entrancelogs | + Wanted to get it real home-like... +

Entry tags:

+ Wanted to get it real home-like... +

Who: EVERYONE!
Where: EVERYWHERE!
When: ANYT-- Friday, February 20 to Monday, February 23
Rating: An average PG-13? (Consider warning for explicit sexual or violent content in your thread's subject line)
Summary:
For the duration of this event each character will discover that their room has been replaced with one of their own memories, one that they find themselves particularly happy or "at home" in. More information can be found here.

This log is an opportunity for your characters to describe the memory playing in their room, so that other characters might visit, and watch the scene unfold. To help browse the collection better, please include your character's name, and their room number in the subject line (e.g. Seta Souji - 100, 6th floor) of your top-level comment.

Rooms/Comments may be locked to certain people, or be available for all to see & visit. Log participation is completely and entirely voluntary.

Have fun!

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Gone are the stylish furnishings of Regina Mills' room, replaced with all the traps of, oddly enough, a barn. In the center is a sigil dug into the floor, with a silver plate and an item in each cardinal direction with magical energy being drawn from each item.. To the north is a golden model of a brain, east the broken hilt of a sword, south a glowing heart, pulses of red weakly trying to break through the black strands and finally to the west is... a baby.

In the center of the sigil stands two people who might be more than a little familiar. Zelena stands in the northern section of the design, and Mr. Gold stands in the southeast looking more than a little livid at the proceedings. Zelena smiles and looks to Mr. Gold, "Don't worry, dearie. Once all this is over, you won't remember a thing."

A potentially familiar voice comes from out of nowhere, "It isn't over yet." In walks David Nolan, Emma Swan, Captain Hook, Robin Hood and an empty space where Regina should be, all with their weapon of choice drawn. If anything, Zelena looks mildly amused at their arrival.

"And who's going to stop me? Certainly not the Savior."

Emma advises a worried David to collect his son, as Robin reassures the empty space that he has her heart. The group begins to circle Zelena and Gold, as Zelena focuses on the empty space in front of her. Ordering Gold to rid her of the pests, Zelena then flings David and Robin Hood into the wall of the barn. Hook and Emma attempt to get Gold to back down, only to be thrown against the wall as well.

"Come for another beating, sis?"

Reacting to the thin air in front of her, Zelena makes an odd head movement before summoning a flying monkey to deal with David and Robin. (She calls it 'beautiful one' because she's weird.) Gold and the monkey keep dealing with the people actually present, as Zelena begins to force choke the air in front of her.

"Only light magic can harm me, and you're as dark as they come. It's your destiny to be this way and it will also be your undoing."

If someone actually manages to catch Regina taking her place in the scene, she defiantly responds by telling her sister, "Don't tell me what I can be."

Zelena's clearly relishing her upcoming victory, "I tried to be good once, but it wasn't in the cards. This is who I am, and it's who you are."

In the background, Robin Hood picks up the heart and nods towards the empty space. This one act is clearly the impetus for the change that's about to take place in the scene. The change is almost, but not quite immediate, as Zelena begins to worry, wanting to know what the thin air is doing. Her reaction appears to be appropriate, as she's soon knocked through the air and onto her back. Should Regina be present, and taking her place in the scene, she's quick to tell her sister that she's wrong and provide a simple answer to the query about what she's doing.

"Changing."

Light magic appears in Regina's hands, before bursting forward and knocking Zelena down. The green pendant that's always present on Zelena's person is forcibly removed and green light surrounds her before being sucked into the pendant. The magic in the center of the room fades out, as Zelena looks absolutely furious. From there, the scene fades out and begins to replay.

Personally, Neal's been going around with a lot of mixed emotions since this whole mess started. Doesn't help that he got slapped in the face with a memory from centuries ago--not that the memory itself is bad. No, that's the start of one of the few periods in his life Neal doesn't actually regret living through, thanks. But he knows how it ends, that all too brief time when he'd had a home and a family, surrounded with attempts at fatherhood by men who valued their own self-interests more than a son.

Neal can't shake the anger at old wounds, which is motivation enough for him to avoid Rumplestiltskin and Hook for awhile. Others though, like Emma and Henry? Of course he's going to check on them. As much as he can't shake his anger, there's also this lingering certainty that something disastrous is going to happen. Neal's got no clue why he feels that way, or what the hell Wonderland is going to throw at them, but it's there, so he's going to make damn sure his family (the part he's not pissed at) stays safe.

Regina's a trickier case though. Granted, they actually got on pretty well last time they talked, but that doesn't make them close. He might have left her to her privacy, except when he stops by her door he notices it's partway open. Between that and some stellar motivation to make sure Henry's parents as a whole don't start fucking up like his own? Neal forgoes politeness in favor of peeking in.

If asked what he expected to see, Neal would be pretty hard pressed to give an answer beyond "I don't know." Except now he can tack on "not a barn" to that. Yet that's exactly what he's got, along with a bunch of people back home--some more welcome sights than others. This isn't anything Neal remembers, and it's not hard to guess why. Not with Zelena taking center stage in it all, looking like she's about to get everything she ever wanted.

