Trying something new in the bottom half of this chapter (because of what I've been reading lately and how well those stories are received and also because I wrote the first half of this in the beginning of November and then spent 6 weeks on my Christmas story) It's not my usual style and I found it difficult but we'll see how it goes.
23rd July 2017
Regina huffed and crossed her arms, frowning at Snow, the perky attitude of the younger woman pissing her off. "Snow, please tell Emma that she is an idiot, but I still love her."
Snow chuckled, rolling her eyes at the dramatic brunette. "Why don't you tell her yourself?"
Regina turned her glare from the frustrating Charming male who was laughing to the annoying Charming female who had never done as she asked. She uncrossed her arms and re-crossed them, raising her brow. "We're in a fight." Snow looked the brunette up and down, and looked to Emma who was smirking.
"… You're sitting in her lap…" Regina maintained the glare at her fiancée's parents as she relaxed, settling into the arms that were wrapped around her waist.
"Whatever. She's still an idiot." Emma laughed as she sat up straighter, making sure Regina remained stable on her lap.
"Yes 'Gina, but I'm your idiot." She didn't miss the shudder as she kissed the spot behind her ear that always made her squirm and squeezed her arms tighter around Regina's waist as her parents walked away hand in hand to the bar area.
Emma had invited their closest family and friends' to celebrate their impending marriage, and had managed to hire the sorcerer's mansion that was currently held by the convent for private hire only. She had been planning it with Ruby for two weeks and for some reason ad thought that Regina would love being the centre of attention as they celebrated her. She'd tried to keep it low-key enough that Regina didn't feel like she was in a high pressure situation but she wanted it to be big enough that Regina would feel how much she meant to everyone who was there. Times had changed, and Emma wanted her fiancée to realise it.
"Alright everyone, it's time for Trivia!" Regina groaned, feeling Emma's arms tighten around her waist, twisting toward the blonde as she felt her laugh against her back.
"Tell me Miss Swan, did you plan this party to torture me?" She saw Emma's face drop and sighed, raising one hand to stroke the blonde's cheek. "I'm sorry my love. I'm actually having a very nice time."
Emma smiled, taking the hand in hers, manoeuvring the pair until they were both stood up. "I figured that you could pick from the list of questions that can be asked about you, so there's nothing asked that you don't want to answer." Regina was touched by the little things that Emma had made sure to think about, from organising a more business casual dress code, to limiting the amount of alcohol and preparing sets of questions in case there were any she would be uncomfortable answering.
The first set of questions were aimed at Emma, and she had planned it that way, knowing she could moderate the information given through the answers. She was also aware of the types of questions, (and she definitely hadn't been rehearsing her answers…) She grinned as she took the hot seat, and, not wanting to release her hold on her fiancée, pulled her into her lap. There was a chorus of 'awe's' around the room and Regina blushed, tucking her face into Emma's neck.
"Okay Emma… what is your bride's dream honeymoon destination?" Regina had lifted her head and was watching for Emma's reactions to the questions and she grinned as Emma's eyes widened. She also saw the sparkle in Emma's eyes as she answered with confidence.
"Italy. Well… more specifically, Sicily" Emma answered proudly, beaming at the shy smile on her fiancée's face. It wasn't something they'd ever discussed before, with Regina's answers to Emma asking her where she wanted to honeymoon always being 'you choose' or 'we'll be too busy to travel'.
Ruby had turned back from writing a score on the whiteboard on the counter and raised her brow at the blonde. "Ready for the next one, they won't always be that easy?" She asked with a smirk. Emma shifted and wrapped her arm more tightly around Regina before nodding. "Okay then… What would Regina say is your worst habit?" Ruby and others in the diner chuckled at the triumphant 'she won't know this' look on the mayors face.
