Collaboration between YoshiSkittlez and Ghost Shadow
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Stopping at the front door of his shop, Mr. Gold leaned his cane on the door while he fished through his suit jacket for the keys to unlock it, however the sound of a car engine he had not heard before slowed him down, causing Mr. Gold to stop with his hand on the key in the lock to look over his shoulder to find the source of the noise.

The car, an old Nissan Leopard pulled in by the sidewalk just next to the pawn shop; ricketing slightly before dying. There was a slight rustling sound from the inside before the door swung open rather unceremoniously. 

A man stepped out of the car, closing the car door before looking around the area. He looked rather impeccably dressed for someone who, apparantly, wasn't used to wealth. 

His blue eyes landed on Mr. Gold, a flash of recognition followed by veiled anger seemed to dash across them before fading into neutrality. 

"So, this must be Storybrooke." The man said in an intrigued tone, hands in his coat pockets. 

"I suppose that depends..." Mr. Gold said turning away from the man to take the key out of the lock, keeping the door locked and placed the ring of keys back into his suit pocket. He reached for his cane and turned to face the stranger once more, resting both hands on the golden handle and looking the man up and down a few times. "...on who you are..." His Scottish accent was thick, yet able to hold a clear tone of authority, and although there wasn't but a street lamp twenty or so feet away to give any amount of light on this dark morning, a small glint in Mr. Gold's eye could easily be caught.

"Oh, excuse me, where are my manners?" The man walked forward until he was in reaching distance of Mr. Gold, holding out a single hand to shake. "Henry Carlyle." He greeted warmly enough, flashing a grin that seemed to exude total friendliness. "And you must be..." his eyes quickly flashed up to the tall sign by the building, "Mr. Gold?" He said, phrasing it both as a statement and a question. 

Mr. Gold's dark brown eyes looked down to the hand offered to him. His fingers twitched a bit ontop of his cane, but he made no other movement, showing no interest whatsoever in shaking the man's hand.

"Ah, so you [i]can[/i] read." Mr. Gold began, looking back up to the stranger; Henry. "Forgive my observation Mr. Carlyle, I had only assumed you couldn't since you had to stop and ask where you are, even though you clearly passed a sign welcoming you to into Storybrooke just down the road a ways on your way here." He gave no pause to let Henry respond in his defense, clearly taking control over the conversation.

"Just passing through then? It's not very often we get visitors here. Void the point; you need a place to stay. Granny's Bed and Breakfast is just down the way a bit-" Mr. Gold raised his cane to use the end to point down the road. "-I'd be happy to walk you there, I have business with the tennant as it happens." Again, Mr. Gold left open no gaps, no chance for reaction from the stranger before he began walking off in the direction he had been pointing at with his cane, seeming uncaring if Henry did chose to follow him or not.

Henry waited until the older man had walked away a bit before muttering to himself, "I'm starting to miss the giggle." Without skipping a beat, he followed Mr. Gold down the road, his coat flowing behind him in the cool breeze; the sun just beginning to shed its light across the horizon. 

He pushed his glasses up on his nose as he saw the modest, yet comfortable looking diner in the near distance. "What a charming little place." He commented with a hint of giddiness to his voice, trying the best he could to make conversation with the businessman. Mr. Gold, however, stayed silent and stopped at the door, allowing Henry to be the first to walk inside.

Despite it being just after five in the morning, the moment Henry opened the door, voices could be heard, and they didn't sound too friendly.

"You were out all night! And now you're going out again!" An elderly woman's voice echoed down the old, warped wooden stairs that led to the upstairs bedrooms.

"I should have moved to Boston!" Came a heated reply from a younger female, now emerging down the stairs with the older woman following just behind her.

"Well I'm sorry my heart-attack interfered with your plans to sleep your way down the eastern seaboard!"

The young woman walked right past Henry with annoyance in her step, not even noticing the strange man in the room and went through a separate, open doorway that looked as if it might hold the portion of the building where Granny lived in when she wasn't running the Bed and Breakfast.

Henry couldn't help but raise his eyebrows at the small altercation before the attractive, if not severely underdressed woman stormed by. "Well, this place is full of surprises." He commented in a tone that held slight amusement. 

His eyes turned to the small bell that rested on the vintage front desk. He quickly [i]dinged[/i] it, awaiting for the proprietor to arrive. 

Granny, who had stopped in the middle of the room to put her hands on her hips and watch her grandaughter leave in the middle of their argument, heard the bell and quickly turned around to see Henry standing there not ten feet away from her. Ruby, having heard the bell ding from the other room, even poked her head around the corner to look into the room to see him, both wearing utterly confused faces as they looked on him.

"Can I help you?" Granny asked after a brief, awkward silence, though the agitation in her voice from arguing with her grandaughter was still there.

"Yes, hello. I would like a room to stay in please." His face seemed to contort to one of deep thought for a moment, mumbling silently to himself before speaking again. "About two weeks, if you would." He decided, flashing that same grin he tried to use on Mr. Gold just minutes before. 

Ruby tentatively walked out from the seperate part of the room and up to Henry.

"Really?" She asked, sounding confused. Granny, however, didn't hesitate. Her face lit up immediately and she bustled herself to behind the counter in great eagerness.

"Would you like a forest view? Or a square view?" She asked, busying herself around behind the desk to try to locate the booking book that had long since been forgotten. Finally finding it, she blew away the dust that had collected on the jacket and opened it up onto the counter. "Normally there's an upgrade fee for the square, but, since you're new here I can waive it..." Granny offered.

