ten_fwd | Family Business. [Action]

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Family Business. [Action]

Closed to: Whoever has access to Rumplestiltskin's room.
You know what kind of beast you're dealing with.

Those words seemed to echo throughout her mind as she appears on the Enterprise. Belle's vision hasn't clearly yet and she isn't aware that she left the Snow Queen's cave. There was something entrapping her mind to the image of that mirror and it takes a few seconds for her to finally snap out of it, dagger dropping from her hands and clattering to the floor. Instantly Belle's hand shoots up to grip at her heart. Odd twists pain strike her there but it isn't physical. She scrambles to the floor, dropping down to her knees to retrieve the dagger and stow it back in her coat as she starts to sob.

She's angry and resentful and just plain pissed off? The dagger is fake. She should have known from the start that he wouldn't give her his main source of power. Why would he? He loved power more than he loved anything else. But if she's being honest with herself that's not why she's upset. She's upset because she couldn't resist the urge to use it like everyone else.

Belle doesn't deserve the pity she wants for herself nor does she expect to get it any time soon. How does one start to atone for violating the trust of someone they love? It's then somewhere between her own misplaced sorrow and hatred for being so weak that she finally notices the room. Where in the world is she? Blue eyes scan across her surroundings looking for something familiar but she finds nothing. This wasn't the cave she left? "Hello? Hello!" She pushes herself off the ground, wiping her eyes.

What right does she have to cry? This is her fault the exact same way Anna was her fault. Well roomies of Rumple or frequent visitors you have a Belle wandering around poking through stuff. Try not to be alarmed she doesn't bite.

Open:

Once she acclimated a little to the ship she found her way to the lounge and immediately takes a seat at the bar. Maybe she is channeling the cursed version of herself but she thinks she could use a drink. It's just too bad that Belle doesn't have a taste for alcohol at all. In fact, she hates most hard liquor but enjoys most wine. "Do you have anything red?" She inquires, trying her best to wear a polite smile that only wavers once the bartender is gone.

Maybe the lounge isn't that crowded but it's a sea of faces she doesn't recognize at all. Some of them are even different species but she doesn't want to ask about that. Such questions seem. . .rude.

But at least she can ask one to a friendly neighbor at the bar: "Can you tell me about where I am? Someone said this was called the Enterprise. What exactly does that mean?"

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Henry almost scoffed at Gold. "You can't tell me what to do. You're not my Dad." He wasn't anything but a look-a-like that Henry tolerated and every so often visited because he missed the man who raised him.

"That does sounds like Regina though." He gave a one shoulder shrug and stood up. "Our business can wait. Might as well leave of my own accord rather than get kicked out." And he headed towards the door, making a mental note to avoid this Belle as well. Why was everyone always from their timeline and not his?

"As if I could forget that. You tend to remind me of it often enough." He replied as the boy headed for the door. "That doesn't mean I can't and won't chastise you as your father might were he here. I doubt he allows you to be rude for no reason."

He sighed quietly and turned his attention back toward Belle. "I am sorry for that rude welcome. I'll try to answer any questions you have if I can."

What's more Henry continues on completely ignoring her presence. Not only does she feel unwelcome she feels unwanted like the china piece that was once scenery and meant to stay there gathering dust as if to truly signify her unimportance. If his father is Rumple he doesn't show it, not the way Belle remembers him to be. Even as the Dark One he was never so unkind in her presence and if he was she could dissuade him. She gets the distinct impression she will never do the same with Henry.

"You don't need to apologise." She sighs. Paranoia doesn't suit her but the after effects of the spell are still prevalent. "He said there are two of you." A flash of contempt fills her eyes but it's not for him. "What is he talking about? Henry is Emma and Regina's son." They can start there and she'll worry about what an Enterprise is later.

"The Henry we know is yes. That boy...that boy is not the Henry we both know." Obviously, because their Henry would not have treated either of them in the manner they were just treated to. "It's complicated as I said, but I'll try to explain."

He used their connected hands to guide Belle toward the couch so they could sit down before he went into the explanation.

"Judging by what I've heard from the boy, in the world he knows, his Storybrooke, something happened that didn't happen in our Storybrooke and therein lies where our timelines apparently split apart. I don't know how that's possible, but that is somehow what came about. Thus why, it seems, there are two of me."

