Belle blinked when she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked back to Poppy, watching her squirm nervously. She asked if Belle was okay...

Muse snorted a bit, knowing exactly what was in Belle's mind. 

She smiled softly and replied to Poppy, **"Thank you."** A small thank you, just to let Poppy know she was glad for her help. She didn't want to say she was fine, something about Poppy's tone told her that for Poppy, Belle needed to be scared. As if the act of being scared helped Poppy somehow. 

It was sort of... endearing. She definitely needed to do a piece on Poppy somehow. The girl was far too interesting. Mostly because she wasn't. She was normal, more normal than most of the people in the room, but that in itself made her special. By being normal, she was special. And interesting thought.

**"Maybe, we should leave? It's all sort of making me uncomfortable."** Belle fibbed, sending Poppy an awkward look, as if to show her lack of comfort. **"I don't feel well being here anymore."** She lied, turning to face Poppy, her arms pulled into her lap and her legs pulled together, a sign of insecurity. She pulled her body in a bit, hunched over. People always tried to fit themselves into the least amount of space they could when frightened or nervous. As if trying to escape the situation that way. At least, that was what her mouth had always done. 

Tilting her head down, Belle continued, **"I really... I really want to leave."** To Belle, she was lying. But somewhere deep down, she knew that these were her true feelings but this was the only way she knew how to deal with it. Pretend that this was all a story and she was merely a character created by a greater being out there, an author, a mind.