#berelle

I made this just for funsies

@ber-bonfamille-lyons

It had been a long time since Belle had made time for Berlioz. She felt guilty for that, but they had seen each other. At busy family dinners with Simba, Hades, Toulouse, and all the children running underfoot. They saw each other at tense summer board meetings, at friendly game nights, and here and there. But they hadn’t spent time, just the two of them, in a very long time.

So, Belle had shown up at Berlioz’s house with Shuck at her side on a grey, brisk, late summer evening. Fireflies had lit her path up to the house and now, they were walking along the lake. She wished they could hit the trails, but they were still mostly overgrown.

Her arm looped through Berlioz’s as they walked, her cheek on his bicep. The dogs bounded ahead, wrestling together as they went, like children themselves.

They were quiet at first. Belle had not said why she came over. Only that she’d wanted to talk to Berlioz. Now, she just wished they could stay silent. With Berlioz, silence was easy. Talking was usually too, but--Belle didn’t know where to start. Everything felt very tangled. She felt guilty and she felt sad and part of her still felt a bitter sort of jealousy, watching Hades fall apart without Toulouse.

“Toulouse...” Belle started, because that was where it all started, no matter what version of the story was told. “He left for Paris and he hasn’t come back.” They took a few more steps, their shoes crunching along the gravel of the lake.

“I don’t believe he’s going to come home, to the cottage, when he does. If he does.” She sighed a little and shifted her grip on his arm, not looking up at him.

Simba’s campaign was almost over, but that meant things were more hectic than ever. With the finish line in sight, everyone was desperate to get to the end, but terrified of what that could mean. The fucking alcohol scandal was still fresh in its grave after all. Simba’s event had gone well, but that didn’t guarantee his election, did it? 

With Simba, Berlioz was of course as supportive as always. Comforting, optimistic, or at least...providing a place for Simba to put his complaints and his worries.

But he was nervous. What would happen if Simba didn’t get elected? And then-- what if he did? 

Ber needed a break from it all honestly, so he escaped to Belle’s place, getting there actually early for once, very out of character for him. But it wasn’t a big deal. In fact, when Belle mentioned she still needed to groom Philippe, Ber jumped at the chance to join her. He knew shit about horses, but he’d always liked the gentle giant. So they went trudging out to the stables, far away from babies, and partners, and campaigns. 

“So things are alright for you lot over here, yeah?” he started off. Belle at least seemed all put together, while Ber felt frayed around the edges. 

@trip-downtheriverstyx​, @ber-bonfamille-lyons​, @simba-bonfamille-lyons​

Belle had not known what to expect, really, from Berlioz’s invitation to come over for a “game night.” She had a feeling that it wasn’t an invitation to a chess tournament, which made her slightly apprehensive. Not to mention that now was certainly not the time, between the Order, the magic drain, and some, erm, personal matters, but she knew that Simba had been injured and that Berlioz was trying to do something nice. Belle was usually opposed to breaks, but considering everything--

Maybe they were overdue for one.

She was right about the fact it wasn’t a chess tournament as she sat next to Hades in the Bonfamille-Lyons’ living room, peering skeptically at the colorful boxes that Simba was laying on the table.

“Okay, we have Pictionary, Cards Against Humanity, Monopoly, Candyland, LIFE, Cluedo...we have some others, this was all I could carry out of the closet for now.”

Belle glanced at Hades. “Erm...I’ve heard of Monopoly before? And...Cluedo?”

[outfit, with a cardigan, belle wouldn’t be caught dead in a tanktop]

❤ 1,311 likes

@ber-bonfamille-lyons​

It was Claire’s suggestion, actually, that Belle make sure she made time for her friends. This sounded counterintuitive to Belle, if she were honest. Which she was, usually. She had said as much to her therapist, giving her a pinched, doubtful expression. Part of Belle’s problem, and her guilt, lay in how she felt that she did not have time for her babies and she found this lack of time in her day to do all of the things she needed to do incredibly stressful. 

That is exactly why you need to do it, Claire had said in that infuriating blasé way of hers, so that you can learn balance.

