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"And it is always surprising to learn what you can live through."

Gold places the parcel holding the cookies on the table and gently unwraps them. The icing has not been intricately piped and merely serves as a glaze -- he did not have time to even try to do something special with it and he regrets that some. But his baked goods were never particularly fancy.

"I would be lying if I did not say I envied you that. But it also never hurts to be prepared, yes?"

"Apparently, a lot." Stolas could live through a lot of things. At least, he thought he could. This most recent bout of heart-ache might be a little too much even for him if it goes on long enough.

Stolas turns his attention to the cookies once they are unwrapped. They may not be fancy, but, he does appreciate the effort and it does make him smile just a little. "You do have a point. Being prepared never hurts."

He pulls over the jasmine tea to add to a small tea strainer before dunking it in his water to steep. Then Stolas remember there are jam sandwiches which he gets up to collect from the counter. They aren't very fancy, just simple things cut into triangles with what bread he had left and some strawberry jam. Over all, it's not a bad little selection for their tea time.

"Especially when we never know who might show up here. With my luck my ex-wife might arrive and really make my life hell once more."

"Well...not a worry I considered until just now, myself. Especially now that I know for certain that being dead does not preclude one from appearing here."

Milah appearing would be...well, likely not pleasant but also not the worst of possibilities given the list of people he had killed. There was always Cora.

Or Zelena.

"But...much as it makes me cringe to say it, let us focus on happier possibilities, yes?"

Oh good, he just barely worded it in a way that would not have made him want to go hang himself.

Just the way he worded that gave Stolas a good hint that he might have stumbled upon a mutual pain they both had the displeasure of experiencing. While he was curious, he did know better than to ask since they were just getting to know each other.

"Of course. Though, I'm afraid I don't have much in the way of happier things to talk about as of late."

Considering how preoccupied his mind was with the recent arguments, Stolas wasn't..exactly his usual ray of sunshine and magic.

And that shouldn't really come to him as a surprise. But lacking happy things to talk about himself, it's a little harder to nail down how to steer the conversation. But he'll try, at least.

"Having seen your username, I'm going to assume all to be with the best of intentions. You mentioned an ex wife. Any other family? Children?"

And please let those come with good terms. He is gambling in hoping this is a happier subject.

The moment children are brought up, Stolas brightens up immediately and smiles. "Actually, yes. I have a lovely daughter named Octavia. She's my entire world and the only good thing to come out of my marriage." He seems to swell with a little pride as he reaches for the sugar once his tea's done steeping.

"Via is seventeen right now. I'm sincerely hoping that I won't be here when she turns eighteen. Of course, if she were to end up here, I definitely wouldn't mind. I think Via could use a little break from all the drama at home just as much as I did."

The relief on his features as he sets to steeping his tea is immediate. But now that Stolas mentioned time, he had to wonder if any will have passed, for those that go back. Emma Swan came from a time well before him, and he definitely did not recall her disappearing in that time.

...ESPECIALLY that time.

"I can only theorize, but I like to imagine you'll probably pick up right where you left off."

And the idea that she might come? He knows there are dangers, but he can't help but think: what a lovely possibility.

It calls up an ache somewhere in his chest.

"Even if that's the case, I still don't want to miss her birthday." He might even do something special to mark the day even if she isn't here. Stolas is more willing to celebrate his absent daughter's birthday than his own. That's just how much he loves her more than himself.

"Is it bad that I wish my dear Via was here? Then I could continue teaching her the magic she needs to know in case something were to ever happen to me." The idea that something might happen doesn't even seem to bother him in the slightest. He just...wants his daughter.

"What about you? Any children of your own?"

"Well...even if you do return to the morning after your dream later, that just means you get to celebrate more than once, yes?" Silver linings, right?

He shakes his head.

"It's the most natural thing in the world to miss her."

You're going to spend more of your life missing your child than being with them, he thinks suddenly. It cuts him somewhere inside.

A steadying breath when the question comes. He knew it was coming, of course, and he steadies his gaze on his tea.

