A/N: Thanks for sticking it out and following their continued journey! I am seriously blown away by the response to this entire verse, all based on a random idea I had after watching one of the OUAT Comic-Con panels on youtube and thought "hmm, what if Regina was an actor at Comic-Con and fell for someone she randomly met while she escaped the craziness?". I never thought it would all emerge into this.
Anyway, the saga continues...this is a longer chapter because it spans two days. Enjoy Emma in Chicago for her birthday and Regina in town for a Frozen Mirror con. And per reviewer requests, a few of Regina's co-stars pop in for cameo appearances. (We'll see more of them later on in the fic, but I wanted a few of them to at least say "hello" in this chapter). If you're reading this fic and haven't actually read A Serendipitous Encounter, I'd recommend at least going back and reading Ch. 9 and 10 of that fic, because it provides background info that will help conversations in this chapter make sense...and maybe ch. 5 and 7, too, because those events are briefly referenced in this chapter, along with some things from ch. 2 of A Montreal Excursion, though those are more minor).
Friday, October 27, 7:30am
"Wait, seriously?" Emma asked incredulously as she looked at Ruby across the breakfast table in the brunette's Arlington Heights apartment. Emma had turned thirty a few days earlier and had flown out to the Chicago suburb for a week to visit one of her best friends and celebrate the milestone occasion. "That's where we're going today?"
Ruby shrugged. "Yep. Granted, I put our names on the list over a year ago, before you became all buddy-buddy with Regina Mills. It would probably be a lot more exciting for you if you didn't see her all the time, but I had no way of knowing that would happen back then." Ruby had been surprising Emma each day of her visit with various outings and events. They had gone to see one of the best dance companies in Chicago perform earlier in the week, saw Hamilton the night before, and that morning Ruby announced that she had signed them up to volunteer at the Frozen Mirror convention for the next three days.
"We're not 'buddy-buddy'," Emma laughed. "And it'll be fun to work a con. I haven't ever been to one, other than the half day I spent in New England. It'll be entertaining to see it all up close and from the other side."
"Okay, good. Then finish getting dressed and then we can go. We have to be there by nine."
*.*.*
In terms of volunteer placements, Ruby and Emma lucked out. They were assigned to the photo ops room, helping to keep the lines in order and moving along. The first day of the convention featured Mary-Margaret and David, along with Daniel. Regina, Zelena, and Graham would be the main stars on Saturday, while Belle, Ingrid, and Ingrid's new on-camera love interest Hyde would be on stage Sunday. Only the first few episodes of the season had aired by the time the convention arrived in Chicago, but fans were already loving the addition of Hyde to complement Ingrid's character, who had been single for ages. As Regina had told Emma one night on the phone after filming, Gold and the rest of the creative team were extremely happy about it. "After Ingrid's lesbian strip club bachelorette party scandal this summer, combined with my divorce and then our on-stage kiss at the drag show when you were visiting, fans became even more demanding for our two characters to hook up. In true Gold fashion, he quickly found an attractive dude to pair up Ingrid with, and the fans are eating it up…well, some fans, anyway," Regina had said.
Mary-Margaret and David were finishing up their duo photo session as the lines began to form for David's solo session. As Mary-Margaret prepared to head out for a quick cigarette break before her autograph signing fifteen minutes later, she detoured toward Emma in the center of the room, her bodyguard for the event not far behind. "Emma! I thought that was you," the pixie-haired brunette said as she approached.
"Mary-Margaret, hi!" Emma said as the smaller woman engulfed her into a bone-crushing hug. The brunette was nothing if not enthusiastic. "How are you?"
"I'm good! So, you're volunteering here?"
"Yeah. My friend Ruby signed us up a year ago, apparently. I'm in town visiting her for my birthday week."
"Oh, that's so exciting! Happy Birthday!"
"Miss Blanchard, we need to go," the gruff bodyguard spoke up from behind her.
"Hold on a second," she scolded before turning back toward Emma. "I don't know if Regina told you, but I wanted to apologize again for the way that I behaved that night at the hotel party," she said, lowering her voice. "I was drunk and jumped to conclusions."
Emma laughed. "It's quite all right, Mary-Margaret. I totally get it. I would've been shocked too, if I were you."
"It's a shame about Robin and Regina, though," the woman commented.