"Well then, I'll take the square view, please." Henry replied, reaching into his coat as if to find something. His eyes narrowed again and he seemed to bob his head in waiting. He eventually pulled his hand back out, a wad of slightly crumpled bills in his hand. 

He counted out 40 dollars and placed them on the counter, where they seemed to try and naturally fold themselves again; no doubt from their awkward placement in his pocket. 

"This is such a quaint little building - I like quaint." He complimented, smirking with a warm look in his eyes. 

"It's not." Ruby directly said behind him with an air of bitterness, wrapping a thin silk scarf around her head to keep warm from the slight chill in the room.

"You hush your tramp mouth!" Granny snapped as she looked around for a pen. Finally finding one, she made sure it worked by scribbling in the book a few times before looking back up to the stranger wearing a smile. "Now, what's the name?" She asked cheerily.

"Uh, Henry Carlyle." He replied, seeming as if he came out of a quick reverie. In truth simply seeing all these people from the Enchanted Forest in a small little town with their own fake lives discombobulated him. But he kept his front well. 

The door to Granny’s Bed and Breakfast opened, and Mr. Gold finally decided to walk inside. Granny peered up from her glasses, and every ounce of her previous happiness seemed to have been sucked away from her as soon as she realized who it was that had entered the room. Abandoning her book to put Henry in, she immediately reached into a small pocket in her apron and pulled out a rolled up wad of cash and handed it over the counter to Mr. Gold with an angry, firm look on her face.

“It’s all here.” She said quickly as Mr. Gold reached over to take the wad of cash.

“Yes, of course it is dearie, thank you.” Mr. Gold replied politely and put the wad of cash into his suit jacket pocket. The silence in the room seemed to hang like a death omen as the exchange was made, even Ruby who had stayed more to the back kept quiet. Mr. Gold finally turned to Henry and gave a sideways smile. “You enjoy your stay here…Mr. Carlyle…” He said politely before turning to leave the room, meeting Ruby’s eyes in a silent stare before leaving the building completely.

Ruby opened up the curtain that kept the window covered just a hair to see him limping away, back to his shop, the look of total loathing for the man now clear on her face.

“Mr. Gold.” Granny explained, attempting to fill Henry in on what had just transpired. “He owns the place.”

"Oh yes, quite a peachy fellow." Henry replied with an ironic tone, hands in his coat pockets once again. "He owns the inn, you said?" Henry asked, turning towards Granny, his voice now inquisitive and serious; but not unfriendly. 

“No, the town.” Ruby corrected him. Granny shook her head, and attempted to pull herself out of the downward spiral her gut had taken the moment Mr. Gold entered the shop and attempted to clear the ominous air in the room. She reached for a single, steel key and handed it over to Henry.

“So glad you’ll be staying with us Mr. Carlyle. And welcome to Storybrooke.” She said before looking over his shoulder at Ruby. “Would you show our guest to his room? Or am I going to have to wish for it on my deathbed?”

Ruby rolled her eyes, unfolding her arms from across her chest and walked up to Henry and towards the staircase.

“This way.” She instructed unenthusiastically and went ahead of him up the stairs.

Henry took the key with a small smile and appreciative nod, turning hastily to follow Ruby upstairs. 

The room was moderately sized, the decor and wallpaper reminiscent of the 19th Century. The walls were colored a deep red with white floral pattern. The floor was a dark ivory colored carpet layering, but the creaks of the wooden foundation showed the building's age. As for furnishings, the room was outfitted with a double bed, rotary dial phone, a desk, a dresser, and a small radio on the bedside table. 

"Huh, I could get used to this." Henry commented, turning to Ruby as he spoke after quickly investigating his residence. 

Ruby had leaned herself against the doorframe, arms crossed over her chest making the white, half t-shirt ride up on her stomach even more than it was intended to. She popped a bubble with her gum as Henry turned to look at her, and with a sigh said,

"Please, let me know if you need anything. Granny and I want your stay here at Granny's Bed and Breakfast to be as comfortable as possible." She sounded more like she was just relating something she was forced to memorize, but when she spoke again, her voice changed into something that she would have personally said. "But seriously..." She let her eyes look Henry up and down in appreciation a few times, not even bothering to be subtle and popped a bubble again. "...if you need [i]anything[/i]" She heavily implied the last word, and let her ruby red lips curve up into a mischevious smile before letting herself up and off of the door frame to head back downstairs.

Henry's expression during Ruby's obvious attempt at flirting could only be described as a mixture of shock and confusion. "Um...ok!" He finally exclaimed once she had left his room, and he quickly shut the door behind her. 

Once he felt he was completely alone, he made his way over to the desk, procuring a slightly tattered map from his pocket and spreading it fully across the desk's surface. "Well now Rumpel, I've found you." He commented to himself; his voice now dark and cruel. But for the moment, he couldn't harm the Imp...not until the Deal was fulfilled. He would bide his time and wait - and strike once the iron was hot.

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As soon as Mr. Gold stepped outside from Granny's Bed and Breakfast, he headed out into the street just a ways so that he could get a clear look at the clock tower that was the center of Storybrooke. The hands showed 8:15, and they had shown 8:15 for as long as anyone could remember. However, as Mr. Gold seemed to stare the clock down, the minute hand suddenly jumped, now showing the time of 8:16, and Mr. Gold couldn’t help but to smile before heading off to his shop once more.