"I can certainly understand that." Hook looked at the flowers for a moment, curious, before looking back at her. "Sit for a minute. You look like you could use a break, love."

"I'm okay," Lydia said. The white cherry blossom that fluttered to the table belied her words. Inwardly, that made her nervous. Gems and flowers were coming more frequently, now. Soon, the enchantment would be back to full power and triggering on every single word she spoke.

Hook nodded after a moment. He couldn't make her stay, and he wouldn't. Instead, he'd let her do her own thing, and just keep an eye on her for a little while.

Lydia shoved the flowers and gemstones into the pocket of her apron before heading away from the table again. Hopefully, she would be able to make it through the rest of her shift.

Hook watched her for a while before he finally left the diner, close to the end of his ship. He wanted to do a bit of information gathering.

After her shift, Lydia went to settle in the library for a while. It was quiet, and everyone knew Belle was in pretty tight with Gold, so she was the least likely to get on Lydia's case about the increasingly-frequent flowers and stones. Non-judgmental quiet sounded good.

A few hours after she'd arrived, Hook entered the library, glancing around. He really had no idea where to start looking himself, but he knew that in this world there were stories about everyone. So he would try to find her story, if he could. If he could figure out where to look for it, anyway.

Belle was at the counter when he walked in.

"Hello," she greeted. She recognized him, for the most part, but he was definitely a new face in her library.

"I'm looking for a story, a particular one. I don't know the title," Hook said, looking at her. "Think you can help me out?"

"I might be able to," Belle said, setting down the project she was working on. "Can you tell me any of the details from the story?"

"There was one girl in the story who was put under an enchantment so that when she spoke, flowers and gems and things fell from her lips," Hook said, looking at Belle. "I don't know much other than that."

"Oh!" Belle said. "Diamonds and Toads, I know that story. Give me just a moment, I'll find it for you." With that, Belle bustled off to find the correct book.

Hook waited for her at the counter, glancing around as he waited. He could see there was someone else in the library, but he couldn't see who, so he simply wrote them off for now.

Belle came back with a thick tome of Grimm fairy tales. One of the pages in the book was marked, and she held it out to him.

"Here," she said. "I marked the story for you. Was there anything else I could help with?"

"No, thank you, love, this is perfect." Hook shot her a grin and took the book, going to find a place to settle and read.

Belle nodded and left him to it.

Lydia was already in the little reading area, curled up in an armchair with a book. She didn't immediately notice Hook, and when she did, she blinked and raised an eyebrow.

Hook had found a chair to settle in already and was reading through the story. He read it a few times to be certain he got all the details before he shut the book gently, thinking. He hadn't noticed Lydia yet.

When Hook didn't seem to notice her immediately, Lydia settled back into her book. Oddly, the quiet company wasn't as awkward as it seemed like it should have been, and she was able to relax again.

Hook set the book back on the counter for Belle when he was done and was about to leave when he noticed Lydia. He debated for a few moments before deciding that a quick check-in would be fine.

"Doing alright, love?" he asked, looking at her. "I won't be offended if you just nod."

Lydia blinked for a moment, and then looked at him. She considered for a moment before shrugging and wiggling her hand in a 'so-so' motion. She raised an eyebrow and glanced from him to the book on the counter and back to him again.

"Just a bit of curiosity," Hook said, understanding her unasked question. "Nothing to worry about, honest." He grinned at her. "I didn't mean to completely interrupt your reading, only momentarily."

Lydia waved her hand again, this time in a distinct 'it's fine' motion. She was actually curious now as to what he was reading. The library didn't seem like a natural habitat to him, after all, so it had to be something at least a little important.

"Fairytales," Hook said after a moment. "I was reading fairytales. Figured it was about time, considering where we are."

Lydia grinned and nodded a bit. Yeah, that kind of made sense. She raised both eyebrows this time, tilting her head a bit to the side. Obviously, he was after a tale in particular, or possibly a group of tales from the same book, at least.

Hook shrugged. "Grimm's," he said. "Trying to catch up, I suppose." He shrugged again. "I don't know much about anyone here."