"It wasn't easy," Jefferson agreed. "But I've got it under control now that the curse is gone. Everything is fine now."

"Good." Mai nodded her satisfaction of that. He definitely seemed stable, that was always good, and he apparently wasn't that different from the man Grace remembered. So Mai was pretty comfortable leaving her there.

With that, Jefferson went to see about getting Grace settled in for the night.

The next day, Lydia found herself reluctantly headed towards Mr. Gold's pawn shop. A favorite song on the radio made it so she had ended up with a daisy, a diamond, and a light pink pearl, and she currently had the two stones tucked into her pocket. She was hoping Gold would take a look at them and possibly give an opinion.

Gold was settled behind the counter doing a bit of inventory. Not that he needed to, but it was good to dust every once in a while. He did look up though when he heard the bell tinkle.

"What can I help you with today?" he asked, looking at Lydia.

Lydia didn't immediately reply, trying to choose her words carefully. She pulled the diamond and pearl out of her pocket and set them on the counter.

"What are these worth?" she asked. She fumbled slightly when the word 'worth' produced a sapphire, and she caught it before it could clatter to the counter. "Sorry."

Gold looked at the gems. Interesting. He'd heard of such enchantments being placed on people before, but he hadn't actually met anyone with the enchantment.

"Well, I suppose that depends on what you have in mind," he said, picking up the pearl first. "Monetary value or magical value?" Because those were two very different things.

"Both," Lydia replied carefully after a moment of consideration. She hesitated slightly. "In exchange for anyyou might need." The words 'exchange' and 'need' produced a diamond and a columbine blossom respectively, and she picked them both up off of the counter. Her hands trembled slightly.

Gold considered for a few moments before he looked at her. "Monetary value is easily taken care of," he said. "However, the magical value is not something you could use." But he could. And he would, given the chance. "Still interested in selling?"

Lydia thought about that for a second. It would be nice to know their total worth so she could decide what to do with them.

"Both values," she said, "in exchange for your pick from this batch." She set the diamond and sapphire on the counter next to the original diamond and pearl, along with the emerald that sprang from the word 'pick.' The African marigold from 'values' joined the columbine in her other hand.

Gold nudged forward one of the diamonds, the sapphire, and the pearl for now, and he wrote down the according values, handing it over for her to look at.

"I can have the money for you whenever you'd like, dearie."

Lydia looked at them, and then back at him and nodded, gesturing to the gems. She thought it was best for her to speak as little as possible until she found a way to control her enchantment.

Gold nodded and set the chosen gems aside. He gave her the required amount of money before he smiled.

"It was a pleasure doing business with you, dearie."

Lydia nodded and pocketed the money. Then she hurried out of the shop. She wasn't sure what she was going to do now, but she didn't want to hang around the shop much longer.

Gold watched her go, tucking away the gems. Very interesting indeed. He didn't mind this little turn of events at all.

By the next day, Hook had decided that he was going to hang out at the diner until Lydia showed up again. He had made her upset, which he didn't like, and he wanted to find out more. So he was just going to wait until she talked to him again.

Lydia couldn't avoid work, as much as she wanted to. So she just let Granny know what was going on, tied on her apron, and got to work. Hopefully, she wouldn't have to speak much.

Hook watched her putter around, noticing how much quieter she was this time around. So he waited until she was refilling his coffee to speak.

"Alright, love? You're looking a little pale."

Lydia weighed her words carefully, rolling them around in her head to try to get a feel for whether or not they would turn into flowers and gems.

"Fine," she said. That word was safe enough for the moment.

Hook raised an eyebrow at her but didn't push for now. "If you insist. Thank you, love."

"No problem," Lydia said, well aware that she was pushing her luck now. She could feel the enchantment gathering and turned to hurry away before she started leaving flowers and gems everywhere. She couldn't help but glance back at him, though, from the relative safety of the waitress stand. There was something about him that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Hook kept sipping his coffee, taking his time, content to just watch everything going on around him. For now, anyway.

Lydia watched him for another moment or two, and then gathered up her nerve. She went over to the table he was sitting at.

"Who are you?" she asked. "I noticed you watching me." She had to pause to catch a rosebay blossom as it fluttered down.

"You can call me Hook." He shrugged, having watched the flower fall. "I'm just curious, love. I don't bite." He shot her a charming grin.

"Curious about what?" Lydia asked. "Yes, I have a secondary enchantment, and it's mine to deal with." A ruby and a pearl clattered to the table, and her hand flashed out to grab them before they bounced out of reach.

"You were much more chatty a few days ago, although I am beginning to see why that would be a problem," Hook said, watching the gems for a moment before looking back at her. He shrugged. "I meant no offense."

Lydia sighed.

"It must have taken a few days to really come back," she said. A marigold cushioned the fall of a small diamond. "It was nice not to have to pick my words." A second marigold joined the first.