Archive of Our Own ^beta

One more day in the Dark Castle came and Belle woke up in her bedroom, shivering. Early morning had risen and it seemed she was in for a drafty day around the estate's corridors. The woman was tempted not to leave the comforting warmth of her blankets and the softness of her pillows, yet the minutes were passing by fast and she had to get up to prepare the morning tea and breakfast for her grumpy master. Although they had begun to get along throughout her months of living in the same home and Rumplestiltskin had proven to be much kinder than anyone made him out to be, she still did not wish to be late in conducting her chores.

Belle left her bed with a hesitant groan and a shiver took over her, then headed over to her wardrobe to prepare for the day. She quickly dressed in one of her usual attires, her blue corseted dress, shoved her feet in a pair of heeled shoes and brushed her hair, struggling to detangle it for a little while before it finally gave in. Although the fireplace was alight, the woman was still quite cold, probably due to the winter temperatures rapidly engulfing the realm, and she dreaded to walk down the hallways of the estate. Leaving her bedroom, she was taken aback by the cooling air in the hallways, and she hurried downstairs towards the Great Hall, where she would greet Rumplestiltskin before preparing breakfast and the morning tea.

Belle made up her mind to go look for her green cloak (another gift from her master) in the foyer before meeting Rumple, yet she remembered with an unsatisfied moan that she had just washed her cloak, which was still drying on the strings in the courtyard. Her footsteps carried her to the foyer, looking for anything, any coat that would keep her a little warmer that day in the castle. Her eyes landed on the hanger, where one of Rumplestiltskin's long dragonhide coats was resting, one he usually wore during his travels across realms. She quickly decided on what she would be doing and she grabbed the coat from the large hanger, then quickly put in on, seeking any bit of warmth it could possibly offer. The brunette noticed the coat was quite heavy, yet comforting, the sleeves quite long and covering her hands entirely, the collar keeping her neck away from the draft. A certain scent clung on to the heavy coat she was wearing and she couldn't help but take it in and revel in it, the scent of old parchment, leather, pine trees, straw and something so unexplainably him engulfing her senses and bringing a strong blush to her cheeks.

Before any more time could pass by without any notice, Belle hurried towards the Great Hall, where Rumplestiltskin was waiting at the head of the table to greet her, as he always did. She walked through the doors of the chamber and headed up towards his chair, until she stood right in front of him.

The man stood up to greet her, toying with his silk shirt and vest to make sure they were perfectly aligned. "Good morning", Rumplestiltskin addressed her, before his eyes fully took in the sight of her wearing his coat. All words died on his tongue and he remained there speechless, his eyes widening as they moved up and down her body, observing the sight of his beautiful little maid wearing his coat. His. With no seeming disgust or remorse, no sign of being ill at ease, only with a soft smile on her lips that brightened up the room, Belle stood right in front of his eyes, wearing his coat. The long dragonhide jacket looked so much larger on her short, petite frame, the sleeves almost trailing down, the collar rising and trapping a few of her curls in, yet she looked so very content, as if she desired to be wearing such a thing. The man usually wore the coat in order to add to his intimidating façade, to further bring those dealing with him even lower, yet he was sure that, if she asked it of him, he would get down on his knees and fulfill her every demand. "You're uh...you're wearing my coat, dearie. Has your sight betrayed you that you were not able to see that?", was all Rumplestiltskin could say instead, not trusting his voice to carry out more than the light teasing he offered.

"Good morning to you too", Belle greeted him with her usual smile, standing straight in front of him. She noticed how his eyes kept travelling up and down her form, how he kept staring at her, having chosen to wear his clothes so bluntly. She wondered if she had chosen to do the wrong thing, if she had to have asked for his permission first before borrowing his clothing, if she was not allowed to be wearing his coat. The man took a long time to observe her from head to toe and seconds turned into hours as she stood under his burning gaze, her hands fidgeting with the large sleeves. "I know. My cloak is outside, hanging on the strings, because I washed it the other day. I was quite cold, I had nothing else to cover with, to keep myself warm and I sw your coat on the hanger and decided to borrow it. Is that alright? I can take it off-", Belle offered, her eyes wide, making to brush the coat off her shoulders, before rapidly being interrupted by Rumplestiltskin, who was still taking it all in.

"No, no, dearie, it's quite alright. You can uh...keep it, wear it for now", Rumplestiltskin offered with a few vague hand gestures as he once again straightened up the coat on her. He quickly removed his hands from her, not wishing to touch her for more than what was necessary, not daring to inflict her with a monster's touch, though she did not seem at all opposed to it. He found that he could barely remove his eyes off of her, his brave little maid donning a beast's attire with such ease, not at all repulsed by the idea of it.

He was shaken up by the very sight and almost missed the girl's question as she looked up at him expectantly with those beautiful blue eyes that he could have drowned in- focus! He brought his attention back and finally realised what she was asking of him. "What tea would you like today? And what would you like for breakfast?", Belle asked with her usual cheery smile, relieved to see he was not angry or repulsed by her wearing his dragonhide coat. She waited a little for his answer, before the man finally found his words to speak. "Ah...no need to trouble yourself this morning, dearie", Rumplestiltskin said and waved his hand, a full breakfast spread appearing on the long mahogany table, along with a tea tray with two cups, one of them chipped, waiting for them to enjoy. Belle took it all in, surprise clearly written on her face, before taking a seat with a pleased smile on her face and grabbing her cup off the tray, steaming tea filling it to the brim. The girl didn't ask any further questions when his gaze inherently kept moving to admire her unabashedly, or when all the fireplaces in the Dark Castle were blazing to keep the estate warm.