Upon entering the house, Mayor Mills quickly slipped off her shoes and went into the living room, glancing along the way into the dining room and kitchen.
"Regina, is everything all right?" She called to the Queen, who was climbing the stairs.
"Yes, why are you asking?" She turned around. "Hello!" She smiled at her sister.
"I saw Stern's car in the yard." Regina nodded toward the front door.
"He works with us as a physiotherapist.", the Queen grinned. "So you're worried in vain, although it's nice."
"Really?", Miss Mills said surprised. "Is he lacking money with the salary of the head physician or staff?"
"He has everything but he is worried." The mistress of the house went down to the Mayor. "Since he succumbed to my persuasion and discharged Gold a couple of weeks earlier than he originally planned, he now wants to be in control of everything. So he spends the evenings with us."
"Why have I never seen him?" Regina was surprised.
"It happens when you opted out of technical supervision services and took it upon yourself to supervise the repairs at your new apartment, disappearing there for days." the Queen spread her hands. "How is it going by the way?"
"Better not ask.", her sister dismissed. "I'll go crazy with this apartment soon. I couldn't choose a damn bathtub for a week, and now that I bought it and they put it on, I realized that it looked nothing like what I've imagined it at all. And now everything needs to be redone! In Storybrooke, everything was simple: the house was created by the curse. I got it the way it is, with all the content. I haven't been prepared for a situation in which I need to choose every little thing myself. How can this be done at all? How did you deal with this? You also remade parts of this house."
"No way." Regina shrugged. "Gold was doing everything here, I only roughly described what I wanted to look like in the end. So he got frustrated a lot because it was quite difficult to understand my abstract ideas. Even for my usual self."
"Well, of course. I shouldn't even have asked.", the Mayor sighed. "You know, I should have bought a finished apartment with furniture, move in and live there. I would change a couple of paintings, maybe the curtains - and that would be all. Everything would be fine. Now I'm going to constantly think "that here" and "that over there" and "here it could have been done not like that but some other way" or a thousand more. Do you know how many different wall decoration options were offered to me, for example? About a million. How can you choose anything like that?"
"Let's go." The Queen took her by the shoulders, nodding toward the kitchen. "You need to restore your balance."
"Thank you for bringing my phone, I knew I could lean on you." Stern grinned good-naturedly, peering into the kitchen. "Oh, hi!" He nodded to the Mayor, who was sitting at the table across from her sister, with a glass of whiskey and a plate of fish souffle.
"Sorry, I was distracted." The Queen handed him the telephone which she had previously twirled in her hands. "Have you finished torturing my husband?"
"Yes, for today." Stern nodded.
"Tomorrow at the same time?" She said.
"Tomorrow I'm taking him to poker at Trenton's." He read through his messages.
"What?" The Queen said in amazement. "What poker?"
"Our usual on Fridays." He put the phone in his pocket.
"Which of you became insane? Or did you both?" Regina asked irritably. "Have you seen him at all? What do you mean poker? And you let him? Do you think he can already participate in your stupid gatherings?"
"We're still talking about your husband, right?" Stern sat down at the table next to her. "So we both understand that words such as "allowed" or "forbidden" have no place here?", he asked. "He needs to be there tomorrow. Why? Find out from him. I don't believe there is anything terrible in it, it will be useful for him to leave the house once again."
"It will be useful for him to take a walk around the park once again, not sitting all evening in Trenton's stuffy office.", the Queen retorted.
"Tell him that.", Stern shrugged.
"I will do so.", she assured him, leaving the kitchen.
"I see your tastes are very singular." Stern smiled, looking at Regina's plate.
"It's not my tastes." She picked up another piece of boiled fish with a fork. "It's just that Regina doesn't cook anything that Gold can't eat and she also doesn't allow others to do so, for the house not to be smelling of normal human food."
"Harsh." David cringed.
"We all know how convincing Regina can be." the Mayor smiled. "You too, I see, yielded to her arguments and now work on house calls."
"If you're talking about Gold's hospital discharge, then it wasn't due to Regina's arguments." He stood up and poured himself a cup of coffee. "It was a medically sound and logically correct decision. During the time he spent in the hospital, he exhausted himself and everyone around him. Everything and everyone was bad: from the attending physician to the dishwashers in the hospital kitchen."
"It was after that when you made a medically sound decision." Miss Mills nodded.
"You're ironic in vain." Stern answered calmly. "The patient's emotional background is very important for recovery. It is impossible to make a person stand on their feet while being in constant stress. He is very attached to Regina. Without her, everything was not right. The nurses did everything badly, messily, painfully. From some pills "his head hurt", from others "he got sick"; the tea was too hot, the broth was too cold, the dishes were poorly washed, the linen was badly ironed ... As a result, there were no positive dynamics around. At home, he is calm and satisfied with everything and things are going smoothly, so don't underestimate Regina's healing effect."
"Okay, I understand, they are both weird.", the Mayor waved him off. "And you owe me dinner, since I am now forced to eat soufflé from boiled fish without a gram of salt. You must somehow compensate for this."
"With pleasure!", Stern said inspired. "Throw the fork and let's go."
"No, the fish is enough for today." Miss Mills smiled. "Let's on Saturday."
"Agreed." David held out his hand, and she shook it.
"Are you really going to Trenton tomorrow?", the Queen asked from the threshold, entering the bedroom. "And why am I hearing this from David?"
"Because I figured it out myself just a couple of minutes ago." Gold looked at his wife over his glasses. "Wait a bit." He continued typing a message on the phone.
"Very interesting." She leaned against the door, arms folded across her chest.
