This is not my favorite chapter - it went through several rewrites before I was moderately happy with it, but I like the bits of plot development going on. I do really enjoy writing Emma as a bit dopey!
Again, thank you so much for the support - the amount of follows this has is fantastic! I keep forgetting to say this but I have a Tumblr account if you guys care to follow - Sammy431. I occasionally whine about writing various stories. Anyways - Enjoy!
"Auk! Let me up, let me up! Uncle, mercy, whatever! You win!"
"Grungh."
Regina reached up and grabbed the bridge of her nose. She had been going through nearly every magic book she owned for four hours looking for something to help fix Emma. She had yet to find anything that was in any way helpful to her situation and was getting increasingly annoyed with the loud shrieks coming from the backyard, as much as she enjoyed hearing Henry's happiness.
Since Robin had fallen through, she had encouraged Henry to get Emma outside and try to run all the energy out of her. The pair had quickly begun wrestling - much to Henry's glee - and the few times Regina had looked out her back window, it was extremely evident that her diminished mind had no impact on Emma's physical capabilities as Henry was always underneath the blonde, usually screaming for mercy through his giggles.
While Henry might be playing, it was also very clear that Emma was taking it much more seriously. She took the time to reposition Henry's hands and tried to communicate instructions through a series of grunts and whines. And when she inevitably won, she was careful not to grab or hold to tightly, holding Henry down long enough to prove her victory before letting him up. Despite her reluctance, Regina found it oddly adorable that the woman was trying to teach her son how to protect himself even when her mental state was somewhat incapacitated.
But however sweet she found it, it was obvious that she would get no more work finished that afternoon, so she busied herself with clearing her desk of magical items before going upstairs to take a shower.
When she returned downstairs, she found Henry in his usual place in front of the TV, his upper body weaving back and forth as he played some racing game. Regina looked around, but the living room lacked the trail of destruction that usually announced the presence of the blonde. "Where is Emma? And get your feet off the table - just because your mother is currently a caveman doesn't give you permission to act like one."
Not even looking up, his feet fell to the floor and his head jerked towards the backdoor. "I got tired, but she wouldn't come inside. She was just sitting right outside the door when I left her."
Regina left him to his game and glanced through the kitchen windows. She didn't see the other woman and for a moment panic built in her stomach. But common sense soon took over - Emma hadn't activated any of the detection spells that surrounded her property so she was still in the backyard and there was nothing poisonous that she could eat. Mentally shrugging, Regina decided to ignore it. Emma would return when she was ready.
-SQ-
Several hours had passed, both Henry and Regina had eaten dinner, and Emma still had not returned.
Henry was sitting at the table doing homework, with his hair still wet from a shower. Regina stood at the sink washing dishes. She was determined to ignore the worry buzzing in the back of her mind. It wasn't her fault if the moronic woman had done something stupid and was lying somewhere, unable to move, crying out in confusion and pain…
She huffed at herself for indulging in useless fantasies. Emma would be fine.
Shuffling sounds came from the back patio just as Regina finished drying the dishes and unconscious sighs of relief came from both mother and son. Regina kept her back turned, determined to act as if she didn't care what happened to Emma. A cry of alarm from Henry made her whip around, a fireball coming instinctively to her hand - which was immediately extinguished in her shock.
Emma stood in the middle of her kitchen, proudly holding out a fistful of crushed berries. Apparently she was more gatherer than hunter. She was covered nearly head to toe in dirt, her hair slicked back and stiff from dried mud. Bits of soil now covered the kitchen floor, clear footprints from Emma's bare feet leading from the back door.
Henry looked between his two mothers, taking note of the red color of Regina's face and quickly ran from the room. He had enough faith in his mother to know that she would not permanently hurt Emma, but he still didn't want to get caught in the crossfire.
Emma stood clueless as Regina's rage bubbled up. Juice from the berries was now dripping down her arm and onto the floor. Regina's eye twitched as she realized that she would be the one cleaning this mess up - Emma could no more use a mop than she could use a fork.
"Ms. Swan. What the hell are you doing?" Emma deflated quickly at the rumbling growl of Regina's voice, finally noticing that the other woman did not share her enthusiasm for the berries. She began to take a step backward and Regina quickly threw up her hands to freeze her in place. "If you think, even for a second, that I am going to allow you to traipse around my house covered in that filth then your brain surpassed caveman and went straight to primate."
She blew out a harsh breath and took a quick inventory of Emma's body. The mud had mostly dried and her hair would not be cleaned by a quick wash. Emma no longer knew how to use a shower which meant that Regina would be forced to wash her.
If she made a habit of using profanity, now would be the perfect time for it.
