paixaorpg | Judging a Book by the Cover [Active/Open]

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Judging a Book by the Cover [Active/Open]

Character(s): Belle, Zexion, Beast, anyone else who'd like to join
Content: Belle runs into "Ian" on her way to the library and comes across Beast for the first time.
Setting: Starting around H4 and ending at Os Dias Sao a Noite.
Time: Morning.
Warnings: None. SUBTERFUGE?

In a way, Belle's morning walk in Paixao wasn't much different than her morning walks in the little village she came from. Sure, the sky wasn't really a sky and few people she passed on the cobblestone streets barely even spared her a glance (and she had to admit that not being gossiped about everywhere she went was nice), but the quiet, complacent peacefulness was exactly the same. The people she passed knew what they were supposed to do and were perfectly content to stay in that rut forever. And as usual, Belle was astounded that they were happy to ignore the mystery and magic of the world around them.

She glanced down at the electronic journal in her hands as she walked east, light brown eyes scanning the map before she switched the screen back to the comments in her most recent entry. Surprisingly (or perhaps not so surprisingly), she'd gotten the hang of the device quickly. She had Jenny to thank for that.

I'm heading to the library now, she typed in response to one comment, from someone named Ian. I'll let you know how I like it! She smiled, closing the device and pocketing it again in her apron. So far, everyone Belle had met since coming to this new world were so friendly and helpful. It didn't seem possible that there were villainous malcontents like Timon had claimed when she first arrived, despite the evidence of some clearly destroyed buildings.

She looked up and ahead, her steps light and ponytail bouncing merrily behind her. Today would be an excellent day!

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'I'm heading to the library now,' she'd said. That left him more than enough time to arrange an 'accidental' meeting. It was one of the advantages of the portals that he'd long since grown used to moving through. Of course, he wasn't going to be going as he was. Not by a long shot. By the time he left, he'd already changed from the coat of the Organization to something far more mundane (a simple pair of jeans and a t-shirt); by the time the portal dropped him out in one of the alleys along what he hoped was the right path, the disguise had picked up another layer - a careful placed illusion of medium length brown hair to hide his far-too-recognizable silvery hair, which had been carefully pinned out of the way for the occasion.

Now all he needed to do was head in the general direction of the library and hope that he'd picked the right direction. But if not, well, nothing saying they couldn't 'accidentally' meet at the library.

It was some time before she came across another person on the roads, so when she saw a masculine but short figure ahead, Belle felt an odd sense of relief. For whatever reason, being alone on these ancient-looking streets made her nervous.

She quickened her steps slightly until she was a few feet behind the man. "Bonjour!" she called, her tone friendly and polite.

Ah, so he hadn't guessed wrong. Good to know. That she had decided to speak with him first, even better. No one could accuse him of looking for her that way. Not that he really expected anyone would, but better safe than sorry, as far as he was concerned.

"Good morning," he answered, offering a polite smile and a nod in return.

Belle matched her pace with his, glancing sidelong at him. "Ah, forgive me if this is rude, but...you don't seem like an average townsfolk." His clothing was odd and his hair wasn't blonde, so perhaps he was another visitor. She smiled, brushing a lock of hair from her eyes. "I'm just interested in people who aren't from around here, like I am."

He certainly hoped he didn't look like a native of the place. He might have considering expanding his repertoire to include that among the possibilities but that was for another day.

"I'm not," he answered simply. "And it's not rude in the least; I don't mind answering questions."

...Most questions anyway, but the questions he'd rather not answer would most likely be answered with lies and half-truths anyway.

Relieved that the man seemed receptive to conversation, Belle relaxed visibly and faced the road ahead of them as they walked. "Where are you heading, sir? I'm going to the library." Her eyebrows suddenly rose and she nearly stopped in her tracks. "Oh! My name is Belle, by the way."

"Really?" Zexion asked, letting a note of curiosity creep into his voice. Facades, lies, curtains drawn over the truth to hide all but what he wanted to show, whispers to guide the conversation along. In this case, to hide that he wasn't in the least but surprised to meet her here, not that you'd know it by looking at him.

"In that case, we spoke earlier. I'm Ian."

Belle did stop in her tracks now, lips parted in surprise. "...oh!" As she resumed her walk, she unabashedly observed Ian in obvious curiosity. "My, I didn't expect to see you so soon. I have to admit, I had expected you to look different."

"Nor did I," he answered. Again, this was little more than a lie. He had intended to run into her sooner or later. She'd given him all he needed with her comment, and it never hurt to know more people in the city. Hopefully she wouldn't go the way that most of his contacts seemed to go. It was rather detrimental when your potential allies had a habit of disappearing.

