#rcij2017

[kaythelostgirl-blog]

Merry Christmas in July, @thestraggletag! Sorry that this is late (I may or may not have slightly misread the due date and then went into a mild panic about finishing it on time but here it is). It was so cool being your Santa and getting to know you after being your follower for quite a while. Your prompt was definitely out of my comfort zone a little, so I hope you like what I did!

prompt: Silence of the Lams AU

rating: like R because there’s mentions of killers and sex, etc

there is no title because my brain failed

“I don’t like this.”

“You’ve made that very clear, Gold, but the decision isn’t yours.” Regina’s voice was tight, and it made Belle’s stomach clench just a little bit. She had no interest in witnessing one of the famed arguments between Regina Mills, director of their agency, and Robert Gold, her direct superior. With a very careful toss of her hair, Regina’s gaze landed on Belle. “Ms. French, are you willing to do it or not?”

Belle hesitated, sending a quick look in Gold’s direction before dropping her gaze back to her hands. She didn’t like upsetting him - he had been willing to give her a chance here, after all, and he was a pretty good boss, all things considered. But this was her career and she had spent a lot of time and money to get to this point. “I’ll do it. I’m ready.”

“Very good. This is him - Eurig Gold, distant cousin to our Robert.” Belle was acutely aware of a growl from her boss’s direction, and a slight shift of the cane indicated that his grip had gotten tighter. Regina continued as if unaware of Gold’s displeasure. “He terrorized Storybrooke a few years ago. There’s a copycat of sorts running loose now, and we want information from him on tracking down his admirer. We thought you might be able to get him to talk. He reportedly had a soft spot for brunettes with blue eyes and accents.” Regina slid a very smug look in Robert’s direction, although Belle wasn’t really sure what that was all about.

“Well, I suppose I fit the bill then. I can handle that.” She couldn’t bring herself to look at Gold as Regina offered a few last instructions and then dismissed them.

The rest of the building was empty as they returned to their office to gather their things - Gold’s coat, Belle’s purse and sweater, and then walked out of the building together. They shared a bit of small talk, made uneasy by the tension between them, until they arrived at Gold’s Cadillac. “French,” he muttered, the usual terse goodbye, as she walked toward her own care just a few spots away.

“Gold.” He left first, as Belle still fumbled with her keys and the radio knobs. She needed to run to the store for some necessities before making it home - milk and tea and wine, but that had to come from the good store up the street, which meant another stop. By the time she made it home, nearly an hour had passed. The house smelled amazing, and Belle nearly groaned aloud as she kicked off her heels.

“What is that, Robert?”

“You’ll have to wait and see. If I decide to share with you. You’re late, darling.” He peered around the doorjamb from the kitchen with a look remarkably similar to the scowl that terrified everyone at work. But here, it was tempered by a tender glint in his eyes. “I was nearly ready to eat without you.”

“But I knew you wouldn’t have eaten without this,” Belle said, holding up the wine. “And this is why it took so long. I had to get something I knew you’d drink.”

“Just because I tried to give you a little culture, Belle . . .” Shaking his head, Robert disappeared into the kitchen again as Belle dropped her sweater and purse into an empty chair and made her way to the dining room.

The serious topics held off until after dinner, when Robert finally brought up the subject that Belle had known he would. “I wish you would reconsider the assignment, Belle.”

“I know you do, but it’s the right move for me, and apparently I’m the best choice.” She ended the statement with a slight questioning tone; this was ancient history for the town, but Belle was a relative newcomer and didn’t know the ins-and-outs of everything as well as she wanted to. Robert hesitated and took a long drink, prompting Belle to move from the loveseat where she’d been lounging with a book. Her new position, sitting in his lap with her arms around his neck, was far more comfortable for both of them. Robert’s tension eased up a bit as she ran her fingers through his hair. The move was intended to relax him, and it did; he gave her a lot of very useful information that she couldn’t have gained from case files. However it also served another purpose, and by the time he finished talking, she could feel just how much he had appreciated her actions.

