"Yes?"
The brunette snaps distractedly as she looks up from the papers littering her desk. Eying the door with distaste as it swings open, her furrowed brow softens only slightly as the Sheriff allows herself into the office in a sweep of red leather.
God, I wish I could burn that damned jacket.
"Miss Swan?"
"Hey."
Emma smiles and points to the chair opposite the Mayor's own. Raising a brow, Regina nods and gestures that the younger woman should take a seat. Watching as the blonde makes her way over and sits down, it occurs to her that this is the first time in weeks that the Sheriff has come to see her for what is presumably business; the younger woman's badge glittering atop dark denim and her long hair tamed into submission.
"What can I do for you?"
She asks, placing the lid on her pen.
"Uh... I was kind of hoping we could talk."
Emma replies, and the brunette freezes as she studies the younger woman warily. She has never imagined Emma to be one for 'talking' as it were, but with recent events, she finds the notion a little worrying, to say the least.
"Okay. What seems to be the problem?"
She asks in a clipped tone, and the blonde blinks at her in confusion, before shaking her head and twisting in her seat so that she sits with her knees pulled up in front of her.
"There's no problem, just something I guess we need to discuss... If that's okay?"
She tacks on uncertainly, and Regina shrugs as though disinterested, but she lets out a breath she'd not realised she'd been holding in and nods for the Sheriff to continue.
"Ruby came over to mine last night to watch a movie."
"And?"
"She mentioned you spoke with Gold."
"I did."
The brunette sighs, leaning back into her chair and regarding the younger woman levelly.
"Gold approached me with a similar question to the one he asked you. He wanted to know why your car was parked outside my house so late at night. I tried to cover your tracks - and mine - but he seemed rather unimpressed, shall we say? Your little friend came over to intervene."
"I know, she told me."
"Yes... Well..."
"And from what she told me, she did a pretty decent job of throwing Gold off..."
Emma points out sternly as she notes the distasteful pull to the darker woman's lips.
"Only because she's an idiot and he would never expect an ounce of cunning from the little strumpet!"
"It wouldn't kill you to be grateful, you know..."
"Sheriff, the day I shower that young woman with gratitude will be the day I admit myself to a mental hospital. She-"
"-She what? Regina? She what? She was just trying to help."
"She wouldn't need to help if you hadn't been foolish enough to park your eye-sore of a car outside my house!"
"... Seriously?"
Emma replies coldly, and Regina frowns as she struggles to regain her temper; her eyes flashing as she watches her Sheriff visibly raise her guard. Finding the younger woman's wary gaze, she studies her intently before letting out a defeated sigh and staring down at the table. She feels ashamed for her sudden outburst, but she can't shake the feeling of irrational dislike the waitress brings out it her.
You know how I feel about Ruby. Know how I feel about the time you two spend together. Why her? I understand she's only trying to help, but why does it have to be her?... So eager to rush to your aid... And in a way I couldn't this time.
Pulling a hand through her hair, she regards Emma tentatively, keeping her voice low and placating when she continues.
"You know I didn't mean it like that."
"Do I?"
"Emma..."
"Don't say things like that then, if you don't mean them."
The blonde huffs irritably, but the Mayor doesn't miss the hurt note in her voice. Tapping her fingers lightly against her thigh, she nods, sighing.
"I'm sorry."
"Okay."
"... I was unaware Miss Lucas knew we were on any degree of amiable terms...?"
"Yeah, well, so was I until yesterday."
"Oh?"
"She saw us outside the station the other day... She's been badgering me for weeks over who I keep blowing her off to see... I guess some of her ideas must have come together seeing us clearly getting on so well when we thought no one was looking..."
"I see."
Regina steeples her fingers delicately beneath her chin, studying the Sheriff curiously.
Have you really? You've blown her off to come and see me?
Something about the thought makes her spine tingle. She tells herself to stop being foolish - that of course the younger woman would make such sacrifices in hopes of sex - but she knows well enough that it isn't that simple. It isn't that meaningless. Offering Emma a small smile, she lets out a sigh of relief when the blonde reciprocates.
"I'm guessing she confronted you about it?"
"Yeah, although 'confront' probably isn't a fair way of putting it... She made some comments when she left the station yesterday that put me on edge because she clearly knew something. Then, when she came over last night, she asked me straight out if we were going to talk about it... I didn't really tell her anything, I just stopped pretending she was wrong... I told her I made you dinner..."
The Sheriff blushes furiously and the Mayor can't quite decide whether to roll her eyes or smirk. She feels a peculiar churning deep in her stomach at the thought of Emma sharing anything about their decidedly rocky relationship with the waitress - as though their ups and downs are simple locker-room talk - but she knows the blonde well enough to suppose she's unlikely to be quite so blasé.
"And? What does Miss Lucas think?"
She asks, admittedly curious.
"She thinks I'm crazy for cooking you dinner!... She-... She's a nice girl... I know you don't like her, and I'm not going to argue about that... But... She basically said that so long as I was happy, she was happy."
"A good friend after all, then."
Regina states quietly. The Sheriff had spoken correctly; she doesn't like Ruby, and she doubts she ever will. Of course, there are past transgressions to take into account, but she's wise enough in herself to know that what it comes down to in this instance is the fact that Emma likes Ruby. She's a little taken aback, however, by the slight quiver in the younger woman's voice, and she sighs as she's confronted, yet again, with the fact that she feels a small sense of sadness over the blonde's obvious lack of previous companionship.
After all, it's something with which she can sorely sympathise.
"Well, I suppose what's done is done."
