Gold broke the kiss, leaving a few smaller kisses in its wake. He wasn't used to showing affection, but he was in a rather affectionate mood at the moment.

Tina grinned. "See, I knew you'd get used to me eventually," she murmured, kissing him once more for good measure.

"Indeed I did," Gold replied, returning the last kiss. "I have been trying to be more affectionate with you, though I believe I'm making progress."

"I would definitely call this progress," Tina agreed, smiling fondly. "Definitely."

Gold smiled a little and kissed her again gently. The workshop wasn't necessarily private, but when they were the only ones in the castle, he wasn't worried about anyone walking in on them at all, so he was comfortable with the affection.

Tina smiled and returned it. This she could definitely get used to. She probably wouldn't get a chance, but she definitely could.

It took a little while, but Gold did get better at being close and affectionate with her. They had the castle to themselves for a while, as well, something he was grateful for. Rapunzel was off with her pirate sailing gods-knew-where, the werewolf girl hadn't dropped by for a while, and the people in the nearby town knew better than to bother the Dark One. For a few months, life was good.

And then they had some unexpected guests.

"It'll be fine," Bae said as he walked with Henry and Emma up to the front door. "He'll help." He knocked loudly, deciding it was polite not to let himself in with guests.

Gold happened to be the closest one to the door, so he was the one to answer. He knew who it was, of course, his wards saw to that, but he was still curious as to what brought them to his door.

"Ah, this is a surprise," he said when he opened the door.

Bae nodded to him. "We were hoping you could help us out," he said quietly, glancing at Henry and Emma.

Emma scowled a bit but didn't deny that, because she could admit that she needed to get her magic under control. And so did Henry, now that he was showing signs.

Gold raised an eyebrow.

"Perhaps this is a conversation best had inside," he said, stepping aside to let them in.

Bae nodded and ushered the other two in, glancing around habitually as they made their way inside.

"Where's Tina?" Emma asked, frowning at Gold.

"Tina is feeling a little unwell today, I'm afraid," Gold replied as he took them to the sitting room. "Though I believe the more important question at the moment is what brings you to my doorstep?"

Emma shifted her weight uncomfortably. "I need help with my magic," she muttered after a few moments. "So does Henry."

"Oh really, now?" Gold asked, studying Emma and Henry for a moment. Emma didn't surprise him, but Henry did. "This is an interesting development."

Emma shrugged. "Yeah, well, nothing's happened yet, but I'd rather avoid anything bad happening at all."

"Indeed," Gold said, still studying them. "And what, pray tell, would be my benefit if I were to take you both under my tutelage?"

Emma shrugged. "You normally have something in mind," she said dryly. "You tell me." She crossed her arms over her chest.

"There is nothing I am in terrible, pressing need of," Gold said easily. "Not right at this moment. However, I would be more than happy to collect payment at a later date."

"So one favor." Emma looked at him evenly. She would be okay with that.

Gold raised an eyebrow.

"One favor for two new students seems a bit unbalanced," he pointed out. "Can't have that, now can we?"

"Two favors, from me," Emma said. She had kind of expected he wouldn't go for one favor. But she wasn't going to let him have a hold over Henry.

Gold studied her for a moment.

"Done," he said, nodding once. He could accept two favors from Emma, rather than the second from Henry. He wasn't in the habit of taking things from children, when he could help it, but he still needed a fair price for teaching two people.

Emma nodded. "Alright. How do you want to do this?" Because she wasn't sure if he wanted to teach them both at the same time, or have them stay for a few days. But she did want to check on Tina.

"Frankly, dearie, I've found that individual attention yields the best results with it comes to teaching magic," Gold said. "It matters not to me who I begin instructing first, but it will have to be one at a time."

Henry looked up at that.

"I'll go first," he offered, looking at Emma. Because honestly, this sounded awesome and he wanted to start as soon as he could.