November Test Drive!

[rubycitymods]

Thinking of apping a character but not sure they'll fit in the city walls?

Have no fear, a meme for you is here.


Directions:

Post with your character with their name and canon on top!

Choose a location and prompt or wait for someone else to tag.

If you'd like, leave contact info for people to get in contact for plotting and other such shenans.

Tag around! Make friends. Don't be afraid to chat OOC while tagging.



Locations:

1. Train Station: New arrival, or waiting to welcome people? Either way, the train comes in, but you still can't ride it out.

2. Cathedral: Looking for redemption? Just doing a little sight-seeing? Or just getting a little shelter?

3. The Beach: You can almost forget you're trapped, in a place like this...

4. The Black Stallion Saloon: You were told the burgers were great here-- but maybe you just came for the beer.

5. The Library: You came to do a little research, but it looks like all of the information's just out of your reach. Though, you can always find a way to pass the time here.

6. The Coffee Joint: A lovely place to have a chat and a bite to eat.

7. The Forest: Not a great place to be caught alone, but are you alone?

8. Wildcard: Pick anything from our list!


Scenarios

1. Just walked in: You intended to get here, and you made your way in; but now someone's caught your eye and you'd like to have a chat.

2. Been here all day: You've been sitting around minding the time. Maybe you didn't notice them at first or maybe you were just working up the courage to talk-- either way, they know you're here and you know it too.

3. Bad weather: You're here because you've gotten rained in. This wasn't your choice, but at least it's dry-- right?

4. Wild card: Got something better in mind? Well screw these prompts, try it out yourself!


Have fun, guys!

Comments

[truestsweeper]

[Well he is the grandson of a prince and princess.]

Timelines?

[It's the first time Henry had looked less than calm and intrigued since he arrived. But he still trusts Gold so he nods.]

Okay. Lead the way, Grandpa.

[magicsprice]

[He turns to head on down the street, trusting Henry to follow him without prompting. He wasn't entirely certain he really wanted to know just what was going to happen after they returned from Neverland. Still, he had to at least explain the last thing he was aware of to Henry, if only so his grandson would know that his Grandfather had no idea what was happening in the timeframe he was from.

Once they reached his shop, he opens the door for Henry and gestures for the boy to precede him inside.]

My apartment is upstairs.

[truestsweeper]

[Henry walks through the city, following his grandfather and trying to take in everything he was seeing. He notices the sign in the window and that also makes him smile as he walks in. Again, he has to look around the shop because it's very different to the one in Storybrooke. He looks around for a moment before noticing the curtain that must lead to the back and therefore upstairs and heading for that. He can give the shop floor more attention later and it seems that Gold wants to be somewhere more comfortable to explain the timelines. But Henry doesn't mind. If time is indeed frozen, then he's in no rush, right?]

[magicsprice]

[Gold closed the shop door behind him, locking it and flipping the sign in it to closed. That done he follows his grandson toward the curtain, brushing it out of his way. Opening the door to reveal the stairway beyond it, he led the way up to the apartment door.

Opening the door, he paused within the doorway for a moment, eyes closing. Half a minute later, he proceeded through the door into his kitchen.]

Would you like something to drink or eat while we talk?

[truestsweeper]

[Henry watches him ascend the stairs first and pause at the top for what he can only assume is magic. Continuing to follow the man into the kitchen, he looks around and takes a moment before realising he was spoken to.]

Well, you know how much I love my cocoa with cinnamon.

[But he didn't expect Gold to have that in if he wasn't expected in the City. Henry then proceeds to have a look around the apartment. The first door he tries was the bedroom, so he didn't go any further. He tries the only other door from the kitchen and sees the living room. Entering it, he notices something lying under the window and takes a step back.] Whoa! [A pause.] Cool!

[Then he continues to look around. His eyes are drawn to the curio cabinet and notices what's inside.] Wow. These are much nicer than Geppetto's parents. That one even looks like me.

[magicsprice]

[Retrieving a mug from a cabinet, Gold heads to the fridge to fill it with the left over hot chocolate he'd had from his stint in bartering it away. Grabbing the dish that held the whipped cream after, he closed the door with one leg. Upon hearing Henry's exclamation, he gave the door to the living room an amused look.

Warming the cocoa in the cup with magic to get it hot once more, he went about adding whipped cream to the top, moving to retrieve the cinnamon from his spice rack after. Once the cinnamon was added, he put it up, followed by replacing the whipped cream into the fridge.

Then came the comment about his puppets. He sighed at the comment about the puppets he possessed back home as he picked up the mug to carry it to the living room and offer it to Henry.]

It's supposed to.

[truestsweeper]

[Henry turns at the voice and smiles again as he takes the mug and sips the drink carefully.] Wow. This is actually quite nice. [Not as good as Granny's but he doubted anything could be.]

