knightsoflegend | Valentine's Day }{ Open post

[ she glances at his arm, and seems to practically glow as she tries to keep her smile tempered and fails all over town. she wraps her own through his snugly. ] A little difficult to avoid, when our work overlaps with the rest of our lives in so many ways. [ but she sounds like she's mostly teasing. ]

You mean to tell me you don't have anything outside the library. [He's equally teasing, as they step out into the hallway, arm in arm. Awww.] Nothing that doesn't come back to the Knights?

There's always the Desrosiers - the family who helped me when I first came to this world. We still keep in touch.

But I don't mind that most of what I have revolves around the Knighthood. After all, what we do encompasses so much. [ she offers him a sly look ] I don't spend all my time in the library.

Oh, you don't, do you? [No, he knows damn well she doesn't. He has probably come in there a few times to find she wasn't there and gotten all sad panda about it.]

What were they like? This family that took you in. [He returns her sly smile.] We know so little about one another, and I'm inclined to think it's because we know so little about ourselves. Any little bit helps.

Sinira and Henri. [ there's a unmistakable light in her eyes as she talks about them. ] They were an older couple living near Chartes. I wasn't the first they'd taken in, but I was the first in years.

People often looked at them as a bit... strange. She was from the Shadow World herself and while he was born here, his legal guardians were gnomes.

He actually took in their footsteps, becoming an inventor. His 'father' taught him things about mechanical creations that were very... odd to most human eyes. [ yeah you see what i did there ]

Did you learn anything from him?

[He's interested now, as they stroll down this hallway. YOUNG LOVE. Or halfway young love. It's love, okay. ] I'm curious to know if there's some shed out back with mismatched inventions I ought be steering clear of.

[Dopey smile. His charisma check was only a fourteen, so he tried. He tried so hard.]

[ yeah with her 18 will save, she is oblivious to his attempts over here. ] Sometimes I'd sit with him while he worked, because I enjoyed his passion about it, hearing him explain what this or that was for. [ she shrugs, admitting: ] But sitting and tinkering with wire and metal has never held much appeal to me, personally.

No, I didn't think you seemed the type. [But it's hard to tell. Thanks, Veilnesia. He faces the front again, thoughtful.] It's fortunate you have something like that to hold onto. It was really just the Knights for me.

From what I've gathered, talking to others here, you're far from alone in that. And Wynn doesn't seem to mind if Knights ever feel the need to ... strike out on their own for a time. [ still, she sounds a little conflicted about the idea of gold doing as much. NOT THAT SHE WOULD BEGRUDGE HIM ADVENTURE IN THE GREAT WIDE SOMEWHERE. ]

And go where? [The idea's never really appealed to him, truth be told. The Knights provide him with much, but there's no key to his past.] Storybrooke doesn't even exist here. Even if I could attempt to recapture what I've lost, I wouldn't know where to start. [He shakes his head.] No, I'm here until the end.

[ she bites down on another smile at that, eyes dropping to disguise the spark in them. ] Well, we-- er, Wynn-- are certainly very lucky that you feel that way. [ oh hay look the lobby ]

[at the desk is german snake girl, playing candy crush on her phone and looking pissed as hell. she sure as shit didn't want desk duty today but life sux. TREAD CAREFULLY WHEN ASKING FOR CAR KEYS.]

[Gold disentangles himself from Belle's arm and approaches the desk. He does not tread carefully. He is the reptile whisperer. Which I guess means he can do whatever the hell he wants.]

We need a car, if you don't mind. [aka you better not mind.]

Are you taking your daughter to meet her date? That's sweet. [just grabbing some keys and flinging them on top of the desk like wtfever.]

[Gold snatches the keys up with a look of scathing annoyance, but he... passed his will save to not be a temperamental toolbag, so Astrid just gets a death glare.

And no thank you.]

