Regina was satisfied when she finally could switch her phone with her book. She was done texting Zelena. Had gotten rid of the worst of the anxiety that had been brewing within her now that Toronto was getting closer and closer. She was nervous, couldn't run from that. But she had it under control. At least she was fairly certain that she had. As long as she didn't think too much about it. She was still on the train, after all. She still had the opportunity to relax. And she would be damned if she let that opportunity go to waste. She looked up from the book and glanced at Emma. Smiled when she saw that her partner was fast asleep in her seat. Bless her. She looked so very sweet when she was asleep. She hoped that Emma was having good dreams and resting easy. Emma could need that. They had been up until quite late last night, and with their extended morning in bed, there hadn't been much time to relax. Yes, having sex was straining in its own way. Regina suffocated an amused little rumble and concentrated on her book. She had to admit that she missed the thriller she had packed for the journey. She would have to have a little chat with Henry about switching out her books. Fairytales were great, but she had been very much in the mood for a darker tale. But Henry clearly felt differently. And perhaps he did have a point. Maybe darker tales wasn't so good for her right now. In her slightly anxious state at all. How clever of him to have noticed that. But Henry was clever. Of course she already knew that. Her son's brilliance was no news. Regina missed him. She knew that he was doing just fine and having fun with his aunt and everything, but she still missed him. A lot. She wished that he could have been here with her. It would have turned out to be quite the different train journey, but Regina was certain it would have been fun all the same.
It could be fun to make this journey with Henry sometimes. Henry and Emma together. Her two favorite people in the world. Yes. That was what she wanted. And what Henry wanted too. He had told her himself not too long ago.
Emma shifted in her seat without waking up. Regina wondered what she was dreaming. She had been squirming a bit in her sleep for the past few minutes. Regina wondered whether that was a good sign or not. Was Emma perhaps having some kind of 'interesting' dream? If that was the case, Regina wanted to know all about it when Emma woke up. All the details. Just like Emma would have wanted to know all the details had the situation been reversed.
Regina turned a page in her book. As much as she missed her thriller, she had to admit that the fairytales were good too. She had just read 'The Ugly Duckling'. And she had read it very, very carefully. Recently, that fairytale had gained new value. Because it was Emma's favorite fairytale. That alone made the fairytale special to Regina.
Suddenly, Emma's head snapped up and she gasped sharply as she jerked awake. She let out a sharp breath of air.
Regina looked up from her book and signed 'are you okay?'. She already knew the answer. Emma was definitely not okay. Nobody came out of a dream that abruptly for any good reason.
"Bad dream," Emma panted, running her fingers through her hair. "That's what I get for sleeping in the middle of the day!"
Regina was not satisfied with that answer. Emma didn't look like she was ready for joking. Not yet. A little later, perhaps. But not right now. Regina tore off a note and scribbled down a question. 'Is it something you'd like to talk about, my love?' she gave Emma the note. Gave her a choice. And hoped that the answer would be 'yes'. She had a feeling that Emma needed to talk about the dream that had rattled her this much.
"It was my adoptive parents," Emma muttered, brushing a hand over her hair again. "I dreamt that this- all of it- was just a setup to get me back to Toronto. I dreamt that they lured me to their house and locked me in a dark room without windows. It was pretty creepy. Mary Margaret kept yapping on about how I was going to be their little girl again. She had some sort of remote control she used to switch on the lights and when I looked around, it was my old bedroom complete with pink walls, canopy bed and stuffed animals and everything. It was literally so disturbing!"
Well. That…. That WAS disturbing. Beyond that. Regina leaned forward and gave Emma's hand a soft squeeze. What an awful dream to have. Poor Emma. She was clearly nervous about getting closer to Toronto too.
"I'm okay," Emma said and put on a smile. "It was just-"
No. Regina shook her head. It wasn't 'just'. There was nothing 'just' about Emma's thoughts and feelings and dreams. She took a new post-it note and wrote one simple word. 'Scoot.' She gave the note to Emma who looked quite confused for a second. Then she seemed to realize what Regina meant and made herself smaller on her seat. Regina stood from her own seat and sat down on the small space on Emma's seat. There wasn't much space, but Regina didn't care about that. She wrapped an arm around Emma.
It didn't take long before Emma leaned into the touch. "This is exactly what I need right now. Thank you."
Nonsense. Regina shook her head. Emma shouldn't be thanking her. Not for this.
