I was inspired to revisit this scene when @sotangledupinit reblogged my other take saying “It’s like they’re in their own space”… so I tried to double down on that vibe here, like they’re in their own little world (and it’s getting kinda hot).
Please don’t tweet or repost this. Reblogging is totally fine and welcome, thank you!
Sum’:Once again trouble fall upon the peaceful coven, spreading its darkness on each Hook. Only this time only one will remain and with the help of the Savior, will decide the fate of the rest of their secret family…
Note: Silly me miscounted the chapters, so there’s actually One more left! So enjoy the little CS fluff before we can all discover how’s the other Killians are doing inside their house…
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Killian waited another full week after giving Rogers enough time to put things back in order inside the coven before he felt the time was right to broach the subject with Emma. Rogers had texted him Wednesday to let him know he could come back this weekend if he wanted.
Sum’:Once again trouble fall upon the peaceful coven, spreading its darkness on each Hook. Only this time only one will remain and with the help of the Savior, will decide the fate of the rest of their secret family…
Note:Shorty chapter but after all the emotion our heroes had, it was time for a short break before things get tense once again…
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When Killian could finally open his eyes, he was met with the same white wall. Same annoying beeping echoing inside the room, seeping into his skull. Same antiseptic smell mixed with ether, same coldness, same cumbersome wires around his arms and glued to his chest, same… Killian froze in his bed, holding his breath, realizing where he was and what it meant: had everything just been a dream?
So I had to jump on the new Neal POV bungalow. And then I didn’t actually follow the formula :D This has no smut to speak of inside, however, there is definitely some things Neal would rather not notice.
Set in an alternative 3B where they stopped Pan’s curse.
This is going so overboard. Honestly. What’s all the fuss about? So some planks have come lose and a mast has fallen down. He is sure Hook – with all his boasting and swaggering – would say The Jolly has seen much worse and lived to set sail again or something pompous like that.
“What’s this?” he kicks lightly at the crate pushed to the side.
He has been on the Jolly Roger for a solid half hour now and no, he hasn’t really done anything. If Neal is being honest with himself – and hey, he has no trouble in that department – he is just here to watch over Henry and Emma and make sure the pirate is not trying to shove his way into hisfamily. He would’ve hoped he could trust David with that task but it turns out it was the man’s idea to “help Hook out with the repairs”.
“His Charming Highness informed me that you are supposed to provide refreshments when you ask people to help you move out, move in, clean up, put together furniture or— What was it again, mate?“
Hook’s pretense to have forgotten the last part is overdone in Neal’s personal opinion but any joy he might have derived from David’s eyeroll is offset by Emma’s clearly amused snort and the way her gaze seems to linger a bit too long on the shirt that is literally sticking to the pirate with perspiration at this point – yeah, right, very attractive that.
“Fix up your ship.”
“Aaah, of course! I knew one of those did not sound like the rest.”
“Is it sweaty, heavy-lifting work? Then we’re supposed to get beer out of it,” David states as if it is law.
“Hence, the ale,” Hook inclines his head towards the crate before turning his attention back to the rope he is securing.
“And you might wanna start helping, if you want any.”
Neal doesn’t appreciate David’s slightly derisive tone any more than he appreciates the way Emma hasn’t looked at him even once since they set foot on deck.
“Hey, what can I do?” Henry emerges from below deck, having put on the “work clothes” he brought especially for this “operation”.
“Nothing, buddy, you can just come check out the ship’s wheel with me.”
He knows that at least Henry will always be on his side. Which is why the way his son’s face falls is probably the harshest blow of all.
“But you already did on the way back from New York. And then Hook showed me on the way back from Neverland.”
Neal grinds his teeth and tells himself Henry is not the one he should snap at.
“I thought I will actuallyget to help.”
“Sure you will, kid, come here.”
Oh, fantastic. Now she is looking at him, that “your parenting is subpar” look. He gets enough of those from the fucking literal Evil Queen.
“Look at these,” Emma unfurls the managed sail and point to two singed holes.
Most of the destruction to the ship was the work of their latest mini-villain as Emma called them but, if the extra evil looks Hook was sending Regina the other day were any indication, those specific holes had been collateral damage in the witch’s contra attack.
Any villain that they manage to deal with in under a week is apparently a mini-villain. Frankly, Neal is tired of those as well at this point. Frankly, he may have missed out the last two. Whatever.
“You check how big those are and then Hook is gonna show you where you can look for cloth that will be big enough to fill them up, ok?”
It’s a stupid task if he has ever heard one but he can’t make himself scowl too hard when it brings that megawatt smile to Henry’s face.
The scowl comes natural though when Hook happily urges the boy below deck to show him where he keeps potential replacements. He is just about to ask if leaving the pirate alone with their son is really such a good idea, when David groans loudly.
“Alright, I know I suggested this and hey, I don’t mind the fresh air and Hook has a decent taste in beer but – remind me again why we aren’t using magic for this?”
Emma throws the length of the rope in her hand over her shoulder and Neal admires the light sweat that has already formed on the surface of her skin. What he does not admire are the arm muscles. They are not ugly, per say, but they are far from feminine and befitting a beautiful blonde like Emma, in his opinion.
“Because I think it will be at least another month before Hook allows Regina on his ship again and she herself didn’t seem all that eager to offer some help. And I know what guys are like with their cars and this is like… ten times that. Ain’t no way I’m trying to work my amateur magic on his baby.”
