Who: Belle and Gold (baby Vlad is also around) What: Belle comes back to the room upset. Gold is Not Pleased Where: Their room When: Backdated to late Monday night after this Rating/warnings: Possible discussion of violence? Will edit if more comes up. Status: Closed/ongoing
Although it had been mildly annoying on the way there, Belle was grateful after she left James and Snow's room that she had to walk the entire length of the train to get back to Rum. It gave her time to try to compose herself. Try being the key word.
Her temper had gotten the best of her, she knew that. She should have just greeted them and excused herself to conversation with James or the Princess. But she couldn't. Not when Cinderella had begun to make comments about how she so hoped Belle would find love, how she was deluded and sick to listen to her heart and how he deserved to spend all his days locked away or worse....
Belle could take many insults to herself. She told herself that most of the slurs thrown her way in her village had not hurt, that Cinderella's quips about her being mad or playing hero were only that. But to tell her not only that she did not love but that what she saw shining in his eyes for her was an illusion or the product of girlish fantasy, to say that she should fear him and that he felt no remorse and should be condemned forever...that was something she could not ignore. Had they been alone, Belle was quite certain she'd have slapped the condescending smile off that stupid woman's face.
As it was, now she was digging her fingers into palms as she came to stand in front of their door. She'd been brushing off her irritation at Cinderella for days as exhaustion from tending to Vlad on the days when his new teeth seemed to be bothering him, or homesickness brought on by the return of her mother's necklace. She wasn't sure how much Rum believed of that as it was, and she didn't want to tempt fate. She didn't want him to try to be something close to noble for once in his life, defending whatever honor she had left. She just wanted him, safe and whole. Her pride could stand a beating to make sure that happened.
She leaned her forehead against the door frame, eyes closed, and took one last deep breath. She rubbed her hand over her eyes and nose, thinking for a moment that she perhaps should have washed her face before coming back to do something about the redness she knew the heated discussion had left there. Nothing to be done for it now. She swallowed and opened the door as gently as she could in case Vlad was asleep.