Ben smiled as he looked at the picture of his grandmother's engagement ring that he'd taken back when he had visited his grandfather. Part of him wished he'd taken his grandfather's offer but...the ring just wasn't Mal.
I like the gold band but the gem...Mal's not really a diamond type of girl, Ben thought as he pulled his laptop to him. She's purple all the way. So the gem needs to be purple.
He paused just as he was about to open up a new tab on his internet browser. Was he really ready to do this? Design Mal's engagement ring?
I love her...why am I even questioning this?
Because you're only seventeen!
Like Granddad said, mom was seventeen when she made the choice to trade herself for Granddad in terms of who would be dad's prisoner. Besides, I'm just designing a ring. It's not like I'm asking the question right now.
...good point.
Why thank you self. I tend to have those.
Ben snorted as he pulled up the search bar of his internet browser. He wanted to see what type of gems were purple. He knew that there were fancy sapphires like Doug mentioned one time when Ben was designing Mal's necklace but those were extremely rare.
He didn't want there to be too much time in between designing the ring and actually having the ring to give to Mal.
Amethyst would be a good choice, he thought as he searched through the images of different purple gems. He knew what he wanted the band to look like. As he said, he liked the look of the gold band but he wanted to see if he could make it look like dragon wings were coming off the side.
Like how his grandmother's engagement ring looked like vines were coming around the band, Ben wanted Mal's ring to look like dragon wings were surrounding the band. After all, dragons were Mal's motif. Besides, what wasn't to love about dragons? They truly were amazing creatures.
"Hey Ben," Evie's voice broke through his thoughts and Ben couldn't help but chuckle as he saw the blue haired girl leaning in through the doorframe.
"I thought I told you you don't have to knock?" Ben asked as he closed his laptop.
"You said that was for your office," Evie said. "This is your room. There's a difference Ben."
Ben tilted his head in thought but then had to nod; Evie had a point.
"Is everything okay?" Ben asked. It was rare for Evie to stop by his room—actually it was rare for anyone other than Emir and Akiho to stop by his room. Mal hadn't even stopped by his room, though to be fair Ben hadn't stopped by her room.
Evie smiled as she looked at him, seemingly studying him for a minute. "Ben...do you own anything other than suits?"
"Sweats from Tourney," Ben said immediately.
"Okay but what about more casual everyday clothing?" Evie asked. "You can't wear sweats out and about unless it's winter and even then you'd get some weird looks."
Ben sighed. "Evie, what's this about? I've always worn suits since I've known you. No one's had an issue before."
"No one's voiced an issue to you," Evie corrected. "Ben, you're seventeen and you look like you're thirty if I'm being conservative. Come on."
"Wait, where are we going?"
"Well you can't get new clothes by just standing in your bedroom," Evie told him. "Please Ben? Mal asked me to do this and I agree. A few casual choices to your wardrobe can't hurt."
Ben sighed. The suits had been a byproduct of his relationship with Audrey and he'd just grown used to them. The idea of wearing something other than them...
However, Ben wasn't going to lie, the Isle garb had been very comfortable. He felt he could curl up and easily cuddle with Mal rather than take the time to change. Plus he could move a lot easier in case he needed to spar. The suits looked nice but they were very restrictive in what they allowed in terms of movement.
"...I'm not going to win this argument am I?" Ben asked, looking at Evie.
"It's less of an argument and more of a debate," Evie told him, taking his arm. "But no, you're not going to win."
Ben shook his head in amusement. "Come on, I'll drive. If you have to drag me around shopping, the last thing I want is a media circus and the official limo would definitely cause that."
"Fair enough," Evie chuckled and the two of them made their way to the garage. Evie had to admit, they had their choice of cars. "You got enough cars here Ben?"
"They're not all mine," Ben said, amusement tinging his voice. "Other royals store their cars here for the school year. Makes leaving at the end of the year a lot easier if kids aren't waiting for their rides."
Evie nodded and pointed to an empty spot that was marked Reserved. "Who's spot is that for? I'm guessing it's not Chad's spot considering we just walked past four spots labeled Charming Family and two were empty. Considering Alexandria can't drive yet, it's safe to assume the other empty spot was Chad's."
Ben looked over and smiled slightly at the empty spot Evie was pointing at. "Can you keep a secret?"
