Mal sighed as she sat in the bed in the room that Queen Belle had given her, claiming that it would be a lot more comfortable than sitting in the chair that the hospital had given her. It wasn't that Belle was wrong per se...but Mal definitely wasn't used to how comfortable Auradon mattresses were.
It honestly felt as if she was sitting on a cloud at times, a nice cloud too. Not the grey ones that always surrounded the Isle and made it so they never got to see the blue sky that Auradon got. Uma had found an old Auradon Prep textbook and they had included a picture of the Isle, sitting there with the tantalizing blue sky just out of reach.
Mal knew as far as parents went, she was fairly lucky. At least she wasn't like Uma who had to work in the Chip Shoppe from sunup to sundown almost all the time. Or there was the rumor that Jay didn't get a bed at all but slept under a shelf at Jafar's shop.
At least the dragon gave me a bed, she thought. So what if she's probably one of the worst people ever to be a parent? And so what if she broke my ankle because I called her 'Maleficent' when the Evil Queen was over? I mean...Long Live Evil right?
The pulsing sensation of throbbing pain radiating from her ankle broke Mal out of her thoughts, the medication that Lady Steph had insisted she take having worn off.
"Hiya!"
Mal blinked as she looked over at the doorway to see a young boy, probably a bit shorter than Harry, standing there.
"I heard from Lumiere that we had a guest in the castle and I wanted to say hi," the boy added before holding up a stuffed dragon. "Flamey wanted to say hi too."
"...Flamey?" Mal asked. "And who are you?"
"Oh right," the boy said with a slightly sheepish smile. "My name's Ben. Lumiere said that maman said you were hurt and that you and Lady Pesephone would be staying with us for a while. And maman and papa always say we make our guests feel welcome so do you want Flamey? He always makes me feel better when I'm upset."
"...you have a stuffed dragon?" Mal asked after staring at Ben for a minute. He wasn't anything like what she imagined a boy from Boreadon to be like.
"Why wouldn't I?" Ben asked with a grin. "Dragons are awesome!"
Mal shrugged. "I...I just thought you lot would think dragons are evil or something," she said but couldn't avoid the small smile that pulled at her lips as she saw Ben's grin. There was just something infectious about his joy that made Mal want to smile too.
Ben's eyes grew wide and he hugged the stuffed dragon close to him, as if he was offended on the toy's behalf. "Of course not!"
"Easy Benny," Mal said with a small chuckle, the nickname coming to her before she could stop it. "I didn't say that you thought that. Just that people here in Boreadon did."
"Auradon."
"Huh?"
"You called it 'Boreadon'," Ben said. 'Don't worry, I used to mispronounce it lot too but Chip used to help me. He said it wasn't a good look for me to not be able to pronounce the kingdom's name."
Mal tilted her head slightly. Benny was...interesting to say the least.
"Why are you wandering around by yourself?" Mal asked. Didn't he know that was the best way to get attacked? If Jay was here, he would have stolen whatever Benny had in his pockets by now if the rumors about his skills are true.
"Well why wouldn't I?" Ben asked. "It's my home, Chip's helping his mom out with lunch and Abby's taking a nap. I could read a book but I wanted to meet our new guest first."
"Wait...that word you said earlier...what does it mean?" Mal asked. She had never heard it before and the last thing she wanted was to look like a fool in front of some Boreadon boy.
"Maman? It means mama," Ben said with a smile as Mal's eyes grew wide. She'd been talking with the Crown Prince all this time?
Okay it was official, Ben was nothing like the typical Boreadon royals they saw on the television.
"Belle's your mother?"
"She sure is!" Ben nodded, his smile morphing into a grin before giving a small bow. "What's your name? You never said."
"Oh...I'm Mal," Mal said. "Hey...if you're the Crown Prince, shouldn't you have like a nanny trailing after you or something?"
Ben shook his head. "Mrs. Potts watches me sometimes but I don't have a nanny. I've got Chip though but he's with his mom right now."
Mal nodded slightly. "You know...you can come in if you want. I mean it's your castle but it's probably easier to talk if you're not in the doorway," she said with a small shrug.
"Maman and papa say it's rude to just enter someone's room without them saying it's okay," Ben said as he walked in and pulled himself up onto the chair by the bed. "They say the only time it's okay to do that is on Christmas Day."
"You always do what your parents say?"
"No...one time I was playing with Chad near the rose bushes and maman and papa said not to go near them because they were getting trimmed but we lost our ball so I had to go in and I got scratched."
