#kazzy writes cygnet scholar oneshots

[kazoosandfannypacks]

Critical Success by kazoosandfannypacks

Pairing: Cygnet Scholar, Violet Believer, Captain Swan Rating: General Audiences Word Count: 1K words Summary: At most weddings, people will clink their glasses together to get the happy couple to kiss- but when Henry and Violet get married, they try something a little different- a twenty sided die. If you roll it and it lands on an 11-20, they kiss, and if it lands on a 2-10 they won't- but if it lands on a one, you have to kiss someone. Characters: Hope Swan-Jones, Henry Mills, Violet Morgan, Killian Jones, Emma Swan, Gideon Gold Author’s notes: The working title for this fic was "my little sister accidentally ruins my wedding by kissing a sworn enemy's son in front of my dad" but I felt that a bit wordy 😅 This is based off an idea I've seen on Pinterest a couple times, but thought would be fitting with the D&D elements in the season 7 au I'm working on. Much like potion commotion, this doesn't quite fit into the same timeline, but I had fun writing it regardless! Taglist: @accidental-spice, @kanerallels @saveme-storybrooke-potc @booksteaandtoomuchtv [let me know if you’d like to be added to the cygnet scholar taglist!]

also on ao3!

 Weddings in Storybrooke were always a joyous occasion- as, of course, weddings were in all realms- but when the groom was a beloved town hero, and the bride his highschool sweetheart, it was an even more joyous affair. As such, most of town turned up on a sunny day in October to witness the union of Henry Mills and Violet Morgan.

 But, while the story of how they found each other again after a decade's separation is exciting, our story takes place later, after the beautiful ceremony (officiated by Dr. Hopper, of course) ended, as the friends and family gathered in the town hall for a fabulous reception- and Henry's teenage half sister was enjoying her first time as a bridesmaid. After everything Hope had stood by her brother in, from D&D campaigns to real-life struggles, it was only fitting that she should stand by her brother and new sister-in-law at the start of this adventure.

 And, of course, she and her friends had greatly enjoyed the honor of some harmless vandalism of the newlyweds' car.

 "Getaway car's all set," Hope said, sitting in front of Henry at the head table while finishing off a slice of cake.

 Henry scrunched his nose. "I thought we said that's a tradition we weren't going with."

 "Did we?" Hope smiled.

 "I certainly thought we did."

 "If you thought I was gonna give up my last chance to pull the ol' wool over your eyes," Hope said, "then you haven't been paying attention the last sixteen years."

 Henry sighed. "Just promise me there's no glitter this time."

 Hope gave Henry no response, only a smug smile as she took another bite of cake.

 "Hope…."

 "No glitter," Hope rolled her eyes, "and you can thank my new sister for that."

 "I made sure she didn't glitter bomb your car again," Violet patted Henry's hand.

 "You've always had my back," Henry turned his hand to cup hers in it.

 "And I always will," Violet smiled.

 Hope shook her head and glanced away from them, trying to focus on anything other than the sickeningly adorable couple.

 She looked over the decorations on the table- a candle stand shaped like a dragon, a little sign that said "happily ever after…," a bouquet of flowers, and one of the fanciest D20s from Henry's extensive dice collection. While most couples would settle for the traditional "clink your glasses together to make the couple kiss," they went for an idea they'd seen on Pinterest instead- go to the head table and roll the die; If it lands on an 11-19, the bride and groom will kiss, a 20 and they'll really kiss, 2-10 means nothing- and if you roll a one, you have to kiss someone.

 Hope stood up straight when she saw her parents coming, already prepared for her mom to tell her to stop sitting on the table.

 "There's that fabled die," her dad said, picking up the D20 and rereading the instructions next to it. With great panache, Killian rolled the die.

 "Nat 1," Henry said, looking at the die, "critical fail."

 "Critical fail?" Killian asked, glancing at his wife, "you mean to tell me I've now got an excuse to kiss my Emma, and that's supposed to be a 'critical fail?'"

 Emma turned to Killian and smiled, "Sounds like a win if I've ever heard of one."

 "Aye," Killian said, pulling Emma closer.

 Hope looked away and set down her cake, having suddenly lost her appetite. A lot of people thought it was cute that her parents were still so in love after all these years, but that didn't mean Hope always appreciated it.

