entrancelogs | [open] Ding dong the witch is

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[open] Ding dong the witch is

Who: Zelena and You!
Where: Throughout the Mansion
When: 12th - 14th
Rating: PG
Summary: Zelena tried the punch, so for three days, she's not really wicked at all.
The Story:

It might be obvious to some, but Zelena doesn't really care or put too much stock into things that go on here that don't directly affect or, to be more accurate, inconvenience her. So when she took a sip of the punch in the kitchens, she wasn't even remotely worried about or even thinking of anything out of the ordinary going on with everyone else.

Now once she drinks that punch, that all changes. Now she's actually interested in talking to people. She's socializing and happy and friendly and basically all the things that she wasn't before. Well not all of them, she's still green. And her fashion sense is about the same as it was before. But at least she's not being abrasive and making vague threats towards people, or anything like that, right?

So for the next three days, wherever you find Zelena in the mansion, expect well, conversations for starters because odds are she'd ignore most people anyways, but pleasant conversations! Even if you're related to her, and she'd normally want to remove you from existence, for the next three days she doesn't want to do that! Enjoy it while it lasts because once things wear off in three days, she'll be back to normal. Or slightly worse than normal because of all this.

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Truth be told, Emma has made a conscious effort to keep a good, healthy distance between herself and Zelena at all times ever since the witch arrived in Wonderland. This place brought people to a weird sort of stalemate; just because you would have gone head-to-head with someone back home didn't mean that you could do the same thing here and expect results. They're limited here, and she hates that. Zelena, she'll allow, has been much less problematic than Pan had been, but that doesn't mean Emma's not wary. Minding her own business until she can't anymore for whatever reason still seems to be the best way to handle things.

That said, it's no surprise that when Emma walks into the kitchen and finds Zelena there, she has to fight the urge to do a U-turn and walk back out. Really, she should just leave and pretend it never even happened, keep from stirring anything up, but Emma Swan has never been good at running away from any kind of conflict, and that means she finds herself stuck to the spot.

She has to say something.

"Zelena." She grits her teeth, grimacing. "You look--"

Actually, she looks... odd. Not like her usual self, despite still being green.

"You look like you just got some good news." Which is probably bad for the rest of them, if that's the case.

Oh look, it's Emma Swan. You know normally, Zelena would be annoyed by the very sight of her because well, look, it's not like she's intimidated or worried or anything, but that whole Savior thing? Kind of annoying. And while it certainly couldn't ruin her plans because nothing can, it's still...annoying.

Or she would feel that way on any other day, but today instead of an annoyed look and bitter remarks towards Emma, she just has a friendly smile instead. So it might be apparent that something here is very very off. Or maybe she's finally come around to actually listening to what everyone keeps telling her about giving up on her grudges and all of that? No, it's more likely something's off.

“Good news? No, I don't think so,” she says, looking cheery and not at all like she's about to throw fireballs or anything like that. And she's certainly acting completely oblivious towards that expression on Emma's face. “I just feel like...”

How to put this, how to put this.

“Like I don't have to act the way I've been doing anymore. It's pointless, really. Not going to change anything about Wonderland, so why not enjoy my time here instead?”

God. It was legitimately terrifying when that woman smiled.

Emma shifts uncomfortably, arms folded across her chest as she narrows her gaze at someone she's almost positive was an enemy-- that much hasn't changed, so what was with the attitude overhaul? Something about it is distinctly not right and makes her suddenly feel as though she's stepped into some kind of bodysnatchers flick.

She'd comfort herself with the fact that that couldn't happen here, except that it had. Way to go, Wonderland. You make all creepy things possible.

"That's a... refreshingly positive outlook, I guess." She doesn't sound convinced. None of it sounds like Zelena. "So what, you're just giving up the whole jealous vengeance angle?"

Refreshingly positive is what she's all about today. She's been far too negative over the years with the Regina hating, and the time travel revenge schemes, and the babynapping, and she is just not planning on doing any of that today.

“Giving it up?”

Actually...yes, she supposes that is what she's doing. That's all so mean spirited and awful and she has a hard time seeing why she ever did it in the first place.

“Yes, actually. Wasted too much of my life doing that, when I could've been getting to know people. Or having conversations like this.”

There's another one of those freaky pod person smiles.

“Before today, I wouldn't have bothered with this conversation. Probably would've just threatened you to stay out of my way or else. So being able to talk like this? It's nice.”

