An: Ok, I think it might be working again.
There are many things I'd like to apologise for myself here:
Firstly the long delay. Getting into Jay's character was like wrangling a bear and I'm still not completely happy with it. For the same reason this chapter's ending might feel a bit rushed. And also if it seems OOC - I tried, really.
And secondly that I got the name of Cinderella's town wrong last chapter. I can't do much about that at the moment with everything being so tempramental but it is on my to-do list.
Also, I'd like to say that while I have seen the film and most of the webisodes, my knowledge of the books comes just from what I've seen on the internet and half of that I'm ignoring anyway. As a result, I had to make Jay's stories up (I'd have had to anyway but I thought I should warn you, while anything that contradicts the movie itself is a definite error on my part [like getting Cinder's city name wrong] and I'm paying lip-service tp the shorts/webisodes, don't expect perfect compliance with the books).
Anyway, on with it.
Jay was having a good evening. A terrible day yes, but a good evening. Audrey had been an excellent dancer when she'd danced with him (though Jay was astute enough to realise that she'd dance with anyone if it showed up Ben) as was Evie. Jane, who he and Carlos had all but dragged onto the dance floor, had been technically proficient but her shyness kept anyone from noticing. Several cheerleaders had danced with him too, and while Jay wasn't sure when they'd found the time to change into their uniforms he wasn't about to complain.
And even Lonnie had seemingly overcome her apparant dislike for him (and was she a lesbian? Zoophile? Obscure thing he didn't know the name of? He'd never heard anything so odd as 'just not into him' - on the Isle expressing a lack of complete satisfaction with someone you'd just messed around with was the norm, but refusing to let them try was just not done) enough for one dance, before she claimed a need to 'get out of there' and left the dance area all together.
At that point he'd been picked up by Ben, and just for a laugh they'd waltzed their way through the Matchmaker song, managing to remain in hold the entire time. They made quite a sight for the people still there to watch but if there's one thing Jay had learned in his early life it was that strength was worth little without agility. His footwork was probably all wrong for the specifics of the dance, but he was balanced and was on beat every time, and given that Matchmaker was substantially faster than the average waltz that was saying something.
When it was over Ben had told him that he had some things he actually needed to discuss and so the new king joined him as he took Dude for a walk.
Jay was happy to go over various formations and tactics for the tourney team, but they were soon joined by others, and sadly it wasn't their teammates.
Jay in general held a low opinion of the adults of Auradon, especially the members of its ruling classes. This was instilled in him by his father and as such was something he wished to get over but it was problematic, because while his father's motivation was as usual really bad he felt his dislike for them was completely justified, and the events on Saterday hadn't raised his opinion of them one bit (most notably Belle's reaction to Mal - Audrey might've been a bit of a 'suck-up' but Jay would bet his hair that Belle hadn't passed out upon meeting her). And neither did Fairy Godmother's unworthy excuse for schoolwork.
So suffice to say that Ben's parents were not people that Jay wanted to see, acknowledge or talk to.
Sadly they didn't seem to get that.
"Is everything OK?" Ben asked them when they appeared in his path.
"I'm not sure," Beast replied. "I need to talk to your friend here."
This did not bode well.
"Oh? Do you have anything to discuss with me, ex-king Beast?" Jay tried to keep the irritation out of his voice.
Belle gave her husband a quick elbow.
"Yes, as a matter of fact I do. I want you to tell us all about life on the island."
"Why? You want to gloat?" Jay stared him straight in the eye. "I suggest that if you want to find out so badly then you try living there. Who came up with the idea for that hellhole anyway? Did the Coachman somehow find his way to the ruling council? Or is it as I suspect - that the rulers agreed to it so that they could use it as a dumping ground for anyone they disliked."
"I assure you that everyone on that Isle was there in full accordance with applicable law-"
"Written by you and your fellow kings and queens for the purpose of disappearing people you don't like."
"I'm getting tired of this so this will be the last time. We cannot use it to dump people just because we dislike them, and even if we could it's unworthy to think we would. Everyone on the isle was tried in the heroes' assembly, and the trial videos are available for public viewing so it can be demonstrated that they had a fair hearing."