It certainly turned everything he thought he knew about how time worked on its head. He would have thought that if something had changed, then everything after that change would have been negated and re-written as it took place again, with no one the wiser to the fact that things had changed. Instead, it would seem that their world had split apart, and while their known timeline had proceeded as it should, the changed one had also proceeded onward as it's own separate timeline.

"As for the reason, he's not Regina's son...well, according to the boy, Regina ended up making a mistake that restored my memory ten years early. This apparently set off a chain of events that didn't occur our Storybooke, because in our timeline, I didn't get my memory back until I actually met Emma in Granny's bed and breakfast, when she decided to remain in town. Yet, in the boy's own timeline, it seems that I took Henry from Regina's custody to raise him myself, instead of allowing Regina to do it."

It's hard to explain things when all he has is second-hand information that he doesn't entirely understand himself yet. Yes, he knows it, but knowing it and understanding it completely are two entirely different things.

That much was, yes, obvious. She never recalled the Henry they knew regarding her so strangely. She followed the tug of his hand, and comes to sit next to him relishing the closeness of someone familiar. Anything familiar when she's been displaced yet again to what appears to be somewhere new. Belle tries her best to focus on his words and not let her mind wander to other thoughts. "So our universe formed divergent timelines." At least that much is a concept she is familiar with from books she has read. They were theories spun in stories but she never thought they would be proven true.

"Basically, there is a main set of events say, the ones we know. In theory there are an infinite amount of possible universes. His is one of the many that would happen if--by what you've said--one instance was changed." She explains, trying to fill in the blanks for them. Reciting knowledge feels normal and her voice comes across as less shaky. Belle quiets again when he continues.

"I suppose this will take some getting used to." She murmurs. "I don't know why he looks at me like I'm some sort of threat." But she doesn't go into that. Maybe he's right and that Rumple didn't mention her because whatever happened to her was painful and she may actually be dead in the timeline or the Hatter simply never found her and she is still living her days in imprisonment. It's hard to say.

"I'm sorry to toss so many questions at you but. . .he said we're on the Enterprise? What's that?"

"From what I've gathered and heard, it's a 'star' ship. We're in apparently among the stars, in 'space'. This ship can somehow move within this space to visit different worlds. They claim there's no magic involved, but I'm not entirely certain I believe them."

So the starship Enterprise. In Belle's mind she quickly works out imagining actual ships. They form an armada when they all come together in stories and those armadas are usually military-based. Is this ship, whether it's in space or not, only meant to visit other world or are they also conquering them? She doesn't want to stomach the idea of war or being caught in between when and if it happens.

Plenty of things work without magic is the quip she would like to toss at him.

"Okay so we're on a spaceship. . .in space and we're travelling to different worlds." She repeats, trying to digest that. Well it wasn't much different than being yanked back and forth by the curse except this thing doesn't need a curse and, supposedly, doesn't need magic to get where it's going.

What in the world is going on? Is she dreaming? This is all crazy she must have lost some marbles after staring into that mirror and listening to it's venomous words.

"I think I need a drink." She says a little lethargically, bringing the palm of her hand up to her forehead. "I'm not sure how to believe any of this. How could I have possibly gone from Storybrooke to some starship? A-and what about everyone I let behind? What about everyone you left behind? Won't they notice we're gone--" She stops herself with a sigh, biting back more questions.

"I'm not sure where to start."

"Why don't we start with how we got here? There's a creature in this world that is even more powerful than I am. Time, space, they mean nothing to him. He goes by Q and he's the one who has been dragging everyone to this ship."

As he spoke, he used his free hand to gesture briefly toward the table and there was a brief mauve colored smoke cloud making its appearance before dissipating to reveal a couple tumblers and a half full bottle of his favorite scotch.

"I'd be careful should you request drinks from this ship's bar, they might taste the same but they're not. They lack any kick the original drinks have, makes them rather useless really."

She has so many reservations about there being more power than what Rumple has available to him. To be honest being transported here isn't completely malevolent. Q could have put her somewhere far worse than a starship that is meant to travel between worlds.

"Thank you." She murmurs leaning forward to grab a glass. Her taste for hard liquor is somewhat weak and she wishes she had something to mix the scotch with but she'll manage. She pours a sparing amount into a glass.

"I don't usually drink to get drunk." She muses, taking a sip. It's strong but it helps.

"It doesn't make much of a difference to me. I just like the taste of wine from time to time." She isn't much for the effects. "It sounds like you've been here for a while with all the information you have." She glances over to Rumple. "You even have a room. I assume this is your room anyway, from what Henry said."

