Hey guys! So this chapter is quite eventful and long, and also a really important part of this story. I hope I did it justice. It wasn't an easy one to write, so if you did enjoy it and thought I managed to nail Emma and Regina's fragile dynamic, then please let me know in the comments below :)
Chapter 12-
The Upper Hand
The relatively calm state of mind Regina was in that morning has been slowly seeping away. Her quick visit to the library, an attempt to ease away some of the nerves that had settled in her stomach the closer the hand in her watch edged towards the 4:00 pm mark, had failed.
Burying herself in an interesting looking book turns out to be futile when Regina's mind keeps jumping back to her scheduled plans for the afternoon. Even Katelyn's teasings go unanswered, leaving the old librarian as visibly grumpy as Regina feels inside.
"You're no fun today" the gray-haired lady determines with a childish pout.
"You're never fun" Regina stabs back, drawing a chuckle from the older woman.
"There you are" she shakes her head amusedly "Where did you go?" she asks and takes a sit on the table in front of Regina.
"I'm a little nervous" the brunette sighs, finding herself unable to lie to the somewhat motherly figure that is currently staring down at her from her elevated 'seat'.
"No shit, Sherlock" she teases, but her tone turns attentive seconds later when she inquires gently "What is it?"
"I need to do something that is a little out of my comfort zone" she admits quietly. That's one way of putting it.
A warm hand squeezes her forearm reassuringly.
"You'll be alright, I believe in you" she winks at Regina and pats her back lightly when she moves to retrieve her hand. "Half of the things we do in life aren't comfortable. Most of those things we seem to fear so much turn out to be the greatest decisions we've ever made."
Sounding so self-assured, Regina finds herself trusting the old lady. All those years must account to something, she points out to herself, it might as well be wisdom.
She pushes the entrance door open, noting that the usually fairly empty hall is even emptier. It's practically deserted, and Regina looks around her in an attempt to find some clue to where Emma might be 'hiding'.
The lights of the small studio are off, eliminating that possibility; and so, the brunette decides to approach the closed door to the office she sat in when she first arrived to this place.
"Come in" is heard from inside as a response to her gentle knocks and she complies.
"Hello" she greets the blonde sitting near the table.
"Oh, hey!" Emma looks up from her screen, a little surprised "Is it 4:30 already?" she asks herself more than Regina and rechecks the watch on the wall "Wow." she says and rises from her seat. "How are you?" she asks casually as she approaches the silent brunette.
"I'm good, thank you. How are you?" she returns quickly as she follows Emma to the small studio.
"I'm good too." Emma replies, eyeing Regina thoughtfully. "Are you sure you're alright?"
Regina nods, perhaps a little too quickly for Emma's liking, prompting her to stop her walk.
"Regina..." she promotes, trying to catch Regina's avoiding gaze. "We don't have to do anything if you're not comfortable with it." she stresses when Regina fails to come with a reply.
"Okay" she whispers and finally looks up. Emma nods encouragingly at her.
"I mean it," she states with conviction "nothing you feel uncomfortable with" she promises, reminding Regina of a different blonde at that moment.
"Okay" she says again, this time with a little more confidence.
"Okay" Emma repeats and crosses the last few steps to the small studio.
"Why don't you start?" Emma suggests once they're both down to nothing but a shirt –a turtleneck in Regina's case–, leggings and socks.
"Me?" she asks, probably looking pretty scared since Emma sends an assuring look her way.
"Yes, you. You do the first step." she urges and gestures towards herself "Try and knock me down."
"I-" Regina trails off, lightly shaking her head.
"Come on" Emma encourages, spreading her legs so that they're in parallel lines with her shoulders "I don't bite." she teases with a smile "Unless they ask me to." she winks, drawing a small chuckle out of Regina. That little joke seems to loosen her up a little and she nods curtly, taking a small step forward.
"Are you sure?" she asks again, as if Emma would suddenly change her mind.
"I'm sure" the blonde forgoes a tease and answers seriously "I want you to feel as much in control as possible at first, if you come to me, you have the upper hand." she reasons, beckoning Regina closer with a hand motion.
"What do I do?" Regina asks again, now a couple steps closer to Emma.
"Whatever it is that you want. Try to knock me down, grab my hand, kick me, whatever comes to mind." she says, slightly bending her knees, a movement that would go unnoticed hadn't Regina been watching her closely.
"What if I hurt you?" she asks and Emma's snort is loud and clear.
"Ugh," she lets out an amused, rolling chuckle "I'd like to see you try." she smiles cheekily, eyes shining with challenge and Regina, who couldn't -even if she wanted to- step away from a challenge, finds herself lifting an eyebrow while closing the remaining distance with a very clear goal in mind: seeing Emma Swan on her back. Whether Emma has actually meant it or it was a trick to get her to 'strike', it proves successful when Regina moves to make contact.
At first it's just her hand, grabbing a toned bicep and pulling in an attempt to move the blonde. When nothing happens but a snicker from the instructor, Regina goes with a trick she has seen countless times on TV. She drapes her right leg in front of Emma's, feeling a little bolder, her hand moves from the blonde's forearm to drape over her shoulders as she tries to push the blonde forward and get her to topple over. That position is much harder for Emma to just ignore and Regina spots her hands twitching, fighting the now programmed reaction to free herself from the grip. She doesn't act on it though, instead, it's her slightly strained voice, extremely close to the brunette's ear, asking-
"Can I touch you?"
Regina basks in the warmth of the gesture just for a moment and then nods. She doesn't get the chance to mumble a yes when she feels two strong hands wrapping around her and in a blink of an eyes she's lowered to the ground. The movement, which has started as quick and sharp, slows as her back inches towards the mattress, and her landing is nothing more than a soft thud and a small whoosh as the air is chased out of her lungs, more out of surprise than the impact itself.
A little disoriented, she looks up and locks eyes with a smiling Emma, who still has her hands on Regina's arms.
"You really hurt me there lady, watch it!" she teases, obviously kidding since Regina's attempts seem to have gone over her head.
"Shut up" Regina blurts out but she's smiling as she accepts Emma's hand and rises from the mattress.
"Wanna try that again? Or would you like to move on to actual techniques?" Emma inquires, some mockery still dancing in her eyes, but Regina finds that she doesn't mind in the slightest.
"Let's move to techniques" she says as she brushes the wrinkles in her shirt. Looking up, she meets Emma's gaze and the blonde chuckles.
"What are you straightening your shirt for? I'm going to wrinkle it again in a second."
"Someone's sure of themselves" Regina says sarcastically, but the barely noticeable upward turn of her lips never quite goes away.
They work mainly on posture, since Regina constantly shifts her legs and hands to the wrong positions. Straight and proper isn't the way to go when you try to floor someone, she's told again and again by Emma as the blonde walks around her in circles and corrects the same mistakes over and over again.
"Slouch a little" Emma instructs for the umpteenth time. She somehow manages to stay calm and patient, despite the obvious frustration Regina's inexperience probably causes her.
"Not like that" she says and moves behind Regina "you can't have your back straight like that, you're too tight, you can hurt yourself" Emma says, her breath awfully close to Regina's ear. She tries to obey, but somehow manages to get even that wrong. "That's not good, that position prevents you from performing power-requiring moves, you're blocking the natural flow of the movement." she explains and Regina's eyes bulge a little when she feels a hand on the small of her back. "You keep your lower back centered and tight, and as you go up, you shift your posture forward, like that" she says as she moves her hand over Regina's spine on her ascend all the way to her shoulders, pressing forward where Regina is too stiff and upright. Then her hands branch to her shoulders, thumbs pressing into her blades as her fingers wrap around her arms and curve them inwards.
"See?" Emma asks nonchalantly, oblivious to Regina's slightly flushed face.
Even before the incident the brunette wasn't much of a toucher, and this proximity, especially after all of this time without any human contact, sends jolts of tingles down Regina's spine that reach all the way to the tips of her toes.
"Yes" she whispers, a little breathily, and sighs when Emma lets go.
"Look at the difference" the blonde says and demonstrates a series of movements, one with her back straight, and one with her back slouched. Emma makes it look so easy and fluid as she moves her limbs and body gracefully yet sharply at the same time.
"Well, I can't do that" Regina mumbles distractedly as she watches the muscles in Emma's upper arms spasm, defined arms changing their outlines as the blonde moves them from one position to the other, working different muscles and flexing them on display.
Emma chuckles "You can't just yet," she counters "you will, I'm sure you will. You're not remotely as lanky and awkward with your body as some of the students I've had over the years and they all managed to learn a thing or two." she smiles reassuringly and Regina swallows past the lump that has formed their since they started their 'class' and nods.
"How much do I owe you?" Regina asks when they step out of the studio.
"Pfff" Emma scoffs "you're not paying me a dime." she shakes her head when Regina turns to look at her.
"Why not?"
"Because I said so"
"I can't just go away without compensating you for your time" she reasons, frowning. Why won't Emma take her money? This was a private lesson by anyone's definition.
"Yes you can, here, it's happening right now" Emma determines as she takes a sharp left turn to the staff rooms, Regina in tow.
"Emma, this is your livelihood, let me pay you." she urges, eyes following Emma as the blonde puts on layer after layer of winter clothes.
"No" she says curtly as she steps into tall winter-boots.
"Emma..." she sighs, shaking her head "It makes me uncomfortable" she blurts out eventually. She can't just walk away without paying Emma for her kindness and willingness to help. The woman didn't just go out of her way to help Regina get the spot on the class she wanted, she then went the extra mile and offered private lessons, and now she won't let Regina pay her for them?
Finally dressed in her complete winter attire, which is a little immoderate considering the fairly nice weather outside, Emma stands tall and looks Regina in the eye "Well, it will make me uncomfortable to take money from you." she shrugs "so where does that leave us?"
Regina sighs and two fingers moves to pinch the bridge of her nose as she tries to come up with a solution.
"Okay..." she drawls after a stretched silence "How about I take you out to eat?" she asks and checks the time. It's a little early for dinner but Emma has had classes all day, so maybe… "Are you hungry?"
"Always" Emma smiles broadly.
"Great," she clasps her hands. This seems like a good compromise. "It's settled then."
The implication of her actions hits her the minute they take a seat in a decorated, yet homey Italian restaurant. She's having dinner with Emma Swan.
What is she going to talk about for an hour?
She tries to reassure herself that she will be fine. They have done it over coffee countless times before, so what if the scenery is a little different and they will have more time to talk, all in all it's the same thing. Right?
"Hello, I'm Jordan and I will be your waitress tonight" the petite-looking young woman smiles politely at them, then moves to place two menus on the table. "Can I get you anything to drink?"
"Yeah, do you have iced-tea?" her companion asks with a hopeful look that soon makes room to a large beam when Jordan nods.
"We do, but we only have the peach-flavored one left." she provides and winces apologetically at the end.
"That's cool, I'll have that."
When Emma turns to look at her, Regina turns to their waitress "I'll have some water please."
"Boring" Emma protests, earning an arched eyebrow from the brunette. "Choose something else." she urges and Regina finds herself relenting for some reason.
"Alright, then" she says "Since someone here insists on it" she sends a glance towards a cheekily grinning Emma "I'll have a glass of white wine. Do you happen to have Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay?"
"We have both."
"Mhm," she hums contently as she leans back in her chair, she did not expect to have a choice. "I guess I'll go with the Sauvignon then. Thank you." she nods and watches the waitress scatter away to type their order.
"So" Emma says slowly "You're a wine girl..."
"Girl?"
"A wine woman. Err, lady, a wine lady." the blonde corrects herself, not before rolling her eyes at Regina's unnecessary need for subtleties.
"What did you peg me for, then? Beer?" she inquires with an amused smile.
Emma shrugs and nods "I guess that makes sense."
"I haven't gone out to a restaurant in quite a while" she finds herself confessing, both to her and Emma's surprise.
"Really? Why is that?"
"I don't know..." Regina trails off, trying to recall the last time she sat for a non-work-related dinner in a proper restaurant.
"How's work going?" he smiled, eyes solely on her from the minute they took their seats.
"It was fine" she answered while glancing at the menu. Finally making her decision on what to order, she re-focused on him. "How was your day?"
"Oh, you wouldn't believe the day that I had..." he leaned back in his chair as he talked about how the new stock that was just brought in almost caused a massive breakdown. "Anyway, I ended up calling Angie and asking her to come down. You know how reluctant she is to physically be there..." he chuckled and she hummed absentmindedly.
She tried paying attention, she really did, but her day started early and went on and on as more and more problems kept popping up in regards to their new case. Problems she spared her date from in an attempt to keep the mood light and blissfully work-free. The same couldn't be said about Robin, that for some reason had never learned how to properly separate his personal life form his professional one. No one understood workaholism more than Regina, but when the brunette stepped out of her work attire and into some high-end evening cocktail dress, touched-up her make up and went out despite her burning desire to crawl under the warm duvet and sleep, she expected the date to be enjoyable.
