Familiar Taste of Poison
(Day 77: Saturday Evening)
"I'm so glad you could make it," Audrey grins, but as she nears Mal, Mal holds a hand out to stop her.
She uncomfortably smiles, "I don't do hugs."
Audrey frowns, "You hug your friends."
"My friends?" Mal comments in unsureness.
"Evie and Jay," she pointedly states.
Mal half laughs, "Ah, yeah. Because, they're Evie and Jay. I'm friends with Carlos too, but you probably wouldn't see me hugging him."
"So, what is it then?" Audrey raises her eyebrows and places a hand on her hip. "You kiss Jay too?"
"Ew. No," Mal makes a face.
"Audrey," Ben interrupts, and then she turns towards him. "We just got here." He looks between them, "Can't the two of you just be civil for once?"
"Okay. Fine," Audrey breathes, before she smiles wide again and nods. "I'm sorry."
After a moment of silence Ben tensely questions, "Mal?"
She looks at him, "What?"
He folds his hands and uncomfortably laughs, "Uh, it's customary for both parties to apologize to each other."
"Why?" Mal slightly shakes her head. "I wouldn't mean it."
"Well, yeah," Ben wets his lips, "but it lets people move on from the disagreement."
She gives him a look, "Doesn't that kind of make the word meaningless? I mean, if you're not going to say it when you mean it, then what makes it so important to say?"
"She's just like her mother," Queen Leah whispers to her daughter, and Mal turns at the complaint.
Aurora tries to smile, "How about we sit for dinner?"
"I like that idea," Belle agrees, before she takes Adam's arm and the group walks over to the dining room.
When the waiter comes out Mal watches as the small bowls are set in front of each person, before Ben whispers, "It's not the main course. Don't worry."
Mal attempts to smile back, "Worried. No. Of course, not." before she picks up the fork and runs it through the deep brown liquid.
"It's broth," Audrey comments. "You eat it with a spoon."
She feels the stares and then uncomfortably replies, "Broth." before she looks up at Audrey and hesitates. "Does that mean there's water in it?"
"Probably. Why?" She jokes, "Are you allergic?"
Mal carefully places the fork back onto the red, cloth napkin, "Kind of. Yeah." and when she looks up again she notices Audrey's frown. "My body is just really good at purposing water, I guess? It won't kill me, but too much can make me feel sick."
"Broth is just water a bone has been cooked in," Aurora comments, before she attempts to smile at Mal, "You don't have to eat it. The actual dinner will be better."
"No, uh, it's fine," Mal frowns. "I'll try some." She glances down at it, "I just won't be able to finish it."
Ben smiles, "I like it."
Audrey's mouth gapes, as she sees him drinking from the bowl, "Ben!"
"What?" he smiles.
She irritably glances at his empty bowl, "You were supposed to use a spoon."
"But that would have taken forever," he laughs off.
"I apologize," Adam unsurely interrupts, and they all look at him. "I'm afraid he might have learned that from me. I can be a little impatient at times."
"No surprise there," Leah responds, and then Aurora gives her a look.
"It's really not an issue," Audrey's father reassures.
"Thank you," Adam nods, and Ben looks away.
He frowns, "So, what's for the main course?"
Aurora smiles and then rings the bell, before the man comes back out, "I think we're ready for the dinner portion." The man nods, before he takes a minute to return with the next platter and replaces each person's bowl with a plate of beef, potatoes, steamed vegetables, and garlic bread.
"You're not allergic to anything else, are you?" Audrey questions.
Her tone had been of annoyance, but when Mal looks at her she sees the seriousness, "No. I'm not allergic to anything else."
"Good," Audrey replies, before she smiles about the table and offers her hands to her father and Mal.
Ben notices her eye the hand in question, "They're Catholic. She's offering to have you join in prayer."
Mal looks at him and shakes her head, "I'm not very religious."
"Neither am I," Ben frowns.
"You're asking me to join," she assumes.
"We're at their castle. We should." He sees her hesitance, "All it can do is make them feel better about things, and you don't even have to say the closing line if you don't want to. Just take her hand and quietly listen."
Mal sighs, "Fine." before she takes Audrey's hand and Ben takes hers.
After everyone's hands are joined Audrey's mother starts the prayer, and when Mal notices their eyes shut she shuts hers as well; however, as the prayer continues on she peeks them open and sees Ben's eyes are open again as well. He smiles at her, and she slightly shakes her head, trying not to laugh, as Ben uses his eyes to show Mal they're still praying. "In Jesus' name, Amen."
