(Untitled)

[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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[saikamai]

So far, it had been a thoroughly excellent evening for Cuthbert, who had spent the last two hours rummaging through the Clothing Box in the hope of finding something good for the Masked Ball. He'd had excellent luck, and though he was still undecided on the matter of how thoroughly he was going to attempt to disguise himself, he had wanted to have plenty of options. He was wearing all of them

[provincialbelle]

Belle jumped up and she barely restrained herself from giving a small sound. She'd only been exploring five steps and already she was nearly colliding into people. Usually she at least had a book in hand to excuse herself for the state of mind, but right now, she'd give anything for a book that came with an explanation of just where her family had gone.

And who had been at the door? That curiosity would niggle at her endlessly. Belle raised two fingers to her lower lip to hide the nonexistent sound she had produced before studying the man before her curiously, wondering where he could have come from. "I'm sorry," she apologized profusely. "Normally I'm very good at dodging and ducking. I guess I'm a little out of sorts is all."

[saikamai]

Cuthbert lifted up the brim of the hat, smiling. "Well, I should be the one apologizing anyway, barging around the corner like that," he said, laughing. He gave her a friendly nod and stepped around her, meaning to continue down the hall. "So I'm sorry! And I'm also Cuthbert, by the way," he said, turning and walking backwards a few paces, his words slightly muffled by the wooly beard. He noticed she really did look confused, and paused. "...are you lost?"

[provincialbelle]

Belle blinked rapidly as she found herself introduced to and in a new place and lost and...and so many things! How could she even pick one to focus on, but she had to, so introductions seemed the most intelligent way to go about this. "I'm Belle and it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm sure," she added warily. "I think it'd be more of a pleasure if I knew where I was, though."

[saikamai]

Cuthbert opened his mouth to tell her she was on the second floor, and not to worry, he often got lost in the strange everything-looks-the-same cement maze of the Compound's lower levels, but there was something in the way she was speaking that made him pause. His stomach rolled over uncomfortably. Oh, God's teeth. New person.

"Belle," Cuthbert said carefully, removing his beard and cramming it in a pocket as he extended his hand to her. "Long days and pleasant nights. And the answer to that question depends a bit on where you think you are." Bert's dark eyes regarded her seriously, but his expression was one of tentative concern.

[provincialbelle]

Belle reached across the distance between them to shake his hand, even if her own grip was flimsy thanks to all this madness and the confusion surrounding her. "Well, I was just with my Papa and there was a knock on the door and I thought..."

Well, she thought, somehow, that maybe it had been the Beast, but that was just a silly heart's desire! "Well, I thought we were having visitors, but I seem to be the one visiting, now."

[saikamai]

Cuthbert frowned slightly. "Belle? I'm afraid I might have some, ah, difficult news for you. Want to walk with me a bit while I explain?" Slowly but surely, Cuthbert was arranging elements of his clothing to look a little less ridiculous. He took off the hat and shoved it under his arm and balled up the untied necktie and stuck it in the pocket with the beard. This sort of thing could only happen to him, ye gods.

[provincialbelle]

Belle watched him with an intense suspicion that was only matched by her unending curiosity and she tilted her head to one side. "Where do you want to walk?" she asked. "I don't think I should go far. Just in case."

[saikamai]

"Well..." Cuthbert shifted his weight. "All right. This is going to sound mad, but... wherever you were, Belle, you're not there anymore." He looked quickly away from her big brown eyes and gestured down the hall, toward the stairs that led to the main level. "This is a strange place. People... people show up here without rhyme or reason, just taken from a moment in their lives and deposited here. It's an island. And... Belle, there's no easy way to go home." There's no way to go home, he mentally corrected himself, but he couldn't bring himself to use such final words when breaking this news to her.

[provincialbelle]

"What do you mean, no way to go home?" Belle echoed in a warm and yet perfectly disbelieving tone. "There always has to be a way, maybe no one's found it. Or maybe there's some secret passage we could all take!" she enthused warmly. "There has to be a way," she insisted, more desperate than before. "I just got home to see my father, I don't want to leave him again so soon."