"Talking"
'Thinking'
Chapter 1: Predator vs. Prey
Gaston quickly strode over to Belle's side once he saw her lazing around, reading some book about princes and fairies. 'What is it with that girl and books? Sometimes I think that she would prefer to marry those…things rather than me! But of course, that can't be true. I mean, who would prefer some boring, old book over the most handsome man in town?' Gaston's smug smirk could be seen for miles, his eyes glinting with self-appreciation. 'No one, that's who, and most certainly not my future, little wife.'
"Bonjour, Belle! It must be wonderful to have my presence so near you this early in the morning, I know." Gaston waved his hand as he kept talking, drowning in his own narcissism.
Belle languidly looked up from her book, The Home Treasury, to see Gaston talking to her. "Oh, bonjour Gaston, was there something you wanted?" She tried to keep her attention on him, but his egocentric ways irked her. It seemed like Gaston's only pastime was preaching praises about himself. 'Never have I met a man who talks so much about himself. I wonder if that's the only thing he knows how to do, feed his already over bloated ego? Well, that and…'
Belle was interrupted from her train of thought as Gaston started to do exactly what she was dreading, proposing.' I should've known.' "Belle, don't you know that many other women would die to be in your shoes? Come, Belle, you know I'm the only man for you. Only I can satisfy you the way a real man can. So, be my wife!" Gaston tilted her chin upwards, so she could stop reading that book and pay attention to him.
Belle gently pulled her head away from his hand, annoyed with his lack of decorum. 'Here we go again…' and with a discreet roll of her eyes, she addressed him. "Oh, Gaston, please, let's not go over this again. I'm not going to marry you, I hardly know you!" She slowly began to place a bit of distance between them, until he noticed and invaded her personal space again.
"Then let's start getting to know each other, Belle! To be with me, it's the highest honor any woman could ever hope to have. But you're always with those books! You just need to learn how to behave like a normal woman, Belle." Gaston started to inch his arm towards her waist, but she rapidly found out his intentions and turned away from him.
"I'm really sorry, Gaston, maybe some other time, alright? I need to get home and have everything ready for Papa." She rapidly excused herself from him and started walking as fast as she could towards her home.
"Belle!" Gaston shouted her name, but she had already escaped him. He let out a grunt, feeling incredibly frustrated. As he started stomping back to the tavern, he encountered Lefou.
Lefou happily waved over to him, running as fast as he could to get to his side. He had seen his interaction with Belle, and wondered if he had finally convinced her to become his wife. "Hey, Gaston! Did you-" Gaston gave him a well-placed fist on his head, grumbling.
"Don't. Ask." Gaston kept his heavy pace until he reached the tavern, Lefou trailing after him.
"Well," Lefou started, "I still think you should let Belle go, she's just too odd. Why not go for the triplets, they're-" Gaston grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, snarling all the while.
"I don't want the triplets, I want Belle. She's the most beautiful girl in town, therefore she's the best. And I'm Gaston, don't I deserve the best?"
"Yes, yes, of course Gaston! Of course you deserve the best, you are the best! You're the most amazing hunter in all of France!" Lefou was sweating bullets, trying to calm Gaston down so he didn't get hurt again.
Appeased with the huge stroke of ego Lefou offered him, he put him back down. "Darn straight, I am. No one else could gather as many trophies, nor have my dedication at hunting." He was back to being the same old, stubborn, self-centered Gaston, and Lefou was glad for it.
"Yeah, definitely Gaston!" As they entered the tavern, Gaston bellowed to the bartender. "Drinks are on me!" He rallied the same crowd that habited the tavern, receiving wild shouts of appreciation, hip hips and hoorahs.
As he sat in his usual chair, Gaston decided to think for a bit. Belle was avoiding him, and as much as he tried to gather her attention, she was always daydreaming about those books of hers. What was he to do? "Lefou, what do normal men do to get women to notice them?"
Lefou was surprised, for Gaston was the handsomest man of them all, the man that all the women in town swooned for. 'Except for Belle…' he thought, wringing his hands together. Gaston saw his look of surprise and decided to continue, "I mean men who aren't as handsome and wonderful as me, of course."
"Oh, well, most guys just give girls flowers, candy and stuff. Maybe some jewelry if they can afford it." Lefou saw the wheels turning in Gaston's head, seeing his bright, white teeth as he smiled.
"Well then, I'll just have to go get Belle some flowers and jewelry, and that'd be it! Why didn't I think of it sooner, of course she'll appreciate my gifts, all women do!" Gaston boasted to himself, so sure that it was the perfect way to get Belle to notice him and then marry him.
"Gaston, are you sure she'll like it?" Lefou started fidgeting again; even more so once he saw Gaston's intimidating blue eyes on him.
"What do you mean, Lefou? Of course she'll like it! It'll come from me, of course." Gaston waved his concern off, taking a swig of his beer.
