off with your head

“I’m not going to a hospital.” Harry practically growled it, sharing the opinion that he’d rather die than let some AK fuss over him.  He also wasn’t about to rat out his father for hurting him and get him thrown back, no matter how much easier his life would be for that choice.  He wasn’t a coward, he’d live with the consequences.  Harry also knew Regina truly wouldn’t leave him alone, so he just gave up and opted to sit down for a minute, needing to breathe a bit before he willed himself to move again anyways.  “He got me on the chest.  It’s not too deep, I only passed out a little at first.  It just hurts now.  I’ve been taking care of it fine.”

Harry shrugged a little, ignoring the twinge he felt at that movement.  “He wouldn’t kill me, so that should at least be somewhat reassuring.”  The information didn’t really make him feel better, though he was glad to not be dead. “You seemed distraught about your own problem before you nosed into my mess lass.  Are you alright?”

She wasn’t going to fight him too much on the issue, seeing as if she did then it would just be purely hypocritical, but it didn’t mean that she would just give him a free pass. “Show me it then, prove to me that it’s not that serious.” Regina had dealt with her own injuries back on the isle from a young age, she was pretty adept at first aid. She had managed to fix the wound on her neck well enough that only a slight scar remained. “Get your shirt off pirate, at least let me have a look at it.” The smirk on her lips was not as genuine as she has intended, mainly because she was worried about him.

“Not being dead is all that we can ask for at this point in our lives.” It was pretty pessimistic, but even on Auradon, especially now that her mother was back Regina just was glad to still be alive. “I wasn’t distraught. It’s nothing...” It wasn’t to her, but it seemed to pale in comparison to Harry’s issue. “Mother dearest has made an appearance. I haven’t seen her yet but it’s only a matter of time.”

“To repeat your words back to you, that’s complete bullshit.”  He flashed her a smirk before grabbing his things with a sigh.  Harry knew Regina well, and knew she wouldn’t leave him alone.  It was futile to try, and frankly he didn’t have the energy.

“Father dearest and I swapped insults, he tore me to shreds emotionally, then I pushed him too far and we fought with blades.  I got first blood, he won, and practically disowned me while kicking me while I was down.  I figured you would already know how that turned out love, you do know James Hook and his idiot son rather well after all.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to go home and lick my wounds before I have to go back out into the world tomorrow.”

Regina basically was pouting at Hook, although if anyone had accused her of that she’d have ripped their head off. It just showed how well they knew each other though, although they were both always willing to attempt a lie. As shown these were never well received by the other.

There was a moment in which the redhead didn’t know what to say, which was a rare moment. It didn’t last too long though as his words sunk in. “Where did he get you? Have you been to a hospital or do you need me to take you?/” In his position she’d rather died then have gone to a hospital, but this was a battle she was willing to have with the pirate. “You’re not getting away with slinking off and injuring yourself even more.” As awful as it sounded Regina was just glad to have a distraction from her own psychotic parent.

“I’m fine.”  He forced himself to move, knowing he’d need to get home an clean out his chest again.  “Just having an off day.  How are you doing love?”  Harry quirked a brow at her, the red head not often showing up randomly at his place of work.  “Something bothering you?  Can’t say I’ve ever seen you here.”

He smirked wryly at her question, nodding.  “Of course I did lass.  I said I would, and it went great. We hugged, there were tears. Real bonding.”

Regina knew he was lying, which meant that she wasn’t going to be the first to let her guard down. She liked to treat everything as if it was a competition, even when it most definitely was not, just like this moment. “I’m perfectly fine too. Who’s to say I didn’t just come here to learn how to fence?” The lie wasn’t great but she didn’t really care. Her fighting methods used underhand tactics more than anything else.

“Well that’s complete bullshit. I know your father in case you forgot. So are you going to tell me what really happened or should I make you?”

“Oh goodness Regina, don’t be so nervous! I promise you aren’t in trouble.” she insisted with a small giggle. “Trust me, I’m not here for just bad news. This is more of a wellness check. I just wanted to see how you were adjusting and how things were going!”

