Je Te Désire

(Day 84: Saturday Morning)

"We were starting to think you would be late," Ben's mother mentions as he sits down at the round table with them.

"Yes. Sorry," Ben looks down at the glass before folding his hands. "I slept through my alarm." He begins to explain further, but before the words leave his mouth his father interrupts.

"You should have set a second alarm, a louder alarm."

"Yes," Ben lets out the breath. "I was just about to say that I didn't think to do that."

"Well, at least you're here now," his mother smiles.

Ben tries to smile back, nodding as he looks at her, "Yes. At least there's that."

"I hope you've got your speech ready," his father intrudes.

Ben frowns again, "Pardon?"

"The speech that explains what you're doing with the tax money," his voice raises.

"Oh, that," Ben remembers. "Yeah. I've got that all taken care of."

"You should let me read it," his father insists.

"Uh." Ben awkwardly smiles, "I don't actually have the paper version with me." and then he sees his father's glower. "But perhaps I should take a moment to, uh, write it down." He wets his lips, "You know, just in case."

"I think that's a lovely idea," his mother opinionates, and then Ben notices his father calm some.

"I look forward to seeing it," he gruffly comments.

Ben continues to show his teeth, even though his grin has started to fade into a frown, "I will be back momentarily." He stands from the seat and heads over to the small, brick building, before he enters the men's bathroom and hides behind the set of stalls. Ben unzips his bag, taking out the small notebook and a pen, before he places it up against the wall and writes. As everyone knows, we have prided ourselves to ensure that this country is as beautiful as it is functional. He pauses. However, since I've become king I've noticed some things that I would like to improve: hardworking citizens struggling to get by and people who are unable to find homes due to their financial circumstances. This is why I will be putting less of the tax money into the infrastructure and more into the functionality of the economy. This year I have started with something small, a raise to the dwarves for all the hard work they do for us, but eventually I would also like to extend this gesture to more benefits for farmers and other laborers, perhaps even implementing a system of incentive, where the tedious work they do to ensure our survival may also benefit them the more or harder they work to help us survive.

"I will be back momentarily." Ben hears his father's disdain and then turns around with widened eyes, before he steps closer to him. "You think that you can put off your duties as king and then lie to me about it!" Ben leans back against the cool wall, and as his father comes closer he scoots towards the corner of the room. He grits his teeth, "You think you can just get away with this, like you get away with everything else?" Ben's unable to move, both shoulders backed against the adjacent walls. His father snatches the notebook from his hands, and Ben watches his father's piercing blue eyes scan the paragraph for faults before pointing a finger up at him, "You listen here. I did not build this paradise of a country for you to tear it down."

"Some paradise," Ben breathes in annoyance. "Your obsession with appearance and beauty is what's making people suffer. The country doesn't need perfect roads. It can survive with a few potholes here and there. What won't survive are the people who starve or who have to withstand weather without shelter."

"Enough," his father shouts, and when Ben looks away from his face he sees another in the sink mirrors; however, his eyes fall away from his gape-mouthed friend when his father tears the page from his notebook. Ben watches the notebook fall to the dusty floor, before he hears the ripping and stands silent as the pieces fall to the floor. "If those people want food or a home, all they have to this is get off their asses and work for it." Ben lets out a breath. "This is the land of opportunity. There's nothing stopping them but themselves." Ben watches him take another step, their shoes nearly touching, and he shuts his eyes as he senses the closeness. "I'm going to say this once. You may be king now, but this will always be my country." Ben flinches as he shouts, "My country. You hear me? It wouldn't even be here without me. And you." He seethes, "You will do exactly as I tell you when I tell you, and I'm telling you now that you're going to go out there, you're going to smile, and you're going to tell them that their money will be used the same way it's always been: on the country and not people looking for handouts."

When his father stops talking Ben opens his eyes, seeing his narrowed eyes before glancing down and noticing the glasses folded in his hand, before he mutters, "Yes, Father."

After his father steps back and turns around, Ben looks into the mirror and watches as his father glances at Doug, frowns, and then moves past him; however, when Ben and Doug's eyes meet in the mirror again Ben looks down, kneeling to pick his small notebook back up. "What happened?"

Ben stands back up and frowns at him, "Don't pretend like you don't know."

"I don't speak French," Doug persists, before he notices the shredded notebook paper. "What did he tear up?"

Ben puts his notebook and pen back into his bag, "My speech." before he goes to pick up the pieces. "He didn't like it."

"Ben."

He hears his concern, "It's fine. Really." before he eyes down in thought. "I rushed it. I shouldn't have rushed it."

