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[the_fairest]

"-don't think it's unreasonable," Snow White said, edging through the doorway, eyes only on the man behind her at first.

She'd only turned her head to catch the first flash of noise and movement in a room that was not The Conservatory, when her posture shifted quick as lightning. The straighten of her back, the broaden of her shoulders, the way even her the hold of her fingers might make a weapon of the object in her hand (a delicate pearlescent comb, the most recent of congratulatory gifts she felt compelled to use).

Realization and recognition of Milliways struck the next second, with a soft, "Oh," before she had turned her attention back to him. Surprised seriousness clearing as completely as a cloud having passed across the path of the sun.

Her eyebrows raised, standing in the doorway, almost leaning against the door, with a playfully teasing smile having taken back her mouth. "I've already agreed to let the fairies do something to my hair that makes it look like a bedecked pastry, I should be allowed to pass on the train."

"I'm sure you'll be beautiful," the man beside her said, his gaze fond and unwavering as his fingertips lightly brushed against the underside of her arm, cradling her elbow as they lingered in the doorway. He drew her close against him, pressing a kiss to her hairline.

"Pastry or otherwise." Prince Charming's smile remained long after he pulled back to gaze at his bride-to-be.

Snow's head ducked, first, and then cocked to one side. As if to point out compliments and kisses did not get you anywhere with this discussion, but her eyes had lightened, as her cheeks pinked, and her smile had become far more fair. "You're only saying that because no one has tried to make you wear an intricately beaded, ten foot, train yet."

Two pups, Two muns, Have fun!

Tiny Tags: Snow White & Prince Charming

[Also, an important Disclaimer]

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[willalwaysfind]

"No, but if they did, I'd gladly don it if it meant I'd still get to marry you in the process," he promised, taking her hand in his own as he lifted it to kiss her knuckles, his eyes locked onto hers all the while.

He waited for her to move forward first before following her inside, smiling faintly at the familiar surroundings.

"It's been a long time since I was here last."

[the_fairest]

He's terrible, between his words and the soft graze of his lips against her fingers. All the tendrils of the last planning session, for a wedding celebration spawned by a revolution among so many kingdoms and kinds, no matter how deep, both professional and personal, slide away in the way he looks at her.

Like there is no other spot, no other truth, in the world. Theirs or the end of time's. Snow White smiled gently, shifting her hand in his grasp so she could cup his cheek, and brush the side of her thumb across his cheek, the curve of his smile right at the edge of his mouth. After everything they'd been through, she would have worn a hundred without blinking were it the price.




At his words, she let her hand pull away as she looked back to the smaller establishment room, twisting her hand so it caught back in his, as she stepped away from the doorway. "Back when it was a respite and sanctuary from other pressures?"

There's almost a soft fondness showing through her words there.

[willalwaysfind]

In truth, these plans, whether for a wedding that's finally on its way to happening or some sort of military strategy, are never something he eagerly looks forward to - though, for her, he'd sit through meeting after meeting if it gave him the opportunity to watch her, to be near her, to even stand in the same room. He's reluctant to let her out of his sight even now after such a long time of searching for her, fighting against every obstacle that threatened to rise up and keep him away.

She lifts her hand to his face, her fingers brushing over the scar that's slowly started to fade but still obviously contrasts against skin, slightly raised with its erratic edges.

(It's a badge of honor he wears now, considering how he earned it in the first place, trying to catch a thief who ultimately managed to steal his heart alongside his jewels.)

"Or a safe haven for a young princess, among other things," he replies, giving her a knowing look as well as a squeeze of the hand in his own.

[the_fairest]

"I was hardly ever a princess here, except when I was very young," Snow said, a little flip, even as she smiled broadly for it. As though it were a role, like a hat, she could ever have taken off and put back on, while being a hunted thief. She tugged him gently, walking towards the bar.