"OK, so everyone there received a fair trial huh. I don't recall such a courtesy. What, did you wheel me in when I was a baby and subject me to the judgement of god? Or some other such thing more worthy of my father than of the supposedly good?"
Beast's expression changed from angry to pained.
"OK, there was a slight oversight. I admit we didn't consider the possibility of villains falling in love and having children-"
"You don't need love to have children Beast, and if even a tenth of the rumours of your own youth are anything to by you know that all too well."
"While that might tech..."
"Hang on." Belle interrupted her husband. "What rumours would that be?"
"For starters the one about Beast, Gaston, three dumb blondes and a sheep." Jay told her before turning back to her husband (who was making the universal 'not true' gesture). "And so when this frankly obvious oversight came to light, what did you do about it? You can earn at least a modicum of respect if you can make an honest answer that isn't 'nothing'. Ben, you remember anything?"
"Nothing springs to mind." Ben also looked pained. Jay hoped this wasn't Ben's idea; Evie told him just before Ben had caught him that she was going to try and track down King Philip, and while Jay may have wished her luck in her frankly foolish endeavour, he had no desire to spend any longer in the company of any of Auradon's rulership than he had to. Ben had been an exception as he'd appeared to be a genuinely nice man but if he was responsible for this conversation then that opinion would change (Audrey was also an exception on the grounds that she was really hot, but while Jay wanted to roll in the garbage stacks with her he didn't want prolonged discussions).
Put simply he loathed Auradon's ruling council. Beast, Charming, Philip, Aurora, Rapunzel, Naveen, Jasmine, accountant guy that had briefly been engaged to Mulan that he couldn't remember the name of, if they were rulers then he did not want to see them. He was a bit unsure about Snow White as she appeared to have lost her kingdom but as she seemed to be unpleasant anyway if her current job attitude was any indicator he supposed he didn't want to see her either.
Not giving him a trial was not quite the point. After all, the law that they extolled the virtues of only allowed a trial for someone formally accused of a crime and while he did indulge in the occasional theft, he was fairly certain that nobody in Auradon had ever accused him of it or of anything that constituted any sort of criminal act.
"Was it even discussed what to do with us?" Jay asked.
"Of course," said Ben. "Alice brought it up in the Heroes' Assembly, and the ruling council agreed to a commision to investigate what should be done. They suggested a census which I think was carried out, and then the group's chairman King Stefan died. After that they would always answer that it was being looked into whenever anyone asked, usually Esmeralda or Tiana. You should be happy to know that they weren't any happier with Queen Aurora's complete unwillingness to take on the task she'd inherited than I was."
So it was Sleeping Beauty was it? No, Jay thought to himself, if any of the monarchs cared that much they could have had it reassigned. For that matter the heroes could've raised a much bigger fuss if they'd wanted to.
"Aurora's not a bad woman..." Ben was continuing, "...but her and governing do not go together all that well. For the most part she leaves the management of her kingdom to her mother who's also pretty bad at it, and rarely turns up to council meetings. She never wanted to be a princess, never mind a queen and it shows. Audrey thinks her mother will keep her throne 'til her death, I think she'll give it up as soon as she can get away with."
"And you think that's good enough?" Jay had finally snapped. "Here's an idea, let's drop anyone with a regal title on the isle and spend the next ten years pretending to do something about it. Come to think of it, why did anybody think that resurrecting a bunch of supervillains in the first place was remotely sane? That was you wasn't it ex-king Beast, any comment?"
"It made sense at the time. Hell itself couldn't contain your father, and it wouldn't try to contain The Coachman or Chernabog. And Maleficent seemed to have some deal with it too. We decided we wanted our villains where we could keep an eye on them." Beast sounded proud, despite the obvious issue.
"And how did you keep an eye on them, because I don't remember ever seeing an Auradonian inspector?" Jay asked.
"..."
"That's what I thought." Jay finished by flurrying his arms. "Furthermore, I don't recall ever seeing Chernabog on the Isle. Which if he won't die means he's loose in the world doesn't it?"
