“To be honest, I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of a smile of yours. You probably only look happy if you’re torturing children or something.” It was a mumble, mostly, but it wasn’t on an accident that it was loud enough for Regina to hear. Toni hoisted up her suit of armor and started heading in the indicated direction.

“TRUST ME, lady, there’s nothing I want more than to get out of here. This place is too quiet. It gives me the jitters.” If there were jitters to be had, Toni knew they were both aware that the quiet in this town was not the reason for them.

The man she met at the mechanic’s shop was actually quite nice and seemed quite impressed with her suit. After some fiddling with tools and getting almost electrocuted more than once, all looked as if Toni would be ready to take off. However, it seemed like the suit had other plans. FRIDAY remained unresponsive despite her circuits looking functional, and there was nothing Toni could do to bring her back. Hours had passed and, with mechanic’s permission, she left her suit in the shop and trudged to where the Mayor’s house was and knocked on the door rather insistently.

A quiet breath of a chuckle left her - dinner and a movie with her Majesty. As much as Emma hated and avoided using the title of Evil Queen when referring to Regina, she couldn’t help but do so in her mind right now. Because, quite frankly, planning such a date with the Evil Queen was just funny to her. Or perhaps that was just Emma’s way of coping with the butterflies going crazy in her stomach.

She was happy, though. This was a good plan. Dinner and a movie; it was sweet and simple, which was more than Emma could say for most of her love life. She nodded, took another bite out of her sandwich and then leaned back a little.

“I’ll pick you up at 7, but you’re in charge of picking the movie. I do not need more responsibility than finding a good restaurant and not being late to pick you up. That’s already a handful.”

Toni scoffed. There was not one word coming out of this woman’s mouth that she believed. She had no idea how on earth this Regina Mills person had managed to gain the votes of people with such a despicable attitude, but that was not something Toni needed to dwell on. 

Except that she would, because she always did. Her brain would never really follow her own orders, ironically enough. And no, this was not the last of her wondering what the hell was up with this town. 

“Then I think I can find my way there now. Thanks for your help.” Which really wasn’t much. All Regina did was guide Toni through a way she could have simply verbally relayed to her, do nothing to help her with the very heavy suit of armor Toni was carrying, and irritate her beyond belief. So yes, her thank you was incredibly sarcastic and Toni was not apologetic about it whatsoever. 

“I’m sure you have a very busy day of being an ass for no good reason ahead of you. I won’t steal more of your time. Oh, and do yourself a favor and just try to relax your expression a little more. Looking so mean all the time can’t be good for your expression lines.”

The question caught Emma a little bit off guard. Not because of the implications of it - she never really thought about what came after dinner when they began talking about this. She was so elated to actually try to do this thing properly with Regina, the thought of the previous night sort of slipped from her mind for now. And the thought of a repeat was distant, as her brain multitasked while speaking with Regina to think of a restaurant to take the woman out.

It was also disarming because— Well, Emma was so used to Regina exuding power and confidence, the uncertainty in a question like this wasn’t something Emma was expecting out of the brunette. Not that it was a bad thing - not at all, in fact.

A second to gather herself again and Emma was smiling once more. “Just a date” Which, really, was the most unnerving part of it all. The actual dating aspect of it was the part Emma was bad at. Definitely worth a shot, though. “Just dinner. And a movie, if you wanna be cheesy about it. Or anything else less cliche.”

Emma smiled at the response and nodded. That was some BIG TALK for someone whose love life had been a right mess for over a decade now, wasn’t it? Besides, her relationship with Regina had not been exactly  ea s y  from the start. Emma was certainly acting a lot more confident than she felt, and part of her felt as if Regina could see right through her. Nonetheless, Emma’s posture remained.

“We’ll have plenty of time to satisfy your curiosity.” She smiled; regardless of whether or not she felt confident, Emma was HAPPY. And yes, there were a lot of thoughts running a mile a minute in her head, possibilities of all the things that could go wrong between them, but she was happy. “Shall I pick you up tonight at 7?” A pause. “I’ll ask my dad to pick up Henry from school, he can stay with my parents.”

          Toni scoffed, adjusting the arm of the suit over her shoulder to try and make it easier to carry. It didn’t. Damn thing was incredible armor, but not great for being carried. She supposed she’d have something to keep herself busy with upon getting home - eliminate this particular problem. Either with lighter materials or—

          Her thoughts were cut short. Toni focused her full attention on Ms. Mills again, frowning and blinking as if thoroughly confused. On some level, she was. For a moment she considered keeping her mouth shut and just allowing the Mayor to take her to the mechanic already - but when did Toni Stark ever follow her better judgement and leave words left unsaid?

          “So what, you’re a DICTATOR or something? Because I’d assume people need to like you in order to vote for you. And I’m not really feeling the  l o v e  here, Madam Mayor. Oh, no, let me guess. You always run unopposed?” Toni chuckled humorlessly and shook her head. “I suppose instilling FEAR into your voters is a pretty cheap and efficient campaign.”

Emma could not recall one single time when Regina seemed not to know what to say. The brunette always had a quick answer for everything, more often than not a biting, harsh one, too. Seeing her get lost in her words was jarring, and something selfish inside Emma thoroughly enjoyed it. Her ego inflated to think that it was her that made Regina sputter a little. Her lips curled into a smirk at those thoughts, leaning back on her chair and watching the Mayor with amusement. 