 "That was a success indeed," Killian whispered when he and Emma pulled away from each other.

 "Are you sure?" Emma asked, "You could always try again…."

 Hope didn't want to run the risk of seeing that happen again, so she snatched the die away before her parents could grab it again.

 "Let a pro show you how it's done," Hope said, "I've got the magic touch."

 She rolled the die onto the table, and it landed with the number one plainly facing up once again.

 "Critical fail," Henry smiled.

 "I know," Hope snipped, annoyed and embarrassed about how false her confidence had proven. Not only did she now look like an idiot for flubbing up something she'd thought herself so skilled at, she now had to pay the consequences and kiss someone.

 "Don't worry," her dad said, with a nervous chuckle, "we certainly won't hold you accountable to that."

 "Relax, dad," Hope said, "I'm not a little girl anymore."

 "That statement does little to put me at ease."

 Hope looked up to see Gideon coming toward them, eating a slice of cake. He had been Hope's friend for a long time, but his dad had been her dad's nemesis for an even longer time. Seeing as she was still a little salty from the last minute's events, his presence gave Hope an evil idea.

 "I'm not a little kid anymore," Hope thought, "I don't need to be protected from kissing, or guys, or kissing guys. Besides, I was raised not to back down from a challenge."

 "I don't know where you guys got this cake from," Gideon said, "but it's wonderful."

 Before Gideon had finished his sentence, Hope grabbed the collar of his button-up shirt and pulled his lips to hers, quickly, before anyone could stop her.

 It took a moment for her to register what she was doing- she shared her first kiss, in front of her entire family, out of spite, with Gideon Gold.

 And as wild as all of that sounded, something about it felt right.

 When she pulled away from Gideon, she saw a surprised but very delighted expression on his face.

 "Wow," Gideon said, blinking in surprise and looking back down at his plate, "I guess I should start complimenting cakes more often."

 "Hope Alice Swan-Jones!" her dad called, in the you're-in-trouble tone she knew all too well, "what was that?"

 "Can't argue with the dice," Hope said, "critical fail means you gotta kiss someone."

 "Really?" Gideon asked. He reached past her and grabbed the die off the table, then rolled it.

 His notoriety among their party for rolling natural ones didn't fail him this time, and the die landed, for the third time in a row, on the one.

 "Critical fail," Henry repeated, with a smug shrug.

 Hope looked up from the die to Gideon, then back to the die, then at her dad, then back at the die, then back at Gideon, who scratched the back of his neck.

 "Hope…" Gideon said.

 "You may as well," Hope shrugged.

 Hope thought she heard her father say, "no, you 'may not as well,'" as she and Gideon leaned back towards each other, but she was lost in the moment, and in whatever feelings were beginning to stir inside of her. Her lips somehow found her way to Gid's once again, with a kiss that, despite her father's disapproval, could only be described as pure.

 She opened her eyes as they leaned away from each other, smiling and seeing the same smile on Gideon's face.

 "That's quite enough of that," Killian said, taking the die off the table before either of the teenagers could take it back again.

 "I, uh," Gideon fumbled, "I take it I should probably get out of here?"

 "And I take it I might be grounded for life?" Hope said, though her first kiss was totally worth whatever punishment followed.

 "Probably a little longer than that," Emma nodded, though Hope could tell by her mom's smile that she wasn't really disappointed in her.

 Killian didn't respond, however, bouncing the oversize die in his hand.

 "Henry," Killian asked, setting down the die so his hand was free to pinch the bridge of his nose, "that wouldn't happen to be a loaded die, would it?"

 Hope looked back at her brother to see a familiar smile on his face.

 "You got me," Henry said, pulling an identical die out of his pocket, "this one's the real one."

 Killian rolled the new die and it landed on a twelve- resulting in Henry and Violet giving each other a kiss.

 "So you intentionally put out a die that would fail every time?" Killian asked, "Why would you do that?"

 "Just to see what stories come up," Henry winked at Hope and Gideon, "and, besides, if you thought I was gonna 'give up my last chance to pull the ol' wool over my little sister's eyes,' then you haven't been paying attention the last sixteen years."

 Killian sighed in response and gave both of his kids a we'll-talk-about-this-later glare, then gave Gideon an entirely different glare.

 "I'm gonna, uh," Gideon said, "go, uh- grab another slice of cake."

