terribly sorry, officer (baelfiery) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-06-13 10:46:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, emma swan, neal cassidy (baelfire) |
Who: Neal Cassidy & Emma Swan
What: Joyriding in the yellow bug delivered from Dreamland, and planning a little for Boston
When: This weekend
Where: Starting at Emma's, then off into the wild blue yonder
Rating/Warnings: Mostly low
Status: Complete
There was something decidedly unnerving about wish fulfilment. Emma hadn’t ever believed in it, not before this place. And even now she was decidedly skeptical about it all. But after she’d paid a few hundred dollars to get her rustbucket of a car fixed up, and it was still needing some work, she’d just wished that she could get something of a break in that. The following morning, boom. Yellow bug. She didn’t get it, not really. One night she goes to sleep and wakes up to a yellow bug and a new car key on her keychain. After the initial ‘wtf’ moment she’d remembered that Neal told her things just crossed over sometimes, that they could get gifts from their dreams. Like the dreamcatcher she hung on her wall that he’d given her. She remembered that from her dreams too. So now, well, she had her car. Her car she stole from Neal who stole it first. And that had made her smile. There were so many fond memories attached to this thing that she couldn’t even think about being too concerned about where it came from, so long as she kept it. It was probably natural that Neal was just as excited about it too. So, since he was the only one around who would appreciate the sentimentality attached to her little yellow death trap, Emma’d made arrangements to go out, enjoy some open road and just drive. Meeting up with Neal to coast around and waste some gas just seemed like a fairly okay way to spend a day off. When Emma told him about the yellow bug, it had been exactly the kind of thing Neal needed. It wasn’t tainted with darkness, misdeeds, or the sins of his past mistakes - conversely, it represented one of the happiest times in his life. That life, whatever, but everything was so finely interwoven sometimes. On the way to Emma’s, he’d stopped at the grocery store (amazing he didn’t have a complex by now, considering lightning had struck twice and he’d been run over in the parking lot twice) and picked up something of a picnic lunch for them - deli sandwiches, a box of chocolate chip cookies from the bakery, drinks. There was no better way to spend a day off, in his opinion. He was still a little sore from the things he endured after being held by Chicago goons in leftover demon tunnels for a couple of days, but in good enough spirits as he knocked on Emma’s door. And was practically doing a dance of joy, eager to get out and see if the bug ran as well as it did in their shared dreams - but of course it did. That thing was a tank, it was their home. It was also probably where Henry was conceived. “Em! You ready? I brought food.” Yeah, he was just a little excited, could she tell? Emma was definitely ready, grinning broadly as she opened the door to Neal. Food, yes. That was a great idea, one she hadn’t thought of. “Just about.” Grabbing her keychain and a jacket from the hooks by the door, Emma gave a nod. “Okay, ready.” The excitement was catching, she could practically feel it coming from him, making her just as excited and giddy. It was easy to just enjoy the little things like this when it was so obviously shared. “Do you know where you wanna go or should we just drive and figure it out?” Emma was on board with anything. She knew parts of the area, knew she wouldn’t get lost exactly, but she had no problem heading somewhere specific if there was a destination in mind. Neal had actually given this a lot of thought on the way over. “Palos Verdes Peninsula, the drive is amazing,” he said, arm slipping around her shoulders to hug her to him for a moment, and he kissed the top of her head. Asking her about her dreams would come - he wanted to know where she was at in the complete and utter craziness that was ‘the little town in Maine.’ “It’s past Long Beach, and you get on Highway 1 and just keep going. Lots of nice homes and things.” And the water, of course. He really loved anything to do with the water. Then when they actually got outside, and he feasted his eyes upon the bug, he had to go up to it and touch the hood first - like he was touching the Holy Grail. Yep, it was still that banana yellow relic from their past. And when he went around to the back, he noted the license plate number was what he remembered too - both front and back. It literally dropped here from dreamland. “It’s so...it’s...” He had to laugh. “It’s beautiful. But damn, we picked the most conspicuous car ever as a couple of thieves, didn’t we?” Emma just laughed, hugging herself a little to his side as he told her all about the destination. It sounded great, so she was totally good with that for their trip today. The bug looked the exact same as she’d dreamed, almost the exact same as when she’d first seen it. And he had a point about their taste, because yeah, they probably couldn’t have picked a less subtle car if they’d tried. “Clearly, we just have impeccable skills. All that time not getting caught in a bright yellow car.” Although it was more likely that no one really missed the car that much after Neal had stolen it first. Which was a crying shame, since it was really just a beauty. “Well, since you’re so in love, how about you drive us?” Emma dangled the keys out for Neal, smirking at him. “You know the way, I’ll drive us home.” “Excellent.” Neal took the keys with a broad grin, and he practically zoomed into the driver’s seat. He had to take a minute to get situated, again, like with the placement of the seat and how far back it needed to be - but he settled into it well enough. Key turned in the ignition, engine purring and rumbling...rrrrrrr. Listen to that baby go. “This puppy is a tank...” He spoke of the bug like he was a proud father, but really, it had gotten them all over the place. Their cross-country Bonnie & Clyde adventures, for one thing, but it also had lasted those eleven years for Emma after he’d left it to her as well. How the hell had they even managed to have sex in this thing anyway? Maybe being younger meant they were...bendier. That was the only explanation Neal could think of. He headed toward the highway, turning the radio dial on to give them some background noise at a low volume. “So where did you end up? In the dreams, I mean?” The bug had been through a hell of a lot it seemed, and still held up sturdy. Emma rather appreciated that, how reliable the bug was, how fixed in her life it felt. Even if it was only in the dreams, she felt like the bug represented that part of her that was so beaten and damaged but still going on, still durable and trying. The irony wasn’t lost on her. Settling in the the passenger seat, her jacket in the backseat until she felt the need for it, Emma cleared her throat a little. “Um, well, mad hatter, really.” And was that a nice way to put it or not? “Mary Margaret is up for murdering Regina’s friend, who I don’t think she murdered and crazy people in mansions do the darndest things.” Watching the world go by as they drove, Emma tried not to remember too much about that dream. That was a dream she’d woken up a little shaken by. She’d proceeded to hide the keyboard she had on her couch for practicing in the closet and drank three cups of coffee in a row. “For a quiet town in Maine, Storybrooke is just a little insane.” But then she was dreaming about another life, and this world came with enchanted forests. Neal glanced over at Emma, definitely sympathetic about the insanity factor. “It...usually does seem to be that way, yeah,” he winced. “There’s just so much weirdness about it. Probably because it’s not meant to exist.” But a cursed town, filled with displaced Enchanted Forest denizens, like, there were just so many questions - how the hell did they thrive, for instance, where did the food come from? It just appeared magically? Probably so. He’d have to ask Regina about that, if she wrote it in her curse as some kind of stipulation. “I talked to Mary Margaret a little while ago though. Mentioned that maybe she’d want to explain a few things. Not sure if she did or not.” It was a touchy subject, her explaining the situation with the magic wardrobe and everything afterward. She’d spoken to Mary Margaret, just a few text messages here and there, feeling out the relationship really. Emma was sure after the last few dreams she’d need to physically go and see the woman, wondering if that was what it would take. Mary Margaret was always so careful of Emma’s barriers in the dreams, seemingly understanding Emma’s need to do things at her own pace, and opening up was one of those things. But after the kidnapping and the stress, Emma was more than sure she was willing to say Mary Margaret was the best friend dream Emma had since Neal. And she had Neal in her life here, so having Mary Margaret in her life was the next step, right? “We’ll work it out.” Emma was trying her best to roll with it all, to just go along with things. Savoring the relationship she was building with Henry, the friends she had. Emma made friends a little easier in her life here, but none of them seemed to worm in the way they had in Storybrooke, where she just wanted all her friends happiness. “Besides, its not like I’m in it alone.” Not