Mal paced her room, slightly nervous for her mom's arrival. Maleficent's spell book had already been shoved into her dresser drawer, under her socks, as to avoid detection. The last thing she wanted was to see the look of disappointment on her mom's face as her mom realized Mal had spelled Ben.
I should donate that book to the Museum, Mal thought after making sure the mind link was temporarily muted. After all, once I make the antidote to the love potion cookies, I won't need it and Maleficent did write a bit of information on the Fae in there. It'd be a shame to just burn it.
But this wasn't the time to worry about that. Mal needed to prepare for her date with Ben.
Gods! A date! Mal hadn't been lying when she told her mom dates weren't done on the Isle—the only 'relationship' Mal had had was a flirtationship with Harry when they were thirteen. Mainly to see what it was like since she had never had one before. If Mal was honest, it was weird—it was almost like dating Hadie.
Besides, after Uma had caught them in the clubhouse two weeks into the flirtationship, Mal decided to end it. Thankfully Harry agreed that it just felt too weird and their friendship hadn't been ruined. All they had been doing was cuddling and Harry had just put a kiss on her forehead, the same way he would Harriet. Didn't matter though, the look on Uma's face would be enough to guilt Mal for the rest of her days.
Gods I can't believe I agreed to this, Mal thought, bringing herself back to the present. I don't know the first thing about being girly.
Mal, honey, all a date is really is just looking nice and being yourself, Persephone's voice gently rang through her head.
Well which one is it mom? I can't do both, Mal told her, shaking her head slightly as the mind link was once again used. I can't 'be myself' while trying to look like a prissy princess.
Honey, you don't have to look like a princess. Prince Ben asked you out because he liked you for who you are, not how you looked.
Gods I must be out of my mind to agree to this.
No Mali sweetheart, you're not. There's nothing wrong with just wanting to be a teenage girl for once.
Mom, the teenage girls here are nothing but shallow and vapid idiots...well with the exception of Lonnie. Mulan's daughter. She's the only girl around here who knows how to use a sword.
Why am I not surprised? Persephone's voice asked, sounding amused.
Mal chuckled before sighing. Mom, why am I doing this?
Only you can answer that sweetheart, Persephone said gently. A first date was supposed to be fun, not something to freak out about.
Mal sighed again. There was really only one reason that she could tell her mom-there was no way saying that she was going on a date because Ben was under a love spell that she still hadn't removed would fly as an excuse. I'm doing it to get in his good books, so that Uma, Hadie and Harry can come here.
Mali, dear, he asked you on a date. Something tells me you're already in his good books.
Mom, I'm a VK in Auradon. The only person who's good books I'm in are yours and the other VKs.
Mal, I've spent a lot of time in Auradon. Prince Ben doesn't strike me as the type of person to spend time with someone he doesn't like.
If you say so. He sure spent a lot of time around Sleeping Brat when I first arrived and I don't think anyone likes her.
Mal, honey, that was probably out of obligation.
Mal sighed. You know that was one of the few good things about the Isle. If you didn't like someone, you could just say so and avoid them.
Sweetheart, just relax okay? I'll be there soon. Why don't you take a shower and get changed?
Okay mom. See you soon.
Mal smiled slightly as she ended the mind link call. It was weird but there was a small, very small, part of her that was looking forward to this. If only because she got to see her mom. Getting the chosen garment out of her wardrobe, Mal headed into the bathroom. Quickly closing the door, Mal hung the dress up on the doorknob before hopping into the shower.
She couldn't help but sigh as the water from the shower hit her skin. She may not have been a girly girl and she may have missed parts of the Isle but the hot running water was something Auradon had that she wouldn't give up for the world. It was heaven. Uma and Harry were going to love it when they got there.
Quickly finishing up, Mal stepped out and dried off before slipping the dress on and stepping back into her bedroom. She wanted to hate it, but when she looked into the mirror she had to admit that it was pretty. She was pretty. It wasn't that she was ugly per say but Mal knew she would never be the type of person to turn a guy's head. At least...not an Isle guy.
She shook her head, preventing any thoughts from creeping into her head. Ben was just being polite with the attention he gave the VKs—and the only reason he asked her out was because he was still spelled.
A knock at the door interrupted Mal's mental diatribe. "Yeah?"
"It's me, Mali. Can I come in?"
Mal took a breath before nodding. It took a second for her to realize that there was a solid wooden door between her and Persephone. "Um, yeah mom!"
"Oh my! Don't you look lovely already!" Persephone said with a smile as she came in and closed the door behind her.
"Thanks mom," Mal muttered, brushing some hair out of her eyes. The nice thing about having short, thin hair was that it didn't take too long to dry in the air especially in a land of sun. Persephone patted the bed and took Mal's brush off her dresser.
"Humor your old mother?"
"Mom, you're not old," Mal rolled her eyes but sat down next to Persephone. She had to admit, there was nothing better than her mom brushing out her hair. Mal didn't even mind the small braid Steph put in it. It wasn't too flashy and Mal had to admit, it looked nice.
"You won't need much make up," Persephone told her with a smile as she put the brush back on the dresser.
"Oh thank Gods," Mal sighed in relief. All she wanted was to avoid being a prissy princess.
"Just a bit of black eyeliner and a small amount of blush to give you some color," Persephone added as she took out the makeup. Mal nodded, looking at the eyeliner with a bit of apprehension. She trusted her mother of course, but after six years of living only with Maleficent, Mal had a slight wariness of sharp things coming anywhere near her.
Yes, even swords. Only a crazy person would welcome a sword being brandished at them.
"It's alright sweetheart. I won't poke your eyes," Steph said, her voice gentle as if knowing what Mal was thinking about. "I promise."
