(mostly open)

[sheriffing]

Who: Emma Swan (sheriffing) & OTA
What: Beach day, chasing dragons, finding trouble, the usual.
When: Recently or right now
Where: Flona Cove + drinking + a closed starter
Warning(s): n/a



1. LADIES AND DRAGONS. (closed)

[ it's not a perfect plan, but at first, it's good enough. Emma storms into the cafe warning of a dragon on the loose with the fiery path to prove it, and Dany helps a pair of the creatures sneak out in the meantime. what the dragon savior isn't expecting is how quickly she gets pulled into the appearance of order, getting a description of the missing dragons from the cafe worker and taking her time to ensure their escape.

she plays her part and does what she can to delay any action, but that leaves her friend to manage the dragons on her own as they head towards the sanctuary in Wyver for their release. it's a while before she manages to catch up to them, rushing back on the path they've chosen, and when she's close enough to notice a spark nearby, she finds two dragons and two friends waiting.]

...I should have known the two of you would get along. [ Dany with the thousand titles and Wanda Maximoff. she'd once confused the former with the word "badass", but as far as she's concerned, it applies to both of them.]


2. THE BEACH IS ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA. (open)


[ at least she's managed to stay away from the fancy drinks. by the time Emma is off-duty and ready to join the celebration, the sun is already setting and the bonfire's already captured the attention of the crowd. she's rented a beach chair and brought her own, complication-free alcohol, and if anyone wants to join her, Emma might be willing to share.

or catch her walking along the water's edge, enjoying a walk a short distance away from the action. it's not that she minds the celebration, there's just so little time to steal a quiet moment around here.

if they aren't in danger then they're negotiating for peace or helping newly-awakened refugees to settle in. or worse, watching their friends slip back into stasis. there's not a lot of time to process what goes on around here, and for a moment, Emma is a little lost to the thought of all they've been through here.]


3. DRINKS DRINKS DRINKS. (open)

[ it's become something of a habit for her. once or twice a week, after she finishes up with the guard, Emma stops by a local bar to get a drink before she heads home. sometimes she meets up with friends, sometimes she talks to the locals, but whatever her plans, there's an empty seat beside her as she knocks back her drink.

feel free to claim it and a bit of conversation. after all, she doesn't mind the company. more often than not, she just doesn't really know how to ask for it, either.]


4. WILD CARD. (open)

[ want another beach option or something else entirely? feel free to drop it here or nudge me at swanning and I'll post up a starter just for us!]

Comments

ladies and derguns! emma > dany > wanda?

[dorzalta]

[ Carrying one's own hatchlings is easy when they're separated from their mother--they practically cling. But taking fledglings from the only place they've known since birth? A bit more difficult, particularly when there's one of her and two of them. Still, they're curious enough about her and the chunks of raw meat she dangles before their snouts, and it's enough to play a game of cat and mouse... for the moment.

The biggest hitch in that plan? The back alley of the shop and sneaking these two away. She's not entirely sure how it happens. There's a shout, a booming male shout. Silence. And then Dany is meeting the gaze of Wanda.

By the time Emma catches up to them, the hatchlings are feasting and the two of them are standing nearby, watching. ]

You know each other?

[ A quick glance from one to the other. She looks pleased. Good judgment. ]

[seeingscarlet]

[Wanda's not really sure what she's been dragged into - all she knows is that there was a man yelling at Dany and she'd moved before her mind had a chance to fully catch up. What else was she going to do? Let Dany get in trouble?

Apparently she'd stumbled into some sort of dragonling-smuggling operation. At least the hatchlings will be in good hands in Dany's care in Wyver - anyone else would have been under extreme scrutiny.

She's definitely not expecting a member of the Guard like Emma to be the other half of this plot.]

We do. [She raises an eyebrow at Emma.] You're part of this?

[sheriffing]

[ it's technically only a minor dragon-smuggling operation. it's not like they're looking to rid Olympia of all the little dragons that live there, this is about a pair of them that they already agreed to come back for. it's harmless (as long as they don't get caught), and while it could threaten her standing with the Guard, Emma's used to having to bend the rules.]

It's a long story, but the short answer is yes.

[ she shrugs, her gaze wandering from her friends down to the dragons. they're distracted for now, but they still need to get them out of the city.]

We're trying to get these little guys in a sanctuary, where they belong.

[dorzalta]

[ She steps closer to Wanda--a light nudge of their shoulders, companionable, a greeting--before inclining her head towards the dragons they hold. ]

You've made it a habit of saving me. [ Not something she would readily announce, but there's clear affection for the witch. ] Both of you. Now we save these hatchlings. They were nearly trampled on weeks ago.

