#negating entirely but something he wants to move on from. Likewise we see him try to get responsibility from his past and make things better

[fragmentedblade]

It's sort of ironic how fans often link the leaf 🍁 to Dan Heng, considering "Feng" means "maple", but it's also so fitting

[worryinglyinnocent]

Fic: I Who Have No Need

Summary: Rumpelstiltskin tries to get to grips with those very annoying things called feelings, attempting to avoid his growing infatuation with Belle as much as possible.

Written for the @a-monthly-rumbelling December random prompt: Avalanche (song)

Rated: G

I Who Have No Need

Rumpelstiltskin isn’t really sure when he started to fall head over heels in love with his maid, but it’s really very annoying, because it’s something that he absolutely can’t control, and the idea of being enthralled like this is almost terrifying to him. 

Ever since becoming the Dark One, Rumpelstiltskin has, he will be the first to admit, revelled in the power that it brought him. His greatest regret is that it separated him from Bae, and he will do everything in his power to reunite with his son, but all the same, he made a vow when he took on this power that no-one would ever hold dominion over him again. He would make the rules and he would extract the prices. He will always set them fair, but he will not be cheated out of them. 

And now, this has happened, and Belle has come into his life. He can’t deny that he was the one who chose her as his price, and he was the one who brought her here, so really, he knows that he’s brought it on himself, in a way. 

All the same, he doesn’t think that he can be held entirely responsible. He didn’t know that she was going to affect him in this maddening manner. She holds power over him entirely without realising it, and that’s the most terrifying thing of all. Perhaps if she knew about the effect that she has on him, it would be easier to mask it because he would be on his guard all the time, looking out for any chance she might be taking of exploiting the monster’s weaknesses.

As it is, she just goes about her day blissfully ignorant of the torture she’s inflicting on Rumpelstiltskin as his common sense does battle with his constant paranoia and all of the voices of the Dark Ones that came before keep battling for dominance in his head. Some of them like Belle, some of them are suspicious of her, all of them are telling him that he’s a complete idiot for letting her get into his head like this. 

He finds it so ironic that he can have pretty much anything he desires - he has the magic and the means, and he has the power of so many deals and owed favours on his side. And yet, the one thing that he wants is the thing that’s so very close to him and yet so very unattainable. Belle is really not someone for the likes of him, a hideous old monster shut up in his dark castle with his dark deeds. She’s bright and happy and deserves someone who can make her even more so, not someone like him. 

It almost makes him angry, in a way. He’s the Dark One! He’s not looking for love! He doesn’t need it! Why is this happening to him?

He’s been stung by his own deal, which, whilst not an entirely new experience for him, is still sharp enough to make him wince. He is so tempted to try and solve the problem by simply sending Belle back whence she came. After all, he’s got magic enough to keep the castle in order without the help of a maid; he doesn’t exactly need a caretaker, he managed perfectly fine without one for the however many hundred years before Belle came into his life.

But their deal was for forever, something that Belle gladly agreed to if it would save her people, and if he lets her go now, she’ll want some kind of an explanation, even if he does give her a reassurance that it does not negate their previous deal and her friends and family back in the Marchlands will still be safe. 

He’s not inclined to give her that explanation, and he does not want to have to pick apart the threads of magic that the deal was woven with. 

So, Belle stays, and Rumpelstiltskin does the next best thing, avoiding her as much as possible. He stays shut up in his tower throughout the days and nights, waving Belle away when she comes in with his meals. Eventually, she takes to just leaving the tray outside the door and not even venturing into his domain, since his manner with her is so brusque and offhand. The last few times she did come in, Rumpelstiltskin could see the hurt in her face when he shooed her out again, and it made him sigh to think of it, because she’s so lovely and so wonderful, and he really doesn’t want to hurt her. 

Maybe he’ll stop feeling this way about her if he infuriates her to the point of hating him, because it’s hard to love someone who hates you. But Belle never seems to show any hatred. Just confusion, and hurt, not knowing what has happened to spark this change in him. 

