Neverending Story: write-along

[Exquisiteliltart]

Emma started to try to open the bottle of scotch before she had even crossed the threshold. Now that she was here, and had Regina's full undivided attention, (and seen the skimpy robe Regina was wearing) she didn't know what she even wanted to say, but she was sure alcohol would help her find her words.

She had a sense of deja vu as she faced off with Regina in the foyer.

Regina crossed her arms and stared at the bottle of cheap whisky in Emma's hand. Emma's focus shifted from Regina's long bare, still damp legs, then back to the difficult cap on the whisky, and finally to Regina's face. With the look Regina was giving her, she should have opened that bottle up on the car ride over and taken a few long swigs before coming inside.

"Is that a single-malt or blended scotch?" Regina asked with fascination, her eyes never leaving Emma's fumbling fingers.

Emma concentrated on the label of the bottle and shrugged, "I'm not sure, it's from the Loch Ness Monster reserve so my guess is..um...probably blended?."

"As amusing as it is to watch you try to uncork that with your hands, I do have a 25 year old Bowmore in study we could sample. Follow me?" Regina turned and began to elegantly stroll toward her parlor.

Emma followed dutifully, rolling her eyes, she mumbled loud enough for Regina to still hear, "There's no cork, it's a 'twist off' scotch, and for the record: I almost got it open."

[killerelephants]

There was almost a faint amusement to the raise of the mayor's brow as she led the way to her study. Once there - heels clapping an unwavering rhythm on the floor beneath - she found the bottle of Bowmore with an easy dip to her desk's third drawer. Her fingers clasped the neck of the bottle and she pulled it out and straightened, barely noticing the way her guest's eyes flew swiftly away from her backside.

From behind the mayor, Emma watched as deft fingers unscrewed the bottle's cap, while Regina held it up to admire the amber liquid within. Once the cap came off, the Sheriff's lips parted as she began to ask Regina where she kept her glasses, but the words choked on her tongue when the brunette brought the bottle to her nose and, inhaling, let out a noise that Emma wanted to call a moan - a very deep, guttural, overtly sexual moan - as she appreciated the whiskey's rich aroma.

[redcharcoal]

Emma made herself at home on the low couch in Regina's study, watching as the brunette busied herself, pulling out tumblers, popping ice and pouring from the impressive-looking bottle. If she tried hard enough she could just block the almost primal moan the other woman had made.

Small-talk. She needed to say ... something.

"You weren't kidding. That's the good stuff," Emma said, sliding her eyes to the glass.

Regina ignored her but gave a knowing smile and finally brought the glasses over, offering one to Emma. The blonde however was more transfixed by what happened the moment the former mayor slid onto the other end of the couch. Her robe gaped open, exposing a long expanse of bare thigh. And her cleavage was now almost down to her waist, barely held together by a knotted silk tie.

Emma quickly threw back the glass in her hand, suddenly desperately dry-mouthed. It burned the whole way down. It was good burn.

"Thirsty, dear?"

Regina drawled the words, amused, taunting, and Emma felt odd. Why did she feel this way whenever the brunette was around? And why did the woman have to be wearing so few clothes?

"So," the brunette began. "What is this peace accord you speak of? Will I get to see Henry? Or is it just empty words and a thinly veiled excuse to get into my house and ... ogle me?"

Emma gaped. "Wh-what?"

"Please, don't pretend, dear. We both know you have an eye for ... the ladies."

"When did y-you? I mean how?" Emma squeaked.

Regina snorted. "Do give me some credit, Sheriff. I have seen you walk. And stand. And talk. And eye me like a piece of prime rib. Oh and I did notice you creeping into the alley behind Ms Lucas's establishment with Red after the Halloween party. You both seemed most engrossed."

Emma flushed traffic-light crimson. All words failed her. "That was... I didn't. We... never. You KNEW?"

The shrillness of the ringing phone against her hip made Emma jump and curse simultaneously. She glanced down, and felt brown eyes, hugely amused, watching her discomfort.

Regina smirked and leaned forward. Now her robe was open so wide, Emma felt like a voyeur. Wasn't it less than an hour ago they were spitting at each other at Granny's? What game was this woman playing at? Regina was most certainly playing at something. Emma just wished she understood the rules.

""Best not keep them waiting, hmm?" Regina teased as the ringing increased volume on Emma's cell. "It's not like they're interrupting anything. Are they dear?"

[Deleted]

In a bid to settle her nerves, Emma did rise and step into the foyer of Regina's home to answer her cell.

"Emma?" It was Mary Margaret.

"Yeah."

"Where'd you go?"

"I had an errand to run."

"Henry woke up looking for you. I think he's anxious because you just got home. He called here."

"Tell him..." Emma shook her head then spoke into the phone. "I'll call him myself." She couldn't let him think she'd abandoned him to ... what? See about his mother? Would he be happy about that, or angry at her. She had no idea really yet the state of Henry and Regina's relationship while she and her mother were in the other world. "Good night," she said, ending her call with Mary Margaret before making the next. "Henry?" she said when he picked up.

