first deal ✒ voice

[undealt]

[Gold’s tone is so dry, you could use it as sandpaper.]

I’ve never been fond of Wonderland. [Offhandedly. Obviously not the point he wants to make either- he’s just expressing dissatisfaction that of all the worlds there are, he had to be abducted to this one.] I trust that since no one seems to be leaving very quickly, the rabbits are either well hidden or difficult to catch. Well, well- some things never change.

[It’s not the same Wonderland. He knows this, but any realm bearing that name is bound to be of a sort he doesn’t want to deal with. And it's a miserable afterlife either way. Perhaps he should have less concerned about the sacrifice required to kill Pan and more concerned with the end result.

Assuming this is the end result of that particular spell- he has another theory. Ah, but that brings us to our point.]

That said, I’m looking for a woman named Regina Mills. Black hair, brown eyes, foul-tempered- she may have threatened you once or twice. [He lets that sit for a second and then elaborates:] There’s just been a lingering question on my mind since I arrived here and I think she might know the answer.

[“Is this all your fault?”]

Comments

[video]

[denigrated]

[ Isaac is even younger than he normally is, a strapping seven years old, but that doesn't seem to take away any of his agitation. ]

8th floor, room 23.

[ A pause. ]

You've been here before?

[video]

[undealt]

[Wow, that is a brisk stride down the hall from him. Lovely.]

Well, that's certainly a more specific answer than I was expecting.

[From a child. Regina, no. Regina, pls.]

And a time or two, yes.

[All of once. He hated it. He sent Jefferson instead from there on out.]

[video]

[denigrated]

[ Isaac aims to please. Are you gonna take her voice away, or slap her with a chair or something? Isaac thinks you should, Mr. Gold. ]

Did she do something to you too?

[ Regina isn't earning any points from the McHale wolfpack... is it obvious? ]

...I've never seen you here before.

[video]

[undealt]

Let's just say we've a bit of a complicated history.

[REGINA, DID YOU KIDNAP THIS CHILD? That is Gold's first thought. That is actually his only thought, considering she just lost Henry- he knew damn well the cost of that curse when he suggested it, which is why he's concerned her heart wasn't in it AND SHE SOMEHOW BROUGHT WONDERLAND INTO IT.

He chuckles.]

It was a different Wonderland- many years ago. They're similar enough, however.

[The same rules, perhaps... In that "there aren't any."]

voice

[unhand]

[Hook still isn't adept enough with his phone that he's willing to change the format himself. It's complicated. So audio it is.]

Thought you were dead.

[He can't help but sound kind of disappointed. He had kind of hoped Rumplestiltskin would stay that way.]

voice

[undealt]

And I thought you would be back in the Enchanted Forest. Seems things didn't quite go as planned for any of us, did they?

[Oh look he sounds JUST AS UNHAPPY TO HEAR YOUR VOICE. This is the worst afterlife ever.]

voice

[unhand]

I was in the Enchanted Forest. I left. [For New York, not Wonderland. But still.]

voice

[undealt]

[oh.

so regina didn't botch the curse.]

So she really did go through with it.

[madehisvows]

[What.

How.

Why.

GOOD THING SHE DOESN'T LOOK LIKE HERSELF BECAUSE SHE DOES NOT WANT TO DEAL WITH THE EMOTIONS THIS BRINGS.

I mean what emotions, she doesn't care that he's suddenly alive again.]

Oh, she's around here somewhere. Ms. Swan will no doubt direct you her way.

[undealt]

[Hook, Regina, and Emma. Regina, this is not making "I MAY HAVE CAST THE SPELL WRONG" look like a less likely option, beyond... who the hell are these people.]

I seem to have already been directed. Though it is lovely to hear Ms. Swan made it over.

[no really. her reaction to wonderland would be worth the price of all this magic. she wasn't ready for neverland. she is definitely not ready for this. or so he thinks.]

[madehisvows]

[SCREW YOU GOLD, SHE CAST IT FINE.

She is going to find whoever directed him to her room and murder them. They'll come back, it's fine.]

Wonderland seems to have taken a liking to your, Storybrooke, was it? You're showing up all the time lately.

I've heard talk that Peter Pan himself is here. Imagine that?

not here

[denigrated]

[ BRING IT ]

[undealt]

[Meanwhile, Gold has no clue he's talking to Regina and that's hilarious.

Actually, right now, he's not even thinking about Regina, because Pan brings out his inner Kill Bill sirens.]

