"I'm.... fine..." he breathed, slowly standing up straight. She actually cared.... somehow, she cared. He could sense her fear, but she still had the courage to speak up. His dark eyes glanced over at her curiously. Then, they turned towards the window. The snow, though difficult to see as it was still dark with gray clouds filling the sky, swirled around, howling loudly. 'No hunting for me' the beast thought with disdain. He would have preferred to go out and blow off some energy, but it appeared that fate wanted the two to stay in the same building for the day. "You can... go back to sleep" he grumbled lowly, though not unkindly, as he walked past her and exited the room.<br/><br/>------------------------------------<br/><br/>Jaques was heading up the steps towards his master's room, a tray with hot tea and cream on it; Master's favorite. "Master~" he called, opening the door with his hip. He nearly dropped the tray, but instead gripped it harder. Master was gone. Had he gone and done it? Setting the tray on the table, the servant ran out the door and hurried down the hall as fast as his stocky legs would carry him. 'Oh please oh please please don't let me find Belle dead.' He whipped around the corner and skidded to a halt, allowing his breath to catch up with him before slowly opening the door and peeking in.<br/><br/>No Master. No bedsheets and blankets ripped to ribbons. No blood staining the walls. Just Belle, back in bed like Jaques had left her. Closing the door again, Jaques let out a relieved sigh. He hadn't gone through with it. Just then, he finally noticed his master was leaning against the wall. "M-master? What happened?" The beast exhaled, looking at him like he wanted some peace and quiet, time to think. "I slept the night with her" Jaques, perceiving it as something else entirely, turned red. "Not like that!" The beast snapped, though not angrily, more impatiently. "She still fears me... and now I can't even go hunting... it was bad enough yesterday..." he grumbled to himself.<br/><br/>"Well, you could always spend time with her" Jaques suggested, giving a little smile. The beast huffed, "You think she'll agree to that? In fact, do you think<span style="font-style: italic">I</span>would agree to that?! Very unlikely"