Deviant

(Saturday Morning, September 7th)

Audrey stares intently at the screen, and she refreshes the main page of Ruby's social media. "You okay?"

Audrey jumps, placing a hand to her chest as she sees the blond boy. "God. You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry," he apologizes.

"Want to apologize?" Audrey looks at him. "Tell me your name." His eyes lower. "What? You don't want to tell me?"

He asks, "What do you think my name is?"

"Who are you, Rumpelstiltskin?" Audrey gapes. "If I guess your name right, I get to keep everything that's mine. Is that it?"

"No," he slowly says. "I'd just really like to know. Who do I look like to you?"

She eyes over him. "I'm not playing your game."

She turns back to the computer, and he denies, "It's not a game."

"Then you have a past," Audrey assumes, "something you want to forget." He doesn't respond, and she stands from her chair. "Sorry, but I'm not allowed to talk to strangers, and people with a past are bad news."

He follows her. "Please. You're the only person in forever who was even willing to talk to me. Everyone else, they act like I don't even exist."

She abruptly turns, and the boy halts. "And whose fault is that?" Her eyes widen. "Want some advice. "Lose the shorts, get some color, and don't wait two years to talk to someone." His expression saddens, and she huffs. "You're hopeless, you know that?" He still fails to speak, so she strides out of the library.

"If no one has called for ransom," Ella mentions, "then there's hope, right?"

"You're forgetting." Rapunzel holds tightly to her tea. "Despite striving for a career outside of politics, I never renounced my title. There are other things someone might want from the daughter of a royal: unspeakable things."

"No one would get away with that," Charming comments. "The social stigma isn't as it used to be, and your family is a fair one. There is nothing that would keep Ruby from speaking out against the man who'd done it, and she would be allowed to make the honorable choice to raise the child as a single mother."

"It doesn't matter that rapists aren't obligated to marry their victims anymore," Rapunzel whispers. "It doesn't matter that the man won't obtain the power or glory he might have back before people realized how horrid that concept was. If someone wanted to play the long game, make it so that their children's children were the only heir to the throne, they could do it."

"We're getting ahead of ourselves," Ella interrupts. "You said Ruby had withdrawn all her savings before running away. That's enough to start over somewhere. She's smart. She isn't living on the streets. She's going to be staying somewhere safe."

"It doesn't matter how smart she is," Rapunzel rebuttals. "I was plenty smart, and it took all of seventeen years for me to realize I was in a bad situation." She shakes her head. "I taught Ruby to think logically about things. It's my fault she fell in love with that sociopath, that he broke her heart, and that's why she left."

Charming takes a moment. "She feels betrayed, but it has nothing to do with you."

"She wants to know she's loved," Ella adds. "I bet you more than anything, she's just waiting for you to find her."

"And if I can't?" She worries. "I can't let her believe she's worthless."

"Just a thought." Charming considers. "But if you can't find her, you can always light up the sky on her birthday like your parents did for you."

"All of our kingdoms could," Ella encourages.

"Maybe she'd even come home on her own." Rapunzel nods. "Thank you."

"You know," William starts, as he sits with Chad and Brendan in the cafeteria. "Fairy Godmother recommended that new virology class to every carnivore who's passed biology, and she put together a night class to help us keep up with our classes."

"Yes." Brendan smiles. "We're aware."

"Were you aware that she's not allowing Professor Hawthorne to chaperone any of the classes?" William continues, "Practically all of us are going to have his new class, and he won't be allowed to help any of us with it."

Brendan's eyebrows furrow. "Did they tell you why?"

"I guess some student accused him of misconduct," he answers. "She's not allowing him to teach class when no one else is around."

"So, have another teacher in the class with him," Brendan solves.

"Well, apparently Belle already offered," William informs, "but with her history with Ben and everything…"

"If he's in the class, she can't be there," Brendan finishes.

"Which is so stupid," William opinionated. "Since when does Ben attend class? He never slept last year, and he still missed class because he couldn't keep track of the day."

"That syllabus you sent me looks like a nightmare."

