Collaboration between YoshiSkittlez and Ghost Shadow -- The afternoon had slowly turned into evening and Henry was none the more melancholy. Faye still distrusted him: to the point of giving her allegiance to Knox Kowalski instead. The very thought of this was enough to make Henry's blood boil...but all he could think of doing now is grabbing himself a drink - and maybe a woman. Stepping through the front doors to the Rabbit Hole, Henry quickly took off his scarf and coat; hanging them up on a nearby rack for safekeeping. His eyes instantly landed on Ruby, who apparantly hadn't even left since he was last there. Reaching into his suit jacket pocket, Henry pulled out a single cigarette, planting it in-between his lips. This place always seemed to bring out his worst habits... Ruby's eyes brightened the moment she saw Henry walking back into the bar, a queer transition from her behavior beforehand. Sure he had only been gone for a few hours, but she felt as if it had been days. "Henry! Hey! Henry!" Ruby leaned over on the bar stool, looking like she was about to topple over it for a minute but somehow kept her balance despite her lanky figure spilling over the side. "I-----have a queestionnnnn!" She sing-songed and patted the barstool next to her which was currently empty, as were a few glasses that were sitting in front of her. Also in front of her was a stack of what looked like pages of The Daily Mirror; none in any particular order and scattered about like Ruby was about to house-break a new puppy. "C'mere!" Henry raised his eyebrow curiously: Ruby was drunk. Not a simple buzz or slight intoxication, but absolutely plastered. A small chuckle seemed to climb up his throat as he grabbed a Zippo lighter (designed with the four suits of a playing card deck) from his pocket, using it to light the cigarette in his mouth. Slowly approaching the bar, per Ruby's request, Henry was whistling a small tune to himself whilst occasionally removing the cigarette from his lips to blow out smoke. "A question, eh? Well...ask away." Henry replied in an interested tone, sitting down next to her. Ruby seemed to calm down a bit as Henry joined her, and then turned back around to the multitude of newspapers scattered before her. Each of them had a picture on it, a picture of Henry. There were seven articles to be exact, from the new arrival business to the Jane Doe scandal to helping the nuns raise enough money to keep the convent open. These articles had been passed around Storybrooke quite often as of late, and the older articles weren't exactly hard to find if you knew where to look, but Ruby seemed to take a keen interest in them. "You-youyouyouyou said you came to Brookstory alone right?" Ruby asked stacking the papers into a somewhat neater pile before laying them flat in front of Henry for him to see. "Remember? Member, member when I told you I knew evry'one here and their favorite color?" Ruby pointed at the picture she had put in front of Henry. It wasn't a great shot, just one of Henry's car with Henry still inside looking over a newspaper from when he had first arrived, but that's not what Ruby was pointing at. Instead, she was pushing her finger down on a rather round looking man with an even rounder face. It was hard to see his specifics, as he was wearing a trenchcoat with the collar pushed up and a fedora to shade his face as well as sitting on one of the benches next to Henry's car also pretending to read a paper; definitely the look of a man who didn't want to be found. "So then who's that?" Henry nodded subtly as she began asking him about how she knew everyone; taking a few drags of his cigarette while carefully watching. His eyes narrowed subtly as they landed on the obscure fellow on the bench. "I have...absolutely no idea." Henry answered; sounding sincerely perplexed. However, this sudden realization didn't stop him from ordering a glass of wine from the bartender; just as he had done earlier that afternoon. Ruby didn't look pleased, and then pulled out the next article from underneath the first one. Another picture featuring Henry, this time of him sitting at a booth at Granny's alone, but again Ruby didn't point to Henry, but at the corner of the image where the same man was. This time he wasn't wearing the fedora, and you could really get a good look at his [url=http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2011/4/13/1302705834248/Timothy-Spall-007.jpg]face[/url] if you paid close attention to it. "He's in all of them, but I've never seen him around Borystooke, like...ever, and yet he seems to be in every single picture you are..." "It appears I've acquired my first fan." Henry said dryly in response; clearly more interested in getting his base needs fulfilled as opposed to working out important mysteries. "Say..." He began, sounding as if he was going to change he subject. "How much have you drank tonight?" He asked curiously, yet with a hint of mischievousness to his tone. Ruby furrowed her brows and sat up on the bar stool just a bit to reach over and pluck the cigarette from Henry's mouth, only to put it into her own where she eased back into the stool, giggled, and puffed the smoke out of her mouth. "I've only had water." She blatantly lied. Henry would then catch the eye of the bartender, signaling to Henry that she probably shouldn't have anymore for the rest of the night. "But I'll let you buy me a drink or two..." "Right, then." Henry replied with a small chuckle before waving the bartender over; showing no regard for the man's earlier obscure look. "Ello, mate! Two tequilas for my....