paixaorpg | For the Reunion (Complete)

Entry tags:

For the Reunion (Complete)

Character(s): Lumière, Mrs. Potts and later Beast
Content: Two servants meet and then the master shows up
Setting: Irelia Apartments, close to where Beast is staying
Time: midday?
Warnings: probably angst in plenty later on

Well, the trip across town hadn't been as much of a disaster as Mrs. Potts expected. For one thing, she was still in one piece. For another, she'd managed not to hop-walk the whole way. People were kind enough to carry her part of the way once she got across where she wanted to go. So, with everything happening at once, she managed to make it to the apartment inside, where she hoped she'd run into Lumière. She had no idea where he and the master were staying and as long as she didn't have to wander around looking for them, she could wait. Still, she'd asked him to meet her down there, so hopefully he would do that.

Glancing around, she hopped up on a table to wait, figuring the height would lend itself to seeing and being seen easier. "Lumière?" she called out. "Are you here?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

“Oui, Mrs. Potts.” He replied calmly from behind her, rested on a side table not far from the teapot. The candelabra smiled and nodded at her. “Salutations! You arrived much sooner than I had expected. You are much faster than you are with your cart, pour de vrai!” With a chuckle he quickly hopped onto the same table as the teapot to join her. “Words cannot express how overjoyed I am to see you.” He continued before picking her up and twirling briefly in place with her before embracing her with a hug. He was doubtful he would burn her but kept all but the flame on his head extinguished until he safely placed her back down.

“I hope you had no trouble finding us. I admit my direction had been rather vague.” Lumiere rubbed the back of his head in mild embarrassment. “I apologize, madame; I should not have made you walk here alone.”

Mrs. Potts turned at the sound of the voice from behind her, beaming as she recognized the exact candelabra she'd been looking for. "Oh, Lumiere," she muttered in response to his teasing about her cart. "I had a little help. The people here are so kind they didn't mind helping a poor teapot out."

Fortunately or unfortunately, that was about all she could get out before she found herself being hugged. What she wouldn't give to have a set of arms again. So instead, she did what she could: she closed her eyes and leaned her spout and front half into the hug.

"Now, what do we need to talk about? Aside from Belle, as things seem to be not what they were anymore."

Ah, this was all but too true. The people were kind and caring, even to a candlestick. Lumiere knew he had startled many of them, he would be startled himself if a candelabra started speaking with him, but they had heard him out and surprisingly helped him just as they had Mrs. Potts. It was pleasant to know that there were those who could look past their appearances. He smiled at the thought, reminded particularly of the ever so beautiful Tiana who had aided him upon his entry to the city. If things failed to work out between Belle and the Master, Lumiere was sure he could always set him up with her.

At the mention of Belle, the candelabra could not help but perform a double take at the teapot. A chain of what came across as gibberish escaped him before he managed to get out the words he had been searching for. “Buh- why I, uh… was not aware you had learned of the girl soon. Had the Master mentioned her when you had last spoken with him? Come, come! What did he tell you? It is of utmost importants I know! Does he think she may be the one as well?”

The way Lumiere was stuttering made Mrs. Potts frown at him. What on earth was making him so nervous and surprised? She looked at him in confusion. He couldn't have forgotten her somehow?

"I've met her already!" she answered and had she been human her hands would have been on her hips. The teapot fixed Lumiere with a pointed look then. "Did you forget the dinner we all prepared for her, even though the Master told us not to? She did seem so delighted by the performance."

What did this all mean?

What did it mean? Well, for starters, I meant Lumiere was one very confused candelabra. He continued to stare at the teapot in bewilderment, all the while struggling to make sense of her words. It was entirely possible for Mrs. Potts to have met the girl already but what was this dinner she had mentioned? The only time he had dined with Belle was during their little picnic with the Master which she had prepared. As for his performance then, it had been no more than to pretend to be a real candlestick. It was an extraordinarily good show but very boring to say the least. To keep still for such an extended period of time grew drab. Cogsworth would be remarkably good at it.