 He quickly left, and a moment later Killian and Emma moved onto whatever other parents-of-the-groom duties that they had to attend to.

 Hope sat on the edge of the table again in front of her brother.

 "Gotta hand it to you," Hope said, "you really had me going with that one."

 "Scale of one to twenty," Henry said, "how'd you rate that prank?"

 Hope chuckled a little, then looked up to see Gideon, heading back her way with a smile on his face and a plate of cake in each hand.

 She smiled, "I'd call it a critical success."

[kazoosandfannypacks]

summary: gideon gold fumbles through an argument with his best friend, hope swan-jones. this time, for once, he has no idea what she's talking about. taglist: @accidental-spice @kanerallels @ouatnextgen @booksteaandtoomuchtv [let me know if you'd like to be added to or removed from the cygnet scholar taglist!] archive of our own

 Gideon had always prided himself on his intellect. He had his father's knowledge of magic, his mother's knowledge of everything else, and a report card to prove it.

 And yet, when his best friend pulled him aside to talk after school, with desperation in her eyes, the first thing she said was, "I really hope you're stupid."

 Gideon almost thought he hadn't heard Hope's words clearly.

 "What?" Gideon asked, "Hope, you of all people know…."

 "I know," Hope rolled her eyes, which for some reason didn't try as intently to meet his as they usually did, "you're the smartest person I know— and still, I've been praying for months now that somehow you're stupid."

 "Why?" He tried to study her face, but he'd always been better with pages than people.

 "It's easier that way," Hope shook her head, then sighed and crossed her arms, "at least, it's better than the alternative."

 "That I'm smart?" Gideon asked, feeling like the stupid one for the first time since they were kids.

 "Yeah," Hope said, "I can't bear the thought that you're smart. I don't like that you notice every little detail, and that you always think things through. I want to pretend you're not so intelligent, because it's a lot easier if you aren't. I've been really obvious. If you were stupid, maybe I could pretend you haven't figured it out yet— but you're not— which leads me to the only remaining conclusion."

 She stopped and took a deep breath, Gideon still unsure what she was talking about.

 "You know exactly how I feel," Hope said, her words edged with an anger he wished he could soothe— not just for his sake, but for hers, "and you don't feel the same way."

 In Gideon's defense, he had no idea how she felt, or what that had to do with him being stupid or smart or anything in between. Quite frankly, he had no idea what she was talking about, or, at least, he hoped he didn't.

 "Feel the same way about what?"

 Hope shook her head and sighed. "About us."

 Crap.

 Apparently, Hope had caught on to the fact that he was crushing on her. He'd thought he'd only stolen glances at her when she wasn't looking, that maybe she'd translate his help with her homework and how he'd treasure time they'd spend together as just a natural outpouring of their years of friendship. Maybe she'd picked up his feelings regardless— and if so, she definitely wasn't on the same page.

 "I'm sorry," Gideon said.

 "It's alright," Hope bit her lip, "it's not your fault."

 "No, no," Gideon said, "it probably is."

 "Not this time," Hope said.

 She had a point. She was a very hard person not to fall for— golden blonde hair, eyes always dancing with a scheme or a dream, a smile so lovely that even her sharpest insults felt like a gift.

 But, irony of ironies, now that the cat was out of the bag and the feelings weren't reciprocated, he doubted he'd get to hear many more of those smiled insults. He liked her, apparently she didn't feel the same way, and now things could never go back to the way they'd been before. And, as much as Hope might try to take the blame for this one, it was Gideon's fault.

 "It's not your fault I fell in love with you," Gideon shook his head, "no matter how easy you made it for me."

 "What was that?" Hope asked, her eyes living up to her namesake.

 "You made it easy for me?" Gideon repeated, a bit confused.

 "Before that," she quickly replied.

 "I'm in love with you?" Gideon repeated, more than a bit confused.

 "You're in love with me?" Hope asked.

 "Yes! Isn't that what this whole argument's about?" Gideon asked, "I fell in love with you, but you don't feel the same way, and I've missed the obvious signs that it's not mutual."

 "Not at all," Hope said, and for some reason she laughed a little, "I guess I must've missed something too. I thought you didn't like me."

 "But I do," Gideon said.

 "And I love you too, stupid," she shook her head and smiled.

