swan (savioring) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2019-04-18 21:37:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, !partner thread, emma swan, james potter |
WHO: Emma Swan & James Potter
WHEN: {backdated} Tethered Plot
WHERE: James' place
WHAT: Emma and James have a rude awakening and find out they're joined for the week.
RATING: PG-13 (some cussing)
STATUS: Complete
Starting to get used to Orange County wasn't the simplest of things, not in the least. Between the dreams, the weird instances going on, any sane person would go running for the hills. So why hadn't she? She wasn't exactly sure. She'd started to make friends, sure, and that was something, but there was nothing tying her to Orange County save a least that would be up in a few months. But it wasn't exactly like Emma was planning to leave either.
That morning, she woke a little slower than usual. Like the bed was more comfortable, softer and more inviting. She didn't have anywhere to be that morning at least, which meant she could enjoy the slow rise from sleeping to wakefulness. At least until she felt the gentle shift of someone else in the bed.
It was a flail of limbs, sudden and sharp, as Emma pulled herself out of bed, misjudging the distance between the bed and the floor and fell on her ass. "Shit," this wasn't her bedroom, this wasn't her apartment, what the hell was she doing in someone else's apartment. In someone else's bed?
She was in her sleep-clothes, so it wasn't like she hadn't been at her own place and was now somehow somewhere else.
"What the hell?"
---
James enjoyed his indolent life. He could stay up as late as he wanted, wake up whenever he decided to. It was, all in all, a fairly nice life, set up as he was with his trust fund, and with the promise of a future inheritance from his parents. Hopefully that promise was far in the future, but it was still nice to have the assurance.
Unless he had promises or errands to run, he normally didn’t get out of bed before the crack of noon. When he was suddenly woken up by a thud and an exclamation, his first reaction was annoyance.
It was only after that that he realized there should be no reason why he was woken up by anything like it. Sure, there might have been a time when he’d gotten drunk and taken girls home, but he’d never been drunk enough to completely forget the night before, including the getting drunk part. Besides, he would have never done something like that now that he’d confessed to Lily his feelings. He fumbled for the wand he kept at the side of his bed, turned to the blonde blob that was sitting on his floor.
“Petrificus Totalus!” he exclaimed, unleashing a Full-body binding spell, which would leave only the recipients eyes able to move. Then, fairly sure that whoever had broken into his house wouldn’t be able to move, he found his glasses and put them on.
---
Emma had no idea where the hell she was, who the hell she was with, or what they just yelled at her. All she knew was that she was not where she was meant to be, although the floor was a lot nicer than hers, it didn’t stop her shaking off the heavy feeling in her limbs -which was odd- before she pulled herself to her feet -annoyingly bare- and held a hand out in warning.
“Who the fuck are you? Where am I? What’s going on?” Why did it feel so weird to just stand? “What the hell did you just do?”
There was too much going on, this person didn’t look like anyone from her dreams, so she didn’t think one of them had somehow come through while she was dreaming, but nothing made sense anyway, so it was always possible.
---
James was a little surprised when the woman - he could see it was a woman now, though he didn’t recognize her even now that he could make out her facial features - was able to move. Maybe he shouldn’t have been. He’d just recently learned the spell in his dreams, and apparently he needed to practice his charms and curses more.
“Who the fuck are you?” James asked. “You’re the one who broke into my house and decided to curl up in my bed.” And then started demanding all sorts of unreasonable questions. The nerve of some people.
“I’ll turn you into a newt next if you don’t tell me exactly what you’re doing here.” Transfiguration, at least, James could do with his eyes closed.
---
There was a lot to unpack, to put together and digest, but from the gist of things, neither of them seemed sure just how Emma ended up in this stranger’s home. “Okay, okay, enough with your weird threats and just hang on.” A newt, really?
“I did not come here. I don’t even know where here is. Where am I?” Aside from in a strange apartment with her PJs on. And that was bugging her the most, because if someone had dosed her and moved her, why the hell did they leave her here?
---
James kept his wand raised for a few moments before he decided that maybe he really did believe her story. He lowered it, frowning a little. “You’re at my house,” James said, and headed to the wide, windowed double doors that led to his balcony. The salt air wafted in, the balcony looking out over James’ private beach. “In Newport Beach. Where’d you come from?”