Emma let out a little sigh and began drawing pattern on Regina's knee. It felt like, but that wasn't really the point. The point was how Emma was feeling, and Regina suspected that she did not feel very good at all.
"I'm really nervous about seeing them again," Emma murmured and wiggled a bit in her seat. When she spoke again, she was nearly talking into Regina's hair, but Regina did not mind that. "Knowing that I'm about to see them again makes every last memory of what they did pop into my mind all the time. And I'm afraid that seeing them again will make me completely revert back into that little girl who was constantly afraid of putting as much as a toe out of line because she knew that it could end with her being locked in her room."
Regina automatically squeezed Emma gently, but she could feel that she was getting angry. Plain and simple. But not just 'angry'. She got angry as in very, very angry! She wouldn't be surprised if puffs of fire started coming out of her nose in a moment.
"You're almost scaring me, babe." Emma turned her head and kissed her jaw.
Regina blinked and hoped that the look on her face was less intimidating. She was well aware that her scary-face looked…. Well, scary. Henry had told her that several times. And so had Zelena. And her former students.
"If you give them that look, they'll be too scared to say anything," Emma commented and chuckled again.
But Regina still wasn't ready to be amused. She shook her head and gently slipped her arm off of Emma's shoulder. She grabbed a new post-it note and wrote down exactly what she was feeling right now. 'It's not funny. Do you have any idea how badly I want to go back in time and bring that little girl to safety? I know it's stupid and that you have no use of it now, but I can't help it.' It broke her heart to imagine a tiny blonde haired girl locked in her pink room, completely terrified and all alone…
If she didn't snap out of it at once, she would start crying. Regina handed the note to Emma and hoped that her useless thought process wouldn't upset her.
It didn't take long for Emma to finish reading the note. She looked up and Regina and smiled softly. "It's not stupid. There are things I wish I could rescue you from as well. But unfortunately, I can't. And that really sucks."
Regina nodded thoughtfully. They had been through a lot, both of them. And even though they hadn't been able to rescue each other from the current situation, they certainly had rescued each other now.
"But then again, if I hadn't run away from Toronto, and you hadn't been on your way home, we probably wouldn't have met each other," Emma softly continued and now her eyes shone slightly.
That brought a smile to Regina's lips. Brought her to writing another note. 'I would have found a way to meet you. I would have known that I had missed out on something if our paths hadn't crossed on this train.' She would. She was sure she would have. She gave Emma the note and tried not to think of how horrendously sentimental she was being.
Emma didn't seem to think so, though. "That sounds insanely romantic," she said and chuckled once more. "But you're right. I would have felt the same." Then she sighed a bit. "Any chance I can have your arm back now?"
Certainly. Regina draped her arm around Emma's shoulder again.
"Thanks," Emma said. "This is nice."
It was. Regina gave her partner a little squeeze.
"You know what would really help?" Emma husked. There was a note of mischief in her voice now.
Regina had no idea, and she shook her head and raised an eyebrow. She was willing to do just about anything to make Emma's mood better.
"Seeing you in that nightgown." Sweet Emma was smirking now. And nudging her. Good god. Regina mock scowled at her girlfriend and gave her the lightest little shove. What a tease she was. That damn nightgown again. Emma had talked much about the nightgown since she had found it. Unfortunately. Regina was still a little grumpy because of the ruined surprise. She had been looking forward to coming into the room wearing the nightgown and seeing Emma's raw reaction. But now, that had been sabotaged. Damnit.
"I really wanna see you in it," Emma continued, still husking and smirking. "Did I mention that?"
Regina kept the scowl going as she scribbled on a new post-it note. 'You don't know anything about that nightgown, remember?' that was the deal. She gave Emma the note.
"Oh right," Emma said with an oh, so innocent snicker. "I don't know anything about that nightgown. Definitely not. Nu-uh. Absolutely not. Not a thing. I don't even know that it's see-through or anything..."
Regina scowled again. Even squinted a bit. Just to make sure that Emma knew that they weren't supposed to talk about that nightgown.
"I'm sorry," Emma amended with a chuckle. "I'll stop now."
Regina a hundred percent didn't believe that at all, but oh well. She had other things on her mind. Her bladder, for instance. She motioned towards the bathroom and then to herself.
"I'm not planning on going anywhere," Emma joked.
