storybrooke_savior | for Henry: anything you say, I'm like a hunk of clay, I'm just like putty in your hands

The only thing that really mattered to Henry was that she'd agreed to do this with him. It was a little weird, he would admit that. Not the typical activity a kid his age would pick to engage in, and certainly not with his mom. He guessed other kids would have requested a trip to the movies or boardwalk. And he did want to do that stuff soon with his mom, but this was a fun experiment. And he just liked spending time with her, so it didn't matter what they did, really.

Henry wasn't that much more skilled, but he'd put together something resembling a vase, at least. It was lopsided, but it would serve its purpose, he thought. He'd give this to Regina, but was already thinking of something he could make for Emma later on, something unique for her birthday coming up soon.

He was smiling as he worked to get his hands clean. "I hate to break it to you, mom, but...I don't think you should switch careers or anything. But if you really wanted, I'd give you a part-time position in my ceramics store," he teased, a bright grin on his face.

"Oh, ouch," Emma laughed, nudging at Henry playfully with her elbow. "If you weren't dead on right about that I'd probably have to ground you." She was teasing, of course; Henry was a good kid, hardly ever did anything worthy of any kind of punishment. Probably because their own lives were already such a mess of troubles, with Wicked Witches and evil little boys from Neverland and curses, there just wasn't much room left for troubles of the normal sort.

"Wanna go grab a bite to eat?" she offered as she shook water off of her hands and grabbed a paper towel to dry them with. "Anywhere you wanna go. Sky's the limit."

He knew she wasn't being serious, of course, and he nudged her right back, reaching for a paper towel to dry his hands as well. They could do anything together, even just watch a movie back at her apartment, and he'd have fun. It was just about being with her. And they hadn't really...had much of this in Storybrooke recently, with everything going on; his memories, Zelena, another curse to break.

"Do you even have to ask?" He grinned playfully. "Maybe...burgers and fries? It feels like a good burger day to me."

"Mmm, burgers and fries," Emma agreed with an appreciative hum, chucking the damp wadded paper towel into the nearby trash bin. "Sounds great." She'd make sure Henry's had enough veggies as toppings to placate Regina--and also that they'd go somewhere a little more quality than Slothburger (which was a disgusting name anyway) or whatever the other one was. The one with the weird ballpit.

"What do you say we hit up The Bite?" she offered as she slung her arm around Henry's shoulders and squeezed him briefly against her side. "I know the two people that own it, Helen and Derek? And the food's excellent. Burgers, curly fries, maybe even a cupcake for desert?"

"I'm up for anything," he agreed with a nod, settling in against her once her arm was around his shoulders. Even during the weeks she had him, he sometimes didn't always remember to tell her all about the stuff happening at school, or with people he'd met, he just got busy with so many other thoughts. So, eating at a restaurant gave him a chance to remember things he would tell himself he wanted to talk to her about, and they could catch up some more.

"Definitely need a cupcake," he nodded. Then, he grinned up at her. "Hey, you know I think pretty soon I'll be just as tall as you. Probably a little taller."

Emma huffed softly, moving her hand from his shoulder to the top of his head as if to measure his height against hers. "Don't remind me," she teased, giving him another quick squeeze. "Sometimes I can't believe you're the same shrimp that showed up at my door three years ago." She preferred to joke and tease about how quickly he was growing up, but there were days she almost wished she didn't have a set of memories in her head of Henry's first smiles, first steps, first words. Knowing so intimately what she'd missed out on brought both a little pang of sadness and guilt.

"So how are you liking the experience of eighth grade in the weird pocket dimension village?" she asked, pushing the glass door of the community college building open with her free hand.

He bumped against her playfully at the mention of the word shrimp. He had been pretty young back then, and it felt like such a long time ago, probably because they'd come so far. He remembered it with fondness, though, thinking about how she'd given in and taken him back to Storybrooke, and hadn't left, even when he knew she was afraid to get close. He was old enough now to say, without hesitation, that he was proud of her for that, really proud. Of course, it was confusing to him, too, to have two sets of memories. But...also kind of nice, in a way.

"It turned out alright, I think," he grinned up at her. And then as he followed her outside, he said, "It's not bad. I've made some friends, there's this one girl, Aggie, she...reminds me a little bit of Regina. She's technically dead where she comes from, they killed her for being a witch, and she did some bad stuff once but she's not a bad person." He explained this very matter-of-factly. "Oh, and Arya, she's in eighth grade with me, too. Her...family's mostly gone, but her sister's here with her. I kind of worry about her sometimes, but I try to keep an eye on her. She's really good with swordfighting. I met some other people, they're older than me, but really nice."

