Archive of Our Own ^beta

Our story begins on a rainy night, at Hex and Charmcaster's residence. The witch lady was about to take her leave for another night of crimes, planning on stealing some fancy furniture that would look nicely in her castle at Legerdemain

-"Where do you think you're going?"-Hex stopped her, not taking his eyes away from a scroll he was reading (similar to a newspaper) while sitting on an armchair in front of a fire

-"...Outside?"-Charm responded, a bit confused

-"You better use a coat then. You don't want to get sick"

Hope rolled her eyes, mocking her uncle's warning-"Oh please. I'm the all-powerful ruler of Legerdemain. Falling water won't be my downfall"

And after saying that, she slammed the door, leaving

-"...If you say so"

[Some days later, at Legerdemain]

-"ACHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!"

Charmcaster's sneezes loudly echoed through her chamber

...Goddamn it

Hope couldn't believe she actually got a cold from a measly rain, rendering her weak while stuck on her bed (but at least she got some sweet chairs from her night of crime)

But what sucked the most was how her golems were terrible at taking care of her. They didn't know what medication to give to her. Charm got poked in the eye when a golem tried to put a thermometer under her armpit. Their idea of cooking was a piece of chicken floating on a bowl of hot water (in the most literal sense), and they simply were too blind to notice THE DAMN OPEN WINDOW THAT WAS FREEZING HER!!

Incompetent, all of them! These golems were lucky that she was feeling so ill to properly punish them (and yelling with a bad throat wasn't the best of ideas)

Clearly, Charmcaster needed someone more..."human" to aid her, but who?

Well, her uncle was out of the picture, and that's period. Hope refused to face him after being warned. Being sick sucked enough, she didn't need his "I told you so" to make it more miserable

The sorceress then thought of that good-for-nothing Darkstar. Just thinking of his name was enough to make her cringe

And that's where her list of people she knew ended, making Charm groan and drop back to bed

...Or so she thought. Hope now remembered that she knew other people. 3 to be exact

Those heroes that always frustrated her plans

Hope bit her thumb, not wanting to consider them, but seeing how she was out of options, and how she at least trusted that they wouldn't take advantage of her weak state, she analyzed the options (because there was no way she was going to bring the three of them at the same time. That would be too humiliating!)

There was Gwen, her long-time nemesis. No matter how "nice" Gwendolyn showed herself to be, Charmcaster would never forgive the girl for stealing her magical book all those years ago! (Charm was aware that she was holding rancor to something that happened years ago that doesn't even matter anymore)

Then there's Kevin, Gwen's boyfriend. Charmcaster was convinced that there was nothing inside that guy's head except for his car, alien technology, and always wanting to get in a fight

And then there was Ben Tennyson

Sure, he was always the one to ruin her and Hex's plans in a more direct manner, but there was also something about him that made Hope not hate him

...Probably it was her crush on him, as much as she hated to admit it

WHATEVER! Charmcaster raised herself to sitting and turned to her minions

-"Golems! Bring me my crystal ball!"-Charm demanded with a hoarse voice-"I need to check on a old friend of mine"

Shortly after, one of her golems had returned...with a soccer ball

...This was going to take longer than expected

Now turning our attention to our group of heroes

They were currently fighting against Sunder, the collector of trophies. Kevin and Gwen were holding him off, but they were going to need more in order to stop the foe

Ben readied his Omnitrix, and after choosing the most fitting alien, he slapped on the watch, transforming into a big hulking tiger known as Rath

-"LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING, SUNDER!!! YOU'RE NOT GOING TO TAKE THE OMNITRIX FROM RATH!!! BECAUSE RATH IS GOING TO KICK YOUR ASS SO HARD THAT IT WILL SENT YOU FLYING!!! AND IF YOU STILL THINK THAT-"

-"Are you done?!"-Gwen snapped at him, struggling to keep Sunder on hold with her mana lasso-"Or are you going to talk him to death?"

-"My bad, Gwendolyn"

Rath jumped at Sunder, kicking the alien off from his drone, but Sunder was prepared for the duel. He readied his blade and went to attack Ben. Tennyson's form proved to be agile to dodge most strikes, but not all of them, as one slash from Sunder's axe sent Rath back, but the tiger alien recovered fast

-"NOT BAD! BUT I'MMA KEEP IT REAL!! YOU'RE GONNA NEED TO DO BETTER THAN THAT!!! BECAUSE NO ONE CAN BEAT RATH!!!"

