Pretentious Pineapple
Okay, so the minute she was out the door, she found herself being forcefully tackled in a powerful hug. Or, at least, powerful when you considered the size of the person giving it. And it left her a little stunned, her expression contorting with a mix of concern, happiness, and stress. "...Good to see you, too, kid," she spoke softly, still seeming almost dazed despite her genuine content with the girl's presence. But she at least snapped out of it enough to awkwardly and stiffly return the embrace, though she was somewhat relieved when the girl released her again. Immediately, she used her newfound freedom to set to climbing to her feet and brushing herself off, peering down at the child with uncertainty. As happy as she may have been to see her, she was more concerned than anything. Said concern still not quelled even when Star explained her transportation method. Or when the floating unicorn head appeared. In fact, the latter seemed to cause just the opposite. Still, she forced herself to reply,
"...Right," Emma mumbled, trying to ignore how crazy the situation was. She had been in crazier, after all. Though Henry joining her side made her a little more wary, one hand subconsciously moving to his back as though to ensure he remained safely by her side. Outwardly, though, she did her best to avoid allowing her wariness to show: an effort proven futile in her noticeable delay in responding to Star as the girl shoved the nachos into her hands. "Um, thanks, kid." Damn, she was fumbling all over the place where she never did, struggling to even converse due to the high stress of the situation for her. She even took a moment to really process her son's question in full, wrangling an awkward smile onto her face when she did. Damn. How could she have forgotten? Her family- and everyone else save for Killian, for that matter -were unaware of her involvement in that Murder Game.
"Oh, uh, Henry, this is... Star," she introduced quietly with a tight smile, shoving her hands into her pockets. "Star, this is Henry," she added. "He's my son." Yeah. She was pretty sure he had mentioned that before, but it couldn't hurt to reiterate. Either way, she wasn't sure how to brace herself. She had no clue what reaction to expect from Star- or even Henry, for that matter -in regards to each other.
Inside of the diner, though, Robin looked rather perturbed from Regina's side, his hands placed on his hips. "Well, I can't say I recall any such creatures in the Enchanted Forest, myself," he mused dryly, staring at the floating head with both curiosity and disturbance. Not far off, Charming only glared even deeper at Killian, head tilting slightly and frustration quickly rising. While Snow, Regina and the others were busy ogling the outdoor scene, he went to approach the pirate, speaking in a hushed tone filled with aggravation.
"Just who is that girl? And why is it I find it a little odd that you and my daughter both mysteriously seem to know her?" he inquired, clearly not feeling too eager to jump into the matter of the unicorn. This was a little more concerning to him, at the moment.
Klutzy Ninja Kitty
"Nice to meet you," the boy greeted with a smile. Henry tilted his head and shot a questioning glance to Emma, his eyes shifting between her and Star. He looked at her with a heavy curiosity in his eyes, the wheels in his head turning as he tried to figure out where his mother may have met this person. "How did the two of you meet? Do you come from the Enchanted Forest?" As far as the boy knew, Emma only could've met Star in the Enchanted Forest. His mother hadn't been anywhere else, at least, nowhere else she had told him anything about. Like the rest of Emma's family, he knew nothing about the Savior's Murder Games adventure.
Inside the dinner, like an aggressive mother bird, Regina stood next to her boyfriend a man ironically with a bird's name : |and glanced out the window with sharp eyes. "That's because there aren't any creatures like that back home. I know Emma said the
girl is harmless, but she didn't say anything about a magical, floating unicorn head." The queen tensed her shoulders, ready to move out the door if that thing came anywhere near her son. "You think it could be dangerous?" she questioned, half hoping Robin would tell her that he didn't think it was dangerous. If he said such a thing, maybe, just
maybe it would calm her down.
Killian blinked at what Charming would say, seeming taken aback by his words. "You mean Swan never told you about our little... side trip quite a while back?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
Although she had been paying more attention to the window, Snow returned her attention to Killian and David upon hearing what the pirate would say. "Side trip? What side trip? ...Is this something to do with Zelena's time portal again?"