They really will let just about anyone in here, then.

[Is this hell. This is hell isn't it.]

[voice]

[jolting]

[oh Gold, you have the best timing. Victor purses his lips, debating on if he even wants to speak up. But then he really starts to think and he smiles]

I think I saw her wandering by the shore, or she might be at the gazebo. A lot of people have been enjoying those spots lately.

[voice]

[undealt]

[Victor, you really overestimate the amount of effort he wants to put into this. Nice try, though.]

I'm so glad being abducted into this accursed realm invokes a desire for sightseeing.

[voice]

[jolting]

Yep, they even have a brochure for new arrivals.

video;

[airshipsway]

[ The sound of the network was little more than background noise, as ever so often when Buckingham tends to his horses. Only a familiar name gives him pause, a great deal more than it usually might, given his current... circumstances.

So he plays the transmission again, and wonders. There is a chance the lady has already revealed herself, but from the nature of the request she might just as well relish the opportunity to stay hidden. And who would she be hiding from? An enemy? A tentative ally? Family? A lover?

Oh, but that's just it, isn't it? It seems all too tempting to find out. Well then. As they say; light, camera, and-- ]

And why shouldn't I just let it linger there a while longer?

[ Because really, what a dreadful introduction, tsk, tsk, tsk. ]

video;

[undealt]

[SEEMS... LEGIT.

Except for the fact that he's missing the shock on Regina's face. She ought to be a bit more appalled he's breathing... Then again, maybe she's faking. Or the shock hasn't registered yet. Pan's here, after all.]

And miss the look on your face when it hits you? I thought you'd be more relieved to see me again. [Let's just give Buckingham the entirely wrong impression of his relationship with Regina until aforementioned witch screams herself hoarse.]

video;

[airshipsway]

[ So far so good. Either Buckingham is already being rather thoroughly played in return, or the original has yet to show her (or quite possibly his) face. Well, this should be fun.

Now, what next, what... next? Swamped as he often was by the no doubt adoring masses at home, the duke certainly has practiced his fair share of faux reunions, of maintaining an amicable smile and rapt participation through recollections he did not share in the slightest, but this encounter... has a somewhat broader frame of reference. Especially in regards to his own person. ]

In case you hadn't noticed, we're all a little... preoccupied with other matters here, currently. The rabbits have been quite busy, as it were.

[ Because surely that was not a heartfelt urge for relief, was it? Not from one the man just so brazenly called foul-tempered and threatening.

Besides, little as he knows about her, Buckingham just can't quite envision Regina's face marred by such sentiment, for that she has so far always struck him as... courteous, yet predatory. Like an elegantly dressed velociraptor.

Of course it should help his cause to bring Wonderland into play, after all, when in doubt there must be something about its magic that can explain why she might not act quite like herself at the moment. ]

So you'll forgive me if my schedule has little place for tearful reunions at the moment.

[ ...And suppose if whoever Buckingham just denied an affectionate reunion truly starts to get sentimental, he can always take it back and apologise, for having had the most dreadful week and my, she never meant to sound so harsh. ]

[Voice]

[cursebreaking]

[Emma would know that voice anywhere. If there's one thing to be said for him, Gold has and always has had presence. It was part of what made people in Storybrooke so damn scared of him, even before they remembered who he really was. Emma, however, isn't so easily spooked -- especially now that things have gotten complicated with regards to Gold and her family.]

Regina's here, and far from the only one. You're late, Gold.

[Voice]

[undealt]

And Pan hasn't managed to kill you, yet, so it seems you haven't hurt for it.

[That's your hello, Emma. Between death and Wonderland... well, he'd like a better third option, honestly, but Wonderland is not better than death.]

[Voice]

[cursebreaking]

We've managed to forebear.

[Much easier said than done around these parts, though while she doesn't trust Pan as far as she could throw him -- if she could catch him to do so -- he's not at the top of her list of worries these days. More like a close second.]

You don't seem worse for wear, at least. Smooth landing?

[[OOC: I'm so sorry! Unintentional hiatus. :<]]

[Video]

[psalmed]

You speak so ill of a lady, monsieur. Is there a reason why?

[Video]

[undealt]

Well, there are a litany of answers to that question, actually.

[And the worst part is they're friends right now. He just enjoys getting her goat.]

[Video]

[psalmed]

And they make her deserving of such language?

[Yep, proper lady here. Who is also ever so nosy.]