Mending bridges is hard work

[The Beast]

"I'd prefer it lighter." he admitted honestly to Troll, watching servants scurry around. One thing he couldn't ignore, however, was just how excited Belle seemed. He had never seen her this way. As he watched her run off again, watched as she tried to set everything up, he felt his heart raise up within his chest.

He cleared his throat, which sounded almost like a choked growl, and stood on his hind legs once again. "Follow me, I will show you to a more comfortable area." he offered, folding his hands behind his back once again in a very prim and proper manner.

He led her to the front part of the castle, as they had come in through the back. A small ottoman darted around, barking loudly, and zipped off a hallway, chased by an even smaller tea cup. As the Beast didn't blink about this, it must be completely normal to him.

He gestured to the fireplace as if she could just sit right in front of it, though there were a few seats in the room she could pick from should she desire. He drug his claws through the fur on his jaw and neck in consideration before mumbling, "Do you want, er, tea?" he offered. He wasn't good at offering things, that's what he had servants for, but he needed to be a better man for Belle and one step at a time seemed to be his best bet.

[Troll]

"Torches? More torches?" Troll suggested, rather ignorant to the situation. Red eyes blinked rapidly as she took in the ottoman and the teacup chasing each other about, but seeing that the male in front of her wasn't freaking out, she kept a level head. After all, Wonderland was far wilder than this place could ever be. Blue tongue passed over her lips again as she thought, hands fiddling with hair once more as she followed him within the castle.

What an interesting area he was taking her. The colors were comfortable, to say the least. Of course, she was an odd thing, both in appearance and mind, she couldn't compliment this place without him rushing it down as quickly as a fine liquor to an alcoholic's esophagus. Weird. She was too weird. Shivering, she stayed away from the fire. Troll had cranked up her body temperature to accommodate the weather outside - not the roaring of a fire.

Looking into those blue eyes again, she blinked and pursed her lips, voicing her concern at the question he gave her. "What's 'tea'?" She muttered, face flushing in a mild embarassment. She was still learning what human...creature...food was compared to her own. Back where she lived, she had oozing plants and striped meat, not pink meat and plain toned plants. Troll felt as if she had a lot of adjusting to do.

Sitting down at the far end of the couch, furthest from the fire, she kept her hands active at the hem of her skirt, gaze clearing the room of any suspicious activity. Where did that girl go, anyways?

[ohnobelle]

"No, no. I didn't mean scraps like that..." Belle was having a difficult time conveying to the servants in the kitchen just what she meant by a menu fit for Troll. "I know it's different... but... here -- " she went to the bits of food the knives were choosing not to shovel into a marvelously smelling stew and picked up one potato peel, "Scraps like this, but older. Rotten."

Everyone to their tastes, she supposed. Although the thought of consuming rotten food was one that went over her head, she recognized that Troll was clearly alien to this place, and perhaps even alien to this world. Why, if Sora and his friends, and the Heartless were all from different worlds, Troll could very well be from a completely different one as well. She may have mentioned that, actually...

During this small duration of her zoning out in contemplation, the kitchen appliances had rummaged through cupboards and containers in search of anything rancid they could find and piled it on a silver platter. There appeared to be some stale bread and bit of meat from this morning's meal, as well.

Just then, a line of tea cups and a copper kettle hopped into the kitchen. They immediately were hoisted up by a chair and hot water from a pot was poured. It looked as though Beast had requested tea... how thoughtful of him...

"Oh!" she was probably being awfully horrible company by not being company. She crouched down to a tea cup and smiled, "Mind leading me to them?"



Moments later, the line of tea cups and the copper kettle had led her to the warmed lounge area. A coffee table galloped close behind them, leaping forward and bending downward for the kettle to hop on and cater to first the Beast as the Master of the house.

Sitting down on a couch closest to the fire, Belle twiddled with her fingers and glanced over at the Beast with a soft smile.

"Tea was a lovely idea... I hope you like it, Troll."

[The Beast]

Beasts rumbling voice took on a slightly raspy manner as he grew embarrassed and tried to explain. "Er, no. No. Not light like light." he said holding one paw out. "I mean like, light." he touched his chest now with his large paw, his long claws digging into his fur without personal harm.

At her question his head tilted like a dog does, curious and calculating. The fur around the back of his neck rose a bit as he realigned his spine. "Tea? Well, tea, it's er, uh... BEL-" he started to shout her name when she was suddenly in the room alright. His voice died instantly.

He felt foolish at being caught shouting for her, and he combed his fur with his nails. "Er, Belle? What's tea?" he asked, looking down into the small tea cup as it was placed in his hand. He couldn't help a smile from growing on his face as he studied her in the firelight. His natural smiles were in no way scary or vicious looking. But then she smiled at him and he instantly dropped his attention to the cup once more, bringing it to his lips.

[Troll]

Oh. So that was tea. Staring down at the kettle she reached out and poked its extremely warm side. However, as Troll had a higher body temperature than these pink-skins, she didn't flinch, but spoke in a rather surprised voice. "It's lukewarm?" Luke warm to her, was mouth melting hot to a pink-skin. Of course, she ought to abide by their rules...they probably were respecting her as much as she respected them. "It's fine though. I understand about your body temperature. And...yes."