He let's the subject of liquor go, he doesn't often drink to get drunk either, but there's just something off to him about drinking something which mimics the taste of a drink, but doesn't satisfy in the same way as the actual drink.

"Indeed. I've been here nearly seven months now, and yes these are my guest quarters. If you like I can ask the captain to let you room with me." He won't presume to just assume she'll want to room with him, thus the phrasing of the suggestion. He'd like it if she did, and given the matter of their apparent marriage in the future, he couldn't see why she'd refuse, but she was still her own person and thus deserved to have a say in the matter.

"I would like that." She sets the glass back down on the table. For a second she looks as if something poked her but she recovers quickly. Right, she needs to find somewhere to store the dagger. Should she tell him she has it? Would he understand if he has been here for months but then what does it matter if what the mirror said was true and the dagger is fake?

"If it's not too much trouble, anyway." She turns more toward him. "Rumple can I ask you a favor?" Since she knows his magic still works here. "I want to forget something and. . .I need your help to do that."

"No trouble at all. I'd like that too."

At the request for a favor he nods, of course he's willing to do her a favor if it's within his ability to do so. Her words however concern him and a subtle frown pulls slightly at his lips. "I see. What...what is it that you want to forget?"

"I made a mistake before I appeared here." That isn't a lie but isn't the whole truth either. "And I just want to forget--" Her voice wavers and she looks down at her hands, trying her best not to fidget with them. No, she can be strong.

"Something stupid I did got the people I care about hurt." Rumple included in that mix but she won't say that aloud. "I don't want to forget what I did but I want to forget the result of it." She doesn't ever want to think about what she saw in that mirror again. "I would tell you what it was but I'm not sure if that will. . .harm anything." She pauses for a moment but continues. "You said you've been here for months so I don't want to interfere with your future when you go back."

"I suspect this Q will likely return us to the point in time where we left, none the wiser for our time here." He reassured her first and foremost, given the things Q has done in pulling people from his past and it hasn't affected his present or his memories, he suspects that the creature's actions somehow manage to not overtly affect the time stream or the events in it.

"I would help you forget...but I need to know what it is that you want to forget. Else I don't know what memories need to be dealt with and which need to be left alone."

Edited 2014-12-29 06:32 (UTC)

She feels her heart sink a touch at him needing specifics. There is very little chance she'll be able to look him in the eyes while recounting any of it. Belle isn't sure she should recount any of it for it might be too painful to say out loud to herself yet again. Then again if she does it now she won't have to worry about it until she leaves if he's right. Rumple is very rarely wrong in her experience, he just goes about some situations in the wrong ways.

"Alright. I'll try to be more specific." She sucks in a breath. "Before I came here I was. . .looking into a mirror. The mirror is supposed to show people something called shattered sight. I don't know exactly how it works but the mirror, for me, told me that I was a coward and that I ruined someone's life." She grimaces. Both are more true than she would like to admit. "It told me that you--uh. You only were with me because--because I'm easy to manipulate." She can feel herself receding already. "And that--" She shakes her head. "Never mind the last part. It doesn't matter."

She doesn't want to talk about the dagger. She falls silent.

"Oh, Belle." His tone is pained, but more because it hurts to hear her say those things about herself. "Don't believe anything that mirror showed you. You're not a coward. A coward wouldn't do what you did to save your people. I know cowardice....a little too well really, and you... you are in no way a coward." He reached to take her hands within his, his thumb stroking the side of one of them.

"And I don't believe you're easy to manipulate, you don't let anyone tell you what to do or what not to do. You said it yourself once. You decide your own fate, no one else. Not me, not your father, just you. I love you because you're an intelligent beautiful woman who makes me want to be better than I am. You find the goodness hidden within people and bring it out and when it isn't there...you create it." His eyes fall down to where their hands are joined and he sighs softly.

"Are you certain you want me to use magic to block those memories? I doubt I need to remind you that magic does come at a price. Even small magics like this...."

Edited 2014-12-29 07:21 (UTC)

Isn't she? She believed him that the dagger he gave her was real. It's poisonous that she still questions whether or not it is. The amount of distrust that mirror brought up about their relationship isn't something she thinks she can face right now. However running away from her problems won't solve anything either. In fact, erasing those memories probably makes her coward in the end. She can't even deal with the consequences of her own actions. Belle squeezes his hands, her gaze drifting back up to his. "You're always so kind." Not always, but she knew he was capable. "Thank you." She says softly, with a sad smile.