“Hmmm, I think it may be time for bed, Robert. What do you think?” She wriggled against him and giggled at the groan that escaped. “I think I’m right. Come along.” Holding her hand out to him, she laced their fingers together and led the way to the stairs.

In their bedroom, they made quick work of their clothes, scattering them from the door to the bed. Belle tugged Robert down with her, a hand sliding down his body to curl around his cock and stroke him. Their lips met in a heated kiss, as his hands moved to tangle into her curls. His lips moved to her neck, biting gently as she guided his cock to her cunt. Neither of them lasted long - the moment wasn’t one they intended to draw out very long, although Belle considered it for a moment. But she was tired, and this was more about the tension and worry that had followed them home from work. So she didn’t fight the rising tide of pleasure in her body as Robert’s thrusting grew less steady, and she came around him with a groan that she stifled against his neck. His own moan a moment later echoed through the room.

Belle shifted on the bed, rolling to her other side and pulling Robert’s arm over her. “It’ll be all right, Robert. You know that, right?”

“I know.” Robert let out a soft sigh, pulling her closer. “I love you, Belle. That’s why I worry.”

“I know, Robert. And I love you too.” Smoothing his hair away from his face, Belle studied him for a long moment before pressing another kiss to his lips. “I’ll be careful. I promise.”

The next morning, their usual routine seemed a bit tense as they prepared for their workday with the thought of Belle’s assignment looming large over them. To her surprise, Robert kept from saying anything about it as they ate breakfast and dressed and even when they walked into the office together. He didn’t say anything until they were nearly to the door of the interrogation room.

“You don't have to do this, French.”

Belle glanced beside her at Gold. It was clearly the last effort and she could see the resignation on his features. But she couldn’t back down now. They’d just had word of another killing that morning, with the signature gold body paint. She had to do something; she wanted to do something. “I know, Gold. But I’m going to. I’ll be careful, and we’ve been over everything that could go wrong at least a hundred times. It will be fine.”

Though she thought his concern would be the same for most of her coworkers, a good deal of it was undoubtedly due to their outside relationship. It might be an unusual situation but nothing improper happened at work, and they didn’t let their feelings interrupt their jobs. So Gold said nothing as she stepped into the interrogation room. She’d be separated from Rumplestiltskin but it still made her skin crawl just a little bit to think that she was so close to someone who had caused such destruction. She approached her side of the table, eyeing the man behind the glass as she did so.

“Hello, Rumplestiltskin.” The strangest thing was how similar he looked to Gold. He was a bit thinner, with sharper features and a strange light in his eyes, but those aside, it was uncanny. They both had long hair with a bit of wave, and brown, intelligent eyes, and a smug edge to their lips, and -

And Belle needed to focus. This wasn’t the time to get so distracted - or the right person.

“Hello, dearie.” His voice was different, thankfully; higher in pitch, with an odd sing-song lilt to it, even though he was clearly speaking. “Are we going to get started?”

When she got home that night, Belle took a very long shower. As she did the next night, and the next, and for the duration of the interviews. It was never very comfortable and she never got used to any of it - the sensation of her skin crawling, the feeling of his eyes on her, the odd and unsettling similarities to Robert. He had so many uncomfortable questions too - about her parents and her relationships and her hobbies. She tried not to let anything slide about Robert but wasn’t entirely sure if she was successful. It didn’t seem right, letting him know so much about her. It established an odd intimacy and that was terrible because his similarities to Robert meant that her guard occasionally slipped.

But there was a break in the case eventually and with the information Belle had gathered, they managed to apprehend the new killer - ironically, one of Regina’s relatives who had a very strange obsession with the Golds. Belle didn’t think she’d ever get used to the ways the population of Storybrooke were so intertwined.

It was later than usual when they got home that evening, after extra paperwork and a late dinner at Granny’s. As per the norm for the last few weeks, Belle went straight to the bathroom where she debated the virtues of a shower over the bath.

“May I join you?”