 "You do?" Gideon asked, replaying in his mind everything they'd just said and seeing how it made sense this time around. He and Hope were on the same page. "That's great!"

 She slipped her hands into his.

 "Thank God you're so stupid," Hope said.

 There it was again, those insults that felt so special, wrapped in her smile.

 Before he could stop himself, he leaned forward and kissed her cheek.

 "I love you, too," Gideon whispered across her reddened cheek.

 Hope let go of his hand to tuck a hair behind her ear.

 "I should probably get going," she said, "my dad finds out about this before I get the chance to break it to him, and my first crush will be dead before I get the chance to call him my first boyfriend."

 As Gideon processed all the words in that sentence and the somersaults they taught his stomach, Hope stood up on tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.

 "Call you later, okay?" Hope said.

 "Okay," Gideon nodded.

 He was left to his musings quite a while as he walked home. Suddenly, he didn't care one iota about whether he was the smartest kid in his grade. He must be doing something right, if Hope was almost calling him her boyfriend.

 Maybe he wasn't the smartest guy in the world— but he was certainly the luckiest.

🦢•💛•🎓

[kazoosandfannypacks]

Potion Commotion by kazoosandfannypacks

Pairing: Cygnet Scholar Rating: General Audiences Word Count: 3.7K words Summary: After briefly getting captured, Hope begins acting strangely, and Gideon tries to help her get back to normal, painfully unaware that the "bizarre questions" she's asking him are pickup lines. Characters: Gideon Gold, Hope Swan-Jones, Henry Mills, Robin Mills, Neal "CJ" [Charming Jr] Nolan, and Charlotte Nolan (OC) Author’s notes: This is an experiment with an AU I plan on writing, in which Henry leads a group of the next generation of heroes on a quest through the enchanted forest. In this timeline, the Charmings have another daughter, Charlotte, who was born less than a year after the S6 finale, and Hope was born about a month later. Taglist: @accidental-spice, @saveme-storybrooke-potc [let me know if you'd like to be added to this taglist!]

also on ao3!

 It'd been hours since Hope went missing. Henry, Robin, C.J. and Charlotte had all left to look for her an hour and a half ago, leaving Gideon waiting in case she came back to the campsite.

 "She never should've wandered off," Gideon muttered to himself as he paced around camp, "she knows it's dangerous. She knows they're watching us. And still, she did it anyway. Who knows what could happen to her?"

 Gideon sighed as he sat down on a log near the firepit, wishing Hope was back at the camp already, giving him a hard time for being so frantic, picking on the unnecessary worry lines he could already tell were forming on his forehead.

 He sprang to his feet, hearing someone coming, and turned to see Hope emerge from the forest, stumbling as though out of a daze.

 "Hope!" he said, running to her while trying to act as cool as possible, "where were you?"

 "Captured," she said, rubbing her forehead, "a couple goons brought me in for questioning. Whatever they gave me to make me talk is giving me the worst headache…."

 She looked up at Gideon, and, for whatever reason, smiled at him.

 "Something must be wrong," Gideon thought. Hope had never smiled at him like that before.

 "Are you alright?" Gideon asked.

 "Besides the headache, pretty good. I've been better though," Hope said, though the unusual smile spread further across her face, "say, Gid, have I ever told you you have, like, really pretty eyes?"

 Gideon scrunched his brow, confused.

 "They were genetically unavoidable," he said, "brown eyes are a dominant trait. Are you sure you're…."

 "You're so smart," she interrupted, "ya know, if I could rearrange the alphabet, I'd put 'u' and 'I' next to each other."

 "What's the alphabet got to do with any of this?" Gideon thought, though he figured he'd humor her.

 "Uh, I'd do something similar," Gideon said, "it'd be cool to rearrange the alphabet so it's in the order it appears on a keyboard, make it easier to learn to type. Though, I suppose in time, the order on a keyboard will be obsolete, as it'll all be touchscreens one of these days."

 "Wow. Are you from Tennessee?" Hope asked, "because you're…."

 "Hope," Gideon's concern for her wellbeing wouldn't let her finish, "you grew up just down the street from me, in Maine. Are you sure you're alright? They didn't give you a memory loss potion, did they- of course, if they did, you wouldn't know- but you said they gave you something. But what good would it do them to wipe your memory before questioning you? What do you remember from the questioning?"

