By the time he had rounded up breakfast, Rachel was up and dressed and trying to brush out her hair. She was getting more and more frustrated with it: because she hadn't braided it before bed, it had tangled and the tangles were being particularly stubborn. Finally, she threw down the brush next to her with a huff.

"Damn it, if I didn't need it all I'd cut it all off," she grumbled.

Hook chuckled quietly. "Would you like some help, love?" he asked, moving over next to her.

Rachel jumped slightly when she realized he was there, but nodded.

"Please," she said. She picked up the brush and held it out to him.

Hook took the brush and sat behind her, starting to slowly tease the tangles out of her hair.

Rachel sat there and let him brush her hair out.

"I swear if I didn't need it, I'd cut it all," she muttered. "It's more trouble than it's worth, sometimes."

"Sometimes," Hook agreed. "But sometimes you appreciate the perks." He shrugged a bit and kept brushing out her hair.

"There are definitely some perks," Rachel agreed. "And it's not as long yet as it was."

"It was even longer before?" Hook shook his head. "That is crazy, love."

"I couldn't cut it," Rachel pointed out. "So it just got longer. It's growing out really fast right now, though, I think it's trying to get back to the way it was before."

"That would make sense," Hook agreed. "The castle was repaired surprisingly quickly. I think some things are trying to return to normal as we knew them before."

"Trying to bounce back after the curse," Rachel said. "I guess that makes sense."

"Indeed." Hook finished with her hair and twisted it into a quick braid for her. "There you are, love."

"Thanks," Rachel said as she tied off the end of the braid. "Much better."

"Good." Hook grinned and moved a bit to settle more comfortably. "Well, I suppose we may as well go get some breakfast now."

Rachel nodded.

"Sounds like a plan then," she said, getting up. She gave him a small peck on the cheek.

Hook grinned and followed her out to breakfast, settling in to eat with her. He could definitely get used to this.

Elsewhere, Gold was in his workshop, essentially just tinkering for a while. He didn't actually need anything at the moment, so he was experimenting. It was high time he figured out how to teach Tina when she finally came around.

Tina, on the other hand, was still being stubborn, and was puzzling over a different matter in her mind. She'd noticed that Rachel had seemed a bit different last night, and she wanted to find out why.

So she finally left her room and headed downstairs, dressed in her normal attire once more and ready to go hike over to the ship.

Gold had left the door of his workshop open, and saw her come down stairs.

"Leaving, dearie?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think I'm going to go visit Rachel," Tina said with a shrug. "My feet are feeling extra itchy after wearing a dress all night." She grinned teasingly.

Gold just smiled slightly at her.

"Just be careful, then," he said. At this point, he realized the futility of arguing over the subject.

Tina grinned and bounced over to kiss his cheek. "I'll be back in time to make dinner," she promised.

"Don't feel the need to rush on my account," Gold said. "I am capable of cooking, should the need arise." But he smiled a bit at her anyways.

"If you have to," Tina teased him. "I should be back by dinner time anyway." She grinned and headed for the door again.

Gold nodded.

"Be careful, then," he said. "And let Rachel know she's due to start practicing again."