ten_fwd_ooc | TEST DRIVE #6 - The Bridge and Ten Forward

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test drives

TEST DRIVE #6 - The Bridge and Ten Forward

Option 01. Ten Forward: The first thing you see is a bar. A large, lively bar filled with many different faces and many different smells, sights and sounds. This is Ten Forward, the Enterprise's off-duty lounge; feel free to get acquainted with your fellow travelers and try to find somebody who's in charge: this is your new home now, after all...

Option 02. The Bridge: Well, aren't you a lucky duck? You've found yourself in hallowed quarters. Wherever you were before, you're not there anymore. Now you're in a room that could be some kind of command center or control room; there's a captain's chair flanked by seats for his chief officers, computer panels and stations at each interior wall, and before you a broad viewscreen that shows the wide expanse of space rushing towards you. Have you ever wanted to be a starship captain for a day? Well, here's your chance. Feel free to roam around, but try not to touch anything shiny.

[OOC: The Bridge isn't usually available for in-game posts, so if you've ever wanted to play there, here's your chance!]

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Oh, Henry contemplated it but decided against it. He didn't want to be too Rumplestiltskin.

"All I want to know is when you got married. Was it before or after Gold's trip to Neverland?"

"We were married after his return from Neverland. Quite a while after, actually." One moment her, Neal, and Rumpel were a happy family and the next. . .she doesn't want to think about. She may have never been a mother to Neal but a part of her died the day they buried him.

She can't possibly imagine the pain her husband felt knowing, and then having it compounded by not being able to attend the funeral.

"Is he happy in your world?" Yes, that is her question and that's all she wants to know.

Henry nodded. That would explain why the Gold here hadn't mentioned it. Not that there had been time to ask. He thought about it for a moment but then Belle asked her question and he was forced to think about that instead.

"I...I used to think so." For the first time, Henry wasn't looking at Belle as he spoke. His tone wasn't in anyway negative and he actually looked like a sad ten year old. "Until the curse stuff came up, I would have said yes. But we haven't found Baelfire yet so maybe not? Maybe after we do..." He sighed. This just made him miss his dad even more. Thanks Belle.

Well that answers quite a few of her questions, actually. She's intelligent enough to choose her words carefully. For one, it proves that he is indeed the son of Gold in this alternate version of Storybrooke. Two, he knows about Neal and their town is still under the throes of the first curse cast by Regina Mills. If she is still the Evil Queen in their world. And on top of that she knows she doesn't exist so Gold doesn't have a love interest. That means he has probably spent most of his time with Henry which explains the mannerisms and that temper. Still, he has the softer edges as well.

Perhaps it benefitted her when, a while back, she decided to read all those detective novels.

She got more than she paid for and that's a good a deal as any. "I'm sure he's happy with you." She says, taking a kinder tone. Her expression softens. "He's always been a father first. I bet he loves you as much as he loves Baelfire. So naturally he worries for you both equally. You're safe and his other son is not yet."

Belle sobers, approaching him timidly. "You know you can still talk to the version of Gold that is here. While it's not the same, from my world, you're still family to him. Maybe he's not your father but he still cares about you."

Henry fidgets a bit now. The temper is gone, helped by the dagger out of sight, and he sighs sadly. Still not looking at Belle when he speaks.

"Yeah. I know all about that. And we talk. It's just not ended well. He's not my dad and I want him to be."

He sighs again, looking up. "I'm sorry I yelled. I just know that my dad wouldn't give the dagger to just anyone. He let me hold it once but Storybrooke doesn't even have magic so it couldn't control him. I guess I should have realised how much you must mean to him for him to willingly give you the dagger. But you can't blame me for assuming you took it."

Her heart feels for him. He's displaced as much as she is if that version of Rumpel remembers her or not. Being the sentimental woman she is Belle completely understands his accusations. If only Henry knew how right he was. Maybe it is best he doesn't. Even his son, in another world, could do better at resisting the temptation than she did. What sort of wife does that make her in the end?

"Well why don't I make dinner? You can come over and we can all sit down together. I know he isn't who you want to him to be but you do need to have someone to talk to." She tucks a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "What's your favorite meal?"

She shakes her head. "I don't blame you at all. You know what," she tilts her head to the side with a smile. "I'm glad you reminded me how important it is to protect it."

Henry chuckled a little. "You don't need to make anything. Technology here is very advanced." He took a deep breath. "You know, talking to someone from Storybrooke who isn't Neal or Gold would be kinda nice."

"Let's go back to my room. I have my book and my notes and maybe we could talk without needing a deal." Especially since, if Belle was new, she wouldn't have a room yet.

What does technology have to do with making food? Color her slightly confused on the matter as she has never had a machine make her a meal. Maybe one has presented itself through magic but that's another thing. "What do you mean?"

Belle nods. "I'd be more than willing to do that. No deals required." She prefers her conversations that way. They feel more natural and much more amicable. It's something she enjoyed when she could get Rumpel to talk about himself without needing something in return in the Enchanted Forest.

Then comes the incredulous question. ". . .Are we really in space?"

"It'll be easier if I show you." Henry goes into the turbolift and tells it to go to deck seven. The lift moves on the command and when the doors open, Henry walks out and down the corridor to his room, trusting Belle will follow. He does answer her question while they're in motion though.

"Yeah. You'll see that too."

Belle, giddy as can be by her own curiosity, follows. Will she see the Milky Way Galaxy as clear as it has ever been without disturbance from the Land of No Magic's atmosphere? Those are concepts she's read about but only in her dreams has she seen what they could possibly look like. The view from Storybrooke was one thing but what about a view from a real, live, space ship? "I would love to see."

The turbolift only catches her slightly off as she bends to observe the buttons on the side. His voice making it move surprises her. How advanced and sophisticated. Do any of the other rooms work that way or is it just the lift? There are so many questions to answer, and for once, she has time to investigate them.

