Breaking the Ordinary
Breaking the Ordinary
Note: I do not own “Once Upon A Time” and I do not make a profit from writing this story. I’m just amusing myself.
Authors Note: I needed to write something not so dark and a bit more cheerful. Thanks to my boyfriend shigeki_jkp for beta-ing and looking it over for me.
Rating: T (to be safe but its more like PG)
Genre: Fluff/General
Word Count: 1963
Pairing: Ruby/Archie, Ruby/Gold
Summary: Everyday began like the one before but when the clock strikes the hour, it felt so right.
Ruby strutted through the lines of tables at the diner, coffee pot in hand. She did the same thing each morning; it was so monotonous that she could do it with her eyes closed. But given how wobbly her trusty heels were this morning, she decided not to. She sashayed over to Doctor Archie Hopper’s table and filled up his cup.
“The usual Archie?” she asked, and the man looked up at her with a smile on his face. It was the same warm, trusting smile he usually gave her. Out of everyone in town, he never judged her and she liked that.
“Actually no, it feels like a new day and I’d like something different to go with it,” he said and Ruby smiled, for some reason, she knew exactly what he meant and it all started at 8:16 the night before.
“Alright than, what can I get for you?” she asked, and he scanned the menu for the first time in years.
“How about the veggie omelets?” he asked, and she smirked, he was always so health conscious.
“Comin’ right up,” she said and made her way to the kitchen where Granny had already assembled most of the orders from memory. “We won’t be needing Archie’s usual, he said he’s doing something new today,” Ruby informed her and Granny scowled at the plate of food.
“Then what am I going to do with this?” she asked and Ruby shrugged.
“I’ll eat it, in the meantime he wants the number 4,” she said and Granny rolled her eyes but began to assemble the food. Ruby rushed out the same old orders to the usual suspects. The biggest platter for the littlest foul mouth she knew, the standard bacon and eggs for the Sheriff and the same delicate breakfast for the man who could afford to eat anywhere in town but came there every morning. After all this time she was used to his eyes on her ass and she didn’t care.
She plotted carefully back into the kitchen and grabbed Archie’s new order and the old and went back to his table. She slid his new order in front of him and sat down across from him, digging into the cooling food. He seemed surprised but he smiled.
“How are you this morning?” he asked, in between bites and she smiled in between hers. He was always so nice to her.
“Just fine. As you said, it feels like a new day. And I’m getting a free breakfast so, score,” she said and he laughed, which was cut off when she accidently kicked him with her heel. “Oh my God, Archie, I’m so sorry, I really should be more careful in these stupid things,” she said and he immediately waved his hands at her.
“No, no! It’s ok, didn’t hurt,” he assured her, “Why do you even wear those things?” he asked and she shrugged.
“Better tips. Soon as I started showing more skin, the tips increased. Whatever keeps the costumers happy,” she told him and looked over to see the Sheriff and Leroy were finishing their plates and excused herself.
She gave them the usual, standard response and gathered their dishes and headed back to Archie’s to grab her own. Just as she stepped a foot away from the table, she heard an awful cracking noise and felt her ankle sharp pivot to the wrong angle. She swore as she felt herself fall, still managing to hold onto the dishes, preferring she hit the floor instead of them, given she would have to pay for them.
She expected to hit the cold tile but instead she felt a warm body, steady her and strong arms wrap around her waist. She craned her head back to see Archie had instantly grabbed her. Giving him a faltering smile he helped her get to a standing position as she kicked off her shoe. The heel had given way and snapped and she sighed, kicking off its match.
“Thanks Archie,” she said, rather stunned on how fast the man moved.
“No problem, are you alright?” he asked and she nodded shakily.
“Yeah, thanks to you. Good catch,” she told him and he nodded to the dishes that were still firmly in her grasp.
“Good grip,” he told her and she nodded.
“Thanks, that surprised me too,” she said and headed back into the kitchen.
“You ok?” Granny asked, having watched the whole thing, a frown on her lips.
“Fine. Just need new shoes.” She said and set the dishes into the sink.
“Bring Archie something on the house, he deserves it, being a hero this morning” Granny told her and Ruby knew exactly what to give him.
She came back from the kitchen with a piece of fresh cherry pie in her hand, a tower of whip cream on top and the signature cherry on the top of the fluff. She set it down in front of him and smiled brilliantly.
“It’s on me, for being my Savior,” she told him and he smiled.
“It was no problem,” he assured her, and usually she knew he refused excess sweets, she watched him dig in.
“Hope you liked it, I baked it fresh this morning,” she told him, and he nodded.
“Like everything else you guys make here, it’s fantastic,” he replied and he watched as she leaned over and wiped some whip cream from the top of his lip. That didn’t bother him but he felt himself blush as she proceeded to lick it off her finger. When she realized why he was blushing, she blushed too, which was rare given how open she was of her life and sexuality. She cleared her throat and stood, grabbing his empty breakfast plate before heading over to Mr. Gold’s table.
