st_oriedqueen | [For Dyson] darkness is your candle

Every muscle in Regina's body ached, but somehow she felt more at peace than she had since she arrived. Maybe there was something to this "working out" business. If nothing else, it was something to do with her early mornings when sleep fled and the prospect of paperwork made her want to weep. It was something to do with her late nights, when her bed was empty and her dreams would turn unkind.

If nothing else, it was something to do that hurt no one and required her to interact with no one. The only person she could hurt on an "elliptical" was herself.

And afterward, the hot tub and the sauna offered comfort, solace, a little of the warmth of the embrace she'd lost. This, she genuinely looked forward to, and she felt strangely serene as she entered the shadowy sauna (she preferred the darkness to the harsh, unnatural light; it was kinder to her tired eyes). Once the door closed, she untucked the towel around her breasts and spread it on the bench, and then went and lay facedown on it. As the tension in her back and hips eased, she sighed contentedly, and let her mind start to drift.

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"Trust me. It was you. You didn't wear shirts then either." Regina smirked into the darkness. "I take it you haven't met Yasmeen yet. She could tell you about the pup-tent in your lap and what's under it."

He'd been wearing a shirt almost every time they'd run into each other. The sauna didn't seem like it should count considering the view of her naked derriere that he currently had.

But instead of arguing that, he arched a brow that she may or may not be able to see.

"Pup tent?" He was vaguely offended. "I haven't been a pup in centuries."

In spite of herself, Regina gave a smoky little laugh that faded into rich, sly amusement as pieces clicked into place. "Well, that explains it."

Let him ask if he cared what it explained. The list was long, and tangled with some of her darker deeds--Graham, Ruby, Snow, the silver mines--but she'd found peace with Snow and a workable alliance with Ruby, and she understood now why she'd overreacted to Graham. But what she meant, primarily, was that it explained Yasmeen.

"Explains?" He was curious, and not just about this Yasmeen she'd mentioned as though he should know her.

"Everything." Regina gestured idly with her nearer hand as though she intended to be done, but then she turned her head and propped her chin on her crossed arms. She could make out the shape of him in the dark, and if they were going to talk, she preferred to be facing him somewhat.

"Yasmeen. I wondered what she saw in you. She saw the wolf. The growls, snarls, and yellow eyes. My reaction to you talking to Snow. The snark." Regina lowered her lashes in a blink. "I have a history with your kind."

"You know more about me than I realized." the words rolled off his tongue and into the darkness, dangerous but not angry. "It's strange, but I'm not as bothered by it as I might have been."

There was a pause, and then a husky chuckle.

"Probably because you're naked."

The low, predatory undercurrent of his speech should have made her feel vulnerable and exposed. While it did, it had decidedly the opposite effect he'd probably intended. And if his other senses were enhanced... her cheeks warmed to match the flush of arousal, but she chose not to be embarrassed.

"A fact you're enjoying immensely."

His other senses were enhanced, but he didn't comment on anything he might be aware of.

"I could hardly protest otherwise." The aforementioned pup tent (though he still found that terminology inaccurate) would belie any statement he might make.

"And I won't deny I enjoy the attention. Tonight, anyway," Regina retorted, a hint of sharpness underscoring the unusual nature of their current detente. "Tomorrow, I'll deny this conversation ever happened."

It was only happening now because it was distracting her from memories of Robin.

"I will do my best to forget having seen you in dishabille should we meet tomorrow." He drawled.

"You won't succeed," Regina replied knowingly, a slyly feminine smirk curving her lips. If Robin had given her one thing, it was faith that if she wasn't the fairest, she was still unforgettable.

Robin. Her breath caught for a second. She'd almost forgotten, just for a minute, how much she missed him.

"No," he agreed, taking a long pause to watch her n the dark. The inhalation was, out of place and it made him frown slightly. "But I do promise not to mention it more than once."

Another pause.

"Or twice."

"What happens in the sauna stays in the sauna, wolf."

And if it didn't.... Regina flicked out her fingers and magically yanked the towel right off his lap. In the light that glowed around her fingertips, she glanced over at his lap. Her eyebrow lifted and she smirked. "No, definitely not a pup."

He didn't just laugh, he roared, head going back and his eye flashing a warm gold.

[For Dyson] darkness is your candle

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