Chapter Text
Gold grumbled under his breath at the sound of his doorbell. It had been an interminable day. His leg was aching, foretelling snow tomorrow, and whoever was foolish enough to bother him at home in order to make a deal was going to find himself facing steep terms indeed. He was in no mood to be generous with fools.
“Trick or treat!”
Gold blinked as he opened his front door to find a small girl with a gap-toothed smile wearing a blue dress with a white apron holding out a bag. Behind her stood a woman wearing a tailored red jacket that she’d paired with a blue bow tie and a very short white skirt, an oversized pocket watch hanging around her neck and fluffy bunny ears holding back her tumbling chestnut curls.
Oh hell, that was tonight.
The rabbit-woman—Jefferson’s sister, Belle, Gold identified—was new in town, but that was no excuse. Everyone knew that Mr. Gold didn’t participate in the extortion racket known as trick or treating. Children shouldn’t be rewarded for begging like vagrants, and the subsequent sugar high resulted in nothing but delinquent behavior. If he had his way, Halloween would be stricken from the calendar, but although he ruled Storybrooke, the rest of the world hadn’t quite caught up.
Neither, apparently, had Belle French.
“Go away,” he snapped.
Belle giggled like he’d told a joke, the sound cutting off when he started to slam the door in her face. “Whoa! What do you think you’re doing?”
Gold glared down at the high-heeled foot that had insinuated itself between door and frame. “Don’t make me call the sheriff to have you removed.”
The little girl’s face crumpled at his threat, but instead of escorting her niece away to more welcoming environs, Belle glared at him like he was doing something wrong.
“Grace, I lost one of my earrings, could you check the front walk for it?” she asked, and the little girl scuttled away.
A tiny diamond stud glittered in each of her earlobes, catching Gold's eye when Belle leaned closer. “My niece is painfully shy. It took me two weeks to convince her to go trick-or-treating because she needs more practice interacting with people. This is our first house, and you are not going to ruin this night for her.”
“You chose poorly, Miss French. Anyone in town could tell you that. I do not participate in this irritating so-called holiday, and I would thank you to remove yourself and your niece from my property.”
“Your light was on!” Belle’s eyes flashed outrage at him.
“Why should I extinguish my light and provide a convenient cover of darkness for juvenile delinquents to play their empty-headed pranks when everyone in Storybrooke knows better than to bother me?” She was in the wrong, not him, and Gold took grim pleasure in reminding her of that.
To his annoyance, Belle made no move to remove her foot. “According to the customs of trick-or-treating, one signals participation by leaving his porch light on. Anyone who does not wish to participate turns his light off. I don’t care what everyone knows. You are the one who broke the rules.”
Anyone who could pedantically argue the rules of trick-or-treating like she was presenting a case in court went up a notch in Gold’s esteem. He would play her game. Folding his hands on the handle of his cane, he raised an eyebrow. “And how do you propose to punish my infraction? Is public flogging traditional or would you prefer the guillotine?”
Belle’s mouth twitched. “Worse. I’m going to tell everyone we see tonight that Mr. Gold is giving out king size candy bars. Have fun dealing with the fallout from that.”
She was good, he had to give her that. If she started that rumor, he’d be besieged, and if he didn’t distribute the expected booty, the resulting pranks would take forever to clean up. He wouldn’t be the one doing the cleaning, of course, but it would still be a royal pain in the ass to have his home bedecked by toilet paper and rotten eggs.
It had been a long time since anyone had dared to stand up to him and longer still since someone had actually won. To Gold's surprise, it sent a thrill through him. Belle French was going to be a welcome addition to Storybrooke. “Give me a moment.”
By the time he retreated to the kitchen and returned, Grace was once again framed in the open door. “Trick or treat?” she asked in a small voice.
Her eyes lit up when he tossed a box of designer chocolate truffles into her bag. They’d be wasted on a child, of course, but perhaps Belle would help herself to one. The thought of her lips folding around a piece of candy he’d provided for her made Gold’s cold heart stutter in his chest.
“And for you.” With a flourish, he extended a business card to Belle who took it with a wary look.
“In case you ever find yourself in need of a job,” he explained. “A mind like yours would be an asset to my business.”
Belle studied him for a long moment before her lips quirked in something that looked like a genuine smile. “I might just take you up on that.”
She nudged her niece. “Say thank you, Gracie.”
“Thank you!” the girl chirped and turned away, ready to tackle the next house on the lane.
Gold stood in the open door and watched them go. As Belle turned onto the main sidewalk, she paused and glanced back over her shoulder at him, looking unsurprised to see him still watching her. Hesitantly, Gold waved, and his stomach curled when Belle’s hand lifted in response.
Halloween might just be his new favorite holiday.