Author: beheld_beauty | Belle studies. She really doesn't get as lonely as Beast - and maybe he and Chelise can fall in love if she stays out of their way, and then the curse will break and Belle can ransack the library and go home, that would be fine. She works. |
Author: deslandes | A little while after the breakfast tray departs, the Beast enters the library.
"Do you like Chelise?" |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Do I like her? I've spoken perhaps ten sentences to her and vice-versa. It takes me longer to like people than that unless they're truly exceptional." |
Author: deslandes | "She fears that you don't," he says, sitting on the floor and resting his chin on her knee. "It troubles her." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "It's unreasonable to be troubled by someone who one has only just met failing to like one," says Belle.
Belle has not yet made any claims about whether or not she dislikes Chelise. |
Author: deslandes | "I don't say it's reasonable or it isn't," he says, "but that's how she feels, so I told her I'd ask." |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle shrugs. "Are you getting along with her all right?" |
Author: deslandes | "More or less," he says. "She's very snuggly." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Is she anything else?" |
Author: deslandes | He thinks it over, and the word he comes up with is, "Desperate." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Desperate? For what? Why?" |
Author: deslandes | "Well, gently desperate," he says. "Subtly desperate. But—she wants everyone to like her." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "...Literally?" |
Author: deslandes | He nods his fluffy head. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "That's even stranger than it sounds, when I think about it," muses Belle. "Everyone in the world? She can't even meet everyone in the world." |
Author: deslandes | "It may be that she only cares about the ones she has met, or will meet," he says. "I'm not sure." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "So she didn't tell you this outright - how can you tell?" |
Author: deslandes | "What she said, how she said it, how she acted, how she seemed to feel." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Huh. Ironically," says Belle, "I don't think I find that an appealing quality." |
Author: deslandes | He laughs.
"I know, isn't it sad? I find her... sweet, but frightening. Like you, in a way, but not the same way." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "I'm frightening?" |
Author: deslandes | "Frightening like thunderstorms," he says affectionately. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Is she also frightening like some kind of weather?" |
Author: deslandes | "No," he says. "She's frightening like... I'm not sure. You can hurt me, but you won't, if I don't want you to. She can't, but I think she would." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "But the curse thinks you could fall in love with her. And vice versa." |
Author: deslandes | "Sometimes I like frightening." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "If she wants to be liked so badly why would she hurt you even if you didn't agree to it, though? Does she know that you sometimes like to be frightened?" |
Author: deslandes | "She wants to be liked so badly that she would force it if she could." |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle shudders. "Ew." |
Author: deslandes | "Yes." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "...Maybe I should keep the magic books written in Albish in my room and lock them up during the day. The Callian books don't have anything useful on that front, but she's got a heavy enough accent I bet she can read Albish and I haven't got those catalogued fully." |
Author: deslandes | "Do that," he says. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle stacks up Albish books and takes them away. She requires three trips. |
Author: deslandes | "I," says the Beast, "am going to go wrestle rosebushes."
He hugs her before he leaves. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Hugs.
Studying.
Sighing.
Chelise wanders into the library later and scans titles. Belle ignores her. |
Author: deslandes | The Beast arrives on the heels of lunch, covered in scratches and grabbing food from the top of the tray as it skitters playfully away from him. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "She's ignoring me," Chelise murmurs under her breath to Beast. "I've been in here for an hour looking at the books and she hasn't even said hello. I told you she didn't like me." |
Author: deslandes | "Shhh," he says, resting his chin on her shoulder and hugging her. "She's busy. Have some lunch, it's very good." |
Author: beheld_beauty | Chelise nibbles at some lunch disconsolately. "Too busy to say hello?" |
Author: deslandes | He nuzzles his nose against her cheek. |
Author: beheld_beauty | She giggles and wraps her arms around his neck. |
Author: deslandes | Purrrrrsnuggle.
See, this is so much more fun than worrying about Belle. |
Author: beheld_beauty | It is! Snuggle snuggle. |
Author: deslandes | It is also more cuddly! And everything is better with purring. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Do you think she'll ever like me?" asks Chelise after a few moments of silence apart from purring. "I don't know how long we'll be here. I don't think I could bear to be trapped in one place with someone who couldn't like me no matter what I did." |
Author: deslandes | "Give her time," he murmurs. "I don't think she likes you or doesn't like you. I think she doesn't know you at all." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "But then why wouldn't she say hello and try to get to know me?" |
Author: deslandes | "Because if someone doesn't break this curse one way or another, I will be trapped here alone forever," he sighs. "And there might not be time for her to learn all she'd need to learn to break it with magic." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Oh, you poor thing, alone forever, I can't imagine anything more horrid - if there might not be time wouldn't it make more sense for her to do what I'm doing, then?" |
Author: deslandes | "She does magic," he says, "you do belly rubs. Each to your own talents." And he nuzzles her cheek again. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Well, Chelise can certainly do belly rubs! |
Author: deslandes | The Beast purrs and snuggles up affectionately. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "It's going to bother me if she just goes on not liking me. She likes you, doesn't she? How'd you do it?" Chelise asks after a long conversational lull. |
Author: deslandes | "I don't know," he says with a fluffy shrug. "Maybe I didn't. Maybe it just is." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Just is?" |
Author: deslandes | "Maybe she likes me because I am who I am." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Well - yes, but how did you demonstrate it, what did you do? If she only likes people because of who they are and not anything they do I might just be doomed, mightn't I?" |
Author: deslandes | "I don't know," says the Beast. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "I don't think I could bear it! In a village I could just avoid anyone I didn't get along with, but there are only three of us here!" |
Author: deslandes | He snuggles her and sighs.
"Do you want me to go talk to her again?" |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Would you?" |
Author: deslandes | "All right."
But first snuggles. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Chelise snuggles back.
(She sighs to herself, though.) |
Author: deslandes | All right, all right. Off he goes. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle is, predictably, reading a book on magic. |
Author: deslandes | Of course she is.
"Chelise is unhappy because you don't like her," he announces. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "What do you want me to do about it?" sighs Belle, marking her spot in the book and closing it. |
Author: deslandes | "I don't know," he says. "She wants me to find out how to get you to like her, I think." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Do you really think I ought to be spending time on that when there's so much magic to learn? I suppose I can talk to her when I need a break, but as far as I can tell her only characteristic is that she wants to be liked." |
Author: deslandes | "If it takes you time, then no," he says. "I think you should spend exactly as much time on it as you want to." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "I'd be perfectly content to avoid her, honestly." |
Author: deslandes | He shrugs, and curls up on the floor with his head in her lap. |
Author: beheld_beauty | She pets him and reopens her book.
