Hey everyone! So I am officially out of ideas and I'm now taking requests! However, I have to warn you that I am not the best at getting to things in a timely manner...still, if there's something you'd like to see in a one-shot, let me know! Until then, my pet project is going to be The Fire In Her Eyes (in which the build-up is finished! I'm excited about that). And in case you haven't read on there, I'm looking for a backstory for Carlos that would fit with that story, so would love some suggestions!
Here are some ficlets - too short to be stand-on-their-own stories.
A Little Sweeter
"What kind are they, Mal?" asked Evie, leaning on the kitchen counter. Ben tried to sneak a taste of the cookie dough Mal was making, but she slapped his hand away.
"There are raw eggs in there, Ben! Sorry, Evie, what did you - oh, I'm trying M&Ms this time. Request from Carlos."
"That kid is going to get diabetes in like two years if he's not careful," Evie deadpanned. "And if you keep enabling him."
"Really, how dangerous are raw eggs?" Ben reasoned, mostly to himself. The cookie dough looked delicious.
"At least someone enjoys the stuff I make," Mal shot back at Evie. "He doesn't nag about calories and sugar and fat and, god forbid, whipped cream - "
"Well, I'll be the one laughing when you've all got sugar-induced kidney injuries and my kidneys are just fine!" Evie replied in a sing-song voice. "Right, Benny-boo?"
Evie left to work on her homework while the king, who'd previously been analyzing the risks and benefits of the instant cookie gratification he craved, looked after her in confusion. "Why'd she call me Benny-boo?"
Mal aggressively mixed the M&Ms into the dough, causing a few of them to fly out. "To piss me off."
"Oh." He watched the unfolding mess with a raised eyebrow. "Did it work?"
She stopped trying to fight the thick dough for a moment. "...A little."
Jealousy was something she struggled with more than she was willing to admit, more than anyone except Evie knew about. It was one of those last villainous qualities that was taking a little work to get rid of. She was ashamed of it, though, and resolutely kept her gaze on the concoction in front of her. That was why it surprised her when she felt Ben's arms wrap around her waist, his chest against her back, his chin on her shoulder, his lips on her cheek. Her first instinct was to flinch - but he was used to this. He would always wait for her second reaction to know if that was what she meant. And in this case, her second reaction was to place her flour-covered hands over his arms to keep them where they were.
"Better?" he murmured in her ear.
"...A little," she repeated with the beginnings of a smile. He began to pull back, but her hands hadn't moved. "You know..." She bit her lip, uncertain. "You could...do this more often."
Surprised, Ben responded, "Yeah?"
"Yeah." She turned her head towards him, a pale blush on her cheeks, and reached up to caress the side of his face. He held her even tighter, and their lips met in a tender kiss that just kept going and going...
"MAL!" The two of them broke apart with a jump at Carlos's irritated voice. "Jay and I are dying of cookie withdrawal and you're over here making out?!"
Boy Bands
"Don't care who you are / where you're from / what you did / as long as you love me..."
"What are you listening to?" Ben heard Mal's voice over the music in his ears. He took out an ear bud and offered it to her.
"Backstreet Boys."
Mal rolled her eyes and turned back to her reading assignment. "Of course you are."
His brows knitted together. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you're adorable." She widened her eyes innocently, and if he didn't know her better, he would've fallen for it.
Regardless, he let it go with a suspicious 'hmm.' "You're pretty adorable too."
"Yeah, but I'm not 'fangirling over boy bands' adorable."
Mal shrieked as Ben poked her in the side, right where she was especially ticklish. "I am not fangirling!"
Tug-Of-War
Mal and Ben had not always cuddled while they slept. Initially, they had respected each others' space - however, this soon became far too much of a problem for poor Ben.
Within the first couple of nights of them sharing a bed, Ben would wake up all of a sudden, freezing, without anything to cover him. He'd look over at Mal, peacefully sleeping with his entire king-sized blanket wrapped around her like a cocoon. It was frankly a skill set, trying to untangle her without waking her up and pulling at least part of the covers over to himself. Still, in the morning, he would find that she had somehow taken them back.