"I want to tell you something before I make a decision one way or the other. Maybe you won't understand it now but--I'm sorry. I am truly, deeply sorry and I hope I can earn the right to keep being seen the way that you described." She gulps back the nervous lump in her throat. "What's the price?"

Assuming he knows what it might be at all. She's sorry she betrayed his trust, and if she could make that right she would. Would he still look at her the same way if he was from her point in time? She doubts it which is what makes this moment something she wants to cling to, hoping to keep it if this closeness they share ever goes away.

She was right, he didn't understand why she apologized like that, the thought that she believed that she could lose the right to be seen the way he'd described her was painful, but he kept his protests to himself. He suspected they'd do nothing but aggravate this situation. Instead he merely gives her a sad smile before turning his thoughts back to the magic she wants him to do.

"I've never...really done what you're asking before. I mean-- I've erased memories before with potions. But those removed every memory dealing with a certain event or span of time. I'm not certain what the price will be for being selective and only blocking away part of a set of memories."

To be honest, while he would gladly help her forget, he doesn't really want to risk doing it with magic. Yet, he said he would and thus if she wants to risk it...he'll do it.

"If it is too much...I'll undo it. We'll find another way to help you forget if this doesn't work out."

Edited 2014-12-29 08:35 (UTC)

Talking about it might not aggravate the situation but she does appreciate that he doesn't pry any further. Best he only has to experience what she has done the one time rather than her rehashing it for him to expect when he returns. Well, he won't expect it but why make him carry the weight of it here? It's now become very apparent she'll have to hide the dagger herself to accomplish that which could get difficult considering they will be living together.

"If you're sure it's reversible once they've been taken I don't see a problem with trying." It worries her some that he doesn't know what the potential consequences are but she is asking a lot. Belle tends to stray away from asking Rumple to use his powers for her because so many others come seeking his help as desperate souls. She didn't want to be another transaction even if that's how he acquired her in the Enchanted Forest.

"I'll leave it up to your discretion when and if it should be undone since, I suppose, I won't remember asking? I'm not sure how this works either." She gives a nervous chuckle. "But I trust you."

"You'll remember asking, you just won't remember what you wanted to forget." There's a small smile at that and his mind briefly remembered a brief conversation about his own desire to forget something and when asked what he'd wanted to forget, he'd claimed to have forgotten. Of course in this case, she truly would have forgotten.

That last line however both pleases and hurts. He's happy that she trusts him this much and yet it hurts in a sense because he suspects he doesn't deserve that trust. What if he ended up abusing it? He didn't need to hurt her anymore than he had already.

There's no choice now but to follow through on her wishes and hope that when it came to paying for this bit of magic, he was the one who paid, not her. "When do you want it done?"

An interesting paradox that will make. Either way she has mulled it over in her mind and she is more okay with this as a decision if it means it can be reversed should there be adverse effects. At the end of the day she is coward for not being able to face the darker sides of her life, but she will one day, won't she? That feels like an excuse. "Alright."

"If it's fine to do now then I'll get it over with." She smiles reassuringly. "I know it won't solve anything but I have a lot to adjust to as it is." Baby steps. "Is that alright with you?"

In a sense it wasn't, but he'd be something of a hypocrite if he refused to let her take the easy road out, when he often tried to do the same thing at times. He had said he'd help her and if this was how she wanted to be helped, so be it. Hopefully it would go fine and he wouldn't have to undo it any time soon.

"Yes. We can do it now." He let's go of one of her hands to lift the freed hand before her face, a subtle gesture made once it had reached the level of her eyes. He felt the magic, watched as her eyes briefly dulled and partially closed as the spell took hold. Once done, he lowered his hand to rest over the hand he still held.

"All done, sweetheart."

She smiles, glad that he agrees. There is something to be said with the way he casts magic on her. It's so much different than how she saw it in the Enchanted Forest and in Storybrooke. She would say there's caution in his movements but she doesn't have time to let that observation come to fruition before he pulls the memory from her.

What's automatically noticeable is the brightness that comes back to her eyes though they still contain a wary quality that can't quite be place. Her skittish posture relaxes some and she genuinely smiles for the first time since she's been here. "Thank you." She leans over to place a small kiss on his cheek. "We were speaking before of the ship. How about a tour while we chat?"

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Family Business. [Action]

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