It's only a few minutes before Chelise can be observed peeping around the edge of the library door. |
Author: deslandes | The Beast observes her! |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle ignores her.
Chelise takes in the scene, then sniffs once and turns to run from the library. |
Author: deslandes | The Beast sighs. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle also sighs. |
Author: deslandes | He nuzzles her knee, and then picks himself up and goes after Chelise. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Chelise is curled up in a ball in the window seat in her room. She may or may not be crying. |
Author: deslandes | ...
He hugs her, as gently and fluffily as he can. |
Author: beheld_beauty | She leans into him but does not lift her face away from her knees. |
Author: deslandes | He nuzzles her shoulder comfortingly. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Does she like anybody? She can't even like you that much, if she won't talk to me even a little if you asked her..." |
Author: deslandes | "She likes me fine," says the Beast. "She is learning magic so she can help me. And she would rather you avoid each other than that she take time away from that to get to know you." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "But it could take so long for her to learn what she's trying to learn and we all have to live with each other in the meantime," says Chelise, a hint of a whine entering her voice. |
Author: deslandes | "It's a big castle," says the Beast. "You don't need to be near her if you don't want to. And you could always try to leave. Maybe the forest will let you go." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "She said it wouldn't, that we were stuck here," says Chelise suspiciously. |
Author: deslandes | "She is. I am. You might not be." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "And then I could find my friends, and go home to my family -"
Chelise is only a little abrupt about getting up and running to the kitchen to pack some food. |
Author: deslandes | He follows after her to say, "I don't know that you can. But I don't know that you can't." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Will you be terribly upset if I go - I don't want to leave you alone with only her, it's just I don't think I can take it -" |
Author: deslandes | "I would rather you be with your friends and happy than here and miserable." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Thank you," sighs Chelise, and she pecks the Beast on the shoulder - his face is out of reach when they're both standing - and she throws another stick of bread into her bag and makes for the exit. |
Author: deslandes | He curls up outside next to a rosebush and waits to see if she comes back. |
Author: beheld_beauty | It takes twenty minutes.
But she does.
And she turns around and storms into the burnt woods again.
And she's back fifteen minutes later.
And she drags herself towards the Beast and throws herself onto him and weeps openly. |
Author: deslandes | He wraps his arms around her and nuzzles her hair. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "All I want is to be around people who want me around, and I like you but there is only one of you," sobs Chelise. |
Author: deslandes | "I'm sorry," he says, cuddling her. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Chelise sniffs and has nothing more to say.
It's a week later when, from wherever he may be in the castle, Beast hears a shriek and a series of thumping sounds. |
Author: pythbox | He is in the kitchen.
He bolts for the source of the sound. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Chelise is hurrying down the double flight of stairs down to the entryway, hands clapped to her face in an expression of horror.
Belle is collapsed at the bottom of the steps, and she's not moving.
"She fell!" exclaims Chelise. |
Author: deslandes | He skids to a halt, claws scraping over the stone floor, and crouches at Belle's side to see how badly she is hurt.
He ignores Chelise. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle is breathing; her heart beats on. She has certainly broken an arm, and possibly some other things; her head struck the stone and she's bleeding a slow trickle from one ear.
"I was just - she - is she dead?" Chelise asks. |
Author: deslandes | The Beast inspects Belle very, very carefully, nosing gently at this injury or that.
He continues to ignore Chelise. |
Author: beheld_beauty | The ear is the only bleeding injury. One of her legs is bent in a way that looks uncomfortable; the bones might be intact but it's almost certainly sprained. Given the distance she fell, it's unlikely her ribs are all intact.
"Is she?" asks Chelise. |
Author: deslandes | Carefully, carefully, he straightens out the wrong-looking leg. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle makes a small whimpering noise.
The leg doesn't seem broken, but her knee is starting to swell.
"Beast?" asks Chelise in a small voice. |
Author: deslandes | He touches his nose to Belle's cheek. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle does not respond.
"Beast. Is she - did - I -" |
Author: deslandes | He finally lifts his head and looks at Chelise. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Is she alive? I think I startled her -" |
Author: deslandes |
He growls softly. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Please don't be angry, that won't help, I was only at the top of the stairs when she came round the corner and she didn't expect me and she fell, she's so clumsy. Was? Is she alive?" |
Author: deslandes | The Beast growls again, louder. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Chelise backs up a step, then another. |
Author: deslandes | He goes back to ignoring her. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Chelise flees up the stairs.
Belle lies unconscious on the floor. |
Author: deslandes | He curls up next to her and closes his eyes. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Nothing changes. |
Author: deslandes | The Beast stays put.
A tray arrives with food, which he eats, and water, which he drinks most of and then attempts to get some of the rest into Belle. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle manages to swallow a little of the water. She makes a soft noise and shifts position and winces briefly and then goes still again. |
Author: deslandes | The Beast curls back up. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle takes almost a day to wake.
"Beast," she murmurs. |
Author: deslandes | "Belle," he says, crouching over her. "Are you all right? I don't know what to do." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "I hurt," she whimpers. |
Author: deslandes | "I know." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Must be a spell - some kind of spell -" |
Author: deslandes | "Should I take you to the library?" |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Don't think I'd better move." She swallows. "Water?" |
Author: deslandes | The food tray scurries up to them. Beast fetches down a cup. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle manages to drink an entire cup of water, with some help.
"If you're careful," she says, scrunching her eyes shut, "can you look in my index - and find what book has the healing spells -" |
Author: deslandes | "I fear what will happen if I leave you alone," he says. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Mm?" |
Author: deslandes | "Do you remember falling?" |
Author: beheld_beauty | "...Vaguely." |
Author: deslandes | "Chelise was there." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "...I don't remember that." |
Author: deslandes | "She said she'd startled you." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "I don't remember." Pause. "You don't believe her." |
Author: deslandes | "I think she pushed you," says the Beast. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "...Maybe. I can't remember. I don't even remember why I was on the staircase." |
Author: deslandes | "I want to kill her," he growls. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle doesn't have a reply to that. |
Author: deslandes | He sighs. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "You think she'll come back and finish me off if you leave me?" |
Author: deslandes | "I don't know." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Where did she go? Could she even tell if you went to the library?" |
Author: deslandes | "Upstairs," he says. "I worry if she comes back." |
Author: beheld_beauty | One of Belle's arms is not broken. That one fumbles for Beast's paw and clasps it. "Can the kitchen bring - medicines, at all? Maybe if I were only a little better, I could move, and finish the job with magic..." |
Author: deslandes | He looks at the food tray.
