In the Flesh

(Saturday Afternoon, August 10th)

Charming watches Ben gnaw on the chewing stick through the window, "He seems very content with that."

"He's been working really hard on it," Dr. Page folds her arms. "I wish I could say more for his meals."

"But you said chewing on the stick would help with his anxiety and depression," Charming notes.

"Yes," she confirms.

"Then he doesn't need to be on suicide watch," Charming concludes. "He's coming home with me." He looks at the security guard, and the man reaches for his keycard.

She steps between them, "You need to clear it with Dr. Roberts."

"I need to clear it with," Charming starts, before he takes a deep breath and eyes away. He places his hands in his pockets and faces her, "Dr. Roberts may be an expert in all things Ben's health has thrown at him, but I know what's best for him. He's not going to eat if he's pressured to."

"With all due respect," she counters, "Ben is very ill. He needs professional help."

"What he needs is to be left alone. Health is a choice." Charming reinforces, "Ben needs to make the choice to eat. Forcing your kid to do something is never a long-term solution."

She softly speaks, "You're not his doctor."

He purses his lips, "I just found out my son's doctor prescribed him hardcore pain meds, which he now needs another medication to counteract the side effects. I really think he should have cleared that with me."

"He should have," she agrees. "Prince Chad is still under sixteen. Prescribing him a medication without alerting his parents would be malpractice. You could sue for that."

Charming sighs, "My point is that my faith in the medical community is lacking. I've known Ben for a very long time, and he's always been very strange when it comes to food. It's not something that's going to change overnight, and if Dr. Roberts thinks it can be fixed with a meal plan and some counseling, he's wrong. What Ben needs is to know he's being cared for, whether he wants to be or not. He needs to know people love him, even if he can't say it back."

"How would that help with his food issues?"

He pauses, "If I can challenge Ben's ideas about his life, then maybe it will force him to reconsider other things about himself. Maybe giving him the choice to heal is all he needs."

"You still need his doctor's permission," her frown deepens.

He takes a moment, "I can get it."

Charming turns the steering wheel, before he breaks the silence, "You were right." Ben looks at him. "Telling Chad it's not his fault didn't make him feel any better."

Ben stares back out the window, "I don't know what you want me to say."

"You don't have to say anything," Charming reassures. "Fairy Godmother told me the odds him me losing him is higher if… in a more constricted environment. If he's going to do it anyway, I want him to be able to be safe about it. That means being honest with me."

"Sometimes it's safer to lie," Ben counters. The car slows, and Ben glances from the curb to Charming. "This isn't the palace."

He faces him, "Ben. I consider myself a very collaborative man. Do you disagree?"

Ben frowns, "No."

"Are you afraid of me?"

He takes a moment, "No."

"Then what's the issue?"

"I'm afraid of myself," Ben confesses. "No sane person would want me around them or the people they care about."

"It's not sanity," Charming contradicts. "It's compassion."

He murmurs, "I should be the one going to prison. Half of the time when my father did that stuff, it was just to keep me in line."

"Hitting your kid or threatening them doesn't do anything but teach them violence." Charming informs, "I've sent Chad to his room, I've taken his toys, I've made him clean up after himself, and when I did that, he stopped making those messes and having those tantrums."

Ben lifts an eyebrow, "You so sure about the tantrum part?"

"Chad's improved. I would never expect him to be perfect." He partly smiles, "Queen Leah asks how I can let him talk to me how he does. What she doesn't know is that when he was little, he used to hit us. When we told him to start using his words, yelling and swearing was just a part of it. Truth is, I'd rather have him express his feelings than have it bottle into something dangerous. Controlling his vocabulary would be counterproductive." Ben fails to respond, and he repeats, "Ben. I don't expect you to be perfect either. No one is." He looks him again, and Charming reassures, "Whatever problems you have, we can face them. Together."

"You can't fix me," Ben rejects.

"Did I say fix?" Ben eyes away, and Charming comments, "Ella doesn't want me to tell you or Chad this, but…" Ben turns back to him, and he finishes, "Nothing you do could ever turn me away from you." Ben eyes over him. "Now, will there be times when I'm disappointed or frustrated: yes. But our children are our legacy. If we give up on them, we're giving up on the future. Whether you believe God, nature, or science, that's something we all want to avoid."

"My cousin seems to think humans are the problem," Ben points out. "Nature would be better off without them."

"Carnivores aren't about to cut off their own food source," he dismisses. "Worst case, we become like farm animals."

"That would require thinning the population first." Ben points out, "Humans think they own the world. They're not going to let it go without a fight." He notices Charming's discontent and sighs, "You know I don't think that, right?"

"We need to talk about Blake."

Ben shakes his head, "What about him?"

"Well, I spoke to him at the end of his hours." Charming hesitates, "And I saw his neck."

"Okay," Ben slowly replies.

He pauses, "Ben. It was a hole. You took more than just blood from him."

He awkwardly smiles, "I'm bad at biting. I thought focusing on one spot would…" Ben takes a deep breath, "Look. It's not like he was carrying a pocketknife like Chad does."