And just like before, she's got the Dark One's dagger in her hand.

Damn being polite; Neal slips inside now, though he's still quiet about it. He looks over at Regina, wondering if she's even noticed him, but also not really caring. This may be his only shot at actually seeing how this all plays out, and damn if he's not going to find out how it ends.

This time, Regina isn't taking part. She's done it a few times now, mostly relishing the feel that the change came with. By now, it's pretty obvious that everybody got a happy memory and while she's surprised it was this one, she knows full well why it is. This memory represents one of the biggest moments in her life, comparable to Daniel, casting the Dark Curse, Henry.

She can change.

It's almost laughable in the face of everything now; getting her happy ending and losing it all in the space of a few minutes, being written as a villain by some cosmic Author who decides the fate of everybody in the book. Maybe this one moment was all part of the Author's plan, she doesn't know. All the more reason to find him, really.

What Regina's doing is watching the pieces of the memory she couldn't really pay attention to when it was happening. The way Emma and Hook try to deal with the Dark One, and the way Robin and David are taken out almost effortlessly. She'd seen it in her periphery, but when your sister is force choking you it's hard to focus on anything else. When Neal enters, she's standing off to the side watching the whole thing play out. She knows how it goes, the memory's replayed itself so many times in her head that she knows it word for word almost.

"She kills herself after this, did anybody tell you that?"

She doesn't, actually. But Regina doesn't know that.

"No one even told me she got the dagger." Which Neal is still incredibly curious about, to say the least. At least he can count on the fact that his father hasn't gone on any rampages; Zelena comes off as pretty blunt, so he figures if they hadn't found a way to stop that control, they'd all be past their fifth deaths by now.

But watching it play out this way, how his father is manipulated into serving the woman responsible for his son's death? What Regina says just doesn't feel right in his head. The one thing Neal had been certain of, absolutely sure of, is that Rumplestiltskin would make Zelena pay by his own hand. He'd seen his father turn men into snails for Baelfire's skinned knees, and that was before he broke their deal. After?

Yeah. Neal's kind of amazed she lived long enough to off herself.

"I thought the Dark One would be the one to kill her." He looks down, trying to decide just how he feels about the fact that apparently, he's been wrong in his assumption.

"I imagine it's a bit of a sore spot for your father." It's really the only explanation she can give. Honestly, Regina had assumed Emma would catch Neal up on everything that had gone down, even Henry. While it doesn't excuse her, considering she had the ability to tell Neal everything too, it's her stance on the issue. But hey, he knows now and if he hadn't gone and said that one thing, she might have been able to tell him what she knows.

If only.

Before she answers, Regina turns to face Neal fully. "He tried," oh did he try. "It was the first thing he did once we got the dagger away from her." Which is probably fitting Neal's expectations more than the revelation that Zelena killed herself. It never really sat well with Regina either, but they saw it happen. With no reason to think there was any outside interference, Gold's edited version of events became the accepted reality.

"I stopped him." She keeps her gaze fixed on Neal when she admits it, trying to gauge his reaction. Granted, it hasn't actually happened for him, but she has no doubt he's going to react badly to the news.

Neal’s kind of learning he tends to fall just outside the loop when it comes to stuff that goes on back home. It’s no one’s fault, really. He knows they don’t mean it—it’s just crappy to be the dead guy when everyone else you know is still alive and kicking.

But yeah, he’s getting told now thanks to Wonderland’s latest event, plus a blatant disregard for Regina’s privacy. And she’s right to think that the first part, that Rumplestiltskin went after Zelena right away, is exactly what Neal expects to have happened. So someone else had to be pulling strings, and it’s not all that difficult to figure out just how Regina managed to do it.

“So you got the dagger first, and used it to stop him.” Regina’s not going to find what she’s looking for. The truth is, Neal mostly feels numb to all this. There’s just too much mess for him to process, too many pieces crashing down for him to even start deciding what he thinks. He watches again how Zelena suddenly gets blown back, the one moment that should give him some comfort because at least it means Henry’s safe.

But it’s too messed up. All of it.

“So why’d you save her?”

She nods, just once, to confirm his suspicions about the dagger. While it's a pretty obvious conclusion, confirming it is the least she can do. Especially considering what she's about to tell him. He might not have reacted how she was expecting, but she hasn't told him the worst of it yet. He has more reason than anybody to be angry at her, she knows this, and that's why he needs to be told.

Better late than never.

"Because I wanted to give her a second chance." And honestly, she still does. Connected to Zelena as she is thanks to Wonderland, the little flickers of emotion that aren't anger and hatred are doing nothing nothing to quell that desire. Everything she said to her sister in that cell holds true. They were ruined in different ways, but they're both victims of Cora. And Rumplestiltskin, but she doesn't need to go into that with Neal, does she?

"She deserved one just as much as I did."

Nothing will change her mind about that.

