73: Trick or Treat... - OUAT - Ruby/Emma - My, My, Red

[katleept.livejournal.com]

Title: My, My, Red
Author: Kat Lee
Dedicated To: A more worthy trick or treat treat for my dear hughville
Fandom: Once Upon A Time
Character/Pairing: Ruby/Emma
Rating: PG-13/T
Challenge/Prompt: dove_drabbles 73: Trick or Treat (Who Needs Tricks?)
Warning(s): None
Word Count: 741
Date Written: 13 October 2018
Summary:
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.





It was late, and Emma was tired when she stepped up to Granny’s door just in time to see the sign flip around in front of her weary face, telling her they were closed. She started to turn around, but the door suddenly opened. Ruby stuck her head out, smiling. “Hey.”

The Sheriff turned back hesitantly, looking at her with a raised eyebrow. “Should I say trick or treat or something?”

Ruby’s smile actually grew; her eyes twinkled in a way that let Emma know she’d already grown fond of her. “Who needs tricks? Come in.”

She opened the door wider, and Emma let out a long, low whistle. To her surprise, Ruby actually blushed. It wasn’t much of a blush, but she noticed the way her high cheekbones grew subtly darker. “Going hunting tonight, little Red?”

“Nah. Granny made sure I didn’t, and if you think I want to hunt what comes in this place -- “ She let the sentence trail off as she led the way into the diner and then looked back at her. “Most of our clientele leave a lot to be desired.”

Emma laughed. “Most of this town leaves a lot to be desired.”

“We do get the occasional good-looking one in here, though,” Ruby admitted. “They’re usually strangers,” she added.

“I thought you told me strangers don’t come to Storybrooke.”

“They don’t.”

Their eyes met, and Emma suddenly swallowed hard. Ruby’s eyes were normally big, dark, and easy to lose her concentration within, but suddenly they weren’t dark at all. They were primal and yellow. A chill ran down her spine even as something hot curled inside of her belly. She wanted to get to know those eyes better, no matter how dangerous they were.

Yet, as suddenly as Ruby’s eyes had flashed yellow, the look was gone. She smiled with as much innocence as the waitress probably ever managed to portray. “Cocoa, Sheriff, or something a bit stronger?”

“Maybe something with a little strength to it,” Emma murmured, still eyeing her. “I am off duty now.”

“Are you?”

She shrugged. “As off as I ever get these days, being the only cop this town has.”

“Precisely,” Ruby agreed, “but hey, everybody’s gotta have a little fun, right? It is Halloween after all.”

“Don’t remind me,” Emma said, slouching down at the bar. “You know I expected the usual tp antics and teenaged tricks tonight, but this town -- “ She shook her head, not wanting to go into details. Maybe it was her imagination, but Ruby’s gaze seemed hungry as she watched her blonde hair shimmer against her red leather jacket.

The younger woman suddenly grinned. “This town is anything but normal,” she said, pouring her a cup of hot cocoa.

Emma watched her in surprise. “You know, I seem to recall somebody’s grandmother trying to convince me of just the opposite when I first came here.”

“Granny prefers to hide,” Ruby admitted honestly. “She doesn’t like people, especially strangers, knowing what really goes on here.”

“What does really go on here?” Emma asked as Ruby dashed some cinnamon into her drink.

She added a pinch of cayenne pepper and more than a dab of rum out of a flask she’d kept hidden in her low-cut, red blouse. She stirred the concoction with a spoon, then slid it across the bar to Emma’s waiting hand. She leaned across as the drink came to the Sheriff. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Actually,” Emma admitted, keeping her gaze and lifting the drink to her lips, “I would.” She recognized the drink as the silent dare that it was between them. Few people she’d known back in New York would have been able to drink it, but she didn’t pause as she sipped it. Nor did she move her eyes from Ruby’s.

“That’s a start,” Ruby said, wrinkling her nose and leaning further over toward Emma. Between the way she was leaning on the bar and her costume’s low cut, Emma got quite a show.

She took another sip, then lowered the mug from her mouth. “My, My, Red, what big -- “

She didn’t get to finish. “The better to lure you with, Sheriff.” Ruby beamed, showing quite some sharp, white teeth in her grin. She leaned further over still and took Emma’s hand in hers. Then she kissed her, silently sealing the offer and telling Emma she’d definitely picked the right place to come trick or treating in this town.


The End