"I don't care if you rushed it," Doug remarks before taking a step forward. "That could have easily been a report you spent a month on."

"But it wasn't," Ben furrows his eyebrows. "It was just some stupid, rushed speech for a country that should be worth more than five minutes of my time."

"This isn't your fault, Ben." He doesn't speak, and Doug slightly shakes his head, "Is this what happened last night?"

"I was going to write the speech last night," Ben remembers.

He takes another step forward, "Ben." and then he looks at him. "What happened last night?" He looks off again. "Please tell me."

"We were talking about today," Ben recalls, before he frowns back at Doug. "I went over there to talk about today, the event."

"And?" Doug softly prompts.

Ben lifts a shoulder, "We had an argument." and then his eyes shift. "A vase broke." He pauses, "I don't know why we have vases. They always break. And the flowers always die."

"Ben," Doug says, and then he looks back at him. "What was the argument about?" His eyes shift again, before he lifts a shoulder. "What? You don't know?"

Ben shakes his head, "It was… just an argument. It was, uh, about the kingdom and how I'm not ruling right, but…" He faces him, "All I really remember is the vase shards and flowers crunching as he walked towards me." He thinks, "My mom showed up. She's always there for me." before he slightly nods. "It's a bad day. He's just having a bad day."

"A bad day?" Doug disbelieves.

"Well. It's just, uh-em." He scratches the back of his head, "You know. He just gets unwell sometimes."

"Unwell?" he questions.

Ben pauses before moving forward, "I've got to go."

"No," Doug disapproves.

Ben feels the hand touch his shoulder and then quickly turns back, gritting his teeth, "Get off of me." before he lets out a couple shaky breaths.

He sees the pain in his eyes, "Ben." and he watches as he takes a step back. "How much does this kind of thing happen?"

Ben's eyes shift, "He's doing better. He's better now." and when Doug fails to speak Ben turns away. "I've got to go. Smile for the cameras and all that."

When Ben surpasses the crowd and steps up to the stage he makes sure to smile, "Good morning, Auradon." and then the crowd quiets. Ben feels his frown slip, as he sees his father walk up to join him; however, he forces to keep it. "So, I know you must all be very excited to hear about where your tax dollars are going to, because there's nothing more fun than finances, right?" He hears a portion of the audience laugh, and he gulps before continuing, "Yes, yes, so I will try to make this as short and painless as possible." He feels his father set a hand on his shoulder, and he flinches, shutting his eyes and taking a deep breath, before forces a grin, "First off, you should be glad to know that the function of the infrastructure of our country will remain top priority, so you won't have to worry about roads or any destruction from storms again this year." He pauses, "I did make a small change this year, though, and that is that the dwarves will be getting a higher percentage profit from the work they do for the government. The crystals and minerals they mine, they will now be receiving five percent of the profits instead of one percent of the profits." He notices several frowns in the crowd, before he spots Doug making his way through towards Ben's mother. "Any questions?" He sees Doug explain something to her, before she offers a look of shock and meets Ben's eyes. He looks away from her and gestures towards a black haired reporter, "Yes?"

"Prior to your coronation you had several interviews where you said that you had big plans in mind regarding the people themselves," she references. "Like your plan for low-income housing for the homeless, for instance. Is that not your plan anymore?"

Ben folds his hands as he struggles to keep his smile, "That is something I would still very much like to do, but as king I have to think of everybody. So, I can't help everybody at once." He reassures, "But I will be monitoring the budget spending closely this year, and if I find there's room for it, then those low-income apartments would be something I would like to look further into."

A man questions, "But over half of the spending for last year's infrastructure wasn't spent, isn't that true?"

"Yes," Ben frowns, "but that's only because we had a good year. National disasters are a more or less unpredictable variable in government finances, but that doesn't mean that I can just put that money somewhere else. As the expression goes, when it rains it pours, and I don't want to be put off-guard if we suddenly get a number of natural disasters in a single year." Ben lifts a hand, "In short, it is impossible to know how much money could be taken from that area of spending without further calculation."

"But surely one apartment building wouldn't be a lot of money," an audience member shouts, and Ben can hear the tired desperateness in his tone. "In comparison," he adds.