It rattles, then scurries off. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle closes her eyes and concentrates on breathing evenly. Her hand clutches at the Beast's paw; she's weak and trembly yet clearly holding on as hard as she can. |
Author: deslandes | He nuzzles her forehead. |
Author: beheld_beauty | She squeaks. It's not a happy squeak. "My head hurts," she whimpers. |
Author: deslandes | He sighs. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Just - the one arm and that same leg, are fine - nothing else," says Belle, taking a shuddering breath, "anything else if I move at all, or if you touch me, it's worse." |
Author: deslandes | The Beast rumbles unhappily. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Is it figuring out medicine?" Belle asks after a silence. |
Author: deslandes | "I don't know." |
Author: beheld_beauty | She squeezes his paw. "How long ago did I fall?" |
Author: deslandes | "A day." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Strange. I'm not hungry."
The tray skitters back into view. It has some pills and some tea (with a straw, so Bell will be able to drink lying down). |
Author: deslandes | Beast helps bring the pills and the tea and Belle all into the appropriate conjunction. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle gulps them down, and then promptly falls asleep.
After two hours of fitful, wincing sleep with occasional muttered words - that last feature not having been present when she was knocked out - she opens her eyes again. She looks like she's in less pain, although her arm is still clearly broken and the swelling in her knee has gone down only a little. |
Author: deslandes | "Mm?" |
Author: beheld_beauty | "If you're very, very careful with me I think you could take me to the library. I don't know about putting me in a chair, but I could lie near where the books are and you could hand them to me?" |
Author: deslandes | "I could," says the Beast. |
Author: beheld_beauty | She lets his paw go so he'll have both free to lift her. "Careful of the knee," she murmurs, picking up her broken arm carefully and resting it on her stomach. |
Author: deslandes | He scoops her up as gently as he can. |
Author: beheld_beauty | She sucks in a sharp breath and tenses but doesn't otherwise critique the positioning. |
Author: deslandes | He's pretty good about keeping her steady as he carries her to the library, but he's not perfect. |
Author: beheld_beauty | She squeaks tiny squeaks when jostled, and cannot repress a high whine when he sets her down, but she issues no verbal complaint.
"My index is in my notebook," she murmurs. |
Author: deslandes | Very carefully, he fetches her notebook. |
Author: beheld_beauty | She maneuvers it one handed - checking what page she's on, putting it down, turning pages, and picking it up again - till she gets where she needs to be. "There's a blue book with gold braid on the cover. That one," she says after a few minutes of this. |
Author: deslandes | The Beast fetches it, too. |
Author: beheld_beauty | She maneuvers through this book in a similarly painstaking way.
Finally she says, "I found a general healing spell. It should work. ...It's going to hurt you worse than me. And you won't fall unconscious either." |
Author: deslandes | "I don't mind," he says fondly. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Mm."
She reads over the spell. She's still a little fuzzy-headed, but the medicine the kitchen coughed up helped; she thinks she can cast this.
"Okay. Ready?" she asks. |
Author: deslandes | "Yes." |
Author: beheld_beauty | She rereads the spell -
"This might actually be easier if I powered it with your emotions instead of mine," she observes. "Assuming you have emotions about healing me." |
Author: deslandes | "Plenty," says the Beast. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Mm." She seems to be saying this instead of nodding.
She falls into her mindscape, and finds his, and pulls his Heart through the shape of the spell through his channel. |
Author: deslandes | He has a lot of emotions about healing her. The spell has no lack of power to draw on.
And he whimpers when it hurts him, but he loves that it hurts him. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle twists under the effects of the spell. It doesn't really tickle on her end, when the bones set themselves and her knee rearranges its soft tissues and her head forcibly corrects its swelling. But at the end of it, she slowly sits up.
"You're okay?" she murmurs. |
Author: deslandes | "I'm fine," he purrs. "You?" |
Author: beheld_beauty | "I'm better. I may be shaky for a couple of days." |
Author: deslandes | "Can I snuggle you now?" |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Yes." |
Author: deslandes | He wraps his arms around her and nuzzles the side of her neck, still shivering a little with the aftershocks of the spell. |
Author: beheld_beauty | ...He's making interesting faces, in his human aspect.
She snuggles up. "What about Chelise?" she murmurs. |
Author: deslandes | "What about her?" he murmurs back. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "I still can't remember if she pushed me or not." |
Author: deslandes | "I still think she did," he says. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Then - what? What do we do about her?" |
Author: deslandes | "Kill her before she tries again," he suggests. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "...But how can we be sure if she did push me? I could have fallen. I do fall often enough." |
Author: deslandes | "I don't know if she pushed you," he says slowly, "but I do know that she wanted you to be dead." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "...Surely she didn't say that. Even if it's true it would be a stupid thing to tell you; how do you know?" |
Author: deslandes | "She kept asking if you were," he says, "and she—the way she stood, the way she spoke, the way she looked at you—she didn't want me to know it, but that's how she felt." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "I'm... not sure what to do with that. I don't think anyone has wished me dead before." |
Author: deslandes | "I think we should kill her," he reiterates. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "If you've thought so all this time, why didn't you do it while I was unconscious?" |
Author: deslandes | "Because I didn't know what you'd think of it," he says. "And I cared more about making you well than about making her dead." |
Author: beheld_beauty | She squeezes his paw.
"I don't love the idea of killing her. Not without being sure. ...Maybe there's a spell that will let me find out, though."
She picks up her index and finds which book has all those useful divination spells. |
Author: deslandes | "Mm. More spells," he purrs. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Heh."
She finds the book, and looks through it. There's that looking into the past spell she first used to find what Beast looked like as a human, but it doesn't aim specifically enough to let her see Chelise pushing - or not pushing - her down the stairs. She pages through the rest of the book.
"Here's one," she murmurs. "A memory spell. I could just restore my memory." |
Author: deslandes | "Good!" |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle nods. "It's only a little one. I can channel it myself just fine. Unless you'd like me to put it through you instead." |
Author: deslandes | "Oh, well, if it's only little, I don't mind you doing it yourself," he says, nuzzling her shoulder. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle is not sure how to evaluate that, but she does the spell herself regardless.
