bakerstreet | Love at First Sight

Love at First Sight

The Love at First Sight Meme

"Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!
For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night."

Pretty self-explanatory. Sometimes, chemistry just hits you and you see that special someone for the first time and . . . it's so intense, there's no reasoning behind it other than it has to be love.

How this works:
→ Leave a comment with the usual information in the subject line: character name, fandom. Any preferences, including what you don't want, should be included as well.
→ Congratulations, whoever tags your character is seeing them for the first time and is in love with them. Truly, madly, deeply.
→ Tag around. Play out shenanigans. Serious or cracky or anything.
→ Have fun, and be excellent to each other!

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"I am not certain yet. But it looks promising." She catches his gaze and holds it, a hint of a twinkle in her eye.

"So you know who I am but you're still here. That surprises me."

"Is there a law against talking to the queen?" That's all they're doing, is talking. There's nothing to worry about.

"Not an official one, at least not that I have decreed. But I'm fully aware that most people are not overly fond of me. If you were seen with me it might lead people to think differently of you." And suspect him of being in league with her, and stop helping hide him from whomever made him leave his own lands.

Normally she didn't care about anyone but herself, but there she was, concerned about the welfare of a man she barely knew. Already knowing him was changing her.

"Good, I was afraid that was another law I was going to have to break." He doesn't care about breaking them, obviously, but it's easier if there are fewer that he has to worry about. "Those who aren't fond of you, how much do they really know about you? You've given me no reason so far not to be fond of you. After all, you are in here, a common tavern, drinking alcohol and mingling with the rabble. That's not exactly typical queen behavior."

Excuses, excuses. He just wants to talk to her.

"You're right, it's not. And it's not typical for me either. Usually an evening like this would be spent alone, in my castle, plotting my next move against my enemies." Her only enemy was Snow, and she kept eluding Regina. Looking at the smile of the man across from her, that did not seem like such a pressing matter any more.

"Now that I see what I've been missing, I may never leave."

"That won't do you much good when I'm not here. Unless you've got some other reason to stay." Plus there's the fact that he moves around a lot. It's the side effect of being on the bad side of the sheriff.

"You're leaving?" she asked, unable to hide the disappointment in her voice. It didn't seem fair. She had just found him and already he was going away?

"I am not sure this tavern would hold the same charm without you in it."

"Not just yet. We're not done drinking." His men will be disappointed if they leave now. They have nowhere else to be right now anyway.

"I'll be back again, charming the place up."

She arched an eyebrow. "I didn't mean right this minute. I know enough about how you operate to know that you won't be staying in this town for long." She immediately started to plan a way to keep track of him. If she could get something of his, she could use magic to always know where he was.

"I am sure the barmaids will be positively beside themselves until you return."

"We'll be back though." Sherwood Forest may cover a lot of ground, and it's easy to hide there when those who are searching for them aren't as familiar with the forest as they are, but there are only so many places where they can go for some refreshment.

"As am I."

Her heart leapt at the confirmation. Could love at first sight really exist? Because she already felt like she would be devastated if he left and she never saw him again.

"Oh? You'll miss the barmaids? Is there one in particular who catches your fancy?"

"Not particularly. But my men and I, we pay well, and we tend to keep trouble down to a minimum because if anyone comes in here and causes any, we can put an end to it. So perhaps they'll miss us." There hasn't really been anyone who caught his fancy since Marian, until he laid eyes on this stranger in a tavern.

She is flooded with relief. If he'd said 'yes' she would have been so disappointed.

"I'm sure they will look forward to the time when you return." She finds herself transfixed by his eyes. She leans forward without realizing it, her body wanting to get closer to him while her mind is in the clouds.

"As will I." Once the words are spoken they cannot be taken back, and she blushes fiercely. She tried to remind hersel that fortune favors the brave, but inside she felt as if she were standing on the edge of a cliff, about to take a step that she would never be able to undo.

"I think perhaps so will some of my men will too. They," he pauses as it strikes him that this is perhaps not a topic of conversation that is appropriate with a woman, particularly a queen, "like this tavern better than some of the others." Which is true, he's just leaving the reason why up to interpretation.

"It's a shame that Sherwood Forest isn't closer to your palace. We haven't got a reason to be near there."

"I'm not surprised. The patrons and barmaids alike are uncommonly lovely, are they not?" Yes it is an open invitation to give her a compliment, but she's not beneath such things.

She wracks her brain to think of something she could to create a reason for him to stay.

"What if I hired you and your men to stay and protect my forests from true bandits. You could make it safer for everyone to travel." And I would be able to find you day or night, she thinks.

"Indeed they are. Some more than others, of course. Certain new patrons in particular."

He knows she was fishing, but he'll go along with it. It's true, anyway.

"We'd lose our reputation as outlaws then." It's not the goal he'd set for himself, years ago, but he doesn't mind having the reputation. "Though perhaps that wouldn't be so bad."

How wonderful it is when two people are of a like mind. She enjoys receiving compliments, and he seems to have no trouble giving them. It's a match made in heaven.

"I think the rewards would far outweigh any loss of reputation you might suffer. You'd have my eternal gratitude."

He doesn't normally toss compliments around this quickly, but there's just something about her. There's a connection between them, it seems, a connection that he wants to explore some more. If that means leaving Sherwood Forest, then that's what he'll do.

"Eternal gratitude. That's quite a reward."

"You have no idea," she replies, feeling the connection that he does just as strongly. She doesn't want to completely disrupt his life, but she wants to let him go even less.

"There are very few people who can say that the Queen owes them a favor. Wouldn't you like to be one of them?"

Sherwood Forest is his home now, but it wasn't always. Someone with a life like his, well, he can find himself a new home, too. And this way he'd do it with the endorsement of a queen. The irony isn't lost on him.

"I figure that would depend on the favor. Or the queen."

"Oh, this would be a really, really big one." Somehow she's slipped into full-on flirt mode without even realizing it. The more he talks, the more she wants to quiet him with a kiss.

"One that would give you the liberty of coming to visit me in my castle whenever you'd like."

If he knew that, he'd keep talking until she had no choice but to do so.

"That would be a big favor." And worth it. "The outlaw sneaking into the queen's castle, what would the neighbors say?"

She can't help but laugh at the mental image of him trying to sneak into her castle. If the guards didn't catch him, her magical barriers certainly would. It made her curious, though, to see how far he could get.

"Trust me, my neighbors know how to keep their mouths shut." Namely because they were deathly afraid of her.

"But you don't have to sneak in. I'd be happy to provide you and your men with whatever supplies you might need. Just think about what that would do to my reputation."

"If your neighbors really know how to keep their mouths shut, they wouldn't dare say anything to tarnish your reputation."

It's something to think about, at least. Not just for him, but for his men, and for Roland.

"True. But your men, they are another story. We will have to think of a convincing cover story that explains your repeated visits to my castle. Otherwise the gossip will spread and before you know it the rabble will be saying that you're in love with me."

Her own heart skipped a beat when she said the word 'love'. She could feel it, already forming in her heart, love for this man she barely knew. It seemed that love at first sight really did exist.

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