checkingout | reap what you sow

Who: Regina and you
Where: Anywhere; her room, the lobby, the hallway
When: March 14-28th
What: Regina has a literal shit ton of ghosts.

Her room, March 14th-16th

She doesn't know if she ever expected the odd haunting to stay confined to that of a little girl. Regina supposes other shoes dropped all the time, and the girl ghost, or mass hallucination, or whatever she was, truly had been just the tip of the iceberg. The next time Regina wakes, she reaches for the glass of water on her nightstand and sees his face, just a glimpse in the glass, and it's enough to make her shout in alarm, sitting straight up in bed. Reaching for the light, she flips it on and there's no one. But she'd been so sure, just as she'd been positive in her car in Storybrooke, staring out into the rain and seeing him reflected in lightening.

Daniel.

Her last memory of him, of them together, had his hand around her throat and her being forced to kill him. She'd killed him, after getting him back, after having him there again. It wasn't him, it wasn't her Daniel, and she's trying to shake it off, to clear her mind and slow the racing of her heart. But before she can sleep again she sees him once more, this time in the corner of the room, there and gone. She doesn't sleep. In fact, for a solid twenty-four hours, she doesn't close her eyes until she has to, her body too exhausted. Her dreams are filled with Daniel, imagining she was the one to take his heart, or hearing him tell her that even if he were back, she'd been too evil, had committed too many crimes. He tells her things that would never fall from his lips, she hopes. When she wakes again he's there, a quick reflection in her mirror, and she yells at him to go, throws a glass which shatters against the wall and he disappears. He isn't hers. She stays in her room, but when he doesn't come back she finally dresses, just in a pant suit (no gowns), to go downstairs and eat.

Hallway/Lobby, 17-23rd

She can't tell one peasant from the other. She doesn't even know that they're from her world until she keeps seeing them. Farmers and millers, standing in corners and staring at her, watching her until she looks back for too long and they disappear. It takes time for her to realize what's happening, for her to understand. Four or five of them appear together, just looking at her, staring. She begins seeing them in clusters, as she rounds corners and stops short, gasping. She tries to get away, to block them out, but they're always there, more and more of them. The villages she'd burned to the ground, the people she'd killed as the Evil Queen. So many of them that were they solid they could get their revenge. As it is, she thinks she's losing her mind. She refuses to be confined to her room, refuses to let this make her cower, but she finds that sitting with her eyes closed helps. They may be there, but she can't see them. And so she sits in the lobby, eyes closed tightly as she tries to push it away, tries to stop thinking.

Lobby, 24-last day of event

Her mother is the first to speak to her. Not a complete sentence, and certainly nothing loving. It's a sneer. You. Regina's heart bottoms out and she stands, frozen in place in the lobby of the hotel. She is not a woman who has ever appeared frightened willingly in front of others, but she looks terrified now. Even dead, even a ghost, the knowledge of everything her mother has done and what she's capable of is enough to propel Regina into panic.

"You're dead, mother!" Because she'd put the cursed heart back into her chest, and Cora sneers, lunging forward and then disappearing. Regina's eyes close tightly, and when she opens them, the one person who always comforted her after Cora's wrath is there, bleeding from the knife wound she'd inflicted.

"...Daddy?" Her voice is soft, broken, a tear tracking down her face. But there's no smile of reassurance, he's stoic, and Regina lets out a choked sob, turning and making her way blindly through the lobby, yelling at someone to get out of her way; if she had magic, she would have flung them to the side to aid in her trying to escape. And then she's stumbling back, eyes wide as ghosts appear around her, led by her mother, by her father, surrounding her and closing in. No one can see the horror she's inflicted outside of Regina, but she backs into a corner, not sure what's real and what isn't, sure that the day she has to pay for everything has finally arrived. Sinking down, she presses her face in her hands and closes her eyes, just wanting it to be over.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ward's focus might be a little scary to most - more then a little intent. He's haggard and drawn and his army - well it's nowhere near as big as hers but some would call it a lot more significant. Especially for others that are here.

