The first of a few one shots to accompany The Longest Memory - this one is for OQ Prompt Party week! Thank you Lindsay for betaing this! :)

36. Robin spills a drink on Regina

Regina doesn't know what it is about post-quiz nights at the student bar, but whereas people remain stone cold sober and competitive during the quiz itself, once the host has announced the winner and dispersed the money, a good percentage of the bar's population descends into drunkenness. Maybe it's the pressure, maybe it's because it's what's expected or maybe it's just because they're early first years, but they seem to give as good as it gets. Not that she's one to judge, as she likes to take part on occasion.

Tonight, though, following a rather nasty stomach bug, Regina really does not fancy alcohol in the slightest. The mere scent of wine turns her insides and so she asks Emma to keep the damn stuff out of her sight. The blonde hides her glass behind Daniel's open bottle of beer the best she can and Regina contemplates just going back to her dorm to sleep, but she's been holed up for so long that the thought of going back starts to send her stir crazy.

So she stays right where she is, enjoying the conversation between the three of them, announcing that she's hungry and that she's going to order a burger, slathered in BBQ sauce and cheese… and Emma cackles at the fact she's just had a stomach illness, to which Regina simply retorts that she has missed her favourite dish. "Besides, it's National Burger Day, so… it would be rude not to, right?"

Emma nods furiously as Daniel raises his bottle in agreement and, taking their orders, she heads to the bar.

It doesn't normally take Regina long to be served - and it's not like she does anything special to get served quickly - but tonight is another story. The winning team are all congregated together, taking up a great deal of space, loudly celebrating their success by shoving their shot glasses in the air. Repeatedly. The brunette sighs inwardly, tapping her foot impatiently, glancing over at the rowdy group beside her.

She recognises one or two of them. "Little" John Grand, she knows, shares a class or two with him, even though he's not studying medicine but Biochemistry; grand by name and grand by nature, she's never really spoken to him, but she certainly hears him often. The other, however, has the most alluring ocean blue eyes and she has definitely seen him around. He seems pretty friendly, open perhaps. His name's Robin. Robin…

"Locksley!" Regina shouts, jumping back from the bar, her heather grey cotton top now stained a golden whisky colour. She stares, stares and stares and Regina Mills is not a materialistic woman, but this was expensive and she is hangry.

"Oh my - I am so sorry, milady," Robin responds, grabbing the first napkin he can lay his hands on to pat at the stain, naturally just making it worse and she calls for him to stop.

"Just stop." Regina locks her fingers around his wrists and pushes them away. "It's… fine." She shakes her head, curls bouncing about her shoulders and just turns back to the bartender, who is finally paying attention to her.

"Well, what were you going to get?" Robin asks, setting his now-empty tumbler back on the bar.

Regina chews her lip a moment before: "a burger." She witnesses Robin's brows raise, disbelieving, but he then realises she's not joking. "What? A girl can't go out with her friends without a drink?"

"No, not at all," he responds, snagging a menu. "Let me guess, BBQ sauce. Lots and lots of it…"

It's Regina's turn to stare this time. "How did you-..?"

"You look like a girl with a good taste in food." Regina finally cracks a smile at that - it's something she cannot deny. "So, a burger. Anything to drink anyway?"

"Water, please, and before you make a comment on that, I've been unwell recently and I don't want to push it. Alright?"

Robin gives her a grin. He likes her already.

The duo end up at a table away from both sets of friends, Regina highly aware of Emma and Daniel's watchful eye on them both. Their love for burgers isn't the only thing they have in common, they discover - their interests are also pretty similar. He's such good company that, when a huge dollop of BBQ sauce misses her napkin and lands square over the whisky stain on her tee, she doesn't even care anymore. He offers to go get the shirt cleaned and Regina takes it as an opportunity to see him again, saying that it's the least he could offer, with a smirk.

He's also thinking of how he can see her again, and when Robin tells Regina about his love of archery and how he's a county champion, she admits she's never tried it, so he instantly invites her to his favourite range for some lessons. She accepts, extending an invitation back to him, not only to the stables (she's a horse rider after all), but to a dorm party Daniel is throwing later that month.

He turns up to with August, whisky in one hand, Regina's perfectly dry-cleaned top in the other. It's something that makes her laugh as she steps aside to let him in; something that becomes an inside joke to them.

It's the start of a close, caring friendship between not only the group, but also between the pair, with an undercurrent of something more that is skirted around for far too long.