[ She doesn't mention that they were the ones hidden in her apartment here. Instead, she's looking to Emma, that same look remaining in her eyes. ]

You've the route for us to use?

[seeingscarlet]

[Of course they're in cahoots. They both have an aura of a protective sort of trouble around them, just like Steve. Wanda can't say that they're wrong, and now that she's here...she can't just walk away.]

I saved some of them from the rioters when I first came here. They must have been frightened.

Where is this sanctuary? Somewhere in Wyver?

[sheriffing]

[ Emma nods, confirming that she's already mapped this out. the hard part will be getting Dany and the dragons safely out of Olympia, and then getting her and Wanda into Wyver, but they both have fairly honorable escorts on either side, if they happen to get caught.]

Yeah, the Fields of the Exalted. Dany the dragon whisperer's already working there.

[ it's a huge plus for Emma. that way they know they aren't just sending these dragons off into the unknown, unable to fend for themselves. at the Sanctuary, with someone who knows where they came from, they'll have their best chance.]

We need to move.

[ she doesn't bother asking if Wanda is in. if she wasn't, she wouldn't have stuck around this long.]

[dorzalta]

[ An emphatic nod, all agreement with Emma's words. She falls into step when they begin walking, smoothing her fingers along the hatchling's spine when it begins to grow restless the further they walk from the cafe, and the louder the environment grows. ]

Dragon whisperer? There's no whispering involved with them.

[ Dany. Not Daenerys. Suffice it to say she's surprised enough that she doesn't correct Emma. Third time in her life someone's called her by that name, and it's far less unpleasant. ]

I've brought seared meat for them--it's outside the gates where I left some of my belongings. They seem to have a preference for it charred, like Drogon did when he was the same age.

[ There's a shout further back. She looks to the others, who have a far better understanding of the streets than she. ]

3

[song_of_ice]

[He knew the bar that she frequented (having visited it with her several times before.) His trip to Olympia wouldn't be for long, but he had business to attend to and one of the first people he wanted to see was Emma. He didn't need to try hard to track her down, only ask a few guards if her shift was over. Knowing that was enough to tell him where she would be.

He found her at the usual table and didn't wait for an invitation before he was already claiming a seat for himself. It felt like old times, as though he had never left the guard and relocated to a more tropical environment.]

Can I buy you a round?

[sheriffing]

[ apparently she's been here long enough to develop some old habits. losing her drinking buddy wasn't enough to keep Emma from ending her evening at the bar, it just meant the company was a little lacking sometimes.

so Emma can't help but brighten when Jon helps himself to the empty seat across from her, and he's right - for a moment, it feels a little like it did before he left.]

Yeah, I'll get the next one.

[ which just guarantees that there's going to be a next one, and makes her generosity a little selfish.]

What brings you back to Olympia, Jon?

[song_of_ice]

[He can see the difference in her eyes, how she changes when she sees him. It's gratifying and humbling to know his presence means something. He makes a mental note to visit more often, if only to have a drink with Emma again.]

Just so long as I'm not riding home completely in my cups.

[He's smiling in a way only a good friend could bring out of him. And Emma had always been a good friend.]

Why do you think? To see family and friends. To share a drink with you.

[sheriffing]

I've yet to see you completely in your cups, I think you're safe.

[ she wouldn't risk having the wrath of Dany directed at either of them, but given a chance to catch up with him, the more time the better. at first it was hard to go from seeing him all the time to Jon living in Wyver, but at least the technology here bridges the distance between the two lands.]

Well, I like that answer a lot better than the expected "someone's in trouble". How have you been? How's Dany?

[song_of_ice]

You will know when I am.

[He had been in Wyver, but he didn't want to think about that. The night had been a difficult one, the only reason he had gone so far. This was different. Neither of them went so far as to actually lose themselves in their ale.]

No, this is a trip for family. [He smiled warmly.] She's well, but you speak to her a bit more than you speak to me, I think.

How are you?

[sheriffing]

We'll stop before we get to that point.

[ as often as Emma stops to get a drink around here, she's never gone farther than a decent buzz. alcohol's just never as much of a comfort to her as being more proactive. and when she drinks, when she's in a tavern and winding down for the night, it's more about people watching and trying to collect her thoughts than it is the appeal of the drink itself.]

Yeah, I guess I do.

[ it's been easier to speak to Dany through text than Jon. it's like she told him, she doesn't blame him for picking Wyver over Olympia when the person he loves is there, but before that he was practically her partner on the guard. he trained her, and the two of them looked out for each other. Dany had chosen Wyver before Emma had gotten used to her being around, but Jon's presence was one she'd missed, so she tried to protect herself by putting in a little distance.

she's been accused of that being her default method of protection. well, sometimes it's true.]

