"Hi."

"Hey."

Emma replies without looking up from her work, and Ruby grins as she falls into the empty seat across the desk from her.

"Oh dear. That's a very glum tone for someone who got laid last night."

"Ruby!"

The blonde snaps irritably, glancing up to offer the waitress a bemused scowl before putting the lid back on her pen and leaning back in her chair with a sigh.

"It was just a dream."

She reminds the brunette unnecessarily, and the latter nods as she understands the Sheriff's frustration and then some.

"Yeah... It's weird, though, isn't it? I mean, the whole situation is weird, but I was specifically referring to the way it all seems so real. There used to be psychics back in the Enchanted Forest who claimed they were skilled in lucid dreaming, but I've never managed anything even close to that before we did the charm. Now, it's like I'm really there. I'm saying all of the things I want to say, and doing all the things I want to do... Well... I was starting to."

Ruby blushes furiously while Emma simply nods with her gaze cast contemplatively to the spot on the desk where she'd come undone at the mercy of wicked fingers.

"... What about what she says and does? Annie?"

She asks quietly.

"How do you mean?"

"Does she speak and behave like you think she actually would? Or do you think you're just imagining things?"

"Well, it's my dream, so..."

"Yeah. I guess."

"... She was wary. Not of me, but of trying anything like what we ended up doing... Just because I'm a girl, you know?"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah... I'm not sure I would have willingly chosen for that to be part of the first scene. It was kind of awkward, to tell you the truth. I think the way Annie was speaking to me was a pretty accurate likeness of how that conversation might have gone, but maybe that's just wishful thinking."

Wishful thinking...

Swallowing as she remembers the sensation of warm flesh beneath her palm, Emma muses pensively

"I don't think I'm controlling her... Mine, I mean... I think I might have been somewhat controlling the situation and that my memories were being used, but... I don't know. She said it was my dream, so I must be scripting it, which makes sense, but I just-... It was so flawlessly believable, and I just don't think my imagination's that good! But everything about the way that she spoke, the way she acted, the way she looked... It was insane."

"Your girl told you you were scripting things?"

Ruby asks curiously, and the blonde baulks on account of her wording but nods affirmatively.

"Yeah... I was trying to tell her that it was just a dream and that I wasn't exactly thrilled with how either of us were dressed... Well, no. That's not true. I wasn't thrilled with how I was dressed. I had no complaints about her outfit, I just wasn't expecting her to be dressed so... Like she was... And she told me I was the one running the show, only, in all honesty, it didn't, uh-... It didn't really feel as though it was that way around for most of it."

Emma laughs awkwardly, and the waitress raises a brow before suggesting boldly

"Maybe that's the way you want things to go."

"I don't want things to 'go' anywhere! In any direction! In any scenario!"

"Really?"

"... Really."

The Sheriff agrees, although she doesn't sound entirely convinced.

Crossing her legs dappled with gooseflesh, Ruby folds her arms over her chest in a bid to retain what little body heat she can as she decides that the blonde is probably lying to her but she doesn't bother calling her out. Instead, she returns to what she finds fascinating about Emma's fractured explanation.

"You really discussed the fact that you were dreaming in your dream?"

"Well, yeah! I was just trying to explain why weird things were happening."

The Sheriff reasons defensively, and Ruby chuckles appreciatively.

"Well, if that didn't set the mood, nothing will."

"I just-... I knew I was dreaming, but it still felt so dangerous. I knew I shouldn't be thinking about her like that, and I wanted to make it clear that it wasn't on purpose."

"Aww, you saint."

"Shut up... Are you saying you haven't told Annie that you're dreaming?"

"Why would I?"

"Well, how else do you explain to her why you're acting like you're suddenly into her?"

"... I am into her. I just didn't realise it back when we knew each other because I was naive. Now that I've spent time with her again in my dream, I know without a doubt that I'm into her. That's the point of the charm."

"... Right."

"Why would I make things awkward by denying what I clearly want? There's a hell of a lot more fun things I'd rather be doing!"

Ruby smirks, before cocking her head to the side and considering the Sheriff curiously.

"Maybe you should try just going with it next time."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean, obviously we're trying to get to the bottom of why the charm hasn't worn off yet, and I get that the situation isn't exactly ideal, but while we're still working to figure things out, if you dream about your mystery girl tonight, maybe, instead of apologising for forcing her to co-star in your dirty fantasies, just... Enjoy it. See what happens."

"... We need to sort this out."

"I know, and we will. In the meantime, try leading. After all, what's the point of suffering a botched charm if you're just going to be weird and apologetic about it?"

"... I guess."

"It's just a dream, Swan. Just a dream, so rather than getting into an awkward discussion about it with a version of someone that doesn't actually exist, just keep that knowledge to yourself and, well, you know... Experiment."

"Uhuh."

Emma agrees, aware that she's currently experiencing a rather peculiar sensation in her lower stomach as she contemplates Ruby's suggestion, and she subsequently squeezes her thighs surreptitiously together beneath the desk.

"Well, that's my two cents, and you're welcome. But, encouraging you to give in to your most depraved desires isn't actually why I dropped by."