Regina clicked her tongue. Gave Emma one last squeeze and then rose from the seat. She went into the bathroom and turned to the sink. Switched on the water and cupped her hand. She drank a little mouthful of water. Looked at herself in the mirror. She was getting nervous again. Something fluttered unpleasantly in her stomach. She took a deep breath to steady herself. Everything was gonna be just fine. They weren't even in Toronto yet. She should not be nervous now. Not yet. For now, she wanted to concentrate on this most lovely train ride.
Regina did what she had intended to do and then washed her hands in the sink. Took another deep breath. Felt less anxious now. As long as she settled for thinking about the train ride and absolutely nothing else.
She left the bathroom and returned to the cabin she shared with Emma. Sat down in her own seat.
"Can I sit with you?" Emma asked her and smiled.
Oh. Certainly. Regina returned the smile and nodded. Of course Emma could sit with her. She scooted like Emma had done a moment ago.
Emma was incredibly quick to leap from her seat and sat down on the small space on Regina's seat. Regina doubted that was comfortable. She could have scooted more.
But Emma merely snuggled into Regina's side. "Hi."
Regina rumbled and slipped an arm around Emma. Gave her a little squeeze. And wondered what had caused this fluffy version of Emma to surface. Not that she minded, of course.
"Do you think there's any chance they'll serve bear claws as dessert tonight?" Emma asked.
Regina very much doubted that, and she let out a soft rumble as she shook her head.
"Damnit," Emma laughed. "I could have inhaled three or four bear claws right now."
Three or four bear claws, really? Regina raised an eyebrow and feigned impressment. Or perhaps not. She certainly did not doubt that Emma would in fact be capable of eating three or four bear claws. Her appetite was an endless source of wonder to Regina.
"I'm hungry," Emma said, pushing her bottom lip out in a pout that was better than the pouts most three year olds otherwise mastered. "Why is dinner still three hours away?"
Her antics made Regina smile. Dramatic-for-fun-Emma was rather adorable.
Then she remembered something very important. Something she had been texting with Henry about a little earlier. While Emma was sleeping and her texts with Zelena began. Regina grabbed a new note and wrote down a most important question. At least it mattered a great deal to her son. 'Henry and I texted a bit back and forward earlier, and he mentioned how badly he would like travel home by train with us instead of flying back with Zelena. What would you think of that?'
"That's totally fine with me," Emma said and smiled as soon as she had read the note. "I can understand why he'd want to be close to you, and I love spending time with him. You know that."
Dear sweet Emma. Regina gently patted her cheek. Loved her a little extra for being so good to her son always. She would text Henry immediately and tell him that she had done what he asked and that he answer was yes. Exactly like she knew it would be. Henry was the one who had insisted that she asked Emma.
"It's not something you have to be grateful for," Emma gently reminded her. "I always want to spend time with Henry. I think it's going to be very fun, don't you? The three of us travelling together like a little family."
Family. Oh god, that word. Regina so loved it. And she loved that Emma felt that way about their little unity. She smiled at her partner.
"Tell him I can't wait to head out on the choo-choo adventure with him," Emma snickered.
She would do that. Immediately. Regina nodded and grabbed her phone. She couldn't help but grin as she texted her son: 'Emma can't wait to head out on the choo-choo adventure with you. Nor can I. I miss you!'
'Miss you too, mom! Can't wait to see you soon! :D'
Regina smiled and wondered whether her son had used quite so many emojis before she and Emma got together. She had a feeling that he hadn't. She had a feeling that Emma was the one who had taught him to use them. But that wasn't the worst habit. She texted her son back. He told her that he would be texting Emma. And he clearly meant right now, because not even a minute after, Regina heard Emma's cellphone vibrate and saw her grin as she checked the message. She was given no insight in the conversation between her son and girlfriend. Not until her cellphone suddenly buzzed and Henry informed her that 'Emma just said hell!'
That prompted Regina to scowl slightly at her girlfriend. THAT habit was not a good one. She would prefer if her son wasn't exposed to bad words. Well, at least less than he was at school.
"Kid just totally ratted me out, didn't he?" Emma asked sheepishly.
Regina nodded. Yes, indeed.
"Oops," Emma said innocently. "Sorry. Won't happen again."
'That he rats you out?' Regina couldn't resist to tease and felt very satisfied as she handed Emma the note.