"My son. Baelfire...Neal, now that -- after he grew up."

"Exactly!"

That's a silver lining Stolas can definitely get behind. Especially with how much he misses her. "I know, but, it doesn't make it any easier. I haven't been this far from her since she was born." Considering he was the doting father while her mother was... Stella, He was the one to mostly raise Octavia.

Once Stolas hear's Gold's answer to his question he cocks his head to the side slightly to study the much shorter man. "Were you two not close when he was younger?" At least, that's the impression that he's sort-of getting.

Gold took a sip of his tea to distract and steel himself. "I was much the same way, and perhaps had more trouble than most stepping back when the time for it was approaching. Then I lost him for a very long time. I broke a promise, and spent the better part of my life trying to make up for it. I wish to believe I did in the end. We reconciled, and then..."

And how hard it hits him then, and all the worst ways it conjures itself up in his mind, all of the ugliest, most painful ways it could be said.

"...Then he was gone."

Stolas pauses to consider the tea in his hands as he listens and it sounds..like something that could easily happen between him and Via if he weren't careful. It's hard keeping his promises to her at times, especially with Stella being a raging bitch a lot of the time.

But, he hopes that whenever that times comes, things won't keep them apart for a long time like Gold is describing. He sighs softly and then starts toying with his tea cup. "I see...I am going to guess that your parting is more of a permanent one this time."

Gold forcibly sobers himself, shaking his head to clear it. "My apologies. I brought up children because it seemed to be a happy subject for you, not to -- this." He gestures at himself, still not venturing to make eye contact. "It...is very recent and this is probably the first I have mentioned it" or allowed himself to think of it "since arriving here."

He didn't really have the presence of mind to realize it was only the first time because clearly, he must have felt safe enough to, for whatever reason. But presently he is just too concerned with not allowing himself to react.

"It's fine..Talking about Octavia is one of the few joys in my life but, I am not so obtuse to ignore that it may not be the same for others. Especially if that pain is a recent one." He smiles a little before picking up his tea for a sip.

"I find, that cherishing every moment with my Via is worth more than all my powers and riches could ever amount to. I don't know what I would do if she were taken from me." He gently sets down his cup. "But, I do know that if someone were to do so, there would be no force in Heaven or Hell that would stop me from turning the universe back into the stardust it formed from."

That does get him to look up. "I feel the same way." And he had made good on that -- Regina wanted him to do the good thing, to back away from the notion of revenge. He might have if it had just been him. The chance was slim, but it existed. Zelena killed the only person that was ever going to convince him not to snuff her out. But if he is going to let himself talk of this, let it be on a more hopeful note. "...I suspect it's why I'm here. I know my contracts. I know what I would agree to and the list is very, very short."

"Admittedly, the list of things I would agree to is also a short list." A very short list but, Stolas has to admit that there's a reason he's here as well. Even if it's become.. obvious recently. "However, I suspect my particular wish may have come from my desires, not my vengeance as it were."

He pauses for a moment before reaching over for another cookie. "I don't think I am wrong if I assume your wish had something to do with your loss. Revenge perhaps?"

"Oh no," he's almost conversational about this part. He finally takes a sip of his tea. "I already took my revenge. If I accepted a deal for anything, then it is because I believed the loss could be reversed." In a proper, less catastrophic way than the likes of Victor Frankenstein had tried. In his head the only logical way would be to undo the thing that killed his son in the first place: namely, bringing Gold back to life.

He can't help it, an eyebrow goes up with curiosity when Gold admits that he would be after something else. Especially when he mentions what that something else is. Which has Stolas even more curious than before considering what he knows on the subject of..well, death.

"You know, reversing a loss such as that one isn't quite as possible as one might think. At least, as far as I am aware of." He hums for a moment as he taps an elegant finger against the tabletop. "I mean, reanimating the dead is practically a parlor trick for me if I could access my magic. The same can be said with the right sigils and offerings for summoning other demons and spirits that have passed on from their earthly lives. I've even been known to possess one or two people when it's suited my needs so... I would have to wonder just how our gracious host might go about granting your wish if he were to."

