TEST DRIVE #6 - The Bridge and Ten Forward

[ten_fwd_mods]

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!]

Comments

[sagacitatis]

Okay, this is obviously getting weirder and more confusing as it continues. It's on the tip of her tongue to ask why Rumpelstiltskin would give her the dagger, when the woman gives her name. That throws her for a moment. She recalls talking to Gold about that woman, shortly after helping Henry with retrieving his father's cup. She hadn't really realized who she had been to him until later after the curse though. There was one thing she remembered well about that conversation, the woman was dead. "Belle." There's a bit of quiet disbelief in her voice. "I thought you were...well, you know, dead?" To be honest, she wouldn't really put it past Regina to lie. But you would have thought they would have found her by now in Storybrooke if she was alive and living there.

[chippedvaliance]

"No." She replies quietly. "Regina had me locked away for twenty eight years. Everyone thought I was dead then but--" she shakes her head, calming down some but she doesn't inch any closer to Emma. "What is the last thing you remember?" She inquires. Maybe that will clear up some of the confusion.

[sagacitatis]

Emma considered the question for a bit, trying to decide how to answer it. She had her doubts that the exact last thing would be very useful here. "You mean like last big event I remember? It's been a bit quiet lately for once. But the last big things were returning from Neverland after successfully rescuing my son, and then Gold proposed and despite my parents wishes on the matter, we had a relatively small wedding." She feels slightly bad for popping the news that the man who used to be this woman's love had finally moved on and married someone else, but she couldn't fault them for it. After all, they had believed her dead.

[chippedvaliance]

.......... "Gold proposed to you." She repeats more than a tad bit stunned. Alright that explains the outburst over the dagger, but. . .Rumpel is married to Belle. Her head is reeling and she isn't quite sure what to say. In fact she is staring at Emma with a mouth agape until she remembers her manners. "How can you be married to Gold? I'm his wife. That's why I have this dagger. It was a wedding gift." She sounds a little testy, maybe even slightly jealous, but she keeps most of those emotions out of her voice. "However I don't think you would lie to me." She reassures even if her heart is starting to race. Belle is, for better or for worse, angry. "And if you think I'm dead I don't know where you're from, but you aren't from the Storybrooke I know. Especially not if you've been married to--" She bites her lip. No, she doesn't want to imagine that at all. The mere thought of it makes her blood boil in such a childish way.

[sagacitatis]

Yeah, that bit of guilt over telling Belle she was married to her former love dried up as the woman began insisting she was married to the man instead. Given that she knew that wasn't true, she refrained from rebutting that with the knowledge that she'd been dating Gold for months prior to the wedding.

She put her mind to actually trying to sort this mess out.

"Okay, let me set a couple things straight. I have never seen you before today. I only know of you from Gold telling me of you."

[chippedvaliance]

Yes well all of the friendly, somewhat bubbly nature Belle had on reserve decided to fly out into outer space at the thought of Rumpel being with someone other than her. Sure, he probably has been. That's not a question at all, but she doesn't --no she detests the idea of him marrying Emma. Isn't she the mother of Henry and. . .well had Henry with Baelfire? She sighs a little. "I suppose you wouldn't know much about me. I know a lot about you. In my world you're with Killian Jones, and before that you were very much so in love with Neal. You had Henry with Neal, and Regina adopted Henry."

[sagacitatis]

"Whoa. Why am I with a man who shot me in the back?" Yeah, she's not even wanting to think about dating, let alone being intimate with the pirate. Not after what he's done to her and Gold. She had loved Neal, but that was before she'd ended up in jail because of him. While she might have been willing once to give him a second chance, the fact he hadn't made any effort at all to get back in touch with her even after she was out of jail had soured her somewhat on that. Of course there had been Graham, but that had come and gone so quickly. Much as she'd helped Gold move on from Belle, Gold had helped her let go of the pain Neal had caused her and also thus let Neal go as well completely. "Gold is Henry's adopted father. Regina had nothing to do with raising him fortunately. I know she was intended to be his mother, but it didn't happen. Neal might be Henry's father biologically, but he was never an actual father to him until recently. Sometimes I tend to think Henry considers Gold more his dad than he considers Neal his father." Something weird was definitely up here. "You know...it's almost like we're talking about two different places."