anymore, “And… Regina has… we’ve made a little progress.” Emma was less and less sure in her dreams, but she was really clinging onto those attempts to keep it from colouring her judgement here, to look at her as her own woman and not this crazy possessive woman she was coming off as. “I can’t put my finger on this Mr Gold guy though.” “No, you’re not alone. And I’m going to do my best not to give you too many spoilers,” Neal smiled crookedly, still watching out of the corner of his eye before bringing his attention back to the road. The open highway, pushing the speedometer on their little death trap - he felt stress lifted from broad shoulders, knots coming undone. He felt a lot more free. “But just, um...” He wanted to warn her about his death, at the very least. When the time came. Especially since she was there when it happened, and it was about as traumatizing for Emma as it was for him. “When we find each other again, after the second curse - I mean, yeah, you’ll learn that curses are always going to be a thing - will you tell me when you’re there?” That time in the hospital, Neal escaping the confines of his bed to look for his missing father. Whom he had no idea was actually him, living in his head, two where there was only space for one. Then the mention of Gold made him laugh. “I don’t think anyone can,” he sniggered. “That’s...he’s my father. Rumpelstiltskin. You’ll get closer to him later on.” Winding down the window a little, letting the cool air circulate through the car now as they picked up along the road. “You know, it’s not too different from here. Weird stuff happens, people hang out, the weird stuff stops.” She shrugged a little, still a little unsure about the whole ‘dual people’ thing, but she could go along with it until she got it. Mr Gold and Rumpelstiltskin and Regina and the Evil Queen, she was still making heads and tails of all that. “Gold? Really?” Emma’s face scrunched up a little, mostly because Gold was just weird, his shop gave her the creeps sometimes and Emma had honestly she’d wanted to punch him more than once. “Urgh, I can imagine that was awkward.” Especially since she knew Gold or Rumpelstiltskin or whatever had screwed around with Neal’s childhood. “It’s weird but, I don’t know, I’m getting used to it. Really, that’s probably the weirdest part.” She liked the town and the people and she wanted to know what happened to them all and where things went. “Second curse? Okay, Henry’s already explained the first curse, the tale of Snow White and the Evil Queen and how Storybrooke came to be. Emma was still skeptical, but Regina and Neal both seemed to buy it all in this reality so… “But second?” She was pretty sure, at this rate, she’d be calling more frequently if all this just going to carry on. Emma did enjoy a good vent. “Hey, where are you? I mean, while I’m hanging out in Storybrooke, chasing down fugitive school teachers and quarreling with adoptive mothers?” She knew he went away when she’d been set up and sent to jail, that he’d stayed away to let her build a new life, but she had no idea where. Emma could call anytime, Neal definitely didn’t care - day or night, he was always ready to commiserate about the complete and utter horseshit that was their dreamworld. Some good parts, mostly bad. “The second involves a lot of...stuff,” he settled on lamely. Then there was all the other crap that happened after he died. Most notably the birth of Emma’s baby brother, named after her son’s father which was, in his humble opinion, not the best way to honor someone who had been dead for a mere 48 hours but whatever. “I’m in New York, actually.” He too rolled down the window a bit, just to get a whiff of sea breeze; it was comforting. “After some wandering I sort of settled there with an actual apartment, a job, um...just kind of attempting to live but,” he shrugged. “I always missed you. Tried to move on. Got engaged, though she ended up trying to kill me later on, but hey.” “Wow, you know how to pick them.” Her romantic interests just died it seemed. And she still felt a small pang at that, thinking about Graham. She hadn’t brought up the sheriff’s badge she ended up with along with the bug, hidden in a drawer in her apartment where she wasn’t thinking about it at all. “I miss New York,” not enough to go back and live there, maybe enough to visit one day, but absolutely not somewhere to stay. Then again, California hadn’t seemed like a place to stay either, and now she was here, well. Home had been a foreign concept for a very long time. Now she felt like this was just as much a home and Maine was becoming in some ways. Leaving would be exceptionally difficult, probably not something she’d do lightly. And right then there was no actual impulse