[i]very[/i] sober friend here, please. I'll be sure she gets home safe." Henry ordered, flashing a dazzling smile; his last sentence catering to the bartender's suspicions. The bartender didn't look too happy, but oblidged by refilling Ruby's last drink and grumbling as he walked away to tend to some of the other guests. Ruby snatched the drink which looked like some sort of margarita and drained it's contents with the blink of an eye. "Didju drive here?" Ruby asked, setting the once again empty glass back down onto the bar. "Nope! Walked...and I suspect you and I will be walking back home as well." Henry said simply, taking a small sip from his wine as it was brought out to him. Turning sombre, Henry began to relay his own problems to Ruby, "Faye wouldn't let me in to see the Jane Doe...or Mary Margaret, whatever you prefer. She's afraid I'll just cause more trouble - and who can blame her, eh?" He finished, switching moods in the blink of an eye as he stopped to take another drink. "I dunno what [i]her[/i] problem is." Ruby snorted. "Aint nothin wrong with a Prince Charming running around. I bet she's never even been kissed before; probably jealous. That paper article-" Ruby sat up on the stool again and filtered through the papers she had been showing Henry earlier to find the one written about the Jane Doe incident where Sherry Attar had done a nasty article about him. "Bullshit if you ask me." "Yes...bullshit indeed." Henry repeated with a small smirk. "You were the only one who saw it, at least - I thank you for that." He commended with a sincere smile. "So....how long were you planning on staying here, exactly?" He asked, reaching into his pocket again; this time procuring a small box of nicotine gum, popping a single piece into his mouth. "You can try and take this too, if you'd like." He added nonchalantly; as if unaware of the sensual implication. "I'm good with the cancer stick. At least that will [i]eventually[/i] kill me." Ruby grumbled pulling the stolen cigarette from her mouth and patted the ashes down onto the ashtray provided by the bar. "And I'm here until I pass out, and before you give me any bullshit on how that's not a good way to cope...I know...I just don't care." "Oh, that's alight...I'm here t' encourage ya!" Henry proclaimed cheerily. "You like wine?" He asked with a certain glint in his eyes, as if there were a number of improper thoughts running through his mind. Ruby didn't seem to notice, far beyond the point of picking up subtlety. Ruby laughed for no apparent reason and let her head rest on Henry's shoulder in a tired-like fashion, or maybe even cuddly... "I like whatever can get me drunk. And if [i]you[/i] can get me drunk, then I like you too!" [i]'Too late for that...'[/i] Henry thought to himself with a small smirk. "Then, I'm happy to oblige..." He said, almost quietly before deciding to order a full bottle. -- Time seemed to pass all in a rush as Henry and Ruby did nothing but talk, drink (more Ruby than Henry), and even the occasional flirt here-or-there. However, as even the night crowd started to die down; Henry, (under the effect of a rather pleasant buzz), rose from his seat slowly. "Hour's getting late..." He observed, though wasn't sure what time it even was at the moment. "I best be taking you home." He added on, quite hopeful for any [i]reward[/i] he'd receive upon 'delivery'. Ruby really didn't have any choice but to obey, since she knew that she really wouldn't have any other way home if Henry left without her. She stumbled out of the barstool, using her hands to brace herself against Henry from hitting the floor. Apparently, to Ruby, it was the funniest thing in the world because she didn't stop giggling as they walked out of The Rabbit Hole together. Still giggling, Ruby even managed a flailing wave to a man she spotted in the corner of the room, eyeing the two of them with curious intent. "Bye Doctor Whale! Have a drink on meeeee!" Henry cleared his throat somewhat awkwardly as Ruby practically screamed at the doctor. "Don't listen to her, doctor, have a nice night." Henry bid before tugging slightly on Ruby to get her to move faster out the door where there were (hopefully) no other civilians to embarass. The walk back to Granny's Bed and Breakfast was less than graceful, Henry had almost literally become her own two legs with how heavily she had to lean on him to keep from falling face-first into the pavement. Thankfully the only other person they ran into was Dr. Hopper on a late night walk with Pongo, but neither of them paid much attention to the staggering couple as they walked across the street to the run down building. Once they reached the second floor (going up the stairs was a nightmare for poor Henry) Ruby tried to find her key in her pants pocket, but she would have had more luck getting struck by lightning right then. Not only could she not remember what pocket her keyring was in, but she wouldn't have even been able to identify the right key if she [i]had[/i] managed to find it. "My, my...lost our keys, have we?" Henry asked rhetorically, more to himself than to her. He couldn't help a truly wicked smile as he began feeling about and in her pants pockets, perhaps lingering a bit longer-than-appropriate; gambling on Ruby's inability to notice. Eventually after an awkward (yet enjoyable) amount of time, Henry managed to fish out the keyring with a victorious smile. "Ah, wonderful! Here we are, then. Now.....which one.." He finished perplexedly before trying to test all the keys in the keyhole for the right one. "Hey..." Ruby said excessively patting Henry on the shoulder, though she kept her eyes on the keyhole as Henry tried each key to unlock it. "Hey hey hey! Hey...hey did Granny let you come back yet?" "Correct-a-mundo!" Henry piped cheerily, only glancing back for a moment as he kept trying the keys. Finally, he seemed to find the right one as it neatly slid into the keyhole. With a relieved sigh, Henry turned the key, earning a small [i]clack[/i] sound as the door unlocked. Opening it slowly, Henry stepped to the side to allow Ruby entrance first to lie down...or throw up.....or get undressed, whatever the like. Ruby stepped into the threshold and turned around to face him in the doorway, now using the door jam as a bracer to keep from falling down rather than him. "Did you get your room back?" She asked, tilting her head to the side like a curious puppy. "I....assume so-" "Good." Ruby said with a smile, her curious look shifting drastically to that of a predator. "Then I won't have to worry about getting you home on time." She snickered and with incredible accuracy (for being so drunk) Ruby held her hands on each side of Henry's face and pulled herself into him for a tight kiss. Henry's eyes widened in shock for a brief moment as Ruby's lips crashed against his. But any previous judgement or willpower faded by the second until nothing was left but impulse. Not letting his lips part from hers, Henry gently pushed her inside and shut the door behind them.