anonymousnerdgirl said:
SiG prompt: Belle knows Regina's weekly meeting is her excuse to have sex with Graham who is really the Huntsman and not a willing participant. To distract herself Belle visits Mr. Gold's shop.
anonymousnerdgirl said:
SiG prompt: Belle has a close up view of Rumplestiltskin and Regina's encounter in The Thing You Love most. Belle suspect he remembers or is at least waking up and she is turned on by the apple toss.
Belle had hoped that her Rumple was waking up after Emma arrived. Admittedly, she'd had only the vaguest of reasons for that hope but it had still been there, foolishly rekindled as she knelt in the grass in the backyard collecting fallen apples and branches from the savior's earlier chainsaw attack on Regina's prized tree. Regina, surprisingly, was doing a bit of the manual labor herself. She was certainly complaining about Belle's lack of enthusiasm for the task at hand, but she was at least pruning the tree herself and had helped with collecting the larger branches.
As the women worked, Mr. Gold appeared. Belle saw him slightly before Regina, though she couldn't be sure if it was because he approached from the side garden that she had been facing towards, or because she was just prone to noticing him whenever he was around – he always drew her eye and he always had since the first day he'd appeared in her father's throne room.
"What a mess," he said into the quiet night.
Belle saw the surprise on Regina's face at his appearance, but all trace of it was gone before she turned towards Mr. Gold.
"Not for long," she replied with a shark-like smile firmly in place. "What can I do for you, Mr. Gold?"
"Oh I was just in the neighborhood," he replied too casually. "Thought I'd pop by. Lovely to see you in such high spirits."
"Well, it's been a good day," Regina said. Gods, Belle hated how smug she sounded. "I just rid the town of an unwanted nuisance."
"Emma Swan?"
"Yes, I imagine she's halfway to Boston by now."
"I wouldn't bet on that," he replied coolly. "I just saw her strolling down the Main street with your boy. Thick as thieves, they looked."
"What?" Regina snarled, glaring at Belle for the first time in this conversation. Belle merely shrugged. If she was supposed to help with the apples, how was she supposed to keep an eye on Henry at the same time?
"Perhaps you should have come to me?" he replied, his voice faltering slightly as he followed Regina's gaze to look at Belle for a split second before returning his attention to Regina. "Miss Swan is a problem you can't fix, I'm only too happy to help...for a price."
Belle had a hard time focusing on the rest of the conversation as they circled each other like rival tomcats and made vague threats towards each other. They did this on occasion, she knew, though rarely with her in attendance. Regina didn't like Belle being around him and he had no reason to seek her out. He'd never so much as spared her a glance in Regina's presence before, either. She darted her eyes back and forth between them as they traded veiled barbs about Emma's presence.
Belle was a little on edge, her hands fisting the fabric of her skirt. It always made her uneasy when they did this. She knew that Regina would halfway blame her for it, but more than that she was never sure what Mr. Gold intended by doing this. Still, though, it was nice to see someone causing Regina grief, no matter how bitter that thought was. She just wished her position wasn't so very vulnerable and that it didn't depend so very much on Regina's continued good mood.
"I really must be going," he finally said as he turned to leave. Belle recognized the smile on his face, he was happy about how far he'd pushed Regina.
"Tell me what you know!" she demanded, stepping around to block his path.
"I'm not going to answer you, dear," he said almost too low for Belle to hear. "So I suggest you excuse me. Please."
Regina's face went through the most remarkable series of expressions ranging from anger, to terror, to confusion. Belle was confused, but even had she been able to speak she'd have been smart enough not to interrupt this...whatever it was. Gold took a bite of an apple he'd picked up when he arrived and stepped around Regina.
"Good evening, Miss," he said with a strange half smile to Belle that caused her to bite her lip and glance down shyly at the basket in her lap. She'd never stopped harboring a little crush on Mr. Gold, even when he wasn't Rumpelstiltskin. It was surprising how handsome he could be, though she suspected both men would have argued with her assessment.
He swaggered away even with his limp, leaving Regina staring at him in disbelief as he tossed the apple aside. It seemed to take the queen a little while to remember Belle was even there, glowering at her angrily.
