I would tell him that he should be less afraid to love. That no matter how unlikely it seems, it will go right with Henry. (I doubt he'd listen, but it's worth a try).
👖 JEANS - what is their go-to outfit?
Mercy doesn't really have a go-to outfit. He just throws on whatever and hopes for the best. Bonus points if Henry likes it.
👑 CROWN - what does your oc want to be remembered as? why?
This depends on where he is in his character arc.
When he's still living in his hometown, he wants to be remembered as somebody making a change. He wants to influence a change in the laws and culture so that future generations can be and love whoever they want to be or love.
After he runs away, after a majority of his trauma, he just wants to be a nobody. He wants to be forgotten; just another tiny speck in the grand scheme of the universe.
And when he gets to Clover and eventually meets Henry and the other Black Bulls, he has a family again. He hopes to be remembered by them as a friend and part of their family. Nothing elaborate, just another piece of the puzzle that makes them a family.
And onto Faris:
🖍️ CRAYON - what advice would you give to them?
I'd tell him to just freaking confess to Fue before he ends up pining for 20 WHOLE YEARS! 😭 /lh
👖 JEANS - what is their go-to outfit?
Faris's go-to outfit is something smart, because he's got to be surrounded by High Society. He works in the Capital, he's married to a royal and a squad captain, so he takes time to make sure his outfits are presentable but also comfortable and cute.
(He got pointers from cousin-in-law Kirsch. The Bulls actively tease him about his step up in fashion after moving in with Fue.)
👑 CROWN - what does your oc want to be remembered as? why?
Faris mainly wants to be remembered by Fue and his other family. He, like Mercy, just wants to be remembered fondly. He's never had great ambitions of becoming Wizard King or a squad captain or anything, and he's happy hanging around the restaurant and the CLK and BBs. So he's satisfied not being remembered as some big hero.
@johermione here’s a teaser for Max. It’s her introductory scene taking place in the pilot, and one scene with her and Henry that’s in 1x02. For when you’ve seen those episodes if you want.
Btw for my fic I had to age Henry up a little bit. He’s just 12 in the beginning instead of 10 (and 16 by the last season instead of 14). The story I wanted to tell just didn’t make sense with his age like that (Max needed to be older, but she also needed to be Henry’s age, so this was my solution). It’s a fanfic I can do whatever I want (also Henry’s actor Jared Gilmore is literally 16 by the end so it makes sense kinda).
*******************************
"Smart kid." Emma sighed as she looked through Henry's empty email account. "He cleared his inbox. I'm smart too," she said, fishing her go-to USB from her jacket pocket and holding it up so that Sheriff Graham could see. "A little hard disk recovery utility I like to use."
By the way Graham looked at the thing, you'd think it was a spaceship or something. "I'm a bit more old-fashioned in my techniques," he said uneasily. "Pounding the pavement, knocking on doors, that sort of thing."
Emma rolled her eyes as she plugged the USB into Henry's computer. Out of all the towns she had to be dragged by her long–lost child into, why did it have to be one where the Sheriff was stuck in the 1950s? "You're on salary. I get paid for delivery. Pounding the pavement is not a luxury that I get," she said coolly, scrolling through Henry's refilled inbox. "See, just as I thought. He's been emailing a girl called... Maxie Collins. Do you have any idea who that is?" she asked, turning back to look at Regina.
"No." She shook her head, leaning closer to read the messages on the computer. "Henry has never mentioned her before."
"Well, he told her about his plans to seek me out, so she might know where he is," Emma said as she went through their most recent conversation. "And she lives at..." Emma felt a sudden lump in her throat as she read the address on the webpage, "...Storybrooke Orphanage," she finished quietly.
"Great," said Graham, slapping his hand against the tabletop and standing up. "Let's go visit this girl then."
---
GRAHAM quickly knocked on the door to room 18 as they approached, then stepped back as they all waited for an answer. Emma felt extremely uneasy being in the building. This was certainly not how she had wanted to spend the day. Merely standing in a place like this again brought back old memories that she'd prefer to keep repressed. These types of buildings, whether orphanages or foster homes, all had the same depressing feel to them. As if the despair of the lonely children was sucking all the colors out of the room.
