andres ♔ you're gonna catch a cold | from the ice inside your soul

[unhappily]

♬ jar of hearts - christina perri

WHO || Emma, Snow, Regina, Wynn. [closed]
WHAT || Wynn asks some of his Knights to investigate a strange matter on Andres Isle.
WHERE || Andres
WHEN || At the same time as this log ; mid-October
HOW || Actionspam

[ A few weeks into October, Wynn sends a message back to the castle asking Snow and Regina to make their way to the Isle, saying he has a small matter that bears investigation.  When they arrive at the castle, they're ushered by Woodhouse to a small parlor where he's waiting...  And moments later, their other mission partner arrives. :D ]

Comments

[fuckingneal]

[He hears her coming, like he could never forget the way her footsteps sound, singling them out from the rest of the noise in the bar (listen 20 total). But he doesn't bolt. He doesn't look up at her either, not at first. He just stares into his beer and takes a deeper breath.]

What happened to two days?

[Definitely the thing to focus on right now.]

[uncurse]

Timeline moved up. You should have booked it while you had the chance. [ She steps back, gesturing for him to stand. ] Everyone's got somebody to answer to. My boss wants to talk. Thinks you might be able to tell us more about what went wrong with your father's dagger.

[fuckingneal]

[His eyes move to her, words half-forming to protest that he wasn't going to book it at all. But he just... doesn't try to say any of that. He just sighs.]

I told you everything I know. I'm not sure how much help I'll even be with all of this.

[He's not refusing. He just doesn't want her to think he's got more info he was holding back.]

[uncurse]

Yeah, well, Hasmed'll be the judge of that.

[ She swallows her personal feelings on the subject, glancing aside so that she doesn't have to look at Neal directly. The whole affair is masked as impatience, fingers tapping on the bar top. ]

Soon as we sort this out, you can get back to ... whatever the hell it is you've spent the last ten years doing.

[fuckingneal]

[His gaze drops to her hand, to her fingers tapping. He licks at his bottom lip idly, trying to fight against that instinct to flee from any conflict that could involve his father in any way, shape, or form.]

Yeah... yeah, okay. I'll talk to this guy. Whatever you need.

[uncurse]

That's funny, coming from you.

[ Harsh in an unrelenting way, she steps aside to clear his path to the door, pulling bills from her pocket and dropping them on the bar top to pay for his drinks—she's that interested in expediting this process. ]

[fuckingneal]

[There's a wince there, like he's been punched in the gut.]

Yeah. [She doesn't remember him, not the way he wishes she did. They've been over that already, and even if he wishes he could make her see him, it's not really the time or place right now.

So he just stands and... lets her pay because he's not exactly rolling in dough these days.]

Lead the way.

[uncurse]

[ Actually, she'd like to talk to him about exactly that. The look on her mother's face, the surprise in her voice, it's still nagging at her. And it's easy to focus on the fact that Mary Margaret knew him than, say, the disappointment and the guilt is spurs. ]

You know, I'm not the only one from over there who's made it to Andres. [ She doesn't speak to him until she's holding open the bar door for him and starting down the street. She always keeps herself to his side, not ahead of him—like he's a perp she's trying to keep an eye on. Not an old flame. There's no trust, no length of rope. ] Mary Margaret recognized you. It's because of what you said, isn't it? You've been to Storybrooke.

[fuckingneal]

[He swallows thickly and nods.]

Yeah... You and Henry and... my father. You found me and I came back with you guys. Stayed at Granny's. Tried to get to know Henry, see if I could make up for lost time.

With both of you.

[uncurse]

Don't— [ She holds up an impatient hand, cutting him off at the cuff with that one. ] We're not doing this.

You and I aren't— It's been ten years, Neal. You had ten years to try and make that up to me. Our time wasn't lost. [ But for some reason, her argument lacks bite. It's not just anger bubbling out there. ]

[fuckingneal]

I'm not trying to convince you of anything, Emma. I'm just trying to tell you what happened, what you've forgotten about. That's it. And I'm not going to pretend like you really forgave me then either, not until the end.

[When he fell through a portal and landed in this world.]

[uncurse]

Right. The same end when I confessed to spending ten years pining over you? Are we sure I'm the one forgetting, and you're not just— [ ... Magic high? She cuts him a look over her shoulder, uneasy and disaffected. Her flat tone cuts to the quick with its disbelief. ]

[fuckingneal]

Emma, I never thought I would ever hear you tell me that you-- [...still loved him. He doesn't finish that thought, though.]

I get why you don't believe me. I do. But I'm not lying to you.

[uncurse]

I'm sure you really believe that.

[ She nods, lips pursed in a way that doesn't have a better answer than to assume he's at least firmly rooted in his truth. And it settles uncomfortably in her chest, the way he offers it up as fact, not persuasion.

She can't ask what he wants from her, what he's hoping to get out of this, because he already preempted it. Nothing. He wants nothing from this. She doesn't know how to process that after spending so long believing that he's only out for his own gain. ]

When we get to the castle, just keep the conversation on your father. This isn't about us.

[fuckingneal]

[His mouth closes slowly and he just nods. If they continue this conversation, it will have to be another time.

But that doesn't stop him just giving her those big stupid puppy dog eyes.]

[uncurse]

[ Approaching the castle, she pulls out her phone, checks it, and stows it. Tension ripples in her jaw, and for a moment out there, she seems to want to tell him something. A million warnings flash through her mind, but—

But they're none of his business.

Her life is not his business. He chose to walk out on all of it. Chose to set her up for his fall, rather than stick around through the hard parts. So she swallows it and pushes the castle door open for him. ]

Library's on the right.

[fuckingneal]

[He keeps quiet, finding that it's probably better off to just... not talk until after the business portion of this is done. If she sticks around long enough to let him try to talk to her about the rest after? Well, they'll cross that bridge when they get to it.

He heads to the right, looking for that library.]