"I know." He opens his flavored water. "I'm going to be fucked without him."

Chad mutters, "You'd be even more fucked with him."

"What did you say?"

Chad meets William's narrowed eyes. "You don't need that ass in your class."

"Oh, really?" He challenges, "And what do you know about it, huh?"

"I'm the one who reported him," Chad confesses, and his expression quickly fades.

"For what?" William disbelieves. "What did he ever do to you?"

"For being such an ass." Chad grits his teeth. "What else?"

"Professor Hawthorne is one of the best minds on the planet," William mentions. "He's earned his right to be an ass. You should be kneeling before him, begging for knowledge."

Chad stares at him for a long minute, before he takes hold of his dinosaur and leaves his dinner on the table. The acid lingers in the back of his throat, burning, and he sets Dino on the titled bathroom floor before running into the stall.

"I heard what happened," Doug whispers, as they sit next to each other in Biology.

"And what's that?" Chad irritably replies.

"That you reported Professor Hawthorne for something." He readjusts his glasses. "The entire school's talking about it."

"He was blackmailing me," Chad excuses. "What was I supposed to do?"

"I don't know the details." Doug warns, "But it doesn't look good for you."

"For me?" Chad gapes at him.

"Well, yeah." He faces him. "You were cozying up with him last year, and now you're trying to get him fired? Some people are going to think that you're retaliating against him for not giving you a recommendation."

"You mean, like, a college recommendation?" Chad asks. "I'm not even a senior."

Doug scans the room for prying eyes. "No, but when the professor hands out a recommendation, it's more than just a gold star on your application." Doug's green eyes meet him. "It's a guarantee to get into any college you want, have a guaranteed job for the field of your choice, and not have to pay a dime for any of it."

"You're kidding me?" Chad gapes.

"You seriously didn't know?"

Chad furiously whispers, "How the fuck was I supposed to know that?"

"Why else would you have been talking to him outside of class?" Doug questions, but Chad doesn't answer. He sighs. "Look. If Professor Hawthorne was really blackmailing you… about your drugs or… you know, he might have been trying to tell you how to get his approval."

"I don't want his approval." Chad lies, "I don't want anything from him."

"Okay. Sure." Doug eyes around the room. "But that's not what it looks like. It looked like you were trying to be his favorite." He picks his pencil back up. "If I had been as close to being chosen as you were, I don't think anything could have made me turn on him."

"You're not serious."

Doug frowns at him. "Dead serious. My family doesn't have the money. I might have made it here on scholarship, but I can't spend another four years away from home to train for a job that there's no guarantee I will ever have." He reminds him, "Why do you think I took agriculture my first year here. I have to make my education count."

Chad's eyes shift. "You said Hawthorne had favorites." He nods. "Who were they?"

"Well." Doug takes a moment. "There was this one guy who graduated a couple years ago. He's currently studying finance and infrastructure. He's been promised a position in the royal treasury once he finishes college."

"What's his name?" Chad urges.

"Alex something." He grimaces. "Sorry. You're going to have to look him up later." The bell rings, and they stand from their seats.

"Prince Chad," the professor addresses. "Might I have a moment with you?"

Chad widens his eyes at Doug. "Stay."

"Why?" he asks.

"Just do it," Chad commands, and Doug nods.

"Alrighty, then."

The students dissipate from the room, and they walk up to Hawthorne. "Good morning, Chad. Dino." He frowns at him. "And Doug. I dismissed the class."

"I have orders from King Charming to watch him," he explains.

"I see," Hawthorne slowly says, before he looks up at Chad. "I just wanted to apologize. I feel like I might have put too much on you too soon. I understand that it might be harder for you to perform while recovering."

"It doesn't help that it's new to me," Chad points out.

"Of course." The professor peels off a sticky note and hands it to him. "Xander was one of my star students. He can help you navigate any mixed feelings you might have."

"I need it," Chad angers. "You act like I have a choice."

"But you do," Hawthorne reassures, "and I think Xander is just the person to help you make the right one."