“Forgive me, Mrs. Potts, but I honestly do not know what you are talking about. We prepared a dinner for the girl? But… We only just met now! I do not understand. When could we have possibly served her dinner? It is not as though she has ever been a guest in the castle. Croyez-moi, I would not forget such a beautiful face so easily.”

If Lumiere was a confused candelabra, then Mrs. Potts was a very confused teapot. She stared at him for a moment as he began explaining a few things to her, blinking in confusion and worry. And then she blew out a breath of hot steam, likely aimed at his face.

"But, Lumiere. You cannot have forgotten that Belle was living in the castle with us at the time! She'd taken her father's place and we were all trying so hard to get her to talk to the Master and him to speak nicely to her. Though... she didn't seem to remember me when I spoke to her recently." And that was disheartening at best. Mrs. Potts' expression fell at that. What was going on here?

“Living with us?” Lumiere repeated in disbelief. “Sacrebleu, that is impossible! Had there been a girl in the castle, why, surly we would all know. She would have to be the one to break the spell!” He shook his head at the thought. They all knew too well how important a girls presence in the castle was and having there not been one in years? It was something that would not go unnoticed, especially when the prince’s birthday began to draw so near. Unless…

“Unless she is a face from our past, why else would she not recognize us?” Yes, that had to be it. How could she possibly recognize him in this form when even he sometimes struggled to recognize himself? The only trouble now was figuring out where in their past she was from. Lumiere was sure he would have remembered the girl, if not recognize her upon their encounter, but it was entirely possible he had forgotten her. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I recall there being several young girls at the master’s birthday parties but, hélas, never any that stayed with us nor he took particular interest in. You had mentioned her father; he was not another servant, was he?”

"We didn't meet her until just a few days ago, as I said." Now Mrs. Potts was beginning to get annoyed with the candelabra. Wouldn't he listen to her instead of flying off the handle? "I don't know why she didn't recognize us, but I'm sure it's her! Do you think I could speak to her sometime, perhaps after we've spoken with the Master."

She was just going to ignore the question about Belle's father. That was a time she'd prefer to forget, after all. It had been a bit stressful for them all.

"And do you know where the Master is staying?"

The candelabra shook his head. “I am afraid I do not understand.” Lumiere he said with a sigh of defeat. None of what Mrs. Potts was saying was making any sense. Why, for the girl to have lived with them before Paixao? It was honestly impossible! It did not look as though the teapot wished to bicker about it any longer though. However, he was sure it would come about again soon enough. This was far from the sort of thing that could go ignored. He listened quietly to hear the rest of what she had to say before he spoke again.

“I do not see a problem with speaking with the girl. That is unless you intend to mention our history with her. For the time being, perhaps it would be best to keep that amongst ourselves, oui? We do not wish startle the poor girl. As for the Master…” Lumiere paused for a moment to consider sharing such information with the prince. Regardless how he looked at it, he could not see the Master responding well to such news. “I would suggest you do not mention that the dinner had been against his orders.” He much preferred not to be in trouble for something he had not even done (yet). Gesturing to the stairs, he continued. “His room is up those stairs.”

Mrs. Potts frowned. She was definitely confused by all this and would certainly need to ask someone about it later on. Perhaps people who had been there longer than she would have answers she did not.

"I won't mention her presence in the castle with anyone else," the teapot promised. That just didn't sound like it was going to end very well. She glanced up at the stairs and sighed. "There's never an easy way to climb stairs, is there? All right. Will you lead me up? I told the Master I would come see him and if I don't he won't be happy."

So she hopped down off the table and looked around to be sure no one was looking. Once she was sure the coast was clear, she hopped towards the stairs.