"May I ask what you had imagined me to look like?"

"Well, I guess...older?" Belle colored slightly as she struggled to find a way to express what her expectations had been without sounding insulting. "The way you spoke, well, wrote, I had the impression of a dignified, severe older gentleman." She absently smoothed a non-existant wrinkle in her apron. "I'm sorry..."

"It's quite alright." Amusing, perhaps, and a decent suggestion for another 'persona' to try out some day but nothing that he would consider offensive. Then again, without a heart it was a little harder to be offended but as 'Ian' was supposed to be a perfectly ordinary person he wouldn't be mentioning that part.

"After all, I suppose I do sound that way. I expect it comes of being a researcher."

Belle's eyes lit up. "A researcher! What do you research? No wonder you know so much about the library." In her world, she didn't come across many intellectuals, strictly speaking. Her father was the closest she'd come across, and he wasn't really the kind to research...more the kind to break things first and ask questions later.

"At the moment, I've been looking into the way this city works. It might help us find out why we're being brought here, or how to return home."

Of course, most of the materials in the library didn't mention the topic, and Zexion know more than he was ever going to let on about it as long as he wore the face he was wearing, but it was a good cover topic. The fact that 'Ian' had been around the city for quite some time didn't hurt either - he knew the details of some of the smaller things in the city, things that many might miss.

Bits and pieces, really, but bits and pieces that were slowly being pulled together to form a cohesive whole.

Belle nodded, brow furrowed in thought. "I've considered the possibility that whatever brought us here will return us to our original world within time, like the universe righting itself." They turned a corner and the elegant but archaic roof of the library came into view.

She looked at her new companion curiously. "Have you learned anything of interest?"

"It's certainly a possibility, and I have known people to leave. Unfortunately I can't be entirely sure that they're returning to their world of origin. I'm assuming that to be the case at the moment, but they could just as easily be getting sent somewhere else."

Nor was it particularly likely that he'd ever know where they went. Unlike many people, he was here of his own free will, although the same couldn't be said of 'Ian'.

"A few things, yes."

"Really? May I ask what?" she replied, eyebrows raising. Despite everything that had already happened, Belle still wondered if everything was simply a hallucination or dream, albeit a complex and curious one. If she could find any logic to any of this, any shred of rationality, she'd be able to relax more...

"For one, it seems far more common for new arrivals to find someone they know already present in the city then not. Perhaps there's a sort of resonance that draws people in, one that grows stronger the more people there are from any given place."

One that was still fallible even then, but it was at least better than not having any theories whatsoever.

Belle's excitement subsided as she considered Ian's information. It didn't seem likely that anyone she knew was here, or they would have contacted her through the journals everyone seemed to possess. She briefly imagined running into Gaston in this world and felt a bit nauseated. Thank goodness for small favors...

Well, he did say it was common, not absolute. There may be any number of reasons she was brought here. "Maybe there's no rhyme or reason at all," she thought out loud. "Maybe it's all just random?"

Despite his efforts to the contrary, Beast still hadn't found a place in this strange city to stay. Being outside of the castle was still so...unfamiliar. It was hard to get used to anything, with everyone staring at him like he was going to go berserk if they so much as whimpered.

In his desire for solitude, his path drifted and floated between tall, majestic towers and heaps of rubble, yet nothing was quiet, nothing was empty, nothing was...safe. With a growl, barely audible over his footsteps, he continued, searching only for a place he could be alone, where there was no one to be afraid of him, no one to whisper behind his back, no one for him to worry about at all.

A grand building loomed over him, then soon he came upon another. They both had names, but the letters meant nothing more to Beast than the...thing he'd been given when he came here. It made no difference to him, as long as he could find silence inside...or something much closer than what was offered by the crowds.

He ascended the staircase slowly, heavy footfalls accompanied by grunts of an exhaustion that spoke more of distress and frustration than physical exhaustion.

"It might be," Zexion answered with a shrug. "And in either case someone has to be the first person to arrive."

And that was something he had yet to figure out the logic behind. For all he knew these things simply just... happened. Random chance, perhaps, or some force beyond his capabilities to measure.

Nor did he entirely expect that she was the only one of her world to arrive here. He'd heard whispers of who had followed her through the darkness on sheer force of will, if nothing else. No doubt the same would hold true here. But for now, he'd put that line of thinking away, as they were nearing the library.

"Mmmn," Belle replied, nodding slightly. "That's true. I suppose I..." She trailed off as they approached the steps of Os Dias Sao a Noite. Walking (could it be called walking? It was so hard to tell) up the steps was a large, hulking figure...with horns...and a tail? And fur everywhere!