"Unless you're going to do something dangerous."
"Fair enough," Ben nodded. "The spot's for Mal's graduation present."
"You're getting Mal a car?"
"...well a limo is a car," Ben said sheepishly as they climbed into Ben's car. "It's been a bugger of a time finding a purple limo but we finally found someone who'll paint the limo purple without charging an arm and a leg."
Evie nodded and Ben put the car in gear. "I hope Mal likes it."
"I'm sure she will," Evie nodded. "But Ben, she didn't get you anything for your graduation. She's going to feel guilty—I know my best friend."
"Mal didn't need to get me anything and more importantly she kept Akiho, Emir, Jay and Carlos from dropping me on my head as we went to the graduation party they all had planned. Trust me, that was greatly appreciated."
"Well the last thing Mal wanted to do was spend the party in the hospital," Evie joked. "Honestly that was the last thing any of us wanted to do. Which was why Carlos and Jay acted as spotters."
"They wouldn't have needed to be spotters if Emir and Akiho didn't lift me up on their shoulders."
"Where's the fun in that?" Evie asked with a small smirk and Ben shook his head as he continued to drive toward the shops. Thankfully, the first shop seemed to be a new one. At the very least, it wasn't one of the ones frequented by Audrey during their time together.
"Come on Ben, they're just clothes," Evie chuckled. "They won't bite you."
"I still don't see what's wrong with my suits," Ben said as he got out of the car. "I'm a seventeen year old king, I can't be going around in regular day clothes."
"Ben, you said it yourself. You're a seventeen year old king. A polo or two won't kill you," Evie said, shaking her head. "Look, you can stay out here and I can make the choices or you can have a say in what's going to go on your body."
"You know I don't know why you're so amped up for this," Ben told her as he followed her into the store.
"As I said back at school, Mal asked for this as a favor. The last time Mal asked me for a favor? Never because Mal doesn't ask for favors. Because favors aren't done on the Isle. It's a tit for tat sort of thing and no one ever wants to owe anything to someone else."
"But Mal asked...for me?"
"She loves you Ben," Evie said with a small smile. "I know we all know it because of the viewing but anyone who wasn't there could see it too if they had eyes. She's not trying to change you because she's not the type to do that. She just wants to...enhance your wardrobe that's all."
Ben sighed. "I'm only doing this because Mal asked you to," he told Evie. "I honestly don't see an issue with my suits."
"You look like a thirty year old banker."
"You already said that."
"Well it bares repeating," Evie said as she walked into the empty store. Ben paused, noticing the lack of customers.
"Evie, is this place even open?"
"Of course it is," Evie chuckled. "Akiho called ahead, said we were coming so the store cleared everyone out."
"They didn't have to—"
"You want to see a picture of yourself on the cover of The Gazelle?" Evie asked, looking over at him with a raised eyebrow.
"...touche."
Evie chuckled as she made her way over to the men's section, Ben following her. "Look, just one outfit is all we're asking Ben. Maybe something to wear for Jane's birthday party? It'll be at the Enchanted Lake—that's the last place you'd want to wear a suit."
"A suit would make it difficult to go swimming," Ben nodded. "Okay Evie. Let's do this."
"Finally," Evie chuckled as she handed him a blue and yellow polo. "What size are you?"
"...I have no idea."
"I figured. We'll start with a large and work our way down," Evie nodded. "Same with the jeans. Do you want a lighter wash or a darker?"
"Darker. If I get caught in an emergency meeting or something, they'd look close enough to my black dress pants that no one on the council would tell the difference," Ben said, getting into the spirt.
"Especially since you do have a life outside your office," Evie said with a smile, handing Ben a pair of the darker denim jeans. "Go try these on and I'll stay out here."
Ben nodded and made his way over to the fitting room. Quickly locking the door, he stripped down and slipped on the pants and the polo. The large seemed to drape over him like a tent but Ben did have to admit, it looked good.
"What do you think Evie?" Ben asked as he walked out.
"Hmm, well let's try a medium for the shirt and we'll go a size down for the jeans too. If they continue to droop like that, it may just be the style," Evie said, handing Ben the aforementioned items. "Otherwise, they definitely look good on you Ben."
Ben gave her a small smile as he went back to change into the smaller sized items. Walking back out, Evie gave him a big smile.
