to you, Regina? He can't be family. Even if he does have your tongue," she chuckled as she looked over to the smiling boy, leaning away from her staff to do so.
"Henry is...well he is from a parallel universe we have decided. One set in time several years in the future. And in that world there is another me and he is her adopted son," she nodded and then thought through her words to make sure it made sense before nodding again.
"You? Adopting a child? I suppose you always have been fond of them," she spoke her thoughts aloud as she looked the boy up and down before humming in acceptance. She had heard crazier things and it wasn't as though Regina had a reason to lie, "fair enough. When will he be returning home?"
"After the wedding."
"And tell me, does Snow know about the pair of you?"
"Nope," Henry chuckled and Maleficent laughed quietly.
"My word, I leave you to your own devices for a few months and I miss all of the good fun. I'm going to my room," she dismissed with a laugh and continued to laugh at the entirety of the situation. A visiting son from another world, a marriage between the evil queen and Snow's shepherd, Snow's obliviousness, the great promise of a rude awakening for the princess. Oh she hoped the princess made her way to the wedding.
"So can I ride you now?" Henry grinned as he walked beside her with his hands behind his back.
"No."
"Oh come on! Please! I made this all happen! And I made you laugh," he pointed out with a nod and Maleficent looked him up and down with a hum, "what do you say?"
"...no."
"I made you think that time," Henry answered with a grin and Maleficent breathed out a laugh, still curious as to how he could possibly be so relaxed and friendly around her.
Regina shook her head in wonder as she watched Henry leave with Maleficent and converse with her. It was like the boy had no concept of villains and heroes. Which she knew to be untrue. Every child knew of heroes and villains and he had told her many times before that he had seen his mother as a villain for several years. But now it was as though he paid no mind to the titles. To him Maleficent was simply another person to talk to. He did so love to talk and learn.
She was brought back from her thoughts with a smile when David wrapped his arms around her middle from behind her and rested his head alongside hers. She hummed as she leaned back in to him and rested her hands over his, closing her eyes and tilting her head in to his when he kissed her cheek.
"I love you," he told her for the umpteenth time that day. He said it at every chance he got. She was a woman who deserved to hear such words upon every moment of every day.
"I love you too," she replied quietly and her heart still jolted and skipped as those little words left her lips. And then she was grinning in pure happiness as he hummed and wound his arms tighter as he began leaving slow and lingering kisses down her neck. Each kiss left her skin on fire and did nothing to calm her erratic heart and slowly her grin softened in to an expression of contentment as she closed her eyes and once again enjoyed his attention.
"You are beautiful," he breathed out softly against her skin before leaving one final kiss where her neck met her shoulder.
"You make me feel beautiful," she replied softly felt him smile against the side of her head.
"Good," he whispered.
-Storybrooke-
She was feeling better. Steadier on her own two feet. She had managed to somewhat compartmentalize David. Her heart still longed for him but she was able to shut it up quicker now. But it had also been a week since she had seen him and she didn't know how well she'd fare if David were to make an appearance. She missed him.
With a shake of her head she cleared it of any such notion and continued to stare at the coffee in the mug in front of her as she swirled a spoon in it, the metal clinking quietly against the ceramic. She was going to go mad if she didn't find something to do. She had read every book, had placed every possible detection spell around the town for anything even remotely related to world jumping, had exhausted her knowledge completely. And she had already ridden. She had no one to talk to, nothing to distract her, nothing to do but sit alone in a booth Granny's during the lunch rush and stare at her swirling coffee.
"Must be some pretty fascinating coffee you got there."
Instantly her heart jumped in to her throat at the sound of his voice. It was impossible to ignore but she didn't let it show and simply smiled and nodded as she looked up at him while he seated himself across the table, "well it is the best coffee in town. I can't quite seem to replicate it. It is befuddling and Granny won't share the secret."
"Well I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one stumped on Granny's coffee," he chuckled and looked her over. She was as beautiful as ever. The time apart had done him well he supposed. He had found a balance but it wasn't necessarily a balance he wanted to keep. Not when he still felt so strongly for Regina and couldn't find it in himself to love Snow like he once had. "What are you thinking so hard about?"
"Take a wild guess."
David smiled a little. There were two answers to that. Himself. Or Henry. However, he decided to answer with the one that would cause them the least amount of distress, "Henry."
