Characters: Red Riding Hood | Ruby, Belle (Once Upon a Time), Jiminy Cricket | Archie Hopper, Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold
Additional Tags: Werewolves, Abusive Relationships, Secret Crush, Bisexual Female Character, Bisexual Red Riding Hood | Ruby, Loss of Virginity, Walk Into A Bar, Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Flirting, Canon Bisexual Character, Post-Coital Cuddling, Body Worship, Vaginal Fingering, Oral Sex, Penis In Vagina Sex, One Night Stands, Pillow Talk, Human/Monster Romance, Human-Werewolf Interactions, True Love, Red Cricket - Freeform, Red Beauty - Freeform
Summary:
When Belle agrees to meet Rumplestiltskin for dinner, Ruby worries she will get back together with him. Ruby tries to take her mind off the drama with a night of meaningless sex, but finds it may be far more meaningful than she bargained for.
no, i'm still way behind on Walk Me Home. yes, i'm rereading your redcricket fics instead. LOOK I WAS THINKING ABOUT TRUE LOVE COMES SOFTLY and then I stumbled across Send Me The Moon too so. it's redcricket o'clock.
I should have answered earlier but AHHH THIS MADE MY WHOLE WEEKEND and I've just been basking in the loveliness <3.
I can't wait for you to catch up on "Walk Me Home" (and for me to get back to writing, you have no idea) but I'm also thrilled you're reading my Red Cricket fics!!!! And it's nice to know that I've finished those ones at least, even if I have more ideas for Ruby and Archie.
IT SHOULD ALWAYS BE RED CRICKET O'CLOCK!
Seriously, how am I so blessed that you appreciate both of my otp of otps.
So....what's your red cricket about??? Im curious and sooooo sooo interested
Ohhhh ya know, friends-to-lovers, secret relationship, unplanned pregnancy, angst-to-fluff, Granny-doesn't-approve, them-against-the-world. That sort of thing ;)
In all seriousness, it's a continuation of this random, curse-era Storybrooke fic that I said was a one-shot (but I'm a never say never writer when it comes to expanding one-shots):
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Fictober 2022/ Prompt #18: “I don’t think this is your problem.”
Summary: Archie comes to the rescue! Takes place during "The Curse."
Author’s Note: I love Archie. I still feel like he was completely underused, and yeah, I’m still bitter about it. I’ve paired him with two different OC’s in the past, but I’m also a huge fan of the RedCricket pairing. This is my chance to dabble. Enjoy!
…...
Dr. Archibald Hopper had a car, but he preferred to walk. It was an opportunity to walk Pongo, enjoy the outdoors, and a chance to say hello to everyone who crossed his path. This preference allowed him to see things others wouldn’t as they went about their day; he knew when Mary Margaret was feeling down, when Granny and Ruby had been fighting, and when Leroy had one too many to drink. He knew Storybrooke like the back of his hand, and the residents knew him as the kind, thoughtful doctor who could lend an ear when needed.
Archie liked being needed, and in this town he was in high demand.
Professionally, at least. For some reason he’d never had a successful relationship since he’d moved to Storybrooke. Hell, he’d barely had a successful date. Frustrating as it was, he couldn’t bring himself to be too upset about it because he knew part of the problem – a big part of the problem – was his infatuation with the lovely Ruby Lucas.
Logically, he knew it didn’t make sense. She was much younger than him, constantly trying to escape the town he adored, and he wasn’t exactly her type of man. She liked them assertive, aggressive even, someone to challenge her in a way Archie didn’t think he could. He’d heard the rumors and the gossip – Ruby was the town bike, call Ruby for a good time, good ol’ Ruby won’t leave you hanging like some girls. He always pushed those thoughts away or shut the conversations down as quickly as he could because he knew if she were a man the conversations would sound very different.
Still, it surprised him to see her in the alley beside Granny’s diner with a man he knew all too well. Liam Brody was a married man known for drinking away his paycheck, stepping out on his wife, and beating the hell out of anyone who looked at him sideways. Archie slowed his steps, refusing to avert his eyes as every red flag in his body went off. Ruby was backed against the brick wall with Liam leaning over her. His free hand brushed up and down her arm, and Archie noticed Ruby shifting her body to pull away from his touch. There was a tentative smile on her face, one Archie knew a woman typically used when she was trying to maneuver out of a difficult spot without escalating the situation further.