Emma suddenly felt awkward and shrugged. "I suppose, but if it's what they want, then it's for the best."
"You're right. I actually haven't seen her this happy in all the years I've known her. It's a little disconcerting that she's so happy about her separation, to be honest," Mary-Margaret said, causing Emma to bite back a smile, knowing that she was part of the reason for Regina's newfound happiness. The blonde then nearly choked as Mary-Margaret continued her train of thought. "If I didn't know better, I would think that she has found some new young thing to keep her occupied."
"Maybe…you'd have to ask her about that. I wouldn't know," was all Emma could say. "It was great to see you, Mary-Margaret, but I should get back to work and make sure these fangirls don't accost your husband."
"Oh yes, please do. I hope I'll see you again before we leave!" she said as she was encouraged to leave by her security detail, cutting it close for her next engagement.
Emma turned back to the line to help make sure the guests were in numerical order, and that's when she noticed a few teen girls were staring at her. As she approached them to check their numbers, she looked back at them. "What?" she asked, peering at their photo op printouts.
"Mary-Margaret Blanchard hugged you," one of them said.
"Yeah…" Emma replied.
"You're so lucky!" one of the other girls said. The girl was cosplaying as Ingrid's character. "Are you friends with her?"
Emma quickly replied, knowing that the girls wouldn't relent until they got an answer and not wanting to draw more attention to herself. "No, we're not friends. We've just met a few times before and haven't seen each other in awhile. She was just saying hi."
"Okay, you're still super lucky," the girl dressed as Ingrid reiterated.
Emma shrugged in response, but soon heard another voice behind the group of girls in line. "Wait a second," the new girl said. "You're Emma Swan from Instagram. You're friends with Regina Mills!"
"Yeah! That's why you look so familiar!" one of the girls from the original group, who was dressed as Regina's character, said.
Emma silently cursed herself. When Ruby told her they were volunteering, she did her best to try to disguise herself, knowing that a lot of the shows fans had started following her on Instagram after the events of the summer. She and Regina hadn't been seen together since her vacation ended, and Regina hadn't posted anything online that didn't directly relate to the show, so she was hoping that some of the scrutiny into her own life may have calmed down. All the volunteers had to wear the official Frozen Mirror Con staff t-shirts, but she had been able to put on a Chicago Bears baseball hat to try to hide herself. Clearly, it was unsuccessful. "Guilty as charged," Emma nervously laughed.
"Is Regina as nice in-person as she seems to be?" one of them asked, clearly enthralled by Emma's presence.
"Yeah, she's great," Emma said, wanting desperately for the conversation to end.
"So, you are friends with her?" The Regina cosplay girl asked.
Emma nodded her head and hummed affirmatively in response, growing rapidly more uncomfortable with each passing second. Unfortunately, the two groups of girls were at the end of the line for the first group of photo ops, so she had nowhere else to go. She was already at her assigned post.
The girl continued: "Did you really meet her at a con?"
Emma shook her head. "Not really. I wasn't at the con. I was in rehearsal down the street and we both happened to be at Starbucks. She was pressed for time and asked to cut in front of me in line."
"Oh my God, you're so lucky," the Ingrid girl said for the third time in the three minutes they had been standing there. She then turned to her friends. "Guys, that totally could have been us. We could have been Regina's new friends! Damn it."
Emma rolled her eyes.
"No offense guys, but Regina's like 35, and you're like 14. If it had been you there that day, you wouldn't be friends with her now," one of the other volunteers said. He had been standing close by keeping an eye on the general flow of the room and overheard the conversation.
"Plus, aren't you like her dance teacher or something?" one of the girls from the other group said.
Emma nodded. "Yeah. As Mary-Margaret and David announced in their opening panel this morning, Frozen Mirror is doing a musical episode and Regina wanted to get an early start on prepping since she'll be doing a dance number in it." She was suddenly very thankful for Robin's foresight when they had figured out how to address the reason for Regina and Emma's "friendship" in the public. He had warned them that fans might think it could happen to them if they saw Emma as a random fan, and that could be problematic in the long run. While Sidney had been a fake stalker orchestrated by Regina's mother to scare Regina into doing what Cora wanted her to do, a few other fans over the years had been close to crossing the line of their own accord.
"Ugh, you're so lucky," the girl said yet again.
