I'm still caged inside

"Yes, at this hour.” Viktor mutters, his gaze trained anywhere but on Ruby’s face. He felt guilty, though he knew he had no reason to. He should have expected it. People always let him down. “The weather’s bad, there could be an accident…it’s better if I’m there.” He pauses, finally looking at her as he slides out of the booth, making a beeline for his jacket that was hanging by the door. “I’m sorry. Thank you for the pie.”

Ruby frowned slightly, but tried not to look too disappointed. “Oh...right...” she got up as he did, following him over to the hanger. “Don’t be. Let me walk you? I’m going to lock up and I can’t sleep, anyway. Better not to go out there all alone.”

“Killian,” she said. “Wait, should I call him hook? I thought it was more respectful to call him Killian, is that weird?” she then asked, mentally recounting her conversation with Killian. “Really?” she asked, her tone tending to breach a somewhat surprised level. “I can believe you have a date, but with Graham? That’s great, Red”

“It’s not weird. I don’t think he minds Hook, though.” She shrugged. “Thanks, Snow! We’re going on a second date, actually.” She bit her lip. Should she tell her about Dr. Whale? “I uh, I’ve got one more thing to confess, but you’ve got to promise not to tell anyone, alright? I don’t even know where it’s going.”

"Well, there’s always hang gliding."

This is all very disconcerting. 

Ruby’s answer wasn’t what Viktor wanted to hear. She saw them as friends. Friends, and nothing more. He lets out a sigh, suddenly not in the mood for pie and small talk and games anymore. “Yes, of course. Of course we are. Of course we do.” He mutters, his jaw clenching slightly. “I should get back to work.”

“At this hour?” She looked over at him, you said something wrong. Ruby fiddled with her hands. “You’re always on call, right? Can’t you stay until someone calls? We can dance again! Or...whatever you wanna do.”

Viktor’s eyebrows knit together as he tries to think of a way to eloquently word his answer, finally stealing the answer Ruby ha given. “Because I wanted to.” He murmurs, smirking across the table at her. “Though If I’m being frank, I wanted to long before now.” He pauses, his eyes flicking down to his half-eaten slice of pie. Why had he admitted that? It was likely too much. “Are we really just friends?”

“Well I’m glad we both got what we wanted, then.” She utters, finishing her food and setting her fork down. Now she had no distractions. She had to look at him, her eyes could no longer avoid his gaze when he admitted to wanting to kiss her for a while now. She didn’t know how to respond. Before she could, she was thinking about her answer to his question, fumbling to find the words. “I...I mean...yes. We are. Aren’t we?” Answering a question with a question. Solid. She knew she was breaking the rules, but didn’t care, dodging facing the question altogether. Were they moving too fast? Under the curse, the lines between friends and not friends, married and single, in a relationship and not, were all blurred. She didn’t ask, the people she slept with didn’t tell, and she woke up and slipped out just in time for breakfast at Granny’s. But this? This she couldn’t just treat like she would another hook-up. “I mean, of course we’re friends. We understand each other like friends should, right?”

“Why’d you kiss me in the first place?”

Viktor’s smile falters for the briefest second before he recovers, nodding ever so slightly. “And friend.” He murmurs as the pain spreads, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. The moment was gone now, the mood changed, and he shifts from foot to foot, unsure of where to go from here.

“And friend.” Ruby added, correcting him with a grin. Do friends kiss each other like that? A voice in the back of her mind asked with a scoff, though she shook it away. Dating, she could handle. But thinking about the answer to that question? She wasn’t ready to even indulge. 

thezeediaries (via wnq-writers)

He kisses her back slowly, and then all at once, his instincts outweighing his mind for once. Viktor’s fingers run through her hair, his hands finding the small of Ruby’s back after a few moments, pulling her body closer to his. He was lost in the moment, lost in her, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Neal grinned as Ruby exuded excitement. “You are in luck, Miss Ruby Lucas. I happen to know all things about code…making and reading it,” he told her. “So, yeah…I can be your teacher. When would you like to have our first lesson? I’m free tonight if you’d like to grab a bite under the stars.”

No, I don’t think anyone knows just yet.

I heard something about flying monkeys, but that’s about it.