She remembers going up to her room for a look at one of the books in Albish; she wanted to check for a cognate she'd half-recalled -
And she was startled, and did stumble, and Chelise had reached out, and -
"She pushed me," Belle murmurs. |
Author: deslandes | "Want me to kill her?" |
Author: beheld_beauty | "We can hardly evict her; the curse won't let her get far. It's possible I could just wrap myself in enough wards to be safe, but..." Belle chews her lip. "Is there, do you suppose, any chance left you could fall in love with her?" |
Author: deslandes | He snorts.
"Oh, yes," he says. "But then I'd kill her for sure." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "...What?" |
Author: deslandes | "If you had died," he says, "I would have made myself love her, and then if she loved me and I was free I would have killed her, and if she did not and I was not I would have killed her when the rose died." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "I - I cannot begin to understand why that would be. Any of it." |
Author: deslandes | "I want to be free," he says. "But I hate her. But you can love someone and hate them. It's even easier, in some ways. But I don't want to if I have another chance. Because I hate her." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "I don't think I know how to love someone and hate them." She snorts softly. "But then - I don't even know how to do the first alone. Still. It sounds harder, not easier." |
Author: deslandes | "Only in some ways." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "What are the other ways?" |
Author: deslandes |
He shakes his head.
"I'm sorry," he says, "I... it hurts to think about." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Sorry," murmurs Belle. |
Author: deslandes | "So," he says. "I could love her, and it would hurt, and I would kill her. Or I could just kill her now and not have to worry about it." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "I might manage to love you soon, though," Belle whispers. "And then we could all go. I doubt she's dangerous to her friends, when she can go where she likes." |
Author: deslandes | He sighs, and nuzzles her hand.
"If you want," he says. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "...If you want to kill her I will not stop you." |
Author: deslandes |
He rumbles unhappily.
"We'll see." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "What does that mean?" |
Author: deslandes | "It means I want to stay with you more than I want to go and kill her." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "She might come out of her room eventually," Belle points out. |
Author: deslandes | "And if I still feel like killing her next time I see her, then I will." |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle nibbles her lip a bit.
She nods.
She snuggles up to Beast and picks up the book she was in the middle of. |
Author: deslandes | He curls up with her and starts purring softly. |
Author: beheld_beauty | It's hours later, but Chelise does emerge.
She peers into the library, and shrinks back as soon as she's gotten a glimpse but not before the occupants can see her if they aren't trying to read. |
Author: deslandes | The Beast doesn't bother exiting his comfortable snuggle to chase after her. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Chelise can be seen trying to leave the castle, again, and again, and again, over the course of the next few days.
Belle looks up a personal ward, and casts it on herself (through Beast, with his permission) and spares Chelise no further thought. |
Author: deslandes | Even with the personal ward on, the Beast hardly strays out of sight of Belle, and never farther than the other side of a door. |
Author: beheld_beauty | After Belle notices that Beast has been sleeping in the hallway outside her room overnight, she says he may as well join her in her bed as long as he isn't the sort to toss and turn.
Chelise continues trying to leave, and she can be heard sobbing every time she fails, if one is close enough to the part of the gardens that the forest has directed her back to.
Then this activity stops. |
Author: deslandes | The Beast doesn't know if he's the sort to toss and turn, but he tries it, and it turns out he is the sort to cuddle up close and then not move much.
When Chelise stops trying to leave, he notices. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle does not object to being cuddled during mutual sleep. In fact, she rather likes it.
She notices when Chelise stops trying to leave, too, though it takes her longer.
"...Do you suppose she's given up," she asks one day, "or that something's happened to her?"
There's no ambiguity about who "she" is. |
Author: deslandes | "I think she is probably dead." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "...Why do you think so?" asks Belle. |
Author: deslandes | "Because I can't imagine her giving up but I can imagine her killing herself." |
Author: beheld_beauty | |
Author: deslandes | He shrugs. "Want to go find out?" |
Author: beheld_beauty | "No. Not really." |
Author: deslandes | "If she's dead and in this castle somewhere, we'd best find her before she starts to rot," he points out. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "...And I suppose until you're sure she's dead you won't just leave me somewhere and go looking on your own." |
Author: deslandes | He nods. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "All right. We'll look for her." |
Author: deslandes | Off they go, then. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Chelise isn't hard to find.
She's dangling from the rafters in her room.
There's a note. Belle's not looking, though. |
Author: deslandes | The Beast makes the effort to read it. |
Author: beheld_beauty | It's not long.
I didn't want much. |
Author: deslandes | He sighs.
And then he hauls Chelise down from the rafters and carries her out of the room. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle heads for the library, now that he's got the confirmation he needs to let her out of his sight. |
Author: deslandes | He returns some time later, without Chelise, all scratched to hell the way he is sometimes after he wrestles with rosebushes. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "So it's down to me, then," Belle murmurs. |
Author: deslandes | He curls up on the floor and rests his head in her lap.
"I love you," he says. "Can I still sleep in your bed, even though I don't have to?" |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Yes," Belle murmurs, burying her hands in his mane. |
Author: deslandes | He purrs, softly, sadly.
His human face is crying. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "You're crying," murmurs Belle. |
Author: deslandes | He nods. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "You hated her. You wanted to kill her. Why are you crying?" |
Author: deslandes | "Because I hated her, but I'm still sad for her," he says. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "I wish she'd never come here. I wish she were back at home where she belonged. But she decided to die, and I don't understand that." |
Author: deslandes | "Being alive hurt too much." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Sometimes I wish I could read your mind. Maybe then I could understand more of what you say," sighs Belle. |
Author: deslandes | "I wish that too," he says, nuzzling her. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "...Really? I could never tolerate it if someone read my mind. But if this is another strange thing you like there might actually be a spell for it." She pauses. "It might... help." |
Author: deslandes | "Then you should certainly look for it." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Are you sure? It might not be very selective. I might just see everything." |
Author: deslandes | He purrs again. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "You are such a strange Beast," murmurs Belle, removing one hand from the deep pile of mane to look through her books.
She turns up a few half-promising spells that require casting each time, and one that is much more comprehensive, that will turn his mindscape into a metaphorical open book whenever she happens to look at it.