The door was finally opened by a young girl, who looked to be around 13 years old. The girl's tousled blonde hair was thrown up in a half-up half-down hairstyle, a black leather jacket that was easily three sizes too big for her hung off her shoulders, and she was wearing a silver necklace with a green gemstone amulet.
However, the thing Emma noticed first were her eyes. They were big and green, but that wasn't what stood out to her. Emma saw herself. That look in her eyes... the despair. It was the same one she had when she was in the foster system. It was the look of an orphan.
Maxie Collins looked in surprise at the three adults standing by her doorway. "Am I in some sort of trouble?" she asked, eying the Sheriff and the Mayor particularly. Emma opened her mouth to tell her that she had nothing to worry about, but Regina spoke before she could.
"That depends on how you answer our questions," she said, marching past Maxie into her room. The girl looked annoyed but said nothing. Instead, she gestured for Emma and Graham to follow her.
There wasn't anything too remarkable about Maxie's room. The walls were beige and there was a plain and unassuming bunk bed in the corner of the room, but there was no indication that the top bunk had been slept in. There were barely any personal belongings there at all, except for a couple of CDs on a shelf in the nightstand, an old laptop and a couple of school books resting on a rickety wooden desk, and a single potted plant by the window. It was like she was afraid to make this place her home.
Maxie sat down in the rolly–chair by her desk, closing her laptop that seemed to have been open on a barely started school assignment. "Shall we get on with the questions, then? Because I have no idea what this is about," she asked, turning towards the adults.
"I'll tell you what this is about," Regina fumed, stepping towards her. "I want you to tell me what you want with my son."
Her statement left an awkward silence in the room.
"What?" Maxie finally said, eyebrows furrowed.
Regina's scowl deepened, her patience already running thin. "My son has started acting out and disobeying me, and I'm guessing you have something to do with that. I want to know what you want with him."
"Um, nothing. Henry's just my friend," said Maxie in an aloof voice that clearly showed that Regina's anger had no effect on her whatsoever. "If your son refuses to listen to you, that probably has something to do with you and not me. I'd advise you to talk to your son instead of going around throwing accusations at people for something that's clearly just a result of your bad parenting."
Regina's eyes flared with rage at Max's words, and Emma decided it was probably best to step in before things got out of hand.
"Look," she said, "Maxie–"
"–Actually, people call me Max."
"Okay, Max. Henry has run away, and we don't know where to find him. Do you have any idea where he might be?" she asked. Max let out a long sigh, leaning back in her chair.
"Henry's fine," she said. "He'll come back soon enough. My suggestion is to just wait him out. He should be in Boston by now, so there's no way you can find him."
Emma shook her head. "No, you don't understand. He's already been to Boston, but he ran away again."
Max's eyebrows knit together. "Wait..." she murmured, eyes squinting as she looked over Emma carefully. "Are you Emma? Henry's birth mother?"
Emma nodded, her mouth pulling up in a thin-lipped smile. "Yes. That's me."
Max's face visibly softened, but she still didn't give them any worthwhile information. "I'm sorry. I don't know where he is."
Regina groaned, grumbling something about a "waste of time" before grabbing Graham and dragging him out of the room. But Emma didn't follow. She had some questions of her own she wanted to be answered first.
"Do you know anything about this storybook Henry's always talking about?" she asked, taking a seat on Max's bed.
"Oh, that?" Max inquired, raising her left eyebrow. "Our teacher, Ms. Mary Margret, gave it to him. She's a really good teacher. Smart too."
"Do you have any idea why she gave him the book?"
"She says that stories are a way to deal with our world, at times when it doesn't make sense," she said, looking out of the window, a wistful look washing over her big green eyes as she spoke next. "Henry's a great kid. I mean, really. He's kind and smart... but he's also lonely. Until I came around, which was about a year ago, he didn't really have any friends at all. And even now, we don't get to spend that much time together since I'm in the grade above him, and then there's the fact that his mom keeps such a strong hold on him." Max paused, biting her lip. "Ms. Mary Margret gave him that book because she thought it would give him hope. And it has." She paused again, this time making eye contact with Emma for the first time during her answer. "Henry needs that book."
Emma nodded, breaking eye contact with Max for a moment as the weight of what the girl had just told her was too much. But even though it all made her feel very guilty, it also clarified that Max cared immensely for Henry and seemed to know him better than anyone. Emma didn't need her superpower to know that she had been lying to Regina earlier.