That...

That really isn't what Emma expected. Not in the least. She can't help frowning; things can't possibly be this simple. Zelena has never made anything easy for any of them.

"Right. It's-- nice." She doesn't sound all that convinced, but she's not beating a hasty retreat, either. That's progress, isn't it? "So that's it. You just want to kick back and get to know the locals all of a sudden?"

Weird.

"Why the change of heart?"

“Don't know.”

That's the truth of it. Sure, the change of heart was mysteriously timed around the time she drank that punch, but she doesn't know for sure if it had anything to do with it. Even if it did, it doesn't really matter. The truth of the matter is...

“Don't care.”

That. Exactly that. She doesn't really care what caused it. She just knows that she currently feels this way, and she actually likes it. Maybe this was the way to go instead of banishing Glinda to another realm for tricking her into trying to be like this.

“And why not get to know everyone? Not like I'm going anywhere anytime soon. That's how Wonderland works, right?”

Disturbingly flippant, to be honest. Emma squints a little, aware of the fact that maybe, just maybe, she's overthinking this--

But no. This is definitely out of the ordinary.

"Well, yeah, that's how Wonderland works, but most people don't take that to mean it's time to toss all their grudges aside." Even if some people probably should. "Usually whatever feuds are going strong outside of Wonderland are still in full-swing here."

“That's unfortunate.”

Not that she can really talk. She was in the same boat up until recently. Carrying on the same old grudges she had prior to Wonderland here in Wonderland against her sister and well, anyone who associated with her, until probably the end of time or until she turns back time. Whichever comes first.

“Can't say I see a reason to act like that anymore though. It's all so...so pointless.”

She doesn't really regret anything she's done, but she certainly doesn't see the point in continuing with it now. After all stealing Mary Margaret's nonexistent baby just doesn't seem like as good an idea as it did prior to drinking that punch. Now it just sounds mean, and definitely not cheery or friendly.

Edited 2015-01-05 02:17 (UTC)

"Unfortunate? That's unfortunate?"

Even with Zelena as seemingly careless as she is now, it's not the answer Emma had expected from her. Frankly, she's not sure what to expect at the moment; nothing that's come out of Zelena's mouth sounds anything like her, or at least not like the Zelena she'd had the occasion to meet.

"Yeah. Yeah, pointless is right. This place kind of has us all at a stalemate to begin with, but even beyond that-- baby stealing is kind of frowned upon."

She's just saying, Zelena.

“Typically, yes.”

You just had to bring up the baby stealing, didn't you, Emma? If she wasn't so goshdarn happy right now, she'd be...probably some mixture of pissed off and annoyed. Honestly, it's not like she even cares about Snow's baby beyond using it to open a time travel portal, so beyond that, who cares? She can have the damn thing back if it somehow still exists by the time she's through.

But anyway, um, happy, right. So not dwelling on that. Not dwelling on it at all. Nope. Or at least not until this all wears off, then she's back to looking at the people here and looking at her time travel spell ingredient checklist for the foreseeable future.

“But not something I really have to worry about one way or the other. Even if I wanted to, which I don't, there's hardly one around to steal now, is there?”

Ever since the great singing debacle of 2k14, Regina's been making sure to avoid Zelena at all costs for fear of it happening again. Logically, she knows it won't because that event ran its course months ago, but Wonderland could spring another singing event on them and that's the last thing she wants. Well, the last thing she wants besides being erased from history by her bitch of a sister.

At this point, it's probably the healthiest relationship she's ever had with someone from that side of the family. Sad.

When she comes across Zelena in the kitchen, it takes every ounce of self control to not poof out of there before she's seen. The look on her sister's face is more than enough to shock her into staying. She looks happy, and not 'mwahahaha I finally have all the pieces to my time travel spell' happy. It's weird and unnatural and Regina doesn't like it.

"Whose baby did you manage to steal today?"

Regina.

Of course, she'd show up today. Now typically that thought would be because Zelena's cursing her lot in life and Regina ruins everything and so on and so forth, and this really could go on for quite a while. But today Zelena's of the mindset that of course Regina would show up now because she's just so happy to see her younger sister.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but no one's,” she says happily enough which...probably sounds really strange to those who know her. She's actually happy despite...not achieving anything even remotely close to her goals. “Can't imagine why I'd do such a terrible thing today, anyway.”

Everyone here is so nice and wonderful and she can't really see why she spent so much time plotting grand theft baby in the first place now.

