Advice is Desperately Needed
=Castle; 11:04pm; Kitchens=
Steve had his head down on the table. "How much longer?" He had been down here for about two hours and was beginning to get a headache from all of Cogsworth's constant pestering. Steve could still hear him in his head, "'Who are you? What are you doing here? What are you wearing? Where are you from? How much do you know?'" Steve had answered each question the second it was said, "That's not important right now. Figure it out. Ignore them. You wouldn't believe me' and 'I'll tell you later.'"
"Well, if you ask me, she was just being stubborn."
Steve's head shot up, "Eh?"
"After all," Cogsworth continued, "he did say 'please.'"
Mrs. Potts put in her opinion, "But if the Master doesn't learn to control that temper, he'll never break the sp-"
Steve looked over to the door in time to see Belle enter. He watched Cogsworth instantly rush over to her to greet her. Steve figured that Belle hadn't seen him yet, and hoped that it would stay that way. Sadly, it was not to last.
"You."
Steve pointed to himself, "Me?"
Belle looked at Steve like she was trying to solve a puzzle, which was partly true. "You're the boy from the village, aren't you?"
Steve smiled sheepishly, "Well..." then he looked away, "...yes. I am, but... not exactly."
"Well then, where are you from?"
Steve rubbed the back of his head, "It's, uh, kinda complicated." Steve needed to get out of this, so he convienently changed the subject, "Wait a second. Why are you down here?"
This solved his problem, because Belle answered, "Oh, well, I was a little hungry."
Mrs. Potts brightened up, "You are? Then let's stoke the fire! Break out the silver! Wake the china!"
Cogsworth was instantly alarmed, "But remember what the Master said!"
Steve shook his head and chuckled quietly, "Some rules are likely to end up broken sooner or later. Besides, starvation isn't exactly an acceptable one, at that."
"Fine. A glass of water, crust of bread, and then-"
Lumiere butted in, "Cogsworth, I am surprised at you. She is not a prisoner. She's our guest."
"I couldn't have said it better myself." Steve commented.
Lumiere continued, "We must make her feel welcome here." He motioned for Belle to follow him, "Right this way mademoiselle."
"Then keep it down," insisted Cogsworth, "If the Master hears about this it will mean our necks."
"Of course, of course."
"But what is dinner," Steve finished, "without a little music." As Cogsworth was hit by the door, Steve stuck his hand out and caught him. "You're welcome."
=Castle; 11:17pm; Dining Room=
Steve leaned against a wall during the full "Be Our Guest" performance, and he had to admit that it was much more impressive up close and personal. The only problem was that he had to constantly watch out for swinging spoons. He did applaud at the end, then he snuck out the door when no one was watching.
=Castle; 11:49pm; West Wing Main Hallway=
"... and if I reduce the size of the mainframe, then I may be able to-" Steve's thoughts were interrupted by a loud: "As you were!". From the dark space next to the stairs where he was concealed, Steve watched the small tour group round the corner. He stayed as still as possible until Cogsworth tried to sidetrack Belle. That was when he jumped up and grabbed hold of the railing. He made his way to the higher floor by moving horizontally along the staircase and hoisting himself over, onto the floor. He stood in another one of the darker areas quietly, listening to the conversation.
Steve went over his plan in his head, "Alright, I'll pursuede Belle to not go into the West Wing so the Beast doesn't... surprise her. Then, if that doesn't happen, they'll talk to each other sooner. Meaning, I will get out of this situation more quickly. Huzzah!" When it became silent, Steve watched Belle come to the landing, having left Lumiere and Cogsworth behind. After watching her take a few cautious steps, Steve said, "Curiosity killed the cat, you know."
Belle froze, and turned around slowly. "Who's there?"
Steve walked out of the shadows, "It's just me. But what I said is true."
"You scared me! For a moment I thought you were... him."
"Oh, you mean the Beast. Well... I know what you were thinking just before I interrupted you, and due to my professional attitude, my IQ of 175, and my ability to outclass college professors on the theory of relativity, I suggest that you heed my warnings."
"Why should I listen to you?"
Steve considered this, "Okay, good point. But still, I would advise against it."
Belle was getting suspicious, "Why are you trying to stop me?"
"Let's just say that a certain someone would get really 'annoyed', and would lead to another certain someone running, being chased by wolves," Steve mumbled some other explanations.
"What?"
Steve shook his head, "Never mind, but... just don't." He then retreated down the stairs and made his way back to the Entrance Hall.
Belle just stood there. Now, debating between exploring the West Wing or returning to her room. She decided to heed Steve's warning, and made her way back to the East Wing.
=Castle; 10:46am; Entrance Hall=
Steve had spent the entire night exploring the Castle. He was beginning to create a detailed mental map of it up to the color of the walls in each room. At the moment, he was taking time to collect some samples of stone from the floors and walls of the Entrance Hall for testing when he got back to the real world. The only places he didn't explore were the East and West Wings since he already knew what was in each.
"Nothing happened last night."
Steve turned around and was face to face with the Beast. "And good morning to you, too. What was that? Oh, yes, right. Well, I told you to return to your living area so that you would not, ah... disturb... your guest."
"Then... what do I need to do now?"
Steve thought about this, "Try... apologizing to her. Use conversation starters. Stuff like that."
The Beast didn't move, "What?"
"Do you not understand the apologizing part or the conversation starters part?"
"Not that!" the Beast was infuriated that someone would think that he couldn't comprehend something so simple. "I meant what should I say!"
"Ah, yes! Hmm, well, you could start with: I'm sorry!" Steve gave the Beast a "Duh!" expression.
The Beast tensed, "Why you-" he punched the wall next to Steve's head, "That could work," he said through gritted teeth.
"Did you know that you have SERIOUS ANGER CONTROL PROBLEMS!," Steve quickly straightened up, regained his composure, and continued, "Yes that should work for you. But if you require my intellect, I'll be looking for a suitable living space." Steve walked away and went through the second door to the right, straight across from the stairs.
=Castle; 2:29pm; First Floor Guest Suite, Corridor Three, Left Side=
It took about three hours, thirty-two minutes, and sixty-seven point four seconds for Steve to find a room that was remote, clean, and uninhabited by animate-inanimate objects. The first thing he did when he got there was search for better clothes. He was surprised that nobody had said much about his attire, even in it's current, ruined state. After a few minutes of digging around some drawers and closets, Steve found something similar to what the Beast wore at the transformation scene: black pants and a white shirt. He wasn't surprised when they fit, he had gotten used to those things. The only thing he couldn't stand was the sleeves, so he ripped them off to make it shortsleeved.
"Day three. I have established contact with a few of the inhabitants. My origional clothes are ruined, so I have found a new set and expect to use the extra that I found, instead, over the next few months. I believe that things are running smoothly and I fully expect to be released on schedule. I shall record other observations as my inprisonment progresses. In other news, I have successfully remained vague when asked anything like place of origin, and I hope to keep it that way for as long as possible. End of log." Steve put the iPod away and sat on the ground to meditate for a while.