"Hmmm…" Emma pondered, glancing to Regina with a 'help me' look on her face, wrinkling her nose playfully as the brunette shook her head. She considered her snoring, her snarky attitude, and her inability to cook before she remembered back to the time at the beginning of June when she'd been stood at the wrong end of a gun. She nodded to herself confidently. "I believe the answer my future wife would give you, is that my worst habit is constantly getting myself into dangerous situations that could easily be avoided" she stated. Regina was clearly remembering one or multiple examples of the answer she'd given and nodded sadly, fear at losing the blonde too painful to put into words. She clenched her fist for a moment to get a hold of her emotions, before digging her skinny elbow into the ribs of the woman whose lap she was perched on, annoyed that the answer was in fact true, and not because it gave the woman a point.
Emma, though sometimes not great at reading human emotion, could tell that Regina was bothered and so pushed her up gently so they could sit beside each other. "Rubes, we're gonna do this differently, one question for me, one for Madam Mayor, otherwise I'm sure something I say will get me in trouble and the game will be over before it starts." Emma spoke quietly, not wanting to alert the whole diner to Regina's discomfort. She took hold of her hand as Regina settled in her chair, aware that yet again, Emma was trying to make her more comfortable in the situation.
"Ok, well then Regina… one thing we all know the answer for… would you trust Emma to choose your wedding dress?" Ruby asked with a cheeky grin. The brown eyed woman pretended to consider, deliberately giving Emma the once over with a false smugness.
"Have you seen how Miss Swan dresses? You think I'd wear a jacket like that hideous red thing a day in my life, let alone on my wedding day?" Regina questioned, the sarcastic look quickly dropping as she looked to the blonde. The love in her eyes caused Emma to switch instantly from sourpuss to joyous bride to be, and she beamed at her fiancée, causing Regina's heart to melt. "I'd trust her to dress me to meet the Queen of England, so I guess she can pick my wedding dress" she said with a shrug. The diner was once again filled with collective 'awwws' and Mary Margaret couldn't help but snap a picture at the way the pair were looking at each other.
"Guys!" Ruby snapped to the couple. "I get that you two 'love each other'…" She used air quotes but her cheerfulness showed it wasn't malicious. "But we need to get this done, so that we can move on to games everyone can be involved in" she gestured to the people standing around her, watching the pair with amusement. Emma rolled her eyes but nodded her head.
"Okay Emma, your turn. How does Regina like to fall asleep, cuddling or apart?" Before Emma was able to open her mouth, Ashley groaned from the side of the room. "That's hardly a fair question, Emma knows how she sleeps, that doesn't deserve a point!" the younger woman exclaimed. The women turned to look quizzically at the blonde, who appeared to be on her third glass of champagne and was clearly feeling it. The young woman blushed and shook her head at the attention. "Sorry, ignore me… it's been a while…"
The attention quickly turned back to Emma who mumbled her answer under her breath, for fear of Regina's wrath. "She's a cuddler. Next question please" Emma muttered.
Deciding to keep on the theme of risky questions to ask and be answered in a public setting, Ruby turned to Regina with a gleeful smile. "Well well Madam Mayor… what is your favourite part of our Sheriff's body?" She could barely hold in her giggles as Regina turned narrowed eyes to her.
"I think you'll find she is my sheriff thank you very much" She said soberly before looking back at Emma and smirking salaciously. "Now I could say her arms are my favourite, or her ass…" She winked at her fiancée before turning back to the crowd "… or something sappy like her heart or her smile. But my favourite part of her body is her eyes, and how she can say so much with them without speaking. How I can tell how she is feeling with just one look… The part of her I saw for ten years before I met her, every time I looked at our son…" The room was silent for a few moments as Regina trailed off, before Emma tilted her head at Ruby, gesturing towards the cards for the next question.
"Emma, what is her favourite meal?"
"Well I know she would say seafood linguine, any kind of salad or even her own lasagne but I know for a fact she is partial to the fresh swordfish from La Parrilla." The brunette glared at the younger woman for giving away one of her secrets, that she liked to dine at a Mexican bar n' grill, before trying to justify to the room.
