A/N: A requested piece for the prompt 'Strip Poker.' Enjoy, and please comment!
The Mayor pulls up into an empty space outside the Station with a frown. She had been on her way home, but, spotting light glowing from the cell-block windows at this time of night has piqued her interest.
The Sheriff is not one to out in extra hours.
"Unless... I suppose your pathetic flake of a housemate might have finally tired of you, dear."
One could hardly blame her...
Not at all, but in truth, she doesn't find it likely that Mary Margaret will have kicked the blonde out- the school teacher forever doting on the young woman in a most repulsive fashion- which begs the question of just what Emma might be up to so late at the Station.
Why are you so curious about the Swan woman all of a sudden? Surely you have better things to preoccupy yourself with?!
She purses her lips irritably.
Recently, she has found herself questioning some of her motives when it comes to the Sheriff, as she can't help but feel that a worrying amount of her time is consumed thinking about the irksome blonde.
She tells herself that knowing what she knows about Emma's true identity is the reason- the only reason- why she should find herself taking the least bit of interest in the younger woman.
I'm simply trying to keep things running as smoothly as possible, and unfortunately, that means keeping an eye on Miss Swan.
Slipping from her Benz, she pulls her coat closer to her slim frame and marches up the path to the front entrance of the Station. She raises a brow when she reaches the door, spotting two terracotta plant pots newly placed on either side of the frame, each containing a small colony of daffodils. She finds it hard to imagine Emma being behind such thoughtful decor, but supposes there's not really anyone else who might be to blame.
"Such a common choice of bulb, Sheriff."
She sniffs as she lets herself into the shadowed hallway, closing the door behind her. She jumps as a loud crow of exuberance- and, most likely, inebriation- echoes down the corridor before taking a few hesitant steps forward as she makes out the low voice of the blonde and the excitable chatter of the promiscuous little waitress from the diner.
Recognising Ruby's flirtatious giggling causes her brow to furrow deeper. The waitress seems to be spending more and more time with the Sheriff; following her around as though she were a little lapdog, something which Emma seems to be surprisingly okay with. So unlikely and fast appears their friendship, that Regina had begun to suspect the blonde might have been gearing up to appoint Ruby as her Deputy with the role still open for the taking, and she had been quick to warn the younger woman that this was not a decision she would allow to go unopposed; earning herself a childish huff and a poisonous green-eyed glare, but Emma had assured her sullenly that she was merely 'being friendly'.
"An unlikely story..."
The Mayor mutters, finding the idea of the blonde just 'being friendly' entirely preposterous. The woman is vile, and thorny as a rose; the term simply doesn't suit her.
And yet...
As she continues to eavesdrop on the raucous giggling coming from the office, she catches the Sheriff's familiar sarcastic grumbling taking on a husky good humour; Emma chuckling something unintelligible to her companion, her laughter accompanied by a dull thud and a high-pitched screech of glee.
Regina cocks her head thoughtfully as she makes out the telling scrape of a chair against the concrete floor.
"Hang on, there's some ice cream in the freezer. Don't you go-..."
But the rest is just a throaty murmur she can't make out. She understands enough, however, to suspect that the blonde will emerge from the office at any second to make her way to the small kitchen at the back of the building, and she pulls herself together with swift authority; ready to face her self-appointed nemesis and give her a strict telling off for whatever springs to mind.
...What?
She blinks, utterly stunned when she lays eyes on the Sheriff.
Had Emma taken the time to scope out her surroundings, she would have clocked the brunette stood staring at her in the hallway right away. As it is, she simply pads lightly towards the kitchen without a second glance. The lightness of her footsteps is due to the fact that she has discarded the use of her heavy boots. In fact, she hurries down the hallway with one foot entirely bare... Much the same as her torso; pale flesh providing a striking contrast to the deep emerald lace that runs a thin slash of colour across her back.
Frowning as she tries to comprehend what she's just seen, Regina shakes her head before stalking stiffly towards the kitchen to find out just what in the hell the younger woman is playing at. She moves into the threshold of the kitchenette silently, allowing a small smile to touch her lips as she drinks in the pale expanse of the younger woman's back; Emma leant obliviously into the fridge. The definition of the blonde's spine becomes more pronounced as she leans down lower to inspect the freezer. Clearing her throat loudly, the Mayor attempts an aloof scoff as the younger woman jerks violently and whirls around to address her.
"Regina?!"
She winces; her head colliding with the door of the fridge in her haste to face her intruder.
"Miss Swan... What on earth are you doing?"