"So what's for dinner?" Emma plopped down onto a stool by the kitchen island as she sipped at her coke.
From her place on the other side of the island, Regina looked up through her eyelashes at the younger woman before turning her attention back to the dough in her hands. "I'm baking chicken, and there are mixed vegetables steaming."
Emma took in a deep breath. "Smells really good. Sooooo, what else are you making?"
With a wickedly mischievous grin and her eyes still on her hands as they worked, the brunette answered casually, "Apple turnovers."
The drink in the sheriff's hand stopped halfway to her mouth, which hung agape. Slowly shutting it, she narrowed her eyes as she slowly set the coke back down on the island's top. Tilting her head to the side and giving her best smirk, she replied with as much bravado as she was able, "Good. I'm actually a little bummed I didn't get to try them the first time around. Minus the sleeping curse, they looked like they probably tasted okay."
"Okay?" Regina's eyes flickered up to give a hard look to her companion before going back to her work. "Just okay? I'll have you know that I spent, literally, years perfecting my recipes. They're the best in town, and I'd wager to say they are the best anywhere."
"Of course they are," Emma said with a shrug. Picking her glass up again, she said from behind the rim, "You never do anything halfway."
"I most certainly do not," the brunette replied while she carefully rolled out the dough.
Emma watched the other woman work. She allowed her mind to go blank and the rhythm Regina set as she made the desserts to fill her while she watched. It wasn't until the chicken was pulled out of the oven to cool and the pastries popped in to bake that a thought occurred to her. "There was a time I would have been really bothered that you were making apple turnovers."
"There was a time I would have made them simply to spite you," Regina smoothly replied in turn. She began to plate their dinners as she spoke. "But that was before." She turned with the full plates, placing one in front of Emma before settling on a stool opposite the other woman.
"Yeah," the blonde's lips twitched down. She carefully cut into her piece of chicken, allowing her mind to wander over all the thoughts and emotions running rampant through her.
"You're wrong." Regina's voice was harsh in the quiet. "It's not because your heart has a dark spot." She gave a smile and a small shake of her head at Emma's shocked look. "Don't look so surprised, dear." She tapped her chest on a spot just over her heart with the fingers of her free hand. "It goes both ways, you know, and I assure you it's not what you're thinking." Her smile softened as she spoke. "I made them tonight because I know you'll like them, and you're not afraid because you trust me." Tilting her head to the side, she asked in a voice that held hints of uncertainty, "Don't you?"
Emma's smile was bright. "Always."
Nodding her approval, Regina turned back to her dinner. "I don't know that we'll sleep much tonight. It's nearly 10, and we've slept most of the day. Our sleep patterns are completely askew."
"We could wear each other out," the blonde offered with a wink.
The older woman actually laughed, and the sound seemed to lighten the air around them. "I suppose we could. You might be the only person to share my bed with me that can outlast me."
Emma's smile turned arrogant, "That's because I'm awesome."
"I would argue the point," Regina countered, "but I can't say I have anything with which to form a basis to refute you."
"In other words, I'm right; you're wrong, and we should totally go for broke tonight." The sheriff's eyes gleamed with lust and humor.
Regina snorted. "You're incorrigible, Ms. Swan."
"You like it, Madam Mayor." With a quick flip of her wrist, Emma popped the last veggie into mouth and chortled at the other woman's look of horror for her lack of manners. "Admit it, you think my cockiness is sexy."
"Only if you admit you think my bitchiness is sexy." The brunette playfully raised an eyebrow in a dare as she cleared the table and pulled the turnovers out of the oven to cool.
"I never said it didn't." Emma stood and strolled over to help with the dishes. While they washed, she talked. "From the moment I laid eyes on you, one of my first thoughts was that your legs were incredible, your ass was a piece of art, and your attitude had me confused." At Regina's questioning look, she answered, "I wasn't sure if I hated you because you were such a bitch or if I thought you were the sexiest woman I'd ever met because you were a take-no-prisoners kind of bitch… or both." She waggled her eyebrows. "Come to find out, it was both."
The brunette rolled her eyes in mock exasperation. "Always so poetic."
"English was my favorite subject in school." Emma finished drying and putting away the last of the dishes. "I mean that."
"I believe you. I've seen what you read when you think no one is looking." Regina broke a turnover in half and handed one side to the sheriff. "The first time I saw you reading Hawthorne, I thought it was for show, but then I noticed you had moved on to other classics and some rather impressive contemporaries. As the months have progressed, I've seen you read everything from Natasha Trethewey, whom I believe is the current American poet Laureate, to Tess Gerritsen and everything in between. You have an impressive and expansive choice in reading material."
"I can't believe you even noticed." Sniffing at the turnover, Emma gave it careful consideration before blowing on it to cool it down even more. "Most of the time, you didn't even look my direction when you walked into Granny's."
"Just because it looked like I wasn't paying attention doesn't mean I wasn't. I still thought it was for show, but I kept an eye on it because you were around Henry, and I wanted to know what possible things you could be teaching him. It wasn't until Belle told me that you spent a lot of time in the library during your off hours that it occurred to me that you did, in fact, enjoy reading for the sake of reading." Taking the sheriff's lead, Regina blew on her own half of the turnover, frowning at how long it was taking for the pastry to cool.
Emma eyed the food in her hand, paying more attention to it than it warranted. "You know, I always wanted to go to college, but… well, first of all, I didn't have the money, and, honestly, I never really thought I was smart enough to make it." She grimaced as she glanced up.
"You don't give yourself enough credit, Emma." Regina gave her a soft but chastising look. "You're extremely intelligent. Book knowledge and intelligence are not the same thing, and I think you've firmly proven that you are intelligent. Me mocking your intelligence for so long ought to be proof enough that just the opposite of what I've said to you in anger and irritation is true."
The blonde chuckled. "I guess." She took a bite of the turnover and barely swallowed it before she was praising it. "Oh my God, this is the best thing I've ever put in my mouth."
Regina's eyebrow rose. "Is it?"
"Well," Emma rethought her comment, "maybe not the best thing, but the best food thing."
"See?" The older woman smiled approvingly. "I told you that you were intelligent. Good save, dear."
Around the mouthful of pastry, Emma grumbled, "I'd never have pegged you as the dirty minded kind of girl."
"Chew, swallow, talk." Regina rolled her eyes. "It must be genetic." With a frustrated huff, she took her last bite of turnover and swallowed it. "I would, and did, picture you as the kind of person that has the mindset of a teenage boy."
With a grin plastered across her face, Emma asked, "Are you complaining?"
"No," Regina shook her head and turned to put the turnovers away, "I can't say that I am."
"Good." Emma took the container from the other woman's hands and placed it in the fridge. "Because I noticed you have a piano, and I've always wanted to…"
"On my piano?!" The older woman's voice actually sounded scandalized. "Surely you can't be serious."
"If you put the top down on the piano, I'll show you exactly how serious I am," the blonde replied with a growl to her voice.
Narrowing her eyes, Regina seemed to consider it for a moment before heading toward the musical instrument in question. "But you're cleaning up any mess we might make."
"So worth it," Emma answered while she scampered to follow the brunette into the other room.
Okay, I had to write a little fluff. I promise to hit plot again soon, but, honestly, I was jonesing for a fluffly Swan Queen moment, so I had to write it. I had to. Don't judge me. _
