There was a King
(Day 147: Saturday Morning)
"Ben," the headmistress says as he takes a seat.
"Fairy Godmother." She doesn't speak. "Why am I here?"
"Perhaps you would like to tell me that," she starts, before she straightens out the papers on her desk. "Someone said they saw you at Audrey's dorm last night."
He nervously laughs before leaning forward, "Who told you this?"
"I'm keeping my source anonymous."
Ben looks over her, "You're concerned." before he lifts his head up. "It was Jane, wasn't it?" Her silence confirms it, and Ben nods a few times as he looks towards the door and runs a tongue over his teeth.
"She said," the headmistress stresses, "that you— and I quote— threatened to rip Audrey's throat out and then growled to prove you could."
Ben turns back to her and sighs, "I only said that so she wouldn't hurt anyone again." before he gestures. "She made Evie relive a traumatic experience, locked her in the bathroom. I just needed to know it wouldn't happen again."
"So, you threatened to kill her," Fairy Godmother evenly responds.
He glances down, "Sounds like something a beast would do, doesn't it?"
"Ben," she sternly responds. "I've told you before, you're more than your species."
"Am I?" he questions before leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms. "Animals are defined by their species. How they look, what they eat, how fast or strong they are, people see them a certain way." Ben looks off and mumbles, "Might as well just embrace it."
"Embrace it?" the headmistress raises her eyebrows in disbelief.
He meets her dark brown eyes, "It's not like I have much of a choice."
"You always have a choice," she strongly says.
"No, I don't." Ben shouts with wide eyes. "I don't have a choice. Your species is the core of your being."
"But it's not all you are," she asserts. "Some humans are mean. Some are kind. You can be both a beast and kind."
"Sounds hard," he complains, before he looks down in thought. "It would be easier to just do what the beast wants. Roar at this person. Eat this person." He deeply frowns, "I wouldn't have to think or feel anything. It would be the most perfect thing."
"Am I going to have to call your parents?" she immediately responds.
Ben sits up straight, "No. Please."
Fairy Godmother sighs, "Ben." and she observes him for a moment. "You won't come forward about your parents' clear mistreatment of you, you won't eat, and now these death threats?" before she shakes her head. "What am I going to do with you?"
"I wouldn't have actually killed her," he quietly states.
"Under normal circumstances I'd be inclined to believe you, but with your lack of nutrition as of late I'm not quite sure what you would do." She pauses, "And if you were being honest, I would guess neither would you." She watches as Ben looks down and folds his hands, "Are you seriously considering embracing it?"
It takes a minute for him to mumble, "It's hard to fight it." before he looks away. "And I can't exactly change what I am." He finds his reflection on the steel file cabinets and turns away from it, "Even an enchantress couldn't save me from this."
When he meets her eyes Fairy Godmother softly speaks, "I need to discipline you for what you did."
"I know," he whispers.
"So," she slowly asks, "what would you like me to do?" He shrugs. "I'm running out of options. At this point, calling your parents is just about the only thing I can think of."
"What if it never happened?" Ben thinks.
"Pardon?"
He faces her and wets his lips, "Mal. What if I can get her to make me forget about what I am, everything that goes along with it?"
"I fail to see how that would help anything," the headmistress remarks.
"No. It would." He takes a breath, "A big reason why I haven't been having meat is because of how it relates to… to what I am, and, uh." Ben hesitates, "If I don't know what I am, then I will be less likely to act on the thoughts I get." before his eyes shift. "I'd be too busy telling myself how crazy it is."
"Ben." The headmistress cautiously comments, "I don't want to force you to get memory loss just because you don't want me to call your parents."
"You wouldn't be forcing me." He hurriedly explains, "I've thought about doing it before." He lets out a breath, "I've just been too much of a coward to go through with it."
"I can't punish you with memory loss." She emphasizes, "That's completely unethical, not to mention illegal."
Ben lifts a shoulder, "Do what you have to." before he faces her. "But I'm going to do it, so just know that if it does work you can't tell me the real reason I'm in trouble."
She's silent for a minute, "When?"
"Tonight," he nods. "I'm going to ask Mal tonight."
When Evie opens the door Ben uneasily smiles, "Is Mal here?"
"Yeah," she raises an eyebrow.
"Yeah." He nods fast, "Okay."
"Need to come in?" she questions.
"Yes," Ben immediately says with wide eyes.
Evie opens the door wider, but she notices him standing still, "Well. Come on."
Ben keeps his eyes on Mal as he walks towards her, "Hey."
She partly smiles, "Hey." His heart beats faster, and Mal bends her neck down as she looks up at his frozen expression. "Ben?"
