Chapter Text
Ben swatted Hassan’s hand away from his fries and waved at Sean as he walked in the diner door. It was the first time in weeks the Sean got a free night to see his friends between the baby and work, so he fell tiredly into the booth and smiled.
“Hey guys,” he said.
“Hey,” Ben said and offered Sean some fries, ignoring Hassan’s protests.
“Thanks,” Sean said. “So, what’s up?”
“Well, this idiot thinks Snow White’s prince is the stupidest out of the Disney princes,” Hassan said, rolling his eyes and thrusting his thumb towards Ben.
It was a testament to their friendship that Sean didn’t comment on the fact that they had been discussing Disney princes and instead snorted and chimed in. “It’s clearly Cinderella’s prince.”
“Thank you!” Hassan said.
“No!” Ben said. “Who finds a dead girl, thinks ‘let’s kiss her,’ and then marries her when she wakes up?”
“Who can only recognize their true love by a shoe?” Sean said, raising his eyebrows.
Ben muttered something under his breath and Hassan high-fived Sean. “We win!” he crowed before noticed Izzy French watching them from the counter, smirking, and immediately slumped in his seat and nodded to her, causing Ben and Sean to snigger. “Hey, Miss French.”
“Hello, boys,” she said, standing and walking over to them. “So have you all agreed that Cinderella’s is the stupidest prince?” She glanced at Sean, who was glowering at her, and smirked again.
“Yes, ma’am,” Hassan said, keeping his eyes fixed pointedly on her face as she leaned over their table and laughed.
“Oh, I do hope you remember this conversation in a few months,” she said. “I’ll see you at work, Ben.” She nodded to the other boys and walked away, Hassan staring after her with his jaw slack.
“What the hell does that mean?” Sean said.
Ben shrugged. “Izzy can be really weird sometimes.”
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Bae pulled open the door to the diner and strode in, waving at Ruby before spotting Hassan and sliding into the booth across from him.
“Hey.”
“Hi,” Hassan said before waving at the door. Bae turned and saw Sean handing his baby to Ashley, who sat at the counter, before walking over and sitting next to Hassan. Bae stared at his friends, wondering who they were. Belle had seemed amused that he was meeting up with them today if her attempts not to snicker when he told her were any indication.
“So,” Sean said. “My real name is Thomas.”
“I’m Baelfire.”
“Aladdin,” Hassan muttered and his friends looked at him in surprise.
“Like the genie and Jasmine and pet tiger?” Bae said, leaning forward.
“The genie wasn’t nearly as lovable as in the movie and Jasmine was the tiger, but basically, yeah.”
Bae laughed. “That’s awesome. Who’s Jasmine?”
“Basilah,” Hassan said.
“Ah,” Bae said, smiling at the thought of the sweet girl in the year below them in school before turning to Sean. “So who is Thomas?”
“No one important,” he muttered.
“Come on, tell us who you are,” Hassan whined, shoving Sean’s shoulder. “I run around with a monkey in my movie. Whoever you are can’t be that bad.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Sean said again.
Bae rolled his eyes. “Hey, Ashley,” he called across the diner and she turned to look at him. “What’s your real name?”
“Ella,” she said, bouncing Alexandra.
“Ella, Ella, Ella,” Bae muttered, turning back to his friends.
“Ella Enchanted?” Hassan said.
“No, that’s just a kid’s book,” Bae said.
“Thumbella?”
“It’s Thumbelina,” Bae said before freezing, remembered Belle’s laughing at their discussion of Disney princes. He met Hassan’s eyes and knew he had come to the same conclusion.
“Cinderella?” They both said at the same time, making Sean groan and Bae and Hassan slump against the table laughing.
“You’re Cinderella’s prince,” Hassan managed to say between bouts of laughter. “You agreed that you’re stupid!”
“And you spent the last twenty-eight years fantasizing about the Dark One,” Sean snapped. Bae immediately stopped laughing and Hassan shrugged.
“I was cursed,” he said, and then did a double take when he saw Bae glaring at him. “What’s your problem, Benny?”
“You spent the last twenty-eight years telling me how hot my step-mom is,” Bae said, scowling.
“Wait, Mr. G is married to the Dark One?” Hassan said as Sean’s jaw dropped.
“No. At least, not yet,” Bae said. “But saying step-mom is easier than saying ‘my dad’s true love who is basically my mom.’” He rounded on Sean. “By the way, I’m also mad at you for locking her up for weeks.”
“She was trying to take my kid!” Sean said indignantly.
“Cinderella made the deal to give up your kid!” Bae said before shaking his head. “I’m not really mad at you, Sean, though I am mentally scarred from what Hassan has said about her.”
Hassan had the grace to look ashamed and then grimaced when the diner door opened. Bae twisted in his seat and saw Belle and his father standing in the doorway. Belle waved at him before going to the counter and Rumplestiltskin walked over to their booth.
“Hello, lads,” he said, smiling down at the three boys.
“Hi, Mr. Gold,” Sean said.
“My real name is Rumplestiltskin, Sean,” he said. “So who are you?”
“Aladdin,” Hassan muttered, not meeting Rumplestiltskin’s eyes. “Sorry about everything you’ve heard me say about your true love.”
Rumplestiltskin wrinkled his nose. “Let’s just never bring it up again, alright?”
“Deal,” Hassan said and Rumplestiltskin looked at Sean expectantly.
“I’m Prince Thomas,” he said, sticking out his chin.
“Ah,” Rumplestiltskin said, his jaw tightening. “Cinderella’s boy.”
“Rum,” Belle said, appearing next to him with a cup of tea in one hand, slipping her other arm into his. “It’s not the boy’s fault I wanted him to lock me up.” Rumplestiltskin relaxed and Sean looked confused. “How does it feel to be voted stupidest prince by your friends?” she said, smirking as she sipped her tea.
“They based their decision off the movie, which wasn’t accurate at all,” Sean muttered.
“Of course not,” she said. “I wasn’t the fairy godmother in the movie.” She glanced at Hassan. “How is your tigress, my sweet?”
“Fine,” Hassan said, avoiding her eyes.
“Mama,” Bae said, managing to draw her attention away from his friends and shock them with one word. “How did it go with the sheriff?”
She put her tea down and brushed some hair out of his eyes, smiling. “She agreed to help,” she said before looking back up at Rumplestiltskin. “Ready?”
He nodded. “We’ll be at the shop if you need us, Bae.” She picked up her tea again and turned to leave.
“Which shop?” Bae called after them as they walked to the door.
“Mine,” his father said and he turned back to his friends.
“Well, that was awkward,” Hassan said dryly.
Ashley slid into the seat next to Bae, clutching Alexandra and staring at Sean fearfully. “What did she want?”
“She’s Ben’s step-mom,” Sean said, sounding surprised that those words were coming out of his mouth.
Her expression made all three boys forget their awkwardness and laugh.