fondofapples | Inbox -- Genessia

Regina Mills
~~Queen~~ ~~Mayor~~ Mother
Sorceress
Fond of Plants

"You've reached the inbox of Regina Mills. Leave a message. If it's urgent, it's probably too late."

(text, voice, video, action, ooc planning if necessary for Genessia only)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

hellorhighwater

"Think I'm ready now." he admitted--though it wasn't the entire truth. He could see the flush of her skin, and he knew he could fucking sleep in this water and probably still get chilly. It was good, but he'd rather warm himself by Regina's heat over that of the spring.

"C'mon." he sighed, rubbing her back with his good hand. "Let's go back to the room--might need some help gettin' this braid outta my hair, you did too good a job."

Which would mean more of her hands in his hair--like now, fingertips running through the loose wisps at his temple and making his eyes droop...he'd pay a king's ransom for more of that, more of those soothing shivers she sent down his spine with the gentle scratch of her nails on his scalp, that tranquil warmth that turned his entire being into liquid honey, and had no idea how to put it into words without sounding stupid.

So, tricking her into playing with his hair it was. Sort of.

From:

fondofapples

That brought the slightest curve of a smile to her lips and kindled a wisp of firelight in her eyes. As if she hadn't figured out by now that the man's hair was the way to his psyche and everything else about him.

"Whatever you need," she murmured to him, and let herself melt against him. As much as he liked holding her, twice that much at least did she love being held--as long as it was her choice. As long as she could take a step back if she needed to and not feel restrained. Right now, even with a fight not five minutes past, she couldn't imagine being even a foot from him if she didn't have to.

Lips pressed softly the shoulder of his injured arm, she focused her will along her arm and then closed imaginary fingers around their things on the ground beyond the pool. Once she'd drawn the bundle back to them, she drew up the mist that coiled and twisted like affectionate serpents and deposited them back in her room.

Gently playful, she pulled back and released the waistband on his shorts. "Do you need help getting out of these, too?"

From:

hellorhighwater

"Ow! Sadist." he teased when she playfully snapped the waistband of his wet trunks, grinning as he bent to steal a kiss with his bad arm cradled against his stomach. "I'd say yes, but that'll turn into a social event, and...I'm into a little pain, just not this kind."

Drawing back, he smiled sheepishly.

"Seriously, I'm good. Uh...can you grab me the black gym shorts outta my bag, though?"

From:

fondofapples

As much as she might've liked to continue the erotic overtures they'd begun with before they made it into the pool, she was glad to hear him saying no. His body needed rest, and she need him to be well.

Leaning very lightly against his good side, she lifted onto her toes to kiss him softly. When she dropped down again, she said, "Just don't get used to me fetching and carrying," with teasing sternness, and turned her back to him to get his shorts.

From:

hellorhighwater

Neil just grinned as she got his shorts, accepting them from her when she turned back around--and before she could release them, pulled her in so he could steal one more kiss, long and lingering.

"I'll make it up to you when I'm back in fighting shape, Beautiful." he assured her with a wink before heading into the bathroom to dry off and change. Emerging a few minutes later, he made a beeline for the bed, just to sit down on the edge so he could rest his arm on one leg, relieving some of the pressure on his shoulder with a small sigh of relief. It was getting bad again...but that sick edge to the pain hadn't come back.

"I think the spring actually did help." he mused, absently rubbing his bad arm with his good hand. "Least I don't feel like I'm gonna pass out anymore."

From:

fondofapples

While he changed, she took a towel to the damp ends of her hair. She'd used enough magic today that it felt important not to use it for unnecessary conveniences, especially when she planned to use several more spells before she slept--if she slept. A shower could wait until morning, so she toweled off and stripped out of the swimsuit, laying it over the towel on the chair of her dressing table while she glanced in the mirror.

Pleased enough with what she saw, she selected the most demure of the nightgowns she had on-hand, a fawn colored silk shift with matching panties--neither of which she'd managed to put on by the time Neil emerged. It wasn't intentional, giving him a show, not tonight, and she felt strangely shy about dressing in front of him. She marked it as odd, but didn't let it slow her down at all, and quickly covered up.

