Food, Glorious Food~ [completed]

[onmyouji-subaru.livejournal.com]

Character(s): Subaru, Belle and anyone else.
Content: Subaru and Belle proceeds to get food.
Setting: Porfavore's (I5)
Time: Late afternoon; Week 2
Warnings: None yet~


The delicious smell wafting from inside the small building that is Porfavore's does not help Subaru's hunger at all. The place seemed very inviting, the wooden plank with 'Porfavore's' painted on it messily and the occasional roar of laughter errupting from inside the place adds to the welcoming atmosphere of the restaurant. Subaru lets himself smile a little as he is reminded of Hokuto's deafening laughter. He can hear Hokuto laughing from behind him, and then scoffing and telling him he should appreciate her shopping trips more and wear the clothes she bought him.

He shakes his head with a smile, trying to wave the apparition away. Even though the place makes him remember Hokuto, it is Hokuto's smile that he remembers, and so he is in a very amiable mood. He is glad that Belle had chosen this place. He loves the human way the sign had been painted. He loves the mixed smell of many kinds of food being cooked and the deafening laughter that one will only ever share with one's close friends. Well, except for people like Hokuto, he muses. She laughs like that to anyone anywhere. He loves her for that anyway.

Subaru says no word to Belle, nodding at her and walking towards the door instead. He does this still with a slight glimmer in his eyes, however, and maybe there is a tinge of emerald in those grey eyes of his.

Comments

[belleleera.livejournal.com]

“This place seems friendly” She comments as they walk in the door. This reminds me of town a bit. The tavern was always filled with friendly people. A little to obsessed with Gaston though. She hoped they wouldn’t run into anyone like him here.

She could hear laughter coming from within and it made her smile. She liked being surrounded by happy people. Her eyes looked around curiously. These people might be a lot nicer than the ones that were near the gate. They might be used to strangers. She smiled at the server who sat them near a window. She was glad that she liked this name the best. She looked out the window and watched some people go by. Her eyes were peeled for any familiar faces. But she saw none and decided to look at the menu instead.

“Do you know what you would like to eat?” She asked, not because she really wanted to know, but more to see what he was ordering so she could get something similar. She didn’t want to get a meal if he had only intended on a sandwich. She also would know what price range to look at. Though it suddenly occurred to her that she may not be able to read the menu. He had mentioned she was speaking Japanese. She wasn’t sure how that was possible, but if that was the language then it might be the writing as well. She was certain she couldn’t read Japanese. But she was able to understand him and he wasn’t speaking Japanese in her mind. What a magical place!

She looked over the menu, and she was pleased to discover that she could read it. She glanced at Subaru to see if he was able to read it too. She was very curious how this was all possible. Were they all enchanted? Did walking through the gate suddenly make them all able to understand all languages? Now that she thought about it, it was all most perplexing. She wanted to know more about this place and it’s quirks.

[belleleera.livejournal.com]

“I’ll try that too.” Belle smiled at him. “It has to be good, or it wouldn’t be a special” She reasoned, more for her own benefit than his. She could tell he had been very hungry so she didn’t want to take too long in ordering. Besides, if he was getting it then he didn’t mind the price.

“Yes, I’m ready.” She responded. She closed her menu to show that she really was ready. When the waitress came over, they put in their orders. Belle decided to get water, because that was the safest thing she could get. She knew she’d like that. She looked around at the various pictures on the wall.

“It’s interesting in here” She comments. She was never really good at small talk, but she hoped it might help him take his mind off of his hunger and whatever else was bothering him. “I wonder if there’s a library nearby. There has to be one here somewhere.” There she was talking about books again. So she changed the subject. “Do you think there's a reason we’re in this Paixao place?” It was something to talk about, not to mention something they definitely had in common. They were both there, and quite randomly.

[belleleera.livejournal.com]

There was a library! She really would have to learn how to use this journal thing, it looked like it had a lot of information in it. She wasn’t sure if she should stay with him longer, or just go to the library. It was her excuse to let him go on his way. Surely he didn’t want her to follow him forever. But not many people liked to be alone. So he might have wanted her to walk with him until he met his friend.