Archie had never seen Ruby like this, and he sure wasn’t about to round the corner and leave her with Liam. “Excuse me!” Archie tried cheerful first. “Evening, Liam,” Archie said, walking closer, forcing his smile to remain. “Ruby! I’m glad I caught you. I’ve got the answers for those questions we were talking about earlier.”
Ruby blinked, quickly catching on. “Oh, good. I -,” she moved towards him, but Liam placed a beefy hand on her shoulder, holding her still.
“What kinda answers?”
“Well, that’s,” Archie was having a hard time holding his smile, “that’s a bit personal, Liam. Doctor-patient confidentiality, and all that.”
Liam turned his eyes back to Ruby. “You seeing a shrink, girl?”
Ruby opened her mouth, stammering in a manner Archie knew only came from fear. “That’s really none of your business,” he answered for her.
Liam turned his eyes to Archie, narrowing them enough to send a clear message: leave. Now.
Archie remained firmly planted where he was. Pongo let out a low growl. “The girl and I were having a conversation. You can talk to her when I’m done.”
Archie assessed the situation. Being friendly wasn’t going to work. On to Plan B. “Her name is Ruby. Ruby Lucas. And from what I can gather,” Archie made a clear show of clocking her bloody knees and torn tights. “Your conversation is over.” His tone was cool and low, but firm.
Panic flooded Ruby’s eyes as Liam gripped her shoulder harder than before. “Archie, it’s… it’s okay. I’m all right. You can go.”
Liam shot Archie a cocky grin. “You heard the girl. I don’t think this is your problem.”
“Her name,” Archie said firmly, “is Ruby, and I am making it my problem.”
Day six of the challenge, a return to an older ship of mine :)
Day 6, Ocean
Fandom: Once Upon a Time
Ship: Red Cricket - Ruby Lucas/Archie Hopper
Rating: General audiences
Summary: Ruby Lucas goes for a run that is interrupted by the cutest puppy ever. His owner is no slouch either.
Excerpt:
Ruby Lucas ran. Her grandmother liked to tell the story – when they were on good terms – of how Ruby had learned to run before she could walk. “Always in such a hurry,” Mrs Lucas would chuckle. And it was true, Ruby had always been in a hurry. She had been in a hurry to grow up, in a hurry to leave, in a hurry to live, to experience life to its fullest. Now she ran to feel less stuck in place. While her grandmother was too old to take care of her businesses alone, she had to help. That meant putting all those shimmering, glittering dreams on a shelf for now. Like snowglobes they sat in rows in her mind, ready to be taken down and shaken in her mind’s eye so she could imagine a day when they were her reality.
Tags: First meeting, probably pretty AU but who knows with the timelines that are canon on OUaT..., terrible titles continue
Run, Interrupted
Ruby Lucas ran. Her grandmother liked to tell the story – when they were on good terms – of how Ruby had learned to run before she could walk. “Always in such a hurry,” Mrs Lucas would chuckle. And it was true, Ruby had always been in a hurry. She had been in a hurry to grow up, in a hurry to leave, in a hurry to live, to experience life to its fullest. Now she ran to feel less stuck in place. While her grandmother was too old to take care of her businesses alone, she had to help. That meant putting all those shimmering, glittering dreams on a shelf for now. Like snowglobes they sat in rows in her mind, ready to be taken down and shaken in her mind’s eye so she could imagine a day when they were her reality.
Anything, from exotic places to a simple walk on her own someplace where no one knew her, it all had a place in her private treasure collection. And until the day when she could make them real, she ran. Ran to stifle the feeling of being hemmed in, caged, locked up. Ran to quieten the ever louder voices in her head telling her to run, and keep running and never come back. She ran for the sleep it allowed her at night, the quiet it afforded her in her head. For the feeling of tired muscles and for a job well done.