Rumpelstiltskin tries to use the excuse that it’s all her fault that this is happening, that if she hadn’t been so beautiful both in face and spirit, he would never have fallen in love with her, but he knows that he’s being silly, and she can’t help his feelings.

Still, he thinks it best to avoid her. Just in case he ends up doing something that he regrets, something that will let her know the power that she has over him.

He thinks that his ploy is working perfectly until the moment he comes face to face with Belle and realises that she can be just as sneaky as he is. She’s brought him tea this afternoon like usual, setting the tray outside the door and knocking, and Rumpelstiltskin has heard the light tap of her feet moving down the staircase. 

When he opens the door to retrieve his tea, however, he finds that Belle has not gone down the staircase. She’s standing right outside the door with her shoes in her hands where she has silently come back up again, and he does not have enough time to escape back into his workroom before she speaks. 

“Have I done something to upset you, Rumpel?”

Rumpelstiltskin is so caught off guard by her appearance where he wasn’t expecting it that all he can do for the next few moments is just stare at her open-mouthed for a while. Finally, he shuts his mouth. Of course, the answer is yes, she has done something to upset him, but since the thing she has done equates to ‘existing’ and she doesn’t really have any control over that, he can’t really tell her so. 

“I never see you anymore,” she continues. “You always shut me out. I know we’re not exactly friends, but I like to think that we used to be civil to each other. Now you act like you can’t stand the sight of me and I’m some kind of evil presence that needs to be warded off. I don’t understand what I did wrong.”

Rumpelstiltskin opens and closes his mouth a few more times, willing some words to come out of it. None do. He can’t really tell her that he’s afraid of her. That would be absolutely ridiculous. Likewise he can’t really tell her the truth. That would also be ridiculous and would probably send her running for the hills. 

So, to get around this difficult situation of not knowing what to say, Rumpelstiltskin takes the easy (some would say, himself included, cowardly) way out and just slams in the door in Belle’s face. 

“I’m not going away until you talk to me, Rumpel!” Belle says crossly from the other side. He hears her small ‘hmph’ and knows she’s standing there staring at the door with folded arms and tapping bare foot, and in spite of everything, Rumpelstiltskin has to smile at the image. Still, he doesn’t open the door, and although it’s given him some thinking space, it’s not really given him all that much thinking space, and he’s certainly not using it to do any actual thinking. 

“I’ll eat all your cookies if you don’t come out!” Belle calls. 

Against his better judgement, Rumpelstiltskin opens the door at that. 

“You wouldn’t dare.”

Belle just raises an eyebrow and bites into a cookie. Rumpelstiltskin growls. Although it’s clear that she’s hurt by his rejection of her, she still shows no fear of him. She’s not shown any fear of him since he gifted her the library.

Why did he do that again?

Belle continues to eat the cookie as Rumpelstiltskin resorts to his last line of defence against his own stupidity and knocks his head repeatedly against the doorframe. He knows that to the outside observer the scene would be alarming, but Belle takes it all in her stride. She’s taken pretty much everything about him in her stride so far. 

“Cookie?” She holds out the plate. “Rumpel, what’s going on?”

He sighs, and takes a cookie, and gestures for Belle to follow him into the workroom. She picks up the tray and comes inside. 

“You haven’t done anything,” Rumpelstiltskin admits. “I just find you…”

Confusing? Distracting? Completely and utterly adorable? What’s the right word?

“You find me…” Belle prompts.

“Terrifying.”

That was not the right word. 

Belle takes a step back. 

“I terrify you? How?”

“No, no, that came out wrong. You in yourself aren’t scary. I’m just…”

“Oh.”

Realisation dawns on Belle’s face and Rumpelstiltskin feels like a rabbit staring down a wolf, although there’s nothing wolfish in Belle’s smile. It’s as friendly and open as it always is, no malice in it. In fact, there’s something of a blush in her cheeks, and a hint of hope in her eyes. 

“Well, whenever you’re ready to conquer your fear, I’m still here. And believe me. You have nothing to be scared of.”

