"Well, would you look at that... Royal flush, Regina...Panties or bra... Entirely up to you."

Dark eyes dropping to the damning cards that fan out across the table, Regina clenches her jaw; understanding that she has been played. She looks back up at the hateful woman sat across from her to find herself faced with a shark-like grin and glittering green eyes.

"You cheated."

"Cheated? Why would I do that? Don't get bitchy with me just because you have a weak hand... I mean, your claim might insinuate you believed I had... Ulterior motives... Or something."

"Oh god..."

The waitress lets out a low groan as she hangs her head at her friend's stupidity, but neither woman pays the young brunette any mind.

"I simply believe you're a sneak, Miss Swan."

"Prove it."

And still that sharp-toothed smirk doesn't falter as the blonde beckons gleefully for the Mayor to relinquish one of the few garments she still wears.

As if she honestly believes this is going to happen.

Crossing her arms over the delicate lace that serves to accentuate the pleasant swell of her breasts, Regina eyes the Sheriff caustically, her tone dripping with warning when she speaks.

"I am not one to play with cheaters..."

"Again with that! I-"

"-Emma..."

The blonde casts a distracted glance at Ruby as the younger woman admonishes her quietly; the waitress not wishing for the Mayor's previous anger to resurface itself.

"What?! It's how this works! The rules are simple! You lose a hand; you lose an item of clothing! How come the same rules don't apply for her?!"

She growls, looking over at the brunette irritably as she spits out this last sentiment. The darker woman narrows her eyes in response, though she is inwardly able to acknowledge the obscurity of Emma's anger while the younger woman is sat all but bare to be strangely amusing despite her irritation.

She scolds herself as her gaze drops to a sparse scatter of freckles just below the Sheriff's left breast.

"Honestly, Miss Swan, you're behaving like a child."

"Why?! Because I want you to adhere to the rules of a fucking game?!"

"My dear, I'm beginning to suspect you have had quite too much to drink-"

"-Oh, and here we go! Madame fucking Mayor; the broken record-"

"-Emma!"

Ruby interjects, louder this time; debating whether she should place a hand on her friend's shoulder to pull her back as the blonde leans aggressively forwards, but knowing her well enough to suspect such an act might only serve to make matters worse.

Dark eyes flickering dangerously as she drinks in the sudden anger dancing within the younger woman's own, Regina pushes herself from the table; the legs of her chair emitting an angry screech across dull linoleum.

"Enough! I refuse to be spoken to in such a way-"

"-But the rules-"

"-I said enough! The rules to your job are that you negate to engage in such activities whilst on public property Miss Swan, and, while on the topic, may it also be noted that you were still wearing your badge upon my entry, despite the fact that you had quite clearly already indulged yourself in liquor and the debauched company of Miss Lucas-"

"-Hey! Don't start talking like that about Ruby, she-"

"-Has no business sat in your office in her lingerie."

Regina sniffs, making quick work of slipping back into the sensible ensemble she's arrived in.

"I will be back here tomorrow at 8am sharp, Sheriff, and we will discuss the repercussions of your behaviour this evening."

"Wait! What?!-"

Emma yells, pushing herself up- a little clumsily- so that she stands with her hands rested aggressively on the table, and her long hair just ghosting the point of decency.

"- You fucking joined in! You... You instigated this! What? And now you're going to get all high and mighty because you're losing a goddamn game?! You may have a stick up your ass, Regina, but you wanted to-"

"-Continue, and I will see to it that you never wear that badge again, dear."

"Go ahead, it's not like you succeeded the first time!"

The blonde counteracts, shaking her impressive mane as she growls irritably.

With the way the Sheriff stands, the table top cuts her off mid-thigh, and the brunette's eyes flicker as she catches a glimpse of stark white playing cards hooked into the green swatch of the younger woman's underwear.

And I'm the one not following the rules?!

Holding up her hand and pursing her lips, she shakes her head with arrogant finality.

"Do yourself a favour and sober up, Sheriff. Miss Lucas, good day."

And with that she sweeps from the office accompanied by the staccato rapping of stilettos on linoleum; just able to make out the quiet murmur of 'oh, Emma, you idiot!' purred by the young waitress.

You idiot, indeed!

She is livid that the blonde should deem it suitable to speak to her the way in which she had; the cold air when she steps from the building offering a kind mercy from the headache the Sheriff has instilled.

... Though that's not the only ache.

She hisses irritably at her subconscious to subdue itself as she slips into the plush interior of her car; not wanting to ponder the dull throbbing between her legs in the slightest.

"Bitch."

She growls as she tries to corral her emotions back in line before attempting to venture out onto the road. It is a crass term, and one she rarely uses- even in the privacy of her own company- but it is one that she feels sums Emma up perfectly.

You have no idea what misery I plan on sending your way...

But, of course, the blonde does, and, much as it pains the brunette to acknowledge such a thing, she is beginning to run out of ideas on just how to keep making the younger woman's life a living hell.

Yet another irksome facet to the detestable blonde's character.

"Nothing but a foulmouthed, cheap little piece of bad news..."

She sniffs, feeling both irritated and uncomfortable as she finds she is becoming increasingly hot and bothered rather than regaining some sense of calm. Her description of the blonde as 'cheap' has her thinking back on pretty, firm breasts and delicately stacked ribs, and it does nothing to help her cause. She is disgusted by the younger woman's brazen display and whorish lack of shame, but her distaste is accompanied by a most unwelcome heat, and she thins her lips as she becomes acutely aware of the fact that the expensive lace between her thighs has become incriminatingly damp.