"Much better," she said with a nod. "The shirt actually fits you instead of looking like you're trying to wear a circus tent but it's not too tight either. The jeans are still drooping a bit but there's not much we can do about that. Maybe we could try a belt but that's about it since that seems to be the only kind of jeans they sell here. How does it feel?"
"Weird," Ben said. "I'm so used to wearing a jacket with my outfits that..."
"Well if you want, we could always buy this," Evie said with a smirk, holding up a green and gold plaid blazer.
"No. Gods no!" Ben said and Evie chuckled.
"I thought you'd say that," Evie told him. "Trust me, I'd never do that to you. I can't imagine what was going through the mind of whoever made it."
"Evie, I have to ask," Ben said as the thought came to him, "why go shopping at all? Why not just design the clothing back at your studio?"
Evie shook her head. "If it was Mal or the boys? I wouldn't even need to ask 'em because I know what they like in terms of their style. You, on the other hand? Complete mystery because of the suits. Even the outfit you wore on your date with Mal was rather shall we say...nondescript? There wasn't a sense of what made it an outfit for Ben if that makes sense."
"It does," Ben nodded. "So you think you got a sense of what makes an outfit for me now?"
"I'm getting there," Evie nodded. "It helps that with Cotillion being over, there's not as many orders for dresses so I can do stuff like this."
"Oh wait till the summer," Ben chuckled. "There'll be balls aplenty."
"Oh I'm looking forward to it," Evie said with a grin. "I finally have enough saved up to buy my own castle. Granted it'll be a starter castle so it won't be huge but Snow said she'd go with me to shop around so the agents don't try to charge me more than what the castle's worth."
"Congrats Evie," Ben said with a grin. "Let me know when the deal closes okay? Doug and I'll help you move in."
"Akiho and Emir volunteered too when Doug told them about it," Evie told him. "I don't know how I feel about my boyfriend spending more time around those two."
"Doug's smarts, Emir's penchant for swiping stuff and Akiho's general insanity?" Ben asked. "I think we should be very afraid."
"Agreed," Evie nodded. "Well, go and get changed Ben. I know it's only the first outfit you tried on but I did give my word that you only needed the one."
Ben grinned and made his way back to the dressing room. On his way there, however, something caught his eye. It was a blue and yellow jacket but it was...leather. It looked like something Mal or Jay or Carlos or Evie would wear. It definitely wouldn't have been something Ben would have worn.
That was more than enough of a reason for Ben to try it on. Taking it off the hanger, Ben slipped his arms through it and zipped it up.
"Looks like a perfect fit," he said to himself, looking in one of the nearby mirrors. Ben had to admit that it was a little weird having a jacket without the Beast emblem on it but that wasn't necessarily a problem. It'd be nice to have something that didn't immediately scream out who he was to the world.
And if he needed to, Evie could always add the emblem as a patch or just sew it on.
Nodding to himself, Ben made his way back to the dressing room and quickly got changed back into his suit. Stepping out and holding the items he was going to buy, Ben looked around for Evie.
"You didn't lose me," Evie chuckled as she made her way over to him. "All set?"
"You're not going to get anything?" Ben asked.
"We're here for you Ben. I can always come back and get something for myself—or make something if I don't see anything I like. Besides I'm in the process of making Jane's present so there'd be no point in spending the money."
Ben nodded, knowing what Evie meant. He'd gotten Jane a book on the Fae of Auradon, something she'd been interested in ever since Mal had developed her friendship with the half fairy.
"Did you find everything you were looking for today?" The cashier asked as Ben set the items on the counter.
"I did yes," Ben nodded. The cashier either was very good at her job or just didn't realize who Ben was as she showed no reaction to the fact that she was ringing up the king of Auradon.
Ben had to say, he appreciated that.
"Your total comes to $63.78, would that be cash or card?
"Card," Ben said as he pulled out his wallet and handed his credit card over to the cashier who quickly swiped it. Scrawling out his signature onto the receipt, Ben took the offered bag.
"Have a wonderful day!"
"You do the same," Ben told her and he and Evie walked out back to the car to make the return trip to Auradon Prep.
"See? Shopping's not so bad," Evie teased and Ben rolled his eyes playfully. It truly had been a pleasant outing and Ben had to admit, he was looking forward to Jane's party.
Well, more than he had already been.