[willalwaysfind]

"Yes, but you were still a little princess," he counters, gently touching the tip of her nose with his index finger before she leads him on.

"Anything to drink, my love?"

[the_fairest]

"My step mother and any of her soldiers wouldn't have agreed." Though she is aware that several might argue that point and same timeline, not only him. Red and the Huntsman's who'd been first sent to kill her, and even James father from that first meeting, among them.

Being outlawed didn't not change where you'd come from or who you were. But her mouth tugged down at the tap and she wrinkled her nose, reaching up to capture the finger of his free hand. "Water would be fine for now." Beat. A small bright smile. "And something sweet?"

[willalwaysfind]

"Your stepmother realizes even now that she was a fool to stand in the way of what we have, Snow." Their love, yes, but also their right to this kingdom, whether by birth or a different set of circumstances.

His eyes spark with mirth as he leans in, resting a hand against the small of her back. "Something sweet, then, Bar, please," he murmurs, without taking his eyes off Snow.

[the_fairest]

It's there in his words. The singular most important belief he has that she doesn't (can't): that their troubles from her stepmother are over, that the road to happiness is paved only with smooth stones now. The return comment, about Regina never stopping, dies on her lips, as fast as it is ready, in a flicker of uncertainty, against the touch of his hand.

They've already had a long afternoon with the people who do unabashedly support them. That she doesn't believe it? Doesn't mean, even she knows, when she leans instead against his arm around her and faintly into him, that she doesn't want to believe. That she wouldn't be glad for that world, for that to come true, to be proven wrong by him. By all of them.




(There is no combat for the deep certainty of years in her blood: This is not over.
Regina will not let it be. She's happy now. Happy, and not paying for her mistake.)



Thankfully, a glass of water appears, followed by a plate with three raised small bowls of chocolate, honey, and a small mixture and cherries and berries. She looked up first, without going to it yet. "Would you like some, or did you want something else?"

[willalwaysfind]

He notices a distinct lack of apples on the plate, a fact for which he remains very grateful. Whether or not the Bar is aware of their history, he's going to do everything in his power to make sure she doesn't have to worry about eating whatever she wants - after it passes through a few magical safeguards first. They're safe here, though, whatever they choose to eat or do. The Bar's rules prevent Snow's stepmother from exacting any kind of influence - and if she does, she'll be jailed for her efforts.

He takes a seat on a barstool, pulling out the one next to her in order for her to sit down - though he remains facing her, one arm lightly propped on the Bar's surface as he reaches down to pluck a small cherry from the bowl, holding it by its stem.

"I may have a small bite or two," he replies, a slightly mischievous look in his eye as he tugs the cherry from the stem, using his teeth to bite the fruit free.

[makesthings]

Sam was in the midst of adjusting his surcoat and opening the door to his room to head down to a state dinner when he found Milliways.

When he spots Charming and Snow, he has a horrible moment of worrying that maybe he didn't really find Milliways but instead some guests got lost.

In a moment he realizes this is foolish but he still approaches them with a touch more formality than he normally uses, "Good evening."

[the_fairest]

Snow looked up, surprise turning to an easy shade of polite delight. "Hello."

[willalwaysfind]

Charming looks up to acknowledge the man addressing him, making a note of the fascinating symbol he bears.

"Good evening," he echoes, nodding his greeting.

[makesthings]

His Charter Mark still has a slight glow of gold to it as he only recently finished working,

"Has Milliways pulled you from the work of your kingdom?"

Their ease with each other reminds Sam of his parents, that quiet certainty together.

[the_fairest]

It is rather noticeable, isn't it? Though magic isn't entirely out of the norm in their world. If the placement did get a small glance, as Snow was reaching to her side to twine her fingers into James. Not for any need but that she could, that he was there, as she smiled at the man addressing them.

"The opposite, actually. We've just come to a break in it, that apparently will be longer than we expected." She rather liked time here. Especially in this moment, when she could still have her free hours there when they returned, as well.

