"Well, would you look at that... Royal flush, Regina...Pants or bra?... Entirely up to you."
Dark eyes transfixed on the cards fanned out across the table, Regina clenches her jaw; understanding that she has been played. She looks back up at the hateful woman sitting across from her to find herself faced with a shark-like grin and glittering green eyes.
"You cheated."
She accuses the Sheriff quietly.
"Cheated? Why would I? Don't get bitchy with me just because you had a weak hand... I mean, your claim almost insinuates you believe I have ulterior motives or something."
"Oh god..."
Ruby lets out a low groan as she shakes her head at the Sheriff's thinly-veiled bait, but neither of her companions pays her any mind.
"I simply believe that you're a sneak, Miss Swan."
Regina hisses.
"Prove it."
Emma challenges, and her smirk doesn't falter as she beckons gleefully for the Mayor to relinquish one of her few remaining garments.
As if she honestly believes this is going to happen.
Crossing her arms over the thin satin that serves to accentuate the pleasant swell of her breasts, Regina eyes the Sheriff caustically, her tone dripping with warning when she speaks.
"I am not one to play with cheaters..."
"Again with that! I-"
"-Emma..."
Ruby interrupts quietly; not wishing for the Mayor's previous anger to resurface.
"What? It's how this works! The rules are simple: you lose a hand, you lose an item of clothing. Why wouldn't the same rules apply for her?"
The blonde growls, looking over at the Mayor irritably as she spits out this last sentiment. The darker woman narrows her eyes in response, although she privately muses that the obscurity of Emma's anger, while the younger woman is sat all but bare, is strangely amusing in spite of her irritation.
She scolds herself as her gaze drops to a smatter of freckles just below the Sheriff's left breast.
"Honestly, Miss Swan, you're behaving like a child."
She snaps.
"Why? Because I want you to follow the rules of a fucking game?!"
"My dear, I'm beginning to suspect you have had far too much to drink-"
"-Oh, and here we go! Madame fucking Mayor; the-"
"-Emma!"
Ruby interjects, louder this time, debating whether she should place a hand on her friend's shoulder to pull her back as the blonde leans aggressively forward, but knowing her well enough to suspect such an act might only serve to make matters worse.
Dark eyes flickering dangerously as she drinks in the sudden anger dancing within the Sheriff's own, Regina pushes herself up from the table.
"Enough. I refuse to be spoken to in such a way-"
"-But the rules-"
"-I said enough! The rules of your job are that you negate to engage in lewd activities whilst on public property, Miss Swan. And, while we're on the topic, may it also be noted that you were still wearing your badge when I came in, in spite of the fact that you had quite clearly already indulged yourself in liquor and the debauched company of Miss Lucas-"
"-Hey! Quit talking shit about Ruby, she-"
"-Has no business sitting in your office in her lingerie."
Regina admonishes furiously while making quick work of slipping back into the sensible ensemble she'd arrived in.
"I will be back here tomorrow at 8 AM sharp, Sheriff, and we will discuss the repercussions of your behaviour this evening."
"Wait! What?!-"
Emma snaps, pushing herself up so that she stands with her hands resting aggressively on the table and her hair just ghosting the point of decency.
"-You fucking joined in! You instigated this! What? And now you're going to get all high and mighty because you're losing a goddamn game?! You may have a stick up your ass, Regina, but you wanted to-"
"-Continue, and I will see to it that you never wear that badge again, Sheriff."
The Mayor hisses.
"Go ahead, it's not like you succeeded the first time!"
The blonde counters, shaking her impressive mane.
With the way the Sheriff stands, the tabletop cuts her off at mid-thigh, and the darker woman's brow furrows as she catches a glimpse of the colourful playing cards hooked into the green swatch of the blonde's underwear.
And I'm the one not following the rules?!
Holding up her hand and pursing her lips, she shakes her head with arrogant finality.
"Do yourself a favour and sober up, Sheriff. Miss Lucas, good day."
And with that, she sweeps from the office accompanied by the staccato tap of her stilettos on the linoleum; just able to make out the quiet murmur of "oh, Emma, you idiot" murmured by the young waitress.
You idiot, indeed!
She is livid that the blonde should deem it acceptable to speak to her the way in which she had, and the cold air when she steps from the building offers kind mercy from the headache the Sheriff has incited.
... Though that's not the only ache.
She hisses irritably at her subconscious to hush as she slips into the plush interior of her car; not wanting to acknowledge the warm thrum between her legs in the slightest.
"Bitch."
She growls as she tries to corral her emotions back in line before attempting to venture out onto the road. It's a crass term, and one she rarely uses - even in the privacy of her own company - but it's one that she feels sums Emma up perfectly.
You have no idea what misery I plan on sending your way...
But, of course, the blonde does, and, much as it pains her to acknowledge such a thing, she's beginning to run out of ideas on just how to keep making the younger woman's life a living hell.
Yet another irksome facet to the detestable blonde's character.
"Nothing but a foul-mouthed, cheap little piece of bad news..."
She seethes, feeling both irritated and uncomfortable as she finds herself becoming increasingly hot and bothered rather than regaining any sense of calm. Her description of the blonde as 'cheap' serves her the unwanted memory of pert breasts and liquored chuckling, and it does nothing to help her cause. She's disgusted by the younger woman's brazen display and whorish lack of shame, but her distaste is accompanied by an unwelcome heat, and she thins her lips as she becomes acutely aware of the fact that the lace between her thighs has become incriminatingly damp.
"Bitch!"
She repeats; hoping to shake herself from such out-of-character idiocy.
"Liar!"
Yes! She's a Liar! A bitch! The woman is vile!
Concentrate on that!
The blonde is a snake for implying that she - the Mayor of notable repute - had cheated at their hateful game when it had been she herself harbouring guilty cards.
"Hypocrite!"
... But to what purpose?
She stills in her angered thoughts as she repeats this curious question over and over in her mind; her eyes widening as she begins to form an unlikely conclusion.
Surely not...
Surely Emma hadn't played an unfair hand in hopes that she would be forced to bare a little more flesh.
The thought is absurd... Yet she finds she can't quite fathom any other reason why the blonde would have played dirty.
To win?
But to win what?
Her body had been the only prize.
"No..."
But, if she finds herself confused and uncomfortably aroused by the situation she's just opted out of, what's to say the Sheriff feels any differently?
"Surely-"
But, she's pulled from her peculiar thoughts by a loud bang to her right. Eyes glittering in the darkness of her Mercedes, she observes the station where the two younger women stand out on the stoop as Emma struggles clumsily with the door; trying in vain to pull it shut before finally realising this to be impossible due to the fact she's managed to draw the dead-bolt across to bar the way.
Regina finds she is entirely unsurprised that the Sheriff's initial solution to her dilemma is to slam the door all the more forcefully as if simply planning to beat it into submission.
"Stop... Get... No... Emma... Ha!"
She's unable to pick up most of what the waitress says - her voice lost in the wind and through the window - but the topic of conversation is clear as Ruby pulls the blonde aside and works the door shut herself before handing the keys back to the Sheriff.
"Are you sure you're alright to get home by yourself?"
She asks dubiously, and, this the Mayor is able to pick up fairly clearly, as the two women make their way down the path and closer to the parking lot; neither one of them entirely steady on her feet.
"What are you, my mother?"
Emma snipes, but in the dull glow of the emergency lights that stud the exterior of the building, Regina can make out a humorous pull to her lips.
Just as she can make out that the blonde has managed to misalign the buttons of her shirt quite impressively; revealing a generous peek of lace on one side.
"No, I'm good, thanks! I'd like my kids slightly better behaved, thank you very much, Miss Swan."
Ruby scolds, and Regina frowns; not missing the very clear - and entirely over-the-top - mimicry of her own form of address.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Emma demands, emitting a peculiar giggle to accompany pantomimed hurt, and the Mayor muses upon the fact that she would never have believed this side to the ordinarily stoic Sheriff existed.
"Oh, you know, less of a temper, and better manners than to attempt to get the damned Mayor naked."
"Hey, I would have succeeded, too, if she hadn't thrown a fucking tantrum."
Emma laments shamelessly.
Perfect teeth grind angrily in the shadows of the car that sits unnoticed by the inebriated duo that passes by about ten metres in front, the waitress linking a skinny arm through the blonde's, which is - unbelievably - accepted.
"Well, you did cheat..."
Ruby accuses softly.
"I didn't! Well, not a lot..."
"Mmmhm..."
"Seriously!"
"Yeah, sure, just like you seriously wanted to get Regina naked."
"Well, yeah! I mean can you imagine how embarrassed she'd have been? It'd have been fucking hilarious!"
"Am I supposed to be buying this?"
"What?"
"Oh please, that is not why you wanted to get her naked."
"No? Well, what other reason would you suggest?"
This last phrase is harder for the Mayor to catch as Emma and Ruby begin their way down the sidewalk towards Main Street, both due to the fact that their rapidly retreating forms are now facing away from her, and due to the much lower quality of the Sheriff's suddenly dangerous tone.
Regina tells herself she isn't really sitting forward in her seat in an attempt to hear the younger of the two idiots' response.
"You... Practically... Drooling... Want that..."
She's unable to catch the rest of the waitress's words as they are swept away by the wind.
She doesn't miss the sharp smack on the arm the blonde administers in response, however.
"...What?..."
She whispers as the two women disappear from view.
She's astounded by what she's just heard - as well as a little perturbed by the casual tone of the conversation - and entirely unsure just what to make of it.
Ordinarily, such an obscure notion would have her rolling her eyes or chasing down the young woman in question to demand an apology for being wrongly accused... But, the alcohol has left her feeling a little hazy, and she finds her predominant reaction to what she has just overheard is to press her legs together as her sex clenches damningly; several unwanted images of the Sheriff in just the flimsy swatch of her underwear flickering disobediently through her mind.
"Really?... Emma?"
The blonde's name comes out as little more than a whisper as she remains frozen in thought, before she snaps back to the here and now and slams her palms angrily down onto the curve of the steering wheel.
She's frustrated.
She's infuriated by the younger woman's crass tongue and bad manners.
She's intrigued by her apparent lust.
She's uncomfortably and maddeningly aroused.
And she's slowly realising she's too drunk to drive.
"Curse you!"
She mutters; blaming the blonde for each and every one of her current predicaments.
"Someone needs to teach you a lesson, dear..."
She hisses, slipping from the car and pulling on her coat before stalking off in the direction the younger two had disappeared in not too long ago.
"A lesson you are unlikely to forget..."
She finishes; a slow smile finally finding its way across her full lips.
She has had a couple of close calls, true, but she hasn't lost outright to the Sheriff yet... And she isn't about to start doing so now.