A grey hand extended, revealing that she was missing one of the phalanges, the ring finger on her right hand, and grabbed a tea cup, squeaking lightly as it seemed...rather animated. Staring with intent, dark red eyes, she cleared her throat and reached for the tea kettle, but it swiveled, turned, and poured the drink for her! Baffled and a little afraid of this area, she pursed her lips and curled up onto the end of the sofa that she called her temporary 'comfort-zone'. Tea. Mouth.

Put the tea to the mouth, and drink. She seemed to have to command herself, and has her black lips touched the cup, it wiggled! Slamming the cup down, she hid her face in her hands and curled into a ball. That was not okay. She couldn't drink that! Not in the least! Troll cleared her throat and moved her hands away from her face, eyes apologetic but irritated - to Beast and Belle. "Perhaps it's best that I go..."

[ohnobelle]

The kettle lastly made its way over to Belle with the table clumsily galloping to her side. A cup lept to catch the liquid pouring out of its spout, and proceeded to wiggle over to tempt Belle's fingers to grasp it. She gave a sideways smile at the flirtatious thing -- oh how silly some of the characters were in this castle.

Raising it to her face, she let the vapor tap her cheeks, waiting to take a sip. Her wide eyes looked curiously over at Troll, and how she was receiving the tea. It didn't look as though drinking out of a cup was foreign to her, no... but it didn't look like she was comfortable, either. A concerned and worried look crossed Belle's face when Troll slammed her cup down and curled up into the back cushion of the couch. That wasn't good!

"Oh, no!" Belle moved to set her drink back down, still as full as when she received it, "Please stay... they don't mean any harm, they're just... well... different." She said that word with a bit of reluctance. She wasn't sure how either Troll or Beast would react to the word choice, but it was true. The first time a cup wiggled to tickle her lips surprised her, too. But she couldn't help but feel if she was raised in a world where cups did that all the time -- would she mind?

Probably not. But Troll was a very different character. The only similarity she and the Beast seemed to share was that they physically looked different than the norm in this World. But the Beast was still very much human at heart, and was capable of change. Maybe Troll wasn't...

She brought her hands together and played with them nervously, not knowing what to do. She glanced over at Beast in an attempt to communicate her concern for Troll, hoping he'd know what to do.

[The Beast]

He always wanted to please Belle, half subconsciously, but still. And at the look she gave him, with her large hazel eyes and her pouty lips and some type of desperation, he couldn't help but buckle. He shifted closer to Troll, setting one of his heavy, large palms onto her deltoid.

"They don't mean to." he promised, his voice that low rumble it often seemed to be. "Forgive them. They aren't used to strangers. It has only been me and them for the longest time, until Belle showed up." he tried to explain, tried to be friendly but for some awkward reason he sounded more fatherly than anything.

He plucked up the cup using his claws and looked to it, his expression serious and almost scolding. "Be nice. Stop your wiggling. She doesn't like it." he said, brandishing one clawed digit, one large brow perked at the cup. It stood as if at attention and he placed it on the largest pad of his paw, offering it to Troll once more.

[Troll]

That creature-man touched her. He touched her on a metal plate. Feeling her fear, disgust, and anger rise, she ripped herself away from the couch and resisted the urge to smack the teacup away and overturn the table. Instead, she cast a wild look to the both of them, breathing heavily, and gave a rather loud shriek. "Don't touch ME!" And stumbled over a bend in the rug on the floor. Regaining her balance, she continued peering around, heart pounding wildly in her ears and throat, stomach churning.

No one ever touched her. Ever. She wouldn't allow it. Xigbar was a shove. But touching. Consolidation. A calming look. No. She wouldn't believe that again. With one movement, she lurched over and spilled the contents of a previously consumed meal. What was left of it of course, and with an embarrassed and disgusted face, she fled the den, darting through memorized hallways to the back to escape. Troll just needed to get out. No one touched her. Ever. As the coat rack chased her with her bag, she snatched it and shoved it away with tears burning down her face in blind panic. A door needed to be found. It needed to touch her hand. She needed to get out into the cold again and run as far away from this place as possible.

She had left the room as quickly as possible, leaving barely any room to follow, and as soon as she yanked open the doors with a superior force, she was out, leaving just an echoing crack of cold to flood the castle. Sometimes, a lesson should have been learned.... Don't touch anyone you don't know well enough to call a friend. Especially when they have metal plates all over their body.

[/size]

Troll has left the tread!

[ohnobelle]

The teacup in Belle's hand gave a surprised wiggle that caused her hand to fumble with it in trying not to spill, however also surprised by Troll's swift leap from the couch. Belle's eyes darted between Troll and the Beast, who she thought had done a pretty good job of trying to reprimand the teacup and ease Troll.

"Don't touch ME!"

She understood that. She truly did. Why, if Gaston were trying to wiggle up against her lips, she would have probably reacted the same, if not more ruthless. Only... and as bad as this may sound... Gaston is fully human, with a bad intention.