"Can we get a selfie with you?" one of the others asked.
"Oh, umm, maybe later, but I need to do my job and man my station," she politely replied.
"But, this is your job. You're already here talking to us. It's just one photo," one of the girls argued.
"Sorry, guys," Emma said, not wanting to get into an argument.
The girls scoffed and rolled their eyes, some of them obviously tweeting about their interaction with the blonde.
A few minutes later the girls were still bitching about Emma, talking loudly enough that she could hear them. The volunteer who had joined the conversation returned, along with one of the volunteer coordinators. "Hey Emma," the woman said. "We need some more volunteers in the panel room to help out. I'd like you and Ruby to go in there."
"Absolutely," Emma responded, sending a grateful look to the other volunteer who smiled back and winked at her. Emma assumed he had filled in the coordinator on the situation and helped her out. At least in the panel room she would be able to be a fly on the wall and would have less direct interaction with the fans.
*.*.*
"So what were you talking to Mary-Margaret Blanchard and David Nolan about?" Ruby asked that night when they were back at her apartment. Since Ruby's apartment was only twenty minutes from where the convention was being held, they didn't bother getting a room at the hotel.
"Mostly the musical episode," Emma answered as she took a bite of mandarin chicken from her Chinese takeout container. At the end of the day, the volunteers all had a chance to quickly meet the actors before they had to work the night's main event, which was a screening of the episode that would air that evening.
During the screening, Mary-Margaret and David had come up to Emma to catch up with her. "So, you're really coaching Regina for the musical episode? How's that going?" Mary-Margaret had asked.
"Oh, it went well. I really just worked with her that one week in August, so we haven't had a chance to do much more," she had said.
"Regina is quite talented. I'm excited to see what they do with her for the episode," David had added.
"Same," Emma replied. "She picked up everything really quickly. She's great," Emma had confirmed.
Ruby asked another question, drawing Emma's attention back to her friend rather than the slightly odd interactions she had had with Mary-Margaret throughout the day. "Do you know where the actors stay? Obviously they're not going to be at the convention hotel with all the fans."
Emma shrugged. "I'm not sure. In Portland they had an entire hotel to themselves, but that's because there were ton of franchises there so with all the actors and crew at the con, they could fill the whole hotel. Regina said that for these they usually stay at a nice hotel somewhere that's not too far of a hike, but far enough that fans probably won't be staying there for the con. For this one I think they're somewhere downtown."
"You sure seem to know a lot about their logistics," Ruby said, raising her eyebrows. "So, you're really her dance coach?"
"Yes…among other things," she smirked.
"Oh, do tell," Ruby encouraged.
Emma sighed and quickly recounted a shortened version of the story. Ruby already knew everything that happened up through the Saturday morning of the New England Comic-Con, which was the morning after Regina had crashed at Emma's apartment after partying with Emma, Ruby, Neal, August, and Killian in Storybrooke that Friday night. After Emma met up with Ruby and her friends at the con Saturday morning, thanks to the guest pass Regina had given her, Emma ditched Ruby to spend the rest of the day with Regina. At the time, Emma told Ruby she was going back home because she was tired, and she had stuck to that story in the time since. Emma quickly explained to Ruby that in actuality, she had spent more time with Regina and hung out with the cast and that Regina had kissed her. She then explained that she had gone to Montréal that summer to explore their relationship, but that the dance coach story was to cover their asses in case they were seen together. "So you were right, Rubes. We're totally doing each other," she smirked.
Ruby was startled upon that admission. "Nuh-uh."
"Seriously," Emma confirmed.
"Emma, you're so full of shit," Ruby said, throwing a fortune cookie at her.
Emma rolled her eyes. "I'm serious, Ruby."
"If she's actually your girlfriend, I know you have photos that aren't from social media…or texts or something. Pics or it didn't happen," Ruby demanded, holding out her palm for Emma's phone.
Emma rolled her eyes. She loved her friend, but she was starting to notice the age difference between them. At 25, Ruby still had her moments of immaturity. "I don't have any proof, Ruby. You just have to take my word for it," she said. Emma had deleted all the pictures from her phone after she saved them to her laptop, just in case her phone got stolen. She even deleted her text chain with Regina after finding out that she was going to the con —it would be risky to have it on there, in case someone got ahold of her phone.
