Prompt # 220 - Regina gets mad at Robin for watching the show they're watching together without her.
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Betrayal:
Tired. Exhausted. Worn out.
There are not enough words in the human vocabulary to describe how Regina Mills feels tonight after a long day at her book shop.
The new and, apparently, greatest book series had been released, causing a storm of people to bombard her all day. She barely had enough time to sit down and eat lunch.
She's been dreaming all day of coming home to her fiancé, Robin, snuggling up on the couch and watching the next episode of The Last Kingdom. They'd found it on Netflix last weekend and have been watching it almost every night since. The episode last night left them on a cliffhanger, so she was excited to see what happens next.
Unlocking her door, she calls out, "Robin, I'm home."
Regina rounds the corner, dropping her purse onto the kitchen table. When she turns to face him in the living room, she sees Robin setting the remote down in a hurry. His back is straight as a rod and he's got the biggest, fakest, smile on his face. "Hello, darling!"
"What are you doing?" she asks, narrowing her eyes as a hand goes to her hip.
"Nothing. Nothing at all." He shrugs, standing up from the couch. He makes his way to where she stands by the kitchen table, wrapping her in a hug. "I made dinner, let's eat," he murmurs into her hair, placing a kiss to the top of her raven locks and turning her to face the kitchen.
She pulls back, knowing something is up. Regina goes to look over her shoulder toward the living room and just before she can get a good look, Robin grabs her shoulders, turning her back to face her toward the kitchen again. "I made spaghetti!"
He hurries to the stove, stirring the sauce and rambling about his day.
As he does, she makes a mad dash for the living room before he can stop her.
She stands in front of the television, staring at the sight before her.
Betrayal. Deception. That bastard.
"Robin Locksley!"
She hears the ladle clatter against the sauce pan, and he scurries into the living room, trying to grab for the remote.
"You watched the next episode without me!?" she exclaims, switching the remote from hand to hand as he tries to grab it from her in a panic.
She tries to hold back the grin forcing its way to her lips when she sees his blue eyes bulge from his head.
"I, well, you see," he stammers, reaching for the remote that's now behind her back.
Tossing the remote onto the couch as if it had betrayed her as well, she crosses her arms. Regina pops a hip out, tapping her foot impatiently as she waits for his explanation.
"I just, you know, I mean," he blabbers, flailing his hands toward the television and remote that now sits on the couch behind him. "Uhtred had just snuck into the palace, and, I mean, you saw him, Alfred was—"
"Oh, I know where Alfred was. And we were supposed to find out what he had to say together."
Robin's shoulders fall, a huff (that turns into a laugh) escaping. "I'm sorry." His eyes, now round like a guilty puppy dog, glance up at her, giving her one of those smirks that he knows she melts at the sight of.
She rolls her eyes, begrudgingly letting him pull her to him. Her arms are still crossed though, but he wraps his around her anyway.
He chuckles softly, "You're not even going to hug me?"
"You haven't given me reason to," she mumbles tightly into his chest, trying her hardest not to laugh. "And you smell like forest."
Robin chortles, pulling back. "That's my forest body wash that you picked out when you were on your last Bath and Body Works spree because you liked it so much." His arms encase her biceps, and he squeezes gently as he looks into her chocolate eyes, admitting, "But I am sorry."
"I'm sorry for…?"
It's his turn to roll his eyes, but she doesn't miss the grin causing his dimples to sink into his cheeks. "I'm sorry for watching the next episode without you. It was wrong of me, a terrible injustice really, and it'll never happen again."
Sucking in her cheeks, she searches his eyes, finally saying, "This is cause to call off the wedding, you know. How can I marry someone I can't even trust with this?" She breaks, her smirk shining through, and Robin laughs.
"It's what I deserve, Milady, please forgive me," he announces, taking a dramatic bow.
Regina lifts one eyebrow, pursing her lips. "I'll think about it."
Robin snorts, shaking his head. "Well, while you make your decision, how about we eat?"
Smiling, she follows Robin to the kitchen, admitting that it does smell amazing as her stomach growls.
They fix their plates, and Robin pours them each a glass of wine before joining her at the table.
She tells him about her day, and the chaos that ensued. "There were apparently hidden scenes in only some copies of the book, but no one knew where they were being sold," she explains, "so these… fanatics… went all over town to every book store, buying a copy of the book to try and find all the hidden scenes."
"Seems pretty smart of the author," Robin laughs, taking a sip of his wine. "More sells that way."
Grinning, she agrees. "It was very smart. But for a bookshop owner, especially one as small as mine, it was a lot to deal with."