"I can give him a pocketknife," Charming settles, "but if I find out that you've taken his or any other human's flesh again, I will ground you. We can negotiate your privileges with meals. If you're doing this, then you need more meat in your diet."

"I really wasn't thinking about the… the meat," Ben deeply frowns.

"Perhaps not," he accepts, "but when dogs get a taste of human flesh, the urge can make them violent. I don't want the same to be true for you."

Ben glances down, "Ace seems civil enough. You know, for a wolf."

Charming contemplates, "I don't know if his generation has had human flesh. Even if their memorial traditions count… I'd rather not risk it with you."

"Because you think I have an eating disorder," Ben concludes.

He faces him, "Yes. That's exactly why." Ben eyes down, and he places a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. You're not getting grounded today. I'm just informing you for later."

"I've never really been grounded." Ben nervously faces him, "How bad is it?"

"Well, when we ground Chad," Charming analyzes, "we put a guard on him to makes sure he keeps to the palace grounds. In your situation, I'd also want to restrict access to whoever it is that you've… found interesting enough to do that to."

"Hurt, you mean," Ben clarifies. "And that would be the punishment? Not seeing them."

"It's not a punishment," he disagrees. "It's correction. If the consequences don't relate to the action, no one learns from it. That's why reckless drivers lose their license. If their consequence was community service, nothing would stop them from doing it again."

"Confining me and keeping me from people keeps them from getting hurt," Ben evaluates. "What's keeping me from hurting them, when I see them again?"

Charming takes a moment, before he opens his mouth; however, there's a knock on his window. He rolls it down, and the officer inquires, "King Charming. Do you need any help?"

"No, sir," he smiles. "The conversation was getting intense. I needed to pull over to finish it. I'm sorry if I've caused a disturbance."

"No disturbance. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't any trouble." He spots him, "King Ben? You look—"

"Thin," Charming interrupts. "He's been stuck in the hospital, but Ella has a homecooked meal waiting for us at home."

"Well," the man nods, "I hope he gets his strength back."

"Thank you. Have a good day."

"Yes," he agrees. "You too."

After the officer leaves and Charming rolls up the window, Ben concerns, "Do you really have food waiting for me?"

He frowns at him, "It was supposed to be a surprise. I thought if you smelled the food first, you wouldn't think too much about it."

"I feel like the smell's going to make me nauseous," Ben forewarns, and he sees Charming purse his lips. "What is it?"

"Ben," he starts. "I'm going to have to ask that you let me hold onto the waist trainer that I gave you."

"What?" His voice raises, "Why?"

"For now." He explains, "You're too thin for it."

"It will still fit," he defends.

"It will break your bones and damage your organs," Charming contradicts. Ben eyes off, and he reassures, "You can get it back once you've gained some weight."

Tears intrude his eyes, "You promised I could wear it after my stomach healed."

"You have no body fat or muscle to redistribute," Charming seriously remarks. "If you try wearing it, you will not get the results you think you will."

"If I was really that thin," Ben counters, "then I wouldn't need it, would I?" He sees his worry, and his frown deepens, "What did I say?"

"Can I hug you?" Charming manages.

"Um." Ben shakes his head, "Sure." Charming wraps his arms around him, and Ben places a hand on his shoulder. He fails to let go, and Ben tries to smiles, "What's up with the sudden sentiment?"

Charming moves away and takes a deep breath, "I'm just glad you're coming home."

Ben eyes over the food, "It's a taco table?"

"Do you not like tacos?" Ella asks.

"No. Tacos are fine." Ben eyes between the two bowls of meat, cheese, and various toppings. "When he said you made a meal, I thought it would be more… well, different."

"The small bowl is lightly cooked and unseasoned," she informs. "You can have it with any shell and topping you like."

Charming notices his hesitance, "Or if you're not very hungry, you can have it by itself."

Ben sits down and grabs the bowl, "Where's the cheese?" Ella points to a larger bowl, before Ben scoops out the cheese. Charming and she share a smile, before Ben glances between them, "Aren't you going to eat?"

"Of course," Charming answers, before he sits next to him and Ella takes the seat across.

After Ben mixes the cheese into the meat and takes a bite, Chad walks over and sits down, "Dinner's at six again. It's great that no one told me."

"We've been a tad busy," his mother excuses.

Chad takes two hard shells, before he piles the meat, lettuce, and cheese into it. He glances over, as Ben takes a bite of his concoction, "What did you do, give him his own pound of hamburger?"

"You know he's sensitive to spices," his father reminds him.

"Garlic's in everything," Chad's eyes widen. "He can't avoid it forever."

"His meat's also undercooked," his mother adds. "I know chewy meat makes you squeamish, so I just set some aside for him."

"Undercooked meat also carries parasites," Chad comments.

"We just read about that, actually," his mother smiles.

"What?" Chad disbelieves.

His father explains, "The book we've been studying to help Ben, it mentioned that carnivores have an easier time expelling parasites from the body."

Chad's eyes narrow, "What kind of book are you reading?"

"Sounds like the kind of thing that would have kept my mother from burning the crap out of every meal," Ben opinionates. "Anything in there saying that someone doesn't turn into a beast just from eating rare steak?"