"And which one is that?"

The professor smiles. "Why, the one that gives you the future you want." Chad glowers at him, and his expression softens. "Chad. I know I've upset you, but I promise, all I want is for you to have everything you need out of life."

"Then wake Ben up," he blurts out, and he shakily breathes. "Wake him up. Please."

His frown deepens. "Alas, I don't have that kind of power."

"He said he loved me." Chad's eyes gloss with tears. "He finally said it."

"Then, shall he not wake up," the professor muses, "you will hold the wholesome feeling of knowing that your love was not unrequited."

"That's it?" Chad outrages, "You want me to give up on him."

"Your life does not stop just because his has." His cold, dark eyes pierce him. "Now, I highly recommend that you call that number and meet with Xander. He can help you."

"Help me with what?" Chad spats. "My performance?"

"No." Hawthorne answers, "He'll help you realize that things will come a lot easier, once you learn to accept it as a part of reality."

"I accept my reality." Chad backlashes, "I accept that my reality sucks. The one fantasy I had this entire time was to rule at Ben's side, and now that my father's working on making that legal, Ben may not even see the day the law's repealed."

"Chad." Hawthorne questions, "Are you sure you're ready for a committed relationship?"

"With Ben?" he assumes. "Of course, I am."

"It just appears to me," Hawthorne explains, "that you're struggling a great deal with your recovery and career path. You shouldn't be putting a single ounce of time or emotion into someone else if they can't help you through, and Ben has a lot of his own issues to contend to."

"What are you saying?" Chad seethes.

"I'm merely suggesting that while Ben is recovering from his illness and past trauma, you should take the time you need to focus on yourself," he insights. "If things go well, then perhaps you two could have some sort of future together, but it won't last unless you're both healed."

Chad examines his face. How could he seem so sincere? "I have to go."

He walks away, and Doug trails behind him. "He has a point, you know."

Chad turns around in the hall. "And what point is that?"

Doug adjusts his glasses. "Well, just that you have a lot of problems, and Ben has a lot of problems."

"What's your point?"

Doug clears his throat. "Well, what if Ben, you know, loses control, goes all beast on you? If you still have drugs in your system, then you could both die."

"You don't understand," Chad enforces. "He finally said it."

"I'm just saying, I don't think it's a good idea."

"I don't care what you think," Chad counters, before he whispers. "He's all I ever wanted. You don't know how much it hurt before, every time he denied it. But he finally said it. I finally get the chance to be with—"

"Your one true love?" Doug finishes. "Look. I'm not going to deny it, because I know how you two are, but… Romeo and Juliet didn't have a happy ending."

"Ben's never had a happy life," Chad comments. "He deserves a happy ending."

"Yeah." Doug quiets further, "I'm sure Juliet deserved one too. It didn't happen… because they couldn't wait for the right time."

"There was no right time," Chad remarks. "Their families were at war. And Ben's always dying of something. If he survives this, I want to spend every moment I have with him."

"And if he doesn't?" Doug points out. "I'd visit him, while you still have the chance."

"As you know," Charming starts, "it's been leaked that the council is working on reforming the deviant sexuality bill so that people with homosexual inclination may have the right to the relationship of their preference so long as it remains consensual."

Snow White questions, "Is this something you were planning on telling the public, or has the leak forced you to comment?"

"Ideally," Charming answers, "we'd have ratified the bill prior to disclosing it to the public, but we thought it was best to get ahead of the leak before people thought the worst."

"Some people are pointing out that other sexual deviances, such as pedophilia and bestiality, are also under this law."

"Well, obviously, we'll be keeping those in it," Charming addresses.

"And how would the bestiality law affect King Ben?" she inquires.

"Pardon?"

"When his cousin Alpha Ace had his interview, he'd told us that King Ben's grandfather had used magic to turn a lion human, a lion he had been having a sexual relationship with." Snow White suggests, "Given King Ben's medical problems, the fact that he can roar while his cousin can't, and the fact that this lion is his grandmother, can we assume he has the lion DNA?"