"No, lass, that's--" Killian began to speak, cutting himself off afterwards. If Emma's parents didn't know about their trip, he didn't want to say anything. He had just gotten on the Savior's good side after a massive amount of work. He didn't want to do or say anything to ruin his progress with her. "You'll have to ask her about that, I'm afraid."
thatguyinthestore
"Allow me to interject." A new figure says as he emerges from the book that Star had brought. "Aha! You must he Emma! I'm Glossaryck!" The tiny blue man says as he shakes her hand. "Now, I see your confused by Star's magic. It's actually kinda common in Mewni. Y'know, normal. None of that 'magic comes with a price' stuff that you guys are familiar with."
"Wait... how do you even know about that?"
"I know how all the universe's magic works, Star. It's kinda my job." Glossaryck replied with a shrug. Star simply nodded, to which Glossaryck would bow and hop back into Star's spell book.
It was around this time that Henry introduced himself, to which Star started fangirling.
"Oh my gosh!!! That's your son???" Star exclaimed before running over to Henry and giving him a gigantic hug. "I'm Star!!!!"
Pretentious Pineapple
Well shit. Emma faltered visibly when Henry inquired just how it was that she had met Star, unsure just how to explain their rather complex terms on which they met. She didn't really think now was the best time for explaining the situation that had occurred quite a time ago, now. Though in all honesty, she wasn't sure she would ever feel like any time would be the best time for it. But that hardly meant she intended to dive right into it despite. Instead, smile still faded, she took a deep intake of breath and forced a response. "Long story, kid," she mumbled, hoping that this would be enough to keep the topic at bay for the moment. But knowing her son? She doubted she would get off so easy. It was worth a shot, though.
And if avoiding Henry's inquiry regarding how she knew Star wasn't hard enough, she now found herself faced with some sort of tiny, floating... blue fairy old man thing, that decided to explain to her how Star's magic worked. Which, considering the sort of creature he was, didn't help as much as it may have been intended to. Though she did try to take it to heart, just giving a slow, somewhat appalled nod. "...Of course. Good to hear it," she replied uncertainly, though she wasn't sure she was fully convinced.
Moving on, she was a little surprised when the girl suddenly launched herself at her son, pulling him into a hug. As much as she liked Star, she still had her motherly instincts, and was put slightly on alert by the sudden movement towards her little boy. "Easy there, kid. Don't you think the name should come before the hugs?" she mused half seriously, though she did at least have a small smile at that point. If only she knew about what was going on back in the diner.
"Well, you aren't
wrong," Robin mused with a thoughtful nod at Regina's statement that Emma had said nothing about the unicorn head. But the queen's inquiry on whether the thing was dangerous or not earned a more intense and thoughtful look as he gazed at the creature through the window, taking a moment before responding. "No saying for certain," he stated simply, though he was well aware that this likely wasn't what Regina wanted to hear. "However, I can say with full confidence that if it is? We're perfectly capable of handling it," he added, turning his head to smile at his partner. "I do believe you've proven that by now, hm?"
While Regina and Robin conversed, little Roland stood dormant at his father's side, tilting his head as he followed the pair's gaze out the window. The whole thing was a bit confusing for the young child, but he did decide to pitch in, looking curiously up at the pair. "Daddy, do you think I could pet the unicorn?" he asked fondly. He didn't really realize, in full, that it was just the head of a unicorn. He was kind of short to really see that the head was the only piece, through the window. Still, the question made his father blanch, his smile faltering momentarily as he patted his little boy on the head. "Unfortunately, I'm going to have to say no, Roland. In fact, what do you say we grab some drinks? I can't speak for you, but our little trek left me parched."Hopefully he could distract him with that.
One person who wouldn't easily be distracted from what was on his mind, though, was David Nolan.
"Forgive me, but I find it hard to believe that Emma would neglect to tell me about some magical child with the ability to travel across realms so easily as the one outside seems to. Just what sort of 'side trip' are you implying? And what do you mean, 'a while back'? Certainly if this took place long ago, we would know by now," he pressed, frowning and crossing his arms disapprovingly as he went on. Despite Snow having joined, he didn't really care to hold back his questions at this point. The pirate was really raising a lot of red flags, now. "If not in Zelena's portal, then when?" he asked further. Considering how occupied Emma appeared with the children and odd creatures outside, he didn't really think he'd be getting answers from her at the moment. Besides, he didn't like that Hook was clearly keeping something from him.