"Where are we now?" She asks, following behind him in the corridor.

"This is deck seven. All the visitors from different worlds have rooms here." Entering his room, he gestures for Belle to look around. "This is my room. I share it with a woman called Irian. She appears cold but it's just how her race is. We're in space so there's bound to be aliens."

He moves to the replicator. "And this is how we make food. You tell it and it makes it. No cooking necessary."

"Extraordinary!" She tips her head every so slightly, courtly manners getting the best of her from her memories as she enters his room. So he has a roommate. Does that mean she'll have one as well unless she rooms with Gold?

"That's extremely efficient. I never would have dreamed of a place like this." If there's a chair to find, she does and sits making herself a little more comfortable.

"The machines will take some getting used to. Call me tradition but I like making my tea myself."

There's a couch in the room which she's welcome to sit on. "I'll be right back." Henry said, and left to his room, returning with his backpack. He'd left it here since he wasn't sure if he could fit in the tight corners to the bridge with it on.

Sitting down beside her, he brought out the Once Upon a Time book and set it on the table in front of them as well as small notebook and pens of different colours.

"Okay. Where do we start?"

Once he says he'll be right back she relaxes, taking in the sights around her. This . . .space ship, whatever it is, is so much different than where she was standing last. At least this version of Henry managed to distract her from self destructive thoughts. She perks back up a little when he enters with the book. It's all too familiar even though, as she recalls, she has only seen it a few times sparingly.

"How about we start from the beginning?" She scoots forward on the couch, tempted to reach out for the book but. . .she better not. It is his. They've already had one instance of aggression over an item.

"It might be easier if you tell me what you're wanting to learn. I have lots of stories to choose from." Belle taps at her chin. "But, I guess, most of them are about everyone else in the town. Regina, Mary Margaret, Emma. . ."

"Where's the beginning? Dad told me a lot about his life after the book gave me the basics. You said you got married after Neverland so you already know about Pan and Hook and I bet he's told you the same stuff he's told me."

Henry was ready to take notes. He always was. Information was power. And unlike magic, it didn't have a price.

"I'm sure he has." She answers a little hesitantly. It isn't that she doesn't know details but Belle doesn't like to pry when she doesn't have to. Some subjects are touchier than others with Rumpel.

"Anyway, I can tell you about the past but I can't tell you what happens after Neverland." A pause. "I can tell you there was a second curse, and that second curse brought another person back we weren't bargaining for."

Henry scribbled that down. Second curse. Bad person.

"I only know you guys went to Neverland because that's what Gold said. When I left, I was still on my way to Boston."

"Um well. . ." Belle hesitates with that. "A lot happened after Gold came back from Neverland. Did he tell you about Pan?" Perhaps she should start there. She is having to guess at what details to reveal. Who knows what sorts of effects that may have in Henry's universe is he already has the knowledge with him.

They've already, or should she say Regina, found out what happens when time is messed with.

"Oh yeah. I know all about Pan. Pan, Hook, Milah, Baelfire. Just about everything important from his past. I wonder why he never mentioned you?"

It didn't make sense that this woman would be so important as to marry Gold but Henry's father never mentions her.

Belle opens her mouth as if she is about to say something but an unfortunate idea pops into her mind. She wasn't important enough to mention. Her Rumpel claims her as his true love, and she saw him as her true love. He spent twenty eight years without her in Storybrooke.

This version of Gold knew she was dead. "I haven't the faintest idea." She answers, a small tinge of contempt visible in her eyes before she dismisses the thought of them never being as close as they had gotten in the Enchanted Forest.

"It is strange he wouldn't say anything at all. I exchanged my servitude for the safety of my village." She tilts her head to the side. "We fell in love in that castle of his." She purses her lips. "And, in his pawnshop, he should have a chipped teacup. That was ours."

Henry was about to come up with a theory when she mentioned the cup. Then his eyes widened and he looked excited.

"The cup! The chipped cup! So that's why it's so important! He freaked out when I touched it last year but he said it was the one thing he didn't want to talk about. He must have meant you. And he had that pained look in his eye that meant he was hurt inside. It must be because he loved you and then you died. That cup is the most important thing he's got except me."

"H-he kept it?"

That wasn't the reaction she expected in the slightest. In fact his enthusiasm has her eyes going wide. It warms her heart some to know he kept it after all those year and it still held some significance. She didn't want to be completely erased from his life. Knowing that they still had those happy moment, however few there may have been, is enough for her.

"I broke that cup on accident." She muses with a soft smile. "I thought he would be angry with me for being so clumsy but he still drank tea from it anyway." She bites at her lip. "Anyway I'm glad he has it but Henry," She leans forward, a pleading look in her eyes. "if you ever go back and he meets someone support him in that. He still deserves to have love even if I'm not there."

"Yeah, he kept it. In the house though, not the shop." He listened to her story and jotted notes down. This was all very interesting.

"He loves me. So that's something?" Though there was slight doubt because of Baelfire but he pushes it away so Belle doesn't see. "And I will." He chuckles. "Imagine if he fell in love with my mom!"

"Let's not get hasty." She fires back, a little more curt than she would like. Her Rumpel with Emma? Perish the thought. Wouldn't that count as some form of incest? She honestly doesn't want to think about that. Then again everyone is pretty much related in some way in Storybrooke. Legally or otherwise.

"I know he loves you, but you may be too young to understand what I'm talking about is a different kind of love."

"What's wrong with my Mom and my Dad?" He gives her a headtilt, that excitedness gone and looked worried. Had he misjudged her?

And he certainly wasn't going to touch a subject when she went all: you may be too young to understand, on him. Why did adults always think kids were stupid?

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