When he told her, Mal was apologetic. "On the Isle, we fought for everything we had, all the time...I guess even when we slept." As with everything involving her childhood, Ben sympathized. He rubbed her shoulder, told her it would be alright, that they'd figure something out.
That 'something' turned out to be two blankets: one for him, and one for her. It wasn't ideal - it almost felt like they were in separate beds again. Almost.
Ben woke up again in the middle of the night, uncomfortably cold. "Seriously?" He instinctively looked to Mal, who, as expected, was tightly encased in her own blanket...but his was nowhere to be found. He peered over the side of his bed, but his floor was clear. Then he looked on her side.
His blanket was on the floor next to her in a heap. She had taken it without even using it. "Now that's just spiteful," he told his sleeping girlfriend, unwrapping her. Instead of pulling part of the covers over to his side, he embraced her tightly and nestled in close. "You're my blanket now."
And that ended up working just fine.
Queen
The wedding had been a whirlwind. Mal didn't mind. The most important part - she was married to Ben - it had happened. Everything else had been planned by others, assembled by others, cooked by others, chosen by others. It had been beautiful, of course, and no less than what was expected for a royal wedding. But to her, everything besides Ben was a minor detail.
He stood next to her as they greeted the guests walking into the reception, her hand firmly clasped in his. She hadn't slept the night before, hadn't eaten all day, and her cheeks hurt from smiling for all of the pictures, but every time their eyes met she felt herself smiling again. The crown weighed heavily on her head but the ring on her finger gave her the energy to get through all of this with a poise and grace she'd never before attributed to herself. I'm his. He's mine. And so it would be forever.
The Charmings had just given their well-wishes, Chad included. Mal rested her head on Ben's shoulder, her prediction about Evie's reaction at seeing her less-than-flawless foundation making the king laugh. She loved his laugh. She loved everything about him. The first person I've ever loved, and today, he's my husband. My husband.
Then came the rather cheerless delegation from the moors. Audrey congratulated them in a tone that could only be described as apologetic. King Philip and Queen Aurora looked uneasy, but gave their blessings as well. The reason for their nervousness soon became clear: Queen Leah eyed the couple critically. Mal unconsciously moved closer to Ben, who was already a step ahead of her, wrapping an arm around her waist.
"I never thought I would see the daughter of the woman who terrorized my family crowned in my presence."
"Mother!" hissed Aurora, tugging at the older woman's arm.
Mal remained silent, though her insides were in turmoil. Anything she said would only make it worse. She wondered if Leah saw the irony in coming to a joyous event and casting a dark cloud over it.
"Mal is not that person," Ben explained patiently, for the millionth time.
"Be that as it may, she will never be my queen."
Without missing a beat, Ben replied, "She already is."
Old McDonald's Farm of Thinly Veiled Threats
"Good job, sweetheart. And what does a cow say?" prodded Ben. The royal couple was spending a little time with their toddler daughter. Amber amazed them every day with how much she learned about the world around her, but there were a few favorite questions they liked to ask.
"Mooooo," Amber informed him. "Moomoomoomoo." It was her favorite sound so far.
"And what does a cat say?"
"Mee-ow."
"And what does a dog say?"
"Woof!"
Mal rolled her eyes. She knew where this game was going.
"And what does a lion say?"
"Raaaaahr." The little girl swiped at the air with claw hands.
Eyes twinkling, Ben asked, "And what does mommy say when she's cranky?"
"Raaaaahr!" Amber repeated her lion impression to Ben's peals of laughter. Seeing her father laugh, Amber joined in giggling though she was nowhere near old enough to get the joke.
"That will never not be funny," Ben said to his wife after he'd calmed down a bit.
Unfortunately for him, Mal was prepared this time. "Amber, what does daddy do when mommy is cranky?"
The toddler got up, held her hands in front of her chest like rabbit paws, and preceded to clumsily jump around the room.
Ben's expression immediately soured. "You told her about the Easter Bunny thing?"
"Well, she needs to know eventually so she can...oh wait, do children not blackmail their parents around here?"