And these two? Mom and Dad right? [Due to the way they parted, Henry didn't often talk about his father. But with Gold, it was easier. Because they'd lost the same person and he was the reason they were connected, the reason Henry got the job and the reason he was wearing the suit in the first place. Which he was desperately trying not to stain with his drink.]

So what's this about timelines? Did I manage to go back in time without a portal? [At least, he didn't remember a portal.]

[magicsprice]

[He smiled at the praise of the drink. Nodding once in response to the identification of the other two puppets. Though his attention shifts from them back to the confusion at hand when Henry brings the matter of timelines back up.]

Not exactly. Why do you think a portal is necessary? That's for world travel. This city...it is somehow capable of pulling people from different times, and for some reason death holds no real meaning here. The power which brings people here can pull those who have died in their worlds to here and give them a second chance to live...and those who die here, do not remain dead.

[truestsweeper]

Because Mom and Hook went back in time using a portal. [Henry answers as if it's the most normal thing in the world, then takes another drink of cocoa. He finds it interesting that going back in time using a portal, not to mention a guy called Hook, are all rather boring and normal things for him to say. But such was his life as the kid with the heart of the truest believer and the family that he had.]

So what you're saying is; everyone here is basically cursed. No death. Time frozen. At least the cocoa is good though I suspect magic was involved in the making of it.

[magicsprice]

In a sense...yes. You could put it that way. No magic was involved in making it...just in heating it back up.

[The words are a bit slow and distracted due to the man being preoccupied with that first tidbit his grandson had shared. Mom in this case he's almost certain means Emma...so Emma and Hook went back in time using magic? As a joke even it made no sense, besides why would Henry even bother to say such an inane thing if it wasn't in some way true.]

How did they accomplish that? Emma and Hook I mean.

[truestsweeper]

[Henry nods at the part about magic, not stopping drinking it just because of that small piece of information. The question, however, he did have to stop drinking to answer.]

It wasn't on purpose. After Zelena copped it, the portal she created re-opened and they fell through.

[He pauses for another drink, then realises Gold doesn't know about this yet or he wouldn't be asking.] Wait, if we're from different times, I shouldn't be telling you about the future. What's the last thing you remember?

[magicsprice]

[That bit of news got him to double-take, his expression definitely carrying quite a bit of 'what the hell happened?!' as he stared at the boy.

He wanted to ask just how Zelena ended up in Storybrooke in the first place, and how she was even capable of creating a time traveling portal when such things were supposed to be impossible. Not to mention wanting to know just how the hell she'd died.

Yet when Henry brought up that last, along side his question, he forced himself to bite back on his own questions. Knowing those things wouldn't do him any good, especially given he wouldn't remember any of it when he went back.]

I was in Neverland. In Skull Rock to prevent Peter Pan from getting your heart. I attempted to trap Pan in Pandora's Box....and failed. The last thing I recall is being pulled into Pandora's Box myself.

[He's still disappointed in his failure to trap Pan. He shouldn't have taken it for granted that he wouldn't be tricked out of his victory over his father, by his own father.]

[truestsweeper]

[Henry waits and listens to what's been said and somehow manages not to drop his mug on the floor. That felt like so long ago to him. He took another drink, almost draining the mug, trying to get his mind sorted out about what his grandfather would and wouldn't know.]

Wow. That was...a while ago. [He pauses to finish off the drink.] That box is not fun to be in. [Henry's not sure what to say next. Everything about Zelena and the Snow Queen was now off limits. Though he might go as far as to tell them they defeated Pan but possibly not how. And he certainly wasn't mentioning Neal. Oh boy. This wasn't going to fun.]

[magicsprice]

[Gold watches Henry quietly after that, waiting for a reaction or a response. When he gets one, it only begets more questions.]

How would you know that? [The question is a bit slow in coming, but when he does ask it, he hopes the boy answers it. Because he needs an answer to lay the possibilities inherit in such a statement to rest. They're not in the least pleasant to entertain.]

[truestsweeper]

[Henry sighs. He shouldn't but it's only fair that Gold knows about Pan even if he didn't know the rest of the future.]

Okay. I'll tell you what happened with Pan, but you have to not ask me other questions about the future. Deal?

[Hopefully, by making a deal, he won't have to broach the very awkward topic of Neal.]

[magicsprice]

You'll tell me how he was defeated? As well as how you came by knowledge of Pandora's Box?

[Those were the things he wanted answers to the most. Besides, he didn't much like just how open and nonspecific the deal was.]

Answer me those and we can lay the rest of the future to rest.

[truestsweeper]

[Henry frowns.] I won't do the former but I will do the latter.

[He pauses, trying to think of a more specific deal. He wasn't as good at them as the man he was talking to. Sadly, he couldn't think of one off hand. Maybe he needed deal making lessons?]

[magicsprice]

Is he still alive? Or a threat? You can tell me that much can't you? In addition to how you're aware of Pandora's Box and how it feels to be within it?

[Yes, he's still haggling.]