I'm okay. Just trying to keep up with the guard, and the council, and the dog and pirate at home.

[ two separate things, the dog and the pirate. and yeah, the dog gets the first mention. she lifts her eyebrows as if to hint at how hectic it's all become around here.]

I never thought I'd get roped into politics, but I think they need all the help they can get around here.

2.

[assailed]

[ The beach isn't something that's often used in Storybrooke. As a pirate he's well acquainted with beaches and the water. But he learned through his time in Storybrooke that people flocked to beaches now to lay about on the sand in swimsuits. Something he doesn't really like the idea of doing. Swimming attire has never been something he's thought would suit him. Which is why he's not really dressed for any sort of time on the beach.

Is his wife avoiding him? Highly likely. Not that he really minds it. He realized very early one when he arrived that she wouldn't make this easy. She wouldn't give him an inch of wiggle room. He would simply have to show her daily what she meant to him. Maybe given enough time she could understand it all. Unfortunately with her avoiding came tracking her down. To the bloody beach of all places. ]

I've never seen you walk quite so fast, Swan.

[ He catches her on her way away from the action. Less for her to pretend to engage in and not speak to him. ]

[sheriffing]

[ laying out on the beach might sound like a good idea to her any other time. for tonight, her swimsuit is covered by a simple blue dress, something that conceals without giving up the option to go in the water if she opts to make a run for it. and it's not running or avoiding, as much as it is having some time to think. she's not avoiding him if she's living with him, or acknowledging him to her friends. for the most part, she's done both, even if he's sleeping on the couch and the marriage is looking a little one-sided these days.]

Don't.

[ don't what, don't follow? he's already done that and she seems alright with it.]

Don't make this about me running, or avoiding you, or whatever you want to call it here. We share an apartment, remember? I couldn't avoid you if I wanted to.

[ he makes that clear when he wanders around the place in a towel.]

[assailed]

[ He wasn't actually making a comment on her avoidance. Which she does when she simply insists she has to work late. He's no fool. She can't possibly work late all those nights. He'll let her have that time though. It's not as if he can bloody well show up and interrupt her job. If she were to actually be working he would look foolish. He can only wait up with the hound of hers. ]

I wasn't commenting on that. I was observing your fast feet as you fled the people behind us.

[ Though he does find it a little bit amusing that she seems to have that on her mind. The towel things aren't his fault. She won't let him keep belongings in her bedroom. Dragging your clothes into the bathroom only makes them damp from the steam. Putting on damp clothes is hardly right. ]

Though you do a fine job of avoiding me when you're working.

[ He's just saying, Emma. ]

[sheriffing]

[ the people behind them? she manages to look guilty for all of a second, behind he continues on to mention her work and how that allows her to avoid him. the truth in all of that is more complicated than she'd like to admit; she's worked hard to establish a good reputation here, on the chance it might allow her to guarantee the safety of others. sometimes she trains before or after a shift, but sometimes she stops by the bar before heading home just to unwind on her own.

she tells herself that he wouldn't understand, but even Emma knows that's because she hasn't given him a chance to. now that someone she cares about is back in stasis, she has to wonder how long it'll before before the rest of them start disappearing, too.]

I'm a member of the Guard, I just joined the Council. It's not like I'm -

[ purposely hanging out in a tavern instead of coming home? well, some nights it's like that. she hesitates at first, crossing her arms over her chest defensively. no, she won't give him that. she has a life here, she doesn't have to explain where she is at night.]

[assailed]

[ He's aware of how she does her avoiding. He spent plenty of time chasing after her before. She hasn't always made it easy for him. She's quite skilled at emotional avoidance when she wants to. But she does it brilliantly while living with him. She can talk in circles all she likes about how she's busy and how it takes up most of her time. Yet they were her decisions to make. Something he'll always be keenly aware of.

Ultimately no one drafted her into joining the Council. She did that all on her own. Really he can't fault her for that decision. He knows Emma well enough by now to know that if things are corrupt and not working she'll intervene. She's the Savior. She'll always try to help those who cannot help themselves. ]

It's not like you're what? Purposefully taking on extra work to avoid being alone with me in the evenings? [ He gives her a smirk. ] Never. You're not that type of person.

[ News flash, Emma, you are. ]

[sheriffing]

You think I'm afraid to be alone with you? I've been alone with you before, Killian.

[ she's had to rely on him to help her to continue to exist and to guarantee that her parents would meet. it's not a lack of trust that pulls her away from him. she knows he'd follow her anywhere she needed to go. in this world, sometimes they don't get to decide who they want to be with or what's going to happen to them. she doesn't think Percy chose to go back into stasis, but she gets a pit in her stomach every time she thinks of the kid in one of those pods. he was awake not too long ago, and now it's hard to know when he'll come out of it.

just like it's hard to know when Hook will end up back in one of those things. and with her luck, it probably won't be until after she gets used to having him around. isn't that reason enough to pull away from him? she's been awake long enough to know how this place works, and that coupled with how her entire life works tells her that she's meant to be alone.]

I just -

[ there's no easy way to say she's preparing herself for him to go back into stasis, and she deflates a little at the thought. all of that supposedly justified annoyance melts away at the idea of having to say it to his face, and her arms fall to her sides.]

I keep thinking there will probably come a time when you won't be there when I get home, Killian.

3 - with apologies for a character who doesn't like to strike up conversation

[doomedtheworld]

[It's been a long day, mostly spent in the fighting arena near the beach, but it had been worth it. At least now her pockets aren't quite so light, and her work had at least netted her some spending money. Enough to spend a little bit frivolously.

She'd changed out of the clothes she'd warned in the arena to a light dress that seemed to fit the atmosphere if the Cove a little more. Her other outfit packed away with her dagger and metals in a pack that she tucks protectively under the open bar stool that she takes beside Emma.]

Ale.

[She makes her order to the bartender and proceeds to frown at the table, touching her cheek where she'd been caught by a quarterstaff that she's sure has already become a bruise. It isn't bad, if it weren't for pewter it might have broken her jaw, and a low burn of the same metal will clear it up quickly but it's frustrating all the same. If only because she shouldn't have taken that hit in the first place, the result of one foolish misstep.

She sighs. She still needs to get better.]

[sheriffing]

[ it's not as if Emma sits there with the expectation of conversation. back in Storybrooke, she used to get called out for putting up walls more often than not. she understands what it's like to want a drink and a few moments to be left alone, but there's nothing wrong with being friendly, either. she wouldn't mind the girl next to her declining to respond to her, which means she's also not afraid to say something.

she turns towards Vin with her drink in hand, giving her a nod at first before she continues:]

Where do you fight?

[ there's no shortage of places for warriors to congregate around here. she's heard about Fight Club, and she's a member of the Royal Guard. there are plenty of ways to train and to keep fighting, and with Wyver and El Nysa always one blowout away from a war, endless reasons why it makes sense to keep up with it.

but it's exhausting sometimes, and Emma would be one of the first to admit it.]

[doomedtheworld]

[It's a rare chance to have a moment of peace. It feels like she's been on edge every moment since she first set foot on this world, probably because she has been. The fact that both these nations are on the brink of war only adds to that. She isn't interested in fighting for either side if that happens but her hand may very well be forced if it comes to that. And then there's still the extremists to worry about.

So, yes, it wears on her after awhile.

Her own drink comes a moment later and she picks it up with both hands, looking towards the woman beside her when she asks her question. Just as she'd thought, the mark had already given her away.]

Nowhere. I tripped and fell.

[She doesn't really expect to be believed but she's still keeping things to herself and she'd gone in masked. Besides, you aren't supposed to talk about Fight Club.]

[sheriffing]

That sucks.

[ Emma shrugs, taking that comment for what it is. not everyone feels like sharing, she thinks that's more than fair, but it's become such a familiar part of the routine that she knows her fair share of fighters around here. Jon trained her for months before he moved to Wyver, and she's sure she's stronger for it. it makes her feel like she'll be ready to fight when it comes time to, even if she's not interested in taking sides.

lately, the people of this world have been proud of the strides they've made toward peace, and Emma finds that to be more of a relief than anything else. for a while there, she'd been certain that they were hoping for war, but once the aggression dulled, some of the tension went along with it.]

I do that a lot.

[ no matter how she takes it, Emma's telling the truth.]

[doomedtheworld]

["Sucks." That's a new one and she blinks, running the expression through in her head. She hadn't heard it before, almost definitely not a "local" phrase. She takes another look at Emma, briefly, before sitting back and taking a sip of her drink. It's different than what she used to drink back home, there's a little extra sweetness to it, but it's still good.]

It isn't so bad. [She shrugs.] I saw somebody else have a much worse fall in the same place.

["I won", in other words.]

[sheriffing]

[ no, the locals haven't picked up on things sucking yet, but she tends to think it'll find its place here eventually. she does notice that it catches Vin off guard, and smirks almost apologetically. yeah, she's a refugee, and she doesn't mind her choice of words making that clear.] Congratulations.

[ on the win, even if it still looks like it's taken a lot out of her. this place does that no matter what the situation. still, Emma understands the need to keep fighting, even if she hasn't joined the literal club.]

I'm with the Royal Guard in Olympia. Most of my stumbles are when I'm trying to stop people from going after each other.