"It is killing me that I can't get to him."
"What about seeing him? Through your mirrors."
"My magic isn't quite strong enough for that. It is restricted to looking in to the confines of a single world. My anger has broken many mirrors these past few months," she admitted with a soft and tired laugh as she twirled her spoon in her mug. It was killing her that he was so close. She wanted to curl up in his arms and let him hold her while they watched a movie to distract them from Henry. A kiss would be beautiful. But she would happily settle for a touch.
"I'm sure he'll be back soon. He is a clever kid. Very resourceful."
"So I keep telling myself. And your daughter," she nodded but her voice held no strength or belief in the words it carried. A moment of silence passed between them amongst the busy diner before she both felt and saw his fingertips lightly skim over hers around her mug. She didn't mean to, it was an automatic reaction, but her fingers ever so slightly loosened from around her mug to allow David's fingers to carefully intertwine with some of hers and cover others.
The contact warmed her and made her feel fuzzy and unsettled but that only encouraged her to stay despite her mind telling her to stop and go. Still not a word was spoken between them and Regina could only keep her eyes on their hands. She wanted him. Her dear friend. She wanted more of him. She wanted to fall asleep in his arms every night and wake up in them every morning, she wanted to stay up late drinking wine and watching movies and playing games again, she wanted to cook for him because she knew he loved whatever she made, she wanted to show him how much he meant to her, she wanted to kiss that gentle mouth until she couldn't breathe. She she wanted to express her deeply inconvenient love for him. It tore her apart to know that she couldn't.
"Why does this have to be so hard?" She whispered and watched her thumb move slowly and softly over his.
He wasn't sure if he was supposed to hear that or not but he did and it knocked the wind out of him. Like him, she had lied during their last conversation when they denied their growing feelings for one another. He didn't believe he had ever felt such relief to know that he was not alone in this torture and that it could be so easy a fix. If one were to ignore the consequences anyway.
But then she was pulling away and a breathed 'no' almost left his lips when he closed his fingers a little tighter over hers. He couldn't tell if she had done it for his sake or if it was merely coincidence that Snow came at that moment and Regina's reasons for pulling away were regarding something else. Either way he wished she hadn't and that their fingers were still haphazardly intertwined around that warm mug of coffee.
"What's going on here?" Snow asked gently, trying her best to hide her suspicion over the pair of them. Surely they wouldn't be so careless with an affair to be holding hands in the middle of Granny's at lunch time. And surely the pair of them would be in much better spirits if they were fooling around with one another. So perhaps an affair was not taking place. But with the way David was looking at Regina...Snow couldn't help but wonder if an affair was inevitable.
"Nothing to worry your pretty little head over," Regina retorted quietly as she gracefully slid out of the booth and stood up tall only to have her leave interrupted by Snow's gentle hand curled around her elbow.
"Regina-"
"Let go of me," she hissed and jerked her arm away the moment Snow's fingers uncurled. And then she was walking away with a sore and angry heart. She would be fine. It was nothing new.
David breathed out a sigh as he folded his arms on the table and stared at Regina's abandoned mug. He didn't miss Snow's questioning look when she took Regina's place across from him. "Her son has been lost for nearly six months, Snow. She has no one to talk to. She is having a bad day and she's lonely. I would appreciate it if you stopped looking at me like I just screwed her on this table with everyone watching," he bit out the last part with a sharp and bitter tongue but he didn't really care. He hated being watched and scrutinized for things he had always done with Regina. Touching her or holding her hands as an act of support and comfort was nothing new between them.
"David!" She snapped at a whisper and he only grew more exasperated. At least he kept his voice down.
"It's not like I haven't touched her before, Snow! She is my friend! My closest friend! You cannot sit there and tell me that you and Red have not found yourselves holding hands or sleeping next to one another! Not once have I ever accused you of having an affair with Red!"
"That is completely different, David."
"How is it any different?"
"We are not having this conversation here of all places," she snarled and he huffed and sat back in his seat before he began rather aggressively picking at the prongs on the fork in front of him.
"Couldn't help but tune in when I heard the word 'affair' paired with my name," Red teased as she strolled up to their table with a toothy grin, "what's the latest gossip?" She smirked but her expression sobered when she felt the tension between them and the irritated expressions on their faces, "...everything okay?"
