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As he listened to her recount the easily-recallable events of the previous evening, he felt a little grin creeping up, and he did his best to suppress it. It had been a fun night. And then the copious amount of alcohol had–

His grin vanished at the sound of tears in her voice and he quickly sat up to hold her close. He was always a sucker for a weeping lady, and he couldn’t help but attempt to comfort her. “Hey, hey, you haven’t don’t anything wrong. I’m not upset with you,” he soothed her. Well. She had done something wrong, but only as much as he had. Maybe he’d done worse, since he clearly recalled the inebriated antics of the night before, and she did not.

He licked his lips and swallowed. Time to give her the rest of the story, he supposed. “Snow… we… got married,” he told her, and held his left hand out where she could see his ring finger. “You suggested it, I went along with it. And… here we are…”

Being held by him like this had to be one of the most wonderful things that had ever happened to her. Also one of the worst. The tears threatened again, but she held them off.

And then they dissipated completely as she looked at his hand. Stiffly, Snow pulled out her own left hand from beneath the sheet, and there it was, a delicate gold band sparkling on her finger. She huffed a strange, small noise that seemed to be a combination laugh, gasp, and sob.

How many times had she dreamed about Phillip, ridiculous girlish dreams of marriage and babies, or slightly more adult fantasies of being naked in his bed, but now...

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@danceinsocks

“That,” Belle said with a laugh, “is a souvenir from probably the closest I’ll ever get to a swordfight.”

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The princess peered down over the edge of the cliff into the waters below and bit her lip. She sincerely appreciated what her dear Phillip was trying to do, and so far, she thought he’d succeed in helping her to live life without fear and to explore the world to see its wonders. But this? This might be where she had to draw the line. 

Aurora heard him call to her from the waters, assuring her that everything was fine. That helped ease her mind a little concerning the danger involved. She exhaled sharply and nodded her head. Alright. This was it. She was going to do it. Mother and Father would be angry, but she would worry about that later. Her aunts never would have let her do something like this when she was growing up, so naturally, that meant she had to.

Steadying her nerves, Aurora took a few steps back to give herself a running jump. Before she knew it, there was no ground under her feet and the rush of wind was filling her ears. She heard a cry--a yelp--and realized it was coming from her. It all happened so quickly that she almost forgot to hold her breath and close her eyes as she plunged deep into the depths. Her limbs flailed about her for a moment and she coordinated them enough to guide her back to the surface. 

(based on a prompt from here) @danceinsocks

Aurora could hardly believe it, even though the sight was right there in front of her face. Light was low, the only illumination coming from the sprays of early sunlight that trickled in through parted curtains to their left, but it was enough to see the silliness before her. There, on the sofa, cuddled together under a fuzzy throw blanket, snoring softly, lay Phillip and the new dog, Samson.

She shook her head, withholding a sigh. All her life, there’d been room in Aurora’s heart for every one of God’s creatures. She’d done well to befriend every creature on four legs or wings that she’d encountered but this...this was proving to be a test. And now this? 

It had all started when Phillip declared he wanted a dog. They’d been on their own for quite some time, and after a while, he felt they were ready to handle the responsibility. “Why, that’s a lovely idea!” Aurora had said. It was rather appealing, the thought of adding an adorable and devoted puppy to their little family! What fun they’d have! And since she loved animals to begin with, she saw no reason why they couldn’t adopt right away. 

And so they did. They searched the shelters. They searched the websites. Finally, one day, they’d had the chance of passing an adoption event while running errands. Phillip might have thought it was fate, and Aurora might too, had she known. They perused the rows of kennels and pet a variety of dogs--big, small, long hair, short hair, friendly, timid, and everything in between. And then they across him. Samson was the name on the adoption card, along with several other details like approximate age, probable breed mixes, temperament, and so on. He was a handsome dog, truly. In many respects, he was probably perfect. They played together and Phillip took to him immediately, and vice versa. The permissive look from Phillip that followed was all it took for Aurora to say yes. A quick run through the pet supply store and they were on their way home with their new addition.

The happiness that Aurora had felt upon bringing Samson home was quick to fade. At first, she was fine to leave Phillip and Samson alone to bond and play, but after a while, it became clear to her that this was Phillip’s only interest. They would play outside for hours, then Phillip would share his meals with the dog. He would bring him with them when they went out. And, despite having the crate positioned right next to their bed, Phillip insisted on letting Samson sleep with them. 

Aurora found it hard to deny Phillip anything his heart desired, but after a week or so this sleeping arrangement, she was determined to put her foot down. Samson refused to sleep at the foot of the bed like a well-behaved dog and instead made himself comfortable right between the couple. Many times, Aurora tried to move him but to no avail. So she relented. It wasn’t all that horrible, she supposed.

And then the snoring started. Aurora had never been one that was quick to anger, but after a few nights of trying to sleep through Samson’s snores, she thought that might change. It didn’t matter how much she prodded or poked the dog to move, he always ended up in a way that produce the loudest and most rumbling snores. Even more baffling was how Phillip slept right through! A few times, she would try to wake Phillip to see if he would try something different, but nothing helped. Samson still snored like a forest full of lumberjacks. 

The next evening, after two and a half hours of trying to find a way to sleep through the snores, Aurora decided she couldn’t take it any longer. She called Samson to her, scooped him up into her arms, and ushered him swiftly to the sofa. It wasn’t his fault his snores kept her awake and she hated to make him think she was punishing him. but she had to get some sleep. To soften the blow, she sat with him and scratched his ears until he relaxed, and once the snores began to softly resume she padded away. Sleep quickly claimed her after that.

Which brought her to this morning. Phillip was already up when she rose, though a cursory examination of light sources told her he wasn’t in the bathroom or closet. This wasn’t alarming. He had probably started some coffee for them, she decided, and wrapped herself in her robe to go find him. It was then that she was met with the sight of Phillip and Samson cuddled up on the sofa together. 

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Belle giggled softly, admiring the bloom before it disappeared from her sight. “Ah! Merci!” Phillip had always surprised her in the best little ways. He was truly quite charming, in all the best ways. There was always that little niggling, though, that Belle couldn’t quite shake--that charming folk were often only charming as a means to an end. Whether or not that was true for Phillip, she would never know, because she was determined never to follow that string. His charm would remain dear to her, she was determined, and nothing more.

Though she had to admit, after such displays as that, she could almost see how other girls might just fall for it.