A/N: Enjoy! Review!
"... Regina?"
Emma greets with a furrowing of her brow, looking the darker woman up and down curiously.
"What, uh... What are you wearing?"
She asks, green eyes falling to the exposed valley of the brunette's breasts and the tight fit of her pants. She raises a brow and waits for an answer.
"Do you like it?"
The darker woman asks coyly, grinning sinfully as she opens out her arms to allow the blonde a better study of her svelte form. The look of dubiety on the younger woman's face tickles her, before Emma simply shrugs and grins amiably.
"It's different."
She replies, and dark eyes flash with momentary irritation as this glib statement in no way matches the generous sight offered. Keeping her temper reigned in for the time being, she watches as Emma perches herself casually on one of the old gravestones that circle the vault, intrigued to be stood face to face with the product of her downfall with the young woman seemingly none the wiser.
She wonders if Emma simply believes she's injected a little more style into her usual appearance, and whether she imagines she might have done so on her account.
Either way, she'd always known any spawn of the two idiots might be a little slow on the uptake.
Not that it matters.
It makes this all much more fun.
She-
"-Have you protected the vault already?"
The Sheriff interrupts her train of thought, and she smirks, wiggling her fingers coquettishly before touching the Mayor's enchantment; the air rippling curiously.
"All safe and secure, dear."
"Cool."
The blonde nods, drumming her fingers on pitted stone as she adjusts her rather inappropriate seat in an effort to get a little more comfortable.
The Queen takes a slow step closer to the younger woman with her fingers trembling as they course with her power, before halting in her tracks when Emma looks away and wrestles a packet of gum from the pocket of her jeans. The blonde holds it out expectantly and glances up when her offering goes ignored.
The look on the brunette's face is a strange one, and she opens her mouth to ask Regina what's wrong, before smacking her fist into her thigh and rolling her eyes when she remembers.
"Right, of course. Cinnamon. Sorry."
She smiles, and the darker woman purses her lips as she remains momentarily thrown. Narrowing her eyes as Emma helps herself to a piece of gum before blowing a childish bubble, she feels uncharacteristically unsure of the situation as the blonde confides lightly
"Oh yeah, you know what I was telling you about that girl that works at the Rabbit Hole the other day?"
"... Mhmm..."
The Queen replies noncommittally, racking her brains, but since being divided from her weaker half she is no longer plagued with the insipid musings of the others. She can't recall what Emma might have told her about some poor wretch from that dreadful establishment, but the younger woman's casual tone unbalances her a little now that she's left only with her true thoughts and desires. It is not the way one would ordinarily speak to a member of royalty.
It's trivial.
Friendly.
Oh... You're in for a surprise, my dear...
"Well, I told her I'd have to arrest her if she did anything like that again, and she tried bribing me back onto her good side with 'on the house' perks, given I'm the Sheriff and all. Totally illegal, I reckon... So anyway, I think I'm going to go down to the Rabbit later I guess is the punchline of all this. Crooked cops have more fun in any movie I've seen. Want to see if she'll extend her lawbreaking benefits to the Mayor?"
"...I..."
"I mean, I know we're supposed to be figuring out what the hell's going on with that ship in the woods, but I think if I have to hear my mom tell us one more time that whoever was in there is more afraid of us than we are of them, I might give her something to be afraid of! I get it, we're here to help, but between navigating Hell and trying to figure out what colour to paint my bathroom, I'm kind of up to here with dealing with everyone's shit."
The blonde stretches her hand up as far as she can reach, and dark eyes flicker as a narrow slice of pale flesh is exposed by the thick wool of the younger woman's hideous sweater.
Running sharp velvet thoughtfully between her teeth, the Queen smirks, wondering what Snow might have said- clad in her billowing white gown all those years ago- if she'd known what a common tongue her little girl would grow up to possess.
"So, are you in? Might as well do something given how you're dressed."
The blonde laughs, but it is not an unkind laugh, rather one of amused camaraderie that the brunette understands, yet doesn't connect with.
"What about how I'm dressed?"
She challenges, and Emma raises a brow and rises easily to the bait with a grin
"It's a bit much, no? I mean, for sorting out Storybrooke's newest crisis, anyway."
"Ah. So if I were to wear this when out of an evening with yourself it would be considered more suitable?"
"Uh. Yeah, I guess?"
Emma frowns, privately wondering if this might perhaps be the first time where it has been Regina secretly day drinking and not herself.
"So, are you coming?"
She continues, a little apprehensive as dark eyes bore into her intently.
"Well, dear... I'm afraid I must apologise. You see, while I'm sure it might be fascinating to accompany you down into the squalid depths of that foul tavern, such a place is no longer really my scene..."
"... huh?"
The blonde grunts, leaning back just a little- her hands gripping the gravestone clumsily when her position becomes precarious- as the darker woman stalks slowly closer; honing in on her.
"I do, however, have an alternative suggestion."
"...Okay?"
"And I do use the term 'suggestion' loosely, Miss Swan."
"Regina... What are you doing?"
"Plans have changed."
The brunette sighs, before cutting off the blonde's responding stammer with a swift veil of darkness.