"Yes."
"No," he answered at the same time and Snow scowled at him with a drop of her shoulders, "everything is not alright," he pressed before he stood up and took his leave.
"David," Snow protested tiredly as she closed her eyes and shook her head. But he didn't respond and continued out of the diner and Red tentatively took a seat across from her.
"Wanna talk about it?"
"No."
-Enchanted Forest-
"Would you still kill?" He questioned curiously as they laid in bed on their sides and he played with her relaxed fingers.
"Yes."
"Good."
"Good?" She chuckled quietly with a confused furrow of her brow. It wasn't exactly the answer she was expecting.
"Yes. Good," he nodded and bent her slender and elegant fingers, "I don't want you to change. I want you to just be you. The woman I fell in love with. I'm not saying I condone murder but I am quite aware of what you are capable of and I don't want you to feel as though I disapprove of that side of you. I'd of course prefer if you restrained yourself," he teased with a smile and looked up from their hands so he could look her in the eye to find her smiling with him, "but I knew what I was getting in to when I asked you to marry me. I love you. All of you. The light. And the darkness," he smiled and intertwined their fingers.
"I think," she started quietly with a small smile while her throat remained achy and tight with the wish to cry, "I think that that has to be the most romantic thing you've ever said to me," she laughed lightly and he hummed as he moved his thumb back and forth over her own, "thank you."
"You needn't thank me for the truth, my love," he smiled, his voice just above a whisper.
"I feel I must," she nodded and looked between his bright blue eyes. God how she loved him. He made her feel so whole and accepted and she very much loved how he called her 'my love'.
Softly he kissed her knuckles and moved their clasped hands so they rested over his heart, "do you want children?"
"Absolutely," she smiled and his face lit up with an excitement that had her laughing softly.
"How many?"
"As many as we can handle," she replied softly and it was his turn to laugh quietly while his grin threatened to split his cheeks.
"And who will they love?"
"Whomever their heart desires," she nodded and he smiled as he nuzzled the side of his head a little further in to their shared pillow, "a king, a queen, a prince, and princess, a stableboy, a shepherd. I will not subject my children to the sufferings of forbidden love," she whispered and her eyes fell to their hands over his heart. And then she was being kissed. She wasn't sure she was ever going to get used to being kissed upon his every whim but it was a terribly good feeling. One that she hoped he would never get used to as her mouth softened and opened beneath his and her hand detangled from his so she could cradle the side of his face.
She didn't think she had ever felt more loved by anyone but him. This kind hearted shepherd that she had almost lost to Snow.
-Storybrooke-
Tired of staring at the walls in her home, Regina stepped out her front door and didn't bother herself with closing it behind her as she took a deep breath and upon the exhale leaned to the side so her shoulder could take her weight against one of the big white pillars. She didn't know what she was going to do tonight. She missed David coming over to entertain her. Even if she had found it inconvenient and annoying when he knocked on her door at the time. Now she missed it.
Her eyes were pulled from the sky by movement on her front path and the creature had Regina's brow furrowing and her lips pulling in to a confused frown. A stout english bulldog was trotting up the path. Waddling almost. Its tongue was hanging happily from its mouth and its rolls of fat and excess skin swayed with the movement. And then it hopped up on the step and stood at her feet, wagging it's short tail enough for its whole body to move. Regina simply stared down at the dog and it looked happily back up at her with a wrinkled face, it's short fur a light caramel colour with the classic white markings of a bulldog down its face and chest, around its neck, and it's two front legs from the knees down.
"What?" She asked it in a scolding tone and it reached forward with one leg so its paw just barely reached the bare skin of her leg. Rolling her eyes and biting back a grin, Regina slowly crouched down so she was sitting on her heels and could reach the fat bulldog. She pet him atop his head once before she was taking his wrinkly face between both her hands and laughing quietly at the happily panting animal, "where did you come from? Hmm?" She smiled and he stood up and put his front paws on her knees, his hind end still wagging for all it was worth.
"Finnegan," she smiled as she read the tag on his leather collar and he wagged even harder, "I suppose you do have a hairy chin, Mister Michael Finnegan," she teased with a bright smile and used both her hands to give him a good scratch around his neck that had him stretching his head back even further. She laughed softly as he enjoyed life and played with the idea of getting a dog herself. It would make the house less empty. "Good boy," she smiled and moved her hands down to rub his sides over his ribs. An action he truly enjoyed. "Who do you belong to?" She chuckled and just as the words left her mouth her eye was caught by a mess of blonde hair walking up her path.