"You know where he is, don't you?"
Max looked down at her lap, an appreciative smile pulling at her lips. "You might wanna check his castle."
---
MAX stood by the entrance to her school, arms crossed as she leaned against the wall, waiting for her best friend — her only friend — Henry Mills.
When the boy finally arrived, he immediately ran towards her, smiling whole-heartedly for the first time in a while.
"Hey, kiddo," she greeted as he reached her. Henry rolled his eyes.
"Don't know how many times I have to tell you — I'm only a year younger than you."
Max ignored his comment. "I see Emma decided to stay for a while," she said, nodding towards the spot just outside of the school where Emma stood talking to Ms. Mary Margret.
"Yep!" he exclaimed, much enthusiasm in his voice. "I managed to convince her to stay for at least a week, but I think she's going to stay for longer. I told her all about Operation Cobra and she's totally in!"
Max smiled at his excitement. "That's fantastic," she said. "Have you found me in the book yet?"
If she had to be totally honest, Max didn't believe any of this fairy tale business that Henry was so obsessed with. It just did not feel real to her. But she would be damned if she ever let that show. Max may not be able to fix anything about her own shitty life, but she could help Henry with his. She would do just about anything to see that smile on his face. And in one way, she really wanted to believe Henry. She wished she did. Like really... a fairy tale land where everyone always got happy endings... who wouldn't wanna believe in that?
Henry nodded enthusiastically. "Actually, I have."
Max raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Really?" she asked. She really didn't think Henry was going to find her there. Nothing about her that she could think of connected her to any sort of fairy tale. Like, Mary Margret she got. That woman was basically Snow White come to life, but she was different. And on the off chance that this was real, she was convinced she wouldn't be important enough to mention. She'd probably just be some background villager or something. "Who am I then?"
"I'll show you," he said, grabbing her hand and dragging her away. He ran until he found a spot on the west side of the building. The spot was cornered off on two sides, leaving only one side open, which was covered by a large bush, completely cloaking them from any outside eyes.
"Well," Henry started as he lifted the book out of his bag and started flipping through the pages, "I couldn't connect your story to any specific fairy tale. My first guess would've been The Little Mermaid, but there's already an Ariel in here and–"
"Wait, what?" Max stopped him in the middle of his rant. "Are you telling me that I'm a mermaid? I don't even like swimming!"
It was true. For as long as she could remember, Max had hated swimming and anything to do with the water. Weirdly, she was extremely good at it, though. A useless skill, really, but she was better at swimming than any of the other subjects in school! Although, that wasn't really saying much.
Henry nodded. "Yeah, I know. But it fits," he said, finally stopping his flipping as he found the page he had been looking for, showing it to Max. "You didn't like being a mermaid. You wanted to be a human."
"Sure sounds a lot like the Little Mermaid," Max mumbled, looking down at the page in front of her. It contained a drawing of a young girl, or rather, a young mermaid. She was sitting on a cliff in the middle of the ocean, gazing longingly towards the land in front of her. The girl did look like her (though one might say that about any girl with white skin and blonde hair) but she was a few years younger. "It does look like me, but that girl looks to be around ten years old."
"Well, you've been ten at one point in your life, right?" said Henry.
Max rolled her eyes. "Yeah, of course I have. But this must've been before the curse then, right? So is there anything in the book about what I did around that time?"
"No, nothing at all. It's a bit strange," Henry said, frowning as he examined the page for what was probably the two hundredth time since he found it last night. "This is the only time you're mentioned."
Of course, just like she thought. She was not a main character by any means. "What's my name then?" she asked instead, hoping to change the subject to something that would make Henry smile again. "Maybe that can help us determine which fairy tale I'm from."
"Actually," said Henry slowly, "your name has always been Max."
...
What?
Max quickly ripped the book from Henry's grasp, examining the page with narrowed eyes. He was right. The girl in the picture was indeed referred to as Max in the text, and it did look a lot like her.
David: [watching Henry and Max]
David: They’re cute. I’d put them in a boat.
Emma: What?
David: Isn’t that what it’s called? When you think people would be good together? They’re on a boat?
Emma: You mean you ship them?
David: [carrying Mary Margret bridal style and talking with her calmly]
Max: [sprints past, carrying Henry over her shoulders like a sack of potatoes while Henry is screaming]
