Don't panic, everything's fine, nothing to see here

[luckynumberthree]

Who: Simon Lauchlan (luckynumberthree) and Killian Jones (unhand)
Where: the bar
When: July 8
Rating: Probably PGish unless one of them starts cursing XD
Summary: Simon's considering a Very Important Question.
The Story:

Spotting Simon at the bar on any given day isn't all that unusual, since he's a pretty common fixture here, but it's early in the day and the bar's all but empty at the moment. Which is in part the reason he's hiding out, propped on a stool on the opposite side of the bar for once. Elbows resting on the gleaming wood surface, there's an unusually serious expression on his face as he fidgets with something small and shiny in his fingers, turning it over and over and staring at it as if it might somehow hold all the secrets of the universe.

Who knows. For him, maybe it does.

Comments

[unhand]

"Uh oh," Killian saunters over and takes a seat beside Simon, glancing down at the shiny object. He's a pirate. He's naturally drawn to precious things. Still, he doesn't immediately mention it. "Perhaps I should worry about my drinking habits when I'm here before the barkeep's started working."

He takes his flask from his pocket and uses his teeth to pull out the cork, spitting it to the side. "Rum?"

[luckynumberthree]

"Well this is backwards," Simon chuckles as he turns on his stool to face the pirate, his hand automatically closing around the object he'd been fiddling with, clutching it safely in a warm grip. He casts Hook a friendly grin however, reaching out for the flask with a laugh.

"Sure. We can question our drinking habits together then. Sounds like a great plan."

[unhand]

"Ah, but now it's social drinking, and thus much less of a problem." That's definitely how alcoholism works. Killian hands it over with a grin. "You look unusually ruminative. What's on your mind, mate?"

[luckynumberthree]

Simon takes it with a rueful grin and takes a long swig before handing it back. "If only all my problems were that easily fixed," he jokes lightly, chuckling quietly as he shakes his head. "A lot, I suppose. Just some... recent things have got me thinking. About serious things. Shocking, I know. i do occasionally allow myself to think about some things."

[unhand]

"No wonder you need the rum, then." Too much introspection is one of the better reasons he knows for drinking. "How serious are we talking?"

[luckynumberthree]

He hesitates, because he hadn't meant to get caught at this before he came to an actual decision himself, but if anyone's gonna understand and maybe even talk him through this idiocy, it's the pirate sitting across from him.

Which is why he sighs and a moment later sets the ring down on the counter between them.

"That serious."

[unhand]

Killian looks at the ring for a moment before looking up at Simon with a slight grin. As the number one Jo/Simon shipper in the mansion, he sure knows what he hopes that ring is.

"Either you've decided to take accessorizing in pirate fashion, or you're about to ask someone a rather important question."

[luckynumberthree]

Have you started a fanclub, Hook? Should they be worried? Do they need to start making buttons now?

"I thought accessorizing in pirate fashion was earrings," he muses aloud, trying to play it off lightly for a moment longer. Then again, perhaps he's watched too much Jack Sparrow.

[unhand]

"It's many things." Killian splays his hand on the bar, showing off the rings. "It's wise to wear jewels of some worth when you're out at sea. Should the worst happen and you wash ashore in some strange land, it'll pay for you to be laid to rest properly."

It's more likely, of course, that you'll never make it to shore if the worst happens, but that's a worthy burial for a pirate as well.

"But I'd wager that's not the reasoning behind this gemstone."

[luckynumberthree]

"Well, that's morbid," Simon comments, giving the jewelry a look in an entirely different light.

"And no. No, not quite. I've had enough death and dying in my life back home to repeat anything of the sort here." He huffs out a bemused breath, tracing the silver band with a fingertip. "I've been thinking about it for a while, to be honest. We're coming up on a year that we've known each other. Which, on one hand, seems awfully fast, but on the other, people come and go so quickly here that... Well, it seems rather silly to wait, yeah? Especially when I already know she's what I want. Who I want."

[unhand]

"Living the life of a pirate, you've got to be a bit morbid," Killian shrugs. It doesn't bother him at this point. But it's also not as interesting as the real use for that ring.

"Emma wasn't the first woman I loved, you know. A very, very long time ago, there was Milah." And though he has finally moved on, there's a certain aching in the way he says her name. You never forget your first heartache.

[luckynumberthree]

Simon can tell a lot just from the tone of voice Hook uses at her name, to know exactly what she had meant to him. "Didn't end well, I take it?" he asked softly, searching the pirate's face for a moment before dropping back to the ring.

A ghost of a smile plays over his lips. By the time he'd met Jenny, this ring had been long lost, left behind when the cities became unlivable. He'd never made it all the way back to his flat to retrieve it, or anything else. It was only here, where he could access the vendors, that he'd had a chance to get it back.

"Yeah. I know how that can be."

[unhand]

"She was murdered before my very eyes." By someone currently residing in Wonderland, but for once, that isn't the point. "We never married. For many reasons."

He looks down at his rum, considering the flask for a moment before taking another deep swig. Like with so much of his life, it's hard to say how much he regrets. It's not like marrying her would have kept her alive, but it may have given him a few more sweet memories. "Just... better not to waste time, is all. You know your live is true. May as well make it official."