A/N: I solemnly swear there will be some actual plot in the next chapter, but these bits are too fun not to do.
"Will you stop that?!"
Regina hisses as she catches Emma plucking at her t-shirt out of the corner of her eye.
"I can't help it, I'm burning up!"
Offering the blonde an irritable sigh so as to hide the malicious smirk threatening to alight her lips, the Mayor mutters that such things are simply too bad. In spite of her light scolding, she hangs back a little to allow herself a better view of the Sheriff's predicament; thin cotton plastered to hot flesh still slightly slick from sex.
"Seriously, we can't stop by yours for a shower?"
Emma grumbles.
"We're already late."
The Mayor reminds.
"Then what's the harm?"
"Need I remind you-"
"-That it's Gold we're dealing with. I know. That doesn't mean I don't feel gross."
"And whose fault might that be, Miss Swan?"
"Oh, please, like you weren't right behind me on that little escapade!"
"Actually, I believe I was positioned beneath you."
Regina muses silkily. The blonde chuckles wickedly in response, and the brunette muses that she might as well be dating a teenage boy.
Dating?... There's that word again...
She mulls the term over in her mind as she follows Emma down the sun-drenched sidewalk towards Gold's estate. It doesn't fill her with the sense of disquiet or denial it once might have, but she finds that rather than discomfort, she now feels a small sense of regret.
She can't help but wish life could be as simple as the term would suggest.
Then again, much as she might like to partake in the more traditional wining and dining of courtship, her lips lift into a bemused smile when she imagines what Emma might have to say on the matter.
Catching up swiftly with light taps of heels on cement, she toys with a loose curl gently, her heart feeling suddenly very full when the Sheriff moves towards her so that they walk almost hip to hip, rather than ducking away with the growl she'd been expecting.
"How does your hair get in such a state anyway, dear?"
"Hmm, I wonder..."
"You were sitting! I'm the one who was lying on my back!"
"I know. I thoroughly enjoyed the view, dear."
The blonde replies, and Regina smirks; Emma's adoption of a rich tone to mimic her own simply serving to make the younger woman sound as though she's suffering a cold.
She strives to keep her mind from stumbling towards the unhappy conclusion that the past few days have been some of the best with which she's been blessed, when, yet again, everything now stands in jeopardy.
She wonders if Emma suffers any uneasy thoughts of her own, but is unable to say.
The blonde can be hard to read, and when it comes to the subject of Rumplestiltskin, Regina would bet a great deal that the Sheriff is nowhere near as blasé as she comes across, but the topic has so far only served to irk her when discussed with the woman strolling beside her. She knows Emma well enough to suspect that Gold's treatment of her back in his curious apartment will be weighing heavily on her mind; the Sheriff - while seemingly surprisingly adept at being able to forgive and forget - undeniably proud nonetheless. The younger woman had been forced into a position of intense fear, and this, more so than the injuries sustained to her wrists, has the Queen wondering if Emma doesn't, in fact, present herself more as a ticking time, than the cool, laid-back persona she's acting out.
"So, I've been wondering."
The blonde muses, pulling Regina from her thoughts.
"Hmm?"
"Where is everyone?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, like, the Curse broke... There's magic... But apart from the night I came to yours to check in on you, there hasn't been any trouble... No offence or anything, but I just kind of reckoned people might decide to come after you... I mean... You're the Evil Queen, right?"
"Ah, and that would make you the rebellious damsel, I suppose? The lost princess, pleading for them to have it within their hearts to forgive!"
The brunette's words are delivered in a rich, theatrical tone, and Emma rolls her eyes as she jabs the darker woman lightly in the ribs with her elbow.
"Hardly. I'm more like your knight."
"You're my what?"
"Your knight."
"As in... My knight in shining armour?"
"Well, yeah!"
"Honestly, dear, were you graced with any sense of femininity at all?"
Regina laments. Turning to regard the darker woman with a coy smirk, the blonde runs a hand through her hair and offers a flash of teeth as her gaze drops pointedly down to her chest, causing the Mayor to sigh with ill-hidden amusement.
"You tell me..."
"A mere physicality, but I suppose you'll do."