"But-but Gaston, Belle doesn't even wear jewelry, she's always in that drab ponytail of hers, and she's always so plain-"Before he could continue, Gaston had hit him hard in the head.
"Don't talk about Belle like that! I already said that she's the best, not plain." Gaston was tired of repeating himself, he was already convinced that Belle would be the perfect wife, and no one, not even Lefou, could say otherwise.
"W-well yes, yes she's the best, but don't you think she'd like something better? She likes books and-" He was interrupted by Gaston's sensuous laugh. As Gaston slapped him in the back, he spoke, incredulously, "A book? You're actually saying I should get her a book? I hate those disgusting things, they're so boring! Why would I get Belle that?"
"Yes, you hate books, heck I hate books! But Belle doesn't, Belle loves books, you could get her one, and she'll fall for you!" Lefou excitedly added; glad that he could think of an efficient way of helping Gaston out of his predicament.
"It would work if I actually wanted Belle to keep on being distracted by those books, everyone says so! Her head is so full of those things that she doesn't pay attention to the people that are next to her." Gaston growled, annoyed again that his seemingly perfect plan had come falling down into pieces.
Suddenly, Gaston had a stroke of genius, his appearance taking an impressive turnover, his smile as slick as his profound black hair tied in his usual gold bow. "Lefou, I'm afraid I've been thinking…"
Lefou's eyes grew wide, fearing the worst. "A dangerous past time!"
"I know, but there's something else that Belle loves, that she can't stand to be without." Gaston, not one for subtleties, disregarded Lefou's comment.
"Really? What is it, what can't she live without?" Lefou leaned into Gaston, sitting on the hard, wooden floor near his chair while Gaston placed both hands below his chin, grinning like a wolf stalking its prey.
"Well, her father, of course. Crazy Old Maurice, with his crazy inventions, I think he needs a strong and handsome man to help him around with Belle. I mean a young, spirited daughter like her must need some help with the heavy lifting the poor thing must endure in order to get her dear Papa the materials he needs for his experiments." Gaston stood up, flexing his muscles, causing the blonde triplets, Claudia, Laura, and Paula, to faint at his display of virility. "And who's the strongest and handsomest man in the whole town? Why me, of course. I think I'll go pay dear Maurice a visit. Let's go, Lefou, now!" He dragged Lefou out of the tavern with him, walking at an unobstructed pace, at ease with the thought that Belle would soon become his wife. 'And what a wife she'll be.' He smirked, pleased with his plans.
Belle reached her home, closing the door behind her with a soft click. She softly sighed, her lips pressing together into a tight frown as she and slumped near her reading chair, tired from the day's events. She closed her eyes as she unwittingly remembered them. 'Gaston, what a primeval. He's so self-centered he can't even notice that I'm not even the least bit interested in him. I don't even understand why he's so determined to have me as his wife! I'm certainly not one to do all those things he wishes I did.' She remembered, a week after she arrived with her beloved father to this provincial town, Gaston knocking on her door, wishing to see her for some "important" matter. She didn't really know better, so she let him in. Once he started saying that they should be wed as soon as possible, that it wasn't proper for a woman to read so avidly, and not sew, cook, or tend to the house all the time, she immediately grew tired of his presence and told him politely that she was busy at the time.
'After that, I just avoid him any moment I can. It seems like the only places where I can find peace in this town is in the library and my home', she sighed once more, looking over her bookcase, smiling fondly, remembering when she got each and every one of them. 'Those books are the only excitement that exists in this poor, provincial town.' She thought dejectedly to herself. Belle would have kept reminiscing, but her Papa was bound to appear sooner or later, and she needed to get his dinner ready. He was getting sick, winter right at the corner, so she decided to cook him some hot, potato soup. As she stirred the soup, her mind kept winding up back into Gaston. She frowned, not used to being so concentrated on just one person.
"I don't hate him," she spoke out loud, "his attitude just aggravates me, and can't he just try to talk about something else rather than himself? I wouldn't be so annoyed with him if he could just be nice once in a while." She shook her head, knowing that if Gaston ever stopped being so self-centered, it would just be a façade to get what he wants.
"Belle, I'm home!" Belle's father, Maurice, cried out in joy, his brown eyebrows rising as the delicious scent of soup wafted through his nose.
Belle, surprised at the unexpected arrival, sloshed the large, wooden spoon to the side, causing the soup to spill over into her hand. "Ah!" She cried, out, cradling her burnt hand, wincing at the startling pain her hand was feeling.
"Oh, Belle, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to surprise you! Oh, come here, my dear, my new invention will have you all ready to go in no time!" Maurice hurriedly took out one of his newest inventions; it looked like wrapped paper with some processed cotton weaved into it. He quickly grabbed a long piece of it, laid it to the side while he took out some kind of balm, and gently placed it on top of the wrapped paper. As he slowly wrapped it around the palm of her burnt hand, he explained. "The paper's woven with cotton so that it doesn't hinder the damaged skin, and the balm is for disinfecting the wound and curing it. Some foreigner gave it to me after the poor lad saw me fall down on the street. Such a kind person…" Maurice reminisced, while his daughter grew startled at the thought that her poor father had gotten wounded.