Her only other employee, Mary Margaret, had been out today. She and her husband, David, were expecting their first child any day now so Mary had gone to her doctor's appointment. Usually when she has appointments, Regina just lets her take the entire day off. Her store is small enough, they live in a quaint little town called Storybrooke, so it's not as if they're usually ever busy enough that she can't handle it on her own.
Today, however, all the book fans had driven in from Maine's more populated Portland. It was only an hour from Storybrooke, so after they'd raided all of Portland's book stores, hers was next on their list.
"Sounds exhausting," Robin says, reaching out to take her hand. His thumb rubs against the top of her hand, soothing her.
"Yeah," she breathes, taking a bite of spaghetti. "But, I will say, it was a very profitable day. Some of the younger fans saw that I had another series they loved, so they bought those as well," she tells him. After chewing and swallowing another bite, her last one, she says, "I'll have to order a few more copies, which is good. I know Ruby from the diner downtown wanted to come by and get it, too." Robin nods, listening. She grins when he looks down at his plate, taking the opportunity. "And I dreamed of coming home to watch The Last Kingdom allllll day," she drawls dramatically, cutting her eyes over to him.
He chokes ons his laugh, head popping up from the plate and holding up his hands. "I just couldn't help myself. I only had to work half the day at the camp today, and it was just… so… tempting."
Rolling her eyes, she giggles, saying, "I guess I can't blame you. I wouldn't have waited either."
"So we're still engaged?" he asks, setting his fork down on his empty plate and taking a sip of wine.
She snickers, assuring him that, yes, they're still engaged.
"Phew," he sighs over-dramatically and places a hand over his heart. "I was worried there for a second."
"Yeah, yeah," she grumbles, taking their plates into the kitchen. "I guess after four years, it'd take more than that to get rid of me."
Robin comes to stand behind her at the sink, his arms wrapping around her from behind as she rinses the dishes off. He kisses her neck, then her ear, softly telling her, "Let me do the dishes, love. You had a tiring day. Go get changed into some comfortable clothes and we'll restart the episode."
Grinning coyly, she turns in his arms, looping hers around his neck. "That," she says, placing a kiss to his lips, "sounds like a wonderful idea."
With one more lingering kiss, he steps aside to let her go. As she walks away, she swats him on the rear, giggling when he calls out an, "Oi! If we're gonna start the rough stuff, the episode can wait."
Guffawing, she calls from down the hall, "You wish!"
Once changed into a pair of black yoga pants and one of Robin's old t-shirts from the college they went to, she joins him on the couch.
He's brought their wine over, and tells her, "I can make us some popcorn later, or I bought some ice cream on the way home today."
"Rocky Road?" she asks, eyes lighting up.
Robin reaches for her hand, placing a kiss to her palm and then her engagement ring as she leans back, stretching her legs across the length of the couch, her feet landing on top of his thigh.
He wiggles her big toe, saying, "But of course. Only the best for my fiancée."
Grinning, she nods, saying she'll get up and get some later. "But I'm dying to see what Alfred says to Uhtred."
"Oh, it's good," he says, ducking when she tosses a throw pillow at his head.
"I hate you," she laughs, reaching for the remote. "Just for this, I'm going to watch the next two while I'm at work tomorrow. The store should be nice and calm again."
"That's not fair," he pouts, his lips struggling to stay pouted around his smile. "I have to work all day tomorrow and teach three archery camps."
"Well," she shrugs, clicking on the episode. "Guess we'll have to see if you can make it up to me tonight."
As the recap of the previous episode plays, he leans over, beckoning her to lean up as well and meet him halfway.
She does, smiling into the kiss he places on her lips.
"Oh, I can more than make up for it," he murmurs, his British accent thickening with his husky voice. He pecks her lips one more time, then another to the tip of her nose.
"Good," she whispers into the space between them, "but later."
Laughing, they both sit back and get comfortable, Regina's eyes glued to the television for the whole next hour.
And later that night, after two more episodes, a bowl of Rocky Road, and a few more sips of wine, Robin and Regina crawl into bed far later in the night than they were planning. Robin has to be out at the camp early and she's got to straighten up the store before opening, but, well, they just couldn't stop watching.
But as he kisses his way down her body, whispering his playful pleas for her to forgive him in that sexy, gravely voice that turns her insides to molten lava each time, she thinks to herself that maybe he should watch episodes without her more often.
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I hope you enjoyed this one! Just a quick, silly little moment. I always love getting to see them tease and joke around with each other. But also, if you haven't seen The Last Kingdom, I highly recommend lol…. Let me know what you thought of the story!
