A/N: A birthday present for one of my favourite people; littledragonflyson on here :) This was a bit of a spur of the moment piece so had no clue what was going to happen, but... yes... Prompt: Icecream.
As far as when this is set, it's a little AU. Set after the return from Neverland, but based on the theory that Rumple was able to defeat Pan, thus leaving SB in an odd lull of 'hey! no one's trying to kill us all right now!' (I know, I know, it'll never happen.)
"Well... Just think on it, Emma... I know it's not really your scene, but we'd really like to do something for your Birthday... It doesn't have to be something big, just-"
"-Okay!... Okay, I'll think about it..."
The blonde grumbles as she toys with the fries on her plate and glowers at Granny's small noise of bemusement from the corner that matches her mother's perfectly. Offering the old cook a stern glance which has the greying woman swiftly slipping from behind the counter to see to her customers, she sighs, before nibbling apathetically at her food while Snow and David watch her as though waiting for something. Growling irritably, she rolls her eyes as she refuses to look up from her plate.
"I said I'd think about it, I didn't mean right this second..."
Accepting this moody murmur as a dismissal, Mary Maragaret frowns and shrugs her shoulders; sliding from her stool and making for the door followed by Charming, while her anxious lament of
"I knew she'd be like this about it, maybe we should have just stuck to the idea of a surprise party..."
reaches the curious Mayor, who smiles down at her own plate. Waiting for the two idiots to leave, she studies the Sheriff in amusement; the younger woman's response to the offer of a jovial celebration entirely predictable so far as she's concerned. Tapping her knife lightly against her glass to illicit a little tune, she raises an eyebrow when the blonde glances back at her to suss the source of the noise, and offers her a knowing smirk, which widens when the Sheriff narrows her eyes and returns to her food.
Slipping from her booth and stalking breezily over to where Emma sits, Regina takes up the stool next to her and snaps at Ruby to fetch her a fresh coffee.
"No confetti and balloons, dear? You do surprise me..."
"What are you talking about?"
The younger woman grumbles lamely, and the brunette rolls her eyes as she pours cream into the steaming mug placed tentatively before her.
"Your- oh so surprising- lack of enthusiasm in the face of a Charming birthday."
"How did you know it's my-"
"-Your birthday tomorrow? Please. Those two are about as stealthy and capable of conversing at an appropriate volume as Henry and yourself. That, and the day of your birth has had quite an impact on my own life, Miss Swan... Twice in fact."
"Oh yeah... The curse-"
"Mmm, 'that old thing', not to mention Goldilocks showing up on my doorstep and endangering my relationship with my son... Both rather memorable occurrences..."
A small hint of a grin at this, but still the blonde refrains from looking up, and simply paints lines of sauce with her fries on the white china.
"Hey, is she actually real?"
"Hmm?"
"Goldilocks."
"No more so than the three little pigs. She's just a legend used in a tale to keep small children from wandering too deep into the forest."
"...Like Hansel and Gretel, you mean...?"
"Magic and witches were a tactile fear in that other land, Miss Swan. Bears too, but for the same reason as they are in this world."
Regina sniffs, and the blonde finally chuckles in response to the irritability that laces the Mayor's words. Sighing, she looks over at the Queen an proffers her an awkward smile, before finding her composure and adopting a cool look of disinterest. Emma's tentative grin isn't lost on the Mayor, however, and the latter sips at her coffee delicately as she watches the young blonde go about pouring several sachets of sugar into her own mug.
She's pretty sure she understands the reasoning behind Emma's reaction, as it has become somewhat of a normality between the two of them over the past month or so. At first- with the threat of Pan vanquished by Rumplestilstkin but still electric in the atmosphere- there had been a tension within the odd little group which she has yet to figure out exactly how she'd become a part of- seeming to have inadvertently navigated towards the blonde for lack of a better option- while Hook, Neal and Emma had engaged in some sort of awkward dance that had promptly gone absolutely nowhere.
Indeed, about six weeks ago, Regina had found herself sat- to her own surprise- perched on the bench outside the Station, bathed in the warm glow of the setting sun, while the Sheriff had swung her legs precariously from her position balanced upon the narrow railing, and she had amiably confided her own thoughts on the matter, almost as if they might in some way be friendly towards one another.
She has since had to simply accept the fact of this being the case.