In the early evening the light was starting to fade, giving way to a pearlescent light between sunset and night, the last rays of the sun hidden behind clouds but still able to lend a silvery tinge to the blanket above. No moon or stars today, but the air was blistering in the cold, the wind a hollow ache. In minutes it’d be dark, the streetlights above on the pier punching damp yellow holes in the dusk. But until then, the world was monochrome and silent, the cold and the dark keeping everyone else inside.
Ruby loved it.
Only the sound of her feet on the packet sand, her heartbeat in her ears and the ever-rolling pulse of the sea next to her were heard. No voices, no gulls, no calls. Just her.
She’d had time to finish the thought when something light flashed by her. In the next second the light had wound between her feet and avoiding stepping on something soft, she fell. Rolling over, something wet touched her face and the next second she realized she’d tripped over a puppy. Delight and worry washed over her as she tried to ascertain if the puppy was okay. It was making yipping sounds, tail wagging so she breathed a sigh of relief.
On closer inspection it was a Dalmatian puppy, young enough to still have loping movements and paws too big for its body. It seemed as delighted with her and was trying to bathe her face with kisses. Stroking soft ears, she laughed and managed to sit up.
“Are you all right? I’m so sorry, he managed to pull off the lead and then he spotted you and he’s still learning not everyone wants to say hello to him and I saw how he just rushed in front and you fell, and are you okay?”
She looked up as a deep but breathless voice addressed her. The man was still hurrying towards them, dressed in tweeds and a Barbour jacket, tie blown over his shoulder in his rush to reach them. A red leash was dangling from his hand.
“I’m fine. I’m glad I didn’t actually trip over him.”
“Still, I am so sorry. Let me help you up.” He held out a hand and taking it, Ruby felt herself pulled to her feet. The puppy continued to weave around her feet.
Standing up, she noticed the man had really nice eyes, blue and currently filled with concern. His hair was wind-blown and something that had to have been a dimple when he was younger added an attractive boyishness to his looks despite him being much too old to be classified a boy.
“Thanks,” she replied, and sounded a little more out of breath than her run would have made her. “I am fine, I promise.”
His eyes searched hers and for a moment she felt like he’d seen more than her smiling assurance she was okay. As if he could look into her soul.
Silly.
“I’m glad. And I still do apologize for Pongo.”
“Pongo?” She raised an eyebrow.
The man smiled, a little sheepishly, and the boyish impression strengthened. “A young client of mine named him. He maintained you couldn’t have “a Pongo” and not name him “Pongo”.”
Ruby laughed. “Sound logic,” she nodded.
“I thought so. So yeah, Pongo is learning but aside from “sit” we haven’t gotten very far.”
At the word, Pongo looked up from his scrambling search for interesting smells around their feet to gaze adoringly at the man, waggle his tail so his entire backside almost tipped him over, and then plop his butt down, almost shaking in his delight at knowing what to do. “Look, look, I did it!” his entire being seemed to announce.
Ruby couldn’t resist and sank to her knees to pat him and praise him for his endeavour. Pongo responded by climbing all over her lap with his four dirty paws.
“So if this is Pongo, what’s his dad’s name?”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” the man replied, looking at her a little dazed, as if she’d startled him from a daydream. “I’m Archie. Archie Hopper.”
“Ruby,” she replied. “It’s nice to meet you. And Pongo.”
“Likewise, Ruby. And I think it’s safe to say I speak for both of us.”
Allowing him to help her to her feet again, she let go of his hand with a strange stitch of regret this time.
“I work at the Diner in town, you and Pongo should come by one day. I hear there is sometimes a leftover sausage or two after the breakfast rush.”
His cheeks went pink, or she’d only just noticed that the wind had whipped the colour out in them.
“Ah…I’m not much for sausage.”
Laughing, Ruby shook her head. “I meant for Pongo. As you can read, I’ll allow you anything you like from the menu.”
“Oh. I’m sorry, I don’t seem to be appearing at my best today.”
She tilted her head with a smile that had turned stronger men than Archie Hopper to butter. “Oh, I think you’re doing just fine.”