 "I remember, uh," Hope said, "I think I remember someone saying 'you won't remember most of this,' and then I was back here."

 "Why don't you take a seat?" Gideon asked, leading her back to the log to sit down, "you've had quite the day."

 "Doesn't feel like it," Hope said.

 She sat down on the log. Once Gideon sat down, she slid over a little, closer to him.

 "That's a nice shirt, Gid," she said.

 Gideon tried to help jog her memory, "We got it from the merchant that came by last week, remember? It was fifty percent off."

 "I'd like it to be a hundred percent off," Hope smiled, an eyebrow raised.

 "That would be a ridiculous business model," Gideon said, "stores can't just give stuff away for free."

 "It's like you fell from heaven," Hope shook her head and smiled.

 "That's a low blow," Gideon retorted, trying not to get too angry, knowing that whatever was causing Hope's unusual mood was most likely not her fault, "what, you think I'm some kind of fallen angel or something? Is it because my dad's the Dark One? Sorry we can't all have the Savior for our mom."

 "You don't get it," Hope shook her head, "it's supposed to be a compliment. That you're from heaven."

 "Oh," Gideon thought, finally piecing it together, "it's because I died that one time and came back again. Rest assured, I…."

 Hope put a finger on his lips to shut him up.

 "Gideon Gold, you are the smartest idiot I've ever met," Hope said, then took her finger off his lips and booped his nose with it.

 "What does that mean?"

 "You're so lost in your books that you don't see what's right in front of you- and yet, here I am, right in front of you."

 "I'm not quite sure what you mean," Gideon said, pulling one of the tomes his mom had given him out of his backpack, "but we should try and figure out what kind of potion they drugged you with- maybe I can whip up an antidote or something."

 "You and your one-track mind," Hope said, head shaking, eyes rolling, "whoever said 'guys only want one thing' has never met Gideon Gold."

 "Thanks?" Gideon said, unsure if Hope meant it as a compliment or insult, "can you recall anything about whatever it was they gave you? Color, viscosity, physical side effects, flavor, smell…"

 "Flavor?" Hope asked.

 "Oh yeah," Gideon said, flipping through potential potions, "for example, adder's tongue is a bit tangy, eye of newt has an unmistakable aftertaste. If we can narrow down a few of the ingredients…."

 "I'm not sure if I've ever had eye of newt." Hope said.

 "Believe me, you'd remember if you'd had it," Gideon said, "I went through a whole bottle of mouthwash in a day the first time I tried it."

 "Then I guess I wouldn't be able to recognize its aftertaste," Hope said, then leaned a little closer, "but maybe you'd recognize it."

 "Presumably, yes," Gideon said, "if I were the one given the potion, I might be able to pick out a few of the ingredients."

 "You could try a taste and find out," Hope said, her finger tapping her lips.

 "I'm all for experiential sciences," Gideon said, "but even if you had a sample of the potion, I doubt it'd be wise for me to drink some."

 Hope sighed. "You're lucky you're pretty, Gideon."

 "Thanks," he said. Though he knew her compliment was most likely borne of whatever magic had been used on her, he still didn't mind her saying something nice to him for once, "you, uh, you look nice too."

 "I've always thought so," Hope said.

 "Me too," Gideon thought.

 He continued flipping through the book of potions. He ruled out, for the moment, transmogrification potions, as she very clearly hadn't been turned into a toad or a troll- and though he didn't rule out werewolf as a possibility yet, that wouldn't be an immediate problem anyways. The first concern in situations like this was always the highest risk potions- poisons, neurotoxins, mind control, sleeping curse- then he could move onto the more likely in the scenario, like mood enhancers and late-blooming mutations.

 So engrossed was he in his studying that he almost didn't notice as Hope slid even closer to him, her arm pressed against his, her head practically on his shoulder. He slid the book over a little closer to her, absentmindedly assuming that she'd slid over to read the book as well.

 He also almost didn't notice the search party returning until they were already in the camp.

 "Hope!" Henry called out, running over to give her a hug. Hope got up to return Henry's hug, but Gideon continued his research.

 "Are you alright?" Henry asked.

 "I'm fine," Hope said, "bit of a headache, but I'll manage."

 "I am so glad nothing happened to you," Henry said.

 "I wouldn't say nothing happened," Hope said, pulling out of her brother's embrace and holding him at arm's length, "I got captured by some thugs, but I don't remember most of it."