Emma bursted out laughing. "Well… I would love to say yes, but I have a feeling that this won't be the first time the little rascal rats me out. But that's okay. I shouldn't be using cuss words around him. I'll try my best not to."
Regina leaned in and pecked Emma on the lips. Because she always, always was so sweet and considerate about everything.
"What was that for?" Emma asked and bless her, she looked so confused.
Regina didn't provide her with any answer. She just smiled at her girlfriend…
No bear claws were served for dinner. Regina had hoped that Emma would mock pout about it and be dramatic again, but Emma seemed highly satisfied with tonight's menu. Chicken filet and roasted potatoes. And strawberry ice cream.
Regina wasn't quite as enthusiastic about the ice cream. It reminded her a little too much of a very near future in which she would be eating a lot of ice cream.
Damn you, liquid diet.
'Might as well get used to it', she wrote and slipped Emma the note.
"Might as well get used to- oh. The ice cream. I get it," Emma nodded. Then flashed Regina a look of sympathy.
Pity was not what Regina was after, so she put on a great big smile as she took another spoonful of ice cream. She stuffed it inside her mouth and then licked the spoon clean. Just in case there was still a bit of ice cream left on it. She actually did not mind strawberry ice cream. At least she didn't when weeks of liquid diet was waiting ahead.
"Uhh... babe."
What? Regina looked up. Did she have ice cream on her chin or something? If that was the case, she would get mighty embarrassed in a moment.
"Could you maybe, like... not lick the spoon?" Emma asked and squirmed a little.
Why ever not? Regina tilted her head in confusion. She genuinely didn't understand what Emma was going on about.
Poor Emma seemed to struggle too. But apparently with something quite different than confusion. She let out a groan. "It's hot, okay?"
Oh. Ohhh! Well then. Regina smiled and was 'unfortunately' unable to accommodate Emma's request about not licking the spoon again. Instead she did the exact opposite thing. Brought the spoon to her lips and licked it a second time.
Emma groaned again. Less quietly this time. A flush crept up her neck and spread into her cheeks. Interesting. Regina quite fancied that look on her partner, and she smirked at said partner. Was delighted when Emma smirked back. NOW was the time for joking around.
"Womanizer."
That one little word immediately made Regina choke on the mouthful of ice cream she had just shoved inside her mouth.
"Careful." Emma snickered shamelessly.
Regina took a sip of her wine in an attempt to clear her throat. She couldn't recall to ever have been called 'womanizer' by anyone. But it was a title she would wear with pride. She took another sip of her wine. It was possible that she'd already had one too many. She was a teensy bit tipsy. But since they were on the train, it was alright. She had earned the right to be a little tipsy. As long as she felt good about it. And she did. She felt warm and comfortable. Full of fuzzy feelings. A little flushed. In the good way.
"I'm stuffed. I literally can't take another bite even if I was paid for it."
Regina rumbled. And simply refused to believe that. She was quite sure that Emma could in fact take another bite. And not just if she was paid for it. Emma's cheeks were flushed too, but Regina had a feeling that it had nothing to do with the spoon-licking thing. No, she had a feeling that Emma wasn't completely sober either. The twinkle in her eyes told her so. As did the loud fashion she had groaned in a moment ago. Sober Emma wouldn't have done that. But Regina wasn't bothered by it. It was nice to feel desired. And besides, nobody in the dining area paid the slightest bit of attention to them. It was all good.
"That was a damn good wine." Emma pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and revealed even more of her flushing cheek.
Regina agreed and nodded. Motioned with her fingers in the air to indicate that the room was spinning. She was a light-weight. Or so she had become in her mid-thirties. When she was in her twenties, she could easily have drunken Malena under the table any day. But not anymore.
"Maybe we should lie down?"
If that was a suggestion for something else, it was a damn good suggestion. Regina suddenly felt a little warm again.
Emma stood from her chair and came around the table. Grinned unabashedly at Regina as she outstretched her hand with a lavish movement and a deeply exaggerated: "Milady."
Regina rolled her eyes and scoffed, but deep down she was amused. And rather smug about being addressed in such a fashion. She tried to keep her grin at bay as she willingly took Emma's hand and let her pull her up from the chair.
On their way out, Emma snatched the post it and pencils and declared: "I'm still a collector of these. In case you're wondering."
