Hello! Here's my second BatB fic, which is very silly... I don't know, I like it... Hopefully you will, too.
Disclaimer: I do not own Beauty and the Beast.
Summary: Two of Chip's older siblings pull a prank... On the entire castle!
Warnings: This story doesn't contain slash, but it thinks it contains some one-sided slash... Yeah...
It does, however, contain an OC, (Chloe, the castle gardener), as well as my idea for two of Chip's siblings.
Amelia and her older brother, Christopher, had a new 'brilliant' idea almost every day, so when she came running up to Chip, he didn't need to guess why she was grinning. The girl came to a halt before her youngest brother, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Chip! Last night, Christopher and I had the best idea ever!"
Chip arched a brow at his sister with a sarcasm not typical for his age. "Again?" He asked flatly.
"I know, it's a new record. But listen-!" She handed her brother a folded piece of parchment. "We need your help."
"With what?" Chip asked, starting to unfold the sheet. Amelia hastily snatched it back.
"Well, I can't really tell you, but I need you to give this to someone in the castle -anyone!- and say it's from someone else in the castle."
"Anyone else?"
"Ah, see? You've got it! Just don't read it, okay?"
"Mama barely just started teaching me how!" Chip laughed, taking the piece of parchment back. "I'll do it for you, Amelia, but if this turns out like last time..."
"Don't worry, it won't! I promise!" With that, she headed off, calling behind her, "I owe you a favor, Chip!"
"Yes! You do!" The boy shouted back, then continued on his way.
After wandering about for a while, he walked into Belle. Or actually, Belle walked into him, her nose in a book.
"Oh, Chip!" The princess gasped, lowering her book. "I'm so sorry! Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Chip assured her. "What are you reading?"
Belle's face lit up with a grin. "Oh, it's a great story, about an architect in the Middle Ages who starts having prophetic dreams when he begins work on a church. The gothic cathedrals are so beautiful!" She breathed, showing him an illustration.
"Pretty," the boy stated, having little knowledge of or care for architecture. "Hey, Belle, this is for you." He handed her the piece of parchment hesitantly. "It's from... Um... Lumiere." The moment he said this, Chip felt a sinking feeling in his stomach that he couldn't find a reason for.
"Oh, thank you, Chip. Is it urgent? I only have three pages of my book left," the young woman laughed.
"Nah. You can finish reading," Chip said with a nervous smile. "Um... I gotta go someplace!" He exclaimed, darting off.
"That was odd," Belle commented, and returned to her book. She soon finished, and unfolded the letter, reading to herself quietly. "'My Dearest Beloved . . . This may take you by surprise, but I can hide it no longer. I have been admiring you in secret, enchanted by your unrivaled beauty and the strength of your personality. Now, I come clean. You are truly one of a kind, and I love you. I love you truly, madly, deeply, with every last part of my being. I think of you always, always, and dream of holding you in my arms, of kissing you, of having you as mine, forever and always. I love you, I have loved you, and I will love you. No matter what . . . Here for you always, your secret admirer'," Belle finished. "Oh dear..." She slipped the note into her book and sighed. Lumiere was one of her dearest friends at the castle, and one of the first people there to show her kindness. But for him to fall in love with her? It put Belle in a very awkward position.
"Mistress?" Angelique gently touched Belle on the elbow. "Are you alright?"
The Princess smiled nervously. "I...think so." The castle decorator gestured towards her book.
"Would you like me to bring that back to the library? I'm headed there anyway," Angelique offered.
"That would be great." Belle sighed, handing her the book. "I think you might find some of it interesting, why don't you flip through it?" Angelique nodded, and a still dazed-looking Belle walked off.
Angelique flipped through the pages of the book until she noticed a sheet of parchment flutter out and fall dancing to the ground. She picked it up and read the letter, finishing with a gasp. "Oh my goodness... The Master will not stand for this...!" Angelique folded and unfolded the letter nervously. "What am I going to do?"
