even if he loses, he still wins
I'm supposed to be working on an essay, but I thought this would be more fun instead. It's been a while since I've written a descendants fic, so it's nice to return to basics. I got the idea while reading the TvTropes page for the movie, which proposed the idea that Ben was considering all his options in the cookie-eating scene.
title comes from the this quote, which is front the TvTropes Xanatos Gambit page:
"It's Caesar's trump card, his last resort, so even if he loses, he still wins."
"So, I made a batch of cookies, do you want one?" Mal's question wasn't something Ben was expecting. Mal could bake? Mal was open to sharing?
"Uh, thanks," Ben stuttered out, "but, uh, I've got a big game later, and I don't eat before a big game, so thanks, but I'll pass."
Mal quirked her lips. What did she want from Ben? Was the cookie poisoned? But, that wouldn't make sense, she'd get caught immediately. Was the cookie spelled? But again, immediately obvious.
Ben could take the risk – they were in a crowded, public place. If anything happened to him, there was at least fifty witnesses. If not, hey. A free cookie.
"That's okay, I get it." Was she upset? "Never accept gifts from the kids of villains. Every kid in Auradon knows that, I bet. Oh well. More for me, I guess."
"Oh, no, hey, here." Ben's words ran as quickly as his limbs, snatching the snack out of Mal's hands and stuffing it into his mouth.
Ben, despite what could be believed of him from his choices in Royal Declarations, wasn't someone who did things without considering the potential consequences. To whit: letting four (Four!) children from the Isle of the Lost into Auradon to be 'rehabilitated' (a word Ben didn't consider necessary for what he was attempting, because no-one actually knew what the kids would be like until they got here, there was no need to say someone needed rehabilitation until one had a reason to think that a person was in such a frame of mind, or physical condition to require such), Ben knew that the kids may just:
A. Decide to play along with the Auradonian people until they unleashed some hellish scheme that could kill everyone before taking over the world (still entirely possible),
B. Be children in desperate need of love and/or affection (easily handled, Ben didn't know anyone as understandingly firm-yet-doting as his mother, and he knew that she'd jump at the chance to help children that needed it), or
C. An alternate of option A, except also be open to seeing things from the perspective of the people the VK's parents had tormented, and be at least vaguely willing to adopt Auradon customs and lifestyle choice (like option A, still entirely possible).
But he was willing to consider all the options, including the above, and take full responsibility for anything bad that could potentially happen from the presence of the children of criminals in his father's kingdom. So, Ben was also willing to consider (very quickly) the possible repercussions of taking food from Mal - who, despite being very pretty, and rather open about learning new things while sticking with what she believed, and who Ben really wanted to spend more time with because talking to her was always interesting – the daughter of one of the worst criminals on the Isle.
She was offering him a cookie. Apparently innocuous, but considering Ben's beliefs in considering all options:
1. If the cookie was completely normal, then Ben earns some trust by showing trust (even if a little reluctantly) in the kids he'd had dragged from their homes – also, free cookie!
2. If the cookie is spelled, knowing the modus operandi of wicked fairies, it'll either be: kill him, put him to sleep, or make him fall in love with one of the VKs, probably Mal.
3. Ben could safely rule out the first two because the lockers were a massively public place, and Mal'd get caught immediately.
But in all honestly, Ben was willing to hedge his bets.
It was on the date to the Enchanted Lake (the one well known for breaking spells and curses, Ben had read all about it over his summer break. It seemed to be a rather good thing to know) that Ben's decision could come full circle.
So, the cookie was spelled. A love spell, to be specific. Probably not the greatest thing he could've gotten out of that deal, but hey. It'd given him a reason to break up with Audrey, even if he did feel rather guilty about the way he'd done it. He'd have to apologise to her later – he just was not invested in the relationship anymore, and being with her felt more like a chore than a pleasure. What was the point of being in a relationship if one person didn't really want to be in the relationship any more?
Still, it had proved Ben's theory of the Villain Kids not being as bad as he'd assumed they could be – they could've just killed him.
He could spin this – have a happy ending for everyone involved. He'd just have to find out why Mal had felt the need to feed him a love spell in the first place. Maybe she'd just really wanted him to break up with Audrey?