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"Jeezuz," Emma wheezes around the straw of her strawberry lime daiquiri.
"Mm?" Mulan chuckles when her head swivels from Belle at the booth to the sight of Regina strutting through the pool gate.
Regina's in a white string bikini with a sarong that doesn't cover anything except maybe the back of her ass, and even then, Emma's watching closely enough to discern the fabric is sheer, so even that--
A low whistle from Mulan and "All you need is to finish paying off your car and you'd be in heaven."
"I can die in debt, the car's not going to be the barrier," Emma argues without looking away from the woman making her way towards them.
"Just your embarrassing pubescent crush," Mulan effectively points out with the briefest smirk and goes back to her daiquiri.
"Hello, ladies, may I join you?"
"Sure thing, teeny," Emma smiles and points to the lounge chair next to Mulan instead of herself. She'd love Regina to sit next to her, but Henry had dumped his crap on the chair next to her, so.
Dropping her chin to eye Emma over the sunglasses, Emma sucks on the straw until it comes up completely empty and Mulan slaps her. "What? Henry's stuff is here," she motions to the obvious Marvel movie printed beach towel.
"Henry won't mind," Regina magics his things to the chair next to Mulan and begins settling down. "So, it's been quite a scorcher lately," she mentions as she unpacks lotion and begins slathering it up her arms.
Mulan hums and finishes her daiquiri, "I didn't know the town had a budget for an outdoor pool, but I'm grateful."
Now that Emma's thinking about it, Storybrooke really shouldn't even have an outdoor pool--it's cold eight months of the year. And yet, after the heat of the last couple years, someone put it in the budget for Storybrooke to get a pool and voila! Storybrooke has a pool open for 2 months. If Canada can have outdoor pools, though, then it's good enough for them, she supposes.
It's crowded in the way all public pools are crowded: the separate kiddie pool is already cordoned off from someone having an accident in their diaper, there's a bunch of kids with floaties splashing ferociously in the shallow end, and the rest of the pool is dedicated to friends and show-offs, with an extra concentration of show offs at the deep end on the diving board.
Having an outdoor tiki bar and smoking corner rounds things out very nicely.
"How many has she had?"
Emma's concentration on Regina's legs is broken, "What? Only one, what's that supposed to mean?"
She turns to see Mulan holding up two fingers as she gets up in her flamingo swim trunks.
"Hey!" Emma throws her straw at the betrayer.
"I'm grabbing more water. Want anything?" Effectively blocking the straw assault, Mulan picks it up and tosses her braid back over her shoulder.
"Ya, I'd like a water, and for you to stop flirting with your girlfriend on friend time," Emma grunts.
With expressionless eyes, Mulan looks from Emma to Regina and back again. "I'll grab some waters. Regina?"
Grinning amiably as she rubs lotion over her inner thighs, Regina shakes her head. "No, thanks."
"The daiquiris are good, though," Emma immediately proffers. "They put lime in the strawberry ones. It's really tasty."
A small laugh and Regina lifts her glasses to squint at Emma, "Are you sober, Swan?"
"As a judge," and she crosses her heart.
Regina's laugh is big and amused and Emma is dumb as Regina shakes her head and puts her glasses back down. A second's worth of grieving for the loss of Regina's expressive eyes, and Emma lays back down herself.
"I'm surprised you're not up on the diving board."
"I did a couple flips, one belly flop for the hellion," Neal, her evil brother, "and decided to hang with Mulan."
"She do that fancy flip dive again?" comes a low knowing voice.
"Stop hitting on her, you'll only make her blush," Emma chastises. "Besides, Belle would find a way to murder you and I can't defend your honor if I already died trying to protect you from a bookworm."
"One: I'll do as I please, Miss Swan" Regina laughs, "And two: Belle has no reason to murder anyone when they're in an open relationship."
"What!" Emma shoots up and turns.
With a smirk and satisfied wiggle, Regina laughs again. "I forget you're from Monogamy Town, sometimes," the darker woman smiles bigger. "What's the big deal? They have something that works. They love each other. Who cares if they occasionally dip a toe in the swinger scene?"