"I knew you were making it up," Ruby smiled in victory.
"You're the one who kept hinting that there was something between us, and now when I say there is you're calling me a liar?"
"Yes. You're a terrible liar, Emma. It would make for a great fanfic, though."
Emma just shrugged. "Believe what you want, Ruby."
Saturday, October 28, 9:30am
Ruby and Emma picked up their Starbucks orders from the hotel lobby and headed back toward the main ballroom where the second day welcoming panel would be starting soon. They were once again switched to the panel room from the photo ops, which Emma figured was wise considering the chaos from the previous day when she was recognized…she could only imagine what would happen if she was assigned to Regina's photo room. Emma looked down at her phone and smiled. "What has you so happy?" Ruby asked as they walked down the hall.
"Nothing," Emma chuckled as she covertly watched the snapchat message Regina had sent her, a short video of her blowing a kiss from the backseat of her car on the way to the convention. She wasn't sure if she would be able to see her girlfriend at all that day, other than on stage during her panels. They had been texting most of the morning, though. Regina had asked her if Ruby believed her, and she had quickly texted back, 'of course not.' Emma had thought about showing Ruby the message as the "proof" she had demanded the night before, but then thought that maybe it was better if Ruby didn't believe her, especially with all the fans around.
The opening panel that morning featured Zelena and Regina, because fans loved seeing the on-screen sisters together. Their on-screen relationship portrayed a loving family, but Zelena was far from Regina's favorite castmate. But, they were able to keep it professional, and their on-stage banter at cons looked more like friendly teasing rather than the underhanded bickering it actually was. Regina was always annoyed by Zelena's need to stir up gossip at those events. She was known for jumping into fan speculation about upcoming character plotlines, shipwars, and even some behind-the-scenes gossip at every opportunity. Regina was surprised that Zelena didn't get more of a scolding from Gold for her behavior at cons.
As Emma helped keep the line to the microphone organized, she rolled her eyes. Zelena was once again trying to outshine Regina as she answered a fan's question. The blonde's eyes then widened in surprise as the next question was asked by the 20-something guy who was standing at her microphone. "My question is for Regina…so, are you currently seeing anyone? Can you describe your perfect boyfriend for us?"
"Oh, um," Regina stuttered, temporarily stymied by the question, especially since Emma was standing right next to the guy who had asked it. "I don't think there is such a thing as a 'perfect boyfriend.' Everyone has their strengths and flaws, and to me I just like when I find someone who balances my own strengths and weaknesses. Thanks," she said before turning to the next fan in line on the other side of the auditorium, purposely ignoring the first part of his question. She didn't want to lie and say she was single, but she knew if she said she was dating someone, she would be opening herself up to constant speculation. The fan's accusations about her personal life had temporarily stopped, and she didn't want to invite more at that moment.
At the end of the panel, Zelena and Regina exited the stage and walked behind Emma toward the door. As Regina passed behind Emma, she subtly slapped her ass, causing the blonde to look up in shock, only to see a smirking Regina waving to fans as she maneuvered toward the exit.
A few minutes later Emma had a short break before the next panel was scheduled. She snuck into one of the rooms that served as a breakroom for the volunteers and checked her phone, smiling when she had a new text from Regina. 'How late are you working today?' the message read.
Emma quickly wrote back: 'We have a short dinner break after the last panel and then all the volunteers have to help with karaoke tonight.'
'Oh, that's too bad. I'm going to be so bored by myself after my autograph sessions are done. I was hoping you might be able to entertain me ;)' Regina responded.
'Ugh, you're killing me. I hate that you're so close and yet so far away haha.'
'You want me to pull some strings so you can be my personal escort to and from all my events today?' Regina suggested in her next text.
'Yeah, I'm sure the show's manager who seems to be your shadow today would love that, not to mention the other volunteers would be jealous AF and call foulplay. Why don't you surprise people and drop in at karaoke tonight?
'Lol, no. I prefer to keep my karaoke experiences to the basement of seedy bars, not on stage at a giant convention,' Regina wrote back. Emma barely had time to read it before another one came in: 'My autograph signing is done at 4, but it'll probably last until 5 since it always runs over. Why don't you tell Ruby and whoever is in charge of the volunteers that you have a migraine, and then you can leave with me? Pretty please?'
