A/N: This version of Regina is a lot of fun to write :D Review would be lovely!
"Serve me..."
Looking from the fish on the stove to the Queen, Emma sighs. She pulls a plate down from one of the cupboards and carefully dishes up the sea bass, complete with a tasteful medley of vegetables and some crisped slices of potato. Taking it over to the table, she hesitates as she studies the brunette sat waiting expectantly with a cheshire grin of malice, before sliding the plate over with a gruff snarl of
"Here."
"Thank you, dear."
The Queen smirks, once more flicking her wrist to bring Emma's wine from the counter to the table; full to the brim with merlot.
"Sit."
She orders, and the blonde does as she's told with an expression that warns that the darker woman shouldn't get too comfortable expecting this from her.
"This is your plan? Really? To bother me for a while until you get a shot at my mom?"
Emma asks, watching as the Queen makes elegant work of her food while looking around curiously.
"It's working."
The brunette muses lightly, and the blonde narrows her eyes and shrugs.
"It is, but it seems a little lame. At least for the Evil Queen..."
She baits, and internally she asks herself what in the hell she's doing, but she's pissed and hungry and she's had just about enough of the brunette speaking to her the way she seems to delight in doing.
"Do you really think such questions are wise?"
The Queen asks, before returning once more to cataloging the younger woman's kitchen.
"Hmm. This is all your stuff."
"Observant. I live here."
"Nothing belonging to the pirate, I see..."
"Hook has his ship."
"I know... Not keen on taking the next step, then?"
The Queen asks, pushing away her finished plate and leaning over the table with her hands laced under her jaw; a pantomime of girlish interest. Emma regards her stoically, taking a sip of her wine as she lets silence fall between them.
"Oh come now, don't be coy. I thought we were friends? Why the sudden cold shoulder, Miss Swan?"
No response other than the slight raising of a brow, but the brunette is undeterred, sipping from her own wine as she primps at her hair coquettishly. With the way she leans forwards, she offers the blonde a candid view of her cleavage, and she runs a finger over her bottom lip as she studies Emma intently.
"You know he'll get bored of this stony act, don't you? I mean, no offence, dear, but I've only been sat here with you for ten minutes and I'm bored out of my skull... But perhaps you two do little talking? Hmm? I must say, the one-handed thing and the blade; now that does offer some food for thought... Is that the catch for you? Is that why you put up with him?... Nothing?... Oh, come, Emma, at least indulge me a little! You are playing host after all!... No?... Well, suit yourself. I suppose if he does bore of you and your refusal to let anyone in, I could always see just what all the-"
"-Save it. You know this isn't going to work, right?"
"What isn't?"
The Queen asks with a mock expression of confusion, and Emma rolls her eyes as she meets her dark stare easily; forbidding herself to look down to where the brunette seems to be trying to direct her attention.
"This. You trying to get under my skin."
"Oh, I'm already there. We might as well have some fun with it."
The brunette smirks, watching as the blonde sips from her wine with little change to her demeanour; the younger woman emitting nothing but pure ice.
"Why so touchy? I'm simply making conversation. Most people enjoy gushing about their significant others."
"Have you ever known me to gush?"
Emma counters, and the Queen sighs as she adopts a defeated pose and laments huskily
"No, sadly not."
"Well, then-"
"-But we could change that, I'm sure, with a little persuasion."
"Why do you even want to know? Since when do you have any interest in me and Hook?"
"That's rather rich, given what I've done for the two of you."
"Regina did that. The good parts of her did that."
"Oh, Emma, I assure you all the best parts are right here."
The Queen purrs, and she smirks as she catches the blonde's eyes flicker down for just a second before cool green once more bores into her angrily. She considers telling the younger woman that this cold defiance is a delectable look on her, but instead, she simply savours it and sighs dramatically
"Fine, if you must know, I suppose I have no interest. I just don't understand what you see in him is all...?"
She shrugs, sipping from her wine as her dark eyes roam tight leather and the amusing sweetness lent to the blonde by her apron. Emma studies her own glass, before asking boldly
"Are you asking in an attempt to gossip, or because you're jealous?"
"Oh, my dear, you're welcome to him, believe me."
"Not of me... Of Hook."
"... Why might I be jealous?"
The Queen asks with a slow smile, and the younger woman looks up at her suspiciously, before simply laying her cards out on the table.
"Do you like me?"