"Oh, get back to work," Regina snarled as she stomped into the house leaving Belle to finish clearing the lawn, which actually went faster without Regina standing over her.
Her Rumpelstiltskin was coming for her.
As the weeks ticked by and he gave no other sign of remembering her, Belle's excitement gradually cooled. By the time he admitted to understanding her fingerspelling, she was sure that Gold was attracted to Delilah but wasn't convinced enough that Rumpelstiltskin remembered Belle to risk confiding in him. Gold and Regina were adversaries, but he would think she had lost her mind if she confessed to being a fairy tale character he'd kept in a dungeon, after all.
She did begin spending more time with him in his shop as Henry began spending more time with Emma, though. It was a bittersweet arrangement. She was happy that Henry had finally found his birth mother – and relieved that Emma had accepted him – and the fact that Mr. Gold wanted her around was beyond anything she'd dared to dream of for the last twenty-odd years, but she missed Henry's company, too. She had raised him like her own child, and he bore more of her personality than either of his mothers', and she missed him being hers. Saturdays were especially hard.
Saturday was when Regina had her "city council meetings" – a meeting for which she would carefully apply a smokey eye, deep red lipstick, and wear a slinky dress. Henry hadn't figured it out yet (and Belle wouldn't tell him unless he asked, she wouldn't steal this piece of innocence from him), but Belle had lived in Regina's castle. She had met the Huntsman – who now went by Sheriff Graham Hubert – and she knew what Regina had done to him in their world, and what she was still doing to him in this one. There were some things that Belle could never forgive Regina for, and these Saturday morning appointments were among them.
Belle had been used to movies with Henry on Saturdays, followed by ice cream sundaes and a walk around town. But now, Henry was spending any available time with Emma and Belle was definitely a third wheel with them. The only thing worse than being replaced was trying to pretend like the competition didn't bother her (it really did).
She had tried spending her afternoon at home alone (she had her books now, after all) but rapidly became restless and lonesome. There was nothing for it, she'd already finished one of the two books Mr. Gold had lent her, she would just have to go back and swap it out.
If nothing else, there weren't many things more enjoyable to her than waiting to see little pieces of Rumple bleeding through the Mr. Gold. He was shockingly attentive to her lately in private. In public, he still ignored her the same way he did everyone else (which suited Belle just fine, the last thing she needed was Regina catching wind of what was happening under her nose), but in the shop it was almost like old times.
She had to force herself not to smile too hard at the tinkling of the little bell over the door, or the slightly dumbfounded smile that she saw flash across his face as he walked from the back room and saw her face.
"Ah, Delilah," he said a little breathlessly. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
H-E-N-R-Y-O-U-T-W-I-T-H-E-M-M-A, she signed slowly.
He nodded politely.
"I take it the mayor is less than good company?"
She made a face at him.
R-E-G-I-N-A-H-A-V-I-N-G-A-F-F-A-I-R-W-I-T-H-S-H-E-R-I-F-F, she added. She liked the way he moved his lips as he sounded out her letters and attempted to make sense of her words before his eyes lit up with comprehension.
"I see," he said darkly. "And you disapprove?"
She nodded, but didn't elaborate as she came up and perched on the counter. He seemed a little taken aback, but not in a bad way. Shocked, maybe, at her boldness, but not unhappy. He stared at her for a moment with a little half-smile on her face that she recognized from their time living together.
I-D-O-N-T-W-A-N-T-T-O-T-A-L-K-A-B-O-U-T-T-H-A-T she finally signed to him.
"Then what would you like to talk about?"
I-T-H-O-U-G-H-T-I-D-T-E-A-C-H-Y-O-U-S-O-M-E-S-I-G-N-S, she spelled before a thought occurred to her. I-F-Y-O-U-W-A-N-T.
"Well," he said with a smile that was bordering on happy. "It would probably be silly to turn down a language lesson from a native speaker. Do your worse, dear."
Yes, this was definitely a good way to spend a Saturday. Much better than moping around the house or tagging along with Henry and Emma, anyway. Having someone be so happy to spend time with her was such a novel experience she almost wanted to cry. He would wake up soon, she knew, but until then this was almost good enough.