"We'll try keeping it a little too warm so that the dragon-fire can't pull all the heat out of it, but not so hot that it's a challenge," she decided aloud, and proceeded to be briskly efficient (and maybe a little maternal) about pouring a glass of water, retrieving several aspirin, and bringing both to him. "Here, take this. See if it helps at all?"

From:

hellorhighwater

There was something about watching her dress that was strangely intimate--so domestic, that open view of her body not for the taking, but in a private and vulnerable moment that was his and no one else's. It was new and unusual, and he tucked it away with the multitude of other little pieces and moments she gave him the longer they were together.

When she brought over the pills and the water, he took the aspirin first, popping them into his mouth before he accepted the glass of water. It had been a lot of years since he'd swallowed pills, but a couple long swallows along with tipping his head back got them down without issue.

"Sounds good--it's what the healers in Nocturne usually try to do, but it can get tricky." he sighed, passing the glass back to her. "Best I can usually manage is sleeping by the fire--by the hearth in my room at the castle, close enough to a campfire when I travel that I tend to singe a lot of blankets."

From:

fondofapples

"My poor knight," she murmured and bent to kiss his forehead. His skin felt, as always, frighteningly warm against her lips, but she knew by now what was normal for him. He wasn't running too hot, probably because of the springs.

"But I have a plan." She'd been thinking about this on and off since she first went to him, so by this point, she had a fairly good idea of what she wanted to try. And, if she was honest with herself, she felt a little giddy about the possibility it might really help.

Because it had grown late, she quickly flipped off all the overheads and peripheral lights, leaving only those on the nightstands. Then she returned to the bed and joined him on it. Conjuring could be tricky, which was why she preferred summoning when she could, but she had no access to what she wanted here, so conjuring it would be.

During the Ice Queen's visit, when Emma had grown so chilled, Mary Margaret had tucked a handy little heating pad in the microwave. Regina recalled it had been made from rice and wheat and a lovely soft flannel, and it released the scent of spiced chai. It wasn't the proper size, but that was easily enough adjusted, and she mentally added two soft loops that could be adjusted to hold the pad in place.

It took several quiet moments, far longer than any spellcasting he'd seen from her, for her to fix the item she wanted in her mind. Once confident of it, the conjuration itself took seconds, just a mental twitch, almost, to pluck the thing from her thoughts into the space they shared, and then it lay there across her thighs exactly as she'd imagined it, even steamily warm and scented of chai, and she shot him a triumphantly sunny smile as she held out her hand for his injured arm.

From:

hellorhighwater

Neil was curious about what she had planned--and when she settled in to concentrate, meaning that her magic was coming into play, Neil was perfectly captivated. She was a fucking Rembrandt when it came to magic (Rembrandt was the guy, right?...yeah, one of those legendary painters--or maybe it was Rodin...) and any chance to see her in action was a treat.

She didn't disappoint, either: with little more than a thought, she conjured an object from nothing. What he had to use brute strength to pull out of the fire in his own blood and force into being with physical effort, she plucked carelessly from nothing--a mind and form made to process magic into a paintbrush she could wield with elegance to form the picture of her will in the world.

She dazzled him with her effortless grace and skill--and beamed at him as if she'd just discovered fire itself. Fuck, she'd probably be offended if she had a single clue how damn adorable she was in that moment...

With a smile of his own and an affectionate little shake of his head, he grit his teeth subtly and extended his bad arm to her.

"That's a cute little thing--smells good, too, but...what is it?"

From:

fondofapples

"That cute little thing is going to make your night," she told him in a tone too full of cheerful self-satisfaction to be pointed. "If I'm right, I might even end up being jealous of that cute little thing."

She winked and leaned over to kiss him quickly to be clear she wasn't annoyed, repeating his words like that, just teasing. And as soon as she sat back again, she slipped the two straps over his hand one after the other, then lowered the flanneled covered pad down against his arm. She didn't release it completely, fearing the weight might be too much at first, so just held the ends so that it draped lightly over his arm.

"I'll tighten the straps when we get it settled how you want it, and then it'll just be a matter of infusing it with heat if you wake up and it's gone cool," she said, and even to her own ears it sounded like she was explaining the cure for cancer.

