“Wakey Wakey”
Okay, well, this is two months overdue, but I’m still going to tag it Red Queen Week because that’s when I started it, and where I got the prompt from. It was for Day 2 - Seven Deadly Sins - Sloth, and the prompt was: After a full moon, Ruby is always exhausted and Regina finds her asleep in the strangest of locations.
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The first time it happens, Regina almost trips over her on her way down to the kitchen for breakfast. Ruby is curled up in the hallway outside her door, snoring softly, and Regina can only smile in that fondly exasperated way that she reserves for her family. She’s not quite sure if her new lover counts as family yet, but she’s Snow’s best friend, so that probably makes her extended family, at the very least. She gently prods Ruby until she wakes up enough to be helped into Regina’s bed, then goes down to get started on breakfast.
When Ruby wakes, the house is empty, but there is hot coffee and a note that a plate of food is waiting in the fridge for her to warm up. She smiles and makes plans to stop by the mayor’s office at lunch time to show Regina just how much she appreciates her thoughtfulness.
The second time it happens, Regina is scared half out of her mind when she opens the door to get into her Benz and finds Ruby asleep in the passenger seat. How she got into the locked car, Regina will never quite know, but her beloved werewolf is dead to the world.
Regina’s late for a meeting, and she doesn’t have time to even poof Ruby up to their bed, so she just tucks her purse behind the seat and starts up the ignition. Halfway to City Hall, she hears a groggy, “Where we going?”
“I’m taking you to the vet.”
“Wha-?”
“Go back to sleep, Dear. I’m on my way to a city council meeting and for some reason, you were asleep in my car.”
“Oh. Okay.”
She shakes her head and chuckles when Ruby’s breathing deepens, a clear sign she’s drifted off once more. The full moon is hard on her, and Regina can’t be too mad over something her girlfriend has no control over. However, that doesn’t keep her from wishing that she would find more predictable places to pass out. Like the couch or their bed. They’ll have to have a discussion about it when Ruby is conscious again.
Until then, Regina finds a shady place to park and leaves the windows down halfway to let fresh air in. Then she hurries off to her meeting, trusting that Ruby will wake up if there’s an issue.
The third time, she’s walking with Henry near the docks when he stops short and grabs at her sleeve. “Mom, isn’t that Ruby?”
She follows his gaze to the nearby bench, and sure enough, it is. Regina huffs softly and strides over to nudge her awake. “Hey there sleepyhead. Get up, before people start mistaking you for a vagrant.”
“Mmm?”
Shaking her head, Regina prods harder. “Ruby, you’re asleep on a bench. I don’t really want the whole town gossiping about how I’m kicking you out at night to sleep on park benches like the obvious tyrant I am.”
“Y’r not a tyrant,” Ruby mumbles, but she manages to sit up and rub her eyes. It looks like last night’s transformation was rough, and Regina takes pity on her.
“Henry, why don’t you go hang out with the pirate? I’m going to take Ruby home.”
“Sure, Mom. Catch ya later. Take care, Ruby.”
“Thanks, Henry.”
After giving her a hand up, she wraps her arm around Ruby’s back and magics them to their bedroom. While Ruby manages to slip under the covers, Regina turns to drape her coat over a chair and kick off her shoes. Then she’s settling in with her and wrapping her in her arms.
“You don’t have to stay,” Ruby murmurs, even as she burrows into Regina’s embrace.
“Shh. There’s nowhere I’d rather be.” She plants a kiss on her head and rubs her back, smiling when she feels Ruby relax. It’s not long before her beautiful wolf is asleep again, and Regina is lulled into a doze herself.
When she wakes, it’s because a weight has settled onto her torso, and she opens her eyes to find a certain intention in Ruby’s gaze. “Hmm, someone’s rested.” The reply is a passionate kiss that takes her breath away. Ruby’s fingers fumble at the buttons of her blouse, and she can’t hold back a chuckle. “Someone’s definitely rested - and frisky.”
“Hard not to be… when you’re… so gorgeous.” The words are interspersed with nips down her throat, and she hums her appreciation.