Footsteps sounded behind her, but she ignored them. What she had to say, Regina should hear, too.

[killerelephants]

The voice on the other end of the line squeaked through her cell phone, and Emma smiled around her words as she told Henry, "Hey, kid... yeah, I'm fine, sorry I'm not home...what? No, of course not..." She sighed a little as he continued to talk, feeling a piercing stare on the back of her head. Vaguely, Emma wondered if Regina knew that she was aware of her presence.

"Listen," She cut in as soon as Henry stopped for air, "I'm not going anyway, okay?" And when he tried to butt in, "-ah, no, Henry... I'm here, now. Okay? No more ogres, or trolls, or giants are gonna keep me from being here with you." She heard an exhaled breath over the phone, was almost sure she felt it against her ear, and shoved a hand inside her pocket as she bounced her weight from foot to foot.

"I'll be back soon, okay? ...yeah, I promise... I'm just...I'm with your mom, kid." There was a pause. The silence of the foyer turned the air to stone; she felt unable to physically move beneath its crushing pressure, and was only all too aware of the vacuous space behind her that was Regina Mills' held breath. "Yeah, she's fine... no, she didn't, did she? ...Granny might have something to say about that...I guess, kid, but we all have our little outbursts. At least she targeted the cake and not... yeah, it was a nice cake..."

Her fingers curled in her jean pocket as Henry fell into silence. "Do you...want me to pass along a message?" She asked, waiting for his response.

The pause seemed far too prolonged, but then she heard Henry's quiet voice over the line again. As the words filtered through her phone to her ear, Emma's lips tipped into a smile. "I'll tell her, Henry... Night." Putting the phone down, she slid it into her pocket and prepared to turn around.

When she did, however, having almost expected the mayor to creep back into her study so as not to get caught listening in, she found herself struck motionless by the look in Regina's eyes. It was a watery stare, neither hopeful nor upset, and yet somehow simultaneously both. Emma's lips parted to speak, perhaps to ask 'what are you doing?' or 'were you listening in on me?', but neither question fully formed on her tongue.

Before she had the chance to try again, a larger question growing in her mouth, Regina asked in small, stilted syllables, "What did he say?"

[agramontes]

Emma wasn't sure if she should paraphrase or improvise Henry's message to his other mother. She looked over Regina's shoulder, using her height to her advantage and motioned for them to return to the study. "I'll tell you what he said, come on," Emma muttered, pushing past Regina, eager to escape the brunette's haunting stare.

Emma took her time, slowly lowering her jeans to the cushion and taking a sizable gulp of the Bowmore. She rocked the glass back and forth between her hands, buying herself more time to craft a convincing reply.

"Miss Swan...my patience is not endless and it has been a very long day. Tell me why you are here or what Henry's message was for me. Don't just sit there, with your head, god knows where!" Regina snapped at Emma, but Emma wasn't biting. She let out a quiet laugh and tilted her head to the side. Regina was standing before her with her right hand on her hip, defiantly refusing to take her seat on the opposite couch.

As Emma looked her up and down carefully, she thought....
'Damn, Regina is so gorgeous when she's angry. I can't even get mad at her when she's being rude to me. What am I going to do with myself....' Emma noticed the drops of water that were soaking Regina's shoulders a darker color. 'She must've just gotten out of the shower...Her hair is so much longer now, than before.' Even though Regina had spent nearly an hour in the bath, a hint of sadness was still visible in the shape her eyes made and the curve at the corners of her lips. Emma noticed all of this.

"MISS SWAN!" Regina's voice broke Emma free of her daydreaming, "I will not stand here while you ogle me!"

"Oh, right, sorry. Um. Sit down Regina. Please." Emma composed herself and took a deep breath, still biding her time thinking of something to tell her. Settling on a half-truth she finally blurted out, "Henry says...He forgives you for your outburst today at the diner. That he knows you are trying to be good and that it must be hard...to be good after being the E..-after being in charge, in charge of everything for so long, ...it must be hard to let go of all of that."

Emma made eye contact with Regina to see if her words had angered her. "And that when we're so used to being in control, its hard to let other people be kind to us." Emma could see Regina was listening attentively. "Its hard to let anyone in."

Regina took a long slow drink from her glass, trying to make it seem as though Emma's words hadn't affected her. "Well, I let you in, Miss Swan, just now, into my house at this late hour. Despite my love for Henry, I doubt he is mature enough to have come up with that on his own, are you sure that wasn't Archie on the phone just now?" Regina jokingly replied.

"Actually, most of that was mine...if you want the truth." Emma suddenly felt uncomfortable.
Quickly realizing this was the high note of the evening, she pondered the many ways if she continued to blather, the conversation would go downhill.

"I'm...I'd better go."

Emma knocked back the rest of her drink and clanged the glass down on the marble coffee table. When Regina looked up at the sound, all she saw was the motion blur of Emma's body heading out the door.