"Bonjour, cheri!" Angelique was jogged from her anxieties as Lumiere approached her. As he got nearer, his happy expression melted into a look of concern. "You look upset," he stated gravely. "Is something the matter?"
"It's...this." She leaned towards the maitre d' and showed him the letter.
Lumiere read, eyes widening. "Who gave this to you?"
Angelique looked about nervously, and when she was quite sure no one was around, whispered, "The Mistress."
Lumiere gasped. "No!"
Angelique nodded earnestly. "Yes! This is absolutely horrible!"
"The poor girl!" Lumiere exclaimed dramatically, laying the back of his hand across his forehead. "Having to live a lie!"
"Lumiere! If the Master finds out, he'll kill me! Completely kill me!"
"Well, it could be very strange if he incompletely killed you." Lumiere offered, grinning sheepishly.
"You are no help!" Angelique cried, stuffing the letter into Lumiere's hands. "Take this somewhere where the Master will not find it!"
"I shall do so immediately!" Lumiere said with a salute. Angelique glared at him.
"This is not a joke Lumiere! Shoo, shoo!" She urged, hands gesturing for him to leave. The maitre d' grumblingly obliged, tucking the letter into his coat pocket.
"Where does one hide a love letter?" Lumiere mused aloud as he wandered through the halls. Just then, a voice called from behind him.
"Lumiere! Lumiere! I need to talk to you!"
The young man cringed with a quiet groan, but put on a grin as he spun around. "Ah, Cogsworth! Bonjour!"
"Yes, yes, good morning." Cogsworth greet1ed curtly as he caught up with his friend, brandishing a folded note. "Lumiere, I need to you to deliver this notice to Chloe."
"Oh?"
"She didn't attend the last house meeting-"
"She never does," Lumiere mumbled.
"-and as you know, we have a very important ball coming up-"
"We do?"
"-Yes, Lumiere, I told you many times," Cogsworth stated quickly and calmly, too intent on getting to his point to be angry over Lumiere's lack of focus.
"You did?"
"Now Chloe, of course, will be in charge of floral arrangement, and you are going to give her this notice telling her what she will need."
"I am?"
"You are," Cogsworth said, handing Lumiere the note. He nodded and put it in his coat pocket. "Lumiere, it's very important that you deliver this to Chloe right away! Can you manage that?"
"Of course, mon capitaine!"
Cogsworth rolled his eyes. "Right then. Well... Thank you."
Lumiere nodded and headed off for the gardens, where he soon arrived to find Chloe, tugging at what seemed to be an especially stubborn weed.
"Would you like some help, mademoiselle?" Lumiere chuckled. Chloe glared up at him, a dirty face peering out from a curtain of strings of dirty hair.
"No." She stated, with a simple contempt.
"Alright, then." Lumiere fished the note out of his pocket. "Cogsworth wanted me to give you this. He made the whole thing sound very, very important..." He leaned over and gave it to the gardener. "...And then had me deliver it. So here you are."
"Merci," Chloe said as she began to unfold the note. Lumiere headed off, and upon re-entering, returned to his prior task.
"Now to find a place for this." He muttered, patting the remaining note in his pocket.
Meanwhile, Chloe sat in the garden, just finished with reading the note and suddenly feeling very sick.
"Okay..." The castle gardener gasped, folding up the letter. "So, somehow, Cogsworth is in lo... Lo... Mon Dieu, I'm at LEAST twenty years younger than him!" She attempted to stand up, but clumsily stumbled back to the ground. Cogsworth was the closest thing to a friend Chloe had ever had, but never in her wildest dreams would she consider him romantically. "What am I going to do?"
An hour later, Chloe approached Cogsworth in the West Wing, letter in hand.
"This is horrible... Very important ball in a few days, and the West Wing looks as if a maid hasn't been up here in days!" The Head of the Household was muttering. Chloe gave a little cough, and Cogsworth turned to face her. "Oh. Hello Chloe."
