When the Wolfbane Blooms

Chapter 5 - A Proposal

The tavern was Lumiere's idea. He seemed to think that Adam wasn't socialising enough, which Adam suspected was an idea planted in his head by Madame Potts. It wasn't entirely incorrect, but Adam was perfectly content with his small social circle of Belle, Plumette, and Lumiere. After the attack Madame Potts had been fussing over him more than usual, so he decided a night out would be a good way to make her worry less.

Lumiere had invited two of his friends along, young men from the village named Chapeau and Bouche. Adam had faint memories of them when they were all children, but like Lumiere they weren't boys he had interacted with much. The men seemed nice enough, but Adam wasn't in the best mood to make new friends.

Spending time with them wasn't so bad after some time had passed and the men had all had a drink or two. They let Adam sit and listen without pushing him too hard for conversation, and the men were entertaining enough that Adam could listen to them all talk and joke around together without feeling boredom.

Still, he couldn't help but let his gaze wander over the tavern. After so many years gone, it was interesting to him to recognize people from the past. There were men and women around the tavern that he had only remembered as children, and now they were all grown up. The boy who had large ears had grown into them, the girl who had curly blonde hair now had curly brown hair, the boy who had teased Adam for being short was now a foot shorter than him.

Sitting at the bar was a man Adam didn't recognize, but he was noteworthy because he kept staring at him. He was older, old enough that Adam knew they hadn't had school together. He wore a brown leather coat, despite the warm temperature, and had a large moustache.

Adam tried not to look at the man, but eventually he made the mistake of making eye contact. The man beckoned him to the bar.

Adam sighed. "I'll be right back," he said to the men he was with. "I'm getting another drink."

"Can you get me another pint of bitter?" asked Bouche.

"Of course."

He grabbed his and Bouche's glasses and made his way to the end of the tavern where the bar was. He sat at the seat next to the strange man and ordered two drinks. He was glad to have the excuse of needing to return to his table to give Bouche his drink.

"You're Villenueve, aren't you?" the man asked in a gruff voice.

"I am. And who might you be?" Adam asked politely.

"Tom," said the man bluntly. He didn't offer a surname.

"Nice to meet you, Tom."

LeFou finished refilling the glasses and set them in front of Adam with a nod.

"Thank you, Monsieur," Adam smiled. Turning back to the man, he said, "Well, if you excuse me..."

"You survived that beast attack," Tom said. It was a statement, not a question.

"I did." Adam wasn't sure how else he could respond to that. It had been a little over a week, and with so few people in the village word tended to travel very fast.

"That thing took out three of my friends in one night," the man said before taking a drink from his own glass.

Adam felt his stomach drop. This man was one of the hunters.

"I heard. I'm so sorry."

Tom shook his head. "No. Don't be. It's not your fault you lived. I wanted to ask you to thank your governess for trying to save Richard."

"Oh, of course. She did everything she could."

There was a very uncomfortable pause. They both took a drink.