He wanted to tell her about the nightmare he'd had at Regina's, too, but...later.

Girls, Emma thought with an inward sigh. All right, so he wasn't talking about them in that way, but that was coming eventually. Someday there'd be someone (not necessarily a girl, of course, that was a possibility too) because he was growing up on her so so fast. She wasn't dreading it, exactly, but thinking about it always caused this little clutch in her chest. Every day he got older was a day closer to having to let go.

All the more reason to hold on tight now, while she still could.

"Would you believe I've met both of them," she replied lightly, not letting her tone or her expression betray her melancholic thoughts. "I met Aggie the other day when I found my car. And I met Arya the day she got here. They seem like..." She hesitated to say good kids, necessarily, because there was unquestionably a bit of wildness in Arya, and she wasn't quite sure what it was about Aggie that was a little unsettling, but it was there. "Like they'd be good friends," she finished instead, because that much at least was true. "You know, your grandpa mentioned you and him sword training again just the other day. Maybe even doing some horseback riding? If you're still interested."

"Oh, really?"

He liked the idea of his moms meeting his friends, mostly because he hoped sometimes they could hang out and do homework together, or play games together, and of course, it would be awkward if either one of his moms didn't like his friends for some reason or another. Not that he really thought Emma or Regina would be unfriendly (well, Regina maybe, depending on the friend...), especially to people like Aggie and Arya, who had such hard lives for people so young. Even with the stuff he'd been through, he couldn't imagine...getting hanged at this age and becoming a ghost, or losing basically his entire family.

"They are," he nodded in agreement, a little smile on his face. "I met this older girl, Coraline, she said she knew you? And I...kind of invited her over, maybe. If you're okay with it. I just told her she might like playing video games with us and doing homemade pizza or something one night, she...kind of seems like she needs people, you know?" That was Henry, always looking out for others. "And Dany, too. And Michonne...but she's your age, I think." That didn't mean she didn't need people, though.

But then, his face brightened up at her. "Oh wow, I'd love to do that with gramps! I kind of mentioned wanting to sword train to Regina, too, I think she'd go for it." He loved the idea of spending more time with his grandpa.

Emma was mildly surprised to hear that Henry knew Coraline; for being a fairly populated city, Darrow certainly seemed small sometimes. "Yeah, I think you're right, she does need people," she agreed, a soft, proud smile on her lips. She hugged Henry to her side again for a moment; he was such a genuinely good kid, better than she had been at his age, probably better than she ever had been. She would always be unspeakably proud of him, and how much he genuinely cared about people.

"You've got a lotta girlfriends, kid," she teased with a quick grin. "Do I need to sit you down and have the girlfriend talk already? Cause I was kinda hoping that'd keep for at least another year, maybe two."

Leaning into her side again, he smirked a bit at the mention of girlfriends. It was true, most of his friends right now were girls, but he hadn't really started thinking about...things like that. With anyone. "Uh...well..." He stumbled a little, thinking through his words. "They're just friends, mom, I promise."

Looking up at her as they walked, he grinned. "Plus, I'm kind of busy with school, and making sure my moms are okay. Full time job." He was teasing, his eyes sparking a bit.

"Good to know," Emma replied, still grinning and obviously just teasing him a little. She unlocked the passenger's side door of the car for Henry before she circled around to the driver's side. "Is Regina doing okay?" she asked after they were both settled inside the Beetle. Not that Emma and Regina never talked, they did of course, but Emma was living under no illusions that Regina told her everything. But here, when they were spread so far apart and there were dangers being thrown at them that none of them saw coming and were prepared for, keeping up with one another seemed even more essential.

He loved this car, he loved being in this car with her, thinking about all the memories they'd shared in it together; "stakeouts", trips to Coney Island, their first drive from Boston to Storybrooke. Buckling up, Henry rested his hands loosely in his lap, looking over at her.

"She's pretty good," Henry stated. "She's really changed a lot. I had this nightmare about Neverland the other week, and we talked about stuff. It kind of felt like how things used to be, a really long time ago before I even got my book."

He was just glad Regina seemed to be letting go of anger and pain from the past, and just...learning to be really happy. "I think Robin makes her pretty happy, too," he smirked.

"You had a nightmare?" Momentarily distracted from the subject of Regina, Emma looked over at Henry with concern as she buckled her seatbelt. That was one of the very things she'd been worried about happening, once the curse broke and Henry's memories returned.