"Mmm... Salut," Chloe sighed. "Look, Cogsworth, we need to talk," she handed him the letter anxiously. "About this. I'm sorry, I ju-"
"Chloe!" Angelique's voice roared from down the stairs. "Chloe, I needed those flowers HOURS ago! I SAW you go up there, and unless there's a garden up there I don't know about, I need you to get back in the gardens right now!"
Chloe flinched. "I had better go," she whispered and sprinted away. "WHAT FLOWERS?! Angelique - NOBODY EVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT FLOWERS!"
Cogsworth shook his head, realizing Lumiere must have forgotten about the notice, then read the letter, rapidly going pale. "Oh dear. Chloe? In love? With me?" Cogsworth placed the letter on the table, then pulled a handkerchief from his coat pocket and wiped his forehead. Chloe was a very nice girl, but Cogsworth had never thought she seemed to show much interest in men, much less he himself. And she was just a child! Cogsworth cringed as he realized that when it came to love, the best person to ask for help was...
"Lumiere! Lumiere, where are you?! I need your... I need your help!" Cogsworth shouted, running past the kitchen. The maitre d' stuck his out of the kitchen, wide-eyed.
"You need what?" Lumiere asked with a sly smirk.
"Your... Help." Cogsworth admitted grudgingly. "It's about... Um... Love."
"Love?" Lumiere beamed. "You, Cogsworth, are asking about l'amour?!"
"Lumiere, please, this is hard enough as it is," Cogsworth sighed.
Lumiere blinked. Cogsworth actually seemed very upset over this. "I'm alone in the kitchen, come in," he offered as he stepped back into the kitchen, holding the door open so Cogsworth could do the same. Once the two were in, Lumiere hoisted himself onto the counter relieved to see that Cogsworth wasn't SO preoccupied that he forgot to give a grunt of disapproval.
"So... What's wrong?"
"Alright... But don't make a joke out of it, Lumiere," Cogsworth said. "You see... Sometimes, when two people are friends... Even when it's not a, uh, traditional friendship... Well, after spending time together, one of the friends might like the other friend as less of a friend and more of a love... Which is unfortunate, because the other friend doesn't feel the same way."
Lumiere closed his eyes, nodding, then opened them abruptly. "Oh! Oh..." He pushed himself down from the counter, blushing and smiling nervously. "Cogsworth, I never would ha-"
Before Lumiere could finish, Babette came into the kitchen. "Cogsworth, the Master wishes to see us to discuss how preparations for the ball are going."
Cogsworth nodded. "Let's go then." The two left, and once he was alone, Lumiere let out a long, loud sigh. So... Cogsworth was in love with him? That complicated, well, his entire life. A lot.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Household and one of the castle maids met up with their master in the ball room. Though Mrs. Potts was technically still the Head Maid, Babette often took a handle on the position whenever the elderly woman was busy with her children.
"Ah, Cogsworth, Babette!"
"You wanted to see us, Master?" Babette inquired with a slight curtsey.
"Yes, I did. How are things coming for the ball?" The Prince asked.
"Very well, Master. We've almost cleaned the entire castle," Babette reported.
"And the decorations are coming along nicely," Cogsworth chimed in. "And I believe the dinner menu has been finalized."
"Alright, great. You two can go - Oh, and Babette? I want you to tend to the West Wing, okay?"
"Of course." The maid said with a smile. She left the ball room and skipped up to the West Wing. After a few minutes of cleaning, she found sheet of parchment on the table.
"Oh, the Master must have left this for me..." Babette said, picking it up to read. By the time she was finished, she nearly had fainted.
The remainder of the day played out quite strangely, with awkward encounters between usually friendly people, and the dearest of friends avoiding each other. One thing was certain - The five who believed someone was now in love with them were dreading dinner, when they would be forced to face their no-longer-secret admirers.
It wasn't until Babette sat down that she realized the letter was still tucked under the belt of her apron. She gasped and pulled it out. "Oh dear... I can't let the Mistress see this!" The maid whimpered before turning to the small boy next to her. "Chip, could you do me a large favor? I need you to put this letter in your pocket." Chip took the letter and did so, then quickly took it back out. It was the same letter Amelia had given him this morning! How had it ended up back with him?
