"You look a little too glad about my imminent discomfort, Miss Swan." Regina said as Emma closed the door behind her.
Quickly wiping the smug smirk she'd produced for Robin's benefit off of her face, Emma stumbled over her words, "Sorry, I, um, I'm just glad we're okay. I let myself have a moment."
Regina raised an eyebrow, she had seen who Emma's smile was intended for and it wasn't one of good spirits. The small amount of Evil Queen still left in her, however, revelled in Robin's discomfort just as much as Emma had seemed too, so she let it slide . "Well, don't get ahead of yourself. We still have a long journey ahead of us."
Emma nodded in agreement. "Oh, I know-" She started to say but stopped abruptly when Regina began unbuttoning her blouse. Emma glanced around the room, nervously avoiding the view and trying desperately to appear interested in the candles adorning the windowsill.
"I'm sure it's nothing you've not seen before, Emma."
Emma's head snapped back. "I'm just, you know…" She stumbled yet again, cursing herself for her awkwardness, where had those awkward genes come from anyway? "-respecting your modesty." She finished lamely.
"Well, get over it. You need to focus if you're going to help me. I can't have you shuffling around me like a skittish puppy."
"Right, sorry." Emma agreed, attempting to steady her shaking hands as Regina finished with the last button. She wasn't surprised to see an elaborate deep red, lacy bra. Regina was always dressed immaculately, it only made sense that she would take just as much pride in her underwear.
Emma knew that Regina had breasts worthy of her jealousy, having noticed them in Regina's many plunging necklines. On more than one occasion, Emma had found herself staring but that view didn't even compared to what was in front of her now. Seeing Regina in her bra only, with very little left to the imagination, had a blush immediately rising through her cheeks and she prayed that it wasn't noticeable. The burning in her face suggested otherwise, though. She felt immediately guilty, looking at Regina in that way at a time like this. What sort of friend was she?
"Have a look at where it's stuck to my skin, see if you can peel it off." Regina said, matter-of-factly as she spun around to expose her bloody back.
Immediately forgetting her nerves as she stepped forward with concern to get a better look, Emma said, "There's no way that that's going to come off painlessly by peeling. We need to wet it."
Regina unbuttoned her pants.
"Woah, woah. What are you doing?"
"I'm going to get in the shower and I'd rather not get all of my clothes wet." Regina explained incredulously as she rolled them down past her hips.
Emma raised her eyes skyward for a moment, why did she have to wear matching panties? There was no question, Regina was gorgeous, but why was this making her so uncomfortable? She had plenty of attractive friends but none of them made her feel like this. Not even remotely.
A spray of cold water on her face almost made her laugh out loud, it was as though the universe was telling her to take a cold shower.
Regina grasped at Emma's arm to steady herself as she climbed awkwardly into the bath which doubled as a shower, now dressed in only her bra and panties, with a shirt hanging from her back, having removed her arms from the sleeves. She hissed in pain as she stepped under the water and Emma rushed to turn the power down a little, softening the downpour.
"Thanks." Regina mumbled, as she stepped forward and adjusted herself so that her back was fully under the shower. She lowered her head, keeping the water from her eyes and letting it run down her hair and off the sides. "What are you waiting for?"
Emma stepped closer to the bathtub and reached towards her back.
"Emma, get in the shower. You can't peel it from that angle. If I'd known how incompetent you'd be I would have brought Robin in to help."
Emma frowned at that, the idea of Robin seeing Regina like this not sitting well with her at all, and quickly removed her jacket and shoes. After a quick inner debate, she decided to remove her jeans but keep on her tank top. Jeans would be heavy and impractical if they got wet, but her tank top wouldn't be much of a problem. She could just about deal with looking at Regina, all damp and undressed. She didn't want to be nearly naked as well.
She stood behind Regina, squinting her eyes under the shower spray, and gently rested her hands on Regina's back, moving them around a little to see just how stuck the shirt was. "Okay, it's not so bad."
As the water rained down, the dried blood began to wash away, little by little. It was a painful process but a far cry better than the dry peeling that Regina had imagined and so she was thankful. Emma was gentle, very gentle. Regina had never thought of Emma as gentle. She was boisterous and reckless, not gentle. Yet her fingers had a feathers touch as they slowly loosened the material on her back. There was something almost pleasurable about the experience. She closed her eyes and sighed a little.
Emma had to stop herself from groaning when Regina sagged forward and let out a long, humming breath. Man, this felt intimate. Too intimate. She forced herself to focus on her task. It didn't take long but once the dried blood had mostly washed away, the wounds began to bleed again. Emma worked quickly, careful not to hurt the brunette more than was necessary, and eventually the shirt lay on the floor.
When Regina turned around, she couldn't help but notice the way that the water had rendered Emma's white tank top almost entirely see-through, exposing a black bra underneath. She felt a shiver run up her spine and averted her gaze. "Thanks." Regina mumbled. "Lets dry up and then you can start healing what you can."
As Regina stumbled out of the bathtub a little too hastily, Emma couldn't help but wonder if she felt the same discomfort as she did. She grinned a little. Regina took two towels from the back of the door and handed one to Emma. After some gentle drying of Regina's back, Emma reached for the amulet that still hung around Regina's neck, "So how do I use this thing?"
Regina unclasped the necklace and tied it around Emma's neck instead, "Have a feel, it's hard to explain until you've experienced it."
Emma did as she was told, placing her hand over the amulet just as Regina had done earlier. The warmth was immediate, slightly warmer than the feeling her own magic gave her. The vibration felt different too, sharper. She shivered as she felt the magic pulse through her fingers. "Wow."
Regina spun around again, her back to Emma, "Hold your hands over my back, wait until you can feel the magic steadily pulsing through you before you attempt anything. If it feels like the magic is draining, like there's not much left, stop. Just do what you can."
Emma nodded even though she wasn't looking, a nod that was more meant as a reassurance to herself than Regina. She didn't like responsibility, she never had. The hardest thing about moving to Storybrooke and meeting her family and Henry had been their dependence on her, she didn't feel worthy of it. Afraid she would hurt Regina, she took her time. When the flow of magic felt steady, she focused on what she wanted to do. It surprised her when, like before when she had used her magic to teleport into the vault and then to teleport the two of them to safety, the magic came easy. She watched with a wide smile as, lash by lash, the wounds disappeared before her eyes, leaving nothing but flawless skin.
"I- I did it." Emma gasped, not entirely trusting what she was seeing.
Regina seemed to be just as surprised, immediately reaching around to feel her back and glancing in the mirror to see that Emma was right, the lashes were gone. No scars in sight. "You did."
Emma almost wanted to jump up and down on the spot, not remembering the last time she'd been so pleased with herself.
"Okay, do you think you can do something about the bruising on my neck? I know it might not stop the pain but I'd rather not walk around the city looking like this."
Emma brightened at the mention of walking around the city, "Sure." Again she raised her hands, focusing on the purple and blue skin, but no magic came. She frowned, placing a hand on the amulet. Nothing.
"What's wrong?" Regina asked.
"It's gone." Emma said, her happiness quickly deflating.
"Gone? You used it all?" Regina reached out with a hand to feel the amulet. Her expression said it all.
"So that's it. The last of our magic."
"At least you got the worst of it. I'll just wear scarves for the remainder of our time here."
Emma nodded, "We'll go shopping."
Regina brightened at that.
They both jumped when Robin's voice sounded from the hall, "How?! You bitch!" A crash followed the shouting and Emma and Regina quickly exchanged worried glances before rushing out of the door towards the commotion.