How awfully endearing. But then again, EVERYTHING about Emma was endearing. Especially the way she walked when she'd had a little bit to drink. It looked cute. Sort of… penguin like. Regina made sure to hold on to Emma's hand. To support her. And perhaps also to support herself. As usually, the alcohol was going straight to her legs. It was a good thing their sleep cabin was close by. It could have been quite the comedy if Emma had to carry her. Like Malena had ended up doing one night where Regina had ended up having a bit too much to drink. Ever the gallant one, Malena had scooped her up and carried her across town. In pouring rain. Malena had been drunk too. It hadn't occurred to her to get a taxi.
Regina reminded herself to remind Malena about that story soon..
They reached their own sleep compartment. Regina closed and locked the door. Emma flopped down on the bed and Regina proceeded to free herself from the silk scarf she had wearing for dinner. Ahh, how wonderful it felt to be able to give her neck a good scratch at last!
"Careful. Don't make yourself bleed, babe. I did bring some band-aid, but I would prefer if we didn't have to use it."
Regina snorted. Suddenly, Emma sounded like she was the oldest one of them. But she supposed that Emma had a point. Making her neck bleed and arriving in Toronto with a band-aid would be unfortunate. Henry would notice. And so would Zelena. She abandoned her throat and instead opened the buttons in her red blazer. Slid the garment down her shoulders. Removed the black silk blouse she was wearing underneath. She wanted to be comfortable now.
"Are you in the middle of stripping for me?" Emma asked and laughed. "Because if that's the case I'm not complaining..."
Regina scoffed and shook her head. Definitely not.
"No? Oh well, that's a good look on you too."
Seriously? She was in slacks and a cream-colored camisole. Literally not anything special. But Regina was quite willing to believe Emma's words. She elegantly perched herself on the edge of the bed as she slipped off her high heels.
Meanwhile, Emma removed the little yellow post-it notes from her pocket and sat them down on the bedside table. She was giving the notes so fond a look Regina was just about to jokingly ask her if she wanted to be alone with the notes for a moment.
But Emma spoke before she could get the chance. "You know what I was thinking?" she asked.
Regina shook her head. She did not. But if Emma was about to make some kind of joke about the post-it notes, she would make sure to tell her that she was getting jealous.
I was thinking about making a written post-it note the cover for "A Tap on the Shoulder"," Emma said. "You know... should it ever be published."
Wonderful idea, but there was something wrong with that sentence. Of COURSE 'A Tap on the Shoulder' would be published. Why wouldn't it be? It was a wonderful story. And Emma was a wonderful author. Soon everyone would know that!
"I think that could be a good idea, since it all started with a few post-it notes," Emma mused.
Regina smiled as she continued the task of taking off her shoes. Nodded. She liked that idea a lot. Hoped that Emma would go through with it WHEN the story was published.
"Come to bed, babe," Emma almost crooned. "I'm feelin' mighty lonesome."
Honest talk. Regina didn't feel like teasing Emma about it. She simply came to bed. Like Emma had requested. But as soon as she was comfortable, she couldn't resist a bit of teasing. 'And mighty drunk too it would appear, miss Swan.', she wrote on a note and gave it to Emma.
"I'm not drunk," Emma claimed.
Regina seriously doubted that, but she feigned polite disbelief as she raised an eyebrow.
"I'm not," Emma firmly denied. "You only think that this is drunk because you've never met Kate Sanders. She could easily drink you and me under the table any day..."
Kate who? Regina was pretty sure Emma had never mentioned that name before. 'And who in the world is Kate Sanders?' she wrote and noted that her handwriting was a bit crooked. It was hard to write prettily when you had had a little too much to drink. She did her best to ignore the messy handwriting and gave the note to Emma.
"She was my first girlfriend," Emma revealed. "I met her shortly after Mary Margaret and David kicked me out at seventeen. We were together a couple of months. Have I never told you about her?"
Regina shook her head. No, Emma had never mentioned Kate Sanders. 'Was she sweet?' she wrote underneath the first question and hoped that the answer was yes. She couldn't bear the idea of one of Emma's partners not treating her well.
"Not as sweet as you," Emma said, giving her knee a soft squeeze. "Definitely not as sweet as you."
Oh, Emma. Regina let out a rumble and quickly clarified on a new note: 'I'm not jealous. I'm curious. I want to know everything there is to know about you.'