“Well, thank you, Dear.”
“Mmhmm.”
“You really need to stop falling asleep in random places though,” she threads her fingers through Ruby’s hair as the nips turned into harder bites, and her mouth moves down into her cleavage.
“Yes, Regina,” is the muffled response. She sighs, because she knows that her words aren’t going to have an effect, and then she gives a different type of sigh entirely as Ruby’s fingers explore up under the hem of her skirt.
“What am I going to do with you?”
“I have a few ideas.”
“I do too, and only a few of them involve a collar and leash.”
Regina’s phone buzzes on the table and both she and Snow glance over at it, disturbed from their lunchtime conversation. She picks it up nonchalantly and glances at the number. It’s Gold.
“I’m a little busy at the moment, can I call you back?” She isn’t, really, but she doesn’t feel like being at his beck and call either.
“No, I really think need to come over to my shop.”
Her eyebrow arches and Snow gives her a curious look, but she barely registers it. “Why?”
“Let’s just say that I have something here that belongs to you.”
“Something that belongs to me?”
“That’s what I said, Madam Mayor. Now hurry along and come collect it.”
The line goes dead. After staring at her phone in bafflement for a few seconds, she sticks it into her pocket and scrounges around in her purse for money to pay for her lunch. “I guess I’m needed over at Gold’s.”
“Want me to come along?”
“No, don’t worry about it. Finish your sandwich. I’m sure this is one of his little games.”
When she walks into the pawn shop, however, she finds out that it isn’t. Gold’s standing there, impeccable as always in his tailored suit, and when he spots her, he gestures for her to follow him into the back room. There on the couch is Ruby, fast asleep. Regina sighs.
“Well, at least she made it to a couch this time.”
“I take it this is an on-going occurrence?”
“Yeah. The full moon.” She doesn’t think she needs to explain further.
“Might I suggest…”
“A stout length of chain?”
He smirks. “Not exactly what I was going to suggest, though that might be effective.”
“She likes to go running in the woods when she changes, and I don’t want her to be unhappy.” She had only been partially joking when she mentioned the collar and leash, but she won’t keep Ruby cooped up when she wants to go. “What were you going to suggest?”
“Magic, of course. You always were good with a tracking spell. Modify it to send something to her with a scent that will lure her home before the end of the night.”
That idea isn’t half bad.
“I’ll think about it. In the meantime,” she walks over and nudges Ruby awake, as she has so many times in the past few months, “I’ll just get her home. Thanks, Gold.”
“Don’t mention it. Just see that breaking and entering in my shop doesn’t become a habit for her, or she’ll have to sleep in the city jail.”
That’s one of the most absurd things he could have said, and she has to laugh. “Like David or Emma would make her sleep in a cell.” The more likely scenario would be them taking her to Snow and David’s, where David would make her pancakes while Emma brewed a strong pot of coffee and Snow twittered in the background. Ruby’s family, and that’s the way the Charmings treat family.
Regina prefers to take her home and tuck her in. She worries over the fact that her love is so wiped out after her transformations, and wants to make sure she gets enough rest. Besides, Ruby’s so often frisky and playful when she does wake up. It’s a nice perk.
“I did it again,” Ruby murmurs against her shoulder as they snuggle in bed.
“You did.”
“In Mr. Gold’s shop.”
“Mmhmm,” her fingers trail through tousled dark locks, loving the way the strands curl around her fingers.
“Was he mad?”
“No, I don’t think so. Though he did threaten to have you arrested.”
“I’m technically still a deputy.”
“There is that.” She presses a soft kiss to Ruby’s temple with a smile. “Though we all know that Emma and David would just laugh at him when he called to have you arrested for falling asleep in his back room.”
“Yeah, they would.”
An easy silence falls between them for a bit, until Regina breaks it to ask, “Are you hungry?”
“I’m starving.” Ruby’s head lifts so that she can look Regina in the eye. “For you.”
“You’re incorrigible.”
“And you love it.”
“That I do, Miss Lucas. That I do.”