Just as she has found that so long as neither of them mentions or dwells on the subject, she is happy to let such a slip in judgement slide.
The rest of it, though... The way their old, heated tension has led way to what she can now only call flirting- not that she would ever allow herself to do such a thing- and the way her schedule has suddenly become inundated with 'town policy' meetings with the younger woman, despite the thankful calm once more having settled over Storybrooke, is a little less palatable.
She thinks back to the evening before last; sitting out in her superbly landscaped garden after putting Henry to bed, sipping at a glass of wine, while the younger woman had been sat sprawled out on her lawn, sporting an untidy ponytail and sunglasses that had reflected the lowering rays redly. Emma had come over to drop off Henry's comic left at the Station, and had proceeded to smile affirmatively in response to the casual offer of a drink. It had only been when the younger woman had complimented her on her haircut and she had playfully admonished that the blonde should perhaps consider following suite, that it had occurred to the brunette that there had been no reason at all to invite the Sheriff across the threshold.
Frowning, now, much as she had then, she places her mug down carefully, before smiling when Emma winces at the sweetness of the liquid in her own. Cocking her head thoughtfully, she smirks as she inquires lightly
"Did you really buy yourself a cake for your birthday last year?"
"Huh?"
"When you showed up at my house, and you were telling me about how Henry came to you and how it was all 'fate' and-"
"-I never said that-"
"-No, but your expression said enough to compensate for you lack of eloquence, as is usually the case... You told me you bought yourself a cake."
"Well, yeah... I like cake... Why-"
"-And I like lasagne. But I don't make myself a solitary portion, stick a candle in it, and then tell people about such things."
"... Your point?"
"Oh, no point, I was just pitying your sorry existence, dear."
"That makes a change."
Regina chuckles at the blonde's irritable grumbling, and plucks a note from her purse; sliding it under her mug.
"What kind of cake was it?"
"... You're mocking me, aren't you..."
"Maybe. Humor me."
"Just one of those vanilla cupcake thingies."
"Wild..."
"Yeah, well, you try finding a bakery open after dark- while dressed like a hooker- that's serving brownies or ice-cream cake or whatever else decent!"
"Dressed like a hooker?"
"... I was working."
"I see."
"Yeah."
"Dressed like a hooker."
"...It was a set up that was supposed to seem like a date... And before you go imagining-"
"-oh, my dear, save whatever irritation you have; I'm having a hard enough time imagining you on a date at all..."
"Yeah, well, what would you know? What, you and Graham enjoyed candlelit-"
"-We enjoyed more romantic experiences than launching ourselves at each other in the middle of a jungle, I can tell you that much!... Of course, when one is comparing such dalliances with the back seat of a car, then-"
"-Oh, go take off the edge, Regina!"
The Sheriff snaps, shoving her own crumpled wad of notes beside her plate, and swinging herself down from her stool moodily. Grabbing her things, she offers a sharp glance at the darker woman who blushes lightly in response to her snide insinuation, before stalking irritably out the door.
Clearing her throat, the brunette runs a finger pensively over her bottom lip, before signalling over the ditzy waitress.
"Miss Lucas, would you happen to know what an 'ice-cream cake' consists of?"
"I guess... But we've never served any I don't think."
"Would you know how to make one, though?"
Ruby frowns; having come to accept that Regina has changed, but in no way sure how she feels about sharing culinary tips with the once Evil Queen.
"I could... I guess if you tell us when you want it for, I could-"
"-Just write down what it is and how one might make such a thing."
The Mayor offers dismissively; plucking and pen and notebook from her purse and sliding them across to the confused young woman. Baring Ruby's wariness no mind, she takes her phone from her bag and taps at the keys briskly.
To: Blonde Idiot. 13.04pm:
Something's come up. As you have no interest in celebrating tomorrow anyway, I expect you at mine for 8pm to discuss. Don't be late.
Regina M.
Glancing down at her phone as it vibrates on her desk, Emma rolls her eyes and mutters beneath her breath. She supposes that in a way it's a good thing that the brunette seems set on sticking to at least some of her old ways, as she now has an excuse to leave whatever festivities await her tomorrow, and not feel quite so guilty about doing so.
"Still... An evening with an irate Mayor Mills... Happy Birthday to me..."
She groans; sarcasm dripping off her tongue.