A/N: A requested piece for the prompt 'Strip Poker.' A birthday present for 'Femphoenix' :) Enjoy... And please comment!

The Mayor pulls up into an empty space outside the Station with a frown. She had been on her way home, but spotting the lights glowing from the high, cell-block windows of the ordinarily sleepy building in front of her has peaked her interest.

The Sheriff is not one to stay late, whatever business needs doing.

"Unless that pathetic flake of a woman has finally tired of you, too, dear."

Somehow, she doesn't think Mary Margaret kicking Emma out will be the case- the school teacher forever doting on the blonde in a most repulsive fashion- which begs the question of just what the younger woman could be up to so late at the Station.

Why so curious in the Swan woman all of a sudden?

She rolls her eyes at this inner thought and purses her lips irritably. She has recently found herself questioning her motives when it comes to the Sheriff, as she can't help but feel that a worrying amount of her time is consumed thinking about the irksome blonde.

She tells herself that knowing what she knows about Emma's true identity is the reason- the only reason- why.

Slipping from the luxurious interior of her car, she pulls her coat closer to her slim frame- the evening balmy and the sky indigo, but the wind high and chilling- and marches up the worn path to the front entrance. She raises a brow when she reaches the door. A small terracotta plant pot has been placed on either side of the painted wood, each containing a small colony of daffodils. She finds it hard to imagine Emma being behind such thoughtful decor, but she has little clue who else could be to blame.

"Such a common choice of bulb, Sheriff."

She sniffs as she lets herself into the shadowed hallway, closing the door behind her quietly. She jumps as a loud crow of exuberance- and, most likely, inebriation- echoes jarringly down the corridor, taking a few hesitant steps forwards as she makes out the low drawl of the blonde and the excitable chatter of the promiscuous little waitress from the Diner.

Recognising Ruby's flirtatious giggling has her rolling her eyes once more. The waitress appears to be spending more and more time with the Sheriff; following her around as though she were some sort of lapdog, something which the blonde seems to be surprisingly alright with. She had warned Emma when she had begun to suspect that the blonde was considering appointing the young brunette as her deputy, that this was not a decision she was going to let fly, receiving a childish huff and a poisonous green-eyed glare in return, but the Sheriff had assured her she was merely 'being friendly'.

"An unlikely story."

Scarlet lips spit angrily, as the Mayor finds the thought of the blonde simply 'being friendly' entirely preposterous. The younger woman is vile, and thorny as a rose; the term just doesn't suit her.

And yet, as she continues to listen to the raucous giggling from the Sheriff's office, she is perplexed to find that hateful, sarcastic drawl taking on a husky humor, as Emma crows unintelligibly at the younger woman, accompanied by a dull thud and a high-pitched screech of laughter.

The Mayor cocks her head as she makes out the scrape of a chair against the cold concrete floor.

"Hang on, there's ice cream in the freezer, don't you go..."

But the rest is just a throaty murmur and the brunette can't make out the individual words. However, she has understood enough to suspect the blonde will emerge from the office any second now to make her way to the small kitchen at the back of the building, and she pulls herself together with rigid authority, awaiting Emma's presence.

"What...?"

Regina blinks, utterly stunned, as she lays eyes on the Sheriff.

Had Emma taken the time to scope out her surroundings, she would have clocked the brunette stood staring at her in the entrance hall right away, but as it is, she simply trots lightly towards the kitchen without a second glance. The lightness of her footsteps is due to the fact that she has discarded the use of her heavy boots. In fact, she hurries down the hallway with one foot completely bare... Much the same as her torso; pale flesh providing a striking contrast to the deep emerald lace that runs a thin slash of color across her back.

Frowning as she tries to comprehend what she's just seen, the Mayor shakes her head, stalking stiffly towards the kitchen to find out just what in the hell the younger woman is playing at. She steps into the entranceway of the small kitchenette silently, and allows a small smile to touch her lips as she takes in the pale flesh of the younger woman's back as Emma leans into the fridge. The definition of the blonde's spine becomes more pronounced as she leans down lower to inspect the freezer. Clearing her throat loudly, the Mayor attempts an aloof scoff as the Sheriff jumps and turns to address her.

"Ah! Regina?!"

The brunette smirks as the blonde winces; her head colliding with the door of the fridge in her haste to face her intruder.

"What...?"