Emma bit back a smile, contemplating Regina's suggestion just as she heard the call for the volunteers to return to the auditorium. 'I suppose I can make that happen…' she quickly wrote back before deleting the message chain and heading back to the panel room.
*.*.*
The blonde went about the rest of her day, helping to keep the lines in the auditorium organized as fans asked Graham, Regina, and Zelena questions during their afternoon individual panels. Regina was kept busy the rest of the day in meet and greets, photo ops, and autograph sessions, so they hadn't had a chance to text each other anymore. Around four in the afternoon as the last panel was concluding, Emma texted Ruby to tell her she had a migraine and would take a cab back to the apartment so she could get some rest. She then flagged down one of the volunteer coordinators, relaying the same message and apologizing profusely for skipping out on the karaoke event that night, but promising that she would be better in the morning. 'Okay, I'm free,' Emma quickly shot off to Regina after the coordinator dismissed her for the day with his well-wishes.
'My signing is still going on, but look for the black BMW X3 SUV in the parking lot with a guy named Marco…he's my driver. He texted us a half hour ago saying he's here, so you can wait in the car if you'd like. I should be done in 15 or 20,' Regina wrote back.
Emma sent a quick confirmation text and went to search for Regina's car. There were a handful of black BMW SUVs in the parking lot, as it seemed that was the official car of the convention, but eventually Emma found the one driven by Marco. He looked at Emma questioningly when she approached and said Regina told her to wait in the car, but after he quickly texted Regina's manager for the event, he was told to allow the blonde to enter the vehicle.
A half hour later they drove up to the fire lane of the hotel, where Regina was quickly escorted to the car by security, waving to fans as she walked by. She looked around confused after she was safely inside the car, as Marco began to drive away from the hotel. "Where's Emma?" she asked, not seeing her girlfriend.
"Hi," the blonde said, popping up from the cargo area behind the backseat.
"Jesus, you scared me," Regina commented while Marco chuckled. "What are you doing back there?"
Emma hauled herself over the top of the seat to join Regina. "I figured it wouldn't be good for either of us if anyone saw me in here…especially since I'm supposed to be having a debilitating migraine right now and should already be back at Ruby's apartment."
Regina chuckled and pulled Emma to her for a quick kiss. "I've missed you." The blonde's eyes widened in alarm as she gestured her head toward Marco. "He has to sign a non-disclosure agreement, so anything that is said or done in this car will remain private."
"Ah, okay. Well in that case, I've missed you, too. So much," Emma answered.
"So, where to, ladies?" Marco asked. "Your hotel, Miss Mills?"
Regina shook her head. "No, not yet," she answered before turning to look at Emma. "It's up to you…where do you want to go? Preferably somewhere far away from here would be nice," Regina said, her exhaustion evident in her voice.
"Are you sure you want to go out and do something? You sound really tired."
"I am, but I don't care what we do. I just missed you and want to hang out with you."
"Where's your hotel?" Emma asked.
"All the way downtown."
"Do you want to go back to Ruby's for a bit, then? It's not too long of a drive. She won't be back until at least 11 since she's working the rest of the night. We can grab some takeout and watch a movie."
"That sounds great."
Emma gave Marco Ruby's address, and he dropped them off with the instructions for Regina to call him when she was ready to be picked up and return to her hotel. They thanked him and headed inside.
"Why don't you pick a movie or something on Netflix?" Emma suggested as they started to get settled. She grabbed a bottle of wine and began pouring two glasses, just as the apartment buzzer rang. She quickly let the Grubhub delivery man in and gratefully took the bags of Middle Eastern takeout from him.
"That was fast," Regina commented as Emma set out the falafel and chicken shawarma pitas on the coffee table.
"I ordered it on the drive over here. This place is super close so it never takes long."
They turned on Practical Magic, which made Emma laugh at Regina's selection, though she secretly loved the movie as well. They sat cuddled on Ruby's couch after they finished their dinner and wine, and Emma noticed that Regina had nodded off, resting her head on Emma's shoulder. It was barely 7:30, but it had been a long day for both women. Emma gently nudged Regina to wake her up. "Hey," she said, finding Regina's confused sleepy face adorable as the brunette remembered where she was. "You fell asleep. Why don't we go to the guest room and finish watching the movie in there? That way if you fall asleep, you're not on Ruby's couch. And, the bed is probably more comfortable for napping."