Klutzy Ninja Kitty
Henry again found himself caught off guard, but this time by the little blue man that would appear from Star's book. While he was surprised, he didn't have time to question this creature, finding himself engrossed by his explanation of Star's magic. "Is that... really true? I've never heard of any place where there wasn't a price for magic," he said. But, then again, there were a lot of different worlds out there, right? Maybe it wasn't so outlandish to think there could be one in existence that didn't require a price for magic.
Anyhow, when Star would excitedly chirp about Henry, the boy began to introduce himself. "Hi, I'm--" He was cut off, however, when the girl would suddenly rush at him and wrap him in a massive hug. "A-Ah, it's nice to meet you too. I'm, uh, Henry. So, you're a friend of my mom's?" he questioned, giving the girl a much gentler hug back then the one she had given to him. He would then glance to his mother, somewhat suspicious.
"Long story, huh? A long story you're going to tell me about... right?" The boy looked at Emma somewhat hopefully, not wanting this friendship with Star to be another secret she was trying to keep from him. He had thought they got past the the point of keeping secrets from one another quite some time ago.
Meanwhile, within the diner, Regina continued to watch outside the window, ready to pounce on these guests in a moment's notice. "Oh, I'm more than confident I can handle these goons if it comes down to that. I just... don't want it to come down to that. If these people are friends of Emma's, well, it's not exactly going to make me look very good to spontaneously attack them." Regina was still trying to keep up her good appearance, after all. She had made a lot of progress when it came to improving her life and didn't exactly want to take any steps backwards.
Still, she couldn't let this go, especially not after spying Star hugging Henry. "Screw it, I'm going out there. If I look like I'm going to do anything I regret, stop me," she said, throwing open the door to the diner, and exiting. She stepped behind Henry, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"So, who are your friends?" she questioned with a tight smile on her lips, trying to gain a bit of insight on this situation before she did anything rash. The girl had only hugged Henry, but she still wanted to make sure nothing else was going on.
Killian pulled his eyes away from David, glancing to the door of the diner. He was honestly eager for Emma to return inside, and hopefully take over explaining this situation to her parents. It really wasn't his place to say anything, especially since he wasn't aware of just how much her parents knew about that adventure. "As I said, mate, you'll have to ask your daughter on that one. I'm sure she'll be happy to tell you all about the adventure."
"I'm sure this is just a misunderstanding," Snow chimed in, placing a hand on her husband's shoulder so she could try and sooth him. "There has to be a reasonable explanation as to what's going on here. Isn't there, Killian?" She questioned, now shooting the pirate a somewhat stern look herself.
"Yes, there is an explanation," he replied, tugging at his coat collar, somewhat uncomfortable. "An explanation that your daughter will happily clear up for you once she returns. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need a drink," he added, trying to slip away so he could get out of his position.
thatguyinthestore
"Oh yeah! Emma is like one of my besties! We went on an adventure and--"
"Uhhh Star, maybe we shouldn't tell them about tha--"
"Nooo it's fine Marco!" Star insisted before continuing. "Anyways, so like we were all kidnapped by this crazy guy named Thanos and thrown in some kail, but then this super cool lady kicked a hole in the ground and we jumped through a portal and then we went through a
bunch of different dimensions! And then at one point we like died and met this blue guy named Hades who was like made of fire, and then I met this cute dog with three heads and named him Freckles! Then after that we escaped and met Thanos and then I almost died again but then I woke up and we all beat Thanos then he died!!" Star explained. Marco just sighed and facepalmed before nodding.
"Yup, that's pretty much what happened."
"Hey." Said another one of Star's friends, Janna. "I'm Janna, and you're hella cute." Janna said to Henry before delivering one nice, hard slap to his buttox.
Meanwhile, in an alternate universe, a young boy wearing a yellow t-shirt was sitting on the couch with an elderly man who appeared to be in his sixties.
"Hey Rick?" Asked the young boy.
"Whaaaaaa
-urp-aaat do you want Morty?"
"Do you think that there's a girl out there who flirts with a ton of awkward people my age who would wanna, y'know, date me?"
"Well I mean there are infinite parallel universes, Morty. But for the sake of being funny, I'm gonna say no."
"Ah gee Rick. You're a-a-a real jerk, y'know?"
"Uh huh. Now shut the hell up and watch TV."
Pointless Rick and Morty cameo over