ＩＮＢＯＸ.

[dishearten]

text / call / action

Comments

[dishearten]

why's that? there's not someone around trying to lure you into a deputy position with the temptations of dental, is there?

( graham, that was you. )

[sheriffing]

No, you're still the only disarmingly handsome imitation Irishman around.

[ No one else would make those sign jokes.]

[dishearten]

( speaking of sign jokes!!!!! )

haven't yet heard of another incident involving a stationary sign, and I suppose as your emergency contact I'd have an idea. can't be that.
what has you thinking of home sweet home?

[sheriffing]

There was a wolf in the road.
The drama.

[dishearten]

all things considered I'm glad you picked the sign instead
you'll have to be more specific, Emma. I'm afraid what you remember I don't.

( his storybrooke drama was evil queen related, and Emma Swan related, actually. storybrooke had been cursed to calm before Emma arrived. he can't guess at what might be bothering her, it's up to her to tell him. )

[sheriffing]

Didn't stop you from arresting me for it.
Hook says he's been doing some traveling lately.

[To Storybrooke and back. Lucky them.]

[dishearten]

can you blame me? I'd already warned you about drinking and driving, it would have been irresponsible not to.

( knowing the truth now doesn't change the fact he was cursed and unaware at the time. he did what was best for the town and for Emma, whether she wanted to agree to that or not. )

he seems a dramatic sort on the best of occasions, why does traveling make it worse?

[sheriffing]

I think you were just determined to get me to spend the night.

[ Never letting that go, Graham.]

He's in love with a version of me. And dying, since he refuses to ask the city to save him.

[dishearten]

I was doing my job.

( sorry, Emma, no hidden flirtation there. besides, abusing power wouldn't be particularly romantic. )

you can't make that choice for another person. they need to make it themselves. that said I can't really understand it, speaking from experience.

( he doesn't know that he deserves to live but he's not going to give up the second chance, either. )

[sheriffing]

As far as I can tell, he wants to live. He just doesn't think he deserves to.

[So the choice he's making is questionable at best. Being willing to die so that he doesn't selfishly ask to live?]

He said my life here has turned out too well for me to understand what I missed in his world.

[dishearten]

I don't suspect I deserve it, either. I'm not quite selfless enough to give up the chance all the same.

( he's killed people, ruined lives, and made mistakes deep enough that perhaps they should not be forgiven. still, if the choice is free and without consequence, why wouldn't he want to live? )

sounds like a good excuse not to tell you the truth to me.

[sheriffing]

That's what I said.
- Not about you.
That I'll fight for what I have whether I deserve it or not.

[ Specifically, Graham and Henry. It's hard to feel like she deserves a second chance when she's the one who got him killed in the first place.]

Does it? Or am I disqualified from trying to help because I married someone else?

[dishearten]

I don't suppose it'd be easy, to be in that position. I can scarcely imagine it.

( he's not sure he wants to, either. he's already met a version of Emma that has experienced his death, it would be hard to see her in love with someone else, even if he could conceptualize the idea she was a different version of the woman he loved. )

you're not disqualified from caring about someone. it's akin to suicide to choose not to live when there's an alternative, it's hard not to care about that. still, you can't make him want to keep going, I don't think even the version of you out there that loves him in return could. it's something he'll need to choose for himself.

[sheriffing]

No, it wouldn't be easy.

[ She can't completely put herself in that situation, even if Graham has another version of her who he's concerned about. It's not the same.]

There has to be something, Graham.

[dishearten]

I think he needs time.

when I sorted out what was in store for me, I needed time, too. in the moment it's easy to get lost in what you're losing. it takes time to shake the hopelessness and decide to fight instead.

( Graham would know, considering he's been in the same place before. )

[sheriffing]

Maybe.

[ Or maybe he needs the version of her who can't come here to fight for him. And that's where the guilt sets in - not enough to make her want to leave, but enough to make her want to help.

It just seems like her help isn't wanted this time.]

When are you going back to your world?

[dishearten]

no matter how stubborn you are, Emma Swan, you can't make someone want to keep fighting. they've got to choose it for themselves.

( he knows her, and he knows it bothers her, but that doesn't change it. you could lead a horse to water, but nothing could make it drink. same with suicidal pirates, they had to decide for themselves they had something to live for. )

haven't finalized yet. I guess I wanted a little more time.

[sheriffing]

I could always threaten to kill him a few times and see what that does for his will to survive.

[ She's not serious, only frustrated. It feels like her happiness, their happiness, is a contributing factor in Hook throwing his life away. What is she supposed to do with that?]

Time for what?

[dishearten]

seems to be going a bit in the wrong direction, I think.

( for all his teasing, he really just wants her to consider it from a different perspective. it's likely more complicated than she can really understand. having the reality of death hanging over you isn't an easy idea to face. the man might need time, and at the very least Eudio could grant it to him. )

when I go, I intend to bring my brother back with me.

( he has to hope the wolf is still in Emma's version of Storybrooke somewhere. he hopes to see him again, but that doesn't make saying goodbye easier. )

[sheriffing]

But if you do that, he'll never see you again.

[ Graham, why would you? ]

[dishearten]

he's not the only one.

( it's a whole damn town of people that aren't going to see him again. no wonder he needs a little time to prepare. )

I don't relish this, Emma. I just don't have a choice. besides, he won't be alone. he will remember you, even if you don't remember him.

( he hopes they can come together, however unlikely that hope seems at the moment. when the curse breaks, he hopes the Emma of his world can remember the wolf that guided him, and feel like a piece of him is still with her. though maybe she won't want one. )

[sheriffing]

So even though he's a member of our family, you get to decide when he goes back?

[ Did she actually expect a say in this? Could be that she's feeling a little blindsided by this. For someone who needed some time to adjust to living with a wolf, she's suddenly hit by how much it'll hurt to see him go.]

[dishearten]

( that she's angry with him stings, more than it should. she's not the only one losing family here. he's losing an entire world for a chance to be with her. )

I have to leave everything of my world to be with you, Emma.
I didn't mean to spring it on you. If you need more time then I'll wait.

[sheriffing]

[ There's still that initial reaction, the one where she might've considered typing sorry I'm such an inconvenience, and backed down. He's never made her wonder whether or not it's worth it, and it's not a crime to acknowledge that leaving his life behind isn't easy.]

I guess there's no point.
If we're waiting for the day when we're both ready, that day won't come.

[dishearten]

there is. if I needed time, I'm not sure why it didn't occur to me that you might, too.

( he can give her that. it's fair to be upset that he made the decision without her, though it's more that he thought she alreadg realized exactly what going with her would entail. what his trip back meant; saying his goodbyes and leaving his own reality behind for the chance at one with her. )