This is quite possibly the most unsettling thing that has ever happened in the history of forever. And that's counting the time Rumplestiltskin tried to make a baby with Cora.

Regina takes a step backwards, eager to put some space between her sister and herself. Because this? This is not okay. Literally nothing about this is okay. "Then why are you so... completely and obviously not yourself?"

WE NEED ANSWERS, ZELENA.

It's okay Regina. Zelena completely understands that this is a lot to get used to and will try to be patient with the...shock? Let's go with shock. The shock of this all happening so suddenly. She's sure she'd be in the same boat if Regina suddenly started acting nice to her all of a sudden.

“Not really sure why. Just suddenly felt different. That's all.”

Which would normally be alarming, but really, is a sudden mood shift that out of the ordinary for her? She went from not knowing Regina was a thing to violently hating her. And then went from that to kinda over it thanks to Glinda. And then back to violently hating everything because Dorothy and also Glinda. So, this could just be the next major personality shift for her.

Or it could be the punch. Who knows?

The only thing worse than the current situation is Zelena smiling like that, because it tells him that whatever is happening right now, she's probably about to make it work. Maybe she figured out how to give her dagger all the power. Maybe Lacey traded her the dagger for another sparkly abomination of a dress. Maybe she murdered his son again.

It could be anything at this point, so when he meets her in the hall, he braces himself for bad news and potentially fireballs.

"Zelena, you look positively cheerful," he says, as dryly as sandpaper, all while smiling a bit too tightly. "What have you done now?"

Edited 2014-12-18 19:25 (UTC)

What has she done? Drank some punch, that's all. Oh, and apparently changed her entire outlook on life. That's normal, right? Just wake up one day being all anger and revenge and suddenly, like someone flipping a switch, it's all gone. And now there's just sunshine and happiness and all that.

“Haven't done anything today,” she says pleasantly enough. Which might sound weird since Zelena and pleasant don't really mix. They mix about as well as oil and water. Or Zelena and water that one time.

“But since you're here,” she says, not mentioning that the other half of the equation is that she feels unusually kind today. “How have you been, since all that...unpleasantness with the anchors?”

Yup, she's just having a nice friendly conversation with the person she's in an eternal dagger stalemate with. Totally normal.

Gold's skepticism remains plastered all over his face. Also mild fear, because pleasant was never a word anyone would use to describe Zelena, even back when her worst crime was being The Overattached Girlfriend.

And the staring continues.

"Well, considering we're closing in on uncertain terror what with this Jabberwocky business and all, I think I've been positively delightful." It's not sardonic if you smile when you say it, right? ...Oh, right. Of course it is.

Fortunately, he knows Belle is under some sort of effect and one can assume Zelena is suffering a similar fate. "Dare I ask what you've been eating in the dining hall?"

She just continues smiling like his sarcastic comment about the Jabberwocky was expressing genuine sentiment. Odds are her face is going to hurt when this all wears off because smiling this much isn't normal for her at all. No, normally there's much more frowning and scowling, and whatever the hell all those bizarre expressions she makes are. But for now there's just smiling.

“Haven't had anything to eat yet, but I had a lovely glass of punch earlier. You should try some.”

After all, it's life changing and has done wonders for her so far. Imagine what it could do for the Dark One.

"That would explain it, then." God only knows what they've poisoned the food and drink with- things to distract and keep them placated while danger looms over them. After all, if everyone's stuck in a moody snit or utterly cheerful, how on earth are they to worry about the beast? It's almost like they don't want the thing contained or killed.

"I'm afraid I'll have to pass. You have enough cheer for both of us." And, both as a subject change and also a tentative poke at Zelena's sore spots to see if any of them are still sore at all, "I was actually looking for Regina."

“Regina?”

There really should be an awkward pause here or a glare or something to show her anger at Gold looking for her sister when he should be looking for her instead. But there's not because what anger? There's no anger here. Why would there be any anger?

“Haven't seen her today, but if I do, I'll certainly tell her you're looking for her.”

And she will too. Because that would be the nice thing to do. It'd be absolutely horrible if she didn't let Regina know about this. Absolutely horrible.

Edited 2014-12-27 05:28 (UTC)

Not even a twitch. Gold's surprise cuts his brain off at the pass and he's left staring at her, trying to figure out where he was even going with that.

