Slow progress

Rumplestiltskin

He could tell that the curse was breaking; as its creator he could feel every little crack as it formed. Unfortunately, these cracks were formed only on the surface. The Saviour did not believe, and did not have enough influence in the town. But for now what she was doing was enough. She had returned small parts of Cinderella, her Prince, and Jiminy Cricket to themselves. And her presence had allowed Mary Margaret to wake up the Saviour's own father, not that he had any clue who he was, or wasn't. That night, in fact, Mr David Nolan was returning home, released from the Hospital at last. His wife, once Princess Abigail of 'The Kingdom of the Flowing Gold', had very foolishly thrown a 'welcome home' party, and Mr Gold had very foolishly been invited. The Dark Curse had recognized his Belle as the darkest presence and so made her the town monster (she wasn't invited to that night's party), but that didn't exactly mean that Mr Gold was a pleasant man. He had hoped being free from the Dagger's Curse would free him from all remains of darkness, but it seemed holding on to the damned thing only encouraged the tattered remains of the darkness that had once inhabited his mind to cling on. It would, after all, benefit the dagger to have two hosts.

Mr Gold had to stop considering the Dagger when 'Prince Charming' himself, or rather his shell, walked in. He seemed rather confused, and beyond uncomfortable with the sea of faces he was presented with. His wife chose to introduce him to them all anyway, and the poor man was shaking hand after hand and no doubt not remembering anyone's identities at all. He watched from across the room as the man awkwardly excused himself from a conversation with Doctor Whale, and approached the newly appointed Deputy Swan instead, who was talking with her son. His eye trailed the wife, 'Kathryn Nolan', as she departed to the kitchen to fuss about with the foodstuffs some more. He grimaced as Regina joined her, no doubt trying to stop her beloved curse from falling apart. Well it won't work dearie. It will only be a matter of time before all my hard work comes crashing down around your ears. He smirked to himself, and hid the expression behind his wine glass as he got a glare from Mrs Ginger.

He glanced around once more, desperate to find something to amuse himself with. He honed in on an elderly woman knitting in a far corner, and grinned a the irony that Charming's own mother was there, and no-one in the room, no-one in the town in fact, knew that they were family. And there was the redhead that frequented the Library, who he could identify as Zelena now that he had a clear view of her face. No-one in town knew that she and the Mayor were related as well. Probably for the best. He was rather shocked she hadn't approached him yet. According to his curse memories, Ms Duzeem would flirt relentlessly with him whenever she got the chance. Perhaps she had found someone who actually welcomed her attention and affections? Not bloody likely, he thought to himself, scoffing and attracting the attention of other attendees with the sound. He barked out another obnoxious sound as he heard, to his left, Kathryn call Regina her friend. Then the blonde left the kitchen, no doubt in search of the husband that had left to find his real wife not five minutes before.


The next morning dawned depressingly bright, something which he did not appreciate considering his forgetting to close the drapes in the master bedroom the night before. He awoke to a beam of light attempting to blind him, and once more prepared himself for a day of agonizing pain walking around on his shattered leg. It was especially irritating since he knew Belle had healed his wound; he supposed the universe just wanted to spite him. But he would put up with it, if it brought him that much closer to his son. His day was vastly brightened as it was, when he arrived at the Diner. Although it was amusing to watch Whale flirt with Miss Blanchard (again), his joy came in the form of one Miss Bouquin (although the hush that spread when she walked through the door showed that joy was not shared by the other patrons), who had come to no doubt suffer through over-syruped pancakes once more. As they did everyday they breakfasted at the same time, her eyes immediately scanned the diner and settled on his. There was a brief, wistful expression before she took a seat in her booth, facing away from the door, and then she would join him in watching the other customers bicker, drool, and study Miss Lucas.

Eyebrows raised for both of them as the Mayor stalked in, and Belle... Ellena seemed equally shocked that she went straight to Miss Blanchard's table. The heated discussion wasn't exactly quiet; he caught every word from his booth in the far corner, and had a strong feeling that Miss Bouquin did too. He almost choked on his coffee when he overheard the Mayor say that Nolan had left his wife - this was an unexpected development.


It was late evening, perhaps eight, if that, before he could do something about it. Although it would no doubt be of use to have Charming on his side, Rumplestiltskin knew that the fool would struggle to keep his mouth shut. The good Prince would be in too much of a hurry to be with his wife and his daughter to follow a reasonable plan to break the Curse. So memories would have to be jogged. The man walked in at eight-ish, for once unable to find his love, having been given directions by the delightful Mayor. It wasn't hard to direct his attention from the mobile to the windmill by the door. He could almost see the moment his eyes fogged over with new memories, even though the man's back was turned. He gave a half-hearted smile as his plan was a success. Snow and Charming would not be reunited anytime soon. The man did not say another word past 'I remember' as he stumbled out of the door.

As he was driving home in his old Cadillac he saw Deputy Swan returning to Miss Blanchard's apartment, later than he was sure she usually did. Either it was a walk of shame, or she had at last learned of the poor Huntsman's dalliance with the Queen. Not minutes later he also saw Miss Blanchard herself, stopped at a red light in a car with the notorious Doctor Whale. He raised his eyebrows. That was an unexpected development as well.