"Oh, father, are you well? Maybe you should save the balm for yourself, you're much more sensitive than I am, and it's just a small burn, you don't need to worry so much about it." She fussed over him, gently caressing his wild, white hair with her good, left hand.
"Yes, yes, I'm quite alright, child, don't worry about your father so much. I'm still in top shape, you know!" He cried out joyously, finishing up wrapping the bandage he had made.
"Oh, father…"Belle trailed off, now holding her wrapped hand close to her chest. "The soup! It's already done, and I've been noting your constant sneezing. It's almost winter time and I don't want you getting sicker, alright? So drink it all up, take a bath and then go straight to bed. No dealing with your other inventions." She wagged her good finger up and down at him, expecting him to follow her advice.
"But Belle, my wood chopper invention is almost done! I'm sure I'll get it working by the time winter season comes, but if I don't work on it, then we won't have a way to keep ourselves warm all the time!" Maurice pleaded with his daughter, begged her to understand its importance, but Belle didn't waver.
"Your health at the moment is more important than that experiment…but father," Belle started, smiling slightly once she saw her father's slumped figure perk up. "If it's that important to you, I'll take over, you just write what I need to do, and I'll do it." She chuckled amusingly once she saw her father's wide, shocked gaze.
"B-but Belle...!" He sputtered, trying to get through to the stubborn girl. "It's highly dangerous! If you got hurt testing it out, I'll never forgive myself!" He was very alarmed at her suggestion, so alarmed that the only thing Belle could do was hug him and snuggle her head into his chest, feeling his warmth.
"Father…" She sighed, closing her light chocolate eyes for a moment, tired of discussing with him. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I am the daughter of a great inventor, have a little faith! And if I begin to have trouble with it, I'll leave it alone, agreed?" She tried to placate father, beseeching him to understand her position.
"Oh, well, alright Belle, you win! I just hope you know what you're doing." He grumbled, and sat down on the dining room chair to eat his soup. Belle smiled softly at him, glad they were able to maintain a happy medium.
"Father, I'll go upstairs and get everything ready for your bath when you're done eating. Bon appetite!" She said happily, running up the staircase into the room where the wash basin was located.
As she left, Maurice heard a knock on the door. Seeing that Belle was busy, he went and investigated who it could possibly be. As he looked through his strange telescope outside, he saw that it was Gaston. Gaston, of all people, looking to come into his home! 'What an honor, to have such an influential man come to us!' He quickly opened the door, and greeted the young, handsome man.
"Gaston, what an honor, for you to come to our home! Please, do come in!" He eagerly showed him the way in, noting the way Gaston proudly held himself, smiling elegantly.
"Oh, why monsieur Maurice, it will be my pleasure." He entered, and sat down next to Maurice on one of the chairs in the room.
"Well, monsieur Gaston, what can we help you with?" It wasn't every day that Maurice got visitors; they mainly kept to themselves, not making any real friendships in the town they moved in a few months ago.
"Actually, I was...rather interested in your inventions, you see. I came here to offer my help. I'm sure you'll need a strong and able man to help around. I heard word of you being sick, isn't this true?" Gaston willingly led him into the conversation, convincing him that he was right for the job he was offering. "I would be thrilled to let Belle bask in my presence, protecting her while she helps with the inventions you still have not completed. There's talk on the town that there are plenty, to be sure."
"W-well, actually, Belle and I were just discussing this same thing! What a humongous coincidence!" Maurice was glad for the opportunity to have Belle safe while she confronted his still incomplete inventions, and thanked the Lord that Gaston came just in time. "Of course, Gaston, of course! But we, well you see…we don't really have much to offer…" Maurice's excitement slowly lowered as he realized he'd have to pay the good man for his work.
Gaston, like a good hunter, seized the opportunity. "Oh, Maurice, don't insult me! I'd do this all for mademoiselle Belle, if only to spare her from the worry. I would do anything to help a beautiful maiden in distress." Gaston puffed up, showing off, loving the attention Maurice gave him. 'Soon Belle, we'll be the perfect pair.'
"Father, your bath is rea- Gaston?" Belle slowly walked down the stairs, shocked to see the same man twice in a day, especially in her home. "What are you doing here, Gaston?" She tried to remain civil, but just looking into his light blue eyes and knowing that women were just tools for him, it was hard to do so.
"Oh, Belle my darling!" He bellowed, striding over to her. "Didn't you hear? I'll be helping you around the house while poor Maurice recovers from his sickness, isn't that right, Maurice?" Gaston, all the while, kept his gaze on her, his smile showing all of his teeth. Belle thought he looked like a predator, but she definitely wasn't going to be his prey. If he wanted to play, then she'll play too. He'll become her prey.