A second chance. Neal ducks his head, snorts out a laugh as he lets that thought sink in. He's talked to Zelena since she got back, seen for herself that she doesn't regret a single damn thing about what she did--about killing him. That woman's head is so fucked up, she somehow still thinks she's going to walk away the winner in all this, that even after everything she can make her plan work.

And just like before, she's willing to do anything to anyone to make it happen. What more proof could they possibly need than the things surrounding them now, all stolen from people. There's a damn baby in the circle, a child Neal's never met, but one who's name he already knows.

All that's bad enough. But then Regina has to go an dig in that much deeper, twist a blade Neal hadn't even realized was there. That gets him to jerk his head up, gaze narrowed down at the woman, and yeah, now she's going to get that reaction she's been expecting.

"She deserved it? You're--you're kidding, right?" There's a lot in Neal that's different than Rumplestiltskin, but there are just as many ways that he remains ever his father's son. Part of that's involved running when it comes to dealing with hard things, like the prospect of seeing Emma again after he left her. And part of it, the part Regina's about to see, involves one hell of a temper.

"No, you know who deserved something?" He walks up to Regina, gets up in her face, because damn the fact that she has magic enough to kill him all over again, he's pissed. His voice raised, Neal draws a hand up, not to strike but to angrily point at the woman in accusation. "Henry deserved to have a father! But now he has to spend the rest of his life without one, because of her, and you think she should get a second chance?!"

One sharp turn, and Neal again paces away, needing to move, wanting to scream due to his frustration. Ever since he heard about the death thing, he's known his father would be the one to end it--and as dark a thought as it is, Neal can't deny he found some satisfaction in that. Except now, that veil has been ripped away. Neal not only has to face his own thoughts, but now this truth, that not only did that vengence apparently not happen, but the woman who prevented apparently has decided just who is worthy of redemption.

Oh Neal, you're right in so many ways. But the thing is? Regina doesn't care. When he gets in her face, she doesn't flinch, doesn't move in any way. Stronger people than Neal have threatened her, gotten in her face and let her have it. She wouldn't have been a very effective villain if she caved every time someone got angry at her. This? This is nothing. But in this moment, she can see the family resemblance. Even if she wisely chooses not to comment on it.

It doesn't change the fact that her own temper is rising. It doesn't help that she's had the residual anger from Zelena thrumming in her system, but this? This is all Regina Mills.

"A father? He did well enough without one for ten years." She can admit to her own mistakes, but there was plenty of parenting experiences she did right and alone. "And in case you haven't noticed? You're dead for him. For all of us. We moved on, Henry moved on." Is there such a point as too far? We just don't know, and Regina certainly wouldn't care if there was. "And he's just fine without you."

When he walks away from her, she follows to continue her tirade. The issue with second chances is something Regina has thought long and hard about. The addition of the Author has done nothing but complicate the issue, but it hasn't changed how she feels about them. "She gets a second chance, because we all get second chances. Or did you somehow manage to forget every awful thing Rumplestiltskin did, everything I did? Why do we get second chances and she doesn't? What makes you so special that your death is apparently the worst thing someone could ever do?"

She'd really like to know the answer to that question. Even if her own personal feelings about Neal have changed recently, it doesn't change the fact in the grand scheme of things, Zelena is nothing compared to herself and Rumplestiltskin and that's what gets Regina. Why are Zelena's crimes so much worse than theirs?

"Not by my choice." Yeah, Neal had left Emma and that's what led to a lot of things, including his absence in Henry's life. But if he'd known about Henry, even had the slightest hint Emma had been pregnant, had given birth to his son? Like hell things would have played out the same way. So that's easy enough to brush off, but the rest of it? There's Regina succeeds with digging claws into vulnerable flesh.

So to answer her question? Yeah. There's definitely a point as too far.

"No fucking kidding, Regina. You think I haven't seen it every time one of you shows up and gets that look on your face? Because I'm alive here, except like you said, everyone's moved on." Found new lives, new loves--new people to act like fathers to them. "Including my son. I can tell you're real broken up over that too. You know, maybe part of you was happy to hear I died. You barely wanted Emma in the picture, right? Bad enough Henry suddenly had one other parent he loved, but two?"

Nah. It'd be easier for her if he weren't around. Maybe for all of them. He'd been through it with Emma, and sure, they'd found a sense of peace or whatever. But look at how long it'd taken--and Neal can't say he's thrilled with the results. More like the best end he could expect out of the worst case.

But they've moved on. They were better off for it, and that could very well include Henry. In his heart Neal fears it as much as he believes it, and he doesn't need Regina to remind him of that, thanks.

She follows after him, throwing questions at his back, and when Neal faces her again the answer comes easily. "Yeah, right. I've heard what you did, and I spent centuries living with what he did. But the difference is, you both at least act like you want to change. When's Zelena ever said she regrets anything about what she did, or that she wants to be different? You want to keep my father from killing her, you want to try and redeem her, whatever. I can't stop you, clearly.

"But don't you dare tell me she deserves it. Because maybe my life doesn't mean a damn thing to you, but it does to me."

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+ Wanted to get it real home-like... +

Regina Mills - Room 23, Eighth Floor

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