Emma waited for Regina in the diner. She hadn't bothered to get changed out of her paint-stained clothes because she was too hungry to wait any longer. When Regina didn't show up on time she tried not to worry. After twenty minutes, she was angry. She had been working through the Evil Queen's list – calling her that, even if it was only in her mind helped her feel a little better – slaving away and the other woman was making her wait! Emma took out her mobile phone, checked that it still had a signal and tried the diner phone to see if it was still working. She waited for it to start ringing, but there was silence. All right, fine, so maybe Regina couldn't have called to say she was running late but the town wasn't so big she couldn't have dropped in by now. Emma stood up and went into the kitchen. She washed her hands under the sink and looked around to see what sort of food was available.

By the time Regina arrived she was just sitting down at the counter, her boiled eggs and buttered bread placed in front of her. Emma ignored her.

"I'm sorry I'm late. I didn't realise the time."

Regina's voice sounded strange but Emma didn't turn around. She listened as Regina's footsteps came closer and cut the bread in half.

"Miss Swan, are you really going to act like a child and ignore my apology? I didn't do this on purpose."

She swung around on the stool. "Then why is it that you got to yell at me for bringing Henry home late?"

"Henry is a child and he has a bed time."

Emma studied Regina's face, looked at her slightly puffy eyes - which even the best makeup couldn't quite hide from someone who knew what they were looking for – and gave up her anger.

"I boiled you two eggs. They're still in the kitchen. Figured you'd have a good reason, even if you didn't want to tell me. According to our deal this means you have to wash the dishes. I tried making an omelette with some sliced peppers and tomatoes, but it wasn't edible. Figured I couldn't go wrong with boiled eggs."

Regina looked a little stunned at the change of attitude but nodded and walked around to the other side of the counter, stopping to look back at Emma. "I hope you didn't leave too much of a mess."

"I left the dishes in soak and put the food rubbish in the food recycling bin." Emma tapped the egg in front of her a little too hard, annoyed that Regina was treating her like a child.

Raw egg flew over the counter and towards the two women.

Regina looked down at Emma and slowly flicked a piece of egg shell off her jacket as Emma studied the clear goo in her hair.

"Exactly how long did you cook these eggs for?"

"Four minutes like you told me."

"Uh huh. And at what point did you start the timer?"

"When I switched the hob on. I kept the temperature low so that the water wouldn't boil over the saucepan. What went wrong?"

She couldn't help it. At first just the corners of her mouth twitched as she fought to control herself, but then Regina tilted her head back and laughed.

"Jeez, I told you I couldn't cook. It's like the kitchen hates me."

When Regina had stopped she picked up Emma's plate and ordered her to go and wash up in the toilets.

"What about you?" Emma asked.

Regina snapped her fingers and all traces of raw egg vanished.

"That hardly seems fair."

"If you'll trust me, I can clean you up as well."

"Pretty please?"

Regina shrugged and waved her hand towards Emma removing both the egg and paint from her clothes.

"Thanks."

"Now I think you should follow me and I will show you exactly how to boil and egg."

Regina disappeared into the kitchen. Emma gave her a moment, letting her take in the mess she had left in the kitchen before getting up to join her.