She pecks a little kiss to his cheek and leaves the workroom, Rumpelstiltskin watching stunned as she hurries down the steps. He’s still processing what just happened, but maybe, just maybe, his feelings aren’t quite such a cause for panic and concern as he thought they were ten minutes ago.

[redslilstories]

Intimidating Cuteness

Author: lilyme (aka. redslilstories aka. me ;)) Summary: There was something going on inside the hospital. Something thought long in the past. To some it was confusing, to some even scary. But overall it was... cute. Pairing: Callie/Arizona Rating: T Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Grey's Anatomy". They were created by Shonda Rhimes and belong to her and the ABC network. No copyright infringement intended!All mistakes are mine.

Miranda Bailey loved herself a rare, quiet day at the hospital. A day that gave her a little bit of time to breathe. To go see if everything around her surgical wards was in order and her staff was doing alright.

She found it important to catch a disturbance in the force very early on to prevent it growing into a huge mess.

On her tour she stopped on the third floor nurses station to ask for the nurses' attendance report of the last few months and the schedule for the next weeks. She wanted to see if there were necessary improvements to make and maybe some additional nurses needed – if budget allowed.

After a while Deluca sat down at the station with a pensive expression on his face, looking into the direction of the hallway he had just come from. But since his mulling didn't appear to be work-related, Bailey chose to not ask him about it just now, still busy with her work at hand.

Five minutes later, Schmitt came along, looking a little anxious.

'It's getting weirder', Bailey thought in amusement, as the young man halted at the station. From the looks of it with a task on his mind, but something seemed to be hindering him from following through with it.

And it possibly had something to do with the direction both the surgeons had just emerged from.

Before Bailey had a chance to inquire what was possibly going on around there...

"Hey, has anyone seen what Robbins is up to?" Meredith Grey neared them from around a different corner with a tablet in her hand.

"You saw that too?" Schmitt's head shot up from where he must have found the floor very fascinating until now. And immediately that spooked out look was back in place, Bailey noted.

Next to him, Deluca showed a look of interest and equal perturbedness.

Apparently he knew exactly what his colleague was talking about. But the two of them were alone with that.

"What?" Meredith's face scrunched in bewilderment.

"What?" Deluca and Schmitt returned as one, the younger man pinching his glasses closer to his face, Dr. Grey's confusion being likewise confusing to him.

"You didn't mean...?" Deluca continued, but when Meredith's face no sign of cluing in, he paused.

"I was just asking because I need her for a consult," she drew out in explanation. "What are you talking about?"

Bailey nodded along with the inquiry, her curiosity now piqued as well.

"Nothing," Deluca returned and Schmitt shook his head in non-verbal agreement.

But the women wouldn't have it. They needed to know what 'that' referred to.

"Schmitt... Deluca...," Bailey admonished them while Meredith crossed her arms and gave them her most intimidating look.

The intern finally caved, "I just caught her... them... in the attendings' lounge".

With all eyes now on Deluca, this one added. "And me in the elevator earlier".

"Okay," the Chief returned, "but what do you...," she prompted, still not following what the problem at hand actually was. Until... her eyebrows shot up as a possible scenario dawned on her.

"Oh, no!" Deluca negated, standing from his chair and holding out his arms emphatically. "Nothing like that. They were decent. Just really..."

"Cuddly and in love," Schmitt added.

"Who's the other one?" Bailey questioned further. It was none of her business and usually she kept out of any personal matter, but if it happened inside her hospital and affected the processes in it, she had to know.

The men just looked at each other. And Bailey and Meredith contemplated if it was someone unexpected.

Someone they wouldn't imagine cuddly and in love with Arizona Robbins.

At least... not anymore.

They exchanged a look. Could this really be? Had they really found their way back again? After years of separation and having lived themselves apart? The last one quite literally. Two people living in the States could hardly live further apart than those two had. Until recently.

"I think we should...," Meredith pointed into the direction, and Bailey cocked her head with an agreeing jut of her lip. They needed to see this for themselves.

They abandoned the baffled men and hurried off to the attendings' lounge.

