voice testing ahem ahem

[seesbeauty]

I'm not really sure what you want from me, mundane. I remember now, and that's better. Being stuck in that cell was miserable, and maybe I'll be able to fit into Rumpelstiltskin's life better, like one of his dusty old trinkets, but I don't want that.

No, of course I want to be in his life, that's not what I meant.

I just want to be me again, with him, and maybe if you don't put me back in that awful room with only myself for company, I can get through to him. If love is strong enough to break unbreakable curses, surely it can change a man's mind.

It's been twenty eight years since I've spoken to another human being, and longer before that when the Queen locked me up the first time. What do you expect from me?

Comments

[finedprint]

[ a forced chuckle. An observant person might even say he's somewhat nervous ]

A man's mind can sometimes be quite the immovable object.

[seesbeauty]

[And Belle is an observant person, especially when it comes to Rumpelstiltskin. She can't help but give him a small, sympathetic smile, in response to his nerves.]

And you're sure about that? That not even something as strong as love can move mountains?

[hasapricedearie]

Maybe it should be less of what they expect and more of what you want. Anything can happen, after all.

[seesbeauty]

What I want is you, it's all I've wanted.

[hasapricedearie]

Belle...

[He wants too, but everything he's done for so long has been self-preservation, fear-based. Now he has a weakness... and yet he wants to hold on to that weakness. He's already lost her once.]

...I can at least protect you now. She won't get her hands on you again.

[Nothing like dodging the obvious opening.]

[finedprint]

[ he smiles back tentatively ]

Love is the most powerful and true magic there ever was. [ he hesitates, drumming his fingers over the top of his cane ] The problem, particularly the problem found in Storybrooke, is the separation formed between the heart and mind.

...though it's not as insurmountable as an old man once thought.

[storybrookesavior]

Honey, you'll be better off if you lived according to your own expectations.

[seesbeauty]

I tried that, before, but my own expectations got the better of me.

[And it makes her cringe, at least on the inside, the think of how she sounds like Rumpelstiltskin for it.]

[storybrookesavior]

Then you pick yourself up and try again. It's not going to get any easier unless you keep trying. Practice makes perfect, you know?

[a pause then a grimace] Sorry, that was really cliche.

[seesbeauty]

[It's frustrating, endlessly frustrating, as well as upsetting, that he won't bend, still. She wont storm off like she did so long ago, though, not when she's been alone for so long. She's been locked up since the last time, twice, with no contact with the outside world, with her hope taken away with her memories. She can't leave her love again, as difficult as he may be.]

The best way for you to protect me is for you to be with me, to not just act as if you own me.

[She's been owned for too long.]

[seesbeauty]

[Aside from Jefferson's hands in the cell and their earlier hugs, Belle hasn't touched another human being in, what, thirty years? Still she doesn't hesitate to rest her hands against his, over his cane.]

And what do your heart and mind say, Rumpelstiltskin?

[seesbeauty]

[Oh Emma, if only you had met Belle before all of this, when she was headstrong and less, well, beaten down. The cliche makes her smile though, because a cliche can be appreciated.]

Being cliche only means that it's usually true. I do want to keep trying, as difficult as it may be. I just can't stand the idea of being kept down again.

[hasapricedearie]

[He can tell she's not happy, but he's been like this for so long. The change isn't an easy thing even with the motivation to not lose her again.]

I didn't--

[He cuts himself short. In a way he had.]

There's someone else I need to find too. But I... I would like it if you were with me for the finding.

[seesbeauty]

[His son. He doesn't need to say it for her to understand, and she's afraid to even ask. She might be wrong, he might snap, and she can't be alone again.

But Belle is brave, will always be brave, despite how much Regina has broken her. She nods, chewing on the inside of her bottom lip and taking his hand in hers.]

Your son?

[hasapricedearie]

[He looks down at their hands, joined, promising something he's only starting to grasp, before looking back up at her. He can't trust many, but maybe he can trust her.]

My son. Bael. He has to be here. I'll find him and make everything up to him.

[storybrookesavior]

[They would have bonded over their mutual headstrongness, maybe. And Emma would have given her all the moral support and pep talk. If there's one thing she's good at, it's picking herself up after life has dealt her a shit hand.]

That's a start. Just hang on to that feeling and remember it. As long as you don't forget, you'll survive. [introducing Emma Swan's personal credo]

[finedprint]

[ and, as shocking as it may seem, gold himself has not been the recipient of much physical contact over the years either. aside from the shake of a deal sealed, or the placing of bills in his hand, comfort's been something of an illusion.

Trust it to Belle to break barriers that had been in place for over 28 years within minutes.

Gold stares at their hands, and smiles ]

That there'll be time for them to figure each other out, I suspect.

[ he looks up to meet her stare ]

I can't be finished yet, Belle. The monster still has something to accomplish.

[seesbeauty]

You're not a monster. [She squeezes his hand at that, her eyes not leaving his for a second. It's important, worth emphasizing with her whole being.]

You're a man, a wonderful man. Please, just let me help you, with whatever it is you think needs done.

[seesbeauty]

[It's a good one personal credo, that one, and Belle nods. It's right, absolutely so, as hard as it may be for her to feel it now.]

I've found that, when hanging on is the most difficult, doing it for somebody helps me keep at it. That love makes all that difference.

[seesbeauty]

...Then we'll find him. Then, maybe, we can be happy. The three of us, together.

[hasapricedearie]

[It's hard to believe that she's still there and still trying. But her faith shouldn't be allowed to slide away unacknowledged.]

If we can all be safe, then we can be happy.

[seesbeauty]

[Oh, she's not going anywhere. She would even have more than a bit of a problem if he left her alone for too long, what with what she's been through.]

We'll never be safe. Not with magic about us, and not with The Queen.

[hasapricedearie]

It's the magic that might make us safe. Without it how do we protect ourselves?

your belle is lovely btw!

[finedprint]

Something we will just have to disagree on, dearie. [ the smile still stays, however ]

We'll need to be leaving Storybrooke, soon. [ his eyebrows raise knowingly ]

An adventure, if you will.

[storybrookesavior]

Mm... yeah. I can understand that. [it is Henry who comes to mind]

By the way, I didn't catch your name. Mine's Emma. Emma Swan.

Thank you!

[seesbeauty]

[Oh, he knows how to make her listen, doesn't he? As much as she does him. She tries not to smile, not to have that sparkle in her eyes at the mention of adventure, so she keeps her lips tight in a need to stay serious.]

Leaving for where?

[seesbeauty]

It's...Belle. Belle French.

[Because she has two names, in her mind, and Belle French seems to make the most sense.]

[seesbeauty]

I don't know. [She sighs, too on edge and too frustrated with everything. She worries her lip some more, thinking, and squeezes his hand in hers.] I don't know, but if the Queen didn't see you as a threat then maybe we wouldn't have to.

[storybrookesavior]

'Belle'? Huh.

[She sort of lied when she told Henry that she read the book. 'Skimmed' was a better word.]

I don't remember seeing you around Storybrooke.

[seesbeauty]

[Oh, here comes a moment's hesitation. She can't just say that she's been an asylum inmate for the last twenty eight years, now can she?]

I've been sick. For a while, I haven't been up and about.