Regina yawned and nodded, forcing herself to sit up. "Sorry about that," she said as she quickly helped Emma with the empty food containers, throwing them in the trash as Emma put the plates and glasses into the sink. "I'll try to stay awake this time."
Emma just chuckled. "Follow me," she said as she took Regina's hand and led her down the hall to the guest room where she had been staying all week, crawling onto the bed and resuming the movie. Within twenty minutes, both Emma and Regina had fallen asleep.
*.*.*
They woke up around ten o'clock that night, and Emma suggested that Regina may as well crash there for the night. "Are you sure Ruby won't mind?" Regina asked as she stretched out on Emma's bed.
"She won't. She'll probably be ecstatic if she finds out one of the cast members from her favorite show is sleeping in her guest room, to be honest."
Regina laughed before leaning over to kiss Emma. "Would she object to one of the cast members having glorious sex in her guest room?"
Emma raised a brow. "Probably, unless she gets to be part of it."
"Sadly for her, she is not of interest to me," Regina chuckled.
"Well, what she doesn't know won't hurt her," Emma said, rolling on top of Regina and kissing her passionately, making up for lost time. It had only been two weeks since they had been together, but it felt like ages and she was looking forward to reconnecting.
A little while later, Regina was under the covers with her head buried between Emma's thighs for the second time that night. Emma had already exhausted her voice from their first and second rounds, so she was quietly whimpering as she took shallow breaths toward her climax. Unbeknownst to Emma, Ruby had just come home and decided to poke her head into her guest room to see how Emma was feeling. She opened the door quietly, as to not disturb Emma if she was asleep, knowing how brutal migraines could be.
The room was dark, with just a small bedside lamp lightly casting a glow near the head of the bed. Ruby could Emma's shoulders peeking out above the covers, with one hand in her hair and the other one resting across her mouth as her chest heaved up and down and her back arched. Ruby's eyes skimmed down the bed, and she could tell there was obviously someone under there. "Holy shit!" Ruby shouted, causing Emma to open her eyes and look at the open door while Regina temporarily froze under the safety of the bedding.
"Ruby! What are you doing back here so early?"
"I made good time on the way home because traffic—wait no, don't change the subject. What the hell? You bail on volunteering to come hookup with someone? And in my house? Jesus Em, who's under there? Is it one of those guys who were flirting with us this morning?"
Emma felt Regina nip her inner thigh a little harder than usual and dig her nails into her hip under the blankets, causing her to squeal. But, it also continued building her arousal that had not yet peaked, though she was close.
"The hotel at the con is right there. Why the hell would you bring him back here?" Ruby continued, taking a few angry steps closer to the blonde.
Emma let out a sigh as she tried to get her brain to focus, but Regina had gone back to work under the bedspread, thoroughly distracting her. Emma couldn't see Regina, but she could feel her girlfriend silently chuckle against her skin, and she knew she had that evil smirk on her face. Regina's tongue soothed the teeth marks she had left moments earlier before returning to the apex of Emma's thighs and curling the fingers that had not left Emma's body during the interruption. "Jesus," Emma moaned as her one of hands instinctively went to Regina's head, pawing her through the blankets to pull her closer.
Ruby rolled her eyes and huffed. "You know what? Fuck it, Emma. I hope you enjoy it, and you better hope that whoever that random fuckboy is doesn't steal my shit when you're done, or you're going to be the one replacing it," Ruby said, turning around and walking toward the door.
Emma groaned as Regina stopped her motions, the brunette sensing the tension in the room and not wanting to cause an argument between the two friends. Instead, she quickly shifted over and crawled to the head of the bed, speaking up as she poked her head out from under the blankets. "I don't know the kinds of people you usually bring home, Miss Lucas, but let me assure you that I have no intention of robbing you."
Ruby paused when she heard that tell-tale voice and turned around, her eyes wide. "Oh my God."
Emma and Regina both bit back their laughter as they observed Ruby's expression. The poor girl looked like she was about to have a coronary. "You have a little something…" Emma said to her girlfriend, wiping Regina's lips with her thumb. Regina promptly took the thumb in between her teeth, briefly licking it before releasing her.
"Holy shit. You were telling the truth?" she asked Emma.