She turned to eye Robert, who had draped his coat and vest over a chair in the bedroom and had several buttons undone. For whatever reason, possibly because of how put-together he usually was, seeing Robert in any state of disrobing like that never failed to send flickers of desire through Belle’s body. “You’re always welcome.” And that settled her dilemma - shower, rather than bath.

As the water ran, she helped Robert finish undressing - having done that already herself - and took the time to run her fingers over his body lightly. “How did I ever get so lucky?”

“I’m clearly the lucky one in our relationship,” he countered, steering her toward the shower. “To have gained the favor of such a lovely woman.”

And though she meant to protest, she found herself thoroughly distracted as he began massaging her scalp. He had an uncanny knack for doing this perfectly and by the time he had finished shampooing and conditioning her hair, she thought all the tension had drained from her body. But then he went to work with the soap and she discovered that she was wrong, and it wasn’t until she was back under the shower head to rinse the suds away that all of the tension had truly left.

“Feel better now, Belle?” Robert’s eyes were gentle; he knew how stressful the case had been for her, and he had been as accommodating as possible during the interim. But it had been as stressful on him, for different reasons.

“I am. It’s your turn now.” Belle took her time with him, intending to build up the pleasure until it was almost too much for him. She had learned exactly how to do that during their time together and took immense satisfaction in listening to him groan and growl as her fingers explored his body. Massaging his scalp, tracing the lines of his chest and back, teasing the head of his cock - she loved every moment of it, although her favorite moment came when he all but dragged her from the shower so they could dry off and relocate to the bed. His lips made a path down her body from her neck, with a considerable detour at her breasts that had her squirming on the bed before Robert continued on his way. Her fingers wound back into his hair, giving several sharp tugs as the path he took skimmed from her hip to her thigh.

“Robert -” Growling, she arched her back and shifted impatiently until he chuckled, sending an amused look up at her.

“I suppose I shouldn’t tease too much.”

Belle lost track of things a bit after that. Robert was very good and he had learned how to make her lose her mind just as quickly as she had learned how to drive him wild. But she definitely knew that she had two incredible orgasms before she managed to distract Robert enough so she could return the favor. Gently pushing him onto his back, she straddled him, leaning down to nip at his neck. She only teased him for a moment before she sank down on his cock, with both of them letting out soft groans. Robert’s hands dragged along her back then curled around her hips tightly as she began a slow rhythm of riding him. His eyes closed and his hips rocked to meet her; tension was already building in her body again as one of Robert’s hands moved to rub lightly at her clit. And she wasn’t the only one - she could feel how close he was in the tension in his own body and the sharp breaths that broke into the otherwise silent room. Robert came first, with a low groan as his body shuddered, and Belle wasn’t long behind him.

She curled against him, pressing a kiss to his shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her. ���I love you, Robert.”

A soft snore answered her and with a tired laugh, she reached across him to turn out the light.

[timelordthirteen]

It's Santa yet again, being awkward and annoying, and spamming your inbox. Santa is a fancy coffee person, but no sugar, please. Unless it's dark chocloate. That goes with my espresso (double shot) in the morning. :D I'm here to announce that your gift has an outline and so far it looks like a fluffy blend of tropes. We got: caught in a storm, bed sharing, almost!kisses, mutual pining, coffee shop AU, and 'wow, I don't remember how to words or human when you're in the same room. Sorry.' (1/2)

Santa is an expert on the history of coffee now. Fascinating stuff. Truly. ☕ Oh, and I hope you like Neal? If not, I'll recast his part :D And also, before I go Feng Shui your gift some more: your fat-shaming anon can go and f*ck off OR themselves with a cactus. Wtf, dude. Seriously. (2/2)

SANTA!!! *tackle hugs* You are not annoying or awkward. I say this coming from someone who is definitely annoying and awkward. :D We can be weird together.

I didn’t mean to say I don’t love me some fancy coffee, because I do. I will fight someone for an iced caramel latte right now, I’m not even joking. I was just saying that I also dig simple. My personal headcanon is that Gold is a simple coffee man. He looks at that Starbuck’s menu like ... where is the plain coffee that’s as black as I pretend my soul is??? Meanwhile Belle is ordering up god knows what but it comes with a drizzle of chocolate and caramel and a big ol’ pile of whipped cream that gets on her nose. Gold is smitten to say the least. ;)

Okay so you have managed to include exactly 17 of my best loved tropes, so I already love this fic. And I love the story of the history of coffee I read once that basically some African farmer noticed his goats were buzzed as fuck after they ate the berries of a particular tree. Of course, like humans do, we were all BUT WHAT IF WE ATE THEM TOO? THEN WHAT IF WE GROUND THEM UP AND BREWED THEM LIKE TEA? AND WHAT IF WE FOUND A WAY TO CONCENTRATE IT? I’ll call it... espresso... because it sounds fancy and expensive.

Humans are amazing, and coffee is proof that the universe loves us and wants us to at least be awake enough to get some shit done today. Cheers, Santa!

[thedarkcheessmaster]

Hello, it's your Santa! I've been working on your gift, it's going very well! I really hope you like it. How's your own gift making going? And are you excited about s7?

Hi SANTA! :) Happy to hear from you! I'm sure I would like your gift ;) 

I'm working hard on my gift (still not ready) :( but still on schedule. 

Sorry to leave this message short but my phone's keyboard is against me... 

#Rumbelle Christmas in July 

#RCIJ2017 

[kaythelostgirl-blog]

Greetings my dear Santee! I hope your June has been a good one. How have you been lately? I'd like to know a little more about you: what is your favorite movie, book, band, etc? I've noticed your wonderful affinity for Wonder Woman. I finally saw the film and AAAH. SO GOOD. What is your favorite thing about Wonder Woman as a character?

Hello, Santa! June has been an amazingly wonderful month for me, honestly! July got off to a great start too, so I’m optimistic about the next few weeks! How has your summer been so far?

My current favorite movie would probably be Wonder Woman, honestly. I’m one of those people who went in to see it and came back feeling completely changed (obviously, if all my posts aren’t clear proof lol). Aside from that, I love the entire Lord of the Rings series, both as movies and as books! The books especially are just such classics, but I really enjoyed the cast for the movies (and I’m including the Hobbit in with that as well). My favorite band right now is probably A Fine Frenzy (I’m not sure if she counts as a band?). I’m not that much into music though; I listen to my favorites over and over but I don’t branch out into new stuff a whole lot. 

As for my favorite thing about Wonder Woman as a character, it’s probably just her sense of love. I thought that was just such a beautiful focus for her as a superhero - that love can change the world. It was so beautiful and fit right in with the other things I love about her, like the fact that her femininity doesn’t take away from her strength and courage. It’s a really nice change from the female characters who are just girly, or who are strong but can’t embrace their feminine side along with that.

What about you, Santa? What are some of your favorite things (books, movies, music, characters, etc?)

[kaythelostgirl-blog]

Hello my darling giftee!! How are you this week? Just writing to let you know that after several false starts, I think I've finally landed on the right story for your prompt. Hope you like surreal sexy strangeness. How is your own RCIJ coming along? All done or just getting started?

Santa! I’m doing pretty well but we’re still on vacation so my schedule is pretty weird and I love it. It also meant we escaped the heat wave of doom that struck our home city this week (perks of living in the desert) and so I was pretty happy about that. Oooh, I’m so excited to see what you come up with!! Surreal sexy strangeness sounds amazing and also is great alliteration. My story is still in the general planning stages because it’s something that’s a bit outside my usual comfort zone for writing but I’m planning on getting started soon just to get something out there. I’ve been developing it in my head over the past few weeks though, so I’m hoping that it’ll be easy going when I start to write.

[kaythelostgirl-blog]

Hey there, Santee! Thanks for adding a nice little sidebar link for making this easy :) And no worries if you take a long time to respond, I know how life can be. I just got back from a big ol' long trip myself. As far as fic recs go, thestraggletag is also a fav. I'm also into killerkueen, ifishouldvanish, b_does_the_write_thing, and so many more, but that's all I can name off the top of my head right now. Question time! What tropes are Y or N for you? I have a few ideas I'm tossing around ...

Hi again, Santa! Glad to be helpful - it’s one of the things I know has helped me in the past, so I was just trying to return the favor. Ooh, did you have a nice trip? Ours has been great so far! I’ll add them to my list! And if you think of any others, let me know!

Honestly, I’m very open when it comes to tropes (but also simultaneously bad at remembering them lol). I like mutual pining over each other but not realizing the feelings are reciprocated, and I’m a sucker for like, bed-sharing stuff. Secret relationships are always a winner too! But I’m not picky at all so whatever strikes inspiration for you will be great!

[kaythelostgirl-blog]

Santa here! I'm envious you got to binge season 1. I had to wait in real time for each episode. It was Skin Deep that hooked me, for obvious gold-scaled reasons. But mostly I was dying to see what happened to Belle, just /waiting/ for Mr. Gold to find out she was alive. And they made us wait until the very end of the season. It was torture! But what really kept me was fic - this fandom is brimming with great fic. Speaking of: tell me some your favorite Rumbelle fic, right now! Santa demands it.

Hello again, Santa! (Sorry this is late - I was with my parents like, all day yesterday so I wasn’t able to answer you.) I was glad I was able to binge it but part of the reason was I was at a very small private college when it aired and I had no tv access lol. Otherwise I would have suffered with everyone else. I do remember I also loved the Ruby/Red Riding Hood episode just because of how they flipped the story on it’s head.

Oh goodness, my favorite fic . . . dang, there’s a lot of them. I’m very partial to the one I got for my first Rumbelle Secret Santa, Singing in the Snow. And you know, I love pretty much anything by thestraggletag. I haven’t been reading a ton of fic lately though because I just haven’t had the time - I’m a teacher so during the school year, my time is very limited. Do you have any recs for me? I have some free time now!

[kaythelostgirl-blog]

Hey, Santa, just in case you happen to check my blog: I did, in fact, get your ask but I have had a long day and my roommate’s been sick, so now I’m too tired to give your question the consideration it truly deserves. I’ll answer it tomorrow though!

[kaythelostgirl-blog]

Who's that coming down the chimney? It's Santa! Sweating in the June heat but happy to see you! So, tell me, what it is that drew you to Rumbelle? When did you first know you shipped them?

Hey there, Santa! Ugh, the heat is already killing me here (but then, it’s been hot for a good month now, which is actually a change from our norms). I’m happy to see you too though, heat and all! I hope you’re doing well!

Oh man, let’s see if I can remember properly. I watched season 1 in the summer before season 2 started and I binged it, so my memories are a little foggy. But I do know Rumple was my favorite character from his introduction, because he was so intriguing (and honestly, I think I found him pretty attractive as well, golden scaly skin and all). Beauty and the Beast had become one of my favorite fairy tales in college (long story there) and so when they brought it into the show, I was thrilled. I loved Belle immediately too, because she was so bold and feisty, and I thought they had such a wonderful dynamic together. I was so excited when she appeared again in the season 1 finale.

What about you - what drew you to Rumbelle?

[kaythelostgirl-blog]

Ho ho ho! It's your Summer Santa here, eager to bring you some Rumbelle goodness! Your prompt is perfect for some sweet sexy summer lovin’, but before I get cracking I’d like to form a better idea of what you’d like. Are we talking a Grease AU? High school AU? Non-magic Storybrooke in the summer heat? Dark Castle? Etc? Whatever you want, I’m here to serve ;)

SANTA! Ahhhh it’s so exciting to hear from you! I can’t wait for the sexy Rumbelle goodness and honestly, I had no real ideas as to the setting or any of that. I tend to pick lyrics a lot for these events because it’s easier for me and I thought that one was especially appropriate. So if you want, I can probably come up with something more specific but if you like all that freedom, then you can go wherever you like with it!

(I’ll be tagging these as ‘kay talks to santa’ so it should be pretty easy to find them in the future, if you need!)