She muses simply.
"She won't tell anyone..."
Emma appeals as she studies the Mayor nervously, and Regina shakes her head; dark eyes flashing with hidden fear as she's inwardly hit by the realisation of just how much she's come to like the woman sitting opposite her.
Damn.
I mean, lust for her, yes, ever since the day of the storm. Possibly even before that; she's an attractive woman. But liking her?
Yes. Liking her. Caring for her. But liking her also.
"Come here."
She commands quietly, and the blonde raises an eyebrow in confusion as the darker woman beckons her over with a sweep of her hand. Pushing herself up from her seat and making her way curiously around the table to stand in front of the brunette, she lets out a small noise of incomprehension when Regina pulls her gently down onto her lap.
"What are you doing?"
Ignoring Emma's obvious puzzlement, the Mayor simply pulls at her until she sits astride linen dress pants.
"Umm..."
The look of confusion on the blonde's face as to how their small argument has ended with her sitting on the brunette's lap has Regina smirking as she reaches up and cups warm cheeks.
When Emma leans forward to brush at her lips, the darker woman happily lets her, as such an act comes almost naturally now. She doesn't deepen their kiss, however, but plays her fingers gently through long hair and closes her eyes to better appreciate the simple feel of the blonde's reassuring weight on her lap. Tugging gently at soft curls, she waits for the Sheriff to sit back and return her gaze before continuing in a more serious tone.
"Gold mentioned you made a deal with him."
"He did?"
Emma replies uneasily, and Regina watches as a frown finds pale features.
"Is he wrong?"
"No... I just don't see why he'd bring that up when talking to you."
"You did make a deal with him, then?"
"Well, yeah, but-"
"-Oh, Emma..."
The Mayor groans.
"What!? He was trying to take that girl's baby. Her fucking baby! I just-... I asked if I could make a deal instead... I mean, what's there to lose? I don't have anything he'd want. Well, apart from the power the job gives me, but-... What?... Why are you looking at me like that?"
Pushing messy curls away from the younger woman's face as Emma peers down at her, Regina links her hands loosely around the Sheriff's waist as she shakes her head.
"Gold's a force to be reckoned with, dear. You may not have seen evidence of that yet, but I promise you, he's more than just an old man with a cane. You don't want to be owing him anything... I don't want you to be owing him anything, and that's what might prove problematic."
"How so?"
"Well, the reason the little wh- Ruby pitched in was due to the old goat running his mouth about what he thinks he knows about us... You may not have anything he wants - at least, I sincerely hope not - but if he finds out his assumptions hold some truth, I'm in somewhat a less advantageous position."
"Why? What would he want from you?"
Emma frowns, and the brunette studies her with glittering eyes; her blood thrumming a little faster in her throat at the hard steel that laces the Sheriff's suddenly protective tone. Lowering her hands from the younger woman's waist to rest over the firm flesh of her backside, she swallows, the blonde's green-eyed scrutiny intense in its demand for an answer.
"He and I have a rather complicated history... The less he has to hold over me, the better, dear. I can't express seriously enough how bad it would be should he find out about - and use - my affection for you to play as his upper hand."
"A-affection for me?"
Emma blinks in surprise, tensing visibly, and the brunette rolls her eyes as she plays her fingers over rough denim.
"Oh, come now, Miss Swan. Let's just call it what it is... You drove over to my house late at night to make sure I was alright after a simple phone call suggesting otherwise. You took me to bed. You made me dinner. Hell, you even scrubbed me up in the shower... And I have done similar things for you. So, yes. I possess an element of affection for you - quite a large one at that - which Gold must not find out about, do you understand me?"
"I understand."
Emma nods, and the Mayor's eyes flash with surprise as cheap leather suddenly encircles her shoulders and the blonde presses a decidedly clumsy kiss to her brow. Finding the younger woman's waist, she instinctively wraps her arms around her as tightly as she can.
Finally, Emma pulls back a little, her cheeks stained a delicate pink as she smiles awkwardly.
"I, uh-... Well, I guess I clearly think you're not all that bad either..."
"Always the poet..."
"Oh, go fuck yourself."
The younger woman sighs. Regina smirks, the Sheriff's tone free from any real irritation as she glares down at her amiably.
"Now why would I do that, when I have you sitting so very nicely on my lap?"
She raises a brow coyly, laughing at the unlikely innocence that crosses the blonde's features as she opens her mouth in surprise. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Mayor brushes her mouth against parted lips sensually, smiling when unmistakable lust replaces the younger woman's stunned moment of chasteness.
"Well, now that's out the way, will you please remove that... Hideous... Monstrosity... Of a... Jacket."
The brunette mutters against soft lips, alternating each word with a kiss. She smirks as the Sheriff complies; the younger woman never once breaking contact as she blindly wrestles herself free from red leather and tosses her jacket distractedly on the floor.
"Better?"
"Hmm, I suppose you'll do..."
Regina muses coquettishly as she searches out the Sheriff's tongue, before frowning when Emma pulls away to study her. Rolling her eyes, she opens her mouth to admonish the younger woman for being quite so damned touchy some of the time, but the latter's gaze silences her; green eyes flickering over her face intently.
"... I won't let him hurt you, you know."
Emma confides quietly, and the Mayor shivers as her breath catches in her throat; the blonde's voice low and dangerous. Pulling the younger woman back towards her, she finds her throat and grazes pale skin with her teeth before soothing reddened flesh with her tongue. Speaking quietly into heavy curls, she lets her arms come to rest around the younger woman's waist.
"Don't make promises you can't keep, dear..."