He wets his lips, "I need your help."
"My help?" Mal slightly shakes her head. "How?"
"I—" He lets out a large breath, before he looks back at Evie.
She frowns, "I'll give you two some privacy." and after she leaves he turns back to Mal.
She offers him a serious look, "You're scaring me."
"Sorry," he apologizes. "It's just—" Ben faces her and attempts a calming breath, but he gulps, finding himself just as nervous as before.
"Ben?" His eyes shift. "What is it?"
He feels the tears intrude his eyes, and he clears his throat, "So." He wets his lips again, "There was a king. This king, he, uh." He takes a shaky breath, "He had a lot of secrets, and even if his life looked good, it wasn't. It was hard." His voice cracks, and he clears it again, "Things got even harder when he learned he wasn't, that he wasn't human." He blinks, and a couple tears fall. "His life, it tore apart. Everything he knew, to ashes. He wanted so much for it not to be true, and he tried to be as human as he could." He gulps before his voice raises in pitch, "But people got hurt, and he knew he couldn't do it anymore." Ben attempts to smile as he takes Mal's hands, "So. He goes to his beautiful girlfriend and asked her to take the pain away, to help him forget about what he is."
It takes a minute for Mal to comment, "You can't just forget what you are. If you think you're human, you'll think meat is a choice."
"My choice," Ben gets a grip of himself. "I would want it, and I would eat it. By choice."
"And why can't you just do that now?"
He notices her sad expression, and he frowns, "I don't like doing things that make me remember what I am."
"And what's so wrong with being what you are?" she whispers.
Ben's silent for a long moment, "I just can't do it."
"You've been a hybrid your whole life," Mal asserts. "Nothing's changed."
He quiets, "I see things more. And everything I see, it's the beast. I'm never me anymore. It's always just it."
"Ben," Mal sighs. "You're not making any sense."
"What I eat," Ben begins. "How I heal, how strong I am, the way I am, it's all because of the beast. And I just—" He makes a pained expression, "I hate that everything is just about what I am now. I hate that I can't be just me now."
"And you think you will be any more you when you forget?" Mal smiles in disbelief. "Ben. Just think. For one second. All of the conversations you've had with people about this, all of the times you've thought or did things because of it." She stresses, "You will forget a shit ton of things if I do this. You will have big, black holes if this works— if I can do it at all."
"I don't care," he half laughs, before he lifts their hands and steps closer to her. "Please, Mal. I really need this."
Her eyes shine, "I can't lose you."
"You wouldn't lose me," he promises. "It would be like when you first got here. I liked you then. If you do this—" He moves some lose curls behind her ear, "I will still love you."
She nervously laughs, "And what if I decide I don't want to hypnotize you?"
Ben glances down, "I don't want to think about that." before he squeezes her hands tighter. "Please, Mal. I don't know what more I could do."
She nods, quietly saying, "Okay." before she places her hands to his cheeks and swipes his tears with her thumbs. She takes a deep breath as she glows her eyes, "Listen to me. Forget that you're a hybrid, about being a beast, and any conversation you have had about it since you found out your species. You will think you're human." Her voice shakes, "You are human, just like your mother. You and your father are not beast hybrids." before the tears fall to her cheeks. "The curse broke completely."
After her eyes stop glowing Ben blinks, before he looks down at the floor; however, the next moment he faces her and places a hand to her cheek, "Hey. What's wrong?"
Mal shakes her head, forcing a smile, before she hurries to wipe her tears away, "Nothing." She looks at him and quietly says, "I'm just glad you're here."
He takes her hands, "And I will never leave you."
She hesitates, "You tried to before."
Ben sighs, "I was being an imbecile." before he reaches for her hair. "How could someone leave someone so beautiful?" He moves in to hug her, "I love you. You know that."
"I know," Mal frowns, before she hears Ben make a disgruntled noise. She steps back and sees his head turned away with his eyes shut, "What's wrong?"
He shakes his head, "Nothing. Just feels like I haven't ate in days." and he faces her before shifting his eyes in thought. "How about we go out for dinner?"
"Dinner?" Mal unsurely says. "I just had dinner." Ben looks down at the floor, and she attempts to smile, "But I could talk to you and have some dessert, I guess."
Ben smiles at her, "Really?" and she merely nods before he steps forward, takes her hand, and lifts it up to kiss it. "You're too good to me."
- Posted: 01/18/2019
-Hey. Sorry for the long wait. i should probably say I got that job I mentioned before, but I get Thursday nights off so hopefully you should start seeing stuff around then.