"We've discussed this-"
"-Not as a person. You know what I mean. You kissed me. Do you- Does Regina-"
"-Regina- that Regina- never made up her mind about anything. All those times she could have acted, and yet she never even dared to fully form the thought."
"But she... I mean she-"
"-I! Stop being so dismissive; it's rude. She and I are one of the same, I've just cut ties with the elements that made me weak."
"You're not the same. My Regina was stronger than you. Better than you."
"Your Regina?"
"Storybrooke Regina. Whatever!"
"Oh my..."
The brunette grins, and Emma glares at her haughtily.
"You're the worst part of her, and for all I know, you're simply bored and fucking around."
"Would it matter?"
The Queen teases, leaning across the table with her lips parted in a sinful smirk.
"You're just darkness."
The blonde hisses, and the brunette laughs lightly and shakes her head.
"Darkness? Not so much. Evil? Well, yes, there are those who like to use that word. Myself? I would prefer something a little prettier, a little more sultry, but I suppose I can see where they're coming from. Darkness, though... That's in you, dear. That's hiding away in you underneath your well-honed hero facade. Me? I am a pure form of everything I have ever wanted to be... You... Well, Miss Swan, you're not so innocent if we really get down to it, are you? A good thing, too... Else I'd tire of you far too quickly."
Her eyes glitter as this last part drips with suggestion, and the younger woman studies her uneasily but takes care not to let any cracks begin to show.
"Everyone has two sides to them. Every normal person."
"Well, I've never wanted to be like everyone else, dear. I've always wanted to be more than that."
The Queen muses, before leaning once more across the modestly sized table, offering the blonde dark eyes and perfectly globed flesh as she addresses her captive host softly, her lips a mere inch from Emma's cheek as though telling her a secret.
"Apart from revenge, which will soon be mine, I have everything I want. I can take anything I want. I can have anything I want now."
"... And yet you're sat here annoying me while basically in hiding."
The younger woman points out, before yelping in surprise when cruel nails scratch at her jaw as the Queen's hand finds her throat. Most of her surprise comes from the fact that in doing so the brunette has knocked over her wine; sending it spilling out over the table to drench her apron, jeans and floor.
"Look what you made me do!"
The Queen snarls accusingly, tightening her grip until she can feel the steady thrum of the younger woman's blood pulsing beneath her fingers.
"You did that."
Emma argues, rather unwisely, and sharp teeth show in a flash of fury before full lips break into a terrible smile.
"Oh, you have a lot to learn about how to address royalty..."
"So do you."
"Ah!"
The brunette warns, her grip tightening a little, and she watches as Emma's lashes flicker involuntarily to hint at the fear she refuses to allow her otherwise. Wetting her lips as she attempts to stare the younger woman down, she eventually lets go and lowers herself back into her seat, crossing her legs primly.
"Go on. Go clean yourself up. As much as I relish the thought of having you sat wet in front of me, you currently smell like an alcoholic."
Touching the red marks left at her throat, Emma narrows her eyes as she considers this request. She doesn't trust this hateful version of Regina in the slightest, but an opportunity to get away from her- even if only for a few minutes- is currently highly appealing. Pushing herself silently from the table, she stalks uncertainly for the door before taking a quick step back when the wood slams closed in her face.
"Ah. Miss Swan. Not so fast."
"What do you want?"
The blonde asks quietly; her tone tense and dubious.
"Oh, nothing to fret over, dear, show a little faith!"
The Queen laughs silkily, dark eyes boring into the younger woman as she stands with her back to her with her hands balled into tight fists.
"To you?"
Emma growls, and the brunette smirks as she muses
"Well, I suppose the request is rather hypocritical in this instance. Your pockets, empty them... And, before you go getting any ideas, I know that you carry both a phone and a pager. I want them both before you disappear upstairs."
Sighing defeatedly, the blonde turns around and hands over both devices; placing them on the table before asking coldly
"Can I go now? Only this isn't exactly comfortable."
"I don't know. Is that everything?"
"Yes."
"Or should I check for myself?"
"... It's everything. The landline's hooked up for the net, but I don't have a home phone. You- or Regina- knows that. My gun is in the hall. It takes about ten steps to get to the stairs, which creak. It's twenty to the door where the table is. Count if you want."
"I will."
The brunette grins with her fingers steeped in front of her mouth and her eyes glittering. She recognises the challenge in the younger woman's voice, and while she isn't remotely threatened by it, it is having some more positive effects further south.
"Be a good girl now, Emma."
She orders, and the blonde offers her an icy look before turning around with the warning
"You too."