After saying that, a massive rock door suddenly sprouted from the floor right behind Ben. Everyone turned to watch the door open by itself, forming a portal that attempted to suck Tennyson inside with a violent vortex. Rath used his massive claws to fix himself on the ground to endure the sucking

-"LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING, WEIRD MAGICAL DOOR THAT APPEARED RIGHT BEHIND RATH!!! RATH DOESN'T LIKE MAGICAL DOORS THAT TRY TO KIDNAP RATH!!!"

Ben endured the vortex as much as he could, until a big rocky arm appeared behind the door. The arm flicked its fingers at the door, making it fall right on top of Rath like a domino piece, capturing our hero

-"BEN!!"-Both Gwen and Kevin yelled in unison. They stopped focusing on the opponent to check on Ben. Levin touched a car, turned to steel, and lifted the door, but they saw that the portal had closed, with no traces of Tennyson

-"Oh man, where the hell did he go?"-Kevin asked

Gwen used her mana to study the door in front of them-"Hmmm, this is odd. This door is a portal to Legerdemain"

-"Legerdemain? You mean the dimension that Charmcaster is the ruler of?"

-"I do wonder what is this door doing all the way here?"

-"...Well, my plan was to capture Ben and take his Omnitrix"-Sunder voiced-"But seeing how he's in another dimension, and I have no beef with you both, I...I guess I'll just return another day"

-"Yeah, do that"-Kevin responded-"We can call you when he returns"

Rath tripped and fell onto the floating rocks of Legerdemain after the dimensional travel. Before the tiger alien had a chance to curse everyone and everything around him, the Omnitrix began beeping, and then deactivated, turning Ben back to his human form

-"...Alright, what's all this then?"-Tennyson asked once he got up from the floor, looking around at the dark-pink skies and other floating rocks. He turned back and saw that he was right in front of Charmcaster's castle

-"Charmcaster? What is she up to?"-Ben pondered, but not for long as two rock golems erupted from the ground right beside Tennyson, surprising him and holding him by the arms, making the brown-haired boy unable to use the Omnitrix. He struggled, but the golems' grasp proved to be stronger, and seeing how his attempts were futile, Ben gave up. After doing so, the golems began carrying him inside the castle

The golems only stopped and let go of Tennyson after they reached the entrance to Charmcaster's tower, with the sorceress already waiting for the hero

-"Well, well, well. If it isn't Ben Tennyson!"-Charm exclaimed, making a cool pose, but it was easy to tell something was off with her (especially her voice)-"I wonder what brings you here"

-"I mean, you're the one that kidnapped me, so shouldn't you know?"-Ben questioned while raising an eyebrow-"Also, is everything alright? Your voice sounds odd"

-"I'M PERFECTLY FI-"-Charmcaster tried to respond back, but due to how she raised her voice, her throat began hurting, which made her throw a coughing fit

-"...Right, I can totally see that"

The sorceress continued to cough, to the point that her legs began wobbling and lose strength. But right as Charmcaster was about to fall, she felt someone grab her. Looking up, Charm saw Ben holding her in his arms

-"Phew, that was close"-Ben commented, now staring at her violet eyes with worry-"Are you good?"

-"Ben..."-Hope said, accidentally letting a blush form on her cheeks. But she planted her palm right in Tennyson's face to push him away-"G-Get off!!"

-"Hey! I just saved you!"

After jumping from Ben's arms, Charmcaster recomposed herself-"I-It's not like it was a life or death situation...but It's not like I hate it either"-She whispered that last part

-"What was that?"

-"I said nothing! L-Let's just go inside already!"

The two went inside, eventually reaching Hope's personal room. After doing so, Charmcaster adjusted herself into her bed while Ben picked a chair and sat beside her

-"Very well, Tennyson. You're probably wondering why I have brought you here"

-"...To take care of your cold?"-Ben responded, not surprised

-"To take care of my cold...wait...how did you know?!"

-"Charm, it's written all over your face, it wasn't hard to figure it out. But how did you manage to catch a cold anyway? I expected you to be..."too powerful" to get it"

-"Well, uhh...I fought against an ice monster, that's all. But that doesn't matter! The point is! My rock golems are too dumb to know how to treat a human, so that's where you enter"

-"Why not ask your uncle for help instead of someone who is your enemy?"

-"It's because I don't want him to see me weak like this. And because I'm certain that Mister Goody Shoes Tennyson wouldn't take advantage of a defenseless lady like me"

Ben let out a sigh, admitting that Charmcaster was correct about him (even if he disliked the term "Mister Goody Shoes". It was so ridiculous)-"Right. So what exactly do you need me to do?"