At her words, a look of relief found itself across Lumiere’s face. He was glad to hear that they were at least somewhat on the same page regarding the matter. To tell the Master of this would likely lead to confusion, and when there was confusion, frustration usually followed. Thus far the prince had managed to maintain a remarkably good streak in concern of his temper, the last thing Lumiere wanted to do was spoil it with something such as this. He would have to speak of it again with Mrs. Potts at a later time, well away from the Master. It was not a threatening matter. At least he didn’t think so.

The candelabra shared a small smile with the teapot, mildly amused by her comment. She was right. Even Cogsworth, who still had legs, would struggle with stairs at times. Although, he had always been one to struggle with stairs. Even before he had been transformed into a clock he had been waddling about the castle. It was rather funny, really. Mrs. Potts however was quick to bring him back to reality when she hopped down from the table top.

“Yes, of course!” he replied before taking a quick look around and following her towards the stairs. Lumiere had hoped the Beast would join them downstairs but he knew that it had been by a long shot. Why, he could not even come to help Mrs. Potts up the stairs. He had proven kind around Belle but he certainly had a long way to go before he could truly consider himself a gentleman. At that thought, the candlestick extinguished his flames and offered to boost the teapot up. “Mademoiselle, please, allow me to help. We have a long way to go and I would not want you to use all your energy up.” He grinned and gave a small laugh. “You will need some left by the end to carry me.”

Mrs. Potts simply shook her head with a smile on her lips as she allowed Lumiere to help her up the stairs. It would be slow work like this and she wasn't even sure what floor the Master was on. So, along the way, she kept an eye out for other people who would be making their way upstairs.

"What floor did you say the Master's on, Lumiere?"

Once they got a floor number, she hoped someone would be convinced to carry them up rather than have them use up all their energy climbing. She was already out of breath and they hadn't even reached the first landing!

"He's not very far up, is he?"

"Trust me," he began. "you do not want to know." Lumiere may have been in significant shape but traveling up and down so many flights of stairs did prove tiresome. He could only imagine how well Mrs.Potts would fare, especially in the absents of her cart. The candlestick had not the heart to tell her that their Master had chosen a suite by the top of the building. Just the thought of the climb itself made him weary. He did not want to discourage her. For the time being 'a little further' would suffice when next she asked. A mental note was made to discuss moving down a floor, or perhaps seven, with the beast when they reached their destination. He may have been able to tolerate his masters thoughtlessness for him but for Mrs.Potts? He hoped he could convince the prince to at least place her into consideration.

The candelabra turned his attention back to the woman when she spoke again and did his best to refrain from groaning. He could tell there was a long trip ahead of them to the top, especially when they had yet to even reach the second floor. "Ah, perhaps we should rest for a moment and catch our breath, non?" Lumiere asked, having decided to avoid her question all together. "There is no rush. I am sure the Master would understand if we were to take our time."

Normally, the teapot would have pushed the answer to her question. By the end of the journey up, Mrs. Potts was very glad Lumiere hadn't told her how high up they would have to climb. Just doing the work by itself was enough without having known how high she was going! Every so often they had to stop and rest, though, because she wasn't nearly as in shape as she would have liked to be as a human, never mind as a teapot. It was the equivalent of climbing a mountain! Never-ending and enough to wear them both out.

"I certainly hope the Master isn't expecting us to show up at a certain time," she told Lumiere between breaths as they rested at the top. If she'd been human again, she would have definitely been sitting down. As it was, she couldn't really do much other than stand there while she caught her breath. "That is quite a long trip. And you climbed all that way down just to find me?"

Lumiere chuckled next to the teapot, waiting to catch his own breath before pressing on. “Mrs.Potts, please, you are too modest!” He placed an arm around her back and pulled her closer to him. “No trip is too great to help a mademoiselle in distress! I would face ten- bah, twenty. Non! A hundred flights of stairs for you.” Mrs.Potts was like a mother to them all; she was loving, caring, and always knew exactly what to say. Not to mention her absolutely heavenly baking that which Lumiere had grown as weak to as Cogsworth to Christmas pudding. Lumiere could not imagine leaving her, or any of the other servants, behind. Except for maybe a certain clock... But even then, a guilty conscience would persuade him to do otherwise.