Stolas pauses for a moment before taking another sip of his tea. "That is, if that was your wish of course."

"I am aware of such things, and I would never subject my son to that." He does not wish for something else to fill his child's body and speak with his voice and pretend to be him, nor would he seek something like what Frankenstein had done -- which would trap his boy in his own bones and leave him longing for death while agony and uncontrollable violence commanded his nerves. "The only thing I would wish for is to undo what killed him in the first place. And to accept no form of resurrection that would not essentially be that in spirit. All magic has a price. He should not be the one paying for it."

"That speaks to changing an event that has already happened." He frowns. That would involve a type of magic that Stolas doesn't have at his disposal. Is it possible? Stolas doesn't know but, he can't dismiss the possibility either. After all, one never stops learning. He could simply not know about it yet.

"Honestly? That is beyond my capabilities, so, again. I would have to wonder if it's even possible for our host to do and just how he might do it. But, you are right. Magic always has a price. The payment and who is paying are the parts that usually get people in trouble if they don't know their way around a well written contract."

"Unfortunately," the word was exhaled with acceptance, "I have seen someone manage it. Barely." And it was part of the reason his son was gone. "But I also know myself. I am the maddest I have ever been, and even now I know I would not have taken a deal for that if I was not certain the contract could be completed. So whatever the state of anyone else's wish, I am confident at least one will be granted, and I mean to see it through." And there was only one person he was willing to risk that for.

"Oh? I'm curious to know how they managed that." Providing Gold is willing to tell him. "I see, then hopefully your wish does come true. As I've said, I don't know what I would do if I lost Via. I just know that nothing would survive my rage."

While Stolas is well aware that there are beings more powerful than he is in Hell, he is also aware of the magics at his disposal and just how powerful he can be if he were to really pour himself into it. An if the one responsible was Stella...

Stolas closes all four of his eyes for a moment and draws in a deep breath before slowly letting it out. "Perhaps a change in subject is in order before either one of us starts to get worked up about it. You said you are a scholar of magic, yes? What do you typically study in your world?"

"Least of all the cause of it." And Gold will leave it at that. No one needed to suffer for what happened to his son but the one; he decided that much. (Which he would have called progress.)

Once Stolas suggests a change in subject, he nods.

"All that I am able really," he answers. "But...thank you. It's nice to know someone understands, at least. Easier not to dwell, I think."

Another sip of his tea. The warmth is beginning to penetrate; he can feel it in his bones.

"But as for magic. As I said. I try to study as much as I can. And I suppose for now my focus is here. I can feel it but --" He purses his lips. "-- It is almost as though it speaks a new language. Even what I have learned to do before means very little, because it feels different. Heeds a different call."

He nods before turning his attention to more pleasant things such as magic in general. To say that Stolas has spent his entire life studying the subject may just well be an understatement of massive proportions.

"I've noticed that as well. It's honestly hard to place just how it fully feels as I currently am." Which has lead to a little bit of frustrations on his part. "It most definitely doesn't feel like the demonic magic I'm used to but, it also doesn't feel quite.." He frowns slightly as he starts tapping his fingers again. "I feel that even if I were to study the 'language' of the magic of this world, I still wouldn't grasp it's use. So, I agree. It heeds a different call that we're not meant to understand."

He smiles a little. "That's not going to stop me from trying though. If I can cross reference the magical conduits of this world with similar ones of my own, I might be able to at least predict something happening or discern intent. Though, that's a big maybe."

"Which is why I stress that spending time mastering the magic you glean from that potion is a good first step. Use it, in as many ways as you can find. Get used to how it feels, and you'll start to find things that feel familiar, or at the very least give you some clue to how to work similar magic you had before." It was like learning a familiar song on a new instrument and figuring out which were the same notes. "And healing magic is valuable most anywhere."

Gold takes a moment to admire the tea -- the taste, the quality of the ingredients used.

"You know your way around plants, I've noticed. You might have a special touch for natural remedies as well."

Edited 2024-03-25 19:59 (UTC)

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