"Well, OK, yes, he's not on the Isle, because we trapped him elsewhere and considered it too risky to try to move him." Beast was getting increasingly agitated, pleasing Jay greatly.
"But I'll spare you on that. What was it about the Isle that you most wanted to know?"
"That was why I started this conversation wasn't it... I suppose I want to know what it was like to live there."
"You want to know that?" Jay asked. "Seriously?"
"No, heavens no, I don't want to know it. But I need to."
"It's harsh," Jay told them. "I assume given you're the one that sent it all that you're aware of the food supply?"
"Yes..." The Beast looked grim.
"But as bad as the food is, it's what we have and some of the fights over it, well, people have been killed over bread so stale it had to be broken into swallowable chunks by hitting it with a rock."
"What happened?" Ben asked.
"Well, it was a while back so I might get the details wrong but the gist of it was Mother Medusa's daughter Madison had somehow managed to reach a food shipment first and took, as was normal, the easiest bread to reach and she got mugged on her way home by Gaston and well, you know better than most what he's like."
Beast winced. "Dear god..."
"What did Medusa do?" Belle asked, though she looked decidedly uncomfortable too.
"For food? She had fresh meat for a few days, and she still had more children to forage for her."
"That's not what I meant. I wanted to know how she reacted to the news of..." Belle trailed off. "Fresh meat? But if the Isle only gets scraps then..." Belle's mouth slowly dropped and though it was difficult to see in the darkening sky Jay swore she went paler. "She didn't? She wouldn't?" Yes, definitely paler. "Please tell me she didn't she dine on her daughter's corpse."
"OK, I won't. So, anything else you've wanted to know? Or feel like you should know?"
"Was anyone nice over there?" Ben asked.
"Anastasia and her son Ash; yes she really did name her son for the phrase 'cinders and ashes'. Well, at least they were nice. Oh, and she had another son too but he's not relevant to this story, but is also close to useless at being evil, the difference being that in his case it's less for a lack of trying." Jay knew exactly how to pick a story for a specific audience, and this one was certain to elicit the most horror from them.
"They 'were' nice?"
"Anastasia and her son were romantics, true believers in the notion that love conquers all, which marked them as rather odd among the islanders. Anyway, Ash had this huge crush on a girl named Charlenne. With me so far?"
They nodded.
"But Charlenne was, well, one of Frollo's 'girls', that is to say the basically slaves that he was pimping out. The last thing he wanted was for her to have a boyfriend, especially one not paying him. He threatened to ensure Ash met with an 'unfortunate bathing accident' and the hands of his thugs, his usual method of dealing with people he didn't like and Ash's response was to challenge him to a duel, describing him as 'spineless, wretched, craven blister-puss' and calling him, in front of half the population of the isle, to fight him with his own hands. Still with me?"
More nods.
"Ash was hoping that Frollo wouldn't be able to send his goons to deal with him after that without it looking like he was scared of a then twelve year old. A twelve year old built like a rhino, sure, gossip held that Shan Yu was probably his father, but still a twelve year old. And indeed Frollo didn't send anyone after him. Instead, remember how I told you about the belief Ash and his mother had in the power of love made people consider them weirdos?"
"Yes..." Ben prompted, hoping he was wrong.
"Frollo used that to convince the islanders that Anastasia was insane, and not in the cool way. The Hunter tracked her down outside father's shop and a mob came to 'play' with her. She was to be given a twenty second headstart before they set off in pursuit in a fun game of 'Lynch That Retard'. She survived that day, but only because for unrelated reasons Maleficant was in a foul mood and stormed across the 'course' just as the pursuers were due to step off. She never got over it though. Since then she's barely spoken a word to anyone."
"And Ash?" Beast asked, though he was sweating a bit.
