Guard My Heart

Chapter Two

His first order of business is learning her routine. He needs to be aware of her habits, things she does every day without thinking about them, places she frequents, the people around her that she trusts. All of those points are weaknesses, areas easily manipulated by someone seeking to be close to her. The first step in protecting her is eliminating all the chinks in the armour, so to speak. He rises early for a thorough check of the grounds, sneaks out of the house quietly before she or Henry are awake. Some habits are hard to break, he thinks as he tiptoes past Regina's room with the skill and efficiency of a practiced thief.

It's not an enormous estate he discovers but Regina has enough land surrounding her home, enough wooded and ungated areas that it would be easy enough for someone to sneak onto the premises. That's one of the first things they need to fix.

Robin ventures back inside through the back door, finding Regina in the kitchen at the stove flipping pancakes, Henry sitting at the counter drinking orange juice as he waits, prattling on and on about Ironman's latest adventure. He takes a moment to study Regina, she's dressed casually for the morning in a loose grey v-neck and vest, black slacks to go with it and her hair pulled back into a loose ponytail at the base of her neck. Her feet are bare and for some ridiculous reason Robin can not fathom his attention is drawn to her red polished toenails and how absolutely adorable they are. Attempting to reign his focus back onto more important matters he steps into the open area. "Good morning."

Her gaze jumps to him immediately as if she has forgotten his presence in her home, spatula hovering over the pan awkwardly for a moment before she recovers. Returning to the task at hand she returns the sentiment, "Good morning, Mr. Locksley."

They can't have that now, there is no place for that kind of formality between them if he's going to be with her constantly. And something about the way she says his name in that tone has parts of his body aching in ways that are entirely inappropriate to have regarding his boss, especially in front of her son. So he ventures further into the room until he is standing directly next to her at the stove, "I think it would be a good idea if you and I were on a first name basis, don't you agree...Regina?" he asks, voice deepening ever so slightly as he says her name.

For a moment all she can do is stare into his eyes, caught by the teasing glint in them. What is happening to her? Regina hasn't been this affected by a man in more years than she would care to remember and yet this one has her stomach doing flips every time he looks at her. It unsettles her, makes her nervous, has her fighting back the urge to slam up every protective wall she has in place around her heart. "I suppose so...Robin." she replies, as if testing out his name on her tongue, and turning back to the stove to plate Henry's pancakes.

Robin backs up a few spaces to give her room to maneuver around the kitchen as she sets Henry's plate in front of him and grimaces slightly as he immediately goes for the syrup and a touch of cinnamon but says nothing. "Would you like any?" she asks him.

He shakes his head to decline, "I'm quite alright, milady. I would, however, like a chance to speak with you when you have a minute regarding my...purpose." he trails off quietly, careful to speak the last bit in hushed tones so Henry doesn't overhear him. Regina nods her consent but there's a tension in her shoulders now, one he knows is born from fear. Robin's already agreed to protect her but with every glimpse of strain he sees in her he vows to do everything he can to ease her mind as well.

"Fine, after I get Henry off to school."

"Of course." he readily agrees. There is nothing left for him to say at the moment, nothing to do but observe as she turns off the stove and goes about cleaning up the mess Henry's breakfast has brought to the kitchen. Her movements practiced and easy as she cleans up and then turns to the refrigerator to pull out a small portion of sliced fruit, surely her own breakfast. It is not until she stands at the counter across from Henry and glances over at him with a puzzled frown that Robin realizes he hasn't made a single move, has simply been watching her for the past several minutes.