And so, as exhausted as only a full week of work can make her, Regina's eyes jumped over the restaurant as her mind wandered away.
Her gaze landed on one of the diners, a unique looking woman. Regina stared at the tan, yet blue-eyed woman moving her hands delicately as she talked to her companion. Her eyes narrowed as she tried to asses the situation. Was it a date? A friendly dinner?
She kept darting her gaze towards that corner table as the meal went on. With the food on their table, Robin seemed to alternate his topic of conversation to discussing her upcoming birthday.
"Come on, we have to do something" he leaned over to squeeze her hand. She smiled at him, and not only because she felt like she had to, she did like him. But something wasn't working. It took her half a meal to realize that the exotic woman she spotted earlier was significantly more intriguing to her than the man she was dating.
"I don't know..." she started, trailing off when that spoken woman rose from her chair. Brown orbs descended, scanning the tight fitting dress and the hourglass shaped body that was sporting that attire.
She lowered her glance and closed her eyes. Not again, she sighed, as some unwanted thoughts swirled in her head. When they were safely locked at the back of her mind again, she straightened herself up and took a deep breath.
Reluctantly so, she took Robin's hand, squeezing it as she uttered the words she hoped she wouldn't have to use on this charming, intelligent, good-looking man. But when she realized that this stranger, this woman she didn't even know, intrigued her more than the man she was seeing, she knew she had to end this. It wasn't working, if she was side-glancing at women again.
"Robin, we need to talk."
"Regina?" Emma's voice pierces her little bubble and she locks eyes with sea-green orbs. "Are you alright?"
"Mmm" she nods "Just a reverie"
Moments later Jordan returns, holding an iced-tea and a wine glass.
"There you go, ladies. Ready to order?"
Regina nods despite not having looked at the menu.
"So," Emma prompts in-between bites, much to Regina's amusement "you're from Chicago."
"I am"
"When did you move to New York?"
"Well, depends on which time you're referring to." she replies, elaborating upon Emma's obvious confusion "I went to school here, all the way from undergrad to my master's'"
Emma's impressed whistle follows shortly after.
"Master's? Aren't you, like, 25?"
"Not quite" she chuckles "but thank you" she smirks.
"Where did you go to school?"
"Columbia"
"Jesus, lady, what are you? A Stephen Hawking in female form? What did you study? Physics?" Emma asks, her tone somewhere between serious and joking.
"Hardly" she scoffs, forgoing the fact that she did consider majoring in Math for a good few months in her senior year of high school. "I'm a lawyer."
Emma's eyes go round at that.
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
"I hate lawyers" is what ends up coming out of Emma's mouth. The blonde's eyes bulge and she immediately retreats from her statement "Not hate, I mean..." she trails off, instead focusing on the rolling laughter that overcomes her companion. With eyes shining with tears of laughter Regina motions for the blonde to stop talking.
"That's alright," she says eventually, and there are still traces of laughter in her voice "I hate them too."
"So why…?"
"Honestly? I don't really know..." Regina says, frowning as if it has only now occurred to her. "Seemed like a good choice at the time."
"Well, it is a good choice, no doubt about that." Emma agrees before diving in her plate for another bite.
"What about you? Why a martial arts instructor?"
Regina watches, fascinated, as the always confident and goofy blonde turns a little shy before mumbling "It's the only thing I know how to do."
"I'm sure that's not true" she counters, watching the blonde's shoulders lift in a gentle shrug as her eyes cast down.
"Plus," she adds after a moment of silence "I love it."
"That, I accept" Regina smiles and the blonde's lips quirk up to match hers.
"Don't even think about it" she warns when she catches Emma eyeing the check longingly, as if it's calling her.
"Come on..." the blonde tries, only to receive a firm head-shake in response.
"That was the deal." she determines, noting that her companion still doesn't seem persuaded she adds "It's either that" she lifts the check and shakes if for good measure "Or I'm going online to search the rate for a private martial art class and pay you whatever it says." she finishes with a knowing smirk "And if you won't take the payment, I'll talk to David, I'm sure he'd love to accept it on your behalf." she watches Emma deflate at the last sentence, acknowledging her loss.
"Dammit" she whispers under her nose, her word accompanied by an amused chuckle from the brunette's end.
So, this isn't over. I had to cut it here because it was getting way too long and the next part is too important to split in the middle, but just so you know, more is coming ;P