The waitress grins.

"No?"

"Shocking, I know... No, I did a little digging into the charm like you asked, and what I found wasn't all that much so I ended up speaking to Granny."

"You told Granny?!"

"That I convinced her sworn Queen's daughter to cast a spell in a bid to get dream-laid? I did not."

"... So, then?"

"I just struck up a conversation about the books she had in the trunk, old folklore, and how certain kinds of charms might work, including the one we tried."

"And she didn't find that kind of suspicious?"

"Granny's default mode is suspicious, but, in this case, she was delighted for the opportunity to tell me all about what her granny used to tell her concerning hexes and jinxes and about a million other things I never actually asked her about."

"And? What did she say about the dreamcatcher?"

"Well, I didn't mention the weavers directly, but I asked about love charms and whether they were ever used just to see who one might be infatuated with rather than necessarily going down the whole 'love' rabbit hole."

"So?"

Emma prompts, sincerely hoping that Ruby won't use the term 'infatuated' again given the context of her dilemma.

"Well, it's weird, like you thought. She said charms wouldn't necessarily always have to do with True Love, but that, in terms of magic, there's not really such a thing as simply wanting to bone someone. She said a charm to discover who you should be with, you know, physically, would go deeper than just showing you which girl or guy at the bar you should take home for the best sex... I'm paraphrasing, by the way."

"I would hope so!"

"I guess that's why both of us were shown people that are no longer in our lives. It's useless, of course, but it seems it makes sense. We were shown who we would be most carnally compatible with; who we truly desire. Not just who we might casually want to go down on us."

"Ruby!"

"What? You said you fucked."

"We-... I-... We didn't-"

"-Oh, I get it."

The waitress smirks, wiggling her fingers pointedly, and Emma adopts an expression so cold that the brunette wonders if she might drop down dead. Undeterred, she shrugs and concludes helplessly

"So, yeah. I guess we both missed out on the best sex of our lives - according to an old-worldly charm, anyway - so dream-nipples it is until we figure out how the hell to stop it."

"Right."

The blonde replies in a clipped voice, and Ruby frowns as she considers the tense set of the Sheriff's jaw as she appears visibly troubled.

"Hey, look, it doesn't have to be that way for you, doll. If you really think there's something to this, just take a trip out of town and reconnect. You can cross the boundary line, no problem, and finding people is what you used to do."

"... It wouldn't work. Not in real life. It would be fucking madness."

"Maybe. But the charm suggests it would be fucking madness in a good way."

"I-"

"-I'm just saying, Em. I don't get why you're so wound up about all this. I know the charmed dreaming is freaky, and we'll figure it out, but I don't get why you're so weirded out by-"

"-What if we burn them?"

Emma interrupts, looking up from her uneasy study of the desk with a sudden stroke of inspiration.

"Huh?"

"The dreamcatchers. What if we burn them?"

"I mean, I guess... Isn't that a little extreme?"

"I just want this weirdness to stop."

"Okay, fine. Let's burn them. But we'll have to do it at yours or Granny will start asking questions."

"Have you met my mom?"

"I've known your mom longer than you've been alive, Princess."

"... That's still so fucking weird."

"Yep. As for tonight, just wait until you have the place to yourself and it will be fine."

"Mary Margaret gets home before I do."

"Well, then I guess I'll drop by the school on my way to get things prepped in the kitchen before the evening shift and mention that they're doing two-for-one pizzas today at that little restaurant down by the dock and that it would be the perfect place to go for date-night."

"They're always doing two-for-one pizzas at that place."

"I know, but I'll give her a coupon."

"They do coupons? Last time I ordered, they charged me full price."

"Of course they did. You suck at making small talk."

"Hey..."

"Oh, like I'm telling you something you don't already know. And no, they don't do coupons, but the busboy is one of the aforementioned second-base contenders I often let buy me a drink at The Rabbit. He'll whip something up if I ask him to."

"Unbelievable."

"I know, I'm good."

Ruby preens, flashing her teeth at the bemused eye roll Emma offers in response.

"Fine, weave whatever elaborate tale you like if it gets us the house to ourselves."

"So corrupt."

"The very worst."

"Yes, but only one of us is the Saviour... Very disappointing behaviour, Miss Swan."

"Don't call me that."

"Why? Is it only allowed when Regina calls you that?"

"I'm not sure it really matters what I allow. She'll do it either way."

"True, but I'm not sure your tone is warranted given that you're just as contrary. Especially when it comes to the Mayor."

"... Don't you have anywhere else you need to be?"

Emma mutters as she goes back to pointedly studying the document on her desk, and the brunette chuckles good-naturedly and accepts her invitation to leave.

"Apparently so. I have an elaborate ruse to orchestrate."

"Mm. Just don't do anything that will leave me orphaned if you can help it. Been there, done that; zero stars."

"Just how wrong could a fake discounted pizza go?!"

"I don't know, but given that we're still dealing with the repercussions of your last brilliant scheme, I'm a little on edge."

"Oh? I thought that got taken care of last night."

"Please leave."

"Fine."

"... And bring beer later!"