“We are close.” he told her after observing the area. “And I am not just saying that this time. But there is no harm in making the Master wait a little longer. I too could use another break.”

"Oh, Lumiere." Mrs. Potts chuckled, tickled in spite of herself. She knew what Lumiere was like, but it was still nice to hear that he was such a good friend to her. And so willing, as well. Now, if only she really could cook with no hands, but that was going to prove difficult here. Maybe she could enlist Belle's help later on...

She glances around the landing with a sigh and bobbed her spout in what could pass as a nod. "You'd better not be." The teapot shot him a pointed look. "Up you get. The sooner we reach his room, the better. I'm sure he'd rather not wait any longer." And she'd prefer not to keep him waiting much longer if she could help it. Who knew what kind of temper he'd be in if they didn't make it. Never mind that he could have just come down to help them up, but they'd likely discuss that later on.

Lumiere looked back at Mrs.Potts and gave a silent groan. He had hoped she had only been joking but her expression was proof enough that she had in fact been quite serious. Her mind was made up on pressing on. He might not have agreed with her but, with no intention of starting an argument, the candelabra began to climb the stairs again. She was right, as usual. The Beast was probably pacing up in his room, waiting impatiently for their return. It was best not to keep him waiting terribly longer, even if Lumiere felt they were entitled to rest.

A string of French escaped the candlestick while he forced himself up the stairs, most of his mumbling considered unfit for someone like Chip’s ears. But it would be unfair to take out his frustration on Mrs.Potts. Instead, the stairs would fall victim and called inconsiderate, poorly designed, and just plain ugly. Along the way, Lumiere was sure to continue assisting the teapot when needed and wait for her until they reached the proper floor.

“Ah, here we are. Now, that was not so bad, was it?” The candelabra joked as he helped Mrs.Potts up the final step. From there he hopped over to the Beast’s apartment after assuring the coast was clear. At the door he paused to compose himself before gently knocking it. “Bonjour, Master. It is I, Lumiere. I have returned with Mrs.Potts.”

By the time he heard Lumiere's very distinct knocking--the candlestick knocking on a wooden door was a rather particular noise--Beast was drumming his fingers against the arm of his chair. His impatience would be no surprise to his servants, though his twitching tail was a telltale sign of his nervousness. He hadn't seen Mrs. Potts in a very long time, and he was filled with dread at the thought of seeing her now. Not that he quite knew why he was so afraid.

His ears perked up quickly, and his mouth widened to a hint of a smile, but quickly he resumed his gruff demeanor. After all, they'd been making him wait for a very long time now. He stole a quick glance at the rose before he rose from his seat.

He scowled when he opened the door, glaring down at Lumiere and trying his best not to look as excited as he felt at getting to see Mrs. Potts. His tail told the truth, though, as it wagged back and forth without his realizing it.

"Why did you take so long?!" he bellowed.

"Perhaps not," the teapot agreed tiredly as they finally crested the top of the stairs. "But it was an exercise routine I'd rather not repeat." Ever. At least they'd been able to help each other, though Lumiere's vocabulary would have gotten more than one stern look from Mrs. Potts.

Huffing in a few breaths, she hopped after Lumiere, waiting worriedly at the door. At least the Master didn't keep them waiting long, though his bellow left something to be desired. She squeezed her eyes shut at the blast of it before opening them and glaring up at him. If she'd been human, her hands would have been on her hips.

"We couldn't be as fast as we'd wanted to be, Master," she explained quickly. "We had to climb the stairs ourselves. It's a very long journey for us." Especially these days, though she wasn't stupid enough to add that in.

Lumiere was not quite as brave as Mrs.Potts and at the beast’s indignant glare shuffled back. After all, he had suggested they take their time knowing the Master’s patience were short. Their delay had been partly his fault. But there was little time to be creative with excuses or a particular clock around to blame. Thankfully, Mrs.Potts was first to speak, which would hopefully calm the Master down before Lumiere spoke.

