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fbfh · 8 months

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curiosity is a wonderful thing - ch 5

wc: 2.3k

genre: political thriller (ish), slow burn, best friends to lovers

pairing: audrey x ben, eventual ben x reader

warnings: reader has a high startle response, audrey is the fucking worst, (mostly one sided) tension between audrey and reader

summary: after introducing the isle kids to the school and its history, audrey finds herself losing the fight for ben's attention to you yet again and she's starting to get sick of it.

song recs: rabbit heart - florance and the machine, pacify her - melanie martinez

a/n: fangz to cici (luv u gurl mcr rox) also fangz to the writing gods for letting me complete this in literally one sitting. no idea how i pulled this one out of my ass but I think it turned out good lol. also same optional fit

tags @yesv01 @magcon7280 @hopefullhearts @thatawkwardlittlefangirl @sunshineangel-reads @strawberry-cake1 @dustyinkpages @kiara7777

Ben moves quickly, gesturing behind him at the school. He needs to get things back on track, and move past Audrey’s tactless backhanded insults as quickly as possible. He walks down the path as you, Audrey, and the Isle kids follow him. As usual, you’re a step behind him the whole way. Someone nudges you, and you turn around to see Carlos, extending your now chocolate covered handkerchief toward you.

“Thanks.” You say quietly, accepting it and looking down to tuck it back into your bag. You fuss with the zipper for a moment as you approach the uniformly shaped hedges in front of the school. In your attempts to get your bag closed back up, you don’t notice yourself veering off the path in the wrong direction until you feel Ben’s hand on your back. You look up at him as he guides you to the right with the rest of the group.

“This way, bunny.” He says quietly, and you smile, slightly embarrassed at having started to go the wrong way again. You’re both so used to Ben course correcting you like this that you don’t notice it anymore. But Audrey notices. She always does. Before she can grab onto his arm again, he uses it to draw the Isle kids’ attention to the school, leaving her unable to hold onto him.

“Auradon Prep; originally built over 300 years ago and converted into a high school by my father, when he became king.”

As Ben talks, it reminds you of your own class’s orientation day at the school a few years ago, led by Ben’s dad. You were so nervous that you must have stayed within two feet of Ben the entire time. He’s come such a long way since then, you both have. You could listen to him speak about the school, about this country, about the dynasties of royal families and the positive changes they’ve made for their people for hours. He sounds so much like his dad, and it fills you with a tender sense of pride.

He pauses in front of the statue of his dad and you smile, knowing exactly what’s coming. He looks up at the granite likeness of his dad’s familiar face, his powerful stance, and claps twice. In an instant, the stone shifts and morphs, depicting him now in his beast form. A shrill scream pierces the air behind you and you jump at the noise, clutching your pearls as you startle. You both look back as Ben instinctively places his hands on your shoulders. It feels stable and reassuring, and you feel your heartbeat begin to calm down at the contact. Audrey waits to see if Ben plans on comforting her too, but he just looks down at you, making sure you’re alright.

“You okay?” He asks quietly. You nod, and he lets out a soft breath.

“Yeah.” You breathe so quietly anyone else would have missed it.

Audrey lets out an irritated huff, crossing her arms. After that brief moment of reassurance, you look over at Carlos, who seems to have jumped into Jay’s arms. It’s quiet for a moment as Jay unceremoniously drops Carlos back onto the ground, and Carlos attempts to salvage what’s left of his dignity. Ben chuckles lightly, but not maliciously. Carlos notices this and seems confused that someone is actually laughing with him and not at him.

“Carlos, it’s okay.” Ben says, “My father wanted his statue to morph from beast to man. To remind us that anything is possible.”

Ben hears you finish the last part of the sentence under your breath with him. You’ve both heard his father say those same words thousands of times, and it brings a sudden smile to his face that takes him a moment to get back under control. Part of you wishes that Belle and Adam were here to see him now, see how well he’s doing, how much he seems like both of them in this moment. You know in your bones that if his parents could see him like this, see how naturally and gracefully he talks about the school and the history of his country, they would be proud beyond words. But you’re here to see it, and that feels like enough.