But maybe, in comparison to Troll, the teacup was just as much "human" as she was. Well, the little thing technically was a person, just enchanted to look like that. And maybe to Troll, the cup had a bad intention.

All this reasoning came after the shock that overwhelmed her as Troll seemed to morph into a more animalistic state of herself. Troll was obviously distraught, as exhibited by her previous consumptions on the floor. When this happened, Belle promptly stood up and stepped forward, dearly wanting to help. Yet before she could do a thing or say a word, Troll bolted.

"Wait! Troll!" But why should she wait? She felt violated and unsafe. Belle nervously picked at her fingernails as they could hear the harsh swinging of the door to a halt against its frame.

An period of silence was met, where you could easily hear the ticking of the clock somewhere and the teacups clinking against each other childishly. What breached the silence was a rather proud whisk that poked Belle in the shin. A bit sidetracked, she looked down at it with slight surprise. It pointed off to the direction of the dining area, she presumed, immediately taking notice of a foul stench trying to flirt into her nostrils.

Covering her mouth and nose with a hand, Belle crouched down to the whisk and mumbled, "It seems as though we won't be needing that any longer... our guest left. I'm sorry for the effort you put into it."

Wondering how the Beast was feeling right now, she looked over at him above her still covered face and smiled with her eyes. Standing up, she took a deep breath and picked at her nails again in thought.

"Uhm... well. I guess I'll... clean up the mess." and as though the magic of the castle could read her mind, a row of cleaning utensils sprung to the spot before she could take another step and began to work on Troll's leftovers, "Or... not..."

Taking another look at Beast, she couldn't help but give a small laugh at the situation, "Guess it's just us again for tonight."

[The Beast]

Beast had cringed and held his heavy, clawed paws up, drawing his broad brows together. But then, she was gone, fleeing from him like almost everyone ever had. A brooding, hardened look overcame his features and he took in a deep breath.

He glanced to Belle, and forced himself to soften. "I guess so." he said, studying the servants cleaning up the mess. His tail swished in annoyance, and he flexed his claws against the ground below him.

The smell of vomit didn't bother him much, he had dealt with worse smells. He did notice, however, that Belle wasn't faring as well. He moved over to her and extended his arm. She wouldn't run from him, she wouldn't recoil, and he took peace in that, despite what the small, darken voice in the back of his mind whispered.

He gestured to her with his unoffered arm. "Shall we go outside while the servants finish dinner?" he asks of her, holding his head high, offering her a smile.

[ohnobelle]

A bright smile lit up her face at the sight of the Beast behaving gentlemanly toward her, even so bold as to smile.

"Why, sure... that sounds like a great idea, Beast," and as she motioned to wrap her arm around his, she froze midway and pulled back. It may have been rash or rude, but that was unintentional, "Oh... I'll need my cloak..."

She ran away and disappeared for a moment as she went to retrieve her cloak. It'd be nice to go outside for a bit longer than she had been this morning, to just relax. Although, the dinner couldn't have been too far from being done. They did work wonders in the kitchen.

Jogging back to the Beast, she pulled the lined hood over her head and peeked up from it at him. With a soft smile, brushing her bangs out of her face, she wrapped her arm warmly around his, just as she had started to do before.

"Lead the way, Beast."

[The Beast]

Belle never recoiled because of touching him, not anymore, so he barely blinked as she pulled away. He smiled a broad, bright, toothy smile as she returned to him, and he led her along, walking like the gentleman he could be.

He led her to the courtyard, glancing out at the snow as it fell steadily. Instinctively he kept close to Belle, wanting to provide warmth and protection. It was a primal desire of his, which he simply put to some of his more animal-like behaviors thanks to his curse.

He studied her, his bright blue eyes following her feminine curves, the way her hair fell. It was just for a moment, just as long as he could without being obvious about it all. He looked back out to the snow and took a deep breath, his large shoulders relaxing and his tail swishing ever so slightly.

[ohnobelle]

He was so soft and warm -- it was lovely having the Beast by her side like this. A while ago, though, she couldn't say the same thing. A while ago, the Beast would have taken on the true definition of what his name implied. But that was then, and he showed that he was capable of changing. Something within him pushed him to make his own alterations on his person. She wanted to say that she was a key role in it, but that'd be too prideful of her. The Beast was surely capable of his own change.

She believed he had total control over his change, anyway.

Even standing a good distance from the warmth of the daunting castle, so long as she was alongside the Beast she couldn't feel any warmer. Yet she had an urge to pull away from him, to go explore around a bit.

And so she did.

She slipped from the hooked arms and pranced over across the snowy ground, swinging around one of the trees. When she reappeared to view, she was rolling up a good wad of snow. But not for throwing. No, she kept collecting it and pushing it along, watching it grow bigger. Sticking her tongue out between her lips in thought, she padded more snow atop the mound.

Eyes glanced playfully at The Beast, giving a coy smile as she hid behind the quickly growing mound.

"I'm trying to sculpt you, in case you couldn't tell..."