-"Oh, you know. Give me the right medication; Blankets when I ask for them; Marry me; Make me chicken stew. The usual"

-"Alright, let me just"-Ben was about to get up, but he stopped at the last second-"...Wait, what did you say after the blankets?"

-"...Make chicken stew? I heard it's good for when someone is sick"

-"...That's not...eh, forget it. Let's just get you that medicine"

Tennyson almost got up, but he was stopped by Hope grabbing him by his jacket's sleeve

-"Could you bring me a duvet as well? My legs are getting cold"

-"Sure thing, I guess"

And so, Ben got up from his chair and headed for the many wardrobes

-"Uhhh, which one has the blankets?"

-"The one on the left"-Charm responded, just watching Tennyson walk around and place his hand in different closets-"Not THAT left! MY left!"

-"Give me a break! There is more than one wardrobe on your left!"

Ben continued to open the different closets. Some contained clothes, others contained weird magical artifacts, until he reached for the final closet "on her left"

-"Just be careful when opening that one"

-"Say what now?"-The boy barely heard her warning before opening the wardrobe with a pile of blankets falling on top of Tennyson, burying him

Charmcaster tried to hold her snorts back, but it didn't take long for her to burst into laughter (accompanied by some coughs)-"Pfft! The hero of the universe, overwhelmed by a pile of blankets. That is so rich!"

After escaping the mountain of blankets, Ben just grabbed whatever duvet seemed the most comfortable and went back to Hope, throwing it at her, but that didn't stop her laughter. Still, Tennyson couldn't help but laugh as well. There was something about Charm's chuckles that felt so radiating

-"Alright, alright. Now where's the medication? And this time it's better not to be in a trap ready to set off"

-"Relax, silly. It's in the bathroom. My mirror is also a cabinet that should have it"-After responding his question, Hope couldn't hold back a big and loud sneeze

-"...I'll bring some paper as well, but learn how to cover your nose with your arm. I don't want to catch a cold too"

-"And ruin my clothes with mucus?! Are you nuts?!"

Ben simply shrugged it off and went to get both items (and a cup of water as well), managing to return back to his seat without any trouble, now placing them on a table beside Charmcaster's bed

-"There, these should help you"

-"Oh thank you, Benny"-Hope said, taking one piece of toilet paper to wipe her nose. After that, she took one pill of medicine and gulped it down, using the water to make it go down better-"Phew, you're being of great help"

-"...Charmcaster"-Ben was about to start, but he got interrupted by the silver-haired girl

-"Hope"

-"Huh?"

-"You can call me Hope, but only when it's the two of us...alone"

-"Right"-Ben cleared his throat to start again-"Hope, if you just wanted me to help with your cold, then why not bring Kevin and Gwen as well? Gwen is great at helping people. Kevin...not that much, but he tries his best"

Hearing that made the witch bring her legs closer to her chest-"It's because...it would be too humiliating! My enemies seeing me like this. It took me a lot of courage to get you here, to the point that I should even get a medal for this. As a matter of fact!"-Charm snapped her fingers, manifesting a silver medal around her neck-"...Hmm, this suits me"

-"Alright, I understand. It can be hard to ask other people for help. Believe me, I was exactly like that. But it comes a point that you learn that it's impossible to tackle some things on your own, but when you have people to count on, everything becomes possible"

-"...Geez, Tennyson. It's scary when you get all deep and smart. It's like I'm talking with an alien"

-"Well, I have many aliens inside the Omnitrix, so what's the surprise?"-He joked, showing the device on his pulse

-"Oh shut up! You know what I mean"-Hope responded, laughing

-"Yeah, I do get weird when I get deep"-Ben laughed with her too. After that, the two just continue to glare and smile at each other, lost in each other's eyes, only being interrupted when the sorceress' stomach growled

-"Oops. I guess it has been a while since I last ate. My golems are unreliable when it comes to cooking food"

-"Oof. You're out of luck then, because I'm not good at cooking either"

-"Nonsense. I'm confident your chicken stew can't be that bad"

Ben scratched the back of his head-"Shit, I might try"

-"YaY"

Ben headed for the kitchen, and after arriving, he saw that, aside from the fact that everything looked so "magical" and weird, it was set up like a normal kitchen, so he didn't have much issue figuring out what magical stone was the fridge, the sink, and the stove. Now, to find the ingredients (and hopefully a cookbook)

Good news: He found the cookbook (yuppy!)