"There will be one acquaintance of Howard there that we may need." He added, taking off his glasses and putting them on the nightstand along with the phone. "He rarely comes to New York, so I need to seize the moment."
"We – as in "you and Trenton" or we – as in "me and you"?", Regina inquired.
"Me and you." Gold clarified. "Come here." He patted the blanket next to him.
"I already do not like all this." The Queen tensed. "Did something happen?" She sat on the edge of the bed.
"No." He pulled her close to him, lying down next to him. "And I don't think it will. A few days ago, Snow White called me ..." He hugged his wife, placing her head on his shoulder.
"Seriously?!" She snapped, interrupting. "I hope only to thank you and ask about your health, right?"
"Hush, don't make such sudden movements, it hurts me when you jump up like that." Gold pulled her back to him.
"I'm sorry." Regina carefully laid her head on his shoulder. "And what does she want?"
"In the absence of your half, she is acting as Mayor of Storybrooke. She sounds about the same as Regina did when she first arrived here. But unlike Regina, she is not afraid to start a war with me. As the Mayor, she's planning to ruin our lives as much as possible and she doesn't care what will happen to herself as a result of this war." He slowly stroked her hand.
"I told you.", the Queen said in annoyance. "I said that you shouldn't meet those people's demands. None of them will ever repay you for your good attitude. It was necessary to leave them both under a curse! And enchant the city line so that no one could leave this damned little town! But it's not too late to fix it. Looks like it's time for me to visit Storybrooke as well."
"Well, do you really think I didn't do this after leaving the city last time?" Gold smiled, kissing his wife with ease at her temple. "I mean the city line. And why, do you think, Snow White learned to use the phone and yet doesn't stand at our doorstep? But after the phone, she will perhaps learn how to use the mail and the telegraph. And we get that same federal investigation which Miss Mills promised us after all."
"The curse suggestion remains open." Regina said.
"No." He stroked her hair. "You won't go to Storybrooke. It is dangerous and unnecessary. And I won't say once again that I am against senseless cruelty. Even if she really had the brains to initiate a federal investigation and not get bogged down with formal replies, it would be complicated by the fact that none of the agents would be able to get into the city to personally interview residents. So, returning to the beginning of our conversation. Tomorrow a friend of Trenton, a federal agent, arrives in New York. He's the head of one of the criminal departments and, according to Howard, he will be able to hush it all up. Lucky chance."
"Well, why do you need to go there tomorrow?", the Queen asked calmly. "If he's Trenton's friend, he can ask him for the favor on your behalf."
"No, it won't work out that way." He kissed her temple again, massaging her shoulders lightly. "If it comes to a federal investigation, he should be my personal friend from whom I personally lost enough money to poker. Do you understand?"
"And will you sit there all evening?", the Queen asked doubtfully. "You're still unwell. Is it really impossible to postpone this meeting with this acquaintance?"
"He rarely comes to the city, I already told you. And hyper protection is harmful." Gold smiled. "You yourself constantly tell me this. I'm not going to participate in the marathon; I'm just going to play some poker."
"Why didn't you tell me right away that she called you?" Regina asked all of a sudden.
"What for?" Her husband shrugged. "I told you when the solution was found."
"How are you?"
As soon as Gold entered the house, the Queen slipped from the living room to meet him.
"Everything's fine." He kissed his wife. "How long have you been sitting here?"
"It doesn't matter." She kissed him back, taking off his coat.
"Wait." He pulled a dark blue velvet case from his inside pocket. "I have something for you." He opened it and a necklace of a dozen large sapphires in a diamond web sparkled, even under the dim light of the only pin up lamps in the hallway.
"What's the occasion?" The Queen mechanically ran her fingertips over the perfectly cut stones.
"The Trentons will have their anniversary soon.", Gold answered. "25 years of marriage. And Howard suffered from not being able to choose a present for Jessica. Which is not surprising, given the vile mass consumption brands sold in local stores: from Bulgari to VanCliff."
"It seems to me, you began the story from too early on.", his wife smiled.
""Not at all." Gold assured her. "So he suffered and complained for half a night and then I remembered that antiquary that helped us find our furniture. He was very happy about my call and said he has something that he wants to show me personally. And after a while he arrived. When I saw this necklace, I immediately imagined it around your neck and realized I would be a complete idiot if I didn't buy it. May I?" He picked up a necklace with one hand and with the other made a rotational movement, nodding at the mirror.
"You may." Regina turned her back to him and he snapped the clasp closed, the necklace falling around her neck.
"Even better than I imagined." He looked at her in the mirror, clutching her hips to him.
"It's perfect." She snuggled closer to her husband. "Where did he get it?"
"I don't know." Gold kissed her neck. "It seems it belonged once to one of the English Queens, I didn't delve further into its history. It seems she had taste, although it's unlikely she looked in it as dazzling as you do."
"Should I be afraid to ask if there is at least some money left in our account after tonight?" Regina laughed.
"There is, don't worry." After kissing her shoulder, he went into the living room and lay on the sofa.
"How much did you lose in poker?" She followed him and after taking off his shoes, sat down next to him.
"Enough for us to not have to worry about anything." He stretched out on the couch, squaring his shoulders. "Do you mind if I sleep here today?"
"What don't you like about our bedroom?" Regina began to unfasten the buttons on his vest.
"It's too far from here." Gold yawned.
"I'll get you a blanket." She wanted to get up but her husband held her back.
"No. Sit with me for a while." He kissed her hand and pressed his cheek on her.
"As you wish." The Queen leaned over and kissed him.
After a couple of minutes, she had already covered her husband with a blanket, listening to his even breathing.
"I'll sit with you a little more.", she whispered, sitting down on the carpet and lowering her head on his shoulder.