mes études

[beheld_beauty]

Belle studies magic.

It's tricky. Getting into and out of her rose-sphere is routine after a few days, but she still hasn't uncovered an explanation of how channeling works, though she's been informed that there are three options for how to do it (by herself, through a willing helper, or through an unwilling helper). Unlike the fourfold options for reaching the Dreamworld, this does not tell her how to begin fumbling towards a practical understanding, even though she can rule out the last one just on the basis of its description.

Beast can only do so a tiny bit of reading per day, and her pile of books that she can read shrinks much faster than his. She combs the library for multilingual dictionaries, so she can pick her way through the titles of the foreign-language books and at least prioritize them before handing them over.

Finally something in an obscure language that even Beast can barely read - Belle has to look up a lot of words - explains the channeling in a way she can understand.

Comments

[beheld_beauty]

"...Especially?"

[deslandes]

"There are few things worse than being forced to do something I would have wanted to do anyway," he says, "and one of them is when someone else is being forced to help."

[beheld_beauty]

"If I have to be forced to do things I'd just as soon they be things I'm in favor of doing. If someone powerful commanded me to - say - study magic, that's my cue to see if they'll help me accomplish that more efficiently, not resent them for it. But I hear you about the someone-else-being-forced-to-help part."

[deslandes]

"Mm," he rumbles. "Being forced to do something I don't want to do is another of the worse things."

[beheld_beauty]

"Fair enough," she says with a surprised laugh.

[deslandes]

He snorts softly.

[beheld_beauty]

Study study study study. Quiet absent singing.

[deslandes]

After a little while, he gets out of his chair and curls up on the floor at her feet.

[beheld_beauty]

"...Is that comfortable?" she asks, curious.

[deslandes]

"Yes."

[beheld_beauty]

"Huh. Okay."

Study study study study oh there's a furry thing there pet pet oh wait that's not actually just a cat but if she stops now she might have to explain how she forgot that he was a person pet pet.

[deslandes]

Purr!

[beheld_beauty]

This is one heck of a mane. Inches deep. She can put her hand in halfway up her forearm to scritch his scalp. Might as well, at this point.

[deslandes]

Ooh, he liiikes that. Purr purr purr.

[beheld_beauty]

She goes right on doing it. She only needs one hand to turn pages.

[deslandes]

And the Beast goes right on purring, curling up closer until his head rests in her lap.

[beheld_beauty]

She makes no objection.

She reads. She takes notes.

And she gets to a paragraph that makes her idly scritching hand stop where it is.

"...Er," she says. "How bad was that time limit again?"

[deslandes]

"...I don't know exactly," he says. "A few years. Probably more. Maybe less."

[beheld_beauty]

"How do you know?" she asks. "...Disenchantments are difficult. And dangerous. More so the more complicated the spell you're countering is. It could take a few years, maybe more, before I can try it on something like your curse and be reasonably sure I'm not going to kill myself trying."

[deslandes]

"There's a rose under glass at the top of the tower in this wing," he says. "It loses petals slowly - the floor is covered in them. When the last petal falls..." He shrugs.

[beheld_beauty]

"Can I see it?" she asks.

[deslandes]

"Of course. Now?"

[beheld_beauty]

"No. Lemme look up a spell to see if I can get a more precise time limit. The rose is probably the spell's fondement and I should be able to learn a lot about the whole curse if I look at it the right way."

Flip flip flip.

It takes her about fifteen minutes to find a spell that suits her; she's getting pretty familiar with the magic books she can read. She memorizes it, and copies down the key points into her notebook, which she picks up to bring along. "Okay, now's good."

[deslandes]

The Beast leads her up to the top of the tower, to a small round room whose floor is covered in dried and scattered rose petals. In the very center of the room, a round table seems to have a sprawling rosebush growing straight out of the middle, under an arched glass dome that attaches to the rim of the table by many slender legs.

There is only one flower on the bush still standing tall and hanging onto a full crown of petals. A few of the rest, drooping off in all directions, still claim a petal or two.

[beheld_beauty]

Belle casts. She works through herself; it's a light sting, and she can tolerate it without losing hold of the spell. And with enchanter's sight on her, she looks at the rosebush that she believes to be the curse fondement.