Belle wanted badly to spend her time with Gambit. Even after eight years, the way that he acted still made her heart happy. He was playful and spontaneous, choosing to literally go out and hang out after getting beat up. It was hopeful thinking that he was doing these things because it was her, but he didn't know who it was.

"Maple trees?" She'd beam, squeezing his hand and looking over to him with the most excitement that was possible. The fact that he wanted to take her somewhere that reminded them both of home, which was something that they both seemed to be lacking. As they walked, Belle would look towards him and ask a touchy subject. "Do you... Go home often? Do you have a reason to go home?" Belle would wait a second, before leaning a bit to the side to make it obvious that she didn't want to pry. "You don't have to answer of course, if you don't want to." Realizing that it may be too much, Belle would start talking again. "For me, I don't. The only person that I cared about left there, but still, I love the way that those memories make me feel. The cold of the snow, the fall leaves that seem to just drift down. Summer nights with them... Watching the stars." They'd think about it a bit too much, before coughing and realizing that they for sure over-shared. "Sorry uh, we can just stay quiet until we get there."

↭ Blue dress.

"I mean you look good as you are but, I'm sure you want to look nice if we are going out!" Belle wouldn't care what Dekker wore, but it would be nice to have something that looked perhaps a bit better and didn't remind him that he had gotten beat up and drugged only a few hours ago.

"Gambit?" Belle looked at him confused. Well, it only made sense that they wouldn't go by their names. It wasn't the type of world where you could just use your name anymore. Even Beau had only told Kysaly her real name, because it was better to keep their past a secret. "I like that." She'd say casually, thinking that the alias suited him well. "Does it have a meaning?"

"Yes, I have some clothes picked out. Choose what you'd like." Kysaly would motion to a few options. A dress, a pair of shorts and a sport shirt, some jeans and a t-shirt, and sweat pants and a crop top. "You can mix and match of course. But feel free to change and be on your way when you're done." They'd pause, smiling to him. "Free of charge, of course. Only that you come back sometime for a drink and food." With Belle letting go of his hand to change, she would move over to the front door and wait for him there. "Take your time looking cuter than you are!" Kysaly rolled their eyes.

↭ Blue Dress.

"I think it's easy to judge someone instead of realize what they are and tell them. People think that someone being pretty means that they aren't." She'd proclaim in a bold manner. "Like you and me, we can both be attractive, but I won't put you down!"

Seeing the phone case, their eyes would glimmer at the similarity in color. "Ours are very similar, why the blue and gold?" She'd ask, hoping to get an answer that would allude to Beau. "Those colors suit you. Being around them I mean." She'd chime that in, trying to make it obvious but not that she had a reason for those colors being on her mind.

At his ask, Belle would offer out her hand with a big grin. "Wanna go now?" Wow, she was forward, and she was taking an injured man out? Was she crazy? For sure, but that was the fun of it. "And I think I could put up with you forever, so if you wanna go, let's go!" She didn't have any plans, but she wanted to get to know her love all over again.

↭ Blue dress.

As much as she messed up, she wasn't used to a forward, flirtaious Dekker. They shivered at the comment, the sheer thought of this new version of him finding her cute being both relieving and scary. She looked at herself as much as she could while standing there, even pointing to herself. "I-I'm pretty?" She was dumbfounded, baffled even, because she hadn't expected something like that to happen to her with her ex.

"Yeah, of course." She'd pause, before taking that step forward. "This is going to sound sudden but, would you want to be friends? I... I don't have many and at the very least we can talk and it not be horrible so..." They would go into their bra and casually pull out their phone and give to him. "Can you put your number in here?" Their phone was decked out with very very subtle accents of gold, but otherwise the phone had a blue case and a lighter blue base color. There were anime stickers behind the case and a small star charm that hung from it. "Sorry if it's a bit warm. I..." Well, she couldn't say she wasn't used to having boobs. "I forgot to wear something with pockets."

↭ Blue dress.

"I guess it can be hard to remember someone you forgot, perhaps." Kysaly would say cryptically, not wanting to pretend that they knew everything. "Even if you don't... I hope that you two can work out your differences and become friends. It's good to have people you can trust in this country." Kysaly finished up looking over his vitals and marked it down on the paper. "Sleep well." They'd nod, before leaving and locking the door behind them.

For Beau, it was time to figure out what they wanted to do with the situation. After talking with Kysaly, there was a lot of courses of actions to take. She could tell him, she could keep it a secret, she could pretend that she doesn't know him, she could trick him... All of it felt like too much to decide. The real Beau, with their golden arms and all, took the whole night to think about it. Looking at the photo that he still had of Dekker, he'd kiss it softly and hold it lovingly in his arms. "...I hope you're still in there, Dede."

In the morning, Beau made their decision. The first course of action was to greet him properly this time. Knocking on his door in the morning, "Belle" would come into the room with a grin on their face. "Hey, sorry about yesterday. Did you want breakfast?" Beau had chosen to try to get to know the Dekker that was now. They did not truly know each other anymore, and even if it sounded fun to spring their other, familiar identity onto him, it wouldn't make things easier between them. She hoped that she could get to know him for who he was now, and see if her feelings were still there. Hopefully, she'd be able to hear why he left, too. "I just... You reminded me of someone I lost, someone that I cared deeply for. My first love." She'd try to smile about it, stifling her urge to just blurt out the truth. "Here." On a plate was Canadian bacon and eggs, with blueberry waffles and maple syrup. Perhaps this was on purpose, but maybe it would make him think of their home. "Kysaly is Canadian so, they make a lot of Canadian food."

↭ Blue dress. [o]

God she wanted to punch him. She wanted to punch him so hard that he wasn't even there anymore. Still, her pictures of emotions seemed to come in waves; just like the last she would breathe it down. "I'm sure you can thank Kysaly more than me. I'm just the one that found you." Perhaps it was karma that it was the reverse of how they met the first time.

The face that she made at him lifting his shirt was that of horror, or perhaps arousal, or perhaps disgust. It was all three at the same time and Belle wasn't sure what her face really looked like. She stared harder than she wanted to, eyeing him up like some meal, before realizing that he was way too casual in showing a total stranger so much of himself.

As her emotions started to settle, she felt her face get wet. Tears would stream down her face to the point that no amount of wiping would make them stop. Her Dede wasn't there anymore. The man that her true self had been madly in love with was not the person that she saw before her. The amount of pain and trauma that she was only able to hear through stories all felt like a dream to her. Instead, they were the reality of the person she saw before her. Was it the way that he had grown up that made him different, or had he always been that way and hid it from them? Was the person that Beau had been in love with even real, or was the person before her what Dekker had never shown her?

He missed him so badly that it hurt her heart to even see him, unsure of what was the best thing to do. If she transformed, there was no way of telling if he would even want to see him again. If she didn't, she would have to pretend that she wasn't still madly in love with someone that didn't even know a thing about them.

"I-I'm sorry, I can't-" the timing must have felt off for Gambit, but it was too much of a rush of emotions for Belle to really handle. "It's not fair..." She'd mumble under her breath, her hands pulled into fists as if half ready to punch him. What was she even supposed to do when she felt like the answer to her suffering was right in front of her, but she was too scared to do anything about it? Even if she did everything right, there was no guarantee that the person she wanted him to be would even still be there, if he was ever real at all.

She stood there, frozen and unmoving, her head bowed so she would have to look at him and have her emotions get even worse. Her breathing was short and tight, and her hand slowly went up to grip her heart. Hopefully, Kysaly would come soon to pull her away from her living nightmare.

↭