[chippedvaliance]

That catches her attention. "Because . . .Killian shot me in the back. Not you." Belle furrows a brow. Did they literally switch places or something in this alternate version of Storybrooke. That's interesting considering all that's happened. What would that change for their future and how would everyone act to Emma Gold? Inwardly Belle still cringes at the thought. "I got that as soon as you said you married Rumpelstiltskin." Belle admits warily. "Did you both raise Henry together, then?"

[sagacitatis]

Well that was interesting. She shouldn't be as curious about what else was different, since the few differences she'd already learned weren't exactly pleasant. Yet she was curious what else could be or was different. How would it affect Gold to not have Henry in his life like he did, how would it affect her to not have the same relationship as she had with the man?

She'd seen how he had loved the woman before her, it was obvious in his voice as he spoke of her, of the way he'd been so distraught and ready to lash out at Moe French for the theft of the cup that had been his only keepsake from their time together. It was too easy to see Gold with Belle, given a chance if he'd never gotten involved with her.

A pity she couldn't see herself so easily with the pirate.

"Not until after the curse was broken, really. I visited, before then but that was about it."

[chippedvaliance]

In honesty she could see how Rumpel might actually fall for Emma given the chance. They had a uniting factor that brought them together in the form of Henry. While Belle probably still played a central role in Rumpel's life in the Enchanted Forest she wouldn't wish for him to be alone if she had died as a result of something Regina had put together. If the life he and Emma had in that universe made him happy who was she to judge no matter how it twisted at her heart to have the savior, the golden child of Snow and Charming, take her place? Emma was so many things that Belle had hoped to be in her life. Hopefully that chipped cup found it's way back eventually. "This may not be the opportune time to discuss this but--" Belle scrunches her face a little, somewhat nervous. "What if we run into a version of Rumpel here?" It'll be obvious which version it is but won't it feel strange to see the other with ...well....their husband? That's going to get confusing.

[sagacitatis]

Yeah. That definitely was a thing. Given Belle was from a different Storybrooke. What if there was a Gold here, but it wasn't the man she knew? What if it was Belle's husband and not her own. She could console herself with the fact that the man wasn't the same man, despite appearances and the sharing of names, but it would still hurt to see him with another woman. Especially when they'd just dredge up old insecurities about Gold finding Belle somewhere in town where Regina had hidden the woman away, lying to Rumple just because it would cause him pain. Belle had been Gold's first true love. She hadn't been sure back then that their own love would actually survive Belle coming back into things. "We'll have to find out which town he's from--" She hesitated for a moment, trying to think of what they'd do once they learned that vital piece. "If he's yours, I'll...leave him alone, save for casual small talk if he wants it." And if the man was her own, well.. that would be even more complicated. She wasn't sure how her Gold would react upon seeing Belle alive again. She was reasonably certain that he wouldn't leave her now, but it was still.. Belle. What if he wanted the bookish woman who was capable of seeing past his masks and still love him for himself, instead of her? Yes, she'd shown him that she loved the man beneath as well, but she'd also shown that she wasn't taking any of his shit that he tended to pull. He claimed to like her spunk and the fact she wasn't scared to speak her mind, but what if he wanted someone more down to earth than she was?

[chippedvaliance]

"Emma I couldn't ask you to watch me with your--" husband. The word goes unsaid but it stings all the same. For Belle it was a matter of grieving. She spent so much time away from him as it was and to be asked to do that again would break her heart. There would always be some part of her that would reserve her kinder, loving smiles for him. Even if they spoke she would keep it brief knowing that her heart was bound to betray her if it was, indeed, Emma's husband who might appear on this . . .whatever they're on.

Perhaps she did not share the insecurity of losing love to someone else, but if Emma's husband saw Belle and his heart was swayed she would command that strength out of herself to refuse him not matter how much it hurt. Could she move on? Probably not for quite some time. Maybe not at all. Watching them, being made to engage with them, would be painful but she could work through that, couldn't she?

In her mind, against that nagging voice that called her weak, she would summon up the courage to let him go because she loved him and he found someone else. What right does she have to destroy their happiness?

She shakes her head, building up her resolve. "If he is from my world you are more than welcome to chat with him as much as you like." She fidget with her hands, remembering the dagger as she did. "Just as I would expect the same from you. I would keep my distance of course. That would only be fair."