"... Is this some sort of joke?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean..."

Regina scolds; her dark gaze roaming over the tempting concoction of silk and leather that seems almost physically moulded to the Sheriff's slight frame.

The blonde raises a brow and feigns innocence, but the Mayor is not so easily fooled; knowing Emma well enough by now not to fall for such a display of incomprehension. The younger woman is smart- much smarter than she can sometimes let on- and she can be surprisingly cruel in her own way.

"You don't like it?"

An expression of hurt confusion crosses sharp features, but Regina doesn't miss the low timbre lacing the younger woman's sorrowful enquiry that dares her to call out the matter they dance around dangerously.

"What do you think?"

She snaps as her attention flickers disobediently down to the flimsy, white silk doing a rather poor job of containing the Sheriff's breasts. Normally- when dressed in her everyday attire - the blonde has a fine figure, but not a build one would exactly describe as voluptuous. Now, though... well, now with the tight leather corset cinching her in at the waist, cut to finish just below the swell of her chest, her curves seem positively dangerous.

Tossing her hair back, Emma places a hand on her hip; her stance maddeningly defiant, and, oh, the Mayor is certain she's entirely aware of the fact.

"I think you're making a problem when there isn't one."

The younger woman challenges quietly as the brass buckles lining supple leather catch the firelight.

"Oh really?"

"Yes. Really."

"You're dressed for him, Sheriff. Not me."

Regina hisses, and as the words leave her lips, she becomes aware for the first time just how angry she is in the face of the younger woman's blatant display of disrespect.

Her fury isn't lost on Emma.

Softening the combative set of her jaw, the blonde sighs and looks down at herself, suddenly feeling a little less sure of her- now that she really thinks about it- rather idiotic choice of costume.

In all honesty; it hadn't been an entirely malicious decision when she'd purchased the ensemble she now wears. She'd simply been drawn to the soft leather and tarnished brass over the more flirtatiously revealing outfits the store had had to offer, and when she'd tried it on, it had looked good on her.

True, the fact that the garments had been paired together on a hanger labelled 'pirate' had given her brief pause for thought, but it isn't as though she'd found satisfaction in the fact.

Not really...

And, yes, she's been growing fairly tired of Regina's constant suspicions concerning her friendship with Hook and the never-ending questions that follow any time the two of them spend in each other's company. And, no, she can't truthfully deny that with her annoyance comes a separate feeling- a warmer feeling- of being desirable. And, true, she is aware of the fact that this has served to fire some of their more heated disagreements of late...

But, had she chosen the outfit she now wears only to irk the Queen?

No.

At least, not to the extent her expression suggests she's feeling...

"If that were true, I would have dropped Henry off wearing this and not a bed sheet, Regina."

She reasons.

"Irrelevant. You're still dressed with Hook in mind."

"That's not true! Sure, I'm dressed like his kind, but there's only one person that I had in mind when picking out this outfit, believe me... And, I mean, did you really think I'd rock up wearing a skimpy little dress?"

She asks, stepping once more towards the Mayor as she whispers these last words into the softly perfumed skin of the latter's throat.

"I might have hoped..."

Regina concedes irritably, but she tilts her head back just a little to coax Emma closer to her pulse point.

"Then, I apologise... There's always Christmas..."

The blonde murmurs against the delicate bow of her clavicle, and the darker woman lets out a low sigh as she's helpless to dispel the delectable image that particular suggestion incites.

Naughty elf fantasies aside, she catches a stoniness to the Sheriff's whisper, and she knows that her own moodiness has now found company as Emma finds herself missing the keen interest she must have hoped for with the effort she's put into her appearance tonight.

Oh, my dear, you really are just a little girl scorned, aren't you?

She smirks, finding the younger woman's waist again before slipping her hands down to cup pert denim and pulling the blonde firmly against her.

"I'll hold you to that, dear... But it seems a waste not to play with what I have now..."

A husky chuckle and she rolls her eyes as she almost feels Emma's frustration leave her body.

As though she expects no repercussions for her idiocy save for a couple of adverse words.

Really, Miss Swan, have you learnt nothing over the past year? I refuse to believe that not a single thought of malice went into this- albeit delectable- ensemble, and for that, my dear, you must pay penance...

"So, what's it going to be, Madame Mayor?"

"Hmm?"

"Trick or treat?"

Another low laugh from soft lips that brush against her own in a most distracting manner, and Regina leans back to find glittering eyes that don't appear to hold any sense of remorse at all.

Dropping her gaze to consider the younger woman's outfit a final time, she offers a catty smile; her eyes promising pure darkness.

"Let's just see, shall we? Pirate..."

She muses, watching as the blonde flashes her an impish grin in response, and she fights back a smirk as she concludes that- however smart she may be- Emma remains eternally without comprehension of just how easily she can be played.

"I'm game for that."

"Of course you are, dear."

She murmurs as she turns back to the glasses sitting on the cabinet; filling each one generously with golden cider.

She moves purposefully as she does so- blocking the younger woman's view of her work- and with the swift delicacy of her magic, the soft purple haze that shimmers over the glass she picks up in her left hand may as well never have existed at all; dissipating into nothing but air in the blink of an eye.