Beast sighed softly as he noticed Ben seemed to be almost underfoot once more. No matter where he was, whether he was working at Lord Hades' restaurant or if he was hanging around the Underworld or if he was merely walking around the Isle, Ben was almost always close at hand.
Don't get him wrong, Beast loved being able to see his son whenever he wanted; never mind being able to have him in the same area. However, Beast could also see how Ben's insistence on clinging to him seemed to be ostracizing him from the other kids of the Isle.
Uma and Harry specifically seemed to grow annoyed with Ben and even Mal seemed to be distancing herself from Ben though Ben hadn't seemed to notice that much to Beast's relief. It was clear that the two of them had become friends over in Auradon and with everything that had happened, Beast didn't want Ben to lose any more friends than the ones he had.
Yeah, Beast was aware of Audrey's letter. Belle had sent him a letter about it in case Ben seemed to be sadder than normal the next time Beast saw him.
But that was beside the point. He didn't want to think about that for right now, instead he wanted to address his son's newfound clinginess. And so that was what he was going to do.
"Hey Ben?" Beast asked, sticking his head into his son's room.
"Yeah papa?" Ben said, looking up from the book he was reading, a rare moment when he wasn't within arms reach of Beast. "Did you need something?"
Beast sighed and sat down on the edge of Ben's bed, wincing slightly as he felt the uneven lumps on the mattress. Ben was seemingly ignoring them so Beast wouldn't say anything. For now. "I was wondering if I could talk to you?"
"Of course papa!" Ben nodded, sitting up before pausing slightly. "Did...did I do something wrong?"
"What? No, no Ben," Beast said, shaking his head. "Why would you think that?"
"Because when Chip does something wrong, his maman likes to talk to him alone," Ben said softly as he sat his book down. "And sometimes if I do something wrong, maman will sit on the edge of my bed like you're doing now."
Beast sighed. "You haven't done anything wrong Ben. I can promise you that. I just wanted to talk with you about somethings I've...I've noticed."
"Oh you mean things about the Isle? Did...did you want to make a list to give to maman when she calls next?" Ben asked as he seemed to perk up a little.
"I mean we can do that in a bit," Beast told him. "But more importantly I want to talk about you. I notice you're...you're around me a lot."
"I missed you," Ben said, the words almost spewing out of him.
"And I missed you too," Beast told hm. "Please, never think that I don't miss you or your sister or your maman. But Ben, you were never this...insistent to be around me back when we were all in the castle back home. Did...did something happen before you came here?"
Ben grew silent and while part of Beast knew he was likely just trying to find the right word, another part of him worried that he'd scared Ben off from talking.
"Nothing...nothing happened papa," Ben said after a few minutes of silence. "I just..."
"Yes Ben?" Beast said, gently nudging his son to answer.
Ben sighed softly. "I just...I don't want you to go away again," he said and his soft voice was almost like a dagger to Beast's heart. "The...the last time I let you go, you had to come here and if...if I let you go again..."
"Hey, hey, bud, listen to me," Beast said and quickly got on his knees so that he was eye level with Ben. "I know I had to leave you and that was one of the worst moments of my life but I can promise you Ben, I will always be here when you need me."
Ben shook his head. "No you won't! Because you'll be here all the time and I'll be with maman and Abby half the the time and Chip says there's a barrier that makes it so that people on the Isle can't leave so you won't always be here!"
"Hey, hey," Beast said, trying to stop the ramblings of his son. "Just because I'm on the Isle doesn't mean that I won't be there for you when you need me. I'll be available through the portal calls when you and your maman and sister call me, won't I?"
"But...those are with maman," Ben said softly. "What if I just want to talk to you alone?"
Beast sighed. "We can handle that if and when we need to," he said. "But for right now, I want you to enjoy being a kid while you can. These years are fleeting and soon you'll be growing up. And of course no matter how old you get, I'll always be here for you but Ben, do you want to be the boy always clinging to his father?"
"...Maybe..."
"Ben," Beast said, the small smile unable to stay hidden. No matter what, he couldn't deny how much he loved his son's loyalty toward him. Even if it might not have been completely deserved.
Ben sighed. "I...I guess not. Mal said appearing weak is the worst thing you could be on the Isle...the only reason kids like Carlos get a pass is because of how young they are."
"And the last thing I want is for you to get hurt," Beast said gently. "Especially if you're around me all the time."
"But I couldn't be safer with you!" Ben insisted. "You're my papa, why wouldn't I be safe with you?"
Beast sighed and looked down at his son. "There...you know how your maman and I told you that the Isle is filled with bad people?"
"And Mal and Uma and Harry."
"...Right, and them."
"Yes papa," Ben nodded.
"Well, they, the bad people I mean...they'd stop at nothing to try to hurt me," Beast explained, trying to keep his voice gentle. "And unfortunately Ben, that might mean hurting you to hurt me."
"But...why?" Ben asked, tilting his head.
"Because any decent parent would be hurt to see their child in pain because of them," Beast said gently. "And I know I would hate to see you hurt because someone was trying to hurt me."
Ben bit his lip as he nodded. "But...but you're a grown up papa. Even if people were trying to hurt you by hurting me, wouldn't I still be safer with you than not with you?"
Beast sighed softly. In a way, his son's logic was sound—it would make more sense for Ben to be around him so he could keep Ben safe for the six months Ben was on the Isle. But Beast also knew it wasn't possible. There was no way Lord Hades would allow Beast to have Ben with him while he was working for instance.
"Ben, can I ask you a question?" Beast said, trying to buy some time to properly answer his son's concerns.
"Of course papa!"
"When you're not with Chip, are you worried he'll go away?" Beast asked and Ben shook his head. "Okay, well it's just like that now with me. No matter what happens, you can always come back here and I'll be here. I promise."
"But...you went away before," Ben said, and Beast sighed. He honestly felt like he was talking in circles but he couldn't exactly blame Ben for that. Some days he felt like he was going in circles—the lack of sun made every day feel the same.
You know maybe we were a little too cruel in making it so that there was no sun along with everything else, Beast thought. I mean the lack of cell service was one thing, if they had any friends or allies who escaped the round up, hypothetically they could have escaped the Isle. But sun?
"Papa?"
"Hmm?"
"Are you okay?" Ben asked. "You got really quiet. Were you thinking of a new invention? Granddad gets quiet when he thinks of one...and then tells me to leave the room while he's working on it."
"That's because we told him you're not around his works in progress," Beast said.
"Why?"
Oh thank you Gods for the attention spans of five year olds, Beast thought with a small inward chuckle.
"Because his inventions can be dangerous without the bugs removed," Beast explained. "And your maman and I don't want anything happening to you and neither does your grand-pere."
"Oh...I don't want to be hurt either. Mal didn't seem like she had much fun when she had her cast," Ben said. "But I mean...there'd be an upside right? You could read all the books you want and no one could complain you were being lazy if you're wearing a cast."
"True," Beast said, trying to keep the amusement out of his voice. "But you couldn't do Tourney either. You seemed to have a fun time at that introductory Tourney camp last summer. And don't forget about the Papa and me Jousting classes."
"Oh right! I met Jordan there!" Ben said with a grin. "I wouldn't have met her if I couldn't do the class!"
"And you definitely wouldn't have been able to do the class if you'd been in a cast like Mal had been," Beast told him.
"Oh..." Ben said. "I changed my mind papa, I don't think there's an upside to being in a cast. You miss out on a lot...though Emir, Akiho, and I tried to include Mal in what we did! We didn't want to leave her out...and Chip helped too!"
That sentence shouldn't fill me with such dread, Beast thought as he had to wonder what Chip defined as 'helping.' The former teacup was beloved of course, and he was considered to be family, but Beast wasn't going to lie, Chip could be a bit...intense at times with his enthusiasm.
"I'm sure he did," was what Beast said instead. "He's always been a big help and I know your maman's grateful to have him around."
Ben nodded softly. "I...I know she is too. Chip's a big help with Abby, especially with maman running everything."
"Good," Beast said softly. How he wished he could be there to make things easier for Belle but he couldn't. Instead all he had done was make life harder for his wife and children.
"Dad! I'm going to meet up with Uma and Harry!" The two Le Bête males heard Mal call from the front door. If Beast was honest, that was one of the major things that he was still getting used to; kids going to and fro as they pleased rather than having their parents set up play dates.
"Hey....why don't you go with her?" Beast suggested, looking over at Ben as the idea popped into his head. "I'm sure you'll have a better time with Mal than you would hanging around here all day."
Ben bit his lip. "Are...are you sure papa?"
"I'm sure Ben," Beast promised. "And I'll be here when you get back, you have my word."
Ben hesitated but then nodded softly and went to run after Mal. Beast smiled as he watched his son head out. Normally he would have loved spending time with Ben but he also knew that always being around him wasn't a good thing either.
It would make the separation every six months that much harder for one thing. And for another...like he told Ben, it wasn't exactly safe always being around him. If anyone tried to hurt Ben because they thought it would hurt Beast...Beast didn't know what he'd do.
He just hoped he'd never have to find out.