"I know, I trust you mom," Mal said softly. Persephone smiled gently as she picked up the black pencil.
"Okay Mal, I'm going to do the eyeliner first," she said. "Now, I'm not going to poke your eyes out but I'm still going to advise you stay still."
Mal nodded slowly and froze in place as Persephone quickly got to work as to not make Mal too tense.
"Wow, easy on the blush," Mal said at one point with a small chuckle. "I don't want to scare him away."
Uma and Harry's ability to get off the Isle depended on this after all-plus it wasn't like Mal could scare Ben away. Love spell, remember?
"Trust me sweetheart. You won't scare him away," Persephone told her. "I didn't use that much blush anyway."
She gently put a tiny bit of lipstick on Mal's lips, dabbing it with the tip of her finger before applying it.
"You're probably the only person I'd get makeup tips from," Mal said with a small smile.
Persephone gave Mal a small smile of her own. "Trust me honey, you don't need much makeup. Just a small amount to accent your natural beauty."
"I don't have natural beauty," Mal muttered.
Persephone couldn't help but give a sad smile at hearing that. "Yes you do honey. Why don't you go and look in the mirror, tell me if I'm wrong?"
Mal nodded slowly and got up off the bed. Grabbing her black leather jacket, Mal look a look in the full length mirror. She couldn't help but be shocked—the mirror had to be broken or something.
"Mom, I'm—I'm—not hideous," Mal said, finally getting the rest of the words out. Gods it was a good thing Uma and Harry couldn't see her though. They'd never let her live it down.
"Not even close," Persephone said with a small chuckle as she walked over and gently putting her hand on Mal's shoulders.
A knock on the door prevented Mal from responding and she looked over at Persephone.
"I think that's your date," Persephone whispered with a smile. Mal sighed and walked toward thee door to open it, a slight feeling of nerves building in the pit of her stomach and she had to remind herself to breathe. She opened the door and saw Ben.
Of course, Mal had to blink a couple of times to make sure she was actually looking at Ben and not an imposter—instead of his usual suits, he was wearing a pair of tan slacks and dress shoes. She couldn't tell what shirt he was wearing because it was covered by what looked like a letterman jacket.
"For the first time, I understand the difference between pretty and beautiful," Ben told her and a shy smiled came to Mal's face without permission.
Ben held out a helmet. "I hope you like bikes."
Mal couldn't help but smile again, taking the helmet and slowly stepping closer to him. Ben looked over Mal's shoulder and paused for a second as he saw that Persephone was in fact standing in Mal's room.
"L-Lady Persephone, it's a pleasure to see you again," he said, remembering his manners after stammering a bit out of nerves. "I hope your family's doing well?"
"Very well thank you," Persephone nodded with a smile on her face. "As you can see, my daughter is doing quite well. I hope your family is as well Prince Ben."
"They are, thank you."
"Oh mom?" Mal said, turning to look at Persephone. "If you have to tell dad about this, ease him into it?"
"No dear I was going to just drop the news that his daughter was on her first date on him and watch the reaction," Persephone said dryly.
"Well as long as you have a plan," Mal chuckled and turned to look at Ben. "Shall we go?"
Ben nodded. "Lady Persephone, I hope you have a great rest of your day," he said not wanting to leave without saying goodbye. It was a bad idea to be rude to a Goddess. It was an incredibly bad idea to be rude to a Goddess who was also your date's mother.
Persephone nodded, walking to the door to close it as Mal and Ben walked off. There was no point in Persephone standing in her daughter's empty bedroom. That was just weird. She couldn't help but smile though as Mal and Ben walked off, each one holding a helmet in their hands.
She would do the 'if you hurt her, I'll smite you into microscopic particles' talk depending on how the date went. She would get the details from Mal later.
Meanwhile, Mal was busy trying to not bite her lip. She didn't know why she was nervous—she had interacted with Ben before. Hell, most of the time Mal made him stammer or blush like the golden boy he was. But at the same time, there was something different about this time.
No matter what excuse she gave to herself—Ben was spelled, she was just doing this to keep Uma and Harry in the potential running for when they brought more kids off the Isle, she didn't want Audrey to somehow finagle her claws back into Ben—there was no denying the fact that this was a date.
Ben looked over at Mal as they made their way over to his bike. "You okay? You're awfully quiet," he said softly.
"I'm fine," Mal said, forcing a smile on her face.
"You sure?" Ben asked. The last thing he wanted to do was have her do anything she wasn't comfortable with, including the date.
Mal sighed. "I just..I don't know how to do this," she said quietly.
"You've never been on a date before?" Ben asked and Mal shook her head.
"We don't date much on the Isle. It's more like...gang activity," she told him, brushing a bit of hair behind her ear.
"Well then I'll just have to make this time extra special for you," Ben said with a smile. He kinda liked the idea of being Mal's first date.
Mal gave him a small smile. "You don't have to do that Ben. Really."
"I want to."
"Ben really, you don't need to...don't go through any trouble. You're already doing enough."
Ben gave her a small smile. "Mal, it's no trouble and definitely not any stress."
"Does this mean you'll tell me where we're going?"
Ben chuckled. "Nice try. I want to keep it a surprise but I think you'll really like it."
Mal couldn't help but smirk slightly at that. "You really want to surprise a VK? Not the best idea Ben."
"Mal, I promise. It's a good surprise," Ben said with a chuckle. Mal chuckled herself as the two of them made it to Ben's bike and Ben held it steady so that Mal could get on first. Mal couldn't help but smile slightly as Ben got on the bike.
"All set?" Ben asked as he put his helmet on.
"Yeah," Mal nodded.
Ben grinned and started up the bike. "Okay," he said and drove off.