---
There were a million things running through Emma’s head -not least of all the way he’d been pointing that stick at her- but then there was the view and she was in Newport Beach, which really wasn’t too far away, “Irvine, I live in Irvine.” And she’d definitely just gone to bed there too.
“I have no clue how I got here, is this a prank, is someone--” it didn’t matter, not in the least, “Nevermind, I’m sorry, can you call me a cab and I’ll be out of your way.”
It didn’t even matter that she’d need to take a cab home in her PJs, like some walk of shame event.
---
James was just as confused, though he was beginning to suspect that whatever it was that caused strange things to happen in the OC was what was at work here. Sure, most of what he’d dealt with so far were invasions of the undead and mysterious illnesses, but there had been that time when he’d woken up and been sixteen…
He didn’t know why this event would make him wake-up with someone he’d never met before, just before Valentine’s Day, but it was about the only explanation that made any sense. Other than this woman pulling the most convoluted and confusing con he’d ever heard of. As it was, there was some strange sort of comfort in the idea that it was just California, up to its normal tricks.
“Yeah, no problem,” James said, and grabbed his phone from his bedside table, and ordered the cab for her.
---
It wasn’t anything about this that made Emma feel like it was a dangerous situation -aside from the wooden stick thing. But she really felt a deep embarrassment for being in this persons bed, even if she hadn’t done it herself.
“Great um, no offense, but I’m gonna wait outside.” Because she could feel her cheeks burning. At least until she got as far as the door, and felt like it was a struggle to keep going, to get further, to make it to the sidewalk to wait for a car.
As she took another step, Emma felt the tug, a hard pull, before she was physically yanked from the doorstep into the house all the back to where she’d just left, where James was still on the phone, presumably calling her cab.
Ass on the floor, feeling like another bruise was going to form there, Emma grunted a little before laying back, cursing in her head. “Oh, I could just stay here.”
---
The cab operator had just picked up the phone when James felt a pull, and was yanked a few steps closer to where Emma had fallen. Luckily, he had managed to keep his feet, and he frowned.
This was definitely the Orange County. Without another word to the operator, he hung up his phone, tossed it on his bed, and offered a hand to the woman on his floor. “I guess we’re stuck together,” he said, which meant it was probably a good idea that they at least properly introduced themselves. “I’m James, by the way.”
---
If she hadn’t been getting used to Orange County and all its weirdness, this would’ve been a massive reason to freak the hell out and panic. But thankfully, she’d started to deal with how things just happened in Orange County, and it looked like this was one of those things.
“It looks like,” and there could be worse places to be, probably worse people to be stuck around, “I’m Emma.” Pulling herself to her feet, Emma righted her PJs and pushed her hair out of her face.
“At least we know how I got here then.” If whatever was in Orange County could make it snow at winter and let the undead run wild around the county, it could transport Emma to a new house without waking her up for sure.
---
“One mystery down,” James said. “Actually, probably only mystery down.” That kind of took all the fun out of it, when the answer was just ‘Orange County being Orange county.’
He frowned at her outfit. “Well, I’m sorry to say I don’t have any women’s clothes hanging up in my closet, though I suppose once we get some breakfast in us I can drive you to your place to get some clothes? You might want to pack an overnight bag. Who knows how long this will last.” They were, of course, sleeping at James’ place. That didn’t even warrant a discussion.
---
On the whole, knowing the how and why meant that Emma didn't need to be exceptionally defensive about where she was, it didn't seem like James was seriously sketchy -she'd likely dated people worth being more wary of.
"Yeah," considering her PJs were fairly comfortable, it wasn't that big a deal, although she did appreciate the opportunity to get a change in clothes. "Probably better to be more prepared than less." And while she might've argued any other time about where she'd prefer to stay, it wasn't like she could say her place was more homey than James' and frankly she'd feel odd about him being in her space.
But before she could have a minor argument about the assumption her stomach rumbled, reminding her about breakfast and her lack of coffee currently. "But your best idea has to be breakfast."
---
“I am filled with all sorts of good ideas,” James said, winking. “Let’s go see if I can’t whip something tasty up.” Using magic, of course. James was hardly a great cook, but he had managed to figure out how to incorporate some magic into the whole ordeal.