[willalwaysfind]

"Perhaps a well-needed break, though, after all the plans that we've been in the midst of," he amends, smiling briefly as he gives Snow's hand a small squeeze, his thumb gently sweeping over that fair skin.

This man's magic - and it is magic, in fact, he knows enough of it to recognize that much - is unlike anything he's ever witnessed in his kingdom, though that lends possibility to the theory that he's from a different world entirely. Such a thing is not uncommon in Milliways.

[makesthings]

"That's good. Milliways tends to be useful in terms of extra time though it can do strange things as well with time,"

There's a letter he's writing that deals with the odd ways time moves here and he quickly looks around to see if he can see Kait.

[the_fairest]

"Oh, we're aware," Snow said, brightly. "It took me a long time to stop trying to make sense of it when I was a child."

Meeting people who were very aware of her name long before she'd ever even learned theirs. She'd been so sure it must make sense. Somehow. Like all good stories and fantastic magics.

[claudiometer]

Claudia's first thought, from her vantage point up in the rafters, is Hoooly lovebirds, Batman.
She doesn't say as much, having recently had an object lesson in running her mouth. What she does say, while fiddling with one of the speakers for the sound system (let's hear it for the home stretch!) is, "Yeah, I'd say either the train or the pastry hairdo, but not both."

[the_fairest]

Snow looked up surprised, only to have her mouth drop open, and then into a wider, bright smile, her hazel eyes lighting up entirely. There is such affectionate teasing, and shock, in the way she skips all other words for, "Claudia! What are you doing in the ceiling?"

[willalwaysfind]

The prince's eyes follow hers up toward the rafters, and his brow furrows, only to relax as he notices that they're being addressed from above.

"I take it you know this woman who possesses a fondness for climbing," he says to Snow.

[claudiometer]

Claudia... blinks a lot, and through some miracle doesn't drop the speaker casing in her hands.
Through an even bigger miracle, the first words out of her mouth are not 'who the hell are you and why do you look so much like Mary Margaret?'
"I. Wouldn't call it a fondness," she finally manages. "I'm just fixing the - I'm sorry, have we met? Just, I think I'd remember."

[the_fairest]

Snow had squeezed his hand a little, maybe pretending she didn't have that same small urge to figure out how to get up there quite suddenly. What booth or foot rails or ladder. Royalty was not afforded the same liberties in urge following toward trees and heights as thieves could find a delight in, among their necessity, too.

Her smile skipped a little, saying true, but a little resignedly not as surprised as she could be. The answer being for both of them. Fond, but a little more subdue than that first exclamation. "Apparently not yet."

[willalwaysfind]

He gives her another look, momentarily, realizing the explanation lies in her answer all along. She's been coming to Milliways since she was a little girl; for him, the journeys only began much later, during his life as a shepherd, but he knows that timelines can be tricky here, and those familiar faces may not recognize him from this life but rather from his past instead. The same can be said for the people he met years ago.

"It can be very confusing," he admits, jaw setting firm. "Perhaps our timelines have simply not crossed until today."

[claudiometer]

"Ah. Milliways. I think this is a new one, at least for me." Not other instances are leaping to mind, but the place is so damn weird with time and place that it's entirely possible.
Claudia relaxes a little. "Well, you obviously know me, and you are?"
(She'll climb down in a minute. And, personally, wouldn't dream of stopping a princess from clambering around the rafters if she really wanted to, but.)

[the_fairest]

"Snow White, or Snow," She said, with a sort of familiarity friendship earned. Anyone could decide to call her 'Snow,' in a way because she wouldn't stop them, but she rarely simply afforded it to people like it was already an expected option from the beginning.

"If it helps, for me it was a few years ago. Though that could make it anything from tomorrow to months to years from now for you." There was a rather sympathetic, if amused expression, even not as bright as her first spotting of Claudia. "My time has never seemed to be consistent for the rest of this place."