Tina looked at him for a moment before she nodded and headed back upstairs to tell Bae to eat. Gold would come up when he was damn well ready to, and not a minute before.

Gold worked for a little while longer, and then headed upstairs. He didn't feel like missing out on Tina's cooking.

Bae and Tina had already eaten by then but were still hanging around the kitchen chatting and drinking tea. Although Tina was looking more appalled as Bae told her about the plant he'd tried to keep alive in his kitchen window.

Gold made his way quietly into the kitchen, just listening to the easy conversation. He didn't actively try to sneak, but he didn't draw attention to himself, either. No more attention than he usually drew, anyways.

Tina noticed him, because she was used to tracking him, but Bae didn't notice immediately.

"You're never allowed to have plants," Tina told him. "Ever again. How can you kill those things? They don't require much."

Bae shrugged. "I guess I have a black thumb." He grinned.

Gold smiled quietly to himself and filled a plate for himself, although he didn't interrupt the two. He was glad they were getting along.

Bae and Tina continued to chat for a while until Bae got up to go for a walk. Tina watched him go, snorted, and looked at Gold.

"He's as stubborn as you are."

"Is that any surprise?" Gold asked, glancing at her. "He is my son, after all."

"True," Tina said. "But the resemblance isn't immediately apparent."

"No," Gold agreed. "He has quite a bit of his mother in him."

"If you say so." Tina shrugged and stretched, getting up. "Well, either way, he turned out fine."

"For which I am very glad," Gold said. He was quiet for a moment. "And it's likely because I was not there to make more of a mess of things."

"Perhaps," Tina allowed after a moment. "Although you hadn't done a poor job before. But, from what he's told me, you lost yourself for a while after you became the Dark One."

"I was weak," Gold said softly after a moment. "I can't say I'm proud of it."

"Everyone has times of weakness," Tina said quietly, setting a cup of tea in front of him before leaning down to kiss his cheek. "You just had more power at your disposal."

"I still do," Gold pointed out. "Thank you for the tea."

"Yes, but now you've got reasons to be good," Tina pointed out with a little grin as she sat down next to him, stretching out with her own cup of tea. "Or, you know, decently good."

"I do indeed," Gold agreed, grinning slightly. He looked at her. "Although there are limits to how good I can be."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Tina said with a little shrug. "I think you can be as good as you really want to be."

"I think you and I are going to have to agree to disagree on the subject," Gold said. He smiled just slightly. "You think better of me than I deserve."

Tina snorted. "Agree to disagree, indeed," she murmured. "Besides, someone has to be on your side, even if you aren't."

"If you insist, I won't stop you," Gold said, grinning just a bit at her.

A week or so later, Tina was in her room with Rachel, struggling to figure out how exactly the blasted dress was supposed to work.

"That's it, I'm not going, there are too many layers to this thing," she announced, scowling at the wall.

Rachel laughed a bit and went over to her friend.

"Let me help," she said. "I remember a little about wearing gowns." She sorted through the different parts of the gown. "This part first, and then this one, and then put on the gown itself."

"I refuse to wear anything with so many layers," Tina said, scowling at the fabric. "I'm just going in my normal, everyone else can just deal with it."