After the Curse--CLOSED

[The Beast]

It was inordinately quiet inside of the castle. None of the objects enjoyed this silence. If anything, they preferred it when their master was howling in rage and ripping through the rooms. At least then they knew that he wouldn't harm himself. Mrs. Potts was the one who worried the most about their master.

She had practically raised the young prince after the death of his mother, and then when his father died...Things had only gotten worse. And with Chip to take care of, Mrs. Potts hadn't really had the time to properly see to the young prince's needs. Perhaps his selfishness was all her doing. Lumiere and Cogsworth were insistent that such could not possibly be the case, but she wasn't entirely sure about that.

"Perhaps I should go check on the master?" she murmured gently as still more silence surrounded the objects.

Cogsworth looked up nervously from where he was trying to oversee the cooking of the master's next meal. "Do you really think that is wise, Mrs. Potts?" he asked with a slight twitch. "The last time someone tried to check on him..."

Babette the featherduster shuddered at this and whimpered in fear. "Please, Madame Potts...You cannot be serious."

"But I am, dear. It's the only way for us to be sure that he's doing all right," Mrs. Potts insisted. "Don't try to stop me. Babette, would you look after Chip for me?"

None of the others were willing to argue with her as she hopped through the halls, nearly falling over a few times. Even though it had been several days...perhaps even weeks...Mrs. Potts was still not used to being a teapot. What sort of curse would be so cruel to turn her into a teapot of all things?

When she finally reached the West Wing, she almost stopped and turned right around. While the entire castle had been transformed into a dark shadow of its former glory, this was the area that had suffered the most, and not just from the curse. The master had torn most of this wing of the castle appart in his rage. Still...Mrs. Potts continued towards the bedchamber of her master.

[The Beast]

The Beast did not want to be disturbed. He only wanted to be left alone, without the sounds of the servants trying to make him feel better. The last thing that he wanted at this point was to face any of them.

The initial rage had worn off by now, leaving behind a cold despair that gripped at his heart and pumped ice water through his veins rather than blood. Sitting with his face turned away from the rose that had caused all his problems, the Beast almost didn't hear the approaching tap-tap sound of Mrs. Potts jumping across the floor that led to his chambers.

When he did hear the teapot's approach, he growled low in his throat. Oh, it probably wouldn't scare off Mrs. Potts, but it made him feel better to give voice to his frustrations. The tapping sound did pause for a moment, but not a long one.

"Get out," he snarled, not bothering to look at the doorway where Mrs. Potts would no doubt be standing. "I want to be alone."

[The Beast]

Normally, Mrs. Potts would listen to the Beast, but at this point she was too determined to see if her master was doing well. Clearing her throat a little to help regain her nerves. Finally, she began hopping once again.

"Master? Is...is there anything that I can do for you?"

He would probably just start shouting at her again, but at this point she would take the shouting over his silence. Not even when they were still human was the master ever this silent. All she wanted was for there to be at least some form of normalcy for all of them.

[The Beast]

Rising to his feet with a snarl, the beast stumbled a little as he tried to stay upright on two feet. It didn't work...this body simply wasn't made for standing like a man. Falling forward so that he was on all fours, he growled in anger at this. Why had this happened to him? In frustration, he reached out with one of his front paws to slash at a nearby table.

It fell with a splintering of wood and crashed to the ground. The Beast saw how Mrs. Potts jumped violently, but at this point, he didn't care. He was too angry with his fate and too willing to give in to despair to really care what his servants thought of him.

"I thought I told you to get out!" he snapped, his voice sounding far more like a wolf growling than anything else. "Now go!"

[The Beast]

Mrs. Potts jumped in fear at the violent action, but at least he was doing something rather than just sulking. Backing up as much as she could without toppling over and shattering, the teapot hastily turned and hopped to the kitchen as fast as she could.

There, all the other objects waited for her nervously. Lumiere was the first to speak, his arm around Babette. "Well, mon amie?" he asked in a low voice. "What was his reaction?"

"Not good," Mrs. Potts admitted and sighed as her small son hopped over to her. "But we expected that. At least now he will not be giving in to his despair too much...I hope."

[The Beast]

The Beast growled low in his throat and slumped to the ground, curling up like a dog. At the moment, that was what he felt like. He was nothing but a monster anymore. A monster who could clearly never make anyone love him. How could he possibly break this curse?

The simple answer was that he couldn't. It was an impossible task, and the Enchantress had to have known that. All these magical creatures were like that, it seemed. And he was ready to just find her and tear out her throat if he thought that doing so would help him at all.

Sadly, he knew that it wouldn't help him too much, and he was aware of that. With a low rumbling growl, the Beast let his eyes close and let the despair wash over him for now. It was just easier to do that.

CLOSED