when your thoughts turn sour make them sweet instead

[sentree]

[ That was...positively horrible? Ugh. After a few hours, notes are slipped under each person's door. They read, in a neat handwriting: ]

Banquet in Vanellope's honor in the dining room.

- Reyna, Sally and Thalia

[ You may not know what to expect when they say banquet, but it...really is one, isn't it? Thalia's main dish is cheeseburgers, so there are so many of those, but the table's positively covered in an arrangement of fruit and vegetables and all kinds of bread. Looks like they've gone all out.

What's really the cream of it all, though, are the desserts. Not a lot that's special, but there's a wide collection of cookies and cupcakes, and enough hot chocolate to feed an army. Maybe literally. There is a section that's particularly fancy, and that's the many candy apples, definitely courtesy of Sally. Along with a cute amount of peppermint bark. It seems like the food is unending, too, since there's the delicatible smell of baking cookies and simmering candy from the kitchen. Thalia and Sally are keeping you stocked, don't worry. ]

Comments

[greatwidesomewhere]

[Belle has never had a cheeseburger before, but once she arrives she realizes that she hasn't eaten a thing all day; once she'd dropped that carton of eggs this morning, food had sort of slipped her mind. Now, she sits off to the side, experimentally biting into the strange sandwich before her. It's...surprisingly good. Different. But she can't really enjoy it. She's too busy running through the day's events, trying to make sense of it all. Trying to process all the twists and turns.

If she sees someone looking for a seat, however, she's not going to turn down company; she'll gesture to the empty chair beside her.]

Please...be my guest.

[sentree]

[ Hello, Belle. Thalia's coming by to check on her, and...well, she can stay awhile. ]

How're you doing?

[greatwidesomewhere]

[Belle glances up to see Thalia, and gives her a tiny, if strained, smile.]

A little better, now that I've eaten. It's...been a long day.

[sentree]

You can say that again... I'm glad the food helps, though. The banquet's for the deceased, but it's also to help the living...at least, that's the theory behind it, at least.

[ She sits next to her. ]

[greatwidesomewhere]

It makes sense. I've never really been to a—a wake, or a funeral before, but it seems like a nice, comforting thing to do.

[She wonders if anyone would have bothered to hold a funeral for the Beast, back home...considering the fact that all the household staff are likely forever inanimate by now, Belle doubts that. She'd have to be his only mourner.

Whoops. Her face is suddenly very, very mournful.]

[sentree]

[ She can't miss that sudden despair. Is it about today, but... ]

Belle? What's got your mind going? Is it about today?

[greatwidesomewhere]

Um—

[Belle glances up, and tries to smile, but it's not that easy. At this point, she's fighting back tears that want to prick at the corners of her eyes.]

Yes...and no. I lost someone very recently.

[sentree]

[ Her face softens. ]

And you went right into this... I'm so sorry. You should be given time to mourn.

[greatwidesomewhere]

[She shakes her head, pressing her fingers into the corners of her eyes to try and stop the tears.]

I'm fine. Really. I...most of last Friday I spent crying.

[tadaishi]

[She isn't the only one who hasn't eaten at all--one reason he wasn't about to chance the alcohol while it was there--and at some point, he's going to show up with a plate full of two cheeseburgers and some fruit.]

How are you feeling?

[He'll take one of the nearby chairs, unless she has objections.]

[greatwidesomewhere]

[Belle's pleased to see Tadashi sitting nearby, and even though she's tired and melancholy, she still can spare a smile for him.]

A bit better now. I hadn't realized how hungry I was until...just now, really. Are you alright?

[tadaishi]

I'm starving. [He indicates the two cheeseburgers.] Aside from that, I'm really...disappointed. Preston swore up and down that he was an intelligent and educated man, but he went after a little girl because he was worried about his social status.

Unbelievable.

[That last word might be slightly muffled by hamburger.]

[greatwidesomewhere]

[Belle glances away, her expression pained.]

And what's worse, is that man had a daughter, and he treated her like property. That's common in my time, but...that poor girl. Whoever she is, I'm sure she deserved much better than the likes of him.

[tadaishi]

It's not common in my time, but that doesn't stop some people. It helps that children don't really have any legal rights until they turn 18.

He didn't seem to have a very high opinion of women at all, unless they were as well off as he was.

[greatwidesomewhere]

In my time...Girls aren't even meant to learn to read. It's frowned-upon. I was lucky enough to have a father who wanted me to be educated.

[She sighs. He's gone now. It shouldn't matter, they shouldn't be dwelling on someone so awful, but...it's hard not to.]

[tadaishi]

It's great that your dad's ahead of his time...women deserve education just as much as men do. In my time, reading and writing is required for pretty much everyone, and most kids start learning the alphabet at 3.

[greatwidesomewhere]

He was. My mother, too...he described her to me once as 'fearless'. Even if she was mocked, and shunned...she refused to be anything less.

It's good to hear that things change...in the future.

[geomanctic]

Thanks. [Cornelia's cool and collected now, but her eyes are red and puffy-- someone definitely had a good cry in her room before the banquet.]

I don't think I've seen so much food in my life.

[greatwidesomewhere]

[Belle tilts her head, noticing that Cornelia looks as if she's been crying. She's not surprised; she's been feeling like she could use a good cry herself. She offers a comforting, if thin, smile.]

I hadn't, until recently. The place I was staying...the castle...well, the staff were very hospitable. It was incredible.

[geomanctic]

You were staying in a castle? Wow, rubbing elbows with royalty?

[greatwidesomewhere]

Well—not everyone who lives in a castle is royalty, you know.

[She glances down at her plate for a moment, toying with a stalk of celery.]

But yes, actually.

[geomanctic]

No. Not always. But it's usually implied, right?

What's it like to live in one? I've only been to one for short visits.

[greatwidesomewhere]

I suppose that's true.

[Belle tilts her head, and seems to think on that for a moment.]

I wasn't there by choice, you must understand. And at first, I hated it there. But over time...I grew to enjoy it, as much as one can enjoy a life without freedom.

[geomanctic]

Wait a minute. What? [This feels less like normal girl talk now.]

Someone had you trapped there? That's not okay!

[greatwidesomewhere]

Well...yes.

[It really is the most ludicrous story.]

He had my father held prisoner. I...I traded his life for my own. I offered myself as a prisoner in his place.