Bad news: It was written in a language that was beyond his understanding (not so yuppy)

Tennyson could only pick some letters and maybe some words due to how Gwen tried to teach him magic, but these scribbles were so tricky to memorize (Having to learn a magical language on top of school was no easy task. He even mixed them up in his Spanish test one time (he managed to score a B, but that's not the point)). Ben thought of asking Hope for help, but he also didn't want to bother the sorceress, so the boy just opted to wing it

Now going for the fridge, Ben found some of the ingredients that he knew go to a chicken stew, but the issue was they were all...purple

-["...That's Legerdemain for ya, I guess"]-Tennyson thought as he looked at the frozen purple chicken-["For real though. This looks like something Grandpa Max would use in a plate without any second thought"]

Ben gathered everything necessary on a counter and began cooking

Tennyson started by chopping the white spring onions (while separating the deep purple and light purple parts), and peeling and cutting the turnips and potatoes for last

The first step was easy enough. He just needed to heat the olive oil in a large saucepan while adding some chopped white spring onions (well, more like "purple spring purple onions") after the onions were softened. Ben then tipped the potatoes and turnips and cooked for more 3 minutes. For last, Tennyson added the boneless chicken thigh, dijon mustard, and chicken broth before placing a lid on the pan

35 minutes (that felt agonizingly long) later, Ben opened the pan and saw that it was coming along nicely (hey, maybe he did have a talent for cooking). But one thing felt wrong, the stew seemed too thin. Tennyson pondered for a moment, and then remembered that cornflour tends to help. He distanced himself from the food to grab the ingredient he felt 89% confident being the cornflour to add to the stew. After placing said ingredient, the green-eyed boy mixed it and let the food rest some more

After another 5 minutes, Ben removed the pan from the fire and opened the lid again, now marveling at the chicken stew he made. Tennyson was surprised that he managed to follow the recipe to a tea (He translated the Legerdemain language to Spanish, then to English. Such a genius move from the savior of the universe)

...Unfortunately, he may have added a bit too much cornflour, because the stew now seemed a bit too thick, but that was no issue...right?

But that was the least of his worries, because a purple tentacle emerged from the stew

-"...Huh?"-Ben Tennyson, porter of the watch that allowed him to transform into all sorts of aliens from the vast universe, the one who witnessed a lot of weird things from the cosmos, simply could not believe what he was seeing-"Since when did I add something with tentacles?!"

Ben could barely ponder on it, because the tentacle extended itself to GRAB A KNIFE!

The stew creature tried to slash Tennyson, but Ben used the lid as a shield from the creature's attacks. When he had an opening, Ben started beating the living shit out of the tentacle with a wooden spoon. It took a lot of strikes to kill the monster, but it eventually let go of the knife once it perished

...Now Ben understood his grandpa's cooking better, and hey, now it was safe to eat...right?

Tennyson placed a lid on the pan, grabbed a different spoon, and carried the purple "chicken" stew back to Charmcaster

-"You sure took your time"-Hope commented-"I heard some beating from the kitchen. Is everything alright?"

-"N-No problemo here"-Ben responded with a forced smile-"Thank god I learned a trick or two with my grandpa"

The brown-haired boy then presented the food to the sorceress, who seemed very happy to have her food ready. Upon opening the pan, Charm noticed the dead tentacle in the middle of her stew

-"...Benny"-Hope looked back at the hero with a concerned smile-"Why is there a tentacle on my chicken stew?"

-"Look! Not my fault that everything here in Legerdemain is weird, magical...and purple"

Charmcaster sat back and exhaled, needing a moment to calm herself down-"Well, whatever. At least it looks better than what any of my golems can do, so I won't order you to make it again"

Hope then hunched closer to the food and opened her mouth

-"...What are you doing?"-Tennyson asked

-"I'm waiting for you to feed me, dummy"

-"How old are you, again?"

-"Shut up!! I'm just a year older than you, but I'm also sick and weak, so that's the least I ask for you!"

-"I don't know, Hope. Isn't this...weird?"

-"It's only weird if you make it weird"

Ben stared back at her for a moment, before giving in-"Alright, I guess I can do this. B-But don't tell anyone about this!"