From:

hellorhighwater

Yes, Regina was cute as shit when she was feeling proud of herself--but Neil had to admit: it was kind of genius.

The healers back home used marginally similar things, of course--they just never worked out for Neil in particular. Rough spun satchels filled with stones or sand...stones were uncomfortable when his arm got sore, and more than once he'd given in to temptation, pulled heat from the sand compress...and ended up with a useless lump of glass just as uncomfortable as the stones.

This thing was soft, heavy but malleable--and beautifully warm, a soft hiss of pleasure rushing out of his lungs as she let it settle against his arm with support. Add the straps that would hold it in place while he slept...

To test her assertion that he could warm it again, Neil reached out to lay his hand against the pad. It took a little concentration, but after a moment the veins beneath his skin began to glow, a brilliant red-orange spider web of light as he pulled the fire to the surface without releasing it as flame, channeling the heat into the packing of some kind of soft seeds and herbs.

It got warmer still, hot enough to burn...and Neil sagged visibly with how good it felt. Nothing scorched, nothing poked, nothing melted...

"It's perfect." he sighed, his bright smile full of relief matching her own as he drew his power back inward. Once his hand had gone dark again, he reached up to cradle her cheek and pulled her in for a longer, deeper kiss, full of joy and gratitude.

"You're fuckin' brilliant, have I mentioned that today? The healers of Castle Nocturne could learn a thing or two from you."

From:

fondofapples

"The healers of Castle Nocturne could learn a thing or two from Walmart and my stepdaughter," came Regina's not even remotely humble reply with her eyes still a little glazed from the emotion in that kiss. Credit where credit was due and all, but she had adapted it a little, adding a layer of insulation on the side away from his arm to keep it from burning her while they slept (if she slept).

Still smiling brilliantly, she settled the pad on his arm and watched his face for any sign of discomfort. Seeing only the shadows of fading pain, she nodded and then carefully drew the straps snug and snapped the quick-release holders down. As she had not a shred of mechanical inclination, she was relieved to see she'd gotten the fussy plastic bits right. She must've paid more attention to the million-and-one fasteners of Henry's youth than she thought.

"Now the boring part," she led and then showed him the quick-release, pointed out that the straps had enough elastic in them that he shouldn't need them unless they got too tight or tangled with something, reminded him plastic would melt at high enough temperatures and that she would burn at much lower ones, all the while watching in satisfaction as his eyelids started to droop.

"I won't make a good pillow," she concluded. "But I'm all yours, at very least for as long as it takes to unbraid your hair and get you settled."

From:

hellorhighwater

The pad was comfortable against his skin, searing-hot with the edge dulled by his own body, greedily sucking in some of that heat without him trying. It left him only a little distracted as she explained how to loosen the straps if they got tangled or too tight--that reflexive leeching of heat that ended abruptly in a full body wave of inner warmth and relief that was so sudden it almost had him yawning with an abrupt swell of fatigue.

Settled. Right.

Nodding, he absently rubbed one eye with the fingertips of his good hand, and did yawn then before reaching back to tug loose that bit of silk cord she'd knotted at the end of the braid earlier. He was a pathetic sentimentalist, but he was hanging onto it--a reminder of their first fight, first time he told her he loved her.

If it showed up knotted around his wrist from time to time, well...she probably wouldn't notice.

"You make a damn fine pillow, for the record." he informed her with a smirk. "And blanket--you're a top notch bedroom set, and if there's a way to interpret that as something dirty? G'head."

From:

fondofapples

In response, Regina huffed a quiet laugh, rolled her eyes, and doused the lights with a lazy flick of her hand and then slipped beneath the sheets. She held the top sheet up for him to join her and waited to see how he'd settle in.

"If I think dirty, it's going to be a long, uncomfortable night for both of us," she informed him playfully. "I'm thinking clean, warming, protective thoughts instead."

Yes, his hair was still braided, but Regina knew it for the weapon it was, and she'd saved unbraiding it and winding her fingers through it for now. If he was anything like her in his anxieties, his would spike again when he lay down and closed his eyes, sure that the relief he felt would somehow dissipate when he needed it most. Having her hands in his hair would slice through it, cutting it off at the knees she hoped and let him relax into the awareness that if he did hurt again, she would be there to help.