So, Belle had texted Berlioz, because she knew that if at some point during this walk, she started panicking or blurted something stupid like “my therapist is making me do this!” Berlioz wouldn’t be offended the way Merida might be, or Howl certainly would be.

She had suggested he bring his dogs and they could stroll about the countryside near the house. Just a short walk. When her phone buzzed, Berlioz saying that he was coming up the walk, Belle kissed Hades, and the children, good bye, and called for Shuck as she opened the door. 

The hulking demon barked happily as soon as he spotted the other dogs and bolted towards them, taking the steps in one leap. Belle followed much more slowly, smiling as she got closer. 

“Bonjour,” Belle greeted her friend as the dogs ran about their feet. “It’s good to see you.” And it was, she thought, as she turned to lead him back around the side of the house, toward the pasture a short distance away. They could walk along the fence before cutting across Tod’s yard and heading towards the more open parts of south Swynlake. 

“How have you been? I feel like it’s been so long since it’s been just us two.”

Usually, when Berlioz came over these days, it was for dinner with Simba, Hades, Toulouse--sometimes others. Or it was to babysit, which meant they only saw each other in passing. Or it was to see his brother, who just happened to be primarily at the cottage these days.

Belle was home for the hospital.

Berlioz had actually been itching to check on her and ask about the babies, though he had tried, over the past week and a couple days, to not make that obvious. It was easy to hide behind Simba’s much louder enthusiasm, which had him pushing Berlioz to text Lou for updates. Still, those updates barely revealed anything, Lou staying relatively cagey about it all, mostly reassuring Berlioz that Belle was fine and the babies too, that they were progressing in the NICU the way that they should, and would soon also be home. 

Ber didn’t wanna, y’know...intrude. But eventually-- a couple of days after the babies officially got home-- Ber texted Belle directly to ask if she might be up for visitors. He wasn’t sure if she would be and braced himself just in case. 

However, Belle had said yes, and asked him to come over as soon as he could. In fact, once Ber came, apparently Hades was going to use that opportunity to duck out to go to Chapter Three and take care of a few things there too. 

And so Ber did. He didn’t show up empty handed either. At Simba’s insistence, he brought with him a tupperware of stew that could be heated later. Hades took it and then sent Berlioz upstairs where Belle was waiting. 

He gently knocked on the door that was slightly ajar. When he heard Belle’s voice, he pushed it the rest of the way open. 

“Heya,” he greeted lightly and smiled. Belle looked quite tucked in, surrounded by books, and magazines, fresh flowers on the side of the bed as well. There was a small bassinet next to the bed where the twins rested. When Berlioz saw them, he immediately lowered his voice even more. “Hades just headed out. He said he’d be back in a half an hour or so?” 

@labellerose-acheron​

Berlioz was in trouble.

The countdown had officially begun. It was less than fifty days till his wedding, his wedding, and this time there was no madman in sight to kidnap him, turn him into a cat, and postpone the whole thing for six to eight months. Did Berlioz sort of wish there was a madman lurking somewhere in the background? Sort of. Did he sometimes think about getting an appendicitis the day before or maybe getting bit by a snake or something, y’know, nothing too serious, just a short hospital stay-- maybe. 

And look, it wasn’t because he didn’t wanna marry Simba. He wanted to be married to Simba. He wished it was something he could do online, is all. Like signing up for a new account on Amazon or something. Prime delivery his marriage license and all his paperwork to his front door and then wake up Berlioz Bonfamille-Lyons forever. He didn’t want the big wedding that was looming closer: that pomp, that circumstance, a hundred people staring at Ber as he stuttered out the rawest truth from his tender heart...

Ah right, and there was that. The raw truth bit. It was officially PANIC mode because Berlioz had not written his raw truth and he had no idea if he could. 

He needed help.

So Berlioz begged Belle for help.

He was here in her kitchen now, sat at her table, already half-hunched over it as Belle brought him tea. “Do you have anything stronger?” he half-joked. Because maybe if he was drunk he could write his vows, though there was a bit messed up, wasn’t it, to write his vows while drunk? 

Ber wished he could just close his eyes and disappear for the five weeks. Reappear already married. That’d be nice.