Eat
(Sunday Afternoon, August 11th)
When Chad walks into the kitchen, he watches Ben shut the fridge before glancing through the cupboard and open the fridge again, "What's going on?"
"There's nothing here," Ben complains.
"What are you talking about?" Chad dismisses, "I just saw a ton of raw and pre-cooked meat in the fridge earlier."
"I don't know if I want meat," Ben contemplates, before he peeks in the freezer and moves back over to the cupboards.
"There's scones. There's oatmeal. There's peach pie," Chad lists. "What do you want?"
"I don't feel like eating anything."
"But you're looking for food," Chad counters. "What about a smoothie—or a protein shake. You used to love those."
"Too thick," Ben complains, before he opens the fridge again.
Chad takes a moment, "We have orange juice."
Ben's face scrunches, "Too sour."
"Oranges are your favorite fruit," Chad disbelieves. He walks past him, and Chad spins around, arms outstretched, "Where are you going?"
"A walk," Ben answers, before he exits into the dining hall.
"But the food's in here," Chad shouts.
When Charming walks into the dining hall, Ella asks, "Where's Ben?"
"Can't find him," he answers.
"What?" Chad's eyebrows furrow, "He's not back, yet?"
"What do you mean, back yet?" his father's eyes widen.
"I saw him in the kitchen earlier," Chad answers. "He decided to take a walk instead."
Charming pulls out his phone, "Where's the nearest park?"
After Ben fails to pick up, Ella asks, "You mean like one of those nature walks?"
"No," Charming shakes his head. "He told me he's bad at hunting. Assuming he found a woods at all, he'd be done chasing rabbits by now."
"The nearest playground is by the library," Chad informs.
His father nods, "Thank you." before he puts his phone away and turns around.
"You don't really think he would hurt a kid," he worries.
His dad faces him, "I think that imagining yourself do something over and over is a sure way of convincing yourself to do it."
The small girl with long, black hair stares at him. Her red tank top exposes her neck, and that soft skin tears so easily. The rich taste floods his mouth, and the warm liquid soothes his throat. His stomach fills, and he tires. "Ben." He tightens his grip on the chains, as he runs a tongue over his teeth. "It's time to go."
"I'm almost done," Ben reassures. "Just let me finish."
"You don't get to finish when the other person doesn't consent," Charming sternly replies, and Ben eyes over him. "Now, get off that swing and come with me." Ben stares at the ground and runs his hands up-and-down the bumpy tether. Charming calms, "Your donor arrives in two hours. I want you to eat, before you see him." Ben glances back at him, before he watches his feet touch the sand before returning to the hole. He sees Charming's feet and looks back at him. He sits down next to him, "I thought you said you weren't afraid of me."
"When my father found out I was doing this," Ben confides, "he pushed me against the wall and yelled in my face." He folds his hands, "I know I already told you, but it has to be different actually seeing it."
"Do you remember what I told you yesterday?" Ben looks at him, and he relays, "I could never turn my back on you. I'm disappointed that you didn't feel you could come to me, and I'm frustrated with myself that I only just found out you were here now. Had you been more tempted, I may have arrived too late."
"If I told you I wanted to come here, you wouldn't have let me."
Charming opinionates, "I don't think it's healthy for you to indulge yourself in this kind of behavior."
"Like it's not healthy for Chad to have feelings for another guy?" Ben compares. "All I want to do is look. If I imagine it, it's like it's really happening. I don't have to actually do it."
"You're in your senior year," Charming mentions. "Pretty soon the police are going to wonder what an adult without children is doing at a park for three hours."
"And after my father asks to be put in Cliffside Penitentiary—assuming he doesn't get out on bail—the police will know exactly what I'm doing here." Ben murmurs, "I don't have to say a word. My big, bad secret will be out to the world."
"There are worse things than being a wolf," Charming consoles.
"But I'm not a wolf, am I?" Ben counters. "My father's virus must have mutated."
"You should talk to your cousin," he suggests. "Ace seems to know a lot about you."
He huffs, "Yeah. He said he's my father's father's brother's grandson. He could probably tell me my life story three times over."
"They should be settled in by tomorrow." Charming offers, "How about we go there together? We can see how they're doing, and you can ask Ace about what he knows."
"What time?" Ben questions.
"Well," he evenly expresses, "I thought that after my interview is finished that I could pick you up from the lawyer's, and we could go there after."
Ben frowns at him, "The lawyer?"
"Remember?" Charming concerns. "You're meeting Rapunzel at her city office tomorrow afternoon to go over your testimony for your father's trial."
"Rapunzel doesn't speak French," Ben frowns.
"Neither will the judge," Charming comments. "The kingdom has the right to see the trial. The news will be broadcasting it, and they will need it to be in English."
Ben eyes back at the playground, "I don't speak English."
"I know you don't like the language—"
"Like the language?" Ben widens his eyes at him, "I can barely hold a conversation with anyone. How do you think I'm going to do in court?"
"Look." He reasons, "You were able to prepare that Unification speech. If you rehearse your answers with Rapunzel, it will make things easier."
"She doesn't know every question they're going to ask." Ben's eyes shift, "My father knows my English sucks. They're going to choose words that make it difficult."
"You've needed to relearn English," Charming notes, "but with the stress you've been under…"
"Don't you dare turn the palace into an English-only facility," Ben fumes. "I thought you wanted me to open up. How the hell am I supposed to be honest, if I can't even put my thoughts and feelings into words?"
"I wanted you to start the year off strong," Charming puts forth. "How are you supposed to graduate high school like this?"
"The same way I graduated middle school," Ben bypasses, and he sees Charming's head lower and hands folded. "I don't want your prayers." He looks at him, and Ben frustrates, "You act like this is something new, but I've dealt with this my entire life. And I get by."
