![]() |
The sobs eventually tapered off.
"I don't know what to do now," Rachel murmured. |
"Now you go take a bath," Tina said. "And get some rest. We'll worry about everything else tomorrow."
|
"I..." Rachel looked at her and slumped a bit. "The tower?"
|
"If you don't start thinking I am going to slap you," Tina told her. "Of course not the tower, you idiot. There are about five other bedrooms that aren't used. And there's a natural hotspring too."
|
"Tina, I don't live here," Rachel said. "I don't know what's past the first sitting room." She was quiet for a moment. "And I can't imagine Gold is pleased with me coming here instead of finding somewhere else to go."
|
"Even if you don't know what's in here, you know I wouldn't put you in the tower," Tina said, her voice a little sharper than normal. "And Gold can just deal with it until we figure out what's going on with Hook."
|
"Alright," Rachel said. She toyed with her teacup for a bit. The tea had gone cold, but she took a sip anyways, barely noticing.
|
"Alright, up we go," Tina said, standing. "Bath first, you can change into something clean, and I'll show you to a room so you can sleep. You look like you haven't rested properly in days."
|
"I haven't," Rachel admitted as she stood up. Her hair trailed behind her, the bottom third or so all tangled and stringy. "Ever since the cave with the curse."
|
"Right. Off we go." Tina took her and led the way down to the hot spring. "In you get, you'll feel better."
|
Rachel let herself be led down to the hot spring. She paused when Tina opened the first door.
"These are Rumplestiltskin's rooms," she said, looking around. "Are you sure it's alright to be down here?" |
"Yes, yes," Tina said. "Well, as long as we don't dally, anyway." She moved through to the hot spring. "Although he spends more nights down in his workshop than in his room."
|
"I never knew there was a hot spring," Rachel commented as they went into the correct chamber. "We always got hot water up to the tower, but I never knew it came from a spring."
|
"Yeah. I didn't know either until I came to live here." Tina smiled a bit. "I swear that thing has magical powers."
|
Rachel didn't respond to that. All she wanted to do was clean up and then settle in for a while. Mechanically, she began to undress.
|
Tina waited to make sure she got into the tub and went to pull out fresh clothes for her. And then she went back to the hot spring and started taking care of Rachel's hair for her.
|
Rachel was already working on her hair at that point, trying to work out the tangles with a combination of a comb and magic. It was slow going, even as the hot water washed out most of the dirt and other general grime as she worked.
|
Tina sat down to help her, taking up another comb.
"You really did a number on this." |
"Wasn't really thinking about it," Rachel admitted as she kept working. "It was hard to focus enough to get it brushed and braided by myself when I wasn't even sleeping right anymore."
|
"Hopefully you'll be able to sleep after this," Tina said with a little sigh. "It won't be what you're used to on the ship, but it'll be something."
|
"I hope so," Rachel replied quietly. She could admit she was exhausted, but she wasn't sure she'd be able to sleep.
|
Tina took the time to go through her hair and make sure all of it was clean and washed and detangled before she braided it.
"Take as long as you want. I've got clean clothes out for you." |
Rachel considered it for a moment, and then shook her head.
"I shouldn't stay in here too long, I don't want Gold angry at me," she said quietly. |
"Alright," Tina said, moving out of the way so she could get out whenever she wanted.
|
Rachel climbed out of the hot spring and reached for a towel to dry off. She didn't care that Tina could see her naked; it wasn't the first time and at the moment, Rachel really didn't care. Once she was dry, she got dressed in the clothes her friend had brought for her.
|
| All times are GMT. The time now is 11:05 PM. |