"I found something," she murmurs. "It's permanent. I don't have to use it if I don't mean to, but I'll have to separately disenchant us if you ever want me to not be able to anymore." |
Author: deslandes | "That's all right," says the Beast. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "And it's reasonably large, but I suppose you don't mind that either." |
Author: deslandes | He laughs and bumps his nose playfully against her stomach. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "All right. It's not complicated. I can do it right now."
She makes sure she has the steps memorized, and falls into her rosevine-sphere, and casts.
It's powered by Will, which she sends through his mindscape as usual, and then she directs the flow of refined energy until her rosevines are sprouting new tendrils and reaching for his castle-mindscape, growing into it, wrapping around it -
And the castle snaps into legibility. |
Author: deslandes | He loves her.
The spell hurts him, and he loves that, too.
All the scratches from the rosebushes hurt, but not as much as the spell, and not as nicely.
He loves her.
He is still so, so terribly sad over Chelise, and he understands exactly why she killed herself - he knows what it's like to hurt that much, even though he hasn't ever felt that way for the same reasons.
Belle's lap is a very comfortable place to rest his head.
He loves her. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Oh," breathes Belle. |
Author: deslandes | "I love you," he says, redundantly. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "I can see that."
It's not exactly seeing. Or rather, the best metaphor for the sense-impressions that carry the information is sight - but it feels like touching regardless. It feels like she's reaching out her hand and combing it through his thoughts the way her hands are combing through his mane.
"It's beautiful." |
Author: deslandes | He purrs. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Unlike the meditative lapse into mindscape she needs to do to cast spells, reading his mind once the connection is established can coexist with using her body; she can open her eyes with no consequences beyond double vision (triple, where the doubled Beast is located) and move her hands through his mane in slow thoughtful strokes.
She goes on looking. She's enthralled.
...And it's definitely helping. |
Author: deslandes | He keeps right on purring. He can feel her reading his mind, and her hands in his mane and the spell-pain still shivering its way through his body, and it's all just lovely. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Lovely indeed.
She peers down at his face, the both of it -
The one of it.
Her hands are in much shallower hair, now, and she can smell roses - |
Author: deslandes | He can feel it. It's his own body changing, all at once, shrinking down from a furred hulking Beast to merely a man.
He shivers.
And then he flings his arms around Belle and hugs her as hard as he can. |
Author: beheld_beauty | She hugs him back tight.
"I love you," she murmurs, though of course he already knows it. |
Author: deslandes | "I love you too," he exclaims, burying his face against her stomach and nuzzling her affectionately. |
Author: beheld_beauty | She laughs and she presses a kiss to the top of his head. |
Author: deslandes | "I love yooooooou," he croons. "You're my favourite person. Let's get married. Let's take all the magic books and walk across the country because we can. Let's go tell your father you didn't die in the forest. Let's go see if breaking the curse means you don't have a bed anymore, because if you do I want to kiss you in it." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "All of those things," laughs Belle. "Not in that order. Reverse order." And she pulls him to his feet and leads him through the significantly less alive castle to check the status of the furniture. |
Author: deslandes | All of the things that were in the castle still are. Torches, lanterns, books, furniture, Belle's current array of clothing...
...and her bed.
In which Beast happily kisses her. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle has never been kissed before.
She decides she approves. |
Author: deslandes | Beast definitely approves.
You know what else he approves of?
Having hands again. |
Author: beheld_beauty | After some deliberation, Belle also approves of that! |
Author: deslandes | Oh, good! He is glad. He likes it when Belle approves of things. |
Author: beheld_beauty | She's still reading his mind. So she knows!
She also knows that it's probably worth remarking aloud, "Nothing beyond this till we are married, you should know." |
Author: deslandes | "Awww," he giggles, and wraps his arms around her and presses his face into her shoulder. Mmmmmmmmmmsnuggly. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Premarital snuggles are fine and welcome! |
Author: deslandes | That is good, because he would be genuinely upset if he couldn't touch her anymore. The exact details of the touching are secondary. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "You're so tactile," Belle murmurs. "I was half-worried that after going around in fur for a century being without would be like losing a layer of skin." Pause. "Maybe it is and you just like it anyway." |
Author: deslandes | He giggles.
"It's mostly not like that. It's a little like that."
But it's like losing a layer of skin in a nice way. Fur was nice, being fluffy was nice, but it meant he couldn't feel things the same way he does as a human, and he missed that even more than he knew.
And there was always the worry he might hurt her, as a Beast. To hurt her as a man he'd have to try, and he won't. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle likes being able to read his mind.
And he continues to be pettable, that's also nice! |
Author: deslandes | He is extremely pettable! He lacks most of the fluff, but still gives a creditable purr when cuddled. |
Author: beheld_beauty | After a while, Belle says:
"The castle is not likely to feed us anymore. We should see what there is left to eat, and come up with something for you to wear, and I should find a spell to pack up all the books, and we should get out of the forest." |
Author: deslandes | He snorts. "Where am I to get clothes? Your wardrobe? Fun, but I doubt you've much that will fit me." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Well, it will presumably be necessary to wind up tearing something into a serviceable shape, but it will be better than walking out of the forest in your altogether, won't it? And then we can find Charlie and he can loan you something." |
Author: deslandes | He laughs. "All right." |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle hunts through the closet, and finds something that snugs up with enough laces that Beast can get into it if all of these laces are unsnugged as far as they go.
"Silly," she pronounces, "but not indecent." And then she fetches her original traveling bag, rolls up two of the dresses she likes best, and heads to evaluate the state of the kitchen. |
Author: deslandes | Beast follows after her, looking terribly entertained by his attire.
The kitchen is... unliving. But all of the food that was previously in the pantry still is, and in its previous condition. They could probably drown themselves in fruit preserves if they so chose. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "I'll go see what I have in the way of packing spells," Belle says. "I want all of those books."
It turns out that she can make a bag bottomless. This will not be ideal for including everything in the same bag, as the spell comes with nothing to let her retrieve a specific item first but she can pack the entirety of her intelligently refined wardrobe selection, and also the whole library.
Packing up the library takes a long time. There is a break for eating some of the fruit preserves in the middle.
She fills another bottomless bag with assorted nonperishable food. They may not have control over their exact diets over the next few days, but they will not starve.
"Is there anything else we should take?" Belle asks when the pantry has been raided. |
Author: deslandes | "I believe we're set," says the Beast. |
Author: beheld_beauty | According to her mindreading he does not mind walking barefoot through the woods. Very well then. It's coming up on dark, but there's a full moon up and she still has her original firestarting equipment and they can build a campfire before stopping for the night, there's enough unburnt wood left.