[truestsweeper]

[Henry decides he was done standing beside the cabinet and moves around Gold to sit down on one of the chairs. He sets the mug down on the table and wills his brain into thinking of a good wording for this deal. But again, nothing comes to him. He's not looking at Gold when he speaks.]

I am willing to tell you almost everything that happened between your time point and Pan's defeat. I will leave out certain details because I don't feel you would benefit from worrying about them. I will talk about Pandora's Box. But my conditions are: You let me decide what to tell you and you do not ask any questions.

[Here, he looks up with his most determined expression. It was take or leave it time.]

Do we have a deal?

[magicsprice]

I don't really have an actual choice I think. Either I take this or I get nothing I suspect, hm?

[He moves to sit in the other chair, leaning back in it as he studied the boy. Wondering silently about all that he's been through, even if he'll never know it while he's stuck here. After a minute of mulling over the offer, he sighs quietly.]

Deal.

[truestsweeper]

[Henry nods and manages a small smile again, but only for a moment. This wasn't going to be fun to talk about.]

So Pan did end up with my heart. He manipulated me into it and I fell for it. But thanks to my mom, Regina not Emma, we got it back. But Pan wasn't going to give up that easily. He tried to take my shadow and when you came to lock him Pandora's Box, he was interrupted. So he managed to perform another magic instead.

He swapped bodies with me. [A small pause here as he remembered the feeling and still hated it.] So there's Pan inside my body resting in the Captain's quarters of the Jolly Roger and me inside his body trapped inside Pandora's Box. If it wasn't for my mom, Emma not Regina, you guys wouldn't have figured out the switch and released me from the box.

[Another pause, but this time because the coming information was about the man before him.] You were initially sceptical, understandably, but you accepted the situation and we already exchanged our feelings on both being inside the Box at different times.

Not long later, you used the Black Fairy's wand to reunite my mind with my body and Pan was defeated shortly after that.

[Henry took a deep breath after that speech, remembering how he couldn't do anything but watch as his grandfather died to save everyone and then the feeling of dread as the curse hit anyway. One of the worst times in Henry's life.]

[magicsprice]

[He's going to need time to process all of that, which he'll do when he's not expected to play host for his newly arrived grandson.

Not to mention, he needs to think about getting the boy settled in, getting him some warmer clothes to wear. Not that he didn't approve of the suit, but with the temperatures they were having, well...needless to say he didn't want Henry coming down with a cold from them.]

I see. Are you hungry? I have cookies in the kitchen if you want some. I could also fix you a sandwich and some tea or another hot chocolate.

[And while Henry ate, he could work on fixing a place for Henry to sleep in his apartment. Because he was not going to let the boy actually live alone in this place. It was just too dangerous.]

[truestsweeper]

[Henry's glad that Gold didn't ask more questions about his little speech. It was hard enough talking about and explaining to someone who knew about it and was there in his mind so he was very glad they stuck to their deal. It had to be hard for the man, all this worry from the few mentions Henry had said but no answers. But Henry couldn't just tell him everything. Especially Neal.

So when he simply acknowledges the information and moved on, the boy smiles.]

Sure. I'll try a cookie. Then maybe you can explain more about where we are and what I need to know about living here.

[He pulls out the watch, gesturing that a crash course might be useful. Then a thought strikes him. He stands up and walks around his grandfather, looking at him interestedly.] You really don't have a shadow. I didn't notice back then. Too many other things going on.

Does that mean you don't have the dagger here either? [That would really be a weight off his mind. Knowing his grandfather couldn't be controlled would help them both.]

[magicsprice]

[Gold stands up from the chair and walks to the kitchen.] It's here, but it's currently outside of the city limits, sealed away in a very secured place that only me and one other person even know of. [And he trusts Jane not to speak of it, especially after the conversation they had.]

Does asking how you know my shadow has--had my dagger count as one of those questions I'm not allowed to ask?

[Pulling the tin from its place on the counter to set it on the table. With a thought, the cup vanished from the living room table to reappear on the kitchen table, and with a silent wave, it was once again filled with hot chocolate similar to how he'd fixed it previously.

He excused the flagrant bit of magic with the thought it saved him time that he needed to go tend to the living room. It wasn't as if such a little bit of magic was going to cost him much. What he was about to to would cost him far more in terms of energy.]

While you eat, I'm going to take care of something in the other room.

[truestsweeper]

[The truth surprises Henry. Not just because he was told it, but that Gold apparently trusts someone else here with the location.] I'm surprised and impressed that even one other person knows about its location.

[He pauses, thinking about the question and it's answer and decides, yes, he can explain without giving anything away. And he'd just been thinking about how good they were with deals.] Technically yes. But it doesn't give anything else away. I was simply there when your reunited with your shadow. It held the dagger and therefore you did once you were reunited.

[He frowns at the use of magic but accepted the hot chocolate and the cookies all the same. It at least saves him from waiting for the drink.]

Take care of what?