It didn't take long for Emma to read the new note. "Oh," she chuckled. "Yeah, she was sweet. Very sweet. I met her one night when I was at a bar I wasn't really supposed to be in. She was basically living in her car, and it was this really ugly pink car. Even had "edgy" stickers and all. At the time, I thought that car was the coolest vehicle I'd ever seen, but now I can see how incredibly tacky it was." she chuckled again, shook her head. "I've made some memories in the back of that car."
Regina could read between the lines and ended up sputtering slightly. It had to be the alcohol making Emma speak so freely.
"Yep, my first time was in the back of a car," Emma said casually, laughing as she turned her head to look at Regina. "Romantic, huh?"
Regina made a so-so gesture with her hand and pursed her lips as she considered that. She supposed that it wasn't just the location that made for a romantic mood, but the backseat of a car would not have been her first choice.
"Yeah, I suppose it could have been better," Emma agreed with a soft snicker. "And to be honest, it was a bit of a fumble. Not this crazily romantic experience everyone makes it up to be."
Regina smiled a little. She supposed that was true. Her next question on a new post-it was pure wisdom: 'are first times ever?'
"No, I don't suppose they are," Emma said, rolling onto her other side and looking at Regina. "Can I know about yours?"
Wait, what? Regina had a feeling that her eyes were widening as she looked at Emma.
"What?" Emma laughed and gave her a teasing nudge. "I'm curious. I wanna know everything there is to know about you. We're trading confessions."
Confessions about their first sexual experience, really? Regina lifted an eyebrow.
"Come on," Emma coaxed "At least tell me it was more romantic than my experience. At least tell me it happened in a bed and not in the back of a pink car."
Regina rumbled. Couldn't help it. A pink car? Well, at least the color was romantic.
"So not in the back of a car?" Emma asked and waggled an eyebrow. Very charming.
Regina shook her head. Definitely NOT in the back of a car.
"I didn't think so either," Emma said cleverly. "In a bed then?"
Regina gave a nod. Yes, her first time had indeed been in a bed. No surprises there.
"And I assume it was Malena?
Correct. Regina nodded to confirm that and felt a little flushed. Got annoyed because she was an adult woman and there was nothing embarrassing about talking about sex.
"I figured. How old were you guys?" Emma's face radiated curiosity and no jealousy whatsoever. Of course not.
Regina switched from writing on post-its to writing on her phone. That was easier. And it had auto correct. Her tipsy state could very well cause her to misspell a word if she handwrote. By using her phone, she didn't risk that. 'We had recently turned seventeen. We had been together for a year. ', she wrote, and satisfied with that, she turned the screen towards Emma.
"Good for you," Emma said and flashed her a warm smile. "Kate and I had been together for about five minutes..." she shook her head as though scoffing at the memory. "I guess you could say we were young and impulsive... or at least hormonal as hell..."
Regina rumbled. 'Hormonal as hell'. That actually sounded familiar. To be perfectly honest, she wasn't quite sure how she and Mal had managed to wait a whole year…
"Please tell me you had a deeply romantic, perfect experience," Emma laughed.
Well…. Regina's fingers moved quickly across the screen as she wrote. 'I don't know about whether it was perfect, but it was definitely very sweet. It was on prom night, and I clearly remember that we were both laughing rather hysterically when we snuck away from the party. As tacky as it sounds, Malena had rented a hotel room for the night. A very small one. I remember that the bed was quite small. We had a laugh about that. I think we generally laughed a lot that night. I was rather nervous and in hindsight, I think so was she, but as you can imagine she was far better at hiding it than I was.' She quickly checked the text for potential errors and misspells, and satisfied with not finding any, she turned the screen towards Emma and hoped that her tipsy state didn't prevent her from reading the block of text. Apparently, Regina had a lot to say about her first time. It had been a little awkward. A little fumbly. There had been a lot of 'is it okay if I' and quite a bit of 'does this feel okay'. She supposed that none of them had really known what they were doing. But all in all, her first time could have been way, way worse.
"Prom night, hotel room, I don't know, so far I think it sounds hella romantic," Emma snickered and nudged her "And what, did you guys pull a Dylan and Brenda and went back to the party looking all perfect and done up?"
Definitely not. Regina snorted. 'No, we fell asleep. And the next day my mother wanted to know how on earth my dress had ended up getting that crumbled. I don't remember what I told her in response. I probably came up with some sort of creative lie.' She turned the screen back towards Emma and absentmindedly tried to remember what she had told her mother. She couldn't remember right now, but she had a feeling that Cora had looked right through her. She had done that a lot.