"You know they don't," Ben grumbled, catching his daughter in a bear hug and making her squeal. "I'm also pretty upset I missed the training session where you demonstrated how to hop like a bunny. Please tell me someone recorded that."
Do You Love Me?
Mal had just finished a series of individual decrees for newly born children to be brought over from the Isle. It was getting close to the point where the aging villains would stop being able to have kids, and she wouldn't have to do these anymore. At the moment, that sounded great. It was past eight o'clock and she had probably missed her daughter's bedtime.
When she made it to the four-year-old's room, Ben was already there, just having finished a bedtime story. Mal leaned on the door frame, smiling at the two of them. "I think I'm going to eat you like the Cookie Monster eats cookies."
"No!" shrieked Amber. "Don't eat me!"
"Did I hear you say do eat me?"
"No, don't!"
Ben leaned in menacingly, and the little girl was in hysterics, swatting him away. Instead of biting, as he had pretended to prepare for, he tickled her stomach and planted a kiss on her forehead. "Whose little princess are you?"
"Daddy's!"
"That's right." He noticed Mal watching them and smiled at her.
"Daddy?"
"Yes, sweetheart."
"You love me, right?"
"Of course."
"Why doesn't Mommy love me?" she asked innocently.
Mal's heart dropped to the bottom of her stomach. Her eyes went wide and her hands flew to cover her mouth. Nothing, nothing, had ever hurt so much as hearing those words come from her daughter's lips. Ben looked up in a panic, and asked, "Why would you think that, Amber?"
Unable to listen, Mal fled. She threw open the doors to the nearest room and tried not to cry. After everything, after all she'd worked for, she'd still failed. She was just like her mother. Amber hated her. She was still nothing more than a villain and thank god her daughter at least had Ben or she would have the same horrible childhood as Mal did and continue this cycle of not being able to love -
Ben burst in. "Mal!" She turned to him, her stomach churning and her vision blurring.
"Why does she think I don't love her?" Mal whispered.
Her husband hugged her tightly, as if trying to squeeze all the doubt out of her. "Mal, she was just being a kid. She said it was because you wouldn't get her another pony for her birthday this year. It was nothing. She just doesn't understand."
Mal pulled away. "So what? Do we just get her the horse?" She was more than willing to; it was a small price to pay for her daughter's well-being.
"No." Ben kissed her cheek and wrapped her in his embrace again, rubbing her back to comfort her. She buried her face in his shoulder, her tears dampening the fabric of his suit jacket. "We don't want to spoil her; that's no good either. You did the right thing. You're a good mother, Mal, you really are. I would tell you if something was wrong. I would." He pressed his lips to the top of her head. "She doesn't know what that means. She's just a child. It's going to be a long, long time before she gets it - and it's going to be hard sometimes. I mean, the minute she becomes a teenager, she's going to hate our guts." Mal sputtered out a laugh at that, but with her wavering voice it sounded more like a sob. "But it won't be because of anything you've done. I promise."
"Mommy? Why are you crying?"
The two adults separated, looking behind them to see a sleepy Amber toddling into the room, dragging along her teddy bear. She approached her mother and held up the stuffed animal by the arm. "You can have Benny Bear if you want. He makes me feel better."
It was unbelievable how quickly this girl could change Mal's mood. Touched, she leaned down and picked up her daughter, bear and all. "That's really nice, baby." She kissed her daughter's cheek uncertainly. "But I have my own Benny Bear to make me feel better." She exchanged loving glances with her husband.
"Mommy?"
"Yeah?"
Amber pointed an accusing finger at Ben and tattled, "Daddy didn't finish tucking me in."
Ben gaped dramatically. "What?!"
"You'd better take care of that," Mal informed him, smiling with a residual sniffle and handing Amber off.
"You did it wrong," Amber told him, disappointed.
"I'm so sorry, princess. Let's make sure I do it right this time. Say goodnight to Mommy."
Amber cuddled up to her father and her bear, waving at her mother with her free hand. "Good night, Mommy. I love you."
Mal's heart could hardly handle it. The two people she cared for most in the world walked off, safe and happy in each other's arms, and truly, what more could she ask for? "Good night, baby. I love you, too. So much."
