#zzzero belle

A/n: My first post in a while that doesn't come directly from a request. A part 2 to this post. I'm not really sure what inspired me to write this (aside from Belle being wife material), but I hope y'all enjoy regardless, and merry Christmas to all!

It had been a few months since you moved out from your parents' house, and this will be your first Christmas without them. Belle has been trying everything to keep your mind off of them, from video games to going to the arcade to even having you accompany her on her missions as a Proxy. Luckily, the holidays were coming up, which served as a perfect distraction.

Belle asked for your help in decorating the store for Christmas, from putting up lights to setting up the tree to stocking some extra holiday films on the shelves. She promised you some extra pay as well as letting you put up some of your own favourite Christmas movies if you agreed. Watching you put up the decorations with a small smile, Belle gives a smile of her own. You seem to finally be forgetting about your old family.

Little did she know, you actually had an ulterior motive for doing the extra work.

Before she even asked you to help set up the store for the holidays, you'd actually approached Wise a few days prior about working paid overtime. When he asked you why, you said you wanted to keep it a secret. This leads to you spending more hours working the store and less time with your girlfriend.

Though Belle is happy to see you distracting yourself, she also wishes you'd spend more time with her, as selfish as it may seem. She doesn't have to worry that you're actually using the time to go back to your family, since you're always still at the store every time she checks on you, but she still worries that you're working yourself too hard.

As she spends another night alone watching some horror and action Christmas films, since she prefers more exciting movies even when in the holiday spirit, she notices your face is a lot more tired than usual, and you even have dark circles under your eyes. As she's about to ask what's wrong, you wordlessly lumber towards her and collapse in her arms, which automatically wrap around you as if by reflex.

"My film buff? What's wrong?"

"I just...worked a lot of hours. Need...rest."

"Well, we could watch a film together to relax your mind? You always say the films I watch help you turn off your brain, anyway."

You slowly shake your head against her.

"S-Sorry, Belle. Can't...keep my eyes open. Need to sleep."

Belle's expression saddens, though she tries to hide it.

"O-Ok, have a good nap, my love."

She strokes your back like she usually does to help you fall asleep. While she'd usually be happy to have a simple cuddle date with you, she starts to worry about your physical and mental health. This much work isn't good for you, both because it stops you from getting enough sleep, and because no one should push themselves this hard so close to Christmas.

The next day, she wakes up to find you're no longer in her arms. She looks around the store, but you aren't there either. When she asks her brother if he's seen you, Wise tells her that you'd only gave him a quick goodbye before leaving, not telling him where you were going. However, he did see that you seemed to have all of the money you'd saved up over the past few weeks with you.

Belle's heart drops. Surely you weren't planning on leaving her, or worse, going back to your parents. Were you going to move back in with them, or were they extorting you for money? Fear racks her brain the entire day, and no amount of watching films or guitar practice seems to soothe her nerves. This continues late into the night, until eventually, she hears the front door click, and you walk through it.

With tears in her eyes, Belle immediately rushes towards you to pull you into a hug, staining your shirt with her tears as she rubs her face against it. She looks up at you.

"Y/N, where were you? You had me worried sick."

"I-I'm sorry, Belle, but...I can't tell you. At least, not yet."

"B-But, you promised! You said we wouldn't keep secrets from each other anymore, that it'd only hurt us more to hide things."

"I-I know, and I won't. I just...need a couple of days. Please."

Seeing how determined you are about this, she reluctantly agrees, pulling back from the hug. She doesn't like you keeping things from her, but she hates the idea of not being able to trust you more. Come Christmas Eve, you get up to go to work, but Belle tugs on your sleeve.

"My film buff, promise me we can have a date tonight."

Though she expects you to try and argue with her, you actually agree with a smile. She's surprised, but quickly smiles back. As you two spend the night together, you seem to be back to your usual self: teasing her over fighting games, making fun of whatever romcom is being advertised on TV with her and cracking your usual jokes. While she's happy to see you back to your normal self, it only makes her more curious as to what caused you to act so strangely the other day.

She soon finds out the following Christmas morning. As the two of you sleep in each other's arms, Belle wakes you up early in the morning, too excited to open her presents to let you sleep. She rushes downstairs, with you sleepily following behind her. As she tries to choose which present to open first, you point her towards a rectangular-shaped present in the pile, which she assumes to be your gift to her.

As she tears off the wrapping paper, she lets out a gasp.

"I-Is this-"

"The special edition of Final Punch. The one you've been talking to me about ever since we started dating."

"B-But these are supposed to be super rare! There's only about 1000 in existence. It must've been really hard to find, not to mention expensive."

"It was. Which is why I had to pick up a lot more hours at the store to get the extra cash."

Belle's eyes widen as she turns towards you, finally putting the pieces together.

"Y-You mean...the reason you were working so late...and why you were gone all day the other day..."

"It was all for you, Belle. I spent the entire day looking for someone who would sell it to me. After everything you've done for me...I felt a gift like this was the least you deserve."

Tears form in Belle's eyes once more, though this time they're much more joyous. She pulls you into a hug and kisses your cheek.

"Thank you so much, my film buff. I promise I'll treasure it forever...and that I'll never doubt you again."

"It's fine, my gremlin. Honestly, it's half my fault for being so secretive, anyway. Now, what did you get me?"

She pulls back with a smile as she goes to get her gift for you. She holds it towards you with both hands.

"Here you go, my film buff. I hope you like it."

You unwrap the present to reveal a jacket, one identical to Belle's.

"This is..."