Charming takes a long moment. "According to the wolves, Ben's grandfather used the same lamp Sultan Aladdin once had hold of to wish the lion human." He pauses. "We're also told that because he didn't return to lamp to the Cave of Wonders immediately after his third wish that the wishes started to revert. The lion was still human when the lamp was returned, but we're told she had a roar at that point. It's also important to note that lions do average a body temperature of a hundred-and-one degrees Fahrenheit, which is where Ben's temperature normally is when he's feeling well."

"So, he does have lion DNA," Snow White assumes.

"It's likely," Charming admits.

"So, since you say you're keeping the bestiality law intact," she asks, "how does that affect Ben, knowing that he is part lion?"

"Well." Charming comments, "Ben is also part human, which brings us to the kind of situation we had with Maleficent's daughter. Ben was raised in human society. He was raised to believe he was human. He still considers himself human. There's no reason why he shouldn't be allowed to date someone who is."

"But don't you think we should be concerned?" Snow White explains, "King Ben doesn't have a healthy genetic code to pass on to his children."

"I hardly see how that's relevant," Charming defends, "considering Ben has no intention of ever having children."

She smiles. "But accidents happen. If you're allowing him the choice to enter an intimate relationship, despite the bestiality law, then there's always the chance that he could get that girl pregnant. That's how sex works."

"Which would be a problem if Ben liked sex." Charming reassures, "But to be blunt, he doesn't. And after his relationship with Mal, I don't know if he's going to be with a girl again."

"You don't think he'll want to enter a new relationship?" she questions.

"No." Charming corrects, "I just don't think he'd want to be with another girl." He readjusts his seating. "Ben's attraction to people is based on their hair type and how they smell. From my understanding, he doesn't care if those attributes are from a girl or a guy. Those are just the things he's attracted to. Now. As far as girls go, I can tell you that he hasn't flirted with a single one since he and Mal broke up."

"So, you think his next relationship will be with a boy?"

"Correct," Charming answers. "And if that's the case, you won't need to worry about him having any genetically inferior offspring."

"So, repealing the homosexuality portion of the bill," Snow White backtracks. "Whose idea was that?"

"There are many of us," Charming carefully words, "who understand that the time of that law has passed. Rape is already a crime, and the punishment for it is no longer to take care of the woman you raped for the rest of her life. Now that the punishment no longer involves patriarchal marriage, it can apply to instances of homosexual rape or female-on-male rape as well. And since that is the case, a separate law for sodomy is no longer needed."

"That might be fine for the kingdoms with more flexible religions," Aladdin stresses, "but I have protestors outside our palace right now accusing me of undermining God's law."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Charming sympathizes.

"Before we make any law changes, we need to make sure there are protections in place."

"I promise you," Charming reassures, "no one's going to hurt your family."

"I meant for the people." He argues, "They need to feel safe. For whatever reason, they don't feel safe knowing that there will be homosexuals walking into their stores, playing with their kids, and that they will not be held accountable if they do something."

"Sexual assault is still illegal," Charming reminds him.

"These people aren't afraid of being assaulted," Aladdin informs. "They're afraid of being touched. At all. To them this is a filthy disease spread by Eblis. We need protections in place so that they can feel safe."

Charming takes a moment. "Protections like what?"

"Like letting shopkeepers refuse service to the sinners," he negotiates.

"People need groceries to live," Charming disputes.

"Then they can live somewhere else."

"And your son?" Charming points out.

"My son has no intention of acting on his desires." Aladdin explains, "My hope is that by the time he does, the kingdom won't try to execute him for it." He whispers, "If he has to, he can get a servant to buy the groceries for him. But if he's going to be safe three years from now, the people in our kingdom need to feel safe now."

"I understand." He purses his lips. "Let's schedule a video call with the council this week. We can discuss it more then."

"Thank you."

"Stay safe," Charming says, before he hangs up the phone and turns to Ella.

Her expression's grim. "Is something wrong?"

He breathes. "It might take longer than a month to repeal the homosexuality law."

- Posted: 04/26/2021