Off they go into the woods!
"And this time it won't turn us around," Belle murmurs, pulling out her original notebook with the mapping in it and directing them west while there's still a sun to go by. |
Author: deslandes | Beast takes charge of hauling the bottomless bags, which are not nearly as heavy as they should be but are still pretty heavy. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle doesn't argue; she has enough work to do simply not falling over.
They go about two hours before it is time to stop for the night.
Why yes, even in the absence of a bed it is possible to sleep cuddling. |
Author: deslandes | It iiiiiiiiiis.
Cuddlecuddlecuddle. |
Author: beheld_beauty | The night is uneventful.
Up until all the growling from the pack of wolves that has them surrounded and is debating how frightened to be of the dimming campfire, anyway. |
Author: deslandes | The Beast wakes up, and for a moment he forgets his new-old body with its new-old limitations.
He growls right back.
Something feels wrong about that, but in his half-asleep state he doesn't think about it, he just - adjusts - and tries again.
Much better. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle wakes up.
"Beast?" she murmurs. "You're doubled ag-"
She sees the wolves.
She stops distracting him and tries to make herself look very small. |
Author: deslandes | He snarls at the wolves. Better to scare them off than fight them, isn't it? |
Author: beheld_beauty | One of the wolves backs up a bit.
Two of them come a bit father forward. |
Author: deslandes | Really?
Perhaps if he— roars. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Timid Wolf turns tail and flees.
One other wolf backs up a bit.
One of the bolder ones comes one - step - forward.
Belle cringes. |
Author: deslandes | Fine.
The Beast leaps for the bold wolf. |
Author: beheld_beauty | It's not much of a contest; the Beast outweighs the wolf and as soon as it's clear that the pack has a fight on its hands, none of the others stay around to help. But the wolf does get one solid bite in on the Beast's forearm. |
Author: deslandes | He stands watch for a few more moments, making sure they're gone.
Then he returns to Belle's side and curls up next to her. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Beast," says Belle. "Your arm."
He's also ruined the outfit he was wearing. |
Author: deslandes | "...Mm," he says, peering at it. Then he shrugs. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "You're bleeding. Badly. Even if you don't care if it hurts you're still bleeding. And you've turned into a cat monster again." |
Author: deslandes | "I noticed," he says dryly. "What do I do about it?" |
Author: beheld_beauty | "I can probably remember that healing spell, even if there's no hope of finding the book without unpacking half the library," Belle says. "It was only a few days ago I cast it. I have no idea about the transformation part, but we can manage that later - ready?" |
Author: deslandes | He nods. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle drops into her mindscape and casts. This is the first time she's done the same spell more than once, and it's easier, like one of the rosepetals in her mindscape has the steps stored for her in their illegible private language. |
Author: deslandes | At about the same time, the wound in his arm disappears and he turns human again with a happy little shiver. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Well," she says when she opens her eyes, "there you go, human again - and I don't know why." |
Author: deslandes | "Me neither," he says with a shrug, and snuggles up to her again. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle decides to worry about this matter in the morning. She snuggles up to him likewise and goes to sleep. |
Author: deslandes | In the morning, he remains human. And cuddly. Always cuddly. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Of course he is cuddly.
"I didn't take long to find the castle from Les Fourches. We're very likely to get there today, or to a neighboring village depending on how badly my map is wrong. You will need to be wearing something," Belle says. |
Author: deslandes | "I am!" he protests.
It's... more or less true. Mostly less. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "The fact that it was a dress was bad enough. It is now significantly less than a dress." |
Author: deslandes | He giggles. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle eventually figures something out that sacrifices upper body coverage in favor of more thorough handling of the key general area. And on they go.
They don't find Les Fourches, but when they're out of the woods Belle does know where they are. "Oh, this is Rianne," she says. "I know how to get home from here. I wonder if we can barter for a proper outfit before going on, though, with some of the food maybe. Unless you're likely to change again?" |
Author: deslandes | "I have no idea if I will change again," he says. "Perhaps we should just carry around a spare pair of trousers and wait until I really need them." |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle nods.
Into town they go.
They get some peculiar looks. |
Author: deslandes | Beast does not even slightly care. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle doesn't care as much as she would if this were her own village. She manages to extract directions to a vendor of clothing, and trades the first six things to hand in the food bag (a jar of preserves, a loaf of bread, a pecan pie, a round of cheese, a salted leg of lamb, and a bottle of honey) for two pairs of trousers that look likely to fit the Beast. |
Author: deslandes | Does he have to put one on? He rather likes the questionable dress. |
Author: beheld_beauty | The dress is much too questionable. Belle points at the changing room in the shop with a raised eyebrow. |
Author: deslandes | Fine, fine.
He enters the changing room and comes back betrouser'd. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle orients herself, and they set out for Les Fourches, which is a four-hour walk away.
She is recognized as soon as they walk into town; her father isn't among the crowd, but the bookseller and the baker both are, and they call her name.
"Hello!" Belle calls back, waving and smiling. |
Author: deslandes | Beast just sort of... lurks. |
Author: beheld_beauty | The baker has other things to do, but the bookseller walks right up to them. "Belle, where have you been? Your poor father's been worried sick!"
"I couldn't get away, or I would've," Belle apologizes. "Is he home, do you suppose?"
"Most likely. You'll want to go straight there. Who's this?"
"My fiancé," Belle says placidly. She doesn't really wish to explain his name thing right now.
"Pleased to meet you," the bookseller says to Beast, "Monsieur...?" |
Author: deslandes | He shrugs. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "...Is your fiancé deaf?" the bookseller murmurs to Belle.
"No, but he doesn't appear to wish to introduce himself," Belle says.
"...What is he called, then?"
"If he wished you to call him something, I assure you he'd be quite capable of telling you what that might be."
The bookseller looks perturbed.
"At any rate," says Belle, "I've come with a lot of books, and some of them will probably interest you more than me. Perhaps in a few days when I've had time to settle back in and unpack we can discuss trades."
"Perhaps," the bookseller agrees.
"I do want to go home and see my father. Till later."