"Bitch!"

She repeats; hoping to shake herself from such out of character idiocy.

"Liar!"

Yes! Liar! The woman is vile!

Concentrate on that!

A snake for implying that she- the Mayor of notable repute- had cheated at their hateful game, when it had been Emma herself harbouring guilty cards.

"Hypocrite..."

But to what purpose?

She stills in her angered thoughts as her soulfully dark eyes become suddenly wide.

"... Surely not..."

Surely Emma hadn't played an unfair hand in hopes that she would be forced to bare a little more flesh.

The thought is absurd... And yet she finds she can't quite fathom any other reason why the blonde would have played dirty.

To win?

But to win what?

Her body had been the only prize.

"...No..."

But if the brunette finds herself confused and uncomfortably aroused by the situation she's just opted out on, what's to say the Sheriff feels any differently?

"But surely-"

She is pulled from her peculiar thoughts by a loud bang to her right. Eyes glittering in the darkness of her Mercedes, she peers over towards the Station where the two younger woman stand out on the stoop as Emma fumbles clumsily with the door; trying in vain to pull it shut before realising this to be impossible due to the fact she has somehow managed to draw the heavy dead-bolt across to bar the way.

Regina finds she is entirely unsurprised that the Sheriff's initial solution is to slam the rickety wood all the more forcefully as if simply planning to beat it into submission.

"Stop... Get... No... Oh, Emma... Ha!"

She is unable to pick up most of what the waitress says- her voice lost in the wind and through the glass- but the topic of conversation is clear as Ruby pulls the blonde aside and works the door shut herself before handing the keys back to the older woman.

"Are you sure you're alright to get home by yourself?"

This the Mayor is able to pick up fairly clearly, as the two women make their way down the path and closer to the parking lot; neither one of them entirely steady on her feet.

"What are you, my mother?"

Emma snipes, but in the dull glow of the emergency lights that stud the exterior of the building, Regina can make out the humorous pull to pleasantly pink lips.

Just as she can make out that- although dressed once again- the blonde has managed to misallign the buttons of her shirt quite impressively, revealing a generous peek of lace on one side.

"Nah, I'm good; I'd like my kids slightly better behaved, thank you very much, Miss Swan."

Regina frowns; not missing the very clear- and entirely over the top- mimicry of her own form of address.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

A peculiar giggle to accompany pantomime hurt, and the Mayor muses on the fact that she would never have believed this side of the usually stoic Sheriff existed.

"Oh, you know; less of a temper, better manners than to attempt to get the damned Mayor naked-"

"- And I would have succeeded too, if she hadn't thrown a fucking tantrum!"

Perfect teeth grind angrily in the dark shadows of the black car that sits unnoticed by the inebriated duo that pass by about ten metres in front, the waitress linking a skinny arm through the blonde's, which is- unbelievably- accepted; the latter forcing a peculiar sway to their steps which Ruby adopts with a grin.

"Well you did cheat..."

"I didn't... Well, not a lot..."

"Mmmhm..."

"Seriously!"

"Yeah, sure, just like you seriously wanted to get Regina naked!"

"Well, yeah... I mean can you imagine how embarrassed she'd have been? It'd have been hilarious!"

"... Am I supposed to be buying this?"

"What?"

"Oh please, that is not why you wanted to get her naked."

"...Well... What other reason would you suggest?"

This last phrase is harder to catch as Emma and Ruby begin their way down the sidewalk towards Main Street, both due to the fact that their rapidly retreating forms are now facing away from from the brunette, and the much lower quality to the Sheriff's suddenly dangerous tone.

Regina tells herself she isn't really sitting forwards in her seat in order to hear the younger of the two idiots' response.

"You... Practically... Drooling... Want that..."

She is unable to catch the rest of the waitress's words as they are swept away by the chilling wind.

She doesn't miss the sharp smack on the arm the blonde administers in response, however.

"...What?..."

She whispers as the two women disappear from view.

She is astounded by what she has just heard- as well as a little perturbed by the casual tone of the conversation- and entirely unsure just what to make of it.

Ordinarily, such an obscure notion would have her rolling her eyes or chasing down the young woman in question to demand an apology for being wrongly accused... But the alcohol plays softly on her own mind, and she finds her predominant reaction to what she has just overheard is to clench her legs together as her sex aches maddeningly; several unwanted images of the Sheriff sat the way she had been in just the flimsy swatch of her underwear flickering disobediently through her head.

"Really?...Emma?"

The blonde's name comes out as little more than a whisper as she remains frozen in thought, before she snaps back to the here and now and slams her palms angrily down onto the gentle curve of the steering wheel.

She is frustrated.

She is infuriated by the younger woman's crass tongue and ill manners.

She is intrigued by her apparent lust.

She is uncomfortably and maddeningly aroused.

... And she is slowly realising she's too drunk to drive.

"Curse you!"

She mutters; blaming the blonde for each and every one of her current predicaments.

"Someone needs to teach you a lesson, dear..."

She hisses, slipping from the car and pulling on her coat before stalking off in the direction the younger two had disappeared in not too long ago.

"A lesson you are unlikely to forget..."

She finishes; a slow smile finally finding it's way across her full lips.

She has had a couple of close calls, true, but she hasn't lost outright to the Sheriff yet... And she isn't about to start doing so now.