"I tried to tell you last night. It's not my fault you didn't believe me," Emma commented.
"Shit, Emma."
"How articulate, dear," Regina chuckled, slowly running her fingers across Emma's thigh under the blankets, causing the blonde to squirm.
"What? When did this happen? Was everything you said yesterday true?" Ruby was gobsmacked.
"Pretty much," Emma managed to say, though her attention was on the tantalizing touch of the woman next to her.
"Ruby, can we have this conversation later?" Regina suggested as she maneuvered two fingers back inside her girlfriend, keeping her face perfectly composed, unlike her blonde companion whose eyes had fluttered closed. "Maybe in like five minutes?"
"Ten," Emma quickly corrected. She needed time to get her revenge on Regina after what the brunette had been doing to her for the past few minutes.
Ruby quickly blushed and averted her eyes. "Right, sorry. Take your time," she said as she backed out of the room and closed the door.
"Fuck, you're evil," Emma commented.
"Mmhmm. Now, where were we?" Regina asked with a chuckle as she bent down to run her tongue across Emma's neck, before trailing her lips down her body to return to her destination.
*.*.*
They emerged a half hour later, walking into the living room where Ruby was sitting on the couch with a glass of wine and watching TV. "Ten minutes, huh?" Ruby asked Emma with a quirk of her brow as she noticed Regina was wearing one of Emma's old ballet company t-shirts and a pair of Emma's boyshorts.
Emma shrugged. "Can't rush perfection," she winked.
"So," Ruby said, patting the couch next to her. "Spill."
Regina sat down on the sofa and pulled Emma with her. Emma quickly explained, yet again, the story she had told to Ruby the night before. Regina added in a few details about how she had been separated from Robin since the spring but they hadn't wanted to publicly announce it until they were sure, and then both she and Robin had met other people and decided to officially end their marriage.
"Ruby, I trust that you will keep this quiet? We're not ready for this to be public yet," Emma said.
"Of course, Emma… but you realize people have been talking about you two for months now?"
"Yes, but they don't have any confirmation. And a month ago they thought I was doing Robin when I was temporarily staying with him, so the fan speculation is a little all over the place. They can think whatever they want."
Regina nodded in agreement. "Once we confirm it, I know they won't leave us alone, and I don't want to put that stress on Emma, at least not yet," Regina added.
"Okay, you both have my word. I won't say anything," Ruby replied.
"Thank you, Ruby," Emma said.
"And I'm so happy for you, Emma. And maybe a little jealous," Ruby winked at Regina, causing the older brunette to laugh.
"Ruby, do you mind if I borrow your friend for the day tomorrow?" Regina asked. "I haven't seen her since she turned the big 3-0, and I want to take her out."
"Of course not— you can have her," Ruby smiled.
Regina looked at Emma. "Think you can call out sick tomorrow and forfeit your last day of volunteer work?"
"Absolutely. What did you have in mind?"
Regina pulled Emma closer on the couch, wrapping her arms around her waist from behind and resting her chin on her shoulder. "Well, brunch. And then maybe a bit of exploring? I've really only been in the downtown area of Chicago, so I'd love to check out one of the neighborhoods that isn't overrun with tourists. And then maybe dancing or finding a music venue and seeing a show?"
"I'd love that," Emma smiled.
"Alright, you two, I'm going to head to bed since I still have to be up early to get back to the last day of the con…Oh, and I'll be playing music on my phone with my headphones on all night, so have fun," Ruby winked as she left the couple on the sofa, heading into her room down the hall. "There are extra bed sheets in the hall closet. I expect you'll change them in the morning, Emma."
"Shall we return to the bed?" Regina asked, nibbling on Emma's ear.
"Yes, please."
A/N: Fun fact: Arlington Heights is where JMo grew up, so it seemed like a good place to put Ruby's apartment (and it really is like 20 min from where the Chicago Creation Events cons for OUAT/Vampire Diaries are held). I debated whether to include their Sunday adventures, but I think it would have dragged on too much and there wasn't much plot or character development that required another day, so I just left it here. But if you want to know what they were up to, imagine that they did grab tasty brunch, went shopping in a cute Chicago neighborhood (and without any fans recognizing Regina), and then to something like the Metro or Aragon Ballroom for a random concert.