A/N: "Trope" is the theme of the day!

Tip 2: Hobbies

"Find out what she enjoys doing when she's not making random people fall in to like with her."

-Ruby Lucas

Ruby scratched at her head roughly as she ambled down the stairs. Her head was tilted in an interested angle, her nose in the air as she inhaled deeply.

Still half asleep, she found her way to the kitchen with her eyes only half open. They widened when she realized she was in Storybrooke in her scruffy pajamas, and the woman in front of her bustling around the kitchen was Mary Margaret's smoking hot step-mom.

Fuck. She turned, silently hoping she could creep back out to clean up before the older woman noticed her.

"Good morning Ruby," the low voice greeted her back in amusement.

Ruby winced and froze. Her shoulders slumped, and she looked down to confirm she was wearing her ragged red flannel pj bottoms with a faded white cotton t-shirt that exposed her midriff. Her arms crossed over her breasts as she realized she wasn't wearing a bra. She wasn't shy by nature, but she wasn't really keen on Regina seeing her erect nipples. Well, she would like that, just not in the current context.

She turned, a bright smile on her face even though she was certain her hair was a rat's nest and she hadn't brushed her teeth because she'd been distracted by the smell of food.

"Morning Regina. Hey, I'm gonna duck back upstairs 'cause I kinda just sleepwalked down here when I smelled breakfast," she smiled sheepishly at the older woman.

Regina laughed softly, and Ruby shifted on her feet, glad her arms were already crossed protectively over her breasts. "That's fine. It's a little early anyway."

"Ah, I'm kinda used to being up around this time. Usually I wake up for a run and then eat, but since it's summer vacation I think I can slack for one day." She was trying her best to keep her eyes averted from Regina, but the longer she lingered in the kitchen the harder it was to resist.

"I used to love running. I would generally try to run on the beach, though some mornings I would run around our family estate barefoot – but it's been years since I ran for recreation." Regina's voice was a little dreamy as she recalled times long past.

Ruby looked up at Regina in surprise, the smile growing on her face. "I'm surprised you gave it up, since it's obvious you're in really great shape." Her face flushed and she quickly changed tangents. "Running barefoot is the best. It's hard to find safe, clean grass to do that on, though."

Regina nodded, her short ponytail bobbing with the movement as she leaned over to check on something in the oven.

The petite woman was wearing dark slacks and a short sleeved white button up shirt, a cute taupe plaid apron protectively covering the front of her clothes. Ruby sighed as Regina removed matching plaid oven mitts from her hands. The woman was a dangerous mix of sexy and adorable.

She shifted again as she realized she had been standing in the same spot for a while. "Well, I'll be back in a bit."

Regina turned to give her a pleasant smile, and Ruby made her way back up the stairs in a daze. She was always developing crushes on the most unobtainable people.

Fifteen minutes later she felt more presentable, and had even managed to tame her hair into a neat, high tail.

She softly tapped at Mary Margaret's door. There was no response. "Hey M&M, just wanted to let you know Regina made breakfast. Don't stay in bed too long."

While at school, Mary Margaret was pretty good about getting up early. However, Ruby had found that as soon as they had days off, Mary Margaret would stay in bed as long as possible. She'd found it a hilarious contrast in her best friend. Today she wished her friend would just get up, just this once.

Ruby hadn't felt this nervous about being alone with someone in a long time. At school, it didn't really matter to her who she was attracted to. She enjoyed openly flirting, and every once in a while, a little more. Mary Margaret's step-mom was another thing entirely, and she couldn't feel more awkward about it.

She sighed when there wasn't even a hint of sound from her best friend's room, and turned to sulkily make her way down the stairs. She perked up again when she again caught the delicious smells of breakfast.

The dinner and dessert Regina had treated them to the night before had her eagerly anticipating the morning fare.

Her smile was bright as she entered the kitchen. "Good morning again, Regina."

Regina returned her smile and moved to carefully tug the apron off over her head. "Hello again. You look more awake."

Ruby ignored the warmth in her cheeks and nodded. "Yep, I wish I could say the same about M&M."

The petite woman tilted her head. "M&M? Oh, I do believe I like that nickname. Mary Margaret is such a mouthful." She shook her head, "Mary Margaret was always difficult to get up on the weekends. On school days she was up bright and early, and always so chipper. Some mornings I found it to be a little sickening. Who is that cheerful first thing in the morning?"

The lanky brunette snickered. "I dunno, you seemed like you were up pretty early and you seem pretty chipper."

Regina chuckled and tilted her head down, glancing at Ruby from under her eyelashes. "I get up early so that I have time to hate the world by myself. Only after some time and a few cups of coffee do I become fit for human interaction."

An electronic timer beeped, and Regina turned her attention to the small device, quickly silencing it. She moved to a steaming cup to remove a mesh metal tea ball, setting the used item aside instead of cleaning it out like she normally would. She didn't want to appear rude to her company.

Ruby observed the movement silently before turning her mind back to the conversation they'd been having. "Well, when I get up to run in the mornings, I'll remember to be quiet and try not to disturb you."

The shorter woman turned to position herself so she could see Ruby, softly blowing on her tea. She paused for a moment, her face scrunching up into an adorable expression. "That might be a good idea."

They shared a friendly look, and Ruby straightened after a moment. "So, breakfast?"

Regina nodded her head, "Of course. I'll keep Mary Margaret's in the oven as she's unlikely to be vertical for some time yet."

The younger woman fought to stay focused, and moved to sit at one of the stools in front of the kitchen bar instead of out into the dining room. "What have we got today?

The first week and a half of summer vacation flew by, and Ruby found herself settling into a routine she was very fond of.

Most mornings she'd wake up for her run and be greeted by a silent Regina, who despite her morning grumpiness, would always spare her an authentic smile. Ruby would then choose a running trail depending on her mood, and was always back at the house within an hour.

There, Regina would be waiting with more smiles and breakfast. They would often get caught up chatting about nonsensical things until Mary Margaret would finally make her way downstairs. The casual time together in the morning had simultaneously mellowed her crush and deepened the bond behind it. Somehow, she was managing to keep it together as she and Regina began to establish the basis for a friendship.

Once Mary Margaret would join them, they would spend time discussing what they should do with the rest of their days. She and Mary Margaret had explored many of their old haunts already, and Ruby was exceptionally glad she'd decided to spend this last summer with her best friend. The one place they'd given a wide berth, despite its popularity with the locals, was Granny's Diner. Ruby was far from ready to face that place.

Today they'd decided to stick around the house and help Regina in the garden. There was some serious pruning that needed to be done and Mary Margaret had readily volunteered the both of them while Regina had been bemoaning how behind she'd gotten in the upkeep of her beloved yard.

They'd been at it for nearly an hour when Ruby noticed Mary Margaret taking more and more breaks to check on her phone. Noticing her best friend checking her phone for the fifth time in as many minutes, Ruby reached over to smack it out of her hand. It landed softly on the springy grass.

"Hey!" Mary Margaret squawked indignantly.

Ruby snorted, placing her hands on her hips. "Don't 'hey' me. It was your idea to help in the garden today and you've been glued to your phone for the last fifteen minutes!"

"Have not!"

"Have too!"

Regina cleared her throat from her kneeling position in front of one of the hedges. Her back was to the arguing pair, yet she still got their attention. "Girls," she warned in a commanding tone.

Mary Margaret gave Ruby a sheepish look. "Sorry, you're right. It's just James is excited that he's going to be kind of in the area today and was hoping we could meet up."

The comment lingered in the air a moment before Regina turned slightly so she could eye the younger woman. "Where was he hoping to meet up at?"

"Bangor." Mary Margaret winced a little. Bangor was at least an hour drive from Storybrooke on a good day.

"Hmm." Regina nibbled lightly on her bottom lip as she considered something for a moment. "You know, there's a specialty mulch I like to use that can only be found in Bangor. Perhaps you could pick some up for me today?"

The pixie haired brunette straightened up in excitement, nearly vibrating with energy. "Really?" Her voice was an excited squeak.

"Of course, dear." Regina smiled, and Ruby tilted her head at the slightly patronizing tone.

"You're the best, Regina!" Mary nearly shouted, and leapt forward to hug the still kneeling woman, who awkwardly returned the hug with one arm.

Mary Margaret turned to face Ruby, a bashful look on her face. "Do you mind Ruby?"

Ruby sighed dramatically and whipped her arms out at her sides. "Who am I to stand in the way of true love?"

She winced as Mary Margaret let out another excited squeal.

"You guys are the best," she claimed as she skipped into the house to change and get ready.

"Aaaaand, now that chopped liver feeling," Ruby quipped as she shook her head at her best friend's antics.

Regina chuckled as she continued to tend to the vegetation in front of her. "If you want to do something else with your day, it's perfectly alright Ruby. I don't want you to feel trapped because Mary Margaret volunteered your services."

Ruby eyed the kneeling woman from behind, rocking back and forward on her heels as she considered the older woman's words. She shrugged, "Eh, nah I don't mind. I like doing stuff outside."

She got back to work alongside Regina, and time flew as they started to make headway on the garden.

Mary Margaret returned from the house after a time, and Regina took a small break to give her the name of the mulch and the specialty store she could find it at. The younger woman squeezed her tightly in another hug before she took off again.

Instead of getting back to work, Regina instead decided it was time for a lunch break. She coaxed Ruby back into the house where they enjoyed a mostly silent lunch of chicken salad sandwiches and freshly squeezed lemonade.

They wandered back outside after cleaning up. Ruby immediately got back to work, but Regina decided to try and find another spare set of gardening gloves when she saw the lanky brunette wincing as she pulled up some weeds.

She made her way to the shed on the far side of the property, carefully propping the door open with a large stone before going in.

"I really need to clean this place up," she muttered as she stepped around a tangled garden hose and some clay pots she'd been meaning to get rid of. She blinked a little in the dimness and carefully maneuvered to the hanging lamp off to one side to turn it on.

The lamp didn't give off much light, though even the low wattage bulb was helpful. She started to carefully examine the contents of the shed to hopefully jog her memory about where she might have left the gloves.

Ruby's voice startled her a moment later.

"Hey Regina," the younger woman started from outside the shed, bumping awkwardly into the door before stepping in. "I really don't think tha—"

Regina had turned to face her with a smile a moment too late, her eyes widening as she saw the shed door slam shut behind a confused looking Ruby. "No!" she stumbled forward a step, hand outstretched.

The younger woman's confusion grew at Regina's exclamation. "Uh, Regina?"

The shorter woman sighed, shoulders slumping. "Ruby, please tell me the shed door isn't completely shut."

Ruby frowned and turned to try the door. It didn't budge. She grunted a little, trying to push harder as she turned the door handle.

"That won't do any good, I'm afraid." Regina sighed again and picked out a comfortable position on the floor. She sat gracefully with her back against the wall, knees pulled up to her chest with both arms wrapped protectively around her shins.

"We're stuck?" Ruby's voice was a higher pitch than normal.

Regina nodded, "I'm afraid so. The locking mechanism has been malfunctioning for some time. The door can only be unlocked from the outside with," she dug into her pocket a moment and held up a small metal object, "this key."

"Oh." Ruby's eyes flicked up at the windows set high into the walls on each of the shed's longer sides. The ones on the right were slightly opened, but not only were they up too high, but they were far too narrow to let a person fit through. "Shit."

"Indeed. I don't suppose you have your cellphone?"

Ruby glanced down at her own torso. She was wearing a gray sleeveless shirt, loose jeans held up by a dark leather belt, and comfortable hiking boots. Her pockets were conspicuously empty. She gave the seated woman a sheepish smile. "Nope."

"I don't have mine either," Regina related quietly, a resigned look on her face.

"I'm SO sorry Regina," the lanky brunette said as she looked at Regina earnestly.

Regina released a soft, almost inaudible sigh. "It's alright dear. Accidents happen."

An awkward silence settled over them, and Ruby eyed the space critically. There weren't really many open spaces on the floor to sit, and she didn't want to remain standing for however long it took for someone to realize they were stuck in the shed.

"You can come sit over here, I promise I won't bite." Regina gave her a small, friendly smile.

What if I want you to? she thought to herself.

"Thanks," she said instead as she carefully moved over to sit next to Regina, but as far away as possible in the limited space.

Silence reigned for a while.

"Mary Margaret should be back within a few hours, and more than likely she'll want to come and store the mulch here when she can't find us," Regina assured the guilty looking young woman. She didn't like to see Mary Margaret's best friend so upset.

Ruby turned to face her a little better, giving Regina a tremulous smile.

"Why don't we talk a little to pass the time?" Regina suggested when Ruby remained quiet.

The lanky haired woman tilted her head. "About what?"

"Oh, I don't know. You've been here a little over a week and I still don't know that much about you." Their morning chats tended to be fairly fun, generic conversations. "What's your major?"

Ruby cleared her throat awkwardly, "Business Administration."

Sable brows rose, and Regina relaxed her face as she tried to hide her astonishment. "Oh, really?" she tried to keep her voice even.

A smile bloomed on Ruby's face, and she laughed a little at Regina's attempt to not appear startled. "No, it's okay to be surprised. Most people are. I guess it's hard to believe someone flighty like me could ever be interested in business, let alone get a degree in it." She turned her face away in an attempt to hide her bitter vulnerability on the subject.

"No!" Regina lowered her voice. "No, not at all Ruby. You seem like a very intelligent, dedicated young woman. My shock stems more from the fact that you seem to be such a free spirit. Imagining you chained to the corporate machine would just seem like trapping an exotic animal in a cage – an incredible tragedy."

Warmth suffused each woman's cheeks. Ruby was both embarrassed and pleased at the surprising words, and Regina was just mortified that she might have come off as a little too enthusiastic.

"I envy your free spirited nature," she continued in an attempt to salvage the conversation from awkwardness.

"Why would someone like you need to envy anything about me?" Ruby cursed internally at her word choice, and continued before Regina could speak. "What I mean to say is, you seem so confident, poised, and just so...put together. I admire that. I'm still so unsure about so many things."

Regina made a noncommittal noise in her throat. "It took me a very long time to get to this point. When I was your age I was such a mess. Some days I hardly feel 'put together' at all." Her voice tapered down as she stared off into space.

The quiet that lingered was comfortable this time as both women indulged in some self reflection.

Ruby nibbled on her lower lip nervously, trying to build her courage up to ask the question she'd wondered about since she met the older woman. She licked her lips. "If you don't mind me asking, how old are you anyway?"

Dark umber eyes twinkled at her for a moment, the hint of a smile appearing at the corners of Regina's mouth. "What, Mary Margaret didn't tell you?"

"No, actually. She hasn't told me too much about you besides the vaguest details. I mean, she talks about how cool you are and everything, but nothing too specific."

"Hmm." Regina was silently appreciative of this fact. As a child Mary Margaret had an awful habit of sharing horribly personal details with any number of people. "I just turned thirty."

Ruby's eyebrows arched up high on her forehead in amazement as she quickly did some mental math.

"Don't look so surprised, you'll wound my ego." Regina chuckled lightly to cover up her nervousness on the subject.

"No, it's not because you look older. I mean, you look amazing," Ruby stammered out, wishing she could smack herself in the head without looking like an even bigger idiot. "What I mean to say is, I knew that you weren't much older than me, but I didn't realize how young you really were. I mean you did marry Mr—"

A pained expression grew on Regina's face. "Please, I'd really quite prefer if we didn't talk about that."

"Sorry," Ruby mumbled, upset that she'd made Regina feel uncomfortable.

Regina didn't speak, instead forcing a smile on her face to try and pretend like the last few moments of conversation hadn't occurred. It wasn't really Ruby's fault. There was no way the young woman could know what topics would be a trigger for bad memories. She carefully cleared her throat. "How old are you, dear?"

Glaucous eyes blinked in surprise, and she had to think for a moment to pull herself from her negative thoughts. "I'll be twenty-three in a few months."

"You're a little older than I thought," surprise colored Regina's face and voice.

Ruby played with the toes of her boots for a moment as she debated sharing more. "I started school a year late, but it worked out 'cause Mary Margaret and I ended up going to college at the same time." Her jaw worked for a minute. "I would have started on time, but my mom got sick just before I graduated from high school."

"Oh." Regina was unsure what to say. "What did...how..." she didn't know how to phrase her question.

"Cancer. She didn't last more than a few months after they found it. Technically I could have still started school on time, but I...it just took me a while to get my head on straight." She rubbed furiously at a spot on the left toe of her boot, trying to distract herself from the heavy feelings that were attached to the memories.

Regina's mouth became a grim line, and she scooted closer to Ruby so their bodies just barely made contact. Words seemed inadequate in the face of the naked devastation Ruby was failing to hide. She reached out a hand to squeeze gently at a smooth forearm.

The warm touch lingered for a while, and Ruby greedily absorbed the silent comfort.

"You're going to graduate soon, look at how you managed to keep your life together. I'm sure your mother would be very proud of you," Regina intoned in a low, attentive voice. She felt a little awkward, but wanted to help divert the younger woman from settling into a somber mood.

Ruby's smile was watery when she turned to give Regina a thoughtful look. "Yeah. Yeah, I think she would be."

They looked at each other quietly for a few heartbeats, and something shifted in Regina's chest. She cleared her throat and slowly pulled her hand away, letting her gaze drift to the opposite wall.

She straightened slowly, casually leaning to bump lightly against Ruby's shoulder. "I do hope Mary Margaret doesn't decide to spend the night with her boyfriend. I was looking forward to a quiet dinner and a glass of wine."

Ruby chuckled, relieved they'd dropped the very heavy subject. "Ha! Nope. Mary Margaret told James she wants to wait until they're married."

A snort of laughter escaped Regina, and she turned an incredulous gaze to the younger woman. "Really?"

The lanky brunette nodded, a large grin on her face.

"How surprising - he must really love her. I understand they've been seeing each other for well over a year. From what I recall, it's really quite rare to find someone with that level of devotion in this day and age." Regina had new respect for the young man.

"Yeah, I think he does." The thought left Ruby feeling content. "They're definitely one of those couples that make me believe in true love, happy endings, and all that jazz."

They shared a laugh, and kept the topics light as time wore on. There was an emotional rawness their previous conversation had exposed, and neither wanted to be stuck in the shed blubbering over past woes.

Thankfully, it was still light out by the time Mary Margaret found them trapped in the shed. She kept profusely apologizing for the rest of the evening. By the time Regina started to prepare dinner, she finally had enough of the young woman's overly apologetic presence.

"Oh, that's quite enough Mary Margaret! Frankly, I'd rather still be locked up in the shed with Ruby than be stuck in this house having to hear you apologize for the hundredth time." Regina's words were biting, though she tried to keep her tone light enough to not offend her former step-daughter.

Both Ruby and Mary Margaret blushed at the sentiment.

A/N: About Regina's characterization; I thought carefully about the history that I wanted for these ladies. I took time to consider how these characters would react to this history in our world with its (for the most part) far more modern ideas than FTL. More will be revealed in the next chapters for greater understanding, of course.