Ben notices the man with the untended beard and brown hair that reaches his shoulders, the hair fairly greasy and looking as though he had flattened it with water. He opens his mouth before responding, "Like I said, I will look into it; however, I can neither confirm nor deny the possibility of low-income apartments at this current time. So, in the meantime, if you don't have enough opportunity to pull yourself up yourself, then you will just have to rely on charity from the church." He sees Doug and his mother looking at him intently, before he tries to smile at the audience again, "Now. I've taken the liberty of setting up a ballot box, so everyone who has shown up today has the opportunity to make their voice heard. The questions include what you feel should be the priority this year and what sorts of things you think need improvement. If enough people strongly agree on a topic, such as implementing low-income apartments, then I will put it under advisement." No one speaks up. "I hope everyone has a good day. I will be free to answer more questions later if I am so needed, but until then… enjoy the free food."

He glances up at his father before making his way around him, and when they get back to the table Ben's mother gives his father a stern look, "We're leaving."

"What? And leave Ben alone?" he disagrees.

"Yes," she immediately answers. "He's king now, and it doesn't matter if you founded this country. You handed it down to him, so it's his responsibility now."

"He's just a child," he disputes.

"Your parents left you the kingdom when you were a child," she counters.

He's quiet for a moment, "I didn't ask for that."

"And neither did Ben," she reminds him, before she pauses and quitens, "He did it for you, for your health." She places one hand on his shoulder and the other one to his cheek, "So, just come home with me, please, so you don't… work yourself up any more than you have."

"What if he changes what he told the people?" he voices.

"He won't," before she turns to Ben, "won't you, honey?"

"No," he confirms. "I won't."

She smiles at her husband, holding one of his hands with both of her own, "Please come home with me."

He lets out a breath of defeat, "Okay." before she takes his arm and walks him away.

Ben faces Doug, "How did she know what he told me?"

Doug frowns, "I might have recorded it." and then he sees Ben glare at him. "Look. If you had been hurt—"

"Where is it?" he interrupts.

"Where's what?"

"The recording," Ben growls. "Where is it?"

Doug offers him a sad expression, "She deleted it." and then Ben lets out a breath. "Look, Ben." He hesitates, "I'm really glad that you were able to help my community, but…" He looks into his eyes, "If it puts you in danger—"

"I was never in any danger," Ben defends before mumbling. "I'm just too emotional for my own good." He stresses a smile, "Speaking of which." before he pats Doug on the shoulder and moves past him towards the homeless man. He watches him take a triangular sandwich from the platter, "Good morning." before he turns around with startled eyes.

"King Ben," he enthuses. "Uh, good morning to you too."

He nods, "Am I to assume that you were asking about the apartments for yourself?"

"Yes, sir."

Ben nods again before gesturing, "You don't happen to be part of a church?"

"I do attend one," he slowly responds, "but they do not always help. In fact, sometimes they expect things to be given to them."

"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God," Ben quotes, before he acknowledges, "Some churches are corrupted. I think some ministers are actually as rich as government officials, if I remember correctly." He wets his lips, before he takes the notebook and pen back out of his bag, "Do you mind writing the name of your church down for me, please?"

When Ben offers him the notebook his mouth gapes in hesitance, "They offer me shelter. I don't want them to get in trouble."

"You misunderstand," Ben smiles. "Princess Audrey is a very vocal member of her church, and I think I might be able to get her to extend her charity to yours. At least for one event. No one's getting in trouble." He offers the notebook again, and he takes it this time.

When he finishes writing he hands it back and bows his head, "Thank you, my king."

"It's not an issue," Ben reassures. "Did you participate in the ballot yet?"

He hesitates, "I wasn't sure if I would be allowed to. I have no address and I don't have a phone either, so you would have no way of knowing if I'm real or not."

Ben frowns, "Participate. You cared enough to show. Your voice should be heard."

He nods, "Thank you, sir."

"And as far as the ballot goes," Ben begins, and when the man meets his eyes he continues, "If enough people think it's a necessity, then I will implement it whether there's enough tax money to go towards it or not."

He looks at him in confusion, "How is that possible?"

Ben lifts a hand, "Take it from the natural disaster portion of the infrastructure, and if a disaster occurs, I'll take it out of my own pocket."

"With all due respect," he hesitates, "you just became king. You can't possibly have that much money on hand yet."

Ben looks at him for a moment, "If I can afford spending a hundred dollars at a restaurant every week, then I can afford to put a thousand or two towards a disaster one time."

He grins, "Thank you. So very much."

"You're welcome," Ben smiles again, before he places a hand on the man's shoulder. "Now. Do yourself a favor and fill out the questionnaire. I'm sure there will still be plenty of sandwiches for you to have afterwards."

"Yes, sir," he enthuses. "Right away, sir."

When the man walks away Doug comments, "You touched him."

