rayemma oneshots & other

Emma's Butterfly

• Short

No spoiler warning :)

Note: for RayEmma week 2021, day 4: eden/butterfly. This is the butterfly prompt

How to go about this now… 

Emma didn't know what to call it. That fluttering, hopping, racing feeling in her chest. So she visualized it as something: a butterfly. Because that's exactly what it felt like. A butterfly, which really adored Ray, and excitedly flapped its wings inside her stomach whenever she saw him.

She'd earned a pat on the head? Butterfly.

She got him to agree to her helping with dinner? Butterfly. 

He got a book from a high place for her? He took her hand and held it longer than necessary? She turned around and noticed that he'd been staring for a while? Butterfly, going on a rampage. 

How could she calm the thing? It never happened anywhere else, under any other circumstances. But when Ray did something for her, even just made his way into her line of sight, it was suddenly spring and that butterfly was having a field day over a garden in her stomach. 

She liked the feeling at first, whenever it started, but now it was just inconvenient. She'd do anything to make the little bug take a rest and stop tormenting her. She'd much rather be able to look at Ray and not feel like her stomach had just flipped five times. So what now, then? Because Emma was lost.

It was summer. Emma found herself in his presence alone. They were fishing in a forest riverbank for their dinner tonight, as they were still on the road to find that temple from her vision, and Gilda and the others were farther down the bank right now. Ray had reeled in two so far, and Emma none. But then again she wasn't trying too hard because she was too preoccupied with her feelings.

She turned, and Ray was looking at her. Directly at her. With that cool stare. Oh no. 

There went the butterfly again. Had its wings gotten bigger recently? Because this time it was so bad that her cheeks warmed up and she felt dizzy. 

Stop it, she said in her head, putting her hand over her stomach. But as if in rebellion the butterfly only continued to flutter. 

She felt a bit of dread as Ray gave a sigh, then scooted so close to her that their shoulders brushed for a moment. He was practically tempting the bug in her to go crazy and annoy her. She tried to move away, but then his arm draped around her shoulders and pulled her close.

"So, I think it's a good time to talk about whatever the hell is on your mind," Ray said with snark.

"I'm not thinking about anything," Emma replied, flushing when she knew she sounded way too obvious. "I'm just trying to fish."

"Yes you are," his grip tightened. "It's been distracting you for a while." 

Emma desperately tried not to look at him. Calm down, calm down, she pleaded to the bug in her mind, but that butterfly wasn't going to settle.

"Emma," Ray stressed, nudging her, and she was inevitably forced to look him in the eye. "For the last time, what's wrong?" 

He looked terribly impatient, which should make her nervous, but she found herself enjoying his scowl and the fact that he was worried about her. He was always paying attention to her feelings, and she was so grateful for that. If she just told him how she was feeling right now, then he'd probably understand.

That's it, Emma was done feeling this way. She decided in a split second that this was the moment. Ray looked pretty in the dappled sunlight, and he was perfectly in her reach, so Emma listened to the butterfly making a whirlwind inside her and just moved forward. 

No explanation, no warning, Emma just left the quickest and lightest peck on Ray's lips, and then leaned back to see his reaction. 

It looked like Ray had temporarily shut down all his functions as he just sat there and blankly stared at her.

After that, there was a moment where both of them realized what had just happened, and they both turned red in the face.

"Sorry," Emma mumbled, turning her eyes to the ground. 

She shouldn't have done that, because now her butterfly was the size of a bird and it whipped its wings like it was fighting for freedom. And maybe there wasn't just one either, but several all over that were now drifting around and making her light-headed.

The only thing she could hear was the river water beside them, so Emma finally lifted her head to look at Ray. 

What was that look on his face? He was… pouting, and he held his chin in one of his hands as if impatient. 

"I was supposed to do that," he said quietly. "I mean, the first one… I was supposed to do it." 

And Emma might as well have exploded.

When Ray was this disgustingly sweet and awkward, her butterfly wasn't going to die any time soon.

"...Well, you have the second one."