Regina wasn’t exactly the most trusting person in the world. Even after three years in Auradon, she reacted to kindness with pure suspicion. On the isle good intentions weren’t exactly a thing, everyone had an ulterior motive. “Yeah I’m doing fine. My degree is going well, and I’m even thinking of running for President of the Student Government.”

“Ooh a temper to match the hair, how fun!” Mimsy giggled, clapping her hands childishly before sulking as a child might, “Aw, but my game would’ve been funner! Welp, guess, you’ll never know the answer to your question then! Your loss! You hear that? You lose! Which of course, means I win! Hooray!” It didn’t take much for her joy to return, and soon she was smiling again, “You want this?” She stuck out her tongue, curling and uncurling it rudely, “Well you can’t have it! How am I to know which words are your mothers, and which my own? Aren’t all words I say my own? Or were they owned by the first person to say them? Say I say…say, red! For your hair and your temper and your mother and your hearts and your blood! Is it my word, because I said it? Or is it the first person to ever say it’s word? How do we know who said it first?” She shook her head, “Surely you see the folly in the words that you spoke?” 

Since being a little girl and having to put up with her mother, Regina learnt that yelling and making a fuss was the answer to any of her issues. She had never been taught actual conflict resolution, so it probably wasn’t the best idea to keep talking to this girl who was winding her up the wrong way. “The thing is, despite how much I may feign interest at times, I don’t give a fucking damn.” In her defence, there weren’t that many times in which she didn’t care about anyone except herself. “You’re going to see the goddamn folly in your words if you don’t shut up soon. You do not talk about my mother, especially not in the same sentence as myself, if you value your existence. Capiche?”

“Ohhh, you mean like coffee?” Mimsy inquired, nodding, “Now there’s a drink I could get behind; bitter and black! Plus, born out of contempt for the British monarchy and their stupid tea!” The girl laughed, though it was really more of a cackle, “And to think, Beasty Man takes coffee with his breakfast everyday!” The cackle intensified, and it took a deep breath to bring Mimsy back to reality, “ My mama? Why, take a gander! Let’s play a game!” The old excitement returned, “I’ll give you two guesses to guess who my Mama is, and I’ll have two to guess yours, hmm?” Not waiting for a reply, nor really wanting an answer, in case it was negative, she continued, “Alrighty!” Her head cocked to one side, she looked curiously at the redhead, “Regina Heart, is it? Regina as in Queen?” She scowled at the thought, but then her face lit up, “Begging for trouble..red hair…Queen Heart… is it the Queen of Hearts? Off with her head! Well, that shan’t be hard, I’m already off my head!” She laughed, then, for the first time, stopped and waited for Regina to speak, “Your turn.” 

It was truly a miracle that Regina had managed not to lose her temper. Although a hatred of Britain was something the girls had in common, seeing as that was where the Alice child had hailed from. She may have been the one to take her mother down, but the rationale of hating Alice was something that had been drilled into her from the moment she was born. At the mention of the game, it was literally the last thing that Regina wanted to do, but it seemed that she didn’t have a choice but to at least hear the girl guess her mother’s identity. She barely paid attention the rambling, until she heard her mother’s famous words. That was the final straw for the redhead, who wasn’t known for keeping her cool. “I’m not playing your idiotic game! And you should think twice before repeating my mothers words. Better people than you have lost their lives for less. So watch your tongue before I have it for my own.”

Hadie sighed a little, looking over at the girl and raising an eyebrow.  “How are you today Regina?  I’m going to gather you’re bored, as you’re bothering to torture me today.”

“Don’t put yourself down Hadiekins.” For a moment she seemed sympathetic, maybe even nice, but that didn’t last long. “I don’t need to be bored to torture you, sometimes I just do it to make sure you don’t forget I exist.”