She hadn’t expected an answer to her last question right away. It wasn’t the type of question you could spit out a random answer to. If you answered it honestly anyhow. As she waited for the answer she also watched the people walking about. She thought once again how odd it was that they all looked alike. Other than that they seemed normal enough.

When Subaru started talking, Belle looked at him, growing more and more interested as he went on. What an interesting story he had! She had never met anyone that had to fill a prophecy before. Sure, she herself had been meant to help the Beast and fall in love with him but that was different. And no one told her she was meant to do that. But this was different. Her eyes widened a bit when he said he was meant to save the world. She hoped he made it back in enough time. She didn’t want the world to end while she was missing. That sounded a bit selfish, she thought. But she wanted to be with the love of her life. She looked Subaru over and she decided that Subaru could do it. All the books she read did point to unlikely people saving the world.

“I won’t tell anyone” She says very seriously. She wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize him saving the world. “But why would someone want to kill you?” She paused “You don’t really have to answer that...it’s just very interesting.”

[belleleera.livejournal.com]

He was right, about Belle worrying. She listened to his story very calmly. How awful for a six year old to have seen that, she thought. Belle was not a violent person by nature, but even she could see why Subaru needed to get back home to finish off this murder business. Although it seemed to her that he might be safer in this city. Not that she doubted his ability to take care of things, but she didn’t want him to experience any more pain. Seeing someone murdered is something that never leaves you. And she had a feeling that there was more to the story, but she would never press him for more. She saw that it bothered him very much.

She took a sip of her water before she started speaking. “My story is a fairytale really” She smiles. “I lived on the edge of a small town with my father. He’s an inventor you know. He made one device that chops wood for you. It was really great, until it crashed and broke anyhow.” She laughs a little. The town didn’t really like us much. They thought my father was too eccentric, and they made fun of him a lot. Especially that awful Gaston” She frowned. She should not have brought him up. He made her so angry! “He was the most, arrogant, conceited, overbearing, jerk you could ever meet” She said with much more anger than she intended.

She blushed when she realized it. “I’m sorry. But you see, he nearly killed the love of my life, and tried to lock my father up in an asylum. But I should say too many mean things. I’m pretty certain he’s dead. He did fall off of the high balcony of the castle after all. But I’m getting ahead of myself.” Belle shook her head to clear her thoughts. She was surprised she wasn’t telling her own story better. But she was still a little preoccupied with his story to think too clearly. She was still wondering if the person he saw murdered was someone close to him or not.

[belleleera.livejournal.com]

Belle smiled. “I was going to save him for last. He is the best part after all.” She laughed some. “One day my father went to go enter his invention in a fair. He hoped to win. I bet he would have too if he and Phillipe hadn’t gotten lost.” Even in re-telling the tale, Belle looked extremely worried. “Phillipe is our horse” She added. “Anyway, my father got lost and found this castle. It was huge. And it was not a very inviting place. Of course, it was a dark and stormy night when I first saw the castle. I remember how abandoned it looked. And there were signs to stay out. But I had to go in. I had to make sure my father was safe.”

She paused for a bit. She was glad he was interested in her story. She hoped it took his mind off of the food they were waiting for. She had started to feel hungry too, and glanced around a bit for the server. “He was locked up in a cold room. He looked so small. He kept telling me to run, but I couldn’t leave him there. And all of a sudden there was this voice, screaming at me to get out and that my father is his prisoner. I couldn’t let my father stay there though. He was old and he looked sick from getting caught in the cold. So I offered to take his place as prisoner. The person that the voice belonged to was very surprised at my offer. I asked him to step into the light so that I could see him.”

“He was a huge beast. He had horns coming out of his head and teeth so sharp they looked like they could bite right through me. Seeing him just about stopped my heart. I wasn’t expecting to see a monster. All I could think of was how I might never see my father again and that I would be this things dinner. It was an unfair thought really, but what else was I supposed to think? He wasn’t being nice at all. He sent my father off to the village and it was just him and me. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared. But I wasn’t about to let him see that. Of course, if I had thought it through I would have realized that he could probably smell it.” She laughed a bit. “He didn’t make me stay in that cold room. He brought me to a lovely room with a great room. I was confused at first. Why would a beast, give me such a great room if he was going to eat me? But it was in this room when I first discovered that the castle was enchanted. I was crying on the bed when the dresser started talking to me. She was just about the nicest dresser you could meet too.”