"Ah," he opens his mouth to start something and then shuts it again. You've done it, Zelena. You've rendered the Dark One speechless. "Thank you."

Awkward. He lingers for a second, wondering if he should go or try and take advantage of the situation somehow, and then adds, "Well, as far as events go, I almost hope this one persists. It's quite refreshing, actually."

The gears are turning in his head and they are not happy gears.

That's okay Rumple, she'll just have waited patiently while he finds his words. Because she's not impatient or anything like that. Not today anyway.

“It is. Never thought it'd be nice to actually get a different outlook on life.”

No, she's never really even stopped to considered that. Not after that Dorothy girl showed up in Oz anyway. That pretty much killed any chance of her ever turning over a new leaf.

“Who knows? Maybe it'll effect you too.”

There's a smile on her face because that'd be wonderful. She'd brought it up before, but the idea of a happy cheery Dark One for nice reasons not...Dark One reasons is too good not to bring up again.

Yes, maybe it will. He's already thinking of a few effects here and there. He cants his head. "It could. You do still have that dagger, after all."

She could use it to make him do good deeds all the while or something, if they weren't in a stalemate. That's disgusting to think about, but the point is getting her to think of it. And, more importantly, how dreadful it is to have something like that.

It's a longshot, but it might work.

“That's right, I do. And I could.”

And she could use it to compel him to drink some of the punch, but that would be a terrible thing to do. To force someone into this. So no, she won't do that. Instead she'll just smile and say, “But I think it'd be better if you chose to try some instead.”

Using the dagger for that just doesn't seem right to her today. Which is why it's staying right where she left it. Until the punch wears off anyway. Come back then and she might feel completely differently about...well, about a lot of things, including this one. Possibly anyway.

"But you won't," he says, as if predicting her thoughts. Not hard, given how eerily Stepford she's being right now. Cheerfulness tends to make a person a little bit... well, vacant.

"Seems like there's no real point to having it at all, is there?" He tried to play grab-ass with her to get that dagger. If anyone thinks he won't step into her space and smile sweetly and try to politely get the dagger back by taking advantage of her cursed disposition, they don't know him well at all. "It's not as if it's making you happy."

“I wouldn't say that. Having the dagger certainly has its appeal.”

Yeah, sorry. Even in this weird delusional happy state, she still sees that as worth keeping around. As to why, she'll explain that in a moment.

“It's nice to have something like that around. Because it reminds me of you. And why wouldn't that make me happy?”

...okay, that probably sounded really creepy, but regardless of whether she was affected by the punch or not, it probably would've come out like that. After all, it's Zelena, and since she's who she is, she's got a weird fixation on you, Gold. And no amount of punch will make that go away any time soon.

For the record, playing grab-ass didn't work out so well for him either, so how exactly did he really think this was going to go?

Evidently, exceedingly well, because he draws back, disappointed and a bit agitated that this nuisance of a curse can't gain him anything. What makes it worse is Zelena's unfortunate and unending obsession with him. And she wonders why he couldn't let her cast that curse.

"Why wouldn't it, indeed," he drawls. "It's lovely to know the most powerful weapon within Wonderland's walls can be easily reduced to a memento of things long past."

That will not go away, because Zelena is still here and constantly exhausting him. His life would permanently kill an ordinary dark sorcerer.

“Isn't it just?”

Oh sorry. Were you being sarcastic there, Rumple?

“On the bright side, you don't have to worry about anymore. I have it, of course, but don't worry, I certainly don't plan on using it any time soon.”

For what it's worth she thought that was a reassuring statement that would probably put him at ease. But it probably wasn't. She does mean it though. The dagger will just sit in her room collecting dust while she looks at every now and then. Until the punch wears off anyway. Then it'll sit in her room and she'll look at it every now and then, but she'll be angry and vengeful and all that.

Sarcasm is lost on the uncomfortably cheerful. Good to know.

And that doesn't comfort him. Honestly, the thought of the dagger anywhere but under his floorboards, safely tucked away where only he can touch it doesn't comfort him. It didn't comfort him in Belle's hands, either.

Which is precisely why it was never in her hands.

He swallows, forcing a smile, and backs away from her, eager to put as much distance between himself and chipper Zelena as possible. "Well, I suppose I can take comfort in that, then." He nods at her. "Enjoy this while it lasts. I imagine you're in for quite the crash later."

And on that extremely cryptic note, he's off to find her sister.

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[open] Ding dong the witch is

12th!

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