Ben quickly looks away from Mal and frowns, "Amen." but Mal can see the corners of his mouth crack a smile before he turns to her again.
She smiles as well, before Audrey comments, "Oh. Good. Here we are."
Mal watches as the waiter sets the wine glasses in front of them, and Mal reaches out for hers before pulling her hand back. "What is this?" Ben frowns.
"I thought we could make a toast," Audrey grins as she raises her glass, before she turns to Mal, "to accept our transgressions, forgive, and move on with our lives."
Ben notices her eye the glass, "You don't have to do it."
"What are you talking about?" Audrey complains. "I thought you wanted peace."
"Yeah," Ben stresses, "but is a toast really necessary?"
"It's a promise," she asserts. "A toast brings good fortune and wellbeing."
"Now you're just being superstitious."
"To peace," Mal says, and when they turn back to her she has her glass raised.
Audrey smiles, "To peace." before she clinks her glass with Mal's, and when the ringing stops she takes a sip; however, Mal just stares at hers as she sets it back onto the table.
"You have to take a sip to complete the toast," Audrey complains, "or it doesn't count."
"No, she doesn't," Ben interrupts, before he quickly turns towards Mal, "You don't need to do this."
"Ben," his mother says; however, just as he looks at her, Audrey's father interrupts. "The wine is high quality. There won't be a lot of water in it."
"That's not the point," Ben nearly shouts.
"Then what is it?" Audrey irritably replies.
"The point is," he enunciates, "is that you shouldn't be shoving alcohol down someone's throat. They should be able to choose if they want to drink it themselves."
Audrey looks at Mal and raises her eyebrows, "Do you want to?"
Ben sees her unsureness, "Hey." and then Audrey turns back to him. "There's no way you would do this to Aziz."
"No," Audrey acknowledges, "because it's against his religion."
"And what?" Ben counters. "Someone can't chose not to drink just out of their own will do to better for themselves?"
Audrey pauses, "She can abstain from drinking later." before she turns back to Mal. "If she wants this truce, then she will drink to the toast now."
Ben notices Mal's hand shake, and he quietly comments, "She can't make you do this."
Audrey sternly looks at Ben, "She will if she really wants peace."
"You can't make someone do something they don't want to do."
"And yet," Audrey counters, "if she wants this truce enough, then she will."
"Darling," her father steps in, "maybe you should just accept the toast as is."
"Or," Audrey turns back to Mal, "I can make her promise never to hurt me again."
"She won't," Ben reassures.
"You don't know that," Audrey counters.
"Okay," Mal shouts. "Fine." Everyone looks at her as she gulps down the red wine and slams the glass back onto the table. "There," Mal widens her eyes at Audrey. "I drank it. You happy now?" There's a long silence as Mal's expression softens, her mouth gaping as she covers it with a hand and breathes, "I drank it. I actually drank it." Ben reaches for her, but she places an arm up in between them, "Don't." She slowly puts it back down, feeling her heart begin to race, "I should go… wait in the car."
"Mal," Ben says as she stands from her seat, and as she begins to walk away he turns back to Audrey. "You see what you did?"
"Hey," Audrey defends herself, "it's not my fault you chose an alcoholic over me."
Ben gives her a look as his mother stands from her seat and strides after Mal, before she sees her in the hallway, "Mal." She calls again, but it's only when she reaches out for Mal's shoulder, turning her around, that she faces Mal and sees the tears. "I thought you told us that you've had alcohol occasionally."
"Yeah," Mal laughs with a pained grin. "Occasionally. As in, occasionally I would drink as much as I could without getting completely sick."
Belle notices Mal's breathing quicken, "Don't worry. It's okay." before she places a hand on her shoulder; however, it's then that her eyes brightly glow. "Mal?"
"I," Mal begins, but her words are cut off as she reaches for her heart.
"Ben," Belle yells, and it's only a moment later that he runs into the hallway, the others pacing behind him.
As he nears the two of them, he slows, "What's wrong?" but it's then that he sees Mal's eyes and unsteady breathing. "Hey," he takes his mother's place. "You're okay."
"What's wrong?" Audrey's father questions.
Ben makes a noise, "Could be another panic attack." before he gets Mal to look at him. "Just try to breath. One breath. That's it." He notices her lips move as she blinks, before her eyes roll up, her lids closing as he catches her in his arms and kneels onto the floor.
"Are panic attacks supposed to do that?" Audrey stresses.
