WHO: Rumple and Belle WHAT: Tale as old as time... WHEN: New Year's Eve, before the festivities WHERE: The Rumbelle Home RATING: TBA STATUS: In Progress
All of December had gone by since Gold had last spoken to Neal and gotten the--apparently--unnecessary permission to ask Belle to marry him. He was unamused by Neal's flippant reaction. But, well, after all this time, Gold was determined to do this properly. He was going to ask Belle to marry him and he was going to have his son's permission, and he was going to ask her when the time was right.
He had thought about Christmas, but it seemed too trite. Not that New Year's Eve was much better, mind. But at the same time, it was a start. A fresh start at that. Stepping into the new year together. Something like that was the strongest of all magicks and Gold could hardly resist a lure like that.
The ring had been burning a hole in his pocket for weeks now. He knew it had also made him distant and withdrawn... as per usual. He was lucky Belle knew him as well as she did. She didn't seem too disturbed by his longer silences. Which... was a good thing. Anyone else probably would have assumed he was catting around on her or doing something he shouldn't.
Checking for the umpteenth time to make sure the ring was where he last left it, Gold slipped out of the shop and back to the rooms he shared with Belle.
"Dearest?" He called out, silently padding through the rooms. "Can you spare a moment in the... however many hours it will take for you to feel you are presentable?"