She wasn't going to let that slide, but he should have known that. He didn't want her to worry, which was why he hadn't told her right away. He would have hidden it from Regina, too, except she'd heard him, so the cat was out of the bag.

"Yeah," he nodded, his voice dropping a bit. "I dream about...Neverland sometimes. Just the last week or so, I've been dreaming about it more, I don't know why." He paused, looking over at her for a moment. "It's always that moment, when you guys were trying to talk me out of giving Pan my heart."

He was speaking a bit stiffly, because he still felt a little bad about it.

It upset Emma quite a lot that he obviously still felt guilty over that, because that just wasn't fair. But she supposed he'd come by it honestly. She didn't forgive herself for things, much, either.

"Henry, you thought you were doing the right thing," she said gently, reaching over to smooth his hair back affectionately. "You know that no one blames you for that, right? Not me, not Regina, not your grandparents. We know your intentions were pure. Pan was very good at manipulation. He got to us all at some point."

"I know," he sighed softly, but looked over at her appreciatively when she stroked his hair. It did help to hear that, and to know that no one held it against him. It just sucked that trying to be a hero almost got them all seriously hurt, totally backfiring.

"One of these days, though, I'm gonna save you," he smiled, and he was resolute in his declaration.

Who says you didn't already, Emma thought with a warm smile. She might've been the one that officially broke the curse, but without Henry she'd have never made her way to Storybrooke. She'd have never believed.

And they'd never have found the place they were meant to be in, together.

"Yeah, you will," she agreed instead, starting the car up. "Cause saving each other is what this family does, right?"

A smile immediately grew on Henry's face as he nodded. "Yep. Always."

He had absolutely no doubt about it. Whatever happened, they would always save each other, he'd seen it time and time again.

Emma grinned to herself, her eyes on the road as she navigated their way out of the parking lot and towards the spot the food truck should be parked at today.

"So I was thinking," she began, figuring this was as good a time as any, while they were both in a good mood and already chatting. "That apartment of yours. I mean, it's really not seeing any use, and a big chunk of your monthly stipend is going towards paying the rent on a place you don't use. Maybe it'd be better if you just, you know, you just put your name on the mailbox at mine and Regina's place. That way you'd get to keep your money. It'd go a long way towards new video games and comic books, you know?"

He supposed this conversation was a long time coming, and...well, he had to admit that she had a point, really. He didn't use it enough to justify the monthly expense, and he could find other places to hang out with his friends if he wanted.

"I...guess that makes sense."

"You know there's places you can go if you get sick of me and Regina," Emma pointed out, trying not to press too hard. "Your grandpa's. Robin's. Hook's. You know, if you need guy time or whatever. And if we stay here much longer we can eventually revisit the subject of you having your own place, just...preferably one that's at least in the same building as me or Regina."

He did like going to his grandpa's place a lot, and he hadn't spent a lot of time alone with Robin or Hook yet, but he liked them both pretty well, so that was fine. So, pursing his lips in exaggerated thought for a moment, he finally said, "Okay, I'll give it up. And I can hang out with friends at the park and stuff."

Emma did her best not to look too delighted by how easily Henry agreed. "You can have your mail sent wherever," she told him, unable to keep from smiling. "And hey, if you ever want to go hang out at our place when I'm at work, that's fine with me, just text me and let me know you're there." So Emma could have Delsin check in on him.

"I'll just have my mail go to our place," he decided. That smile on her face didn't go unnoticed, and he guessed she was probably pretty pleased that her proposition had gone well. It made sense, though. He wasn't the kind of teenager that had a reason to rebel and run off, his moms trusted him and let him go off by himself when he wanted to, and he was always careful to have his phone with him. So it worked out. Plus, it was good to save money; she had a birthday coming up soon, and he planned on spoiling her. The more money he saved, the more he could spoil other people, too.

"That sounds pretty fair. Thanks, mom." He paused a moment, then smiled. "You know, you seem really happy lately. Is that because of Hook?"

Well that was a subject shift that Emma hadn't been expecting. She glanced over at Henry quickly before returning her eyes to the road. "What?" she managed to laugh. "What--where did that come from?" Because she hadn't even--they hadn't even been around each other while Henry was with her, not since Henry had arrived.

The last time he had really brought up Hook at all was when he'd first arrived, and that was because it was fresh in his mind; he'd just found out Regina and Robin Hood were together, and...well, he didn't know what was going on with his mom and Hook - if anything at all - but they were spending a lot of time together, so he had to be sure.