What he does do is breathe deep and meet her gaze, "...The secret to conquering fear, is to decide to smile at your enemies because they can't hurt you, any worse then you can hurt yourself."

That first part was Garrett. You make yourself strong and they can't touch you. That second part, that's Grant Ward.

"...Keep saying that to yourself. I think it's this place."

Grant's focus isn no scarier than the Dark One's. Or Cora's, honestly. But she can see the wear on him, even if she can't see what's haunting him.

Smile at your enemies. These ghosts couldn't hurt her at all. Cora couldn't hurt her again. Never again.

"It's this place. It's this damned place."

Maybe they're all in hell. Maybe that's what this is. But then she remembers Emma is here, and no, this can't be hell because she's the savior.

"I'm going to get my magic back, and then I am going to burn a hole in the doors," she mutters through clenched teeth.

"I'll help you light the match." It's creepy, for a brief moment. Burn a hole through the doors it's something he'd do.

He's haggard and hanging and unsure of what to do now. Comfort?

He pulls a hand across his hair.

"Nothing we can do but try and fight against it I think." He looks up, "...Water. You want Water?"

Regina looks at him and nods a little. No match necessary, but whatever. She doesn't feel like explaining her magic to him right now.

"I want a drink. But I'm guessing there's none of that so, yes. Water, please," she replied.

"Perhaps..." she doesn't know him, not even a little, but maybe it's good that he found her. "It might be better for two people to stay together. It...helps. Somehow."

Ward hesitates, looking back at her and thinking solely of 33. I don't know what to do. There's a lingering sense of responsibility - wherever she is she has no one at all and this...

He offers her a hand, "...Perhaps. I mean temporarily."

Admitting weakness in a scenario like this is death, his features rigid for a moment, "...I think it'd be important."

Silence from him for a good five minutes, then, "...Grant Ward."

Regina takes another deep breath and nods, taking his hand for a moment. She doesn't know what else to do, but he's distracting enough, and with him close, it seems as if the ghosts stay back and keep their distance.

His silence gives her time to compose herself, pushing her hands through her hair. "Regina Mills," she responds after him. She would never, ever admit weakness in any situation, but she knows she'd been close to not being able to pull herself off of the ground.

It does seem to be enough for a moment, two people facing an army of ghosts. It's also enough to make him curious about the woman and want to know just what had her backed into a corner like that before he remembers -

He remembers that women can be terrifying too.

Lowering his gaze he frowns at his feet before looking back at her and fishing a half eaten snickers bar out of his pocket.

"Chocolate helps."

There's a pause, "that's what my grandmother used to say."

This is an alliance of convenience. Nothing more.

There's a half smirk on her lips as she takes the candy and stares at it for a moment before looking back up at him.

"My mother would say this fear makes me weak."

She never talks about Cora, and in fact, since her death only had to out of necessity. It's ironic that she'd been a ghost then too, hell bent on attacking her for some reason Regina hasn't figured out. Never good enough for the woman without a heart. It's all she can figure.

"...My father used to say the same thing."

Both fathers in the end. He can see Garrett laughing and he raises a hand to his face, "...It's a weakness. And the only way to fix it is to man the fuck up Grant."

He shakes his head.

"...Mothers though."

He twitches, "...I hated mine."

Edited 2015-03-17 06:12 (UTC)

"Your father and my mother would be quite the pair."

There's no love for Cora in her eyes, not right now. Regina has her moments, when she thinks of her mother in the split second she had her heart back and smiled at her. Smiled and gave Regina hope that was instantly crushed. But her ghost doesn't seem to have that heart. Neither time Regina's seen it.

"I tried to have mine killed." Cora's ghost is looking right at her over Grant's shoulder, and Regina's eyes flick up, then close for three seconds. It isn't real.

Ward's parents haven't put in an appearance. Just his brother. Tried to have yours killed?

"...I can understand that." Christian is smirking at him. He raises a hand, heedless of anything around him to brush him to the side, "Whatever the circumstances. family is hell."

reap what you sow

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