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[provincialbelle]

It seemed like everything was falling into the sort of place it was meant to.

So why did Belle have the funny feeling that not everything was right? Her Papa was safe, the Beast wasn’t as truly monstrous as she had once considered. In fact, he seemed…well, sweet in that way that you would never expect. You just needed to look a slight bit past

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[halfahead]

Glitch looked up from where he'd been attempting to negotiate with the bookshelf, specifically for something not related to weddings, when he heard someone calling for their papa. Well, and someone named Chip (and what kind of a name was Chip, anyway?), but the Papa part was what stuck in his mind.

With a look towards the bookshelf that clearly stated they'd continue their conversation later, Glitch stepped into the hall and smiled at her. "Where'd you last see them?"

[provincialbelle]

Belle started at the sight before her. Call her crazy (and she was sure someone was waiting to), but maybe she had spent days in the company of a Beast, but this seemed so very cruel. Who could do such a thing to another person! That zipper gleaming on his head made Belle wonder just how the man had managed. "They were right behind me, I don't understand what's happened," Belle insisted, looking the man in the eyes stubbornly.

There was always a reason for things like this, if you dug deep enough. Belle wanted to give the benefit of the doubt instead of being so scared. Beast had taught her that much, at least, she thought to herself with an air of nostalgia and kindness.

[halfahead]

Glitch frowned. She could be new, but then again she could also just be a bit confused or. Well, okay, probably not. She looked too surprised at where she was for her to have just been walking down the hall and her dad and friend slipping away.

He cleared his throat, and held out a hand. "Hi. The name's Glitch on account of...well." He smiled as kindly as he could. She was getting enough of a shock that adding in the whole headcase thing might be bad. "Anyway. I'm afraid you're on a magical island that makes little to no sense and seems to randomly snatch people from wherever it decides sounds fun." Glitch paused. "Sorry."

[provincialbelle]

Belle's eyes kept on creeping up to that zipper and she couldn't help being so very curious about it and she stepped just a bit closer, biting down on her lip as she reached out with tentative fingers. "Can I ask about this?" she ventured, fingers hovering just above it. "I don't think I've ever seen anything so strange in my life and my life has had its share of zany things between Papa's inventions and the castle."

[halfahead]

Glitch was fairly proud of himself for not shoving her hand away. Instead he gave her an extremely uncomfortable smile. "I have half of my brain!" he said a bit too loudly. "They put a zipper in my head when they took the other half out, but I'm still kind of smart. Sometimes." He paused. "Now what was that about a castle and inventions?"

[provincialbelle]

"My father is an inventor," Belle remarked proudly, withdrawing her hand to clasp it before her dress and she had the stars in her eyes for all the world to see. "He's brilliant and he was going to make everything different for us one day when people saw the good in his inventions. I don't care what anyone said, they weren't worthless," she said with all the pride and empathy a daughter could bear.

As for the castle. Well, that was a strange and terribly wonderful story for another moment.

[halfahead]

"No invention is worthless!" Glitch beamed at her. "If it doesn't work, it's just another stumble in the right direction, is all. And if anyone thinks otherwise, it's because they've probably never seen how useful and good they are." He paused. "Unless someone twists it around and tries to destroy the world with it, but that's pretty rare."

[provincialbelle]

"Oh, I don't think Papa's work could ever be turned evil," Belle commented with a great deal of love and warmth in her tone. "The things he made always made life so much easier for everyone. His latest invention let us chop all the firewood we wanted without having to lift a single finger!"

[halfahead]

"That's pretty handy," Glitch said, nodding. "I made a hot air balloon, but it can't stay up in the air very long, just because I don't have a lot of the materials I need." He shrugged. "I'd be doing a lot more if I had the materials I need, actually." Gods, how he wanted some Moritanium.

[provincialbelle]

Belle's eyes lit up. "If you'd let me, I'd love to see the sorts of things you invent. I think it might maybe help me to miss Papa less," she had to admit with a half-worried tone. "I just hope he's okay back at home and he keeps thinking up those amazing things he thinks up."

[halfahead]

"Don't worry, inventors can't stop thinking things up. It's making them work that you have to worry about," Glitch grinned, and offered an arm. "And I'd be happy to show you my gadgets! They're not terribly impressive at the moment, but they're still pretty nifty little gizmos."

[provincialbelle]

Belle hesitated a moment but she nearly jumped forward to latch onto his arm, following along dutifully with her mind already turning to think of what things she could see. "I just wish you could see his work. I'm sure he'd be such a good help. It's only him and me, you see."