Archie watched as Mr. Gold brushed some hair from her face when she leaned over to grab his spotless and neatly arranged dishes. He felt a pang of jealousy as the other man leaned in close to say something to her and he heard her laugh. He heard her say goodbye to him as she brought the dishes back to the kitchen. Archie knew how much his bill amounted to, given that the prices hadn’t changed in years. He left Ruby a nice tip, which was drastic given how little his meal cost but he wanted to make sure she could afford some new shoes. He wrote a small ‘thank you for the wonderful morning’ on a napkin and left before she came back out. As he headed down the street, he looked back through the big window as she looked sadly at his empty table and he felt his heart sink at the sight.
It was lunch when he came back to the diner, as usual, as did half the town. He noticed Ruby was still rushing around without shoes on and he smiled to himself. He looked up to see Emma sitting in his usual table and when she looked up, he was surprised to see her waving him over.
“Hello Emma, how are you today?” he asked, and the new woman smiled at him.
“I’m fine, you?” she asked and he shrugged off his coat.
“I’m good. I’m sure you’d like me to talk to you about Henry,” he said, knowing this is why the woman would want to get close to him. She wanted to learn about the boy she had given up, and though it was against the law and the Mayor would probably skin him when she found out, he would tell her whatever she would like to know.
“Yeah…” she said and he realized she was trailing off, and looking towards the door, to which he had his back to. He turned to see that Mr. Gold had arrived; he looked back to Emma who was studying the man closely. Archie looked back to see that Mr. Gold was holding something under his arm as he took his usual table which remained empty. Given his status in town, Archie wasn’t surprised that Ruby came over to greet him first.
But he was surprised when the man placed the box on the table and Archie realized it was a shoe box. Mr. Gold opened it and lifted out a nearly identical red heel to the one that had broken that morning. He looked to Emma, whose mouth dropped as Mr. Gold placed his hand on the woman’s ankle and lifted her foot. He slid the shoe on her foot and then the other. Archie felt his heart skin as she gave Mr. Gold the most beautiful smile he had ever seen as she clapped her hands in delight. She even spun around, looking happier than she had in a while.
“Uhhh,” Emma was vocalizing from across the table, “That’s…really…uhhhh…”
“Mr. Gold has always taken a shine to Ruby, she broke her heel this morning and given she’s been on shift has had time to get new ones. I’m not surprised he did that for her,” Archie told the blonde whose brows were almost in her hairline.
“Soooo, she doesn’t think he’s a creep?” Archie shrugged.
“Honestly I don’t know. She seems to like him just fine,” the blonde shook her head at that statement.
“God, this place,” she muttered into her coffee and sighed after a sip.
“I know it’s strange, but it’s home,” Archie told her and she nodded, and it was her turn to observe as Ruby came over to the table, seeming gleeful with each sound of her new heels clicking on the floor.
“Hey Archie, having the usual? Or do you still feel like mixing it up today?” she asked and Archie gave a small, thin smile.
“I think I’ll have the usual,” he told her and her smile faltered a bit but she pressed on.
“And for you, newbie?”
“Surprise me,” Emma said and Ruby shrugged and walked back into the kitchen, admiring her new shoes as she waited for her orders. “So, you like her?” Emma asked as soon as Ruby was out of earshot.
“Yeah, she’s a nice girl,” Archie said, purposely avoiding her meaning, which she wouldn’t let pass.
“You know what I mean,” Emma said and Archie got nervous under her stare.
“I know. And sure, she’s a beautiful girl, strong, smart, very open,” he said and Emma poked him with the tip of her shoe on the knee.
“Then ask her out, she seems to be into you too,” she advised and watched as Archie looked across the room to Mr. Gold, who Ruby was serving.
“We’ll see. I do not want to cross him,” Archie said, “His power is staggering and I would never want anyone to reap the consequences because I cannot control my id.”
“You’re a very wise and conscientious man, Archie,” she told him and he smiled and felt himself color.
“I get that a lot,” he told her and she smiled.
“Here you go Hero, Newbie,” Ruby said, appearing table side with two plates of hot food and as she slid them in front of them, Archie smiled. Though it wasn’t his usual, it was just what he wanted.
“Thank you, Ruby, how’d you know?” he asked and the girl beamed at him with a twinkle in her eye.
“It’s a gift,” she told him with a wink and walked back to the kitchen.
“Hero, huh?” Emma asked and Archie blushed again and Emma laughed into her salad, she didn’t know many people well here but she was clear on a few things. Archie was definitely one of the most wonderful people she had ever met in her entire life. And she hoped one day, if she could bring back the Happy Ever After that he got his too.
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End
I hope you enjoyed it, I have another Ruby/Gold one up next, I can hopefully get it done tomorrow or the next day!