Archive of Our Own ^beta

Belle was cleaning in the foyer of the Dark Castle, getting rid of all the dust and the cobwebs around as she had been tasked. Rumplestiltskin had been gone for a while on another one of his deals and, as she waited for him to return, she made up her mind to complete a few chores and stop thinking of him, at least for a little while. The two became good friends along her months of living in the Dark Castle and lately, she had begun to think of the man more and more often, trying to catch a glimpse of his dragonhide coat or of his curly hair whenever she took care of her chores or rested with a book in her hands. She didn't know why it felt so important for her to be in his presence so very often, couldn't understand why she couldn't stop herself from thinking of him most of the time, yet she knew she had to stop.

While Belle was finishing up the task, Rumplestiltskin made his appearance in a puff of purple smoke right in the foyer. His hair looked somewhat unruly, his boots were quite muddy, which meant she would have to clean the floors as well, and he was holding on to his arm, seemingly hiding a wound. He noticed his little maid was also in the foyer and let out a sigh, attempting to make his wound unnoticeable. "And what, exactly, are you doing here, dearie?", Rumplestiltskin greeted her, scaring the living daylights out of her as she turned around to look at him.

Belle jumped when she suddenly heard him speak right behind her. She had her back turned on the man, so she turned around with a frown, hiding the smile that was slowly blooming, and playfully whacked him with the duster. "You irritating man. How many times do I have to tell you to stop frightening me so?", Belle replied and let her duster down, taking a good look at him. Just as she was about to start teasing him, she noticed him holding his arm, pressing against a wound with his other hand as he stood in the foyer. "What happened? Let me see?", Belle demanded as she watched him, offering him a pleading look.

Rumplestiltskin shook his head and refused to show anything, being perfectly capable of healing his wound either with a quick spell or a potion. Still, he noticed the look in her eyes, her determination setting him ablaze, and sighed, moving his hand away to allow her to have a look. "It's nothing, dearie. Just someone who thought they could take a quick swing at me right as I was about to transport myself back home is all", the man spoke, reassuring her she was alright, yet there was no talking with her. She dragged him away from the foyer and to the Great Hall and, before he could get another word in, she ran to bring materials to clean and patch up his wound.

Belle carefully took a look at his wound, touching his arm just for a few seconds to get a little closer. She noticed blood dripping from his wound and, while it was not severe, it had to be cleaned and taken care of. "That's not nothing", she protested and dragged him to the Great Hall, before running off to get supplies for his wound, completely forgetting that he could simply heal himself with a flick of his hand. She brought the necessary materials back and demandingly tugged on his jacket until it came off, not letting him get any word in, then sat on a chair right in front of him and grabbed a rag and a bowl of water. She began cleaning the blood and the dirt from his wound so very gently, so tenderly, holding on to his arm as she took great care of him, ignoring whatever he was trying to say.

"Belle, dearie, it's fine-", Rumplestiltskin began, yet Belle was already set in her proceedings as she prepared everything to look after him. "Dearie, it's alright, I can just he-", he continued, yet was rendered speechless by her cleaning up his wound without so much as a look of disgust. The sorcerer was not used to anyonr even asking about his well-being, let alone actually caring for him and treating him in such a manner, which was why he forgot all about his ability to simply heal himself when Belle began to care for his wound. He watched as the girl cleaned, then disinfected the wound with the medical solutions they had lying around the castle. He sat there, speechless as Belle then expertly wrapped the gauze bandage around his arm and tied it, making sure it was done properly and kept everything together.

With a pleased smile, she put the gauze away and looked over at Rumplestiltskin, who stared at her in absolute awe, not another word coming from his lips. "There. All better", Belle said and stood up from her chair, gathering all the materials to put them away. "We can change the bandage tomorrow", she spoke softly, moving away so she could leave.

Rumplestiltskin caught hold of her hand and tried to gather his words as she once again turned to look at him. "Thank you, Belle", was all he managed to say, still in shock that someone was willing to care for him, for the monster, with such kindness. She squeezed his hand, before leaving to take the materials back, and he caressed the bandage, feeling his shriveled up coal of a heart skip a beat.