Mai snorted. "I could probably carry her," she said with a grin. "Grace is not your best option there."

Jefferson grinned.

"I know as well as you do, it's hard to say 'no' to Grace when she turns those eyes on you," he pointed out.

"That is true," Mai agreed with a sigh. "Alright, you win, I'll rest for a bit." She held her hands up placatingly.

"Good," Jefferson said. "You go on, then. I'll keep working on this."

"Alright." Mai left the room quietly, heading down to the kitchen to get herself a snack and try to think of a way she could help.

Jefferson put the hat back on its stand, and closed the door of the hat room. He had a Dark One to question about magic.

Gold had rather been wondering how long it would take for someone to approach him about magic, and who it would be. He had a few suspects, of course, but he didn't know everything, contrary to popular belief.

So he was rather surprised to see Jefferson.

Jefferson walked into the pawn shop warily.

"Mr. Gold," he greeted carefully with a nod.

"It's a surprise to see you here," Gold said, watching him. "What can I do for you today?" He folded his hands on the counter in front of him.

"I was hoping you could answer a few questions for me," Jefferson replied. "I'm sure you've noticed how oddly magic behaves in this world."

"Indeed I have." Gold's lips flickered in an almost-smile. There was no harm answering that question for free. "What sort of trouble is magic giving you here?"

"I was kind of hoping you would know how to make portal magic work in this world," Jefferson said. "It seems my... usual methods aren't what they used to be."

"I'm not surprised. Magic is... surprisingly finicky in this world." Gold shrugged, looking at him. "However, I may have a few... options."

"And how much would these options cost me?" Jefferson asked. He knew that none of them would be free; everyone knew that the Dark One took everything he could get away with.

"If something works..." Gold trailed off, thinking. "One favor to call in when I please." That would suit him best, as he could bend the favor in a lot of ways to work for him.

Jefferson considered that for a moment.

"As long as you leave Grace and Mai out of it," he said in return. "The favor is on me, not them."

Gold's eyebrows rose a little when Jefferson included Mai in that. Well, well. Intriguing.

"Of course," he agreed. "They are not included in your debt." He pulled out the velvet pouch of gems, pulling one out at random. "This may be sufficient to get what you want."

Jefferson took the gem, looking it over.

"What is special about this that it can help me?" he asked.

"It is a creation of magic, and so has an innate magic," Gold said. "I am uncertain if one will be enough for your needs. You may need to test."

"I'll give it a try," Jefferson said, closing his hand around the gem. "If it doesn't work, I'll be back."

Gold nodded. He was curious to see how it worked, after all.

"Do let me know if there's anything else I can help you with."

Jefferson nodded and left the shop. Once he was outside, he looked at the gem again. It didn't look any different than a normal jewel, aside from being of an unusual size, and he held it up to the light for a moment. The sunlight streamed through it, and he didn't see anything unusual inside of it, so he mentally shrugged and put it into his pocket. He would see if it worked when he got back home.

Mai by this point was busy entertaining Grace, and was looking better again. She did grin when Grace bounced to her feet to go tackle Jefferson as soon as he got home again.

Jefferson caught Grace when she jumped at him, grinning.

"Did you have fun while I was out?" he asked her.

"Uh huh! We've got dinner made." Grace beamed at him.

"Well, it's in the oven," Mai said with a little smile.