Belle thought that after hearing this part, Subaru might think she was crazy and not want to hear any more about it. She paused just in case. She knew he wasn’t having the best of times and didn’t want to annoy him with a story he thought she was making up. Most of the men she had met, wouldn’t like such a story.

[belleleera.livejournal.com]

Belle smiled at the waitress when the food was brought. She takes a few bites of the food. It tasted pretty good, she was pleased to find. A bit different than she was used to, but she could deal with it. She waited a bit before she continued, mostly because she couldn’t tell if he really wanted to hear, and because she didn’t want to talk with her mouth full.

“No actually. The monster turned out to be the love of my life.” She took another bite and then blushed, realizing how that might have sounded. “He was really a prince.” She hurriedly continued. “An enchantress transformed him into a beast to teach him a lesson. But that’s his story.” Laughs a bit. “You see, the longer I spent time in the castle the nicer he became.”

“One night, while I was exploring the castle I found myself in the exact spot Beast told me not to go in. But that does happen doesn’t it? When someone tells you to stay away from somewhere you inevitably end up there.” She paused once more to eat a bit. “He lost his temper that night and began to throw things around. So I ran away. Of course, that wasn’t the brightest of ideas. I ended up being chased by wolves. But the Beast saved me” She smiled. “That was the first night we became friends. From then on, he was friendly. He lost his temper from time to time, but it was nothing drastic. We spent a lot of time together. He even showed me the library and we would read most nights by the fire.” She smiled more with a dreamy look, idly eating a bit more.

After a few moments Belle snapped back into reality. “It was wonderful really. But, I missed my father. Beast showed me a magic mirror of his, that lets you see anyone you want at that moment. My father was sick. I had to go to him. The Beast let me go. He didn’t have to, but he did. I promised I would come back. When I got to my father though, Gaston was there, trying to toss him in the loony bin. My dad wasn’t crazy though. He was just trying to get someone to help me. He didn’t know I was fine. So I showed Gaston the Beast in the mirror. That was stupid. Gaston is a hunter and all he saw was a monster. He didn’t see the gentleness in Beasts eyes. So Gaston went to hunt down Beast, but not before he locked me in the basement. I got out though. And I made my way to the castle to warn him. I was much to late of course, they were already fighting, but Beast was so happy to see me. Gaston stabbed him when he was looking at me. And then Beast threw him off the balcony.” Belle paused. “He might have fallen...it’s hard to tell. Either way he fell. Beast was really hurt too. I thought I was going to loose him.” Belles eyes filled with emotion, re-living it in her mind. “But I didn’t!” She exclaims happily. “Right before my eyes he turned human again. It was the most amazing thing I ever saw in my entire life.”

[belleleera.livejournal.com]

Belle nodded. “Love is amazing.” She agreed, completely missing any other meaning his words may have had. She continued eating, still trying to think of what to compare the food to. Belle couldn’t be sure if Subaru believed her or not, but she didn’t much care. She was happy to tell her story to anyone.

Belle looked out the window watching the blonde haired people walk by. She wondered if they were happy here. Some of them had smiles, but it looked to Belle that they could have been acting. None of them seemed to be quite as friendly as the folk back home. Belle looked back at Subaru and smiled. “Are you enjoying the food?”

[belleleera.livejournal.com]

Belle looked at him a bit unsure. It had crossed her mind of course that she would be stuck here, but she never doubted she’d see Beast again. Until he said that. His words were reassuring, but she couldn’t be sure if he meant in this place or that she would go home again. Or maybe he had even meant in death. And now they were done eating and she had to decide what to do. She drank all of her water, quite thirsty after all that talking.

“I’m finished, if you’d like to go.” She said noticing how he was playing with his food. He said he was going to meet a friend. She didn’t want to intrude, but she didn’t have anything else to do. But maybe she could find Beast here. She had a few hours head start so it was possible he hadn’t arrived yet. And he seemed certain she’d see Beast again. His words really made Belle wonder if he could see the future or not. Or maybe he was just good at making people feel better. Either way she was happy with the words the more she thought about it. “Thank you for bringing me here. I really enjoyed the food.” And she enjoyed his company too. But Belle suspected he wouldn’t believe her if she said so.