"Till later, Belle." |
Author: deslandes | Beast grins. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Do you want some sort of updated name, now that at least much of the time you are unbeastly, or do we just have the priest write 'Beast Cygne' in the church records?" Belle murmurs as they continue through town. |
Author: deslandes | "It's all the same to me," he says cheerfully. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "It would be a little easier if I could say something more along the lines of 'this is Jean' as opposed to either 'this is my nameless groom-to-be' or 'this is Beast, it's a long story'." |
Author: deslandes | He laughs. "True. Well, if you want to tell all your friends my name is Jean, I won't argue." |
Author: beheld_beauty | She shrugs. "It's suitably generic." |
Author: deslandes | "All right." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "My father, on the other hand, deserves the complete story," Belle shrugs. |
Author: deslandes | "Then he can have it." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "His house is over there."
The Cygne house is modest but well-kept, and it's about as far on the outskirts of Les Fourches as it can be without being attached to a farm. |
Author: deslandes | Beast follows her there. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle doesn't knock. It's her house. She has a key.
"Papa!" she calls.
There is a silence.
And then Belle's father half-explodes out of the kitchen and engulfs her in a sobbing embrace. |
Author: deslandes | ...awww. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Belle," murmurs Charlie. "Belle, you're safe, you're home, I thought you were lost forever."
"I'm fine," Belle assures him, hugging him back. "I'm fine. I found an enchanted castle and it kept me there for some time but now it's let me go." |
Author: deslandes | (He smiles wryly.) |
Author: beheld_beauty | There is another minute of silent hug.
Charlie then releases her marginally to get a good look at her face, and, over her shoulder, he notices Beast.
"Belle, who's this?"
"He was enchanted along with the castle," Belle says, "and now we're engaged." She pauses to evaluate her father's facial expression. "He's technically a marquis," she offers.
"Is he."
"Yes." |
Author: deslandes | The technically-a-marquis grins. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "How does one technically be a marquis?" Charlie wants to know.
"His father was a marquis, he's the only child, but then an enchantress cursed him and this all happened quite some time ago," Belle said.
"...Belle, how old is this man?"
"...Older than me. But he wasn't aging normally during the curse."
"What is his name?"
"He's forgotten it," Belle says. "I've been calling him Beast. For other purposes where that would take too long to explain, it may as well be 'Jean'." |
Author: deslandes | Beast-and/or-Jean shrugs agreeably. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Does he talk?" Charlie asks, and this time he's looking straight at Beast. |
Author: deslandes | "No." |
Author: beheld_beauty | Charlie's not amused.
"Yes, Papa, he talks," sighs Belle. "He has, however, spent a very long time without company until recently."
"And you're going to get married."
"Yes."
"Normally I'd be consulted on that, Belle."
"Normally," Belle agrees neutrally. |
Author: deslandes | "Would you be happier if I were a marquis?" |
Author: beheld_beauty | Charlie weighs this question. "Frankly," he says after a delay, "yes." |
Author: deslandes | "Well, I know what I'm doing next, then." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Do you suppose we'll wind up moving back into the castle?" Belle inquires. "I'll feel silly about having packed up the library in that case." Pause. "Oh, Papa, I've started studying enchanting myself. It's wonderfully useful." |
Author: deslandes | "We should magic a new one," he asserts. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "All right," Belle laughs.
"You're an enchantress," Charlie says blankly to his daughter.
"Yes," says Belle, all asmile. "Here, look." She takes the book bag from Beast and starts piling books on the hall table. Charlie watches the stack grow, becoming steadily more stunned. |
Author: deslandes | Beast grins fondly. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "You get the idea," says Belle, after the stack is clearly too large to have nonmagically fit into the bag.
"Yes," Charlie acknowledges. "How are you going to go about retrieving your title? Can you prove your identity if you can't remember your name?" he asks Beast. |
Author: deslandes | "I have," he says serenely, "no idea." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "And I suppose casting spells at the problem won't help, since I've an obvious motivation to wish you declared a marquis," Belle muses. "Oh well. The forest is largely unclaimed anyway. We can live in a castle and not be marquis and marquise, or at least not acknowledged as such by the Crown." |
Author: deslandes | "A fine plan," says the Beast. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Papa, since the library is currently in this bag," Belle says, "and I don't know a spell for castle-building already, might we stay here a few days? Long enough to find the book I need. And be married, as there aren't any priests in the woods."
"...I suppose you may." |
Author: deslandes | "Thank you," says the Beast. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Until we've booked the church of course you will have to stay in the spare room," Belle says apologetically to Beast.
Charlie looks vaguely suspicious about this phrasing. |
Author: deslandes | "I'll live," he says dryly. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "I should hope so," says Belle. "The church should probably be the next stop for all three of us."
Charlie nods, mouth a thinning line. "Sounds past time." |
Author: deslandes | The Beast looks amused.
Perhaps because he is. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Everything's fine, Papa," soothes Belle.
"Is it, now."
"Yes," says Belle.
Charlie chews his lip, then settles his arm around Belle's shoulders and heads for the door. |
Author: deslandes | The Beast watches this with further amusement, then follows. |
Author: beheld_beauty | The church is a small affair, and the priest is in fact prepared to perform a wedding right then if they want to. Belle looks inquiringly at the Beast. |
Author: deslandes | He beams. |
Author: beheld_beauty | The wedding is fairly summary, with Beast's name given as Jean of no last name who'll be taking 'Cygne' as his surname, and Charlie and the priest are the only witnesses. Charlie cries and pretends not to. Belle looks fondly at her father, and then properly beams at Beast, and kisses him when the time is correct. |
Author: deslandes | He kisses her right back! Mmm. Favourite kisses. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Charlie continues to pretend not to cry.
Belle isn't really paying attention to him. She's busy kissing her new husband. |
Author: deslandes | He wraps his arms around her and kisses her again.
Then he murmurs in her ear, "Your papa is crying." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "I know. Don't tell him, he'll be embarrassed."
And presently, "Let's go home and start looking through books, shall we?" |
Author: deslandes | First: more kisses.
Then, "Let's!" |
Author: beheld_beauty | There are a lot of books. Belle winds up emptying the food bag completely to replace its contents with books, simply so they don't overflow the house with books that are not the books they are looking for.