Mal looks at the statue, seeming unimpressed.

“Does he shed much?” She asks with a note of snarkiness to her voice.

“Yeah,” Ben deadpans, “Mom won’t let him on the couch.”

His quick response wins a look of approval from Mal, a chuckle from the other Isle kids, and a loud laugh from you - the kind that takes a moment to trail off. Once you’ve caught your breath, you turn to him to keep walking, this time in the correct direction.

“There’s lint rollers hidden all over the palace.” You add through a giggle, making Ben laugh audibly. Audrey seems less impressed by the ice breaking banter, keeping a tight smile plastered on her face and fighting the urge to roll her eyes.

By the time Ben has brought you all into the foyer of the dorms and explained a little more about the history of the school, Mal is already asking about magic. She seems very curious, but like she doesn’t want to seem like she cares all that much - a defense mechanism, you assume. What people don’t know you care about, they can’t ruin.

“Like, wands? And things like that?” Mal asks casually.

“Yeah, it exists of course.” Ben begins, “But it’s pretty much retired. Except for some forms.” He finishes, gesturing to you, knowing you’re much more qualified to answer magic related questions.

“Right.” You agree, “You see, Wonderland magic is based in nonsense, but here in overland where everything is sense, nonsense doesn’t make nearly as much sense, so it really doesn’t work quite as well - or quite the same way - as it would in a place where things don’t make much of any sense at all…”

You begin to explain, only catching yourself mid ramble towards the end of your train of thought. You trail off, clearing your throat a little.

“But that’s really a story for another time.” You finish. You don’t want to overwhelm them with information on their first day, and Wonderland rules (or lack thereof), are confusing to most people on a good day. Besides, none of them are from timeless domains, so anything they would learn about Wonderland could only be theoretical. Realization crosses Mal’s face, and she points to you.

“So you’d be…”

“Alice’s daughter. Of Wonderland.” You clarify. Ben smiles a little, the way he always does when you introduce yourself like that. He thinks it’s so endearing how you think any Alice other your mom would spring to someone’s mind upon meeting you.

“That explains the teapot bag…” Evie mutters. Someone chuckles, you’re not sure who, but you find yourself hoping this wraps up somewhat soon. You’re trying so hard to be patient, but you were dragged away from Wonderland so suddenly, and it’s always disorienting for you like that. Besides, you’ve heard whispers of a nest egg that’s sure to hatch soon, and you’re dying to go back to Wonderland so you can get a look at it, maybe get some pictures.

“Exactly,” Ben says, turning to you. You’re so grateful that he’s always here to help you navigate awkward moments, like when you don’t notice you’ve been rambling, or make a joke that doesn’t make sense to anyone except him.

“She knows the most about magic out of anyone at Auradon Prep.” Ben continues, turning to you, “It’s just like you said, bunny. Most of us here are just ordinary mortals.”

Mal scoffs at that for two reasons. Not only did a literal prince just call himself a regular average Joe, but you’re supposed to be the one who knows the most about magic? She doesn’t think so. Not when she’s the one with her mother’s spell book hidden in her bag right now. She doubts you’ll still be the one who knows the most about magic starting pretty damn soon. There’s a new queen in town.

“Ordinary mortals, who… just happen to be kings and queens.” She says. At the discussion of royal status, Audrey suddenly finds herself interested in joining the conversation again. She’s always been a little too eager to talk about royal status and bloodlines for your liking.

“That’s true!” She says with that glimmer in her eye that only appears when she’s bragging. She reaches for Ben’s arm again, finally managing to grab it. “Our royal blood goes back hundreds of years…”

She pulls Ben’s arm around her shoulder, and he chuckles awkwardly. He catches your eye for a brief moment, silently praying for a graceful way out of yet another moment made uncomfortable by Audrey’s superior attitude and love of public displays of affection. You know exactly what he’s silently telling you from one look at his face, and you nod your head subtly toward the stairs, drawing his attention there. He looks over, spotting Doug on his way down to the great hall.