"What a rebel," Mal said, shaking her head. "Why aren't you playing with that Chad guy you mentioned instead of hanging around here?"
"Well Chad's not here first of all," Ben said with a small smile. "But also because you're our guest and you're hurt and lying in bed by yourself is boring."
He set Flamey on the bed next to Mal. "There we go. Now you're not in bed by yourself anymore. He's a good listener if you have anything you want to tell him."
"Why would I do that?" Mal asked. Talking to a toy was just a good way to be overheard, at least that's what the older kids would sometimes tell them. Especially Harriet, though her lessons were in way of Harry so Mal wasn't entirely sure how accurate they were. "What would I even tell him?"
"Whatever you want," Ben said, shrugging slightly. "I do it all the time."
"Oh really? What do you tell him?" Mal asked. If nothing else I can get some potential dirt on Benny to use at a later date. Then Maleficent might tell me the rest of my name!
"Now that would be telling wouldn't it?" Ben said, teasing Mal slightly.
Mal couldn't help but chuckle slightly. "I guess it would be."
She couldn't deny it, Ben was growing more and more interesting with every minute she talked to him. He definitely wasn't someone she expected to find in Boreadon.
"So...where are you from?" Ben asked, as if to break the silence that had fallen between them.
"A far away place," Mal told him, but with a playful note weaving into her usual snark.
"Oh really? That's not fair, you know where I'm from!"
"Life's not fair Benny, surely you know that by now?"
Ben shook his head. "Fine then, keep your secrets. I'll find them out at some point you know."
"Maybe you will, maybe you won't," Mal teased. "I'm good at keeping people from finding out my stuff."
"Is that a dare?" Ben teased back.
"Only if you take it as one."
Ben smiled as he nodded. He could just ask his maman but that wasn't as much fun as figuring it out for himself.
Mal sighed. "...I'm from the Isle," she muttered. Better she tell him now and he get scared off than grow attached to him only for him to hate her later.
And why she cared about that, she had no idea.
Ben tilted his head. "Of the Lost?"
"You know of any other Isles?"
"The Isle of Misery for starters."
Mal shook her head. "Anyway...you got a problem?"
"Nope!"
Mal stared at him for a moment. "Really? You're...you're not going to run away screaming?"
"Why would I?" Ben asked. "Maman and papa say the Isle's filled with scary people who've done bad things but you're not scary."
"Well there goes my rep!" Mal shook her head.
"Why would you want that as your rep?" Ben asked. "What's a rep anyway?"
"Reputation. It means you're known for being the biggest or baddest person around, means people are afraid to even say your name," Mal told him.
"But why not want a rep for being the nicest or friendliest person?" Ben asked. "Or a rep for wanting to help people?"
Mal shook her head. "That wouldn't fly on the Isle."
"Well you're not on the Isle," Ben said. "So you could have two reps."
"Why would I do that? I'm going home anyway."
"So what does it matter what I think?"
Mal shrugged. "It just does."
"I don't think so," Ben said. "You're just you. And you seem nice."
"You don't know that," Mal said.
"Well I'd like to," Ben said. "Everyone should have a friend and if you're our guest then I'll be yours. Do you want me to sign your cast?"
"Why would you do that?"
"It's what you do," Ben said. "At least that's what Chip told me! And no one else has so I could be the first!"
"Lady Steph might want to sign it," Mal told him.
"Then I'll leave room for her to do so," Ben said as he slipped down from the chair to get a thick marker to sign Mal's cast with.
This might just be the pain talking but...Benny might be a good ally, Mal thought. At least until I get back to the Isle or even until I get this blasted cast off. I can't be seen as too reliant on Lady Steph after all, I'd look weak.
"Found it!" Ben said as he clamored back up the chair and uncapped the marker to begin to sign Mal's cast. "There! I also signed it for Flamey too!"
"Well I'm sure he's glad you did that."
"I'd sign it for Abby too but Chip says you're not supposed to sign other people's names for them," Ben said. "It's not right and you could get in trouble if they find out."
"I don't really care about getting into trouble," Mal shrugged. "Where'd you get Flamey anyway? He's...he's kinda cool."
"Thanks!" Ben grinned. "I think so too! He's great to have if you're feeling sad or scared cause dragons aren't scared of anything. At least according to Lonnie!"
"Lonnie?"
"She's one of my friends," Ben explained. "Her mom's got a dragon for a guardian but I don't really understand it all that well yet. But she'd fight anyone who thought dragons were evil."
"Hmm," Mal said softly. Lonnie might be someone to ally myself with, especially if her mom's really Mulan. One of the few girl heroes who knows how to use a sword and kick butt! And...I might be in Boreadon but it's not as bad as I thought...at least I've got Lady Steph even if she's in a meeting right now. And Benny makes for some entertainment at least.
Just as Mal thought that, Persephone poked her head into the room along with a older boy Mal hadn't seen before.
"Why am I not surprised? This is why I made sure to grab your lunch too Benji," the older boy chuckled.
"Thanks Chip!" Ben grinned. "Oh! Hiya Lady Perseone!"
Persephone smiled. "You can call me Steph, Prince Ben, I know my name can be a little hard to pronounce."
"Okay Lady Steph!"
"Making friends Mal?" Persephone asked as Chip handed Mal a tray of a grilled cheese sandwich and a bowl of chicken noodle soup.
"Oh lucky!" Ben said when he saw the soup. "Mrs. Potts makes the best soup ever! I think sometimes she puts cinnamon in the chicken soup."
"Oh do you not want your special sandwiches?" Chip teased. "I guess I'll have to eat them then."
"No!" Ben said quickly. "I like my sammies!"
Mal shook her head at the interaction before looking back at Persephone. "Allies, Lady Steph. I don't do 'friends'."
"Well then are you making allies then?" Persephone asked, knowing that Mal wouldn't shed the lessons of the Isle so soon after arriving in Auradon.
"I think so," Mal said.
Ben nodded. "I'm her friend! She likes dragons too!"
"Of course that would make her your friend," Chip chuckled. "Be alert Mal, Benji here won't rest until he tells you every fact he knows about dragons."
Mal shrugged. "It's not like I'm able to go anywhere," she said, gesturing slightly to the purple cast.
"How are you feeling by the way Mal?" Persephone asked.
"I'm fine Lady Steph," Mal said even as her ankle throbbed in pain. It was one thing to admit it to another person from the Isle, it was another thing entirely to admit it in front of two Boreadon boys.
"Are you sure? You can tell me if you're not and we can get you another dose of the pain medicine."
"I know," Mal said softly.
Ben gave her a small smile. "I don't like pain medicine either. Mrs. Potts will freeze it and turn it into lollies but it doesn't make it taste any better."
Persephone couldn't help but smile as she watched the two kids, both of them chatting as they gradually began to eat. Prince Ben just seems so happy to talk to Mal, it's almost infectious, she thought.
"Oh!" Ben said as he seemed to light up with an idea. "If I have to stay in bed, maman gets me all the books I want from the library. Are there any you want? We have our own so I can get it for you."
Mal couldn't help but stare at him in shock. "Um...I...I don't really read that much..."
"Not the best thing to say around this kid," Chip chuckled as Ben stared at her in shock.
Mal shrugged. "It's not really done on the Isle."
She looked over at Ben who still looked stunned at the thought of someone not reading whenever they could. "What's with him?"
"Oh...um...nothing I guess," Ben said softly as he bit his lip. "Could...could I bring you a couple of my favorite books sometime?"
"If you want," Mal said. What's the catch? Like Uma always says, you don't get something for nothing so if you're going to bring your favorite books, there's got to be a catch!
"That's a very kind offer Prince Ben," Persephone said with a small smile.
"It's the least I can do to help," Ben said. "You're our guests! Like maman says, we should always take care of our guests!"
How sweet, Persephone thought. You certainly raised a good kid Queen Belle. And he'll be a good Prince to Auradon once he was old enough to take on some royal duties. And maybe, just maybe he'll be a good friend for Mal if I'm lucky enough to get custody and at least Mal will be able to be in Auradon half the year rather than be subjected to the Isle for the rest of her life.
"You eat your food Ben," Chip said. "I'll grab the books."
"Okay Chip," Ben nodded and started to eat his sandwich. Mal shook her head and began to slowly eat her own sandwich. Her eyes grew wide as she realized that this wasn't the same food they got on the Isle.
Sure Lady Steph had provided her food but Mal thought she was just using her Godly magic to make it taste better.
If Boreadon always got food like this...then why was the Isle's food so bad?
"You okay?" Ben asked, noticing Mal's frown.
"Um...yeah," Mal nodded. She didn't know why she wanted to lie but something about telling Ben the truth about the Isle food...it didn't feel like the right time.
Plus if he got shocked over someone not reading, telling him the truth about their food would almost be like kicking a puppy. And Mal might have been wicked but she wasn't that wicked.