Eventually she has her supply of magic books extracted. Including those that are in foreign languages. "You can read again without hurting your eyes, I assume," she observes. |
Author: deslandes | "I can," he beams. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle hands him one of the foreign language books that they never got around to categorizing, and then consults her index for which of the categorized books is most likely to contain castle-building instructions. |
Author: deslandes | Beast gets to work. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Eventually Belle finds something. "Here we are," she says. "I think if I do this right, I can even get it to organize the library in the process. I do need to design the layout, though, and decide what it should look like." |
Author: deslandes | "I think it should be pretty," the Beast opines. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Is that your only preference on the subject?" laughs Belle. |
Author: deslandes | "Yes. And beds," he adds. "It should have big, comfortable beds." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Several of them?" inquires Belle archly. |
Author: deslandes | "In case we get bored of the one!" |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Is that normally a concern?" giggles Belle. |
Author: deslandes | "I don't know, I've never been married before," he laughs. "Is there a reason not to?" |
Author: beheld_beauty | "No, not really," she says. "Does the size of the old castle sound about right to you?" She's gotten out a notebook and begun to sketch a floorplan. |
Author: deslandes | "It sounds just fine." |
Author: beheld_beauty | Sketch sketch sketch. "The spell will be able to fill in a lot of little details by itself, and it'll be alive the way the old one was so it'll be easy to change. We could put it some fifteen minutes' walk into the woods and live there tonight." |
Author: deslandes | "That is a good plan," he says brightly. "I am fond of that plan." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Yes, the alternative is having the wedding night with just a wall between us and Charlie," she murmurs with a nervous smile. |
Author: deslandes | "Definitely the castle." |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle squirms and goes on sketching. |
Author: deslandes | The Beast decides that this is a good moment to hug her. |
Author: beheld_beauty | It is! It is a good moment to hug her! She relaxes against him.
"You're going to have to show me how it goes," she murmurs. "I have read more books than my father knows about, but not as many as it would take to actually set him on fire with distress." |
Author: deslandes | "Well," he says, "I am glad your father is not on fire, and I will be happy to show you everything I know." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Good." Belle kisses him. |
Author: deslandes | He kisses right back, snuggling up a little. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle continues working on the castle, because if this goes on any longer they're really going to need a castle to adjourn to, and finally holds up a few pages of room layouts and notes on living-castle functionality and décor. "Good?" she asks. |
Author: deslandes | "Good!" |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Let's go pick a spot to put it," she says, pecking him on the cheek and getting up to put the books in the bags to bring along. |
Author: deslandes | He helps her collect books. |
Author: beheld_beauty | And off they go for a stroll, after Belle hugs Charlie goodbye!
"It doesn't have to be a clear spot. The trees will clear away," Belle says. "But we'll have the same elevation - if we go near the river, the river will stay - that sort of thing." |
Author: deslandes | "Let's not go near the river." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "All right." She veers away from the river. "How come?" |
Author: deslandes | He shrugs. "I don't know, I just don't want to be near the river." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Okay."
They find a spot not near the river that takes a reasonable amount of time to walk to from Les Fourches and is up on a bit of a hill. "How's here?" asks Belle, turning in place and smiling at the scenery. |
Author: deslandes | "Pretty," he says, and kisses her. |
Author: beheld_beauty | She kisses him back, and looks at her castle plans. "Ready?" she asks. |
Author: deslandes | "Mmhmm." |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle falls into her mindscape, and draws a description of where the castle plans may be found in her notebook on one of the rosepetals, and draws power up from the Earth and funnels it through her husband.
It is a large spell, and it also takes a while start to finish, unlike the setup-and-done magic she's performed before. |
Author: deslandes |
When there is finally a castle, the Beast is curled up at her feet hugging himself and moaning. |
Author: beheld_beauty | "Are you all right?" Belle murmurs, falling to her knees and laying her hand on his face. "Too much?" |
Author: deslandes | He pulls her down and kisses her. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Oh! Okay then! Belle is perfectly happy to kiss him. |
Author: deslandes | "I love you," he says breathlessly, and kisses her again. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle decides this would be an opportune time to read his mind some. |
Author: deslandes | He looooooooooooooooooooves her. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Good! They're married and everything!
"Inside?" she murmurs against his ear. |
Author: deslandes | "Yes."
He wants to scoop her up and carry her, but right now his body is not putting up with any such nonsense. So he just hauls himself to his feet and follows her in. Moving hurts. Touching anything hurts. That was quite a spell.
Where's one of those big comfortable beds? |
Author: beheld_beauty | Here's one!
Belle shuffles her feet a little once they've gone into the room, and she's not making eye contact either, though she's still smiling. |
Author: deslandes | Beast hugs her and kisses her forehead. |
Author: beheld_beauty | She hugs him back. "I love you," she murmurs. |
Author: deslandes | "I love you too," he says into her hair. It's the truest thing in the world.
Bed? Bed. Big comfortable bed. Beast is just going to flop down and snuggle into it, loving the cuddly softness of the blankets and the way fresh jolts of pain follow every movement. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle snuggles right up to him. She's not nervous about snuggling. |
Author: deslandes | How about snuggling with fewer clothes? Because it is past time he got out of these trousers. |
Author: beheld_beauty | She is also quite accustomed to him being unclothed. |
Author: deslandes | And kisses? Kisses are also fine, are they not? |
Author: beheld_beauty | They are! |
Author: deslandes | Kisses, snuggling, Beast being unclothed. All good things. Nothing alarming there.
And he loves her. He loves her so much. She's a thunderstorm, a rosebush, beautiful and dangerous. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Belle could get very, very used to being loved like this, to sinking into his mindscape and watching-feeling it all rush past her in a waterfall of affection. |
Author: deslandes | He can feel it when she does, and it makes him want to curl up around her and do his best likeness of a purr.
Like so. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Awwwww. |
Author: deslandes | "I love you," he mumbles into her shoulder. "I love you, I love you, I love you." |
Author: beheld_beauty | "I love you too," she sighs happily. |
Author: deslandes | Snugglesnugglesnuggllllllllllllle. |
Author: beheld_beauty | |
Author: deslandes | He giggles, and kisses her again. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Kisses, kisses, kisses! |
Author: deslandes | Kisses kisses kisses snuggles kisses cuddles kisses nuzzles kisses. |
Author: beheld_beauty | This could go on for a while, couldn't it? |
Author: deslandes | It could!
There is also the matter of hands.
He has those now. Without fur or claws or inhuman crushing strength. |
Author: beheld_beauty | He does. He does have hands.
What ever shall he do with them? |
Author: deslandes | He has some notions! |
Author: beheld_beauty | Will he be sharing them with his blushing bride?
(There is blushing. There's considerable blushing.) |
Author: deslandes | "I love you blushing," he says, and kisses her, and - although he is quite sure she saw it already - suggests a notion. |
Author: beheld_beauty | Such notions he has. Isn't it nice to be married? Belle thinks so. |