"I don't think so," Ben grimaces, before he moves the hair from Mal's face. "Something's wrong."
"We should get her to the hospital," Aurora comments.
Her husband nods in agreement, "That's a good idea."
"She's a hybrid," Ben frustrates. "We can't have just some random doctor look at her."
"Honey," his mother calmly intervenes. "We have to do something."
"Evie," he remembers, before he reaches for his phone. "I should call Evie."
"You're kidding?" Audrey disbelieves, and then Ben looks at her. "You're going to your girlfriend's hookup for help?"
Ben scratches his nose before looking through the contacts in his phone, "She's known her longer. She'll know what to do."
"But you're just proving to your girlfriend that you can't help her yourself," She continues on. "And you're proving to Evie that she's better for Mal than you."
Ben widens his eyes at her, "Audrey. I really don't need your help right now." before she silences and he calls the number.
"How's the dinner going?" Evie answers.
"There's something wrong with Mal," Ben hurriedly explains. "She couldn't' breathe, and her eyes were glowing, and— and…" He breathes, "I'm pretty sure it wasn't a panic attack." and then he sees her closed eyes. "She fainted. She hasn't gotten up yet."
"Hmm." She evenly responds, "What about a sleeping curse?"
"This isn't the time for jokes," Ben stresses.
"I'm not joking."
He shakes his head, "No. I don't think this was magic."
"Did she take anything?"
"Take anything?" Ben unsurely questions.
"Drugs," Evie elaborates.
"No," Ben breathes, before he shuts his eyes. "Uh. She drank. She had a glass of wine."
Evie's quiet for a moment, "And to think she was just about a month sober."
"Look. If you can't help," he begins.
"Ben." Evie reassures, "Mal's going to be okay."
"How?" he questions. "How do you know that?"
"Look," Evie explains, "Mal has a very good immune system. If something she ate made her sick somehow, she can handle it. And if it's psychological, that will pass too. Just let her rest. She can tell you what to do when she wakes up."
"And if she doesn't?" he worries.
"Then we might want to revisit that magic question." Ben doesn't speak. "Let me know how it goes. Okay?"
Ben slightly nods, "Yeah. Okay."
When he ends the call his mother questions, "What did she say?"
He sighs, "To let her rest." before he looks up at her. "And then ask her how we can help when she wakes up."
His mother nods, and then Audrey comments, "She can rest in a guestroom for the night."
"You sure?" he questions. "I mean, I wouldn't want to put you out like that."
"It's fine," she smiles. "You shouldn't be driving out of the kingdom while she's like this." She thinks, "Just spend the night and you can leave tomorrow afternoon."
"Afternoon?" Ben questions.
"Well, yeah. We'll want to be seeing you head off, and I know six in the morning probably wouldn't work for you."
His frown deepens, "Church. Right." before he tries to smile at her. "Thank you."
"Mal?" She makes a noise. "Hey," Ben softly speaks. "How are you feeling?"
"You mean since you asked me five minutes ago?" she irritably comments.
He frowns, "It's been two hours." and then she opens her eyes. "I was wondering if you would like to have some leftover dinner before everyone goes to sleep for the night."
She cringes, "No." as she tightly wraps an arm over her stomach. "I feel like I'm going to be sick."
He looks around the room, "Here." before he goes to grab the medium sized garbage can from near the white desk. "Anything else I can get you? Maybe something to drink?"
"Maybe some milk," Mal suggests, "but I don't know if I'll actually be able to drink it right now."
"I'll get it for you anyway."
"Thanks," Mal whispers, but as she watches him stand and leave the room her eyes flutter shut again.
"Hey." Mal opens her eyes and sees Ben with the glass of milk, before he sets it down onto the bedside table. "It will be right here for you."
"K," Mal says, but before she can shut her eye again she hears the second voice.
"How are you?" Audrey worries, and when Mal looks up she can see her standing next to her father and Ben's mother.
Mal nearly laughs, "It's a party."
"I think she's still really tired," Ben excuses.
"Well, aside from that," Belle looks from her son to Mal, "how are you doing?"
"Worst stomach ache in history," Mal mumbles, and then she places her hand to her head and groans at the headache. "Hell. I haven't felt this horrible since…" She slowly lowers her hand and spots Audrey, "You poisoned me."
"Me poison you?" Audrey doubts.
Ben glances at Audrey before turning back towards her, "Mal. Just because you're not feeling well—"
"It's cyanide poisoning," Mal stares at Audrey. "Uma used it on me after I left her gang. This feels the same."