"And?" Ben turns around in question.

"Nothing." He takes a moment, "I've just never really seen a royal do that before."

Ben glances down, "Well, uh, in general royals tend to be very neat, clean people." before he shrugs it off. "I've just had to learn how to clean up messes, I guess, so, uh, I don't take too much thought to a person's hygiene." He turns back and sees the man standing by the ballot box by the stage, "Besides, I think he cleaned up pretty well, you know, given his current circumstances and such."

Doug moves to stand beside him, "It would be more than a thousand dollars, you know."

Ben makes a noise, "I know, but if I can spend over a couple hundred dollars every week on food and drink, then he should at least be able to afford a home. It was the least I could do."

"But you made him smile," Mal counters, "and that's what matters."

Ben turns and sees Mal and Evie walk towards him, "I didn't think you would be here."

"Why?" Mal raises an eyebrow, "You think I would be bothered by all of the stares and cameras and whispers?"

He frowns, "More like it's early and I didn't tell you."

"You told me," Evie smiles.

"I did," Ben uncomfortably adjusts his coat.

"So," Evie continues, "someone posted a clip of you, and it looks like you gave the dwarves that raise after all."

"Uh, yes," he confirms.

"I'm proud of you," she smiles.

"As am I," Mal says, before she tugs at his coat and pulls him into a kiss. She sees him smile again, but she gives an inquiring look, "I know your father didn't agree. Is he still…"

"Concerned?" Ben offers. "Yeah, but," he breathes, "it's okay." He cockily expresses, "He's at home with my mother now, so… yeah."

"She knows how to tame the beast, huh?" Mal comments.

"In more ways than one," he starts to frown, before he smiles back at her, "Can I kiss you again?"

"I don't know," she entices. "Can you?"

Ben lets out a chuckle before leaning forward and shutting his eyes as his lips meets hers, before they part and he moves her bangs behind her ear, "Je t'aime."

Mal slightly frowns, "You said that last night. What does it mean?"

He grins, "I love you."

"Je t'aime," Mal repeats. "I think I kind of like that."

Ben grins, "There's also je t'adore." before he moves in to kiss her again. "Which means I adore you." He whispers in her ear, "And then, of course, there's je te désire." before he places a sucking kiss on her neck. "Which means I desire you."

Evie giggles, "Get a room."

"Yeah," Doug unsurely comments, before Ben faces him. "You are in public. You might want to turn it down just a notch."

Ben sees him demonstrate a centimeter between his fingers before turning back to Mal, "There aren't any rooms here."

"That's not something you would be ready for anyway, is it?" Mal slowly questions.

"Not quite yet," he confirms, before he takes her hand and kisses it. "But I have an idea." He takes a few steps back, tugging at her hand, before she smiles and he pulls off to behind the brick building where the trees hang over them. He motions her towards the wall and kisses her, before he makes his way to her neck again and he intakes the scent, "I love you so much."

Mal laughs, "What? I finally understand a word of French and now you won't speak it?"

Ben faces her, "Je t'aime tellement." before he kisses her again; however, after a few more he feels her press her hand against his chest and he stops.

She gives a questioning look, "Didn't you say you have another speech to do later?"

"Questions to answer," Ben corrects.

"Which you're still going to need your lips for," Mal reminds him.

He makes a disgruntled noise, "But je te désire now." before he goes for her neck again.

She pushes him back, "Come on. I mean it." before she grins. "Part of this is going to be me kissing you, and I don't want you going out there sounding like an idiot just because you can't feel your mouth."

He takes in her sweet, smoky scent before breathing out, "But I want you."

"You can have me later," she reassures as she tugs on his coat again, but then she notices his stomach growl and gives him a look, "Let me guess. You skipped breakfast?"

Ben's eyes shift for a moment, "I can neither confirm nor deny that."

Mal loudly laughs, "Come on. Let's get you something to eat." as she places a hand on his back and guides him back over to the tables.

Posted: 10/20/2018

- I've never studied French, so if there's someone who knows it well and you've found I've made a mistake, then I would like to know. For instance, I don't know what words are articles, so I wouldn't know which should or should not be capitalized in a title... Also, I'm pretty sure that in German you're supposed to have the nouns capitalized at all times, so if French has a weird rule like that too then I'm absolutely doomed. Please help. You don't have to go out of your way or anything. It's just, you know, if you know it, then correcting a mistake I've made would be very appreciated. Thank you.

-Next Up: Mal's birthday, because time doesn't care what's going on in your life; birthdays are still going to happen, and therefore characters need birthdays. #Logic