Agrabah: The Air Smells of Spice (for onceaheroine)

[with_aprice]

"Belle!"  Rumpelstiltskin had (patiently, in his opinion) looked for close to ten minutes for the woman who was supposed to be his caretaker.  It annoyed him that she was so difficult to find.  He'd been gone a week, so it wasn't as if she had much actual work to do, so where she could be he didn't know.  He'd checked the kitchen (and stopped for a

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[onceaheroine]

The kitchen garden was yielding up some delicious vegetables, even this high in the mountains, so she put her time in there every day, making sure that things remained waters and that no pests were eating the tender shoots.

He'd been gone for a while, and so she thought herself safe to purloin a pair of breeches she'd laundered for ease of work. Her own blouse was light and pleasant in the airy garden, but hardly modest without a bodice, so it was probably a good thing to be alone, hair bound atop her head with a scarf, gauzy blouse and tight breeches that stopped just below her knee. She was relaxed and comfortable.. so of course, that would be when he'd return and start bellowing.

Shit, Belle thought.

No time to go and change, make herself presentable. Shit.

"I'm coming," she called, letting down her hair, at least, and finger-combing it out as she trotted up to the Great Hall. "I'm coming."

[with_aprice]

The relief he felt in hearing her voice was only that he didn't have to keep searching for her, of course. Nothing else.

"It's about..." She was wearing his breaches. The shirt he didn't recognize since it was usually under something, but those wear without question his leather breaches. Well, wasn't that interesting?

"With a quiver of arrows and a mask you could almost make a presentable highway bandit." There, that was just the right amount of snark.

[onceaheroine]

"Ha, ha," Belle folded her arms and tried to look prim in spite of the blush that colored her cheeks at being caught in trousers. "It's nice to see you, too, Rumplestiltskin. Welcome home."

His eyes lingered over her curves and Belle couldn't help but think of the way his hands liked to linger at her hips, too. It didn't help her blush.

[with_aprice]

"Glad I have a home to come back too. You didn't set the kitchen afire, I see." Which is, in Rumpel-speak 'I'm glad to see you too.' It was also a better option than the other thing he was thinking, which went along the lines of 'spin around dearie so I can see how ell you fill in the trousers at the back.'

"I just popped in for a change of clothes, if you'r not wearing them all. I have another trip to make."

[onceaheroine]

She looked crestfallen -- which was a change from embarrassed. "You're going away again? But you just got back."

[with_aprice]

"Can't be helped. You know I never turn down a cry for help." His grin grew bigger. "You didn't miss me, did you?"

[onceaheroine]

Belle rested her hands on her hips, and shrugged. No point in making a show of pretending. "It's a big castle. And terribly quiet when I'm alone here."

[with_aprice]

It wasn't a declaration of missing him, but it would do, for now. He took a step closer to her.

"Agrabah is never quiet, unless you escape to the desert." He brushed an invisible piece of lint from his shirt sleeve, seeming to give it most of his attention. "I don't suppose you'd be interested in seeing it?"

[onceaheroine]

He'd mentioned Agrabah to her before, the heavy scent of spice in the air, the silks, the sultry heat, and Belle has read tales from that far-off land. The stories of Scheherazade were among her favorites, and Rumplestiltskin has told her about flying carpets and genies.

"Are you serious? I would absolutely love to come!"

Getting out of the castle for a while would be a delight all by itself, but a chance to see the world? Even better.

[with_aprice]

He'd planned on taking her, when the opportunity arose. He hadn't known he'd be summoned so soon, but apparently the Sultan was having problems. Fortunately there didn't seem to be anything else on the horizon, and they'd be able to spend a few days there; she didn't need to know that the extra time was on her behalf.

"You'd best run up to your room and change, then. That's hardly an appropriate look." Though he certainly wouldn't mind catching her at it again. He wondered if she often stole his clothes when he was gone. "You'll find something more suitable on your bed."

[onceaheroine]

Belle beamed at him, and nodded, "Thank you," she said. "Thank you so much." She turned and headed out of the room, the leather trousers lending a swagger to her gait that wasn't usually there. Once she reached the main staircase, she broke into a run.

Upstairs, though, her eyebrows climbed for her hairline. "Rumplestiltskin!" she called, barely raising her voice. He could hear when his name was called, even kingdoms away. "Rumplestiltskin!"

There were scraps of cloth and a strange assortment of golden jewelry. The problem was that the rest of the clothing appeared to be missing.

[with_aprice]

He answers even quicker, when he'd been expecting the call. He'd known, with almost absolute certainty, that she would not simply get dressed.

After popping into her bedroom proper, twice, and getting scolded both times he's learned to show up in the hallway instead. He knocks swiftly on the door. "Ready to go already, pet?"

[onceaheroine]

"There's only underwear here." Belle peeks out into the hallway, dressed in only her chemise. She brandishes the blue fabric.

[with_aprice]

His eyes sweep over the blue material in her hands, as if something might have gone missing since he placed it on her bed. And then, because she's only in her chemise, his gaze rakes over her as well.

"Not at all. That's the very height of fashion, in Agrabah."

[onceaheroine]

She's used to him devouring her with hands, eyes and mouth -- the long stare doesn't bother her. The scraps of fabric do, though. Belle separates the two pieces, one is some sort of gauzy trousers, but there's not much to the other part.

"I'm not sure this even counts as clothing, Rum."

[with_aprice]

He pushes and tugs and maneuvers her back into the bedroom, not bothering to close the door since it's not like anyone can see them. He lays the clothes back on the bed and soon his nimble fingers are undoing the ribbon that holds the neckline of the chemise tight.

"Princess Jasmine wore something very similar last time I saw her. You'll stand out more dressed in your normal clothes than you will in this."