"Amelia," he asked, unfolding the letter, "what did this letter say, anyway?"
"Chip!" Amelia hissed. Angelique stood up, slamming a hand on the table.
"How did you get that letter?!"
"Babette needed me to take it."
"Babette? How did you get the love letter?!" The castle decorator snapped.
The maid bit her lip, staring down at her plate. "The Master left it for me," she admitted.
"What letter?" The Prince asked, blinking in confusion.
"The Master did not leave you it!" Angelique argued. "The Mistress gave it to me!"
Belle's mouth hung open for a moment before she quickly shut it. "No Angelique, I didn't. Lumiere sent it to me."
Said maitre d' sprayed a mouthful of soup across the table. "I most certainly did not! Aheh, no disrespect meant, Mistress."
"Let me see that," Chloe said, snatching the letter out of Chip's hand. "What are you all talking about? Cogsworth wrote this letter to me!"
"I did nothing of the sort! Chloe, you gave me that letter!" Cogsworth protested.
"What?!" Chloe gasped.
"Why would-" Lumiere turned to Cogsworth in bewilderment, then suddenly grinned. "You were talking about Chloe in the kitchen!"
"Of course! Who did you think I was talking about?"
Lumiere blushed and pointed to himself as subtly as he could.
"You?" Cogsworth whispered.
"Oui."
"Oh my..." The two stared at each other for an awkward moment before they both started laughing.
"Wait! That still doesn't explain why the Mistress gave me the letter!" Angelique exclaimed.
"Wait - I had it in my book!" Belle gasped. "That you took to the library!"
"You said there was something in the book I would find interesting."
"It was a book about architecture, Angelique!" Belle laughed. "Oh, I was so busy wondering what to do about the letter that I'd forgotten where I put it!"
Angelique breathed a sigh of relief. "I gave it to Lumiere so the Master wouldn't find it..." She continued the story. The Prince shook his head, still having no idea what was going on.
"...And I hid it in the old organ room," Lumiere stated. "Wait! First Cogsworth had me deliver a notice about flowers for the ball to Chloe! I must have give her the wrong note!"
"Which explains why I never got my flowers," Angelique grumbled.
"I gave the letter to Cogsworth so we could talk about it-" Chloe added.
"-But I thought you were giving it to me! But then I left it in the West Wing. How did Babette get it?"
"The Master asked me to clean there, remember?" Babette finished.
"But that still doesn't explain why Lumiere sent the letter to me," Belle said. "At least, Chip said it was from you."
Mrs. Potts raised an eyebrow at her son. "Is that true, Chip?"
"Amelia said to give it to someone and then give it to someone else! She promised it wouldn't cause any trouble!"
"I did not! I promised it wouldn't end up like the last time," Amelia muttered.
"Which caused trouble," Chip pointed out. "I didn't even know what it said!"
"Amelia, did you write that letter?" Her mother asked.
"No, Christopher did," Amelia sighed. "But it was my idea."
"Well, the two of you will be cleaning up after supper tonight, after all the trouble you've caused."
"Yes, Mama."
"So, wait..." Vincent stood up. "Nobody really sent a love letter?"
"No, not at all," Belle assured him. He shook his head.
"I swear - This castle was more normal when it was enchanted!"
That night, Chip approached Amelia and Christopher as they scrubbed hardened food from the dishes.
"Amelia, will you tell me what the letter said?" He requested. His sister nodded, then recited the message.
"Wow. You wrote that?"
"Not me. Christopher."
"How'd you write so much mushy love stuff?" Chip asked, eyes wide with wonderment. Christopher just blushed and shook his head. With a smirk, Amelia crouched down in front of her brother.
"He pretended he was writing it for Babette."
Well, there ya go. I'm a bit reluctant to post this one, so no flames, please. Constructive critiscm, of course, is welcome, and reviews in general are loved.