[ dsjfkl;djfa omg she is s-so flustered and sounds more than a little defensive when she stammers: ] W-what? Oh, no, we're not-- [ she looks at gold with an embarrassed awkward half-laugh that's supposed to make it out like this is a joke but fails because their relationship is already ill-defined enough as is, so THAT DOESN'T HELP THE AWKWARDNESS, because she can't correct her with... an actual definition for it. NEITHER OF THEM HAVE EVEN SAID THE WORD DATE OUT LOUD, THEY SPEAK IN CODE AND MISCOMMUNICATIONS. ]

He's not my... [ don't choke on the word, don't do it ] father. [ since she rolled like a 2, there's probably little ambiguity in what the blush on her cheek actually does spell about how she's looking over at him. GURL GOT A CRUSH. ]

Oh, so you're like, May-December. That's cute I guess. [she obviously doesn't give a shit as she shoves the log across the desk for one of them to fill out.] He can still get you pregnant. Guys are fertile for like forever.

[Gold's will saves are still fucking amazing, but he does sign that form a bit too intensely, all while not saying a word, because any word he might say could come with a chokehold. Also it definitely says "Auric Gold" so Astrid is learning Gold's first name before Belle does. Too bad she doesn't give a shit unless it's... to make James Bond jokes.]

[ belle at least makes a boss spot check to notice that he signs two names, instead of just 'gold' so she knows now that he's not a one-name wonder like cher. or koraith. this is important. she moves up beside him defiantly at least, not about to let him just have to quietly deal with quips about knocking her up. she says very firmly, to make it clear she's shutting down that conversation: ] Thank you for the car. [ and puts a hand on his arm as if to say YEAH LET'S... go before she says anything else. ]

[you know what astrid brought to the desk for valentine's day? a basket of condoms. like they have at university student health centers and shit. SHE THOUGHT SHE WAS BEING CUTE. and now she's going to shove the basket at the happy couple before they head off.] Don't forget condoms!

[YEPPPP. Gold doesn't even touch that. He just huffs off like he is s-so offended he can't take his ladyfriend out for a nice evening without getting the sex talk. Basically if anyone has sex tonight, someone will probably get pregnant.

But he isn't planning on that.

As soon as he and Belle are out of earshot of Astrid, he scowls.] It seems the squires get more disrespectful every month.

[ yeah sorry astrid, belle is going to just stare like she has no idea what she's looking at at first, and then she's going to just... back away to follow him without accepting your gift. .__.

as they head down the steps, she tentatively takes his arm again, though now she's hyper-aware of whether he seems weirded out by that or not, and she's not pressed so snugly to his side, because of the sex elephant in the room now. ] I... don't think she honestly intended any ... disrespect.

[ with a rueful awkward smile: ] I suppose it... is Valentine's Day. She's probably seen her share of couples heading off tonight. [ there's a certain levity to the comment and also a sort of lingering question under that levity. DO THEY COUNT AMONG THOSE COUPLES OR WERE THEY THE EXCEPTION TO THE RULE??? IS THIS DATE???? WERWATEY???? ]

[Yeah, he rolled so terribly that he... has no idea how to read that. He glances behind briefly, thoughtful.] I imagine she has.

[But because he doesn't know what she's implying, he has to be the idiot who asks directly, because he failed his will save to not just blurt it out.] Is that what this is?

[It's not hard to read his expression, because his will save was just that terrible. He looks a little perplexed. Like he's worried he's about to be the butt of some joke. Girls like Belle don't invite guys like him out... DO THEY???]

[ she stops with him at the bottom of the steps, to look over and try to read his own expression. he looks so bewildered that she's equally uncertain how to interpret his reaction. he could be suddenly offended into being woman-trapped into a date he didn't ask for with a much younger woman that he couldn't actually take seriously, or... well who knows what he might think, SHE DOESN'T PRETEND TO KNOW HIS MIND OK. so she asks very carefully, but with no small hidden spark of hope in her eyes: ] I-if it were, would that... would that be alright with you? [ her heart feels as if it's in her throat, as she's suddenly aware these evening plans of theirs could be about to be cut devastatingly short. FINGERS CROSSED. ]

[He blinks and then his expression softens and he tugs her a bit closer, inviting her to get all snuggly with his arm again. No will save in the world is high enough to hide the hope that crosses his face- he's a cynical bastard by nature, but Belle doesn't seem to have any tricks up her sleeve. This is real- it's something. Maybe a date. Probably a date.

Definitely a date.] I wouldn't be unhappy to hear it, actually.

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