to do it. She liked the crazy. Not a lot, but enough that she wouldn’t run away from it. “Hopefully your future wife will be the exception.” Emma’s interactions with dream-Ruby painted the picture of a bright, fun girl who had a lot of love for life and everything in general. She could absolutely envision that same girl in this world. But so far, she’d held off on meeting the woman. “Are the plans still chugging along?” It was only a little bit awkward, asking him about his wedding plans, but she figured that’s what friends do. Neal missed New York too, he had to admit. But he could never live there again - it was funny, after moving to the OC it was like now he couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. He had rooted himself here, and those roots dug down deep. “I hope she doesn’t shoot me, at the very least,” he grinned, and could feel his face warming a bit - it was just that he would always love Emma, and he’d said as much. It wasn’t something that could be dropped off and left behind, which sometimes made things complicated in his own head but he dealt with it as best he could. “Plans are...I don’t know, I think she’d prefer something quick, just having a party for people after a short ceremony.” Whereas he’d been wanting to take their time and plan something nice. You only get married once, right? Presumably. But she had never really been into the planning either, come to think of it. It just seemed overwhelming for her so nothing got done. The engagement happened in March and she hadn’t even picked a bridal party yet. Or colors, or a venue, or...whatever else you were supposed to at least start looking into, with your fiance, when you got engaged. But he’d expand on that in a minute. After he pulled off toward their destination, cliffs overlooking the sapphire waters and affluent houses with fancy terracotta roofing, all dotted there to bring a splash of color in red. The engine was cut and he twisted around to grab their food from the backseat. “I thought that...we could start planning a trip to Boston though? If you still want to go? If you’re still somewhat okay with Regina,” he asked, offering sandwich choices to Emma. His didn’t have any mayo on it, though she knew he hated mayo - she always knew that. Emma could absolutely relate to the uncertainty, the sometimes confusing feelings and memories all cluttering up in her head. Her feelings for Neal were just as cluttered as her thoughts about Regina; her own emotions mixing with her dream self. It wasn’t something that was easily pushed aside and left at home. Although she was trying. Taking her own sandwich, Emma nodded along. She could understand the desire for something quick, no fuss, just the closest friends after a nice private thing. She didn’t have parents anymore, from what she knew Neal didn’t have any to invite to a wedding either. So she could sort of see Ruby’s thinking there. But it was a matter of preferences, she was sure. They’d figure it out. “Boston, right,” mouth full of sandwich, Emma gave a round-about motion with her hand until she’d swallowed enough to actually articulate a little. “I wanna, yeah, and Regina is… she’s being exceptionally gracious.” Offering to fund a trip for the three of them, when she could just leave Neal and Emma, or even just Emma, and go herself, it was very generous of her. And Emma was chalking that up largely to this Regina not being as boxed in and vilified as her dream expectations. “I’d like to, I would. I wanna see him.” Spending time with him in her dreams, having those memories of Operation Cobra, it was all just spurning this need to see him for herself. Neal always felt a swell of pride whenever he talked about Henry - it was probably ‘fatherly feels’ as Lina would say (since she’d mentioned his ‘big brother feels’ on more than one occasion). But she was also right when she said he was basically born for fatherhood. Actually, Neal couldn’t dispute that; he thought so as well. And he really wanted to see Henry again too. “That’s...yeah, it’ll be pretty great,” he exhaled, twisting the tab on a can of soda. The box of cookies was propped up on the center console between them, here in their small space, their little home. For awhile the bug really was home. It was all they had. Besides the motel rooms, but those weren’t ever fancy - just places they could sneak into literally seconds after departing families left, to take advantage of things like soft beds and showers before housekeeping got there. “Good for all of us, you know? And Regina...she’s trying. To not be who she is in the dreams. I don’t think she wants to go back to that.” So Neal supported her. She had saved his life, and he couldn’t ever forget that either. “When would you want to