"You deserve better than getting by," Charming counters. "How are you actually supposed to learn anything if you don't speak the language you're getting taught in?"
"In middle school I learned that the back of every textbook offers a website, where they have the books in other languages," Ben answers. "You can even listen to them." He purses his lips, and Ben comments, "How do you think I made it through English? You didn't think I actually read those novels, did you?" He frowns at him, and Ben explains, "You can find anything online. All of those novels can be found on the internet in French with audio. All I really had to learn was the vocab and plot points."
"What about college?"
"There's a French school in your kingdom," Ben answers, and Charming quiets. "I'm not worried about school. So long as I get through the year, which I know I will, I'll be fine. What I'm worried about is the trial. They're going to make it hard for me. What if I can't do it?"
"Just rehearse with Rapunzel," Charming calmly commands. "If you want your father behind bars, you need to at least try."
Ben folds his arms, "You're saying if he doesn't, it'll be my fault."
"No," Charming enforces. "What I'm saying is that the chances of him going to prison goes up with your testimony." He checks his watch, "Come on. Blake will arrive in an hour. We should be there this time."
"Blake." Ben glances from Charming to him, "I'm sorry about the other day. I promise I wasn't trying to…"
"Eat me?" he partly smiles.
Ben scratches the back of his head, "I was told it was worse than I thought."
"It will take a few years to heal," he estimates.
Ben wets his lips, "I have a friend that knows how to make a healing… thing."
"You mean, Mal?" Blake clarifies.
"No." Ben frowns, "Evie."
"Wasn't that her girlfriend?"
"They are girlfriends," Ben corrects, before he sees his confusion. "Anyway. Evie's a friend. I can get it from her."
"So, this healing thing isn't Mal's?"
"I don't know who it belongs to," Ben irritably responds. "I just know she can make it." He eyes over him, and Ben prompts, "You can say thank you."
"Thank you." He examines him, "Did you eat today?" and Ben rolls his eyes before walking away from him.
Charming lifts a finger, "Hold on." before he follows him up the staircase. "Ben."
He turns around, "Is food all anyone can talk about?"
"He's your donor," Charming reasons. "He has the right to ask."
"I just ate before I went to sleep," Ben angers. "Can't I be awake for three hours without someone bringing it up?"
He takes a moment, "Ben. The first meal of the day is the most important." Ben looks away, and Charming explains, "It sets you up for the entire day. It's not one worth skipping." Ben walks away, and Charming shuts his eyes to take a deep breath.
"King Charming." He turns around and sees the black-haired guard. "I heard you wanted to see me."
"You heard correct." Charming smiles, "Derek. You are strong, decisive, and loyal. That's why I would like to reassign you to watch King Ben. How do you feel about that?"
"I am honored you have so much confidence in me."
He purses his lips, "I want to check that his… medical differences don't bother you."
"Isn't that why you want me to watch him?" he inquires. "To help the king if anything goes wrong and to protect the people he's around?"
He nods, "Thank you." before his gaze shifts to the sitting area on the main floor. "Follow me." He guides the guard down to where the brown-haired boy sits. "This is Blake, Ben's manservant." He turns to the guard, "His job puts him in perpetual potential danger. Give them privacy but keep an ear out." He turns back to Blake, "If you feel Ben is taking things too far, Derek will be nearby to help." He pauses, "This includes anything sexual. Ben says he's not interested in it; however, he does get emotionally attached, and he has a history of being less than respectful of boundaries. It may be your job to keep him satisfied, but it is not in your job description to be violated. If you need to, you can call for help."
Blake whispers, "Thank you, Your Highness."
He hands him a pocketknife, "And use this. If he's taking more than blood, I want to know about it."
He accepts the small blade, "Yes, Your Highness."
King Charming glances between them, "He's probably up in his room. Find him and get to work."
"He seemed stressed," Blake notes.
He turns to him, "So, give him something to find comfort in."
After Blake knocks, he cautiously enters the room, "Hey."
"Close the door," Ben requests.
Blake complies and watches Ben eye the computer screen, "You seem… better."
"My father kept his word," Ben evenly expresses, and Blake rounds behind him.
He sees the laptop screen, "Which means pizza?"
"And chicken and pasta and… everything." He glances at him, "Just watching you stand is making me tired. Sit."
He takes a seat next to him, "What do you want me to do?" Ben shakes his head, and Blake smiles, "Come on. There has to be something I can do."
Ben takes a deep breath, "You good at math?"
"What kind of math?"
Ben goes to the desk, takes the wooden tray, and returns to set it on the table, "Each piece of wood is a hundred dollars." He hands him the papers, "This is the plans, and that's the money we can spend." Ben sits and feels Blake's gaze, "Give up any time."
"How are you going to do this?" he gapes.
Ben continues filling out his order, "Find the money another way."
"And how are you going to do that?"
"How all money people do." Ben answers, "Talk their donors out of it." He cracks a smile, "Other kinds of donors."
"You're really bad at talking," Blake contradicts.
Ben's eyes lower, "Yeah. I know." before he cancels his order. "It comes with not liking to talk. Or talking with people."
"Well, if you don't want to talk, I'd be happy to eat the pizza with you."
"There is no pizza." Ben closes the laptop, "I stopped it."
"So, you're not eating?" he questions.
Ben eyes over him, "Turn your chair."
He slowly says, "Okay."
After he complies, Ben stands from his, "I want to try something." He moves either leg so that he's positioned on Blake's lap, before he places his hands on his shoulders.
"Um." He recalls, "I a knife if—" and Ben interrupts him with a kiss.