"My jacket. Or rather, the same make as mine. I figured, since you always like wearing my jacket while we cuddle, now we can both have one so you'll always be warm. Plus, after wearing it for a while, we can swap to have a reminder of eah other's scents."

You give Belle a smile.

"I love it, Belle. I mean, I'm not sure I'll really need a reminder of your smell, since we pretty much spend every second of the day together, but...you must've really put a lot of thought into this. Thank you."

Belle gives you a sweet, soft kiss on the lips.

"It's no problem, my little film buff. I love you."

Headcannons

Shut the fuck up I know it hasn't even been a day! Let me like the two main characters in peace.

Details of Belle's room, because I like her a lot and she deserves more attention.

[Desc: Belle's wooden desk. Featuring an industrial style lamp, a metal lock box under a standard black file box. There's a pair of white headphones with green detailing, and a clear plus(+) and minus(-) symbol for volume. A pencil holder that looks a bit like film, though it has numbers & letters. It holds a pair of scissors, a graphite pencil, an exacto blade/box cutter, a marker, and a mechanical pencils/pen. There's a scrap/sketch book in the center, brown and seemingly leather. There's a latch and band to keep it closed and it's covered in stamps, most notably one with a four leaf clover. On the wall are two post it notes, both with little doodles. This hints that she's creative. Either collecting stamps and stickers, which would align with the stickers all over her room and her pension for memory keeping (see the memory board the player can edit), and that she at least does small doodles, if not draw as a hobby.]

[Desc: Beside her orange box tv; which is inspired by vintage 70s/80s tube televisions with knobs/dials; is a game console on top of a VHS player. It's seemingly inspired by the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, based on it's shape. There are three game cartridges, one in the machine. The one in the console is half visible, but what we can see has a blue smiley face. The second cartridge with a visible sticker seems to be either a horror or "biohazard" type shooter game. Though that's my interpretation.]

[Desc: Beside her desk is a wall with pipes. On the lower pipe there are more post it notes with more small doodles, stuck to the pipe with small magnets. One features a small yellow star and three big question marks. Two features a figure running with their hands over their head, carrying a heart. Three has some illegible writing and an emoticon face. On the pipe above this one are VHS tape boxes. Most are in kanji I cannot read, but the ones I can are- (1) The Silence of the Butterflies (2) I'M NOT A BANGBOO (3) The Sixteenth Split. I like to imagine the first movie is maybe a reference to Silence of the Lambs, based on the title alone. Which, if it is, might mean Belle likes horror/psychological horror movies.]

[Desc: On the table beside her mini fridge is a hybrid music player. It plays records via a slit in the front, almost like a CD player. And there's a space for walkman tapes above that. The volume knob is notably loud, there are tiny numbers and Belle's set it to the second-to-last setting. There's a box of records beside it with two semi visible packages. The first one is in kanji I, again, cannot read. But my guess, based on the art, is some kind of alt style music. The one behind it has a barely visible animal mascot with vibrant blues & greens, and the sharp art style makes me think of electric rock or pop. Behind this is her night stand. On the nightstand is a blue "GameBoy" and a yellow mug that says 'LENMAN', which is also seen on a soda can in her room. Lemon soda, I would guess.]

[Desc: The wall beside Belle's (unmade) bed. There are five posters. One features art of a woman's face above the movie title; 'REVERSAL'. There is some silhouette art that vaguely looks like some ethereal monsters, followed by the movie tag line underneathe - "Night of the Ethereal Reversal". Might be a Night of the Living Dead reference. Which further makes me believe Belle likes horror movies. The second poster is covered by One & Three, which makes it pretty hard to know what it shows. What I can see is an unfinished title - "---- Slayer". There's eyes on some of the visible artwork and it looks vaguely like a record with scenes on it. The third poster features various Bangboos climbing away from a large, glowing, orange, Bangboo that seems to be "exploding" with energy, exposing its skeleton & heart. There's kanji I can't read, but under the kanji title is the word "THUNDER". And the words "BANGBOO POWER" are behind the artwork at the top. The fourth poster is one also seen downstairs in the Random Play store. The title is 'Coffee Mate'. Based on the style & energy of the artwork, my personal guess is that it's a romantic, slow paced anime film. The fifth & last poster is titles Ports Peak. The art is blue with a red chainsaw blade shape cutting through the middle, in the blade shape is the vague image of a man's side profile. Based on the blood splatter pattern & the chainsaw, this is likely a horror movie. The art makes me think of Evil Dead & Texas Chainsaw Massacre, personally.]

{Desc: Beside Belle's leather couch is a red electric guitar & an orange amp. On the couch is also one of her console controllers...which has no joy sticks, only a d pad, buttons, and bumpers. Also, she has stickers on her leather couch, clearly showing she gives no fucks.]

[Desc: On the floor, in a divot in the wall beside the small stairs that go up to her bed's raised platform is a skateboard & a framed poster. The skateboard features a green dinosaur/monster with it's mouth open. The bottom says FATE, likely the brand. The framed poster features two smiling tigers on the top & bottom of a logo, on a red & black striped background. Since she also has snowboard goggles in her room, I'm guessing she uses the skateboard when the weather is too warm for snow.]

[Desc: Next to Eous's charging station is a yellow dresser. On top of it is a boombox radio that has two mixtape spots. There's a small display with random colors that currently displays a pause symbol. It also has an antenna, which means it could be used as a standard FM/AM radio. Beside the boombox is a rabbit statue that Belle is using to hold a pair of black, green & blue snowboarding goggles. Small note, on Eous' coat is the words "Random Play - Staff", and his scarf has their name in small text.]