"Ditching the rest of the prom and falling asleep instead. Still sounds rather perfect to me."
'Well, we definitely had a laugh for sure.' Regina remembered that. She remembered how much they had laughed that night.
"Laughing your way through your first time," Emma grinned. "Not bad. Not bad at all. I think I ended up with a massive backache because of the backseat..."
Regina clicked her tongue. And made a mental note to herself about to never seduce Emma in the back of a car. Not that she ever would do that. Obviously. She was a lady after all.
"Good thing that certain things gets better with age and experience." Emma adjusted so she was laying with her head on Regina's stomach.
Very true indeed. Regina rumbled in amusement. And in agreement.
Emma let out a low, soft exhale and closed her eyes. "This is nice."
Regina hummed and began to comb her fingers through Emma's hair.
"That too," Emma mumbled. Warned: "I'll start mewling in a moment if you're not careful."
Now that was something Regina would love to hear. She kept combing her fingers through Emma's hair. Then scratched her fingers against Emma's scalp. She would very much like to make Emma mewl.
"Hey," Emma said, suddenly tipping her head back and looking at her.
Regina opened her eyes and looked down at Emma.
"I know that you were nervous earlier," Emma said softly. "And you are more than entitled to be, okay? I know you think that you're just being silly, but you're not, okay? You're about to have another operation. Of course you're nervous. And I also know that you sometimes pretend to not be nervous because you think you're "dumping" things on me, but you're not. It's what I'm here for. I have your back and you have mine. You don't have to pretend to not be nervous when you actually are."
Oh. Regina managed a nod. But she was secretly wondering what had given her away. Had it been a look on her face? Or was it SOMEONE who had given her away? Her sister, perhaps. Yes. Zelena could very much be the culprit.
"Good," Emma said simply and lowered her head back down again.
Regina kept the combing up for a little while. But soon enough, she had to stop what she was doing and push Emma's head away from her stomach. She had other things on her mind all the sudden. And it wasn't the wine talking.
"Noooo," Emma protested. "Where are you going? Come back!"
Oh, she would. In a moment. Still, Regina tried her best to play haughty. She scoffed. Then began roaming through her suitcase. Searching for one particular garment.
Emma clearly got a glimpse of said garment. "Oh? Does that mean what I think it does?"
It did. Regina grabbed her phone and began typing. 'Would it be terribly outrageous of me to suggest a bit more train ride romance?' she was smirking as she turned the screen towards Emma. Because she knew what the answer would be.
"Nope," Emma said, lips stretching in a grin. "Not at all. Would it be terribly outrageous of me to ask you to hurry up and put that nightgown on?"
No, that wouldn't be outrageous at all. Regina grabbed the nightgown and headed into the bathroom. In there, she quickly stripped out of her clothes. Stood and shivered for a second before putting on the little red nightgown. She shivered again. That nightgown did not provide with lot of warmth. But that wasn't the intention either. Regina smirked again as she looked at herself in the mirror. She felt sexy. Sinful. The material was light and soft and incredibly flimsy. Sheer.
Regina pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and smiled at her reflection. Thought of how Emma would react when she saw her. The anticipation burned hot and pleasantly in Regina's stomach, and she couldn't wait a second longer. She turned around and left the bathroom again.
Emma's reaction did not disappoint. She sat bold upright, and her mouth fell open with a little pop. "Fucking hell, you're so sexy," she breathed and bit her lip.
Regina smiled and jokingly spun around.
"That is a very pretty nightgown," Emma smirked. "Seems almost a shame that I'll have to take it off in a second. Come over here and let me see you properly."
Of course, Regina very willingly came closer and both women grinned when Emma put her hands on her hips.
"I am the luckiest bastard in the world!"
Regina rumbled but did not disagree with her partner. She didn't have time for arguments. Now was not the time for protesting. It was the time for being effective. And effective was exactly what Regina was being as she quickly ridded Emma of her tanktop, bra and jeans. She gently pushed Emma backwards, so she was laying on her back on the bed. Regina climbed on top of her and straddled her hips. Grinned at her. Kissed her.
They were not yet done with their train ride romance, and it quickly turned out that being so hush-hush about the nightgown had been rather silly of her. It didn't last long. Not even a full minute before Emma yanked it off of her and tossed it onto the floor…
To Be Continued….