-"You think I want people to know about this too? How the universe's hero fed chicken stew to the queen of Legerdemain? Don't be ridiculous!"-Hope responded (albeit it did sounded romantical in her head, so it's not like she fully hated the idea of letting other people know what they did)

Tennyson spooned some of the stew and carried it close to Charmcaster's mouth. After gently blowing it, she consumed the stew...and smiled

-"Hmmmmmm, so fricking good"

-"It is?"-Ben asked, genuinely surprised-"I-I mean, of course it is! I was the one who made it"

-"No talking. More soup!"

And so, Ben continued to feed the stew to Hope until nothing remained

-"Phew, that stew sure was delicious. Thank you, Benny. You saved the day yet again"-The sorceress cheered

-"And I didn't even have to get my ass kicked, so that's a plus"

But as the two chuckled together, Charmcaster's smile started to fade away-"...Well, I suppose I don't need any more help with my cold. I should get you back to your dimension and rest a bit"

-"Awww man, really? I was starting to have fun here"-Ben teased-"You made me realize that I'm one hell of a doctor, even"

-"Oh shut it! I don't want Gwen invading my realm and seeing me like this just because her dummy cousin kept me company for too long"-Charmcaster lightly punched Ben on the arm. She went to retrieve something from her bedside table's drawer. It was a stone piece with runes written on it-"Here. It's a "key" for Legerdemain. With this, you can leave, and even come back, at any time"

-"Really? Awesome! Thanks, Hope"-Ben exclaimed as he grabbed the stone. Tennyson now pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and began scribbling some numbers before placing it beside Charmcaster-"And here's my phone number, in case you need something else or just want someone to talk with. Legerdemain doesn't seem the most..."sociable" place, from what I've seen"

Ben got up to leave, a little bummed, since he was genuinely enjoying the time he had with the silver-haired girl-"Well, I guess this is goodbye for now"

-"R-Right"-Hope responded sadly

As Tennyson turned to head for the door, he heard shuffling from the sorceress' bed. When he turned back, he was surprised by Charm hugging him

-"See you around!"-Hope said, kissing Ben on the cheek, before letting go of the hug-"N-Now get out! Or else I'm going to send my golems after you!"

-"...S-Sure"

Ben turned back to head for the main door, his face fully red with blush

Back in the normal dimension, Gwen and Kevin were still trying to figure out how to open the door that kidnapped Gwen's cousin

-"Hmmm, Charmcaster sure reinforced the security of her portals"-Gwendolyn commented as she continued to meditate for an answer

Kevin stepped closer to the gate, analyzing it, "Ya know, have we ever tried knocking on it? What if someone answers it?"

-"Eh, be my guest"

Levin then did exactly that, whistling while waiting for something to happen

-"...It was worth the shot"

The door then swung open, hitting Kevin right in the face, and with Ben Tennyson returning from the portal

-"Hey guys. What did I miss?"

-"Ben!"-Gwen exclaimed as she floated to hug her cousin-"A-Are you okay?! Did Charmcaster hurt you?! What happened?!"

-"You see. Hope..."-Ben caught his tongue at the last second as he remembered that he wouldn't tell the others what actually happened (but remembering the kiss made his cheeks get a faint redish paint)-"...Charmcaster wanted to deal with me personally, thinking she had a chance if I was by myself, but I sure proved her wrong, all thanks to our grandpa's cookinI MEAN training! Yeah! Training! ...That's what I said"

Gwen narrowed her eyes with suspicion, but she calmed down soon after-"Well, what matters is that you're back safe and sound"

Kevin returned to the happy reunion with a purple eye from the door's impact-"Yo Ben...what is up with that black kiss mark on your cheek?"

Ben pulled out his phone to check his reflection after hearing that, confirming that Kevin was indeed right

-"Ben..."-Gwen narrowed her eyes even harder, now crossing her arms and tapping her foot repeatedly

-"Guys! It's not what it looks like! I-"

Tennyson didn't have the chance to finish his defense, because he sneezed loudly, and after doing, he began feeling very cold

-"...I think I caught a cold"

Back at Legerdemain

Hope was on her bed, starting to feel better from the cold

...But she still felt a fever in her body. Her heart beating more aggressively than before. A surge of excitement that restrained her from closing her eyes to sleep

Well, Charmcaster was feeling that way not because of a cold or any sort of sickness

But rather, a lovesickness

Charm held the phone number Ben had given her like it was gold. She read it again and again, always giggling and kicking her feet every time she saw how Tennyson put his Omnitrix's design over the zeroes. It was so dumb, so like him, just how she liked it

Hope remembered that she didn't have a phone...but it's not like one night of crime wouldn't solve it

Now, Charmcaster waited for another rainy night to go without her jacket