Moving steadily forward, more hijinks for you!
First Snow
Summary: Regina was watching the snow fall from her apartment window when something fell down the fire escape stairs.
World: No magic AU
Snow was falling in a continuous stream, and to Regina, it felt magical. Clutching her warm mug of cocoa, she stared out at the silent scene outside. She supposed she could go to the bigger windows, but the New York lights made the snow more blinding over there. The side window, which also led to the fire escape, offered a much quieter vantage point, so she had dragged an armchair and was curled up in it, a comfy blanket over her. It might seem like it would be dull, but with Regina's busy life, quiet moments like these were rare, so she treasured them.
Suddenly, she heard a thump and a clang, and she looked up in alarm. A barrage of snow had fallen in a large cluster, and a lump of something tumbled down the metal steps, stopping halfway. Regina quickly got off the chair, set her mug down, and approached the window. Even from inside, she heard a strange noise that sounded like a groan, and Regina opened the window, shivering a bit when the chilly air nipped at her. "Hello?" she called out.
Another groan. And an arm waving. It was a person.
She opened the window a bit more, and leaned out. She was glad she still had the blanket around her shoulders, because it was quite cold. "Excuse me, do you need help?"
"It's fine, I just need a moment to feel my spine again," the voice responded.
Regina rolled her eyes. She was not going to leave someone lying around on the fire escape. She maneuvered herself up and went outside, drawing the blanket closer around her. The soft snow crunched under her slippers, and she silently cursed, knowing they were probably ruined.
"Careful," the voice said. "There's ice."
"I'm guessing that's how you slipped?" Regina responded. The figure was clad in a dark jacket, a thick red scarf around their mouth and nose, a grey beanie pulled all the way down past their brow. She took pity on the figure splayed upside down across the stairs. She slowly shuffled closer, and leaned down to clasp their shoulders, pulling them up.
"Oof, you're strong," they commented, trying to find their footing.
With a smirk, Regina thought about helping them back up the steps to their own apartment, but glancing at the stairs made her rethink her strategy, and then she saw it. "You were hanging Christmas lights? It's November!"
"Never too early to get started," they commented with a throaty chuckle. "Anyway, I suppose this is one way to meet your downstairs neighbour."
Regina rolled her eyes and then helped to move both of them back to her still open window. She had them lean against the wall for a second while she climbed back inside, and then helped them in, depositing the figure on her recently vacated armchair, before shutting the window and turning to her guest. "We should get you out of that."
"I usually like to have a date first before getting into all of that," they cheekily responded, but still moved to undo the layers of clothes. It was then that Regina saw that her neighbour was a woman. A very pretty woman.
"Then perhaps I'll take you up on that offer," Regina smirked, going to pick up the soggy outer clothes and taking them to the laundry room. When she came back, the blonde was looking around the place from her seat in the chair.
"I didn't get your name," the woman commented.
Regina readily fired back, "I didn't give it."
Raising her eyebrows, she said, "Really? You bring a perfect stranger into your house, flirt with her, but names are off-limits? I could just go to your front door and I'll probably find a stack of mail with your name."
"Very well, I'll give you mine if you give me yours," Regina haughtily responded.
"Real mature," the blonde muttered, rolling her eyes.
"Well, Ms. Mature, it's very nice to meet you." Regina was smirking, and her guest groaned.
"If I knew you were this insufferable, I'd have stayed outside."
Regina went up to the woman and asked, "Okay, enough games, what hurts? We should also check for a concussion."
"I'm fine, my jacket and thick head broke my fall. And if you must know, my name's Emma."
Emma, she sounded the name out in her head. It fit. "Regina. And we can't let you go unchecked. Either that or I take you to the hospital."
That got her guest to reconsider. "My right ankle feels a bit tense, and my arms are probably bruised."
Regina hummed and went over to her medicine cabinet and found something to wrap the ankle with. She wound the tensor bandage around the ankle quietly, and when she was done, she pinned it together. "So, you always get an early start to your holiday decorations?"
Emma nodded enthusiastically. "Best time of the year! There's presents, family time, it's wonderful!"
"Fair enough." She didn't have the heart to say that her experiences with Christmas with her family were never particularly pleasant. But if it still held wonder for others, who was she to complain? Then she cleared her throat and said, "You can stay here for a while if you wish, catch your breath and all that. Do you feel dizzy or nauseous?"
"Nope, fit as a fiddle...who just got knocked down a few steps. And are you sure you aren't just keeping me to see if you really can get me out of my clothes?" Emma asked, back to being cheeky.
With a sigh, Regina rolled her eyes. "I can see your sense of humour is still very much intact. What happened to dating first?"
Emma leant back on the chair and regarded Regina with an air of interest. "I'd be game to waive it this once."
Regina snorted, walking forward until she was standing in front of the couch, arms crossed in front of her and she leaned down a bit, seemingly making herself more intimidating. "How noble of you. But alas, I would prefer a date first. After that..."
"Alright, Saturday at 7?" Emma readily shot back.
After recovering from surprise after a second, Regina said, "It's a date."
Poor Emma, can't catch a break huh?
Next up, Christmas sweaters!
