ten_fwd | 1st Story - Ten Forward

One minute, Henry had been sitting on a bus to Boston, the next, he was standing in a room with lots of other people having experienced a large flash of light. Looking around, he realised he had no idea where this place was. It wasn't in the book, it hadn't been described by his father and he certainly wasn't back in Storybrooke.

Glad that he still had his bag, he clutched it tightly and moved to stand in a corner out of the way. Closing his eyes for a moment, to stop himself from panicking, he took some deep breaths before opening them again and taking a proper look at his surroundings.

First thing he noticed was the bar. It spanned the length between the two sets of doors and behind it was a smiling woman. On the other side of the room were...well they looked like windows but all he could see out of them were white dots on a black background. And between them, only chairs and tables, people and drinks. And no one he immediately recognised either.

Moving towards the strange windows, he touched one, unsure if he wanted to believe what he thought he saw. They looked like...stars.

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After talking to Sinthia, Henry had gone back to staring at the stars. He was still still trying to decide if he should leave and go find his father who had the room number for. Of course, part of him wanted to but at the same time, considering everything that had happened in the past year or indeed in the past twenty-four hours, he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to just turn up on the man's proverbial doorstep. He wasn't the son the man wanted after all.

A voice brought the boy out of his thoughts and he turned to it's source, shrugging in answer. He didn't want to lie and say he was okay and he couldn't say no without being rude. So a shrug was his best bet. How could he be okay after being pulled from his home without warning and thrust into the future? Even if his father was here, that didn't make it any better. And whatever magic had been cast to make this happen must have an enormous price to go along with it, something Henry didn't want to pay.

A shrug is hardly an endorsement of the situation. The kid seems quiet, thoughtful, and Jonas isn't sure whether he should interrupt. But at the same time ... this place is a little overwhelming. Even to Jonas, who's at least used to the idea of space travel and the possibility of being beamed somewhere without any warning.

What would a small boy make of it?

"You know, it's okay not to be okay. This place ... it's a little crazy."

Henry nodded at that. The man was right. This place was a little crazy. Or perhaps a lot crazy.

But he mustn't forget his manners. And he held out his hand, albeit sadly. "Henry Gold. Nice to meet you, mister."

"Hi," he says, approaching close enough to shake the boy's hand. "I'm Jonas. Jonas Quinn."

The kid looks sad, eyes solemn, an impression only added to by the fact that he's all alone in a big, crowded room, with the vastness of space just out the window.

"You know, I know somebody called Gold here already. He a relative of yours?"

Henry shakes his hand politely and nods at the question.

"Yeah. He's my dad."

"Really? He's my roommate."

He and Gold don't talk much, but it's weird. Gold didn't mention having a son, and it seems like a strange thing to omit. Though Gold is ... a rather strange man in some ways.

"I don't know if he's around, but we could see, if you want."

"Really? I'm sorry. He's not the easiest person to live with." Especially not now.

As for going to find him, Henry couldn't help but close off slightly. He wasn't ready for that confrontation yet nor was he was ready to leave Ten Forward so eventually he had to shake his head.

"I know the room number. I'm sure I can find myself, thank you."

"I manage okay," Jonas says, with a small laugh. It's true that his new roommate is perhaps not the easiest person to live with, not the friendliest, and that the sudden appearance of the spinning wheel the origin of which Jonas is still uncertain about was rather a surprise, but Jonas gets on well with people.

It's a particular talent he's always had.

"Okay."

There's something not quite right here, though, and it doesn't take Jonas' observational skills (which some people comment are not always at their best with people) to notice that Henry isn't as pleased with the idea of finding his father here as Jonas would have expected.

"Did you just get here?"

Henry nodded at the question, having nothing else to say to the other statements. It wasn't that he wasn't pleased to know his father was here. It was a ton of other emotions stemming from the information gained over the past year. Too many to count or explain.

"Just a few hours ago I think. If we still use hours in the future."

That makes Jonas smile.

"Well, I'm no expert on the future, but yeah, we still do."

It must be tough for a kid to be here, especially to have found himself here alone and only find out his father was here afterwards. And still not to have seen him or want to see him at the moment -- there's something going on there, but Jonas hasn't seen enough to work out what it is.

"You working everything out okay? I've been here a while, if you need anything, I can try to help. I remember when I first got here, it was pretty weird."

And that was for someone who's actually heard of people being suddenly beamed away from where they were supposed to be onto a spaceship.

"What's there to work out? I'm in space in the future." How he got there was interesting but the rest was pretty self explanatory.

Kids. In some ways, they're a lot smarter than people give them credit for. Jonas had needed more than that to sort himself out here. He'd be surprised if most people didn't.

Maybe Henry's right. Maybe they're all overthinking it.

"That's pretty much the basics."

Jonas smiles.

"Well, if you do need anything, I guess you know where to find me."

"Sure do. Thanks!" Henry smiles and looks back out into the stars.

1st Story - Ten Forward

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