"He gathered his own angry mob, composed mostly of people that didn't like Frollo any more than he did. Freddie, that's Facilier's daughter, and I were the only youngsters among it, and stormed Frollo's clock-tower where he eventually cornered him on the westward face's minute hand. He then knockout-gassed him, declaring that Frollo would only get the twenty seconds notice of his death that his mother was supposed to receive. So he tied him to the great bell and woke him up with twenty seconds before..." Jay demonstrated the bell ringing with his hands. "I know I shouldn't have heard the crunching sound from where I was, but I swear, I did."
"And what about Ash?"
"Was still standing up near the bell. He wanted to make sure there was no last second escape."
"And the girl?" Belle asked.
"To the victor the spoils." Jay noticed their hanging mouths. "The same rule applies to all ownership on the isle. Of course, Ash could no longer bear to look at her, don't know about the others Frollo had in there. Or anyone really. Ash has never left his hard won tower, instead staring out from the rooftops. His mother may not be mad, that's up for debate, but he sure is now."
"So," said Ben, "is there anything you liked about the Isle at all?"
Jay was quiet for a moment as he thought about it.
"I guess the unfriendly camradarie. Don't get me wrong, all the street gangs would beat each other up over the smallest things, indeed sometimes they'd beat up their own members, but..." ...out of mutual fear but Jay wasn't going to tell them that... "...we would never abandon someone to The Coachman or Mother Gothel or anybody like that. Me and Freddie became not exactly friends but, I guess the term's 'acquainted' when we were hiding together in one of the storage boxes in her shop when Mal's mother was in a bad mood. Years later I got to return that when she was trapped outside when Gaston was having one of his rage moments. I invited her in and we hid in my, well, it passed for my bed."
"You were in bed with a girl?"
"Yes, but we were both too scared out of our minds to do anything. That said, if someone on the Isle asked about it, we had done everything. Especially if that someone was either one of our fathers, though Mal figured we were making it up. Never mind that if I tried doing anything that involved sharp movements in that thing..." Jay trailed off as he pictured being crushed, then gave a thoughtful sigh. "Maybe that's how Mal figured we were making it up."
"But the two of you still weren't friends?" Belle asked.
"We were in rival gangs. I hung with Mal and she was with one of Hook's children - he has a lot. Though Mal and Freddie actually got on quite well; they were friendly rivals constantly trying to outdo each other rather than the typical rivals trying to lay each other out."
"Do you love her?"
"Who? Freddie? No," Jay replied. "If you meant Mal then hard to say. I'd be majorly upset if something happened to her but I don't want to kiss her."
"So what was your dad like?" Ben asked, probably eager to change the subject again.
Jay thought about it.
"Not too bad really. Compared to some of the other villains my father was fairly good. He's the one that taught me how to pick locks, pockets, and generally how to steal."
"And that's a good thing?" Beast was giving him incredulous looks.
"On the isle? Absolutely. If you haven't got the message yet, stealing well is all but necessary for survival." Jay rounded on him. "Most of the villains don't care enough about their children to teach them any useful skills. Well, Evie's mother probably believed she was at least but while sewing might be slightly useful nothing else she was teaching her helped much. Maleficant's hard to judge. Sometimes it seemed like she was trying to teach Mal, but most of the time she seemed to expect her to understand things by instinct, and then blamed her when the inevitable happened and she didn't. Cruella wanted to keep Carlos dependant on her while at the same time not wanting to do anything herself... it's a wonder he's still sane. I think the absolute worst example of parenting on the isle however was when a goblin sent her five year old son to father's shop supposedly to try for a job, but on closer inspection her request was a er... what's the phrase... a 'Letter of Bellerophon'."
"A what?" Beast asked.
"It means he was unwittingly delivering his own execution order," Belle answered, her fingers fiddling with her gown. "Hoping you're mistaken, was that what you were trying to say?"
"Well, it wasn't so much suggesting dad should openly kill him, few people would be so direct with dad, so much as it was suggesting that it wouldn't be tragic if he met with an unfortunate accident."
"That's more like a Letter of Uriah although to unclear even for that," said Ben. "Or we could just go with the modern name, 'Please Shoot the Messenger'. Or better still, we could accept that it doesn't matter what we call it because it's still horrible and arguing semantics is how you derail discussions in order to forget what's important."
"So, