Day 3 - Not Quite Canon

Prompt from .com: During the curse, Regina is shocked to spot a poorly-covered tattoo on Ruby's arm one day in the diner. It's the lion tattoo from the tavern. When questioned about it, Ruby blushes and claims she was drunk when she got it and she covers it with make-up because she hates it. "I asked for a wolf." Also, I didn't quite hit 1k here so have a pretty graphic instead :D

"Morning, Madam Mayor," Ruby called from her place by the sink, flashing her a smile, "I'll be there to take your order in just a sec; coffee in the meantime?"

"Please," she confirmed, sliding onto her favored stool, "And take your time, Miss Lucas; there's no rush. I'm running a little early this morning," she said as she unfurled the copy of The Daily Mirror that all but had her name on it.

This time the smile the young she-wolf offered was tinged with gratitude. And, as promised, it was only a second or two later that she appeared in front of her, hands still damp from the dishwater with a fresh pot of coffee held firm between her fingers. "Do you know what you want," she began as she poured, "Or are you still deciding?"

Regina lowered the paper to answer, only to stop short, her mouth all but falling open as a wave of pure, unadulterated shock washed over her. With her heart now setting a frantic pace beneath her ribs, her eyes widened almost to the point of pain as they affixed themselves to exposed skin of the waitresses forearm. There, impossibly dark against alabaster skin, was a tattoo, one so familiar her chest ached at the sight of it.

No…

"Madam Mayor, er, Regina? You okay?"

She blinked, hard, tearing her eyes away with more far more effort than the simple action warranted. "Where-" She cut herself off and cleared her throat of weakness, of emotion, and began again, "Where did you get that?" she asked, her voice even only because she fought so hard to make it so.

"Get wha-? Oh!" Ruby shrugged sheepishly, fingers of her left hand ghosting over her right arm with something akin to discomfort.

For a moment, Regina found herself intrigued. She'd seen Ruby in far more compromising situations than this one – and she wasn't even sleeping with her – but she'd never seen the typically brazen young woman so close to betraying…nerves? Embarrassment? Either way, the uncommon emotion quickly fled and she, preoccupied as she was, was in no mood to investigate further.

"Well, uh, to make an embarrassingly long story short, it involves a lot of alcohol and a guy who didn't know the difference between a lion and a wolf," she chuckled self-deprecatingly. "In his defense, he was also pretty drunk. Guess I should be glad it isn't, like, a butterfly or an anchor or something,"

"And you've always had it?" she pressed though she knew, no matter the answer, it wouldn't be enough to satisfy her. Not really. Her answers, if there were any to be found, lay worlds – lifetimes – away.

Not that she needed answers, of course. Wanted them, perhaps. But not need. No, Regina had learned long ago not to need anything she herself could not provide. It was easier that way…safer, too.

"Yeah. Well, I mean not always-always; 'snot like I was born with it or anything," Ruby laughed, a little nervously, at her own joke, "But close enough, I guess; I was pretty young," she shrugged, looking down at Regina through impossibly long lashes, head tilted ever-so-slightly to the side. "Why?"

Why, indeed? She couldn't help but echo. What did it matter if it was the same lion, on the same shield, on the same arm? It had to be a coincidence; it had to be.

And, if a little voice in the back of her mind told her there was no such thing as coincidences, well, it was a good thing she had so much practice ignoring it.

"I've never seen it before," she managed to choke out, despite the way her mind was screaming. Not here. Not on you. Not on Snow White's lapdog. No, no, no. It can't be; it just…it can't.

Heedless of the mayor's rising panic, Ruby chattered away, prepping behind the counter as she waited for the order that didn't seem all that forthcoming at the moment. "Well, between Granny's totally unfounded hatred of all things ink and my, well, wishing it was a wolf like it was supposed to be, it's just easier to hide it. Unfortunately, the dish water doesn't always agree with me," she chuckled. "For a while I was saving up to get it fixed, or removed altogether maybe, but, eh, I couldn't go through with it. Even if it is wrong it just feels kinda…right, ya know?"

"I…" she swallowed, hard, "I can't say I do,"

"I'm probably not explaining it very well," Ruby said, shrugging as she started wiping down the countertop.

Every time she moved, every time her arm flexed, the tattoo seemed to shine just a little bit brighter, until it felt like it was the only thing Regina could see. And, the longer she looked, the longer she saw, the more obvious the nagging feeling in her chest became.

It wasn't a feeling she was overly familiar with, not since she was a powerless child, unable to do anything but crumble and bow beneath her mother's might. It was like she was suffocating from the inside out.

And she had to make it stop.

Tossing the rag into the sink and exchanging it for a small hand towel, Ruby cleared her throat, "Anyway, enough about me; what can I-"

She looked up as the bell on the door jingled, more than fast enough to catch sight of the mayor all but lunging away from the counter only to whip by an obviously startled Mary Margaret.

"-get you?"