@}~~~}~~~~~

"Cogsworth, there you are. I was wondering where you had run off to."

Cogsworth kept watching the snow fall outside as Lumiere hopped up to join him on the sill. He could feel the warmth of the candles, but he didn't turn from the courtyard he was looking at.

Lumiere looked at the stout clock that used to be the castle's butler, a frown beginning to form. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Cogsworth answered, eyes still on the snowflakes. "No... I'm just thinking."

"Oh?"

"About what you said earlier. That this..." He gestured vaguely to his wooden body. "would end, and we'd be human again."

Cogsworth melancholy expression hadn't changed. "I would think the thought would cheer you."

"It does, but we've been like this for six years now. There comes a time when just telling yourself that things will work out isn't enough."

There wasn't much the enchanted candelabra could say to that; Cogsworth wasn't the only one beginning to lose hope. The Master was still as angry and solitary as before. A number of the servants simply stopped going about their chores, and more and more rooms fell into disrepair. Lumiere looked at Cogsworth's reflection in the window pane for a moment before the miniature grandfather clock turned away.

"Well, what about that girl you were romancing?"

Cogsworth turned to him in surprise. "Roxanne?" He blinked, trying to think back. "I wouldn't know... She hasn't sent a letter since before this business began." It was a lie, and he knew it. But it was disturbing how easily it rolled off his tongue, even to a footman like Lumiere.

"What?!" Lumiere asked incredulously. "Cogsworth, you have to keep the flames of desire burning through her veins! Why in the world haven't you written back?"

*Because I told her I had found someone else.* "She said that she was being courted by another gentleman from England, and that writing to her could be misinterpreted by her family."

Lumiere was about to respond when he saw Cogsworth's eyes shift away from his back to the window as he spoke. "Cogsworth?" If the candelabra hadn't known any better, Cogsworth had just lied to him.

The butler's wooden body stiffened, more so than usual. "Not now, Lumiere."

"Cogsworth." *That blasted accent!* "You can tell me..." Lumiere reached out an unlit hand to touch Cogsworth's shoulder gently.

Cogsworth wheeled around angrily, surprising the candelabra. "I *heard* you two."

Lumiere blinked. "What?"

"I went to your room a week before this happened--" Cogsworth gestured furiously at himself. "And you were in there with one of the kitchen maids, making love!"

Had Cogsworth been in a better mood, he would've been gratified to see that the statement had rendered Lumiere speechless. As it was, it only made him angrier.

"How DARE you! Right under the Master's nose, no less!" Cogsworth's voice was starting to hit a higher register. "It was my job to fire the both of you, my duty! And you threw it in my face!"

"If it was your duty to fire us, why didn't you do it then?!" Lumiere shot back. The fire at the top of his head burned brighter.

Cogsworth opened his mouth for a moment, still furious, but gritted his teeth instead and turned back to the window.

"Oh, no, you don't," Lumiere growled. "You're not getting out of it that easily." One unlit hand shot out to grab Cogsworth's brass arm.

Cogsworth spun around, and coming to a decision, grabbed the back of Lumiere's brass neck and yanked him down into a kiss. Both of them froze, wax and brass meeting a polished clock face for a long moment before Lumiere felt himself being pushed back roughly.

"Does *that* answer your question?" Cogsworth growled, wiping at the wax from Lumiere's lip angrily as he hopped off the sill. Lumiere stood breathless for a moment before he realized the enchanted clock was almost at the door.

"Cogsworth, wait!"

Cogsworth didn't stop or turn around. "We have nothing to discuss."

Lumiere sighed in irritation and hopped quickly to cut off the butler's retreat, planting himself in front of the door. "Like I said, you're not getting out of it that easily."

"Move, Lumiere."

"Not until you tell me what that kiss meant."

"What is it supposed to mean other than what it bloody well means?!" Cogsworth's face started to look a little red. "All those months when Roxanne was visiting, all those letters I wrote to her when she went back to Paris, I wasn't filled with that flame of passion for her, it was for you! And when I heard you two, I realized then and there that I wanted to be the one in there with you, not listening outside the door, and now look at us!" He glared at Lumiere, whose expression had shifted from surprise to something else entirely.

"...Look at us." Lumiere echoed softly.

"Now, either you're going to move, or I'm going to move you." Cogsworth continued irately. "Which is it going to be?"

"Do you remember what I said to you? When I whispered in your ear in French?"

Cogsworth sighed in exasperation; the blasted candelabra wasn't going to move anytime soon, it looked like. Perhaps he needed more persuasion. "No, I don't. Now, if you would--"

"I said," Lumiere spoke softly, but Cogsworth stuttered to a confused stop when he stepped forward. "Embrassez-moi avant que je vienne à mes sens. Je suis dans l'amour avec vous."

The enchanted clock took a deep breath. Even after six years, he remembered it like it was only spoken yesterday. "Lumiere..."

Lumiere shook his head, placing a gentle candle-hand on Cogsworth's lips. "Shhh, mon ami. You asked what it meant when I said it."

"You said it was nothing," Cogsworth whispered back, not daring to pitch his voice any higher.

"No, Cogsworth." Lumiere shook his head. "Translated, it says, 'Kiss me before I come to my senses. I'm in love with you'."

Cogsworth's eyes widened, and his lips moved soundlessly against the wax that was part of Lumiere's hand.

Lumiere moved his hand away an gave the clock a sad smile. "We both missed opportunities, haven't we?"

Cogsworth tried to think of a response, but ended up closing his eyes and chuckling softly. "Yes, we did."

"We're too limited as we are now," Lumiere said wryly. "So, why don't we, instead, have something to look forward to?"

"To look forward to?"

Lumiere nodded. "When the spell is broken, meet me at my room at midnight, and we can truly celebrate being human again."

Cogsworth felt something tighten in his chest, but he felt he had to say it because Lumiere wouldn't. "And if it isn't?"

Lumiere's usually smiling face grew solemn. "Then we'll think of something." The candelabra peered closer at Cogsworth's face. "It's getting late, mon amour. Good night."

"Good night." Cogsworth nodded as Lumiere left the room, taking with him the only source of light. The enchanted clock looked back up at the window sill before leaving. Even if he didn't completely share Lumiere's optimism, the candelabra had given him food for thought.