“Yes,” He chimed in, his voice cracking from nervousness. The candelabra quickly cleared his throat before he continued. “You see, there are a fair number of stairs to the top. We could not possibly climb them all without tarry. One grows most weary and to think if one such as Mrs.Potts were to slip…” He could not see the Master sharing much concern in regards to the stairs he had faced but Mrs.Potts? She was far more fragile, not to mention a lady. Lumiere could only hope she was not offended by his comment, for he was only concerned for her well being. “Master, have you considered that perhaps a dwelling that is closer to the main floor in lieu of the top may be more appropriate?”

A short growl was all the answer Beast gave to Lumiere. He waited in the doorway until the two servants were inside, then shut the door with a paw, his tail swishing behind him. If the candelabra had said nothing, then Beast would likely have been less angry with them, but then, Lumiere had always had some knack for drawing his master's ire.

But with no idea what to do or say now, Beast stood silent right in front of the door. He was very happy to see Mrs. Potts, but he didn't have any idea if she was just as happy to be here. After all, if she was like himself and Lumiere, she had just been in the castle before coming to Paixao.

At least his apartment was in better shape than the castle had been, thanks to Genie's magic. The rose sat in a corner of the room, ever sparkling, ever wilting, and well out of sight of the door. The furniture was plush and reminded him of what he had in the castle. The wallpaper, however...left something to be desired. It was in great shape, but Beast had allowed Genie to make it...pink.

Mrs. Potts shot both of them pointed looks as she bobbed along across the floor and into the rather... pink room. She couldn't say she'd expected anything of that color. At least it sort of matched the rose.

"Well, this looks nice, Master," she told him, jumping up on the closest table or chair or other high object so she could see him better. "You've been keeping it well. And it's just fine where it is, even with the high climb." Lumiere got yet another pointed look before the teapot looked back at her master to see what would be done next. He looked uncertain.

"Now that we're all in the same room, I'd like to know what I've missed."

Pink may not have been Lumiere’s favourite colour but it was certainly a nice change from the dark and gloomy castle. It was warm, inviting, and just about the complete opposite of the castle had become, especially when one took into consideration the excellent condition the Master kept it in. The furniture was all in one piece, the curtains yet to be shred, and most surprisingly of all actually left open. As long as Lumiere had been there he had not seen the Master once lose his temper, something that proved itself nothing short of a miracle itself. Although Lumiere it did still find the apartment to be a bit of an eye soar at times. There was such a thing as too much pink.

The candlestick merely shrugged in return to Mrs.Potts scolding look before climbing up to join her. He nodded at her words and gestured enthusiastically for Beast to explain. “Go on, Master.”

But...where was Beast supposed to start? All he could think to talk about was Belle. His tail twitched nervously behind him as he rubbed at his collar, searching for what Mrs. Potts wanted him to tell her. "Well...I've been here for almost six months now..." he began, trying, and not quite fully succeeding, to sound more like a prince and less like a scolded child. He certainly felt more the latter, with the look Mrs. Potts had just given him.

"And I've met a girl here named Belle." He didn't continue past that, waiting to see what his head housekeeper thought of that. He hadn't seen any girls in the castle in many, many years, so he would not be surprised if Mrs. Potts was dubious. What would she think of Belle?

Edited 2010-08-24 03:41 (UTC)

Mrs. Potts waited patiently to hear the whole story and when the Master hesitatingly answered, she nodded encouragingly. He'd certainly been in the city for long enough. Maybe he could take her around to see some of the other places. Of course, walking around with a teapot in his arms might raise suspicion, but there was plenty of time to deal with that.

And then she'd have to see if he'd let her meet Belle.

"Go on, Master," she encouraged. "Have you seen much of her?"

The idea of knowing Belle here and getting to know her a little better interested Mrs. Potts and she wanted to find out what the Master knew of her, too.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 1 of 2

For the Reunion (Complete)

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject