YAY! My first official #CaptainSwan fan art is complete! Enjoy! Pretty much everyone has seen the photograph this is based from, so I feel safe to post this.
when the beat of my drum (meets the beat of your heart)
One-shot in which Ruby takes Emma to a music festival for the first time and her life is forever changed. [This is an oldie but I wanted to repost it for summer. Enjoy!] Also available on A03.
“Come on, I think the next set starts on the East Lawn,” Ruby calls, grabbing Emma’s hand and pulling her through the crowd.
She’d never been to one of these things before, but apparently this was one of the largest music festivals on the East coast, and her best friend Ruby had bought tickets 8 months ago for the two of them as college graduation gifts.
As far as she could tell, Emma didn’t think that there was that much to get excited about. Sleeping in tents in the middle of the summer left much to be desired (god, how she missed air conditioning) and the herds upon herds of sweaty hipsters everywhere were starting to catch her last nerve.
It certainly wasn’t all bad, though. Everyone was dressed to the nines in the brightest possible colors (she’d never seen so many high waisted shorts in her entire life), running around and being with their friends, and not to mention the music…
She was able to look past all the bad things though (like guys giving her and Ruby double takes everywhere they walked – it probably didn’t help that Ruby was wearing next to nothing in the name of ‘freedom of expression’), because of the music. A lot of her favorite bands were playing that weekend, and she had an all access pass to all of the concerts.
This night in particular, one of her all time favorites, Young the Giant, was playing the headlining show. They had two openers, both of which Emma had never heard of. They’d have to sit through at least an hour of random music before the good stuff started.
Luckily, the sun was setting a bit, so the air started to cool off and everyone could breathe just a little bit easier. It was beautiful out there, near the mountains. Out in the distant sky, some stars were starting to peek out through the blue.
All around them, other people were finding their spots, waiting for the concert to start. Some people took the easy route and laid out blankets on the lawn, but Ruby refused.
“Emma, we have to get up there!” She whined.
Emma raised her brow, knowing she’s going to give in eventually anyway. “Ruby, there’s hundreds of people up there-it’s completely chaotic.”
“For fucks sake, Emma. Take a chance for once. We made it all the way out here for these concerts, you could at least try. You may just have the experience of a lifetime.”
Emma rolled her eyes and sighed as her hands dropped to her sides. “Fine, let’s go.”
The manic euphoria one gets from ingesting copious amounts of sugar in a short period of time.
Followed soon after by the ‘crash’.
The onset of lethargy, moodiness, and occasional stomach cramps that follows the high of ingesting copious amounts of sugar in a short period of time.
He doesn’t mind the rush part. The way it makes her a little bit giddy and giggly. How playful she becomes when the milk dud soaked popcorn finally hits her system, or how the sweet surge from the bear claw (or three) gives her a naughty desire to patrol him rather than the now quiet streets of Stroybrooke.
The problem is that its epithet is actually a bit of a misnomer. ‘Rush’ typically signifying that a thing would happen quickly. Suddenly.
Not so with sugar, he finds. The consumption taking too long of moments to finally hit her blood stream.
Not like with rum.
With rum the desired effect is nearly instantaneous. The way it warms your belly and sends that coursing heat through you after the very first swallow. How it relaxes tensions, dulls distraction, and leaves a lingering spice upon the tongue.
He likes the effects of the rum. Not the ‘I’ve lost all sense to make reasonable choices’ effect, but the sultry way she licks those errant drops from her lips…as if she doesn’t know what she’s doing kind of effect.
The luxurious and languid way she kisses him before they even make it through their first tumbler, or how her eyes go dark at him over the rim of her glass or bottle when they are out in public or in another’s home, holding promise for more enjoyable activities when they finally find themselves alone.
It may be true that candy was dandy, but liquor was quicker.
And as long as you partake in moderation, it holds all the same pleasures without the impending crash.
It All Starts With a Dance 