"Gee, thanks!"
Smiling, Regina continues in a more serious tone; her attention flickering wearily to the looming pink brick of Gold's estate up ahead.
"I was actually thinking the same thing you were, but I believe the noticeable lack of activity out on the streets since the breaking of the Curse is probably down to wariness, not just of myself, but of the change as a whole. After all, whilst I brought over all those with whom I'd shared a connection in the past, you need to understand that many of the people who interacted daily as their cursed selves have no knowledge of each other with respect to their lives in the Enchanted Forest. Some, such as the blue fairy, Rumplestiltskin, Snow and Charming possess a notoriety that means they're less of a mystery, but for most of them, they are strangers. A cause for caution at the best of times, but, when you add magic into the mix... I would say people are simply lying low until they've had the chance to sniff around as it were."
"I guess that makes sense... Less chance of getting zapped while doing the weekly shop."
"Well, there are very few of us here capable of 'zapping' as you call it, but the theory stands, yes. I would also presume my association with yourself has kept those with a greater thirst for blood at bay."
"Your association with me? You think people know?!"
"No, dear, and while I am deeply flattered by the horror so painfully evident in every aspect of your being right now-"
"-Sorry, it's just-"
"-I merely meant that while you remain on my side and Snow on yours, I should be left alone... The royals have yet to launch their attack, and so their people have yet to rally for battle."
"Attack?! Mary Margaret would never-"
"-Oh, that wet blanket would struggle to stamp out the life of a malaria-ridden mosquito. Snow, however... Well, you've read Henry's book... She won't cross you though, and, knowing what she knows, that means I remain safe unless I fall into a lover's tiff with her little princess."
"Call me that again, and it might just happen..."
Emma warns dangerously, but Regina pays her no mind, save for suppressing the usual shiver the blonde's voice pulls from her when lowered huskily in such a way.
"Perhaps while in New York we should look into getting you a tiara."
She teases.
"You want me to hit you?"
The Sheriff growls irritably.
"No, and I would hope you would possess the good sense not to come to blows with one so powerful as myself."
"Shit, do you want a shelf for that ego, Regina? Maybe a nice glass-fronted cabinet to put in your office?"
"Oh, hush, you."
The brunette purses her lips as the Sheriff grins cattily, the two of them casting elongated shadows across the pavement; merging together every now and then when one steps a little in front of the other.
"I'll tell you something else, though; I've kind of spent the last couple of days wondering if Gold was going to magically appear... Especially when we were... uh..."
Emma laughs sheepishly, but it does little to hide the note of disquiet in her voice, and the Queen decides the younger woman has indeed been pondering the events of her capture. Aware that inquiring after the blonde's wellbeing is a sure way to get snapped at even at the best of times, she skips over the source of the slight tremble to the Sheriff's otherwise dry tone and answers in a neutral manner.
"The man is a snake, dear, no doubt about it, but to do so would serve him no purpose."
"I mean, sure, apart from spying on us sweaty and naked..."
Emma wrinkles her nose, and Regina pulls a similar expression but assures firmly
"Much as I'm sure it would be a magnificent display - I certainly enjoy the parts I get to watch - Gold wants only one thing from you, dear... Oh, I'm sure he might like all sorts of things, but he wants you to aid him - he needs you to aid him - and the man is a good enough judge of character to know that you'll do so of your own accord. To mess with you would prove detrimental to his cause, and he knows that. I'm sure you would find Gold lurking in the shadows should you decide to run from the deal you made with him, but so long as you continue with the intent to do your part, I imagine he'll leave you be... He would do well to, anyway."
She finishes coldly, and Emma opens her mouth to taunt the darker woman for the murderous quality she injects into her words, but she finds herself simply nibbling her lip and maintaining her silence.
The threat conveyed in Regina's warning is almost tactile in its reality.
In its sincerity.
"Well... I guess there's no turning back now, anyway."
The blonde speaks up finally, almost in a whisper, and the brunette glances at her uneasily before looking back at the grand front door looming in front of them as they mount the steps to Gold's house.
"I suppose not. Do you want to do the honours, dear?"