"Oh good you do like dogs. I was worried he was going to cause this whole thing to backfire," Emma chuckled lightly as she stopped at the stair, not daring to overstep her boundaries.
"He's yours?"
"Yeah. Got him almost a week ago. He's pretty awesome actually."
"Why did you get a dog?" She questioned with a furrow of her brow, baffled as to what Emma would want a dog for. She didn't really seem like the type.
"Company mostly," she shrugged and turned on her heel and sat down on the step next to Regina and Finnegan, the brunette's eyes watching her every move, "Snow and David fight almost every night now and I just have to kinda sit there and listen or sit there and take part in the tense and awkward silence...after the first one I went and got the fattest and laziest dog in Storybrooke and he makes it easier on everyone. No one wants to yell too much with a dog in the house it seems," Emma shrugged and reached over and scratched the dog's hip.
"...I am not sleeping with David."
"I know," Emma smiled a little with a nod and then looked back down at Finnegan who stayed happily under Regina's slowly moving fingers.
Regina looked Emma up and down curiously and then looked back down at the dog half in her lap, "why are you here, Emma?"
Emma shrugged a little and tried to build up the courage to ask for what she wanted. It was hard for her to ask for things so personal and even harder to ask if from Regina of all people. But she also hoped that Regina of all people would be the one who would understand better than anyone. She didn't even care if the brunette made the offer turn in to something of her benefit. "I uh...I don't really care to spend another night listening to my parents scream at one another over you nor do I care to sit in silence while they avoid looking at one another. I don't know which option they will favour tonight...but I don't want to be there for either."
Regina frowned at the dog but didn't look at Emma and Emma didn't look at her, "so you came here?"
"Well I'd prefer not to go to Granny's and alert the entire town that something is stirring hell and I tried staying at the station once and that wasn't all that great. And I don't have any friends really. So I figured I'd come here and we could try and figure something out for Henry or watch a movie or just get drunk, I don't know...I just want some company and a change of scenery," she shrugged and smiled a little when Finnegan lolled his head over so he could look at her instead of Regina, his tongue still hanging out of his lopsided grin.
Regina mulled it over in silence. Her heart did go out to Emma. She certainly did understand being surrounded by people but being entirely lonely. She opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by a light clink of glass on concrete and her eyes dropped to the ground between her and Emma to find the blonde had placed a bottle of wine there.
Emma breathed out a soft laugh at the surprise and approval on Regina's face when she read the label, "I'm not entirely useless, you know."
Regina rolled her eyes lightly and finally met and held her gaze, holding it for a moment or two before answering with a begrudging voice, "and I suppose you come exclusive with the dog and the wine?"
There it was. The turning of the tables so that she was doing no favour and it was clear that Emma was a burden in her eyes. It made Emma relax inside and she gave Regina a lopsided smile and a shrug of her shoulders, "that would be correct."
"Hmm," Regina hummed shortly and looked at the wine, "how many bottles of that do you have?"
"Two more in the car."
"I suppose I could use the company," Regina drawled out and looked at the dog and he straightened his head to look back at her, "and for the record I was going to say yes before the wine."
"Well I'll remember that for next time," Emma chuckled and Regina shook her head.
"No, no. Now you have standards to uphold," she smirked lightly and gave Finnegan one last pat before she stood up and he was back on all fours and waiting to follow her.
"Noted," Emma chuckled lightly and pushed herself to her feet and moved to follow Regina only to be stopped.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"...inside?"
"Did you not just tell me you had two more bottles in that death trap car of yours?" She raised an eyebrow as she snatched the present bottle from the blonde's fingers. Emma breathed out a laugh in response and with a nod of her head she turned on her heels and walked back down the path, "and do park it on the driveway, dear. There is no need to be parading that monstrosity in front of my house," she drawled and Emma laughed with a 'will do' before she passed through the open gate. Only when Emma was out of site did Regina let herself smile and that smile only grew when she felt Finnegan's paw on her ankle.
With a small jerk of her head toward the door, she began walking and he eagerly followed her in to the house. It was going to be an interesting night.