Regina walks over to the thermostat on the wall for the third time in the last two hours and Mal tilts her head, watching her fuss with the little thing on the wall.

"Is it malfunctioning?"

"No." Regina touches her forehead, frustration making her stiff. She shakes her head. "It seems to be fine."

It's a frigid winter day outside but perfectly warm and comfortable in Regina's office, at least, Mal's comfortable, but she's always warm and her waistcoat is much more comfortable than Regina's dress.

"Here." Lifting her blazer from the chair, Mal walks to her, slipping it over her shoulders. "Put this on."

Regina turns, meeting her eyes. "I'm fine."

"You're cold."

"The thermostat says it's fine." She sighs again, touches her throat. That's the problem. Her throat bothered her yesterday.

Mal touches her cheek, and Regina's warm, too warm. Regina's sore throat comes with a fever today. They have so much to do, Regina will never let her call it a day this early. "I'll get you more tea. Wear my jacket. It's warm."

Regina rolls her eyes. "I'm fine."

"I believe you said you were cold."

That look passes Regina's face again. The soft, exhausted look that means this is important, and they have to continue because putting the town above everything is how Regina atones for them being here, for the years they repeated over and over. Paperwork is a funny kind of redemption, but it's what Regina needs, so Mal will give it to her.

She touches Regina's cheek again, then kisses her, lips following her fingers against Regina's fevered skin. "It'll get worse before it gets better," she whispers. Regina knows this, and Mal can feel her fever building, like fire catching.

Regina rests her forehead against Mal's cheek, letting herself have a moment of weakness. "Then we'd better finish today."

She cuddles into Mal's jacket, sitting back down on the sofa by all the papers. Mal watches her and smiles, remembering a little queen wrapped in blankets next to a fire, a lifetime ago. She was stubborn then too.

Water boils with a flick of her fingers, and she pours it from the little electric kettle over a tea bag. She adds honey, taking it out of the cabinet where it sits next to the hot chocolate for Henry. When she returns, she sets it on the table in front of Regina and touches her shoulder.

"We stop at dinner time."

Regina takes a sip, wincing a little. Her throat hurts. "We should finish."

"We will, but we stop at dinner time."

Regina leans her head on Maleficent's shoulder, just for a moment. Her eyes close, and the papers are forgotten, just for a moment.

Mal touches her back, between her shoulder blades, resting her hand there on the wool of her own jacket. "We're nearly finished."

Regina sighs, dragging herself back up. She sips her tea and shakes her head. "We're not."

"I'm glad you can admit it, dear."

Leaning forward, Regina drops her head into her hands. "Under the curse it was the same year, over and over, all these forms were the same, none of them changed unless I changed something. Now-"

Mal rubs slow circles on her shoulders. "Now we have to figure out how to list cleaning up a crashed airship as a town expenditure."

"Did you?"

"I called it a small craft accident. An unregistered hobbyist."

Regina's smile has a genuine warmth and amusement. "That's one way to do it."

Setting that form in the pile for Regina to sign, Mal nods. "One thing at a time, dear. It's the only way to finish something truly tedious."