Frog prince, Pick up lines, It isn't tea

For the second dance, imagine the ball from The Price of Gold.

The ballroom in the west wing looked different from what Belle remembered. That part of the Dark Castle stood unused and a general sweeping and dusting once a month was deemed sufficient by her. Rumplestiltskin must have magicked it clean for the lesson, though, because the floor was polished, the windows were gleaming and there were no sheets over the few pieces of furniture that lined the walls. It was actually a beautiful room and Belle decided she would spend some time later on reading a book or two on the chaise lounge she could see tucked away under one of the windows.

Rumplestiltskin himself was lounging in an ornate chair, just putting away his hip flask - she had asked him early on in her stay what he kept in there and gotten a dismissive "It certainly isn't tea, dearie" reply - with David standing nearby and looking out the window at the garden. Both of them were dressed differently from the morning although she noted that David didn't fidget in his new clothes the way he had before. And she had never seen Rumplestiltskin fidget because of clothes. Other things, yes, but not clothes.

"Here comes the lady, Your Highness," Rumplestiltskin spoke in his trilling voice when he spotted her and Belle had to blink in surprise. She knew that tone. Why would he be angry, though? Had something happened in those few minutes that had passed since breakfast? She looked between the two men uncertainly.

"Is everything alright?" she asked. David nodded and she could see he had noticed nothing strange about Rumplestiltskin's behaviour. Of course, she knew Rumplestiltskin better than David did. Although, it wasn't his usual anger, now that she thought about it. She had witnessed him angry on occasion after he had come back from an unsuccessful meeting and there was that memorable encounter with Robin Hood during her first days in the castle. This time was different. He was angry, yes, but he seemed almost embarrassed about it and she had to wonder what had brought this on.

"We were just waiting for you, my lady," David said, interrupting her thoughts as he walked over and bowed to her as she had taught him last night.

"Here's another lesson for you, boy," Rumplestiltskin told him, taking another sip from his flask. "The ladies always take their time but it's not polite to point it out. You should have complimented her instead."

"You do look lovely," David said hastily. Belle suppressed a sigh. Just last night she had asked Rumplestiltskin to stop his teasing and leave the lessons to her. To be fair, he hadn't actually said he would obey her wishes on the matter but still.

"Thank you," Belle told David and then stepped closer to Rumplestiltskin and looked down at him. "Helping me out on my job?" she asked mock-sternly, hoping to remind him of their previous talk and maybe break him out of his strange mood.

"Helping the boy out in general," he replied. "There are women trouble in his future, dearie," he said quietly but with a certain glee. "Quite an interesting situation, too. No need to add to it with some thoughtless remarks, though, wouldn't you say?"

"That's very generous of you," she said and saw a quick smile pass his face. Belle had realized at the breakfast that the reason Rumplestiltskin was going through all this trouble was to make David feel indebted to him. After all, he could have just taken him to the king's castle, no preparations, no lessons and his end of a bargain would have still been held up. This arrangement was an additional and not quite necessary favour for David on Rumplestiltskin's part. She could only wonder what his motive was for doing that. "But this is supposed to be a dancing lesson, not a conversation one."

"You said yourself he was a quick learner, I'm sure he can handle it."

And there was that embarrassed-angry-and-sulky-at-once tone again. But she didn't have time to ponder it now. Now, she had a dancing lesson to teach and she would apparently have to put up with Rumplestiltskin's running commentary while doing it. Best to get it over with.

"Let's get started then," she said and turned to David, leading him further into the room. She showed him the steps for the waltz first, since she had enjoyed the dance better than most. She knew she could be clumsy at times and having a partner to keep her from tripping or falling down was much appreciated by her. She then positioned their hands - silently bemoaning the fact she had to reach up considerably due to the height difference - and started counting out slowly. "One, two, three. One, two, three."

David was a quick learner, indeed, although he kept glancing down at his feet. That was normal for beginners so she decided to let it pass for now. Rumplestiltskin, though, had other thoughts.

"Your Highness," he called out. "Are you looking at your feet or down the lady's dress? It's hard to say from here."

David let go of her as if burned.

"I would never!" he protested and Belle was inclined to believe him. She had danced with enough men to know the difference between them watching their feet or something else entirely. Then again, she also heard the clearly annoyed tone in Rumplestiltskin's voice - nothing ambiguous about this one - and she suspected he was speaking up for her, which was both sweet and annoying. She could speak up for herself as he should have remembered.

"I know you wouldn't," she told David and shot Rumplestiltskin a disapproving look for teasing the other man and interrupting her lesson. She had to agree with him, though, that from the outside, things did look suspicious but there were other ways to bring it to attention. "Rumplestiltskin has a point, though, so try not to look down while we dance. You're doing well enough and it's more polite to look at your partner instead of elsewhere. Alright?"

"Alright," he agreed and took her left hand again. They circled the room slowly, David keeping his eyes studiously at Belle's face. She was no longer counting the steps for him and if his movements were still somewhat awkward and stilted, he was no worse than some of the nobles she had danced with before so she smiled reassuringly at him.

"See? You're doing well."

"Thank you."

Belle called a pause to the lesson after they did two more circles around the room, thinking a literal change of pace was needed. The dance she had in mind was very popular but more complicated than the waltz. While she could explain the steps like she had before, a demonstration would be much better. Besides, this was all Rumplestiltskin's idea so he might as well help out and it was a way to get back at him in a harmless way. If he was so quick to criticize the other man, he should at least show he knew what he was talking about. She came to his chair and smiled down at him.

"Will you help me demonstrate the steps for the reel?" she asked. He blinked, taken aback by her request. She kept her smile and extended her hand for him to take. She wasn't taking a no for an answer.

"Why do you think I can even dance?" he asked, his gaze jumping between her hand and her face.

"I might have heard a story or two," she replied easily. "About you attending royal balls and mingling."

"Is that so?" he asked, rising from his seat but not taking her hand.

"It is," she confirmed. It was true although it didn't happen often. Rumplestiltskin seemed to prefer more private settings for his deal makings. Unless he wanted to make an example of someone. "The stories also mentioned you turning princes into frogs."

"He broke a deal with me and over such a triffling thing, too," he said off-handedly and then looked over at David. "Keep that in mind, dearie. No one breaks a deal with me."

There was a note of warning in his voice and Belle wondered if a premonition was the source of his inexplainable anger. But she had no time to contemplate it as Rumplestiltskin bowed to her in an exaggerated fashion.

"My lady?"

Her answering curtsey was more of a reflex but when he took her hand, leading her into the opening twirl, she was able to follow easily, matching his steps as he whirled her towards the centre of the room.

"This is a dance meant for light conversation," Rumplestiltskin addressed David who was watching from the side. "For wooing, even. Saying sweet words meant to charm the lady." He led Belle through a series of turns and then leaned closer with a wink only she could see. "For example, you could say: Your beauty outshines the stars outside, milady."

It seemed Rumplestiltskin was determined to insinuate himself into these lessons and Belle resigned to the inevitable. At least he was taking this one somewhat seriously. It didn't mean she would make it easy for him. If he was wanted to show off, he could work for it. Raising one eyebrow to show how unimpressed she was with his compliment, Belle looked pointedly at the large windows and the sunlight shining through them.

"Some ladies, though," she told David, "can see right through the flattery. It's mid-morning, kind sir," she addressed Rumplestiltskin. "There are no stars visible," she said and smiled sweetly at him. He looked taken aback for a moment by her rejoinder. And then he pulled her close by the waist - just as the dance called for - and smirked as they circled each other.

"My apologies. Your presence alone is a dazzling radiance that outshines the sun," he said pointedly, prompting a short laugh from her. "It must have adled my wit."

Belle had to give him that one. He knew how to use words to his advantage and she was enjoying the fact that he was so quick to reply, instead of taking offense that she dared to talk back. She glanced briefly at David who was watching them closely and with a bemused smile.

"My advice, David, would be to be honest. That's the best approach," Belle said.

"He's going to pretend to be someone else," Rumplestiltskin pointed out as he twirled her one last time and brought them to a stop before David, letting go of her hands slowly. He looked at David and shrugged. "You will have to lie a lot, might as well get used to it."

"I know that," David replied. "I can at least try to be honest about other things, though, right?"

"Oh yes, the choice is always yours," Rumplestiltskin said. "But so are the consequences of that choice."

Belle wondered if he was talking about her as well as about David but she couldn't see his expression as he moved back to his chair. And then he sat down, throwing his leg over the armrest and he was back to being the inscrutable Dark One instead of the witty man who had danced with her.

"I think the demonstration was quite sufficient and time's wasting, dearie. Back to dancing with you. I'll supervise from here."

And so Belle took the would-be-prince's hand again and went with him over the steps and moves he had seen. She consoled herself that she would find time later on to talk to Rumplestiltskin about his behaviour and this time she would wrangle a clear agreement from him on just how these lessons would go. She could be patient until then.