 "Captured?" Henry asked, "what happened?"

"I already told you, I don't remember most of it," Hope said, "I think they gave me some kind of potion. Gideon's working on figuring that out- he's really smart, and clever, and polite, and sweet, and funny, and…."

 Gideon looked up to see four confused pairs of eyes glancing back and forth between himself and Hope.

 "Whatever they drugged her with has affected her mood," he explained, "I'm not sure how. She's been acting weird ever since she got back to the camp."

 "What kind of weird?" Robin asked, taking a seat next to Gideon and looking at his potion book.

 "I can't explain it," Gideon said, "she keeps asking me all these weird questions, she's smiling more than usual, she's a little nicer than usual too."

 "I don't want to be mean to you, Gideon," Hope said, taking a seat on his other side, "You're so smart, and yet so adorably stupid sometimes, and clever, and cute- really cute."

 "See?" Gideon told the others, "something's not right."

 C.J. and Henry smiled at each other, and so did Robin and Charlotte.

 "What kind of questions was Hope asking you earlier?" Henry asked.

 "Weird ones," Gideon said.

 "They weren't weird," Hope said.

 "You asked me if I'm from Tennessee," Gideon said, "and then you asked if I was from heaven, and told me my shirt should be free, and…."

 "Those weren't questions, idiot," Hope said.

 Robin put her hand on Gideon's shoulder.

 "I think I know what kind of potion they gave her," Robin said, "it sounds like it was a love potion."

 "A love potion?" Gideon scoffed, flipping through the book to that potion, "don't be ridiculous, Robin. There's nothing they'd stand to gain from that, and in order for you to hypothesize that, she'd need to be showing symptoms, like," he read from the book in front of him, "'fawning over an individual, express interest in that individual and their interests, a desire to be close to said individual, longing for affection from said individual, even bordering on obsession.' So as you can see, there's no real grounds for that hypothesis."

 Gideon looked up from the book to see everyone staring at him like he was an idiot.

 "What?" he asked.

 Henry uncrossed his arms, only so he could pinch the bridge of his nose.

 "Those weird questions Hope was asking you," Henry shook  his head, "I think those were pickup lines."

 "Really?" Gideon turned to Hope.

 "Duh," Hope smiled.

 "But that would mean…" Gideon began. If Hope was using pickup lines on him, that meant she was trying to flirt with him, which would mean that… Gideon reread the list of side effects of the love potion.

 "Guys," Gideon said, "I think Hope's been given a love potion."

 "Really?" Robin asked, "gee, what was the first clue?" 

 Gideon looked back down at the book, "her 'express interest' in me, her 'desire to be close' to me, even 'bordering on obsession.'"

 Robin rolled her eyes.

 "I don't think it was a love potion," Hope said, "I don't feel any differently about Gideon than I normally do."

 "Really?" Gideon asked.

 "Oh yeah," Hope said, "I've felt this way about you for a long time. You're cute, and smart, and such a good friend."

 "Really?" Gideon smiled a little and scratched the back of his neck. He'd felt similarly for quite a while as well.

 "That's probably a side effect of the potion," Charlotte interjected.

 "Oh, yeah, there's a lot of side effects" Robin said, taking the book from Gideon. As she looked through it, she got up, taking the book with her.

 "I think her memory's a little fogged too, anyways," Gideon said, "she can't remember anything from the time she was captured to when she got back here."

 "No, I remember something," Hope said, "I remember someone saying 'you won't remember most of this.' Turns out, they were right."

 "That does mean we can work on an antidote though," Gideon said, "now that we know the potion, I can whip up an antidote pretty quickly. I think I have most of the supplies already," he picked up his backpack and began searching through it, "and I might be able to whip up a brain-unfogger too."

 "You're so intelligent, Gid," Hope said, placing a hand on his arm, "I like watching you ramble about magicky, sciencey stuff."

 "Thanks," Gideon smiled, trying to remind himself that the only reason Hope was complimenting him was because she was under some kind of love spell.

 "She'd never act like this if she were really herself right now," Gideon thought, "I definitely would've remembered if she did." 

 "And now that we know what we're looking for, we might be able to find a clue as to where those goons went," Charlotte said, "we should see if we can find them, while the tracks are fresh." 

