Chapter Text
It’s not fair.
They’re your Stardust. You got them fair and square after enduring a frankly RIDICILOUS amount of suffering. And now you have to share them and you don’t want to.
Your tail switches across the floor, the pompom of light at the end sparkling like a firecracker.
They just started getting to know you!! You had your first earnest conversations last loo- yesterday and- and now everyone is acting so possessive over them, all of a sudden!
Mirabelle looks past you, at Stardust, and you wonder if growling will be necessary.
“We talked about this last loop,” you say in an icy tone, standing up from Stardust’s bedside to look her square in the eyes.
“Yesterday,” Stardust helpfully corrects you and you stubbornly ignore them.
“At the start of every loop, they would see you. Same thing with Isabeau. Waking up and seeing either of you is not going to be pleasant for them, which is why-“
“What about Boniface?” Odile asks and Bonnie gives you a very intensive look.
You will not fight a child. You will not fight a child.
You will not.
“I suppose that’s fine,” you grumble and Bonnie punches the air before launching themselves at Stardust, who tucks them into bed and ruffles their hair. They’re never… touched your head like that.
“What if I was upside-down?” Mirabelle asks and you give her a deadpan look. Isabeau is nodding as though she’s made a good point, though he stops as soon as your eyes meet. “You know, just… sleeping the other way? Would that be fine?”
She seems to be genuinely asking. The problem is, of course, that if she sleeps on Siffrin’s other side, there’ll be no more space for you. And you’re not giving up your spot without a fight. Not that you would fight Mirabelle. You’ve stressed out the party enough as is with the whole “strangling” thing. No, you’re going to resolve this peacefully.
You grab a hold of a pillow and hold it like a battle axe, glaring at her.
She regards your noble proposal with the baffled confusion of an amateur, looking to Isabeau for help. Isabeau backs away with his hands in the air and Odile feigns disinterest, retreating to her bed in the corner, watching you idly.
Your tail lashes aggressively, drawing Mirabelle’s attention back to you.
“There’s only so much space on the bed, Housemaiden,” you say, dragging the tip of the pillow across the floor as you approach her. “It’s either you or me.”
She smiles sheepishly, seemingly under the impression that you’re joking.
You are not.
You swing at Mirabelle, the arc of your pillow slow enough that she manages to dodge it. She seems rather surprised as she backs away. Then, she reaches for the pillow on her bed. Bonnie begins to cheer for your downfall in the background.
“Aim for the head!! Wear sunglasses!!” they advise as the two of you start to circle each other.
Mirabelle feigns an attack, studying the way you jump to the right. You always jump to the right. You can’t see what’s on your left side. Not that she knows. She feigns another hit before dashing to the left and jumping up into the air, bringing down her pillow with both hands. You step out of the way and parry her secondary blow before swinging your pillow into her back. She staggers slightly and you take a step back, your tail bumping into the edge of Stardust’s bed.
Mirabelle quickly recovers and you get ready to strike- jumping a little when Bonnie grabs onto your pillow. You try to pull it away before giving up and coming closer to steal Stardust’s pillow instead. Bonnie latches onto your leg and you don’t quite notice the Housemaiden’s approach, making her blow to the head a critical hit!!
You shake Bonnie off in order to dramatically flail, catching yourself on the nearby wall.
Bonnie cheers.
Odile is sitting up, a smile on her lips.
“That’s the power of friendship,” Isabeau tells her and Odile snorts.
“You got this Belle!!” Bonnie yells, loud enough for Stardust to cover their mouth.
“You’ve come this far. Don’t give up,” they say, looking at her meaningfully, and- wait, hold up!
“Why are you rooting for her??” you ask and Stardust seems to flounder.
“Ah- Er- She’s- She’s the underdog??”
“No?? The underdog is the group the audience isn’t cheering for,” you say and Bonnie manages to free their mouth.
“No, that’s the villain!!”
Just as their devastating accusation echoes through the room, Mirabelle lands a devastating hit by unknowingly attacking from your blind side. It actually offsets your balance enough to make you topple over, though you manage to make it look purposeful by shoving your pillow under your head afterwards and pretending to have died.
The crowd goes wild.