go, do you think? We’ve pretty much got the new donkey program all set at the ranch, “ Thanks to her fine efforts!” “...So after that gets going, we can take off for a little while,” he suggested. As soon as possible was on her tongue, but she managed to bite it back, taking a little while to think at least. “Well,” she wasn’t the one with responsibilities here, she didn’t have a business, or a fiance, or time constraints that she needed to work around. If Emma left for a few days tomorrow, she’d just need to give a few people a heads up, and even then it wouldn’t be much -telling Kate she’d miss a class, taking a few days from work, that was about the extent of it. But Neal had people and things, Regina had people and things and business. Emma was the free and clear one. “Whenever, really.” But it wasn’t like she was the only one that wanted to go to Boston. “I mean, really, whenever Regina can, since you know, it’s her money.” And Emma was happy to take that as the olive branch it was offered as, and probably cite that as the proof that this Regina Mills was not the same one from Storybrooke. In those times she wondered about that woman, she’d just need to remind herself about how much Regina was trying to be Emma’s friend here. “I mean, lets be honest, if I could go tomorrow I would,” she’d be on the first flight out, she’d get three buses if she needed to, more really. Whatever would get her to the place she felt this cloying, burning, suffocating need to be even if only for one day. “But if we’re going to try and be responsible adults in all this, then I guess, sometime this month? Early next month if it needs to be.” Please, oh please, let it be before the end of July. Just for her own sanity. Emma didn’t need to worry, because Neal was pretty much raring to go too. “Maybe end of this month?” He didn’t want to put it off longer either, and thought about it some more, rubbing his jaw as he considered. Hmmmm. “We can get together with Regina, just for dinner or something, and talk it over. Bring a calendar, pick a date, circle them - then it’ll be easy to plan the finances out too, probably,” he added. And as much as he didn’t want Regina to pay for it all (the gentlemanly side of him refused such things, even if she could afford to foot the bill) he knew that arguing too much about it would be futile. He’d have to find a happy medium. “I thought about what would happen if he ever ended up here.” Neal’s confession was quiet, also thoughtful. “What with all the weird shit in Orange County.” It seemed like people were drawn to Orange Country, or at least people like them. They’d all ended up here in different ways at different times, the three of them all had a very strong and powerful connection to Henry too; in this world for her and Neal just as much as in their other dreamed world with Regina. Technically, he could find his way to them all on his own, but Emma had spent years not thinking about that, so that she didn’t get her hopes up. Hope was a painful thing to lose after all. “Maybe we should take her out,” she was just the same as Neal, about letting Regina pay for it all. Less about being in debt to the woman and more about burdening her with the expense of it all. “Are there nice places around here she likes? Or just take her somewhere in Boston?” As a thank you, her own olive branch really. “But we should do something to figure out when we can go. End of this month works for me, of course. Any time really works for me.” It was unlikely that any of them really wanted to wait that long, Regina seemed to want to see Henry herself too, just like she and Neal did. If things worked out it wasn’t like they’d wait too long. “Yeah, about the dreams and how it’d change things? Or even just… Just getting to know him properly.” Emma was still only half way through her sandwich when she reached for a cookie, having a bite from one then the other. “And then I feel terrible because I don’t really have any right to have that.” “Taking her out is a good idea. I’ll find out where her favorite restaurant is - something classy. She’s done the interior for lots of places,” he chuckled. And he was at her home-run business as her assistant part-time anyway, so it wouldn’t be difficult to do some digging to find out where she’d like to go. “We can take her out in Boston too, I’m sure we’ll all need something to wind down toward the end of the trip anyway, since it’ll be...intense.” Emotionally draining. For all of them. He sipped his soda, also taking a cookie to nosh on - the appetite was mostly back, after being starved and tortured for a few days. The trip to visit Henry, to get out of the OC, would also be welcomed when it came to helping the mess in his head. “As long as he isn’t connected