Chapter Three

By: spookystingray

Suddenly Cogsworth's vision was flooded with white light. He awoke in a cold sweat, naked (and human) on the bed he shared with Lumiere, his eyes aching. Lumiere's side of the bed seemed to be empty; Cogsworth could hear water pelting the floor of the shower, and wisps of steam escaped under the bathroom door. The digital clock on their nightstand read 5:30 a.m.

Cogsworth uncovered himself and lifted his somewhat plump body out of the bed; as he yawned and stretched, he suddenly doubled over, barely managing to hold back puke. Hand over his mouth, he burst into the bathroom, the captive steam escaping as he bent over and emptied his stomach into the toilet. Panting, he could hear the shower curtains shifting, and he felt a familiar hand on his shoulder. Lumiere, dripping, looked down upon his lover and chuckled.

"Paying tribute to the porcelain god, my handsome man?"

"Nightmares about the old times always make me nauseous," Cogsworth sighed, "Could I join you? I'm rather… a bit of a mess."

"Unfortunately my love, I need to get to work early this morning," Lumiere hesitated awkwardly, scratching his nose, "Very early. You understand."

"Yes, yes, get to it then."

x x x

Lumiere sat in his office, thinking. It was quiet; he was the only one in this early. He was avoiding Cogsworth, and had been avoiding him for the past few days. He didn't know how to break the news to him: Prince Adam was dead. Lumiere stroked his temples, sighing discontentedly, thinking of the past.

After Prince Adam had been freed from his beastly form and the servants had become human again, they found that they no longer aged. This was wondrous at first, but as the years went on, life in the castle seemed meaningless and small – life seemed meaningless and small. Prince Adam left with an aging Belle to travel the world. After some years, Lumiere heard news of Belle's death, and as the decades passed he followed the many causes the prince devoted himself to: politics, business, academia. Sometime in the 1980's, Lumiere lost track of him; he seemed to have disappeared. The news of the prince's suicide was the first Lumiere had heard of him in nearly three decades. He had hanged himself in the castle, now a museum. The only mention of his death was in a local newspaper. Mrs. Potts, who still lived in that town, had written to tell Lumiere the news.

Lumiere felt lucky to have Cogsworth; without him, he would surely have succumbed to the emptiness of immortality just as the prince had.