At the challenging tone and words, Emma’s smile only widened. There was mixture of glee and something else much warmer shining in her eyes, a mixture that made her chest soar. Emma wouldn’t ever imagined she’d be here, in this position - this morning she had thought whatever progress she had made with Regina had been lost forever due to a stupid mistake. So this was why people kept telling her communication was important, huh? Emma chuckled. 

“I think you know what I’m capable of.” She quirked an eyebrow and covered her smirk with her bottle of water. “But I won’t mind reminding you. After I wine and dine you, that is.”

          Maybe this was her chance. Maybe Snow was right about there always being a chance for a happy ending. Maybe up until now Emma was paying her dues and she could finally, finally be rewarded with  h a p p i n e s s  - and Regina, too. Because after all they had been through together, and in the wake of Regina’s own perils, Emma would make it a priority to make her happy, too.

          That is, of course, provided Regina would let her. 

          Blame it on the tension she felt after opening her heart out like that, leaving it bare for Regina to study it as she pleased - but when the brunette finally spoke, Emma let out a snort of laughter. “Not if that’s what you’re calling it,” She argued, amused. Relieved. No matter how she worded it, Regina didn’t look completely opposed to the idea. Not at all.

          “I’m suggesting that we should go on a date. Actually, I’m giving you permission to take me on a date, Your Majesty,” Emma teased. “Better make it count.”

          Another sip of water. Toni watched the woman closely as she spoke and breathed out a scoff, glancing towards the little store they were inside of just now. It didn’t look like people liked the Mayor very much, as she claimed. Rather, it seemed more like they were AFRAID of her. Perhaps that was the root of everything, for some reason. Toni shot a rather blatant look at Regina, sizing her before she handed her the bottle and went back to dragging her suit through the street. 

          “What did you do, brainwash them? I know a thing or two about likability, and you are severely lacking it. Which is a real shame. You’re well spoken, you sound smart, you’re a good dresser and you’re attractive. Your attitude, though— Real turn off.” 

          Toni had to fight a very real, very childish urge to mock Regina as she spoke. Oh, how she wanted to roll her eyes and repeat the words back to the Mayor in a mocking, high pitched voice. Toni wouldn’t deny the woman had a way with being intimidating - and the store’s employee’s behavior was nothing if proof of it - but it hardly affected her. Toni Stark had lived her life under the shadow of her father; not only that, but one of the closest people to her was Pepper Potts. She could handle a cold stare.

          “Thank you. I’ll pay you for your troubles later,” Toni said to the man handing her the water, then turned to the mayor once more. “Pictures? No, there are enough of those floating around already.” She smiled a nasty, cynical smile while uncapping one of the bottles and turning back towards the door. 

          “I don’t mean to be rude—” Well, she sort of did. “— But I’m pretty sure I have twice the people working for me as there are people living in this town of yours. And that’s only a small percentage of what I do.” Toni pointed at the suit on the floor outside as she stepped closer to it again. “Having an important job to do doesn’t excuse being an ass, Ms. Mills. I’ve learned that - you can learn it too, I’m sure.”

          For once, it was Emma who rolled her eyes at Regina’s response. It should be annoying, she thought, but such banter between them was such a FAMILIAR thing at this point that Emma found herself feeling more at ease, instead. If Regina was mad, if she had truly negative feelings about Emma’s confession, the blonde figured she wouldn’t be here anymore. Regina wouldn’t bother with a sarcastic remark like that, she would say her piece and leave. 

          But Regina was still here. And she didn’t look like she was going anywhere.

          When the brunette finally started speaking again, Emma held her breath. She didn’t know why, didn’t even realize she did it, but her heart was in her throat and she held on to Regina’s every word like a lifeline. And then she was breathing again, letting out a silent chuckle while a shade of pink painted the highs of her cheeks. A smirk tugged at her lips. “Did you come here just to tell me how good I am in bed?” 

          Another sip of water. She needed to get serious, lest they have another misunderstanding like the one this morning. Emma bit the inside of her lower lip while she held her gaze on Regina, and took in a breath before speaking again. “I thoroughly enjoyed last night. I do think I’d enjoy it more sober… Think maybe we should do things PROPERLY for once and have dinner, though. Y’know, despite already having started  b a c k w a r d s.”

          The weight of her own words settled in as they fell into silence. Emma’s heart was beating about as fast as it was this morning when she found herself awaking next to Regina, or even last night when her wandering tongue started tasting that tempting, warm skin for the first time. Emma once more averted her gaze at the thought, picking up the bottle of water at her desk to take a drink from it. 

          “I—” Emma looked back at Regina; it was her turn to search the other’s eyes, brown and deep and seemingly so bright in that moment. Like her own thoughts were running as wild as Emma’s. She sighed, measured her words, and once she knew what to say - the only HONEST answer - Emma scoffed at herself. “I couldn’t bear being rejected. So I did what I always do… I pushed you away before you could do it instead.”

          There was absolutely no way out of this one now. Whatever happened next, Regina would always be aware of how Emma felt. Regina would always know that Emma wanted her, and wanted her deeply enough that the thought of Regina not wanting her back was unbearable. The brunette could do with that information as she pleased; and Christ, despite her boldness Emma found herself scared again. Even if logic told her that Regina was here for a reason, that she had gotten upset by Emma’s words that morning for a reason, she was terrified of being wrong. Oh, if only she had something stronger than water.

          “Whatever you have to say, say it now. You’re kinda killing me here.”