Emma's back cracks as she twists to look over at the tiki bar. Belle works a few afternoons and early evenings and the two are regular fixtures at the pool because of it. How did Emma miss this? Thinking over the numerous occasions where Dorothy and Ruby have traveled in town and stayed over with Belle, things start clicking in place. "Ohmygod," is rasped through Emma's throat as she turns back to Regina.
"Ruby and Dorothy, too?"
Another lascivious grin from the former mayor, who adjusts the wide-brimmed sun hat on her leaned back body.
"How do you--Have you--Ohmygod--" Emma feels her eyes widen as her finger does a listless point over her shoulder and back to Regina, who only wiggles and laughs again in response.
"You have! Haven't you!" Emma's cheeks feel like they're on fire and she's scandalized.
"Hush, darling, I haven't done anything with anyone I haven't done before," the irritating woman laughs lowly and seems to settle down. "Now be a good girl and let me nap."
Leaning over, still flabbergasted, Emma whisper shouts, "You are the one who isn't a good girl and I can't believe you!"
There's a moment of no response, as if Regina is actually ignoring her, but then another smirk, "Evil queens have to work out their energies somewhere, Sheriff."
Gasping and clutching her non-existent pearls, Emma whirls around to glare at Mulan and Belle.
. . . .
"Hypothetically."
"Hypothetically what?" Regina's brow furrows as she dries her hands on a towel and reaches into the swim bag to grab the sinkers for Henry.
As soon as the pool equipment is handed over and the late teenager off with his friends, Emma leans closer. "Hypothetically, how hot was it?"
Distracted with watching Mulan perform a near flawless gainer, Regina hums, "Hm? What was?"
Flushing at the idea that Regina is imagining sexy times with Mulan, Emma shoves down the jealousy, and hisses curiously, "How hot was the swinger thing with Mulan?"
Regina's surprise face whips around and even through the sunglasses Emma can see those dark eyes quickly flashing around the people crowded around them. Then a huff and chuckle. "Who says I was there?"
"You! You did!" Emma has to know.
"I did not, I merely said they participate in the swinger scene," Regina smiles and turns back to see Belle on her break jumping into the deep end.
"But you said--"
Turning back to Emma, Regina grasps her chin firmly and pulls in her for a firm, but chaste kiss. Her lips are soft and a little cool from having just drank water and "I implied I joined to get a rise out of you," breathes the brunette against Emma's mouth before pressing their lips together longer and pulling back again. "But I only go to watch these days." She releases Emma's chin.
Confused, Emma is frozen. "But how hot was it?"
Raising her sunglasses, Regina bites her lip and looks Emma up and down. "Can't say I remember, might have to be one of those things you experience for yourself."
And like that, Regina settles back into the lounge and takes a deep satisfying breath.
. . . .
"So, Regina mentioned that you like to, um, party together and stuff," Emma tries opening at the bar.
"What?" Ruby looks over to Dorothy, "I mean, we do like to party, we're here," she motions to the dance floor at the bar.
"Yea, but like," Emma lowers her voice and leans closer, "like sex party."
"Ohmygod, I'm going to kill her," Ruby pivots and Dorothy laughs, grabbing her elbow.
"What?" Emma is lost and afraid. She didn't mean to start anything.
Ruby is back in her face, sharp fingernail making Emma cross her eyes, hissing angrily, "You can tell your no-good, nosy, girlfriend that we are not swingers!"
And like that, Dorothy is prying Ruby back and away and Emma is left bereft. "What?" she asks no one stupidly.
. . . .
"You almost killed me!" Emma whines when Regina comes back from the bathroom.
Head back and picture-perfect-picture that she is, Regina laughs delightedly. "You have no chill, Emma," Regina murmurs against her cheek and pulls her closer.
"So they're not swingers?" Emma asks. "I almost died by asking!"
Another laugh from Regina and cryptic shrug, "I always figured they were."
"You said--"
Regina cuts her off with a kiss. "Either dance with me, Swan, or take me home."
The prophecy is true: Emma's going to die one way or another.