But Mirabelle… Mirabelle merely sits down next to you, seemingly aware that she did actually kind of hurt you. You make a show of being on deaths door.
“Housemaiden… promise me this,” you rasp and a heckler emerges.
“You need to cough,” Stardust points out and you cough.
“My apologies,” you whisper, coughing feebly. “I should refer to you by your… true name.”
This somehow gets a snort from Mirabelle.
“Madame Mirabelle Prunille Belle Housemaiden,” you say and she starts laughing. “Promise me this… Promise me that you’ll protect them from the shadows, even if it costs you your life.”
“I was actually thinking maybe we could pull two beds together.”
Hm. Yes, they could cuddle Bonnie, who’s cuddling Stardust and then you’re wedged between them and the wall, forced to do acrobatics to get out of bed in the morning. Honestly, sure.
You cough again, offering her your hand.
“I accept your conditions,” you say and she helps you up, drawing thunderous applause from the crowd. You give a bow and roll your eyes when she doesn’t and a few minutes later you contemplate your life choices as you are indeed wedged against the wall.
It’s actually pretty bad.
Last night Siffrin was still pretty feverish so you slept on the right side of the bed, where you could easily get up and replace the bowl of water you used to wipe at their forehead. And that set up allowed you to move and made you feel pretty safe.
But now you are completely cornered, with no chance to escape being touched if it gets too overwhelming, and worse, Stardust and the headboard are blocking your view of the rest of the room, leaving you feeling blind and unsafe.
Terrible.
You sit up and climb over the headboard, your light drawing glances from everyone.
“Loop?” Stardust asks and you look at Isabeau.
“Help me move the beds?”
Your anxiety about being cornered grows a lot more manageable once your bed is a little further away from the wall. Now you can flee more easily if you get overwhelmed. Success!
You stare at the ceiling for an hour or so, trying not to let Bonnie’s arms touch you. They move in their sleep a lot, apparently, shifting to lie partially over Stardust’s chest. It’s a miracle Stardust is getting any sleep with how much that kid’s wiggling around.
“You’re not upset at me, are you?” they whisper and well maybe you shouldn’t have let Bonnie sleep here. “About, um… me cheering for Mira.”
“I’m devastated,” you whisper back and they scrunch their face up, trying not to laugh. “It’s like you don’t even want me around. I should just throw myself into a pillow or something.”
They wheeze, patting at your face in a desperate attempt to make you stop. You mercifully shut up for long enough to avoid causing a scene.
“You’re ridiculous,” they whisper, a bright smile on their lips. “I’m- I’m glad you’re here. I’m glad you’re… I didn’t want to say anything. But you’re right. Even if she’s wearing something different or- or her hair is down… It’s still too similar.”
“But you can’t tell her no.”
“It’s- It’s not that I can’t, I just… don’t want to?” They shrug, twirling a strand of hair around their finger. “It’s kind of… maybe nice to be fought over, a little bit.”
Ah. You’re entertainment. Fair enough. They were your entertainment, all these loops.
“I will literally never forgive you,” you deadpan and they go back to struggling to keep quiet. “And I will lie in wait for the rest of your life, waiting for an opportunity to get my vengeance.”
The night passes without incident. At some point Bonnie’s hand lands on your face and you find that they have climbed past Mount Siffrin to sleep next to you instead. You’re very grateful that they don’t stir as you gently drape them over Mirabelle instead. You pull Stardust closer to your side, only because you don’t want them to be facing Mirabelle.
And then you wake up with their arms loosely wrapped around your neck.
You’re at the very edge of the mattress and they’re so close to your face that you can feel their breath. Which is kind of gross?? It seems a little too early to wake them up but when you try to move them you find that Bonnie is pressed up against them, making it impossible to push them back. And when you try to wiggle free, they press you against their chest.
Alas, you are trapped. And that gives you plenty of time to reflect on how touch therapy was a really good idea that somebody should have suggested to you as well. In order to make things a little less awkward, you pretend to be asleep as soon as they start to wake up…
Only for them to start gently petting your head.
You tolerate this for a couple of seconds before speaking up.
“Stardust,” you say and, acting on instinct, they push you off the bed.