She reacted instinctually, gasping with horror and reaching out for Ian, grasping his sleeve. "What...what is that?"

Edited 2009-05-17 01:59 (UTC)

Beast stopped when he heard a woman speak. Without thought, he whipped around, his face contorted with rage. "WHAT ARE YOU STARING AT?!" he shouted, the roar echoing as all his others in this city had. His heart and lungs were racing, now that all his pent-up anger from a day of frustration and disappointment had found a target. His fangs were bared, and his stance was aggressive, as if he were a predatory animal waiting to pounce on its prey.

"Merely another denizen of this city," Zexion answered Belle, before turning to face the raging Beast with an expression that seemed to suggest that he was neither concerned about being the target of that anger nor bothered to find himself face-to-face with a literal beast. Why should he be, when he'd seen far worse over the course of his life?

"I apologize if we have given cause to offend you," he answered. "It was hardly our intent to do so."

Unlike her new companion, Belle hadn't experienced anything like the Beast in all her life. To her, he was like a monster from a book, something the hero defeated to rescue his lady love. When he wheeled around and roared which such ferocity, she didn't see the desperate fear and anger in it.

She gasped at the volume of his roar and stepped back further. She wanted to be as calm as Ian, wanted to be strong like the heroines in the stories she read, but it was all she could do to let go of Ian's sleeve and bow her head, avoiding looking at the beast.

Such a simple answer wasn't good enough. Beast's powerful, sinewy body quickly propelled him forward, and in a moment he was mere inches from the man's face and standing at full height. It didn't occur to Beast that this could have been a good thing; his temper was still flaring.

He looked down at the girl, and saw her avert her gaze. "Why won't she look at me?!" he snapped with harsh inflection.

"Because you're scaring her," Zexion answered simply, lifting his eyes to meet Beast's. "If you could manage to calm down I'm sure she'd be much more willing to look at you."

After all, he was more than willing to smooth things along, but he couldn't do anything about it without at least some help from Beast. If he wished to win the lady's heart, he'd need to be a bit more careful about how he acted.

This close, Belle could full see every aspect of the creature's appearance. The monstrous teeth jutting from his lower jaw, his canine-like nose...the piercing blue eyes?

She blinked, momentarily struck by how out of place those eyes seemed in that face, so expressive and seemingly human. "I'm sorry," she said softly, relieved that the quaver of fear she felt in her chest didn't translate to her voice. "I was...I was rude. I've never seen anyone like you before."

Beast looked surprised for a moment, eyebrows raised, mouth open just a little, then he turned around with a growl. He glanced back at her over his shoulder. "You're...apologizing? ...To...me?" He faced forward again. No one...no one had ever...said they were sorry like that. This city was so full of new things...

No, she was apologizing to someone else. Really, it wasn't that hard to understand, was it? Belle was a good person - her heart was full of light. It had to be, for her to be what he knew her as.

"I believe she is," he answered simply. He'd let Belle take matters from there.

Belle glanced at Ian, worry evident in her eyes, but she'd come this far and, despite her fear, curiosity over what -- no, who this beast was propelled her further. "Yes, I am," she admitted, stepping out from behind Ian. She lifted her head fully, face pale, and gazed up at the beast. "My ignorance made me react unfairly."

"...Unfairly..." Beast repeated, his voice dragging on the word and dredged in sorrow. Fair was a word he did not use often, as it was rare that the word had anything to do with him.

After all, who would ever say a horrific, ugly beast should be treated fairly?

Well, at least that was a start. Not necessarily much of one, but still a start all the same. Besides, no one ever said that they'd get along perfectly from the beginning. What mattered was that Belle was willing to make that effort in the first place.

And for now, he'd let Belle answer Beast's comment. It wasn't his place to answer, after all.

"Yes," Belle said, more confidently this time. While so much of Beast's motivations and feelings remained hidden from her perception, she'd have had to been blind not to hear the sadness in his voice. Shame at her immediate reaction lurked at the back of her head but she ignored it for now, focusing on the situation at hand.

"Why don't we all go into the library?" she asked, glancing at Ian for his approval before turning back to Beast, smiling a small, cautious smile.

What? "Oh, this is a library?" If he had known that before, this whole thing wouldn't have happened...he'd be going somewhere else. Why go to a library when you don't remember how to read?

"It is," Zexion answered with a slight nod. The name was slightly odd, but still, it was a library all the same. As for why? Well, it wasn't as if either of them was aware of the fact that he couldn't read.

Besides, he could always be taught to again.

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Judging a Book by the Cover [Active/Open]

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