When Ben looks over at Audrey she seems to be on the verge of tears, "I swear, I didn't do this."
"We believe you," her father reassures with a touch on the shoulder.
Belle looks at Mal with concern, "Deliberate cyanide poisoning kills people instantly."
"Yeah." Mal slowly responds with a frown, "I know. I'm lucky." and then she sighs. "I'm always just so very lucky."
There's a moment of silence, before Ben turns to Audrey, "If she really was poisoned, then it had to have been in something she ate or drank."
"We all had the same thing," Audrey frowns.
"But not the same dishes," Ben's mother responds.
Audrey's father turns towards her, "You think someone put it in her dish?"
"Someone who had access to the meal before we did," she insinuates.
"The server," he realizes.
Audrey pauses, "I'll go talk to him."
Her father follows, "I'm coming with." before they leave the room.
Ben looks back at Mal, before he kneels down and takes her hand, "Will you be okay?"
"It's just a little poisoning," Mal attempts to smile. "I'll be just fine."
He nods, "Okay, then." before he kisses her hand. "I'll see you in the morning." Mal watches as he turns to leave, his mother taking a moment to observe her before following him out into the hallway.
After they close the door Ben notices his mother's worry, "She said she would be okay."
"Yes." She stares at the door for a second, before she looks at him and pauses, "Ben. I think we need to discuss what happened earlier."
He nearly smiles, "You mean other than Mal getting poisoned?"
"You know what I'm talking about," she begins, but when it becomes clear he doesn't she explains, "Even if Audrey pressured Mal to drink, it's not her fault that Mal did it."
"It's not Mal's either," Ben begins, but his mother fails to respond. "She has an addiction. That's not something someone can just control."
"I'm not getting into this right now," his mother continues on, before she looks at him again and sighs. "My point is that just because your father says these kinds of things, it doesn't mean you need to too."
Ben's eyes shift, his mouth slightly agape as he remembers just what he had exactly said, "I didn't realize."
"Well, now you do," she points out.
Ben pauses before shaking his head, "I wouldn't ever want to blame others for my own actions or to, uh…" He wets his lips, "To make people feel bad about themselves."
She partly smiles and places a hand on his shoulder, "I'm glad to hear that." before she leans in to kiss him on the forehead.
"I know it's important to acknowledge and accept it when it happens."
"And to apologize," his mother expresses concern, "if you really are sorry."
"I am," he reassures.
His mother nods, "Okay, then. You should apologize."
"Apologize for what?" Audrey questions as she walks towards them.
Ben's mother comments, "I shouldn't keep your father waiting." before she walks off, leaving Ben and Audrey alone.
"Uh," Ben wets his lips. "Look, Audrey. What happened before at dinner…" He sees her tentative, cautious expression, and then he squeezes his hands together, glancing down for a moment, "Mal is still going to be an alcoholic whether she drinks or not, and assuming that we continue to be together she will continue to find herself in these kinds of situations." He nods, "It was wrong of me to blame you. It's not your fault."
"Maybe not her drinking," Audrey accepts, "but the poisoning was."
"What?" Ben quietly asks with furrowed brows.
She takes a deep breath before explaining, "The server claims he poisoned her for me." and then her eyes shift. "He says that he just didn't want me to get hurt again, maybe even worse this time."
"Mal never really intended to hurt you in the first place," Ben softly responds.
There's a pause, before Audrey informs, "I fired him. Murder is a sin. I can't have people killing in my name."
"Fired him?" Ben exasperates. "You should have reported him."
"I would have," Audrey hurriedly explains, before she whispers, "I just figured that maybe Mal wouldn't want to deal with the court and police again so soon."
Ben sees her offer him a piece of paper, and then he takes it, "What is this?"
"It's his information," she frowns. "If you want to press charges, you can."
Ben's quiet for a moment, before he meets her eyes, "Thank you."
She attempts to smile, "Your welcome."
He sees her turn around to walk away, "Audrey." and then she stops in her tracks; however, she doesn't turn around. "I really am sorry. I was just frustrated. I didn't mean it."
She looks over her shoulder with sad, brown eyes, "I'm already insecure enough the way it is, Ben. I really didn't need to see this side of you tonight." She continues to look at him, but he has no words to defend himself. "I hope you have a nice night." Ben looks back up from the floor, watching as she walks away.
"May God be with you," he remembers her say, before he slightly shakes his head and turns to find his own guestroom for the night.
- I feel like Audrey is a real mess in these two chapters, but you can let me know what you think.