Screw that, Gaston decided. He liked the beast better out of control.
"That's idiotic," he said out loud, around a mouthful of cheese. "Your parents didn't christen you 'the beast.' That'd be like if my parents had named me 'gorgeous.' What's your real name?"
"THAT IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS," the beast shouted. All the dishes edged nervously away from him, towards Gaston's side of the table - an unexpected benefit of his strategy. Gaston snagged a butter croissant while the candlestick and the teapot remonstrated sotto voce with what's-his-face.
"Must be something pretty horrible," Gaston guessed. "Yves? Jean-Phillipe? Rumpelstiltskin? If so, you're a little taller than I expected. About as ugly, though. What do you do with all those firstborns, anyway?" He poked one of the more mysterious casseroles with a fork. "They're not in here, are they?"
The beast strode over to Gaston's side of the table and loomed over him. "I don't eat people," he growled.
"No?" said Gaston. "I seem to remember last night . . ." The heat radiating from the beast, the musky smell of his fur, the sheer massive size of him were doing odd things to Gaston's brain. He didn't come to anything so conscious as a decision, but he found himself applying the taste test to the stuff on the beast's face after all. He had to stand on his chair to do it. The beast arched his head against Gaston's mouth and purred.
"My name is Adam," he breathed. "Happy?"
"Adam," repeated Gaston. He liked the way it tasted on his tongue - or maybe that was the custard. "That's not bad. Why are you so touchy about it?"
The beast - Adam - pulled away. He scowled and looked at the floor. "It means 'man,'" he said. "Funny joke, huh?"
"Not really," said Gaston. "Now, I know one about three nuns who went to confession--"
"Don't you ever shut up?" snapped Adam.
"Sometimes," said Gaston, grabbing a handful of Adam's fur and drawing him closer. "When my mouth is full."
•I Don't Really Know How To Continue This Story Now 😱•
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•A Different Story•
Fanfic• “You’re trespassing,” rumbled the beast in a deep and sexy voice—Gaston meant a deep and scary voice—which is to say that the voice had no effect on him whatsoever. “And you shot at me.” Gaston is a prisoner in the Beast's castle instead of Belle...