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," Ella empathizes.

Ben takes a soft shell, folds it, and takes a bite. Chad eyes over him, "Have you always eaten this weird?"

"Chad," his mom furiously whispers.

"What?"

Ben sets the flour tortilla into the meat and cheese bowl, "May I be excused?"

"Two more bites," Charming quietly commands.

"I'll eat it later," Ben promises.

"Microwaving it will cook it more," he warns him.

Ben stares at the bowl, and Ella interrupts, "It's fine. I'll put it in the fridge for you."

After Ben stands, Chad shakes his head, watching him head to the door. He turns back to his parents, "He's so sensitive."

"Yes. He is," Charming sternly remarks, before Ben glances back. "You should be able to understand why." Ben leaves the room, and he questions, "Do I need to separate the two of you? The hall's big enough to do it."

"Why?" Chad emphasizes.

"Have you seen Ben lately?" his mom mentions. "If he doesn't eat, he's going to die."

"How is that my fault?"

"When you make Ben feel uncomfortable about the way he eats and what he's eating, he's less likely to finish it."

His mother simplifies, "Essentially, you're taking the food from him."

Chad's father crosses his arms, "Maybe we should take his snacks. It might make him more sympathetic to what Ben's going through."

"Pumpkin," his mom faces him. "Can you tell us where your snacks are?"

He half laughs, "Look. I get it. I need to let Ben eat. You don't need to take my snacks."

"You say those things out of disgust." Chad's eyes lower, and Ella meets Charming's eyes. "They should be separated during meals. One of us can sit with each of them."

Charming inputs, "Ben has good hearing. We will have to be at opposite ends."

"Do you really think he's going to die?" Chad concerns.

His parents quiet, and his dad hesitates, "Chad. Ben's been handling this very well, but… we can't really know."

"In most cases," his mom informs, "starvation results in a heart attack. Or the body goes into shock due to low body fat."

"No one actually starves to death," Charming interprets. "It's just the underlying cause. The official report has always been organ failure. It took a long time for the kingdom to acknowledge that we needed to have more food and make it easily accessible to the poor."

"So, we could wake him up for dinner one night," Chad sadly replies, "and he could have been dead for hours."

His father takes his hand, "So long as he's eating, there's hope."

"You still need to take your pill at ten," his mother sidetracks.

"I'll remind you to give it to me," Chad slowly reassures.

"I still have a hard time understanding," he dad evenly expresses. "You say the stress you've felt had nothing to do with Ben, but what's caused it then?"

"Like the doctor said," he reminds him, "I feel like what I say doesn't matter. You'd rather read some ass's book than believe me about anything."

"We've gone over this." He relays, "Professor Hawthorne is an expert of his field."

"He's a liar," Chad asserts. "You can't believe everything he says, just because he's an expert or some shit."

His mother smiles, "What do you think he's lied about?" Chad folds his arms, eyeing away. "Pumpkin?"

Chad grumbles, "He thinks I have a crush on him. I promise I don't."

She laughs, "Well, that explains it."

"I just said I don't," Chad counters.

"We're not saying you do," his dad reassures, "but you used to be obsessed with his work and you talked about him all the time. It makes me wonder what's changed."

"Did he confront you about it?" she assumes.

"I don't have a crush on him," Chad repeats. "It's just something he's made up. It's always about the stupid schoolgirl crush and the drugs. It's like he can't do anything wrong."

"He knew about the drugs?" his mother notes.

His eyes widen, "Yes, and he was always using it against me. He's always saying how it's messing with my mind, that we should tell someone."

"So, you're upset that he wanted to get you help?" his dad translates.

"No." Chad's voice raises, "I'm upset that he's making me question my sanity."

"Chad," his father starts.

"He twists my words," Chad interrupts. "He's trying to make me look bad."

"From my point of view," he starts, "you've described a man who's had nothing but good intentions and handled unforeseen situations very respectfully."

"What?" Chad gapes.

"Did he tell anyone that he thinks your feelings are more than just admiration?"

"No, but—"

"And I assume he didn't have Fairy Godmother tell us, because you told him not to."

Chad sighs, "Yes, but—"

"But you have yet to tell me anything to support your newfound opinion of him." He nods down, "So, tell me. What horrible things has he done to deserve this view of yours?"

He gulps, "Nothing, I guess." as his heart speeds up.

"We're asking," his mom softly speaks. "If you have something to say, say it."

"Why?" Chad's eyes glisten, as he stares at her. "It's not like you'd believe me, anyway."

"Try us," his father prompts.

Chad's eyes shift, "He's just a bad guy. I'd rather have Carlos and them here than him."

"Of course, you'd rather have Carlos here," he puts forth. "You're dating him." Chad wipes the tears from his eyes, and he asks again, "What makes Professor Hawthorne a bad guy?"

He eyes between them, "You're my parents. Why can't you just believe me?"

"Because," his father quietly answers, "we don't know if the stress you're feeling is just from being forced to face some truths about yourself."

Chad shakes his head and stands from the table, "I don't know why I even bother."

- Posted: 04/21/2020