If you liked what was in the previous drabble enough to continue here, thanks for reading! Here's Hook's POV.

Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time or any of the affiliated characters. One day I might get over that fact.

2. Respect

He wished the princess with the auburn hair would speak to him; she looked gullible. There was just something in those big, watery doe eyes. From a distance he could already tell he was winning her over with his pathetic tale, earning her pity and trust. She looked at him as someone would look at a lost and bedraggled puppy.

The one with the short, black hair would have been his second choice. She mentioned a husband - and grandson, though he didn't quite understand that part - so she was a family woman. He could spin something about a wife or child or sister into his story, and it seemed best to take the tremble out of his voice if he was around her, pretend to steel himself and be strong in the face of what he had supposedly just witnessed.

The woman in armor was one he'd rather not approach. He could tell she wasn't that big, but there was something about her that told him not to underestimate her - perhaps it was the sword hanging at her side, or the daggers he could see tucked into her boot and belt. It would take a little more time to analyze her current stoic countenance.

And then there was the blonde...well, she was a hard ass if he ever saw one. One eyebrow seemed to be arched whenever she looked at him, in a constant state of doubt. Gorgeous, but impossible; he could feed her as much of the story as he wanted, but she wasn't having any of it.

He couldn't blame her. The lines Cora told him to use were far more contemptible than touching. Funny how he'd found someone who agreed with him: this woman who crossed her arms and narrowed her gaze and tied him to a tree.

It wasn't about how well he could act or spin his tale of tears; she came in and took over his show. She was in charge now.

She had seen right through him.

She had bested him.

And if he was being completely honest with himself, threatening to make him an ogre's dinner only made him respect her more.

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