Stained Glass Breaks and So Do Hearts

Under Pressure

The next month was nothing but work for Uma and Mal. Thankfully they were to work together so they often spent their time working in Mal's new office together. Their office was just off of Carlos', together making up what was now known as Isle Relations and Affairs. Mal and Uma were a strange couple to most people but anyone who saw them together could not deny how adorable they were together. Mal would sometimes sit with paperwork on a couch, legs draped over Uma's who was using her legs as a rest for her own paperwork. They really were taking their assignment seriously. Mal was working primarily on housing and security while Uma was working on creating profiles for all the VKs. These were far from simple tasks, but they were important. The Vks would need a place to stay and security would need to be tighter as they adjusted to goodness. Goodness Class would need to be expanded on, Evie happily took up the position with Doug. Uma's list of VKs seemed to only grow larger as she needed to include any VK who had a desire for goodness and Auradon. She did have a list of potentials who she wasn't sure about. On that list, at the very top was Zevon. He was never unhappy being a villain, but he was too smart to be wasting away on the Isle. This paired poorly with Carlos and Zevon's well-known rivalry.

Carlos and Ben were equally if not busier. Carlos had a whole division to worry about now, working to establish better relations between those from the Isle and the people of Auradon. This included whole campaigns centered around showing the goodness that VKs were capable of. On top of this task, Carlos also had the unpleasant responsibility of taking King training, it used to be called Queen etiquette but seeing as Carlos was not keen on being called Queen, they renamed it. It was a set of lessons, held by the former king and queen to teach him how to be a royal. Carlos admittedly was awful at it. The complexity and properness of it all rubbed him the wrong way. He didn't complain no matter how much it stressed him out.

Even further on top of this Carlos and Ben shared Wedding planning duties. As this would be a royal wedding, every detail had to be approved by both parties. Thankfully, Carlos and Ben had similar preferences when it came to wedding plans except for one thing, the color scheme. Ben felt that Auradon's blues and golds were the natural options but Carlos demanded Black and White. Ultimately, they settled on a White, Gold and Red theme. Ben begrudgingly gave in but demanded that the after-party be blue and gold. This was something Carlos happily gave him. Planning a wedding is still a lot of work.

Ben, on the other hand, was completely swamped with more paperwork regarding all of this isle business. He had to approve everything that came out of the IRA (Isle Relations and Affairs). With VK's in charge of the division, many people needed Ben's approval for anything the division requested. This added to the king's already usually busy workload. On top of this Ben had to deal with the public's unease towards more VK's. The IRA had the task of improving relations, but the King was tasked with managing the unrest related.

All of this had caused a strain on both the King and his Pup. They were unwavering towards each other but they definitely missed one another. Ben and Carlos were managing as well as they could but it didn't take any magic to see Carlos was not coping well. It started simply enough, with some missed phone calls and snoozing his alarms one too many times. He was still managing his paperwork, but it started turning into Ben having to call and wake Carlos up every morning. This was a temporary remedy as at least hearing from his love made him feel good enough to get up for the day.

Belle and Beast recognized it when he would come into training to be a king and already look completely dead. He would zone out and it set them back in progress. Mal and Uma saw it as when he came into the office he would barely even talk to them unless it was business anymore. Everything to Ben seemed like it was normal though. Carlos hid it all from him, afraid of being the disappointment he already felt he was.

It hit it's peak when Ben came back from the office early, due to a lighter day of work. The moment he entered their suite he could hear the sobs. Broken and tired sobs paired with the rush of the shower water. Ben stepped into the bathroom to find Carlos curled up in the bottom of the shower, completely balling his eyes out. Ben took off his shirt and knelt next to the shower, pulling Carlos out and into his arms. Ben rocked him and held him looking very surprised and very worried.

"Pup? What's wrong? Did something happen?" Ben's voice was uneasy as he clutched the love of his life to his chest.

"N-no... I just... I can't..." Carlos sobbed into his chest, clinging to him for dear life. Ben was practically terrified at this point. He had no idea what was wrong and any attempt at getting information from him was met with hard sobs and broken noises that only hurt his heart.

"Carlos, I know it's hard but you gotta talk to me pup. I love you, please talk to me, baby." Ben begged in a whisper to his ear. Carlos hesitated but nodded.

"It's all so much, so fast. Between the IRA, the wedding, and the king training... I never see you. I feel so damn alone and all I want is you. I know I'm being selfish, and I knew this would be hard but I just... I'm not sure how to handle all of this. "Carlos cries were heartbroken, and Ben had started to cry himself.

"I know Pup, I'm so sorry... we can try and slow things down somehow, but I can't lose you. I do everything I do for you. You are my kingdom pup. You are my world and I need you to know that. I never wanted to break you down like this... I should have gone easier on things. I'm so sorry." Ben held Carlos tight to him, his own heart was breaking for how little he had noticed. He should have known better.

"I should have told you that this was too much but I wanted you to be proud of me... I wanted you to be able to point to me and say that I'm your fiancé and that I'm doing such a good job... I just wanted to be your good boy." His voice cracked with fresh tears quickly following.

"Oh, goodness Pup. You are always my good boy. You try so hard for me and I appreciate all of it. I'm so sorry if I made you feel like you weren't. Come on... let's get you dry and ready for bed." Ben picked him up, grabbing a towel and carrying him out to the bed, drying his fiancé off.

"Do we have to go to bed? Can we just talk? Can we actually cuddle? I miss everything about you, and I need it all." Carlos whined like a pup making Ben smile sadly.

"Of course, Pup." Ben smiled reassuringly. The two ended up cuddling for a while and talking about everything. They knew the morning would come and they would have to be the king and the king to be again, but for now, they were just Ben and Carlos. True Loves giving their all to be one.

Meanwhile, Zevon was wasting no time preparing plans for Auradon. He was spreading rumors about himself wanting to be good. For his plan to work, he would first have to get to Auradon. From there, it was simply a matter of time before the Mistress of Evil returned with the True King of the Isle at her side. Of course, he wouldn't waste the opportunity to take revenge, as any follower of Maleficent's knows, Evil is the only real way to live.