Neal follow her pointed look and sees that Hook has emerged back on deck. He hasn’t even noticed but, of course, Emma does right away. Figures.
Hook looks like he wants to say something less than decent – when does he not – but a quick glance at David seems to change his mind and he tries to replace the lecherous look on his face with a more sincere one.
“Come now, Swan, you’ve been working hard on your magic and it shows. I will… almost trust you with her.”
“Wow. I’ve earned myself an “almost”.”
She says it in a deadpan voice but only a blind man would miss the way she preens a little under the backhand compliment. Neal wishes he was blind.
“You know what, I really didn’t dress for this kind of mess. I’ll… I’ll see you guys at Granny’s when you’re done here, yeah?”
He doesn’t really wait for anyone to acknowledge him. Well, he does… just a minute… then he slips off the ship.
*****
The pirate is a fucking nuisance. Not only did he apparently accompany everyone else to Granny’s – which Neal is sure he had no reason to do – doesn’t he have food on that damn ship they’d been fixing all day – but now everyone has to listen to his idiotic attempts to handle a smartphone.
“That is not even a little bit what I did.”
“It is exactlywhat you did.”
“Are you blind? Is it the age? It’s the age. I should take you to get glasses. We’ll get the really big, thick black frames ones.”
Alright, so it’s not that everyone has to listen, it’s that Neal would prefer it if everyone was listening, instead of Emma being literally pressed against that man in the booth literally across from him – there are not that many people, there is no need for them to be sitting that close – whispering and fucking giggling – because, no, after a certain point too much laughter is simply annoying giggles and that’s that – over the smartphone that he was pretty sure she personally bought for the damn pirate.
“But why do you have to put in both a person’s name andphone number? I thought you said this phonewas smart, Swan. Shouldn’t it just know whose number it is without me having to tell it?”
Emma opens her mouth, obviously more than ready to answer the absolutely ridiculous question, and Neal simply cannot take the indulgent expression on her face a second longer.
“Jesus, man, it’s not that fucking complicated. Five-year-olds can work smartphones, you know? Figure it out on your own.”
Hook and Emma fall silent. And so does every other person on their table. For a moment Neal almost feels guilty for cursing, then he thanks his lucky stars that Regina already took Henry home.
“Right,” Hook clears his throat and, despite the awkwardness that has settled into the previously cheerful air, Neal is gratified to see the pirate’s ears flame up and his shoulders tense up with an unusual bolt of self-consciousness. “I’m sure I can navigate my way through the numbers and internets.”
Neal rolls his eyes and opens his mouth to correct him. The dumbass probably doesn’t even understand that the Internet is not an actual net.
“Why?” Emma gently pries the phone from Hook’s white-knuckled grip before Neal can get a word in again. “It’s so much more fun to do it together.”
Beside Neal, David suddenly chokes on his fries and an oblivious Snow starts thumping him on the back while Neal grits his teeth and feels all the blood rush to his face as Hook’s eyes zero in on Emma, his damn eyebrows as far on his forehead as they can go.
“Like photos,” Emma supplies a full half minute later, the mock innocence in her voice certainly fooling no one but Snow White.
Then her hand reaches for the pirate’s hook and places it firmly on the table in front of Neal – for a second he is sure it is a threatening message and he cannot believe Emmais—
But then she puts her own next to it and curls her fingers so that her hand and his appendage form a heart before she pulls her other arm back and snaps a picture.
(Baby bit inspired by the current cold snap. Other reference because I couldn’t resist.)
—–
“It’s not fit for man nor beast out there.”
It sounds different in an accent, so different in fact that Emma doesn’t place the phrase right away. It’s only when Killian eases the front door closed to staunch the rush of frigid air that followed him into the house that she recognizes it. “Did you just quote Sports Night at me?”
The show is the latest in their Netflix binge, mostly because Emma wanted something funny to follow their weeks-long foray into the world of SVU.
“Is that where that came from?” a shivering Killian asks. “The phrase just came to me but it couldn’t be more apt.”
Emma pushes a mug of cocoa into Killian’s icy hand. “I never thought I’d live to see the day that Captain Hook, scourge of the Enchanted Seas, quotes a ‘90s comedy.”
He grasps the mug tightly, allowing the warm ceramic to reheat his fingers and palm. “I’m full of surprises, love.”
“Yes, you are. How was patrol? Aside from cold.”
“Quiet. Apparently nobody wants to go out in this, as well they shouldn’t. One wouldn’t think it was possible for a place to be this cold without magical intervention.”
Emma drapes a sherpa blanket around his shoulders and leads him into the living room, where a fire is roaring in the fireplace. He eases down onto the sofa with a heavy sigh.
As she settles beside him, she’s reminded of the night of the ice cave. Their places are switched now; he’s doing the recuperating and she’s doing the warming. So much has happened in between that night and now: darkness and death and True Love and resurrection and marriage. The road that has taken them here has been long and treacherous but the destination is worth every single obstacle they’ve had to overcome.
Killian sips the cocoa and allows Emma’s comfort to warm him inside and out. When he can move his fingers without the dull, frozen ache, he sets the mug down on the end table. “What’s on tap for tonight?”
And all of a sudden, cuddling with Killian in front of the fire with a heavy blanket on their laps sounds like Emma’s idea of heaven. She removes the blanket from his shoulders and spreads it out to engulf them both instead. Killian smiles, wraps his arm around her shoulders, and pulls her close. “Aye, love,” he murmurs, pressing a soft kiss to the side of her head. “Sounds perfect.”