to the network, he won’t dream,” Neal said about the kid. “Which is a good thing. But the stuff like body swapping and...and...vampires randomly popping up, I don’t know, he’d probably be way into it, the little action hero he is. But it’d give me grey hair.” Getting to know him was also a thing too. It was what Neal wanted, what he ached for. Holding himself back from that, because Henry did have a family, was difficult. “We’ll see what happens. We can’t horn our way in, but...you just never know, right? We don’t have to invade, but we can just be open to all sorts of possibilities.” Fate sometimes worked in mysterious ways - why else would he and Emma and Regina have all ended up in the same place, with similar bonds to Henry? At least Neal understood a little better about what Regina might enjoy and like, it would make it easier to find something to thank her with. They’d figure it all out, but Emma wanted to make sure that Regina knew they were grateful, however they could, without it just being words. “I guess we need to… to sit tight and wait.” With her food polished off, Emma dusted off her hands, reaching for her own drink, smirking around her cookie at the diet one. “We’ll see him, and we might feel better, and then… then what happens happens, right?” It was entirely possible that Henry would end up in the OC by his own chance, parents moving or Henry looking for them -however it happened, Emma had no doubt that Henry would be able to do it. He managed to find her with little more than a credit card and some determination. “You’re right, yeah,” if that was how it went, then she’d be fine with that, she’d love nothing more than if Henry was a constant in her life, but she didn’t want it to be at the expense of Henry’s safety or happiness either. “I was barely a little maternal before I came here, now I’m just…” She was just full of all these ‘what ifs’ wondering about what things would’ve been like. “Now look at you, you’re glowing with motherly pride,” Neal teased, reaching over and clasping Emma’s hand in his, fingers curling. It was him being proud of her, in a sense, because she had always been through so much - and the Emma Swan he had known in this life, in any life, was someone who maybe got kicked but never stayed down. She was hopeful that things could turn around for the better, even a little, and she was a good person. “Whatever happens, happens, but...obviously the dreams parallel life a lot. Especially for us.” He was hopeful too. Hopeful that maybe they’d continue to build a life here, and Henry would be involved somehow. Maybe it was a silly hope, but nevertheless it was there and a spark of life within him. “You wanna take a walk, maybe? Get up and stretch? I bet we could catch the sunset, in a little bit too.” It’d be nice, overlooking the cliffs. Motherly pride; that wasn’t too far off. And even if she shared that with another woman (two other women?) it was enough. Squeezing Neal’s hand, grinning with just the hint of a blush, Emma just nodded. The pride she felt was purely maternal, their son was a great kid, and it didn’t matter who raised him or where it was, he was still their kid and he was still awesome. She could take it a day at a time, wait and see how it happened, if it happened. And if it did, well, she knew that the three of them would be prepared to do whatever they could. That was what mattered the most. “Yeah, a walk sounds good.” Fresh air, some breathing space, just being somewhere. The bug made her feel settled, at home, at peace. Neal helped that feeling settle, it was a sense of belonging, of being somewhere that mattered. Of mattering at all. “I think I’ve found Tallahassee.” Maybe not in the literal sense, but the figurative one. Tallahassee was meant to be home, it was meant to be the end of running, a new life, fresh start. She was fairly certain that this was it. Orange County, with her friends and her bug. Tallahassee. It was so much. It was everything. It really was home. Neal had to swallow the lump in his throat as he went around to go walk beside Emma, close by her side. “That’s all I ever wanted for you,” he said, and in fact, it was. What he told her before he died, making her promise to take the swan necklace, find Tallahassee and be happy, still rang true even now. And she’d promised, with tears in her eyes she promised, so he knew he could go - that Emma was going to find happiness, and that was a good thing. Here, he was alive, and so was she. They had their son, even states apart, and they had each other and that was more than they got the first try. So maybe there was something to be said for second chances after all. “I think I’ve found it too,” he said with a glance at her, the yellow bug in his peripherals. |