if you've seen his intro, then you're spoiler free

[tickingclock]

Bit of a traditionalist, then? [A slow grin, and that might be laughter under his breath] I can work with that.

Fanatical, am I? I suppose I can be a bit...single-minded, but it hardly helps matters when you broaden my end of the bargain, oh so sweetly.

[Seemingly, he changes tracks of conversation, glances at the hook attached to his hand with thought] In a manner, I should be grateful. I've discovered all sorts of uses for my new appendage. It certainly makes sneak attacks a lot easier. It's also quite useful for carving.

I need to dig out hearts the old fashioned way. And you've been so kind as to all but toss a pretty little librarian into my lap.

[He can't turn it into dust either, but he can mail it off in a little box. It has a certain dramatic flair he can appreciate. His jovial attitude darkens]

I was just going to kill him, but...I was meant to suffer as he did. And since he has truly felt no such suffering; she was no more than property, a bit of wounded pride to him...I'll have to give it to him.

And once the full realization of all that he's lost crosses his face... [He laughs] Well, then I'm going to kill him. So long as you're more of a help than a hindrance, darling, we'll get along famously.

Comments

[instinctual]

Plenty of people have grudges against Rumplestiltskin, no one can hold that against you, but you ought to leave Belle out of it. She hasn't done anything.

[tickingclock]

Ah, I'm afraid that's out of my hands!

[Isn't he clever?] Her fates been bought and paid for, as per the agreement.

[After all, if Rumpelstiltskin is going to accuse Hook of taking everything, he better live up to the claim. A hand for a life, seems fair]

[roust]

Everything Emma said about you is true then, isn't it?

[changethings]

Seriously? [ The face she is pulling, the face. ] There are ways of getting back at him that doesn't involve ripping the heart out of a innocent woman. Do that and you're not better than he is.

[ruteae]

Wow. You're...a jerk.

[Rue's just calling it like she sees it.]

[tickingclock]

[Oh, sorry, was ending up on the better half of the morality scale something he was actually worried about?

He didn't spend over 28 years hunting down his revenge to shy away from this, and he's killed tons of people in the name of piracy. Really, what's one more?]

No, there really isn't.

[tickingclock]

Afraid so.

[Well, maybe not. There aren't any cravats in his future] I never suggested otherwise.

[tickingclock]

Is that really all you've got for me?

[He makes an exaggerated tsk noise] I've heard far worse.

[changethings]

Yes, there is. [ Two can play the stubborn game. ] She's innocent, for Christ's sake. You think Milah would approve of you killing an innocent girl for the sake of your revenge?

[ruteae]

Well, what do you want me to say? 'Cause I'm not gonna congratulate you on your brilliant plan.

[idobelieve]

Famously, he says!

Seems you can't trust a man with a hook anywhere.

[tickingclock]

[...LADY YOU DID NOT JUST...] I think whatever her opinion might of been on the matter, it's of no concern to you.

But once I get my revenge, I'll have a lot of unoccupied time to account for. So let's be careful about which waters we go treading in, shall we?

[tickingclock]

I was wondering when you'd appear. Tell me, are you unable to keep your nose out of things that don't concern you?

[A pause, but he'll address that anyway, he's bored enough] Ah, but that's where you're wrong. I've been upfront about my intentions and my allegiances.

[As long as he gets what he wants, he has no reasons to renege on any agreement. That's all the trust in a person you need to have]

[idobelieve]

[That? Earns him one of Peter's infamous smiles.]

You wondered, yet you tell me to keep my nose out? Bad form, Hook!

You'll be him, you know?

[tickingclock]

Thankfully, it isn't necessary for it to be effective.

Why don't you run off now, back to your mother?

[tickingclock]

It's what you do.

[In here, private sandboxes, alternate universes...It's just par for the course. It was just a matter of dwindling time]

Going to start worrying for the state of my soul, are you? [He's being dismissive. To him, it's two separate things]

[prefera]

You should not have had to suffer, Killian, least of all because of me.

But it's because you know this suffering.. that I can't allow you to do this.

[idobelieve]

Not quite.

I think we both know how that story ends.

[tickingclock]

[...It's not like he's unaware of the oddities of this particular space but...

He hadn't dared to hope that she would return to him here. There's a long moment where looks a little surprised, and positively wounded, whether that's because she wouldn't be impressed with his new path in life...Or because she's here to remind him of all that he's lost]

Milah...

[Starts, stops. He settles on flippant] Don't worry, he won't be suffering long.

[changethings]

[ HELL YEAH SHE DID. ] Actually it does when you go around threatening to rip a girl's heart out with a hook just because she happened to fall in love with a monster.

I don't think you planned that far ahead. I understand that you want revenge on Gold I really do, but killing that girl isn't the way to do it.

[prefera]

It isn't him that I worry for.

[ Oh, Killian, she will always be impressed by you. She's hesitant to do so, unsure if it's real herself, but she cups the side of his face. ]

[tickingclock]

[A part of him is sorry for it. The way that he won't be deterred from his task, that he thinks even if he was promised her safe, unaltered return...He wouldn't stop until he'd accomplished it.

There's love there, when he looks at her. A certain brand of care, for him at any rate, when he cups her hips. The good hand keeps it's grip a little too firm, half afraid somewhere, that she'll leave again, far too soon. The hook? Well, he's careful with it, but it jabs in right behind the bone.

It's an uncomfortable reminder. Helps to make sense of the emptiness that's there as well. The man she loved died with her. The remnants of him are only in the cracks, and everything else? Well, there's just nothing at all.

Madness and pain do not a person make] Then don't worry at all.

[As long as he gets what he wants, first? He's coming out of this just fine]

[tickingclock]

I'm not here to argue the particulars with you, boy.

[He snorts] Am I supposed to be afraid of it?

[prefera]

[ Don't think she doesn't notice the grip. Her thumb brushes his cheek and, for a moment, she searches his eyes. ]

You're asking me not to worry about someone I love.

[ She didn't have to ask why, because she knew very well what had caused him to change. But the man she loved hadn't died, she had found that much out by his eyes alone. Her free hand finds the hook, but she touches the skin above it on his arm. ]

All of this pain is my doing..

I'm sorry, Killian.

[idobelieve]

I don't know.

How do you suppose it'll end?