From:

hellorhighwater

"I mentioned before that I still got one good arm, right?" he joked, taking the invitation as he drew his legs up onto the bed and slid under the sheets with her. He couldn't sleep on his side because of his bad arm, and he'd be facing away from her if he rolled the other way, so he settled for stretching out on his back so he could rest his arm across his stomach. With a little arch of his shoulders and pelvis to get comfortable--and make several things in his spine pop audibly in spectacular fashion--he rolled his head to the side so he could look into her face with a soft smile.

He wanted to tell her how he felt: how he still hurt, but how little it mattered anymore. He was warm and relaxed and she was right there in touching range, which he did by nudging his leg against hers under the covers, just so he could press his toes against her ankle.

He wanted to tell her how safe he felt--how goddamn much he loved her--but their discussion tonight was proof enough that it was too soon, or perhaps still just too much. He didn't want to upset either one of them again, he just wanted to drift, to enjoy this, so he just stayed quiet, smiling up at her.

He enjoyed the moment of relief...and more on the nose than she suspected, he didn't even try to close his eyes.

Because somewhere in the back of his head, he knew that the second he did, this serene bubble of well being that kept the worst of the pain at bay was going to slip right through his fingers.

From:

fondofapples

"Mmm." She made a thoughtful sound and then leaned over to press her lips to his, slow, soft, and just firmly enough to press them open for her tongue to claim his mouth, with the same implacable tenderness that drove her up off her back onto her knees.

After a slow stroke of her hand from his neck to his abdomen, she gently swatted his outer hip. "Come on. Move over, love. We're trading sides until you're healed up." And then she moved carefully across his hips to the other side of the bed. Now he could roll onto his side and let her hold him, if he wouldn't be stubborn about it.

From:

hellorhighwater

Just for one, fleeting, curious moment, Neil thought she might actually be about to take him up on his invitation. He kissed her back, slow and warm and sweet, his hand sliding up to curl around her nape...

But she was just shooing him over to the other side of the bed, earning her an impossibly fond roll of his eyes.

"I know you're a queen? But you're bossy as shit." he huffed with a smile, doing as he was bid. As she settled into her new spot, he rolled on his side with a sigh, shoving his good arm under the pillow.

Much fucking better. Damn her for being right.

From:

fondofapples

"You have no idea," she answered with a wink he probably couldn't see and a wicked little smile he could definitely hear.

But she let the playfulness of it go in place of the protectiveness she'd felt waxing and waning and waxing again while they fought, then propped herself up on her hip so that his head rested level with her stomach. "Close your eyes."

Since the room was dark enough she couldn't see well, she ensured he did as she bid by trailing her fingertips over his face like she'd memorized it and sought to be sure it conformed. And only when he'd closed his eyes did she extend her arm over him to loosen the plait in his hair, taking her time to unbraid it, then, rather than simply shake it loose. That came after, along with the slow caresses and scrape of her nails that never seemed to stop.

From:

hellorhighwater

Neil was reluctant to do as he was told, but she was checking him in the dark--and he couldn't fault her for it because that soft brush of fingers over his features was nice...

He finally closed his eyes, with no small measure of apprehension.

She made it easier the moment she reached over him and started to unbraid his hair. It pulled a deep, gravelly sigh out of him as she took her time, the gentle shift and tug of her fingers working the plait loose and brushing his nape now and again sending a pleasant wash of sensation through him.

When his hair was loose and she started running her fingers through it, nails teasing over his scalp with every sweep of her fingers, the low, rough little sounds of pleasure that rolled out of him were not all that far off from purring, his head tipping and arching back into her touch to chase it down.

It was good, scalp tingling and little shivers running up and down his neck and over his shoulders. He was warm, heat soaked into the marrow of his arm, and when he shifted just a little closer, he could press his forehead against her midsection and arch into her caresses like a cat begging for attention.

And just like that first, perfect night--only more aggressively--her gentle touches and the comfort of her vigil soon had the rumbling in his chest growing quiet, his eager twisting into her hands gradually stilling as her presence eventually seduced him into sleep.