 "Sounds like a good idea," Hope stood up, "I can lead you as far as I can remember."

 "You need to stay here," Robin said, "that way when Gideon gets that antidote finished, we can get you back to normal."

 "Oh, good," Hope said, taking a seat next to Gideon, "I wanted to stay here anyways."

 "Excellent," Gideon said, "I could use your help with the potion anyways."

 "We do work pretty well together," Hope nudged him.

 "I think I'll hang back too, just in case" Henry said, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes at Gideon. "I'd hate for anything else to happen to my little sister."

 Hope rolled her eyes. "I'm not a little girl anymore, Henry."

 "But you'll always be my little sister," Henry said, "and if anything happened to you, especially given your current state, dad would probably kill me- and then whoever it was who took advantage of you."

 Gideon looked up at Henry, sensing this was meant as a threat against him. If anyone else had a lovely young lady like Hope falling all over him like this, they'd definitely take advantage of the scenario- but if something were to happen between himself and Hope, he'd want it to be her choice, not because of some kind of potion. Besides, as Henry had reminded him, Gideon had a healthy level of respect for her father, and would rather die on the spot than find out what happened when you crossed Captain Jones.

 "No need to worry," Gideon said, trying to ignore how close Hope was sitting next to him.

 "Believe me," Hope rolled her eyes, "Einstein over here wouldn't know I was flirting with him if I sat in his lap and begged him to kiss me."

 Gideon blushed, almost wishing she would, wondering what it would be like- though after this fiasco was over, he wouldn't be surprised if things were so awkward between them that any chance they had was ruined.

 Henry raised a disapproving eyebrow at his sister.

 "It's not like I would do that," Hope said, "not that I wouldn't want to- but love potion or not, I have at least a little dignity."

 "Besides, we could use your help out there, Henry," C.J. said, "it never hurts to have an extra pair of eyes."

 "Fine," Henry said, "just stay out of trouble, alright?"

 "I'll do my best to," Hope said, "but I can't promise I won't try anything funny."

 "Hope…."

 "I'll be good!" Hope said, "mostly?"

 "I won't try anything," Gideon said, as Robin handed him back the book, "I've got this antidote to work on anyways. We'll come help as soon as I get it figured out."

 "Alright," Henry said. He and the others left, leaving Hope and Gideon at the campsite.

 "So, what can I do to help?" Hope asked.

 "Here, hold this," Gideon said, pulling an empty vial out of his backpack.

 Hope took the vial from him, her hands on his as she did so.

 Gideon smiled a little as he let go and pulled a few ingredients out of his bag.

 "You have a really nice smile," Hope said.

 His really nice smile came out again. "Thanks," he said.

 "You're welcome," she said, "I think you're really handsome."

 "It's just the love potion talking," Gideon shook his head. He began pouring the antidote ingredients in the vial.

 "I don't think so."

 "What do you mean?"

 "I know you guys all think it's a love potion, but I don't," Hope said, "I don't feel any different around you than I normally do."

 "You're certainly acting differently," Gideon said.

 "I know," Hope said, "it's like I can't stop myself. I've said a few things already that I didn't expect myself to say. I don't want to tell you I think you're gorgeous and that the sound of your voice when you're talking about your favorite school subjects is my favorite sound in the world, and that one time your mom told me she liked me better than you and that in third grade I was the one who stole your Star Wars pencil, not Charlotte- but I can't stop saying stuff."

 Gideon looked up at Hope, who looked just as surprised as he felt.

 "What was that?" Gideon asked.

 "I stole your Star Wars pencil in third grade," Hope said, "and I didn't want to tell you that. I've never told anyone that, except Charlotte, of course- and I don't want to tell you any of this, but I can't stop."

 "What other secrets have you been keeping?" Gideon asked, formulating a new hypothesis and flipping back through his book.

 "I didn't actually roll a nat twenty when we were battling the orc king," Hope said, "the stakes were high, so I used one of the loaded D&D dice my dad got me for my birthday. He also actually looks up to you a lot. Oh, and Henry still sleeps with a nightlight, and Charlotte actually really loves apples, she's just been saying she doesn't because she wants to be like her mom. I'm also pretty sure C.J.'s afraid of sheep. I don't know why I told you all of that; I really didn't want to."

 "I know why you did," Gideon said, taking the vial from her and handing her a pinch of something else, "try some of this."

