Chapter Text
Rumpelstiltskin stared at the woman at his door.
“Well then, move along,” she said, shooing him back into the hall. She stepped in after him, carpet bag in one hand, umbrella in the other, and turned around in the spot, looking around. The sound she made expressed nothing but the deepest and most troubling of concern. “Hm. Yes. I see I’m just in time.”
“Just in time for what, exactly?” Rumpelstiltskin demanded, setting himself in front of her.
The blue-eyed maiden who was his price smiled at him brightly. “You asked for a housekeeper. Here I am, and I can see that there’s a lot of work to be done.” She tapped him once, briskly in the middle of his chest with the dragon-headed handle of her umbrella. “No time like the present. Come along. We’ll start with tea and go from there.”