“Doug!” He calls, lifting his arm off Audrey to wave Doug over. “Doug, come down.”

Doug nods, and jogs down the last few stairs. He walks over to meet Ben and you, standing in front of the Isle kids.

“This is Doug.” Ben introduces him to their new students. “He’s going to help you with your classes, and schedules, and show you around the rest of the dorms.” They’re silent, and he can sense their apprehension about being handed off to someone, no matter how well they mask it.

“I’ll see you later, okay?” He says, with a small smile. There’s a reassuring quality to his tone of voice that puts everyone in the room at ease. The Isle kids seem to relax a little, and Ben continues, “And if there is anything else you need, please, feel free to-” “Ask Doug.”

Audrey jumps in yet again with that tense smile, cutting off Ben for the… you’ve lost count of how many times, at this point. There’s some more forced laughter between Audrey and Mal, then before you know it, Audrey is dragging Ben away. You start to leave as well, reaching into your bag for your journal to check where you’re supposed to be right now.

“Bunny!” Ben calls, and you turn your head. “This way.”

You turn and scurry a few steps to catch up with him and Audrey. As Doug leads them to their dorms, Evie looks back, her gaze lingering on Ben’s hand resting on your back. Something he’s done very casually a few times in the short while they’ve been here in Auradon, but never once to his actual girlfriend. Evie might be a pretty face, but she’s definitely not stupid when it comes to love. She sighs, and crosses Ben off her mental list of potential princes. One girl she can easily compete with, but two other girls fighting for his attention means he’s just not worth her time. Besides, if Audrey doesn’t stand a chance against you - which she sure doesn’t seem to in Evie’s opinion - she’s sure it won’t be easy for anyone else, even someone as gorgeous as her.

Across the great hall, Audrey stares straight ahead. She refuses to look at you, rolling her eyes and forcing a smile before turning specifically to look at Ben.

“But Bennyboo,” She says patiently, “We’re supposed to have dinner tonight, remember?”

Ben’s brow furrows for a moment before he remembers the plans they had made.

“Oh, right.” He wonders how he could have forgotten that, but chalks it up to the very busy, very important day.

“So we should probably get going,” she says to you, insincerely sweet. “Let’s catch up later, ‘kay?”

She begins to drag Ben away from you, but he hesitates for a moment. Suddenly he remembers why he hadn’t been thinking about dinner with her yet.

“Actually, Audrey, we’re uh,” he looks at you before turning back to her. “We’re having dinner later. After the council stuff this evening.”

Finally, her mood drops in a way that no amount of chipper facades and tropical punch energy drinks can disguise.

“...Right.” She says slowly, watching Ben take another step closer to you.

“We actually need to…” He says, trailing off as you hold out your pocket watch for him to look at. The hands are a little too close to the word Late! for his comfort.

“Oh god.” He mutters quietly. Audrey huffs and he turns back to her, really needing to wrap this up.

“You’re welcome to join us, if you want.” He offers, kindly telling her that either way, you two need to leave right now. Her forced smile grows stale at the idea of having to sit through even more boring meetings, especially unnecessary ones.

“I have a thing.” She says quickly, “I really need to go over the cheer routines we’re doing for the next tourney match. I cannot let Jane be an embarrassment to the squad again.”

“Okay, so dinner later.” Ben confirms. He walks over to give her a chaste peck on the cheek before dragging you away to the next meeting you’re almost late for. She watches the way his hand stays on your back, even when you must clearly know where you’re going. She watches the way you talk to each other as you leave, animatedly and closely in a way that feels too intimate for her liking.

You and Ben are always on the same page, you always have been. She knew what she was getting into when she started dating Ben, she knew about the busy schedule and all the meetings and how close you two are, but she just figured… She hoped that he would have started to like her more than you by now. There’s still time, she reminds herself. She can wrap her Bennyboo so tight around her finger that he forgets all about his little best friend.

#curiosity is a wonderful thing #descendants #descendants x reader #ben florian #ben florian x reader #liddell!reader #im sick btw #flu game by fall out boy starts playing #but yeah #in a writey tippy tappy mood #hope yall enjoy

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