open ♔ september castle socialization

[wynn]

WHO || Everyone! [ota]
WHAT || Shenanigans.
WHERE || Anywhere in the castle, surrounding environs, London, etc!
WHEN || First half of September, any time between the September squiring ceremony and the War announcement on September 18th
HOW || Actionspam

[ The castle can be a happening place, even on more mundane days. This log is for random interactions over the course of the first half of the month.    Because not everyone is into parties, ok.

You are encouraged to start your own threads and tag around, and feel free to threadjack into any on-going threads that aren't specified as 'closed' in the subject lines since people can enter into rooms even in the middle of what's going on. WE ARE BIG ON THREAD-JACKING HERE. You can also specify 'single thread', meaning you want only one response for all participants, rather than multi-thread, where a number of different scenes/threads can be done as replies to the top prompt.]

On this log:
Drax @ the desk
Kate Bishop @ the desk
Sam @ the desk
Henry @ the desk
Kate Bishop @  roof/dining hall/library/grounds/bathrooms/desk/Dragon's Hoard/etc
Abigail @ Movie theater / library /firing range / training room
Francesca & Val'drin | closed
Penelope & Sam @ the woods
Emma Frost @ the library
Spike @ rec room
Lydia, Stiles, Astrid, Adam | closed

Comments

[unhand]

[And run he does! All full of excitement and hope because Emma is back! After all this time! He's missed her.

Except when he gets to the lobby, she's not there. Well, a statue of her is there, and Hook is smart enough that he can figure out what that means (wis 19) but he very desperately wants to be wrong.]

Why is there a statue of Emma? [His voice is too loud, an edge of panic to it. That crack in her neck doesn't look good either.] And where's Faye?

[pathology]

We're working on both of those right now. Pipe the fuck down.

[undeleted]

Her friends allowed her to get turned into a statue. Which they subsequently allowed to snap in two. [ #helpful ]

[undealt]

No thanks to the machine in your facility.

[GUUUURL.]

[unhand]

Who are you again? [He looks over at GLaDOS. He's pretty sure he doesn't remember her being in the group before.]

[undeleted]

I merely controlled operations at the facility. It wasn't mine any more than this building belongs to you.

[unhand]

[That doesn't... answer his question at all. But he's over it. He's back to focusing on Emma. He steps towards her, looking stricken, and raises a hand to touch the side of her face.]

...I might be able to break the curse.

[There's one sure way he knows, and he's pretty sure he's got what it takes. The question is... does Emma feel the same way?]

[pathology]

[wis 15 ... she knows where this shit is going. she sees your loving caress, sir.]

Oh, he is not fucking serious right now.

[undealt]

[Normally Gold would be all AH YES. YES. DO THE THING. Today the dice know his life, so he critfailed that wis check.]

What the hell are you on about exactly, Captain?

[undeleted]

A flagrant misunderstanding of the term 'curse', for one.

[wanttobeahero]

[ Is Hook...really going to try that? Is it really going to work? Part of him wants to believe it could be that simple, the part of him that's just always retained some semblance of unwavering hope. But...it's probably not going to work. He's holding his breath nonetheless. ]

[unhand]

[Yeah this is happening. Hook ignores the naysayers and presses a kiss to Emma's stone lips.]

[pathology]

[astrid rolls her eyes and audibly gags. if that works, she's gonna hurl.]

[eldritchweaver]

[ the statue is cold under his lips and... remains a fucking statue, as he pulls away. when he does so, it reveals hasmed standing behind him, in a comical moment of framing, his judgment utterly undisguised. ] ... If you're quite finished, Sir Jones.

[unhand]

[Hook backs away, looking kind of upset.]

I thought... well, it's not important.

[He'd known it was a long shot. He looks over at Hasmed.]

Can you fix her?

[Not with True Love's Kiss, Hook hopes. Another way.]

[pathology]

[s-so done] That's what the scroll is for.

[eldritchweaver]

Stand aside. [ 200% done. he's just gonna wait for hook to oblige, and then set about intoning the words off from the scroll.

within moments, the statue starts to glow... and then before their eyes, the stone seems to melt away, revealing skin and clothing beneath. only when it vanishes entirely, does emma suck in an abrupt breath, her eyes flashing open.

a spot check of 15+ is enough to notice the one remainder from her debacle: a long red scar that encircles emma's neck in a perfect circle. ]

[uncurse]

[ Inhaling sharply, Emma blinks back to consciousness—and she's immediately on the defensive. She staggers back, eyes scanning over Hasmed and Killian with a startled look. Her breath chokes in the back of her throat. ]

Where's—? [ GLaDOS? The Luckman center? Immediately, she coughs, choking on her own breath like she's unused to it. ]

[undealt]

We're still looking for her.

[Because he... assumes she means Faye, I guess. That was what his ten wis check perceives I guess...] You and Ms. Chamberlain have had a bit of a rough time of things.

[A beat.] Welcome back.

[uncurse]

You lost Faye?!

[ Emma's eyes gloss straight over Henry at the desk as she sizes up her party (her wis check was 6). ]

What the hell happened back there?

[undeleted]

A relatively thorough display of cooperative failure, among other things.

[wanttobeahero]

[ Henry feels as though a tight vice has wound its way around his lungs, extinguishing any hope of taking another breath for just a moment. She's here, and she's alive. A protracted stare is leveled back at her until he blinks away, realizing that kind of scrutiny won't get them off on the right foot. Things are complicated enough already without him making her ill at ease before she even knows his name.

He can't say it out loud, not yet, but her name is already echoing in his heart again, for the first time in so many years:

Mom.

For now, he stays on the periphery of things, but there's no hope of denying life to that brief, soft smile on his face. ]

[pathology]

[yeah astrid is ... definitely not dibsing telling emma what happened with faye. fuck that. she vacantly gazes over at solace and wishes she had henry's phone back.]

[unhand]

Emma... [Hook's voice is soft, yearning, relieved. She's alive. She's ok. And he'd... Really like to know the answer to the Faye question himself.

For now, his squire needs him. And Emma needs answers more than she needs him to run to her and take her into his arms. He walks over to the desk and puts a comforting hand on Henry's shoulder.]

[uncurse]

[ Just as Emma rounds on GLaDOS, ready to be like who the fuck is this bitch and why is she telling me my business, Hook pipes up. She stops, glancing towards him, then really ... taking in the weird look she's got from the people who actually give a fuck (sense motive 23).

Something is definitely amiss. She looks to Gold. ]

Welcome back from what?