Almost missing Schmitt's hesitantly begging voice that spoke. "Can you tell Dr. Torres Dr. Hunt is looking for her...?" Seemingly unheard by the two women, he turned and confessed to the Deluca, "She scares me".

He had a reason. Upon the news of her return, stories of everything Torres-related bas eventually also reached the interns. And had some effect.

Callie Torres... had an everlasting reputation at the hospital. Dating from years back where at times she could seem a bit intimidating and aloof. Plus there was also the stories of resident Torres always being the first to answer a page and showing up a mere minute after an emergency came in – no matter what time of day it was. To this day it was still a mystery to most people, how that was possible.

Deluca, who knew Torres enough to not be intimidated and especially knew the answer to this mystery from his roommate, meanwhile pondered a problem himself. "I might have to consider looking for a new place."

On their way to the mentioned location, Bailey and Grey were joined by Amelia Shepherd. "Hey, where's the fire?" she joked confronted with their determined pace.

"Possibly some rekindling in the attendings' lounge," Bailey returned and Amelia scrunched her face in confusion at the unexpected reply.

"What? I don't...," she wondered, but stopped, when they had reached their destination. And just like that found herself unable to voice more than a surprised, "Whoa...".

Because there they were. Still on the room. With Callie sitting on the sofa and Arizona relaxing in her lap, with her arm drawn around Callie's neck and its fingers lazily weaving through the long dark hair. In between she put sweet little kisses on the brunette's cheek and temple, while the other woman was apparently trying to work... as far as the tablet in her single free hand indicated. If she was actually being successful in that... was unclear.

The new arrivals watched through the open door. Not very sneaky of them, they knew. And not very sneaky of Torres and Robbins either.

But who knew if they even tried to keep it a secret.

"Uh-hum," Meredith cleared her throat to get their attention. "Hey, uh, Arizona, could you hop off? I kind of need you for a consult on Mrs. Cooper," she smirked, choosing not to comment on their cozy embrace just now, rather letting her face speak. Talking about this situation could come later.

Bailey on the other hand, opted to share her thoughts now. "It's good to see you back," she said in a genuine voice.

It counted for several reasons. Callie being back at the hospital certainly was an amazing development. Torres was still the most accomplished ortho surgeon she had ever known. And the two years spent in New York, while little successful on the relationship front, had not diminished any of that.

Quite the contrary.

And seeing Callie and Arizona back together was also something she didn't object. It always had been clear to her that those two belonged together, no matter what.

"Oh, and Schmitt said to say that Hunt is looking for you," she added, but had Callie confused for a moment. Confused and also slightly blushing from the continued attention of their three friends lingering in the doorway.

"Uh, 'Schmitt'?" she chose to distract herself. She still not entire caught up on the new interns and residents in the hospital. Given it was her second week back, it was not that bad, she hoped.

"'Glasses'," Amelia provided, having entirely forgotten what she had wanted to do before this interesting situation had turned up.

"Or 'Blood Bank'," Arizona added one more of the many nicknames the man was known by, as she stood up and offered Callie a hand. She smirked at her new old lover's tinted cheeks.

They had been dating for a while in secret. Having been in a long-distance-relationship for four months before Callie finally had the chance to move back to Seattle.

And of course then... with the prospect of them both working at Grey Sloan Memorial again, they had wondered about how to break the news of their newfound togetherness to their friends and colleagues.

This right here... was actually not the worst start.

"Oh... right!" the brunette realized. "I saw him through the window. Why didn't he tell me himself?"

"Um, well...," Amelia prompted to the enamored position they were just scrambling out of. With Arizona right now straightening the front of Callie's scrubs that had become a bit crumpled.

Bailey shooed her away with an amused hand on her arm, before turning back to the two lovers. "I guess he's heard all the intimidating rumors about you," she grinned at the oddness of all these stories being a stark contrast to what she was currently seeing here.

"Which is not the worst thing," Meredith shrugged as they waited for Callie and Arizona step out of the room.

One could see that the two of them were happy together. And no matter what the hospital rumor mill or anyone else would think about this, this was what really counted.

END