Chapter Text
Ben’s face is open, easy. So trusting.
“Of course!” he says, earnest and sweet. Like he always is. “You can tell me anything.”
Mal watches Evie fidget. It’s a bit overdone, but Evie is good at what she does, and drawing sympathy out of Ben is easier by far than drawing secrets out of the Salt kid and their father.
“It’s kind of, well,” Evie hesitates. Looks down. Glances back up at Ben through her lashes. Keep quiet, look cute, that’s the way it goes with men. “It’s just a lot to put on you, all at once like this. With you being so busy planning for the coronation and all.”
Ben is watching Evie, and not the rest of them. A smart boy, except for when he isn’t. “Well, so long as you aren’t planning on killing anyone,” he says with a little laugh. “you can just tell me.”
The silence after that one goes on just a little too long. Oops.
“You...aren’t planning on killing anyone, are you?” Ben asks nervously. He’s looking at Evie still, but Mal can see his eyes dart to her too, and around to the boys. Checking who will crack first, probably. It’s a good instinct, if misguided in this case. None of them are the weak link. Four hearts as one, baby. They’ve got the power, and they’re not afraid to---
Betray their parents to the crown and risk their own lives in the process.
Yeah.
Before Mal can think too hard about what they’re actually doing here, Evie is already trying to recover their audience.
“Well--” she starts, “We--”
Mal cuts in. “No! We aren’t!” she says, maybe a little too loudly. Technically, it’s true. Planning to enthrall one of the Auradon elite in order to gain access to Fairy Godmother’s magic wand and break down the barrier isn’t technically killing anybody. It’s what would come after, that’s what would kill people.
Ben looks moderately horrified. Like, sure, he’s upset, but honestly, it could be worse. He looks resigned, rather than livid. Way less upset than he was when they talked about the whole creepy teacher harassing Cee thing. Maybe even less upset than when they told him about the whole thing with the door graffiti, and Jay tried to convince him that publishing their review of the lewd poetry that kept showing up on their door in the school paper was actually a great idea.
He’s not as upset as he could be, that’s what Mal is saying. Really, a little disappointed look and facepalm action is nothing, compared to some of the shit Ben’s seen in the last week or two.
“Could you say that one more time, maybe with a little more conviction?” he asks, only slightly muffled by how his head is in his hands. “Please?”
Mal grins as bright and toothy as she can. She’s got an extra set of teeth coming in, which is a much more fun development than the horns that are also sprouting out of her hairline. “We are not planning on killing anybody!” she announces brightly.
Ben groans. “Oh, god.”