"They have a great tarragon sauce… it's the one thing I never mastered" she said. No one else said anything, but Regina could see Granny stood behind the counter, her arms folded, a faux stern look on her face.
The game continued, with Emma answering the thing Regina would say was the most embarrassing thing she'd ever done, who would play her in a movie of their life and her favourite part of Regina's body, cleverly avoiding the question about how many kids Regina wanted, even reiterating the story of their proposal, before Regina was asked a few questions, with a couple each left for the final round. Emma had paused the game temporarily to ask the crowd if they were not bored of it, but they all seemed too interested in learning little factoids about their Mayor and their Sheriff to really care how long it was taking. In the time they had been playing, Regina had drank two glasses of wine and was nursing her third while Emma had had one beer and was sticking to soda.
"So Regina, if you had to put Emma's job, her friends, her hobbies and yourself in order of priority, what would the order be?" The woman opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Snow who had snorted in the background.
"Ok come on, that's easy. It would be Regina, her friends, her job and then her hobbies… ask a better one!" Ruby rolled her eyes in the direction of her friend, too entertained to be really annoyed.
"Ok then, aside from yourself and Henry, what is the first thing Emma would save in a fire?" Emma bit her lip, frowning into her lap that Regina probably wouldn't get the question right, and it would be because she was hiding it from her.
"Oh, that's easy. Her baby blanket." Emma was surprised, having temporarily forgotten about her blanket, realising it would be one of the few things she would care to save. She didn't look at her fiancée, instead daring to glance at her mother who looked emotional at the answer. Emma pulled a small smile onto her face before looking down at her lap, ready for the next question.
"Ok Regina, here's a good one. What is her special name for you?" With that question her mood switched instantly and her guilty frown was replaced with a cheeky grin. Regina saw the look on the blonde's face and couldn't help but match her smile.
"Miss Swan just loves to call me Gina, even though she knows I hate it, and knows that if I didn't love her so damn much, I'd fireball that delectable ass every time she said it." Emma couldn't help but laugh out loud, the answer from the usually prim and proper, but now half-drunk mayor, as well as Emma's reaction to the answer, causing a jovial reaction around the room.
The quiz didn't last much longer after that, and the next hour or so was spent with quick party games being played among the guests while Regina sat in Emma's lap, allowing the drunker woman to play with her hair. After they'd had some food, a small area was cleared and the engaged pair spent a good half an hour in each other's arms dancing to the songs that were being chosen on the juke box. The guests took the opportunity in that time to leave and eventually it was only Mary Margaret, Ruby and Granny left in the room with the devoted couple.
It was only when Regina tripped over her feet, having accepted a dare from Ruby to take a shot of tequila that Emma decided to call it a night, silently proud of herself that her one beer at the beginning of the evening meant she could still poof them home. Regina rarely got drunk, and had only really consumed enough to be on the playful side of inebriated, and so it was the early hours of the next morning, after their shared shower, a pause for cake, which Regina had insisted on being chocolate, and then a massage from the blonde which led them to require another shower, before they fell asleep. Emma had fallen first, despite Regina's alcohol intake, and it left the brunette thanking whichever gods were out there that they had brought Emma Swan into her life.
So I found the questions on a Mr and Mrs Quiz and I figured I'd just write a slightly longer chapter of speech than I normally do to test out a theory. Jsyk, the restaurant mentioned is a real restaurant I found when I was studying in Liverpool and I was actually delighted when I saw what it was called. Creative license etc. Also I apologise for the loooong delay in updating. I was focusing on a Christmas story that I only got finished on the 22nd Dec. Depending on how Christmas goes for my family, it could be the 2 year anniversary of this story before I update again, maybe even after, as my weekly hours at work are going from 14 to 30(+) now I have finished studying. I think the end is in sight really as the majority of ideas I have for this story are based on tumblr prompts as I try and get to a point where my ending works. I can't guarantee it will be finished anytime soon though :')