“Why else would I carry a hook love?”  He laughed softly, though she wasn’t entirely wrong.  Carrying the hook was the only way he’d ever be close to his dad, though he wasn’t going to voice that pathetic thought now.  Nudging her lightly, he gave her a smile and laughed at the comment.  Arrogance was a good shield to hide behind too, though he softened at her quiet insult.  “Thanks love.  Quite the compliment coming from you.

“Because you’re a theatrical piece of crap?” She shrugged, hating that she couldn’t stay annoyed with him. “Plus I’m sure you could think of some uses other than inflating your ego.” She nudged him back a little more aggressively than intended, but it probably felt like nothing to him. “Don’t be expecting anymore compliments. They’re rare, only appearing when I’ve drank too much.” She paused, looking down at the bottles on the floor. “Okay maybe not that rare.”

“well those issues, i am happy to lend my help to fix you with.” the blonde pirate said with a bright smile. regina had always been a constant in cj’s life for years, a constant that wasn’t her siblings. she was the first person to ever get cj to really open up to, and someone she could talk to about things she would never tell her siblings. “just know that i will protect you till the day i die. you are like a sister to me.”

“Good, because I don’t think anyone else could deal with me.” The Hook’s had always been a second family for her, except their father of course, but she never really counted him. Without them she wouldn’t be in Auradon, yet she still struggled to show her feelings to any of them. “Blah blah blah, stop being so sentimental. If you keep going like that then I’m gonna finish all this wine before you finish that glass.” If Regina had any talent it would be deflecting emotional conversations.

“Hm, maybe.”  Harry laughed a little before he was being faced with Regina’s wrath, which was to be expected.  He’ gone soft, and this was the price of that mistake.  He withdrew into himself again, flexing his hands before responding.  “I hold myself to the same standard.  I fall shorter in ways you don’t.  And who isn’t messed up at this point.”  Harry shrugged a little before smirking at her compliment, giving her a wink.  “Why thank you darling.  I do know that.  You’re rather gorgeous yourself.”

She couldn’t explain why she was so angry at him for putting himself down the way he did. Normally it was her job to do that, plus when she did it they both knew that she wasn’t being serious. Being serious always seemed to be an issue for her. “You fall shorter do you? I always knew your hook was compensating for something.” Regina was still annoyed at him, despite his smirk being almost contagious. “I know. You keep telling me...” With a sigh her expression softened slightly. “You’re a bloody idiot Harry, nothing worst than that.”

“Mm true.  Don’t need any competition.’  both their minds had gone to their parents immediately, the danger both of them posed all consuming, though he knew Regina’s was even more lethal with her mother’s love of decapitation.   “They’ll learn.  And some of them are sassy.  Just gotta mess with the right ones.  Who knows, perhaps they’ll be someone who can succeed where I fail.”  They were certainly the broken little pair of friends, but even with her Harry tried to be Harry Hook, overly confident and sure.  But her words forced that reaction he was usually ashamed of, the gentler side of him prompting him to sit up and turn her to face him, meeting her eyes seriously.  “You deserve everything Regina.  You’re whip-smart, gorgeous, and you’re the best friend to CJ she could’ve ever found.  Don’t ever pretend to be less. Ever.  Do you understand me lass?”

“Hmm, maybe I am just scarier than you.” She knew it wasn’t true, they were probably on par for how much they threatened the Auradon kids due to their parents erratic tendencies. Especially as the kids seemed to have inherited those traits. The change in the pirate’s demeanour was enough to knock Regina off guard, she very rarely saw this side of him, although she knew it was possible from how his sisters talked. As always, she didn’t react well to the compliment, instead of being gracious, an anger rose up inside of her. “Hook! If you aren’t holding yourself to the same standard you hold me then you’re so fucking wrong. We are both messed up, slightly mad and completely impulsive!” She realised how loud she had gotten, so found another bottle of wine to calm herself down. “Plus you’re not bad-looking yourself y’know.” She muttered, although it was probably the most aggressive compliment that had ever been given.