Sending the blonde upstairs with a wave of her hand, she followed much slower. Snow should be the one to take care of her daughter, but for some reason, Emma refused to be obedient for anyone but Regina. Bringing Snow over would do nothing but excite the blonde, and then Regina would have more to clean up.
The Charmings would already be getting a bill for her services. No need to add any high end lamps to it.
Bracing herself, she opened the bathroom door to find Emma standing in the shower, struggling against invisible restraints. Her cries grew louder when she saw Regina and she struggled to reach for her. Regina waved a hand and Emma found herself unbound and standing in a blue one-piece bathing suit, still covered in dirt. Looking between herself and Emma, Regina sighed again and waved a hand to change herself into a bathing suit as well.
She bent down to turn on the shower and had to grapple Emma back down when she spooked as water began to rush into the tub. After a brief fight, Emma was left shivering on the floor of the tub, staring forlornly up at Regina, who standing just behind her, splashed with water and not in the mood her anything other than compliance.
After waiting a moment for the water to heat up a bit - something told her that if she gave the blonde hypothermia it would come back to bite her in the ass - Regina grabbed the bottle of shampoo and somewhat gently grabbed Emma's hair and pulled her head back. "Keep it there."
Not waiting for a response, she quickly began to massage the shampoo into her hair, grimacing as dirt got under her nails. Emma struggled for a moment before relaxing in the warm water, leaning back on Regina's legs and smiling up with that dopey smile of hers. The brunette stiffened, but managed not to purposely get shampoo in the other woman's eyes, if only to save herself the fight.
She also purposely ignored the small flutterings in her stomach. For all the times that she and Sheriff Swan got in each other's faces, it was never this close. Emma trusting her enough to lean against her was almost comforting. Even if she was covered in dirt while doing it.
After successfully ignoring everything except cleaning Emma - which took nearly an hour - Regina gave her a final rinse and made to get out of the tub when a hand grabbed her wrist and pulled.
Thankfully her panic induced fireball was doused by the shower, stopping it from doing damage. Before she could get her bearings, she felt hands running through her hair.
She realized two things simultaneously. First, she was sitting in Emma's lap and having her hair clumsily washed by the woman, who was making high pitched, happy sounding whining noises. And secondly, she was very aware that both of them were only wearing very thin bathing suits.
Completely unaware of the brunette's panic, Emma was nearly vibrating from contentment. She was comfortably tired after prowling in the woods all afternoon, warm from the seemingly endless water coming from the hole in the wall and her mate had just bathed her in something sweet smelling. It was only fair that she return the favor. So she grabbed some of the smelly stuff that had been used before and dumped a whole bunch of it onto the head in front of her.
Unfortunately for all involved, Regina had just opened her mouth to say something and got a mouthful - and eyeful - of soap. Coughing violently and unable to see, she shot up and frantically rubbed at her eyes, stumbling against the tile wall. Eyes stinging and watering, she still managed to direct a fierce glare towards Emma.
Alarmed at the brunette's bright red eyes, Emma darted forward, misjudging the slipperiness of the tub floor. "Augh!" Falling, she threw out her arms in an attempt to catch herself. Grabbing onto a solid mass, she managed to right herself before she fell onto her face.
"Ms. Swan." Regina's voice was low and dangerous. "Get your hands off me."
A low whine came from Emma, who saw nothing wrong with their current placement. A growly "Now!" reinforced the order and the blonde reluctantly removed her hands from where they had fallen - her mate's chest.
Regina pushed Emma backwards and managed to look regal and terrifying as she stepped from the bathtub, dripping water and eyes still red and squinty. Magically hurling a towel at Emma, she delighted in the slight "Oomph" before wrapping a towel around herself and stalking from the room.
Henry opened his door as his mother passed, looking disheveled and leaving a trail of water behind her, and glanced around for Emma. "Is she -", he began, but a wordless growl cut him off.
Flinging open her bedroom door, Regina flopped down onto the bed and covered her face with her hands and let out a low breath. For the first time, she was beyond grateful that the blonde did not possess her full mental capabilities at the moment.
The damn bathing suit had done nothing to hide her body's reaction to Emma's hands.
These are getting longer and longer. This was supposed to have 2 prompts, but bath time sort of ran longer than I expected. Whatever, life is stressful and writing is a wonderful escape. Especially if it is as entertaining as this story to write.
So now we know that Regina is attracted to Emma and next chapter, which is already started, is really freaking adorable between the two of them. As always, if you guys have any prompts for me just let me know.
Reminder that I have other Swan Queen stories that I would love if you guys were to check out. Also, not to beg and be annoying, but this has over 80 follows and I only got like 10 reviews last chapter. Reviews are very addictive to writers, and I would appreciate if you helped to feed that addiction. If you wouldn't mind - let me know what you think!
