Kathryn stirred her coffee slowly and, setting the spoon aside, brought it up to her nose. Gently, she breathed in and smiled.
Today was going to be a relaxing day. Her first in a while. Work had been difficult, and she and Frederick had been trying their hardest to settle into their new home, and finally, it seemed, everything had settled down.
Sighing contentedly, she moved to her new chair and placed the warm mug on its mat. Her book was out, resting on the desk and waiting to be opened. Kathryn almost giggled with the delight of it all, letting her body fall until her bottom met a squishy cushion. Finally.
Knock. Knock, knock.
She groaned. And, with a longing look at her book, dragged her body up and to the door.
"Uh, hi..." She looked confused at the woman stood looking rather shocked before her. "Regina? What're you... ahem- Hello."
Kathryn hadn't spoken to Regina in a long time. When the curse broke, and she remembered who she was, truly- well. It was easy to forget brief friendships when, during them, you weren't you in the first place.
"I had sex with Emma."
She opened her mouth and then closed it. Nodding hesitantly, she watched the heavy-breathed woman attempt to gather herself. "It's nice to see you too." Kathryn said eventually, cautiously. It's strange to think she was friends with the Evil Queen once.
Regina walked past her and into the house. Well, she thought, she was friends with someone once who was quite obviously no longer the Evil Queen.
"So I guess you're coming in then." She said, and closed the door before turning to a pacing Regina.
"I didn't know what I was doing really. I mean, one minute she was stood in my living room spewing idiotic after idiotic apology at me and the next I was grabbing her stupid damn face and putting it..." She gestured wildly to her mouth. "On... me. And..." She took a breath looking around the room she was in, as if only now realising her surroundings. "Is there anybody else here?"
"No, just you, me and my new best-seller book." Kathryn said. Then she breathed in and scrunched her brows together. "You're talking about Emma Swan, aren't you?"
"Yes! Have you been listening to anything I've said?!"
Kathryn looked at her. "Well you haven't been listening to anything I've said."
"I know!" Regina paused and then sighed, moving quickly to sit on the sofa. "I know. And I'm sorry to barge in on you with this. I just... the only other people I'm even moderately close with are Rumplestiltskin, who I'm sure would love the sight of me like this and Snow White, who I'm not so sure would be happy about her former step-mother having sexual relations with her daughter. "
Kathryn, who had now sat back down on her chair, frowned and nodded. "Yeah, I can see where you're coming from. But if it makes you feel any better that whole family dynamic thing you've got going on is pretty screwed up anyway."
"Yes. Thank you for that, Kathryn." Regina said pointedly, to which Kathryn chuckled. She wanted to say thank yourself for setting a curse that stopped you from aging but decided that was probably a bad thing to mention right now. Regina put her head in her hand. "I don't know what I'm going to do. That woman is infuriating. She brought back somebody from the past and tore apart my first real relationship in years and now I'm..." She scowled. "Lusting after her."
"Yep. Screwed up." Kathryn said, and looked at Regina's despaired face. She nudged her knee playfully. "So... how was she?"
Regina made a sound akin to a whimper, moving her elbow to the arm of the sofa and leaning the side of her head on her hand. "Exceptional." She said sadly, leaning over to the mug of coffee and drinking it. "Oh, what do I do?"
"Well for starters," Kathryn began, taking the mug away from Regina. "Stop all this worrying business. It isn't you. So, you had sex with some woman- "
"The mother of my child and former enemy who, may I mention, I tried to murder."
Kathryn narrowed her eyes, pressing her lips together and nodding. Yes, that could be a problem. She sipped her coffee. "But she had sex with you too, so maybe she doesn't mind. And she ruined your happy ending so that kinda balances some things out." She turned to Regina, who met her eyes, and relaxed her face into a more serious expression. "Okay, listen. As long as you don't make this into some weird, obstacle filled romance novel-esque thing, it's not gonna hurt anybody. Talk to her about this, find out where you're both at, what you want to do from this point and deal with it. If you get together and you're happy, fine, good, everybody else can deal with it. And if you decide one time is one time, forget about it and move on. Stop freaking out. Sex happens. Feelings happen. But you're not going to sort it out sitting here and drinking my coffee."
Regina blinked.
Kathryn breathed out a huge sigh and sipped at her drink.
"You're right." Regina said eventually, a new calm about her. She stood, straightening her back (and her shirt) and picked up her bag. "Thank you, Kathryn. I apologise for the inconvenience."
She smiled warily, then proudly at herself. "Yeah, you're welcome Regina." Following the Mayor to the door, Kathryn opened it.
Regina stepped out, and paused a moment, turning back to the blonde. "If you ever-"
"If I ever sleep with somebody who ruined my life you'll be the first person I go to." Kathryn smirked, and Regina smiled back.
"Okay. Good afternoon, Kathryn." She turned, and walked away from Kathryn's home.
Kathryn shut the door and, leaning on it momentarily, smiled softly. Then her eyes wandered to her book, her face lighting up. She moved away from the door, and to the inviting chair in front of her.
(But not before turning the lock, of course.)