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Dance #2: Future Duke Orpheus
it’s all coming back to me now
Every nuance of his expression did not escape Belle’s gaze. She witnessed the hurt that clouded his handsome features, the storm of anger that flashed across his face as if her words were a knife that pierced his chest. She had told him that she did not hate him; and she had thought he would be perhaps relieved to hear that much, that despite her reserved nature when he was near- her coldness, she held no hatred towards him. Sure, she had found him frustrating, but hate was never something that crossed her heart when thinking about it. Yet, his behavior was far from the joy she had anticipated, particularly when she had said the word ‘trust’.
His voice rose, it was harsh, as he began to address Belle and her attitude towards him- he talked about how he would open himself to her even when she was cold to him and never gave him the same. He talked about how every time he was near, she would pull out a book and read never responding while he talked and talked. This sudden outburst surprised her. She had known he was human, capable of emotion, but he had always felt like a complex character from a novel, his personality enigmatic and elusive. Could not quite pin point much of him, and could not really explain how she felt of him, it was not clear to her how high or low was he in her chart of distastefulness. She had expected him to once lose his composure, to leave the happy frustrating bubble Belle had come to know him from, but she had never expected it would be because she had admitted to her lack of trust in him.
She did not know that he truly cared about how she felt about him in such a way. Has he perhaps thought that with every talk he was drawing closer to Belle? He should have known that her words will one day hurt him - after all she was a thorn among roses and often expressed her disinterest in him and people like him. So, why was he so angry? And why did Belle begin to feel pity for him? Why had she felt like reaching out, apologizing for her cold behavior? She was not drunk like him, perhaps his outburst was due to his intoxication, he was not in his right mind but Belle was in her’s.
The tension in the air was palpable, their hands together as they dance, his grip got firmer but not painful. She had been curious, curious about him today and she let her self dance with him and now she was flinching, shocked- surprised. There was so much she wanted to say in response, there was so much she was thinking but instead of her words being loud it was her silence that was as loud as a child’s cry. Everything she wanted to say consumed her, have you ever feasted on your own silence? No, well Belle has today. it made her feel full, made her skin feel colder than usual- silence was cold it seems and she could not take her eye away from Orpheus. Till she looked away as he continued to speak.
“Lord Orpheus,” She began, finding her voice, “It is not proper to call me by my middle name,” She says noting that he had called her Rose. Interesting how he had skipped her last name and first name and jumped straight to her middle name, to a name that speaks of passion. She bit her lips, blinking as he talked about undoing his darkest heart to gain her trust, "You do not need to go to war for my trust Lord Orpheus, you do not need to undo your darkest heart if that is not what you wish for, But she did what to hear it, she wanted to hear all the darkest aspects of him- all the ways she could put him in a box, figure him out more. Know him, and know his story. Would he go lower or higher in her box? She wondered. “It is rotten work, all that we feel and trying to know me. You could not understand me, most people can’t,”
@DandelionKate- Orpheus