Half and Half

Chapter Fourteen

Mal wheeled her way down the hall, looking for Ben. Lady Steph had told her the news about Beast and, while she wasn't that cut up about Beast being sentenced to the Isle after everything the Isle had gone through, Mal knew the news would devastate Ben.

And he'd proven himself a good ally, even in the beginning when Mal probably wasn't the best ally to him. So she was going to make sure that she cheered Ben up however she could. She wasn't one hundred percent positive how she could do that but she was going to.

"Benji, tu dois sortir de ta chambre*," she heard Chip tell Ben as she rolled her way to Ben's room. Sure enough the door was open and Mal could see the older boy talking to a lump on Ben's bed that Mal had to assume was Ben.

"Pas si papa va partir, Chip*," Ben said, though his voice was obviously muffled by the thick blankets he was under.

"What are you guys saying?" Mal asked, preventing any response from Chip. Not that Mal was ashamed of butting into their conversation—if they wanted privacy then they should have shut the door.

Chip looked over at Mal and gave the younger girl a small smile, as he always seemed to do whenever he saw her. "I'm just trying to get Benji here to leave his room," he said, his voice soft. "The only time he'll leave now is if Adam's doing something with him but Adam's in a meeting with Belle to...to go over the transition when he goes to the Isle."

"Oh..." Mal said and tilted her head. "But...that didn't sound like you were telling Benny to leave his room?"

"It is in French," Chip said, chuckling slightly at the confused look on Mal's face. "Adam's kingdom was originally in France before everyone merged into Auradon so Ben and I know a fair bit of the language."

"Oh..." Mal said once more. Knowing another language like that...it could come in handy on the Isle. There weren't a lot of French speakers. Sure Freddy knew French but Mal avoided him like he was made of iron. The LeGumes probably knew French as well but again, they weren't exactly allies with Mal.

Plus with Beast going to the Isle and Ben spending half of the year there himself, something told Mal they would be avoiding the LeGumes no matter what.

"...Can you teach me?"

Ben poked his head out from under his blankets and Mal bit her lip to avoid laughing at how his honey brown hair seemed to stick out every-which way. It wouldn't do to laugh at an ally. "You...you want to learn French?"

Mal shrugged. "I mean, it'd be useful on the Isle wouldn't it? Not a lot of people there know French."

And the people who do are going to be people you'll be avoiding anyway, she thought. Mal couldn't imagine Ben spending much time around the LeGumes for instance.

"I could teach you!" Ben said, his eyes lighting up in excitement as he scrambled out from under his covers. "Come on!"

"Number one way to get Benji excited, get him the opportunity to learn something new or teach someone else something new," Chip chuckled as Mal slowly rolled her way into Ben's room. She even accepted Chip's help in getting up onto Ben's bed so the two kids could sit together.

"What about giving Benny a new book?" Mal asked as she looked over at Chip.

"That falls under the 'learn something new' category," Chip told her, sneakily putting a pillow under her cast to make sure her ankle stayed elevated.

"Here," Ben said softly as he handed her the Cerberus plushie she'd given him for his birthday. It was a dark blue Cerberus with yellow collars on the left and right heads, though Mal had insisted the center head have a purple collar. As she had explained to Lady Steph, how would Ben remember who it was from otherwise? "You can hold him if you want."