3rd Contract [Wandering from room, holodeck, ten-forward, halls]

[magicsprice]

For the most part Gold has been keeping to his room, occasionally reading actual books, occasionally finally deigning to poke at the PADD to figure out how it worked and learning what he could from it. When he wasn't reading, he would spin on the wheel. Of course, the latter activity typically left him with a byproduct that he should perhaps looking into a means of using. Unfortunately, given the confined area and the lack of any obvious need of wealth, he was at a small loss at how to go about bartering the gold away.

When he wasn't in his room, he could likely be found either wandering the limited area of halls he was allowed to roam, debating on if he should even bother continuing the program he'd begun crafting within the Holodeck, or seated within Ten Forward (more for the chance to see his son, or failing that, to observe the 'natives', than any desire for other company).

During one of his trips to the lounge, he'd discovered what had first seemed to bear some relationship to a chess set. How one actually played on the strange board was something he was still working on fully figuring out. When he's not paying much mind to the crowd around him in the lounge, he's studying the set up and trying to figure out its rules and strategies. His first few attempts at actually playing versus the computer had ended in abject failure, perhaps if he had someone who knew the game to play against and question, he might actually learn how to at least give the damn computer a decent challenge the next time he bothered to play against it.


(ooc: feel free to talk with the man anywhere in the areas mentioned, just tell me where either in subject header or your tag!)

Comments

[goldencobra]

It had been almost three weeks of not leaving his shared quarters with Irian before Henry decided he was bored enough to do so. It was great that the replicator could do almost anything but there was only so much one could do alone. He'd been thinking of visiting the holodeck for a while so today, he finally left his room and headed in that direction.

Not realising there was already a program running, he let the doors open and caught his breath at what he saw. It was his house. His and his father's house in Storybrooke. The fact that it was Storybrooke meant a certain magical person Henry didn't want to see was obviously here. But he couldn't help but wonder what the house looked like inside without him living there.

Amusingly, the door was locked but Henry's key still worked. First thing he noticed was the lack of pictures on the walls. No birthdays or Christmases had been celebrated in this house. He turned to look around the kitchen but it seemed very much the same. Ascending the stairs, his father's room looked almost identical as well and before long he stood in front of the door to his own room, his hand on the door knob but not having the courage to look inside it.

What would he find?

[magicsprice]

Depending on just how preoccupied the boy was about the mystery of the room beyond the door, he may or may not notice the sound of someone ascending the staircase not too far from his current position. Now that he no longer needed to rely on a cane, he was capable of mounting the stairs faster and quieter.

Upon seeing the boy, he remained silent for a couple seconds before finally speaking up. "It's just a spare bedroom. Nothing more."

[goldencobra]

Henry hadn't heard the man ascending the stairs as he was so used to listening for the cane. So he jumped when he heard the voice and somehow, in that moment of shock, his hand turned the knob the door opened. The boy turned from the older man and looked into the room.

More to get away from Gold than anything else, he took a step or two into the room cautiously. There was a bed, yes, but it was hardly what he had back home. Boxes were set down in the corners and there were, of course, not posters or certificates on the walls. Everything felt dark and unloved so it truly felt wrong to Henry. He'd thought about making his own Storybrooke here and knew now that he certainly had to. If only to show the others what it was like for him.

Not that he was talking to either of them...

[magicsprice]

Gold remained in the hallway as Henry retreated into the guest bedroom. Taking the boy's tale about being raised by him into account with the way the boy had been standing in front of the door... he had a hunch that back in the town the boy came from the room was no doubt different.

Less cluttered and more lived in.

He sighed quietly and debated leaving the boy alone, it was obvious that his presence was unwelcome. After a minute of silent debate, he turned away from the room and moved to head back down the stairs. He'd go to his shop, leave the boy to his wandering.

[goldencobra]

Henry watched the shadow disappear down the stairs but didn't stop him. Instead, he simply sat down on the bed and felt like he wanted to cry. Everything was wrong here. And not just the room. The house. The town. Just everything. It made him angry and upset.

Standing up again, he kicked the bed. He kicked it several times, even moving it slightly with the force of his kicks. The boxes on the other side split but Henry didn't care. It wasn't real so why did it matter? He continued kicking a little more then collapsed on the floor, breathing heavily and wishing that, even if he wasn't real, he could create his dad here to just hug him and tell him everything was going to be okay.

But Henry didn't know how to do that. And all he had was a man who looked like his dad but wasn't. And a man saying he was his dad but couldn't be. Even Storybrooke, with all it's faults and it's bad pasts, was better than here.