Not a lot had changed since then, but he worded the question that way deliberately, to see how it affected her, if at all. Reactions could say a lot, even if someone had nothing to actually talk about. The only thing he really knew for sure was that his mom didn't trust very easily, and she was careful not to let people get too close, except that in Storybrooke, she'd trusted Hook enough to look out for him, so that meant something, at least in Henry's view. Beyond that, he wasn't sure of anything, and it seemed he wasn't gonna get answers.

Shrugging, he looked ahead, but smirked a bit to himself. "Just...checking."

Emma wanted to be a little more open with Henry about what she was feeling, but it was difficult. There were some burdens you just didn't put on your kid--like the fact that nearly all of the men you'd ever had strong feelings for were dead. And one of them had turned out to be a flying monkey. And the lone survivor had nearly died.

"He might be one reason," she finally allowed, making it more of a shrug than a confession. "But mostly, I'm happy because you're here. And dad, and the baby. But mostly you."

That was enough for Henry for now. He had no reason to press any further, and knowing her, there probably wasn't a lot really going on with her and Hook, if anything. He remembered from their alternate life in New York that she didn't exactly move fast with people she was interested in. He understood why.

He looked over at her and smiled happily. "Mom? All that ever matters to me is that you're happy, okay?" He'd said something to that effect already to her, but it was worth repeating. That...didn't mean he wouldn't be super protective, though, whether she ended up actually dating Hook or someone else. No one would hurt his mom if he had anything to say about it.

"So. I'm glad you are. And I think we make a good team since you make me happy, too."

Edited 2014-10-27 04:14 (UTC)

"I know, kid." Now Emma just needed to figure out what would make her happy. Or rather, she needed to push past the fear that kept her from taking the risks involved with going after what could make her happy.

She found a parking space along the curb near the food truck, which was busy at this time of day. "Here it is," she said brightly as she unbuckled her seat belt and popped the door of the bug open. "I know it doesn't look like much, but smell that? That's good eats, kid, trust me."

Just the smell of the food alone was enough to incite his appetite even more, and he took a deep breath, smiling as he inhaled the wonderful aroma. "Smells really good, though."

He trusted her, and they had similar taste in food, so he wasn't too worried about liking it.

"So are you still sticking with a burger and curly fries?" There seemed to be a few different options, from what he could see.

"The Stilinksi's Snack and a red-velvet cupcake is my usual--which is a burger and curly fries," Emma admitted, laughing softly at how obviously predictable she was. "But if I'm ever here with Al, I'll get the turkey burger," she added, speaking of her partner on the police force. "He's on a health kick and I feel weird eating a greasy bacon cheeseburgers in front of him."

"Turkey burgers are okay, but we should definitely get the bacon cheeseburgers today," Henry grinned, stepping out of the car and stuffing his hands in his pockets. He never got to eat burgers that much with Regina, though she had a not-so-secret love for good fries, so at least there was that.

"I'm glad you have a good partner here, mom." And he could tell from what she said that Al would have his mom's back, which went a long way to easing Henry's mind when she was working.

"Yeah, it helps with the learning curve," Emma agreed, casually slinging her arm around Henry's shoulders while they walked up to the line. "He's a good guy, I think you'll like him. You'll have to meet him soon, maybe if Regina doesn't object you can ride with us for an hour or two."

Once it was their turn, she ordered two Stilinski's Snacks with sodas and four cupcakes in a flavor variety. "His son's, uh, boyfriend, I guess? Works here. He's part owner, actually. Derek. He's an all right guy. Gave me a piggyback ride when I was a toddler," she admitted with a slightly embarrassed laugh.

"I think I can talk her into it. I'm pretty good at that," he smirked. Barring that, he could just sneak out, but he hadn't done anything that rebellious in a while. Plus, he would be sneaking out to be with Emma, and she would make sure it was okay with Regina, so...that would be sort of doomed from the start, he supposed.

He leaned into her, smiling at the smell as they stepped closer. "You...were a toddler here?" Henry's eyes widened. "The city did that?"

"Mmhmm," Emma replied, making a face and laughing. "It was...weird. It was like, I remembered being me, but I was also a kid. I talked like an adult but still wanted to play on swing-sets and take naps and build sand castles. Your grandpa absolutely loved it, as you can probably imagine."

"That would've been fun to see," he laughed a little. And he guessed that gramps really loved it, getting the chance to see his daughter as a little girl since he'd missed out on that. "I wonder if it could happen again sometime..." It would also be a little weird, seeing his mom that young, but interesting.

for Henry: anything you say, I'm like a hunk of clay, I'm just like putty in your hands

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