A/N: So this was just something I came up with in between whilst writing my other two fanfics and a short original story.
Another Dark Castle
Belle shook her head at the sight of all his stuff. How he managed to keep all of this was beyond her. She could hardly walk through the hallways without hitting something, not to mention something made of metal or other hard material. There were bruises developing on her frail, white skin, though the cotton dress hid those features about her. Still, he was swept away by her beauty. Her long brown hair usually done up in some hair style she'd do herself, while she was just beginning to understand the concept of mascara, thanks to Ruby. Today, she'd done it perfectly, and she was proud of it.
However, today she didn't have anyone to show it to. No, today she was cleaning out the house because in her mind, this place was a disaster! Mr. Gold was working overtime tonight, claiming he had other business after locking up the pawn shop. So, Belle decided she'd take advantage of this time. Hoping to surprise him, Belle began by searching through the cabinets. No surprise, there was not a single spray can for cleaning up dust.
Although he'd yell at her for leaving, she knew she had to get out of the house. She snuck by the shop without him noticing, for he was in his office, focused on something or otherwise intently engaged, as usual. Her feet ran swiftly as she held up her blue and white cotton dress. Belle knocked on the door of the person she knew could help her out.
"Cinderella," Belle said, panting slightly. Ashely answered the door, the baby in her arms, gasping as she saw Belle.
"Belle!" she exclaimed, opening the door wider. "Come in."
Shawn was also at work, so Cinderella was just tending the the baby, about to put him down for another nap, for he was getting fussy and crabby again.
"I hope I'm not interrupting," Belle said.
"Oh no, not at all," Ashely replied. "Just ready to put Pumpkin here down."
"I thought you might know where I can get cleaning supplies," Belle said.
"Well, yeah," Cinderella said. "How much do you need?"
"A lot," Belle said, emphasis on that last word. Ashley began to piece together that she planned on cleaning house today, so after putting the baby down for a nap and calling Gretel at the last minute to babysit for her, she left a note for Gretel on the door and took Belle to the general store.
A sneeze fell through the air, and Cinderella wished the dwarf well before taking Belle to the isle where she did all of her shopping.
"That's for dust," she pointed to white can. "That's for glass." She pointed to a clear bottle filled with clear liquid. "And that's for your kitchen floor and other tiled areas."
Belle stared for a minute at the modern version of the mop. It used steam instead, and there was no bucket.
"That's amazing!" Belle said, looking at Ashley as if she didn't believe it was true at first, but Cinderella nodded.
"It's a whole lot easier. Especially if you're moving around all that stuff. Are you sure you don't want help?"
"You would?" Belle said, giving her a weak smile, lifting her eyebrows in appreciation.
"Of course! Gretel's fine. She knows who to call," Ashley said, nodding. They purchased the new supplies and made their way back to Rumpelstiltskin's house.
Right when Ashely entered, her nose was turned away and she herself sneezed.
"ACHOO!" as she did so, she hit a statue of a gargoyle. "OW! What the-ugh, and I though Shawn was bad...I pity you, honey!"
Belle smirked, setting the bags of supplies on the kitchen table. Cinderella set the mop against one of the chairs. The girls decided to start with the living room, where there was a fireplace that probably hadn't been tended to since she last was inside the dark castle. It looked like the exact same one too. Their rags were immersed in black from the dust and old ashes. Belle swept the old ashes into a pail, both of them sneezing quite a bit. Then, Ashley carried the full bucket outside, where she dumped it into what she thought was a fire pit.
"Is that a fire pit out there?" she asked, coming back in to see Belle dusting off a shelf while its contents were placed on the mantel.
"Once upon a time," Belle replied.
The girls cleaned out the rest of the fireplace, deciding to leave a log for last as a finishing touch. Ashley dusted off the relics with care as Belle dusted off the shelves. They went through five rags on the fireplace, and now they were reaching for more from the kitchen. There were plenty to go around, but the girls thought this would never end.
"Where does he keep all of this?"
"He just leaves it out. I hit it all the time," Belle said.
"I'm shocked nothing's broken and he hasn't yelled at you yet."
It was well into the afternoon, when the doorbell rang. It was Gretel.
"Shawn's home now. He took the rest of the day off. Whatcha doin'?" the girl asked. The two looked at each other and smile. Ashely bribed Gretel to help them, saying she'd get a little extra cash.
Gladly, the girl obliged, and then there were a three women working. Belle dusted relics this time while Gretel dusted shelves and Ashley cleaned off the mirrors. When that room was done, they realized they would need a lot more help. Although the room was large that they had done, it was just the cleaning of the shelves. A good vacuuming could be done as well. Ashley saw that it was getting to be closer to noon.
"I'm calling Snow," she announced, taking out her phone and dialing the number.