 Hope licked the powder off her hand, and immediately spat it out.

 "That's the most disgusting thing I've ever tasted!" Hope said, "besides those burned gingerbread men you made last Christmas."

 "Ever tasted anything like that before?" Gideon asked.

 "No, and I never want to again," Hope said.

 "Wait," Gideon looked back down at the ingredient, "my gingerbread cookies tasted worse than eye of newt?"

 "Eye of Newt?" Hope asked, "that stuff you used a bottle of mouthwash to wash out?"

"Ground eye of newt, yes," Gideon said, "it's one of the primary ingredients in most basic love potions."

"But I've never tasted it before in my life," Hope said, "no amount of 'brain fogging' could make me forget that- and yes, your gingerbread cookies were awful- ginger's a flavor, not the main course- I just didn't want to make you feel bad because you were so proud of them."

 Gideon flipped a few pages over in the potions book.

 "I have a new hypothesis," he said, thankful that the base antidote for this potion was only a few ingredients off from the love potion antidote- and that he hadn't put those different ingredients in yet. He handed the vial back to Hope, adding a couple other ingredients as well.

 "Try this," Gideon said, as he swirled the mixture together.

 "And this'll fix me?" Hope asked.

 "If my hunch is correct, yes," Gideon nodded.

 "Alright," Hope said, "there better not be any eye of newt in here."

 Gideon watched expectantly as she drank the contents, down to the very last drop.

 "Well?" Gideon asked, "how do you feel?"

 "Better," Hope said.

 "Any other secrets you wanna share?" Gideon asked.

 "No," Hope said, "and if you tell Henry I told you about the nightlight or the loaded die, I'll flatten you."

 "Your secret's safe with me," Gideon smiled at her threat. That was the Hope he remembered.

 "I just threatened you," Hope said, "and you aren't all that smart, or cute. You did it, Gold! You cured me!"

 Excited, she threw her arms around him in a quick hug.

 "I, uh," he said, flipping back through his book, "I can whip up a memory antidote too."

 "You'd better," Hope said, gently shoving him.

 Gideon smiled as he got started on the memory potion, secretly hoping that remembering the details of her capture wouldn't make her realize what serum she'd actually taken earlier.

 Gideon was right when he'd insisted there was no way Hope was under a love potion's spell- which meant that every word she'd just said was true. She did steal his pencil in the third grade, and she did hate his gingerbread cookies, and she did think of him as smart and pretty, and she didn't not want to ask him to kiss her, and she did feel that way for a long time.  She did like him, and that was the truth- otherwise, the truth serum antidote he'd just made for her wouldn't've brought her back to normal.

 "Try this," Gideon said, handing her the memory potion.

 "Is there…?"

 "There's no eye of newt in this one either," Gideon said.

 "Just checking," Hope said. She quickly drank the contents of the vial.

 "What do you remember now?" Gideon asked.

 "It wasn't a love…" she whispered under her breath.

 "Hmm?" Gideon asked.

 "I told them so much," Hope quickly covered her tracks, "where our camp is, our attack plans- I told them everything."

 "It's alright," Gideon said, giving her a pat on the arm to reassure her.

 "I couldn't stop myself," Hope shook her head, "I… I wasn't strong enough."

 "It's alright," Gideon said, "probably just a side effect of the love potion."

 "What?" Hope asked.

 He didn't let his eyes shift from hers, hoping he could feign sincerity.

 "The love potion," he said, "the one they gave you. Probably made you loose-lipped, more liable to talk. Don't sweat it."

 "Right," Hope nodded, "the love potion. That's all it was."

 If Hope ever wanted to tell him the truth, she could on her own time- she'd done more than enough of that already today.

 And for now, her secret was safe with him.

[kazoosandfannypacks]

🖋️ #kazzy writes masterpost

original wip sideblog | all drabbles | all fanfics also on ao3

fanfictions:

🦢 captain swan oneshots | it now belongs to you | wishing it wasn't | open to interpretation

📖 beauty and the puppet oneshots | road less traveled

📜 cygnet scholar oneshots

🧡 sabezra oneshots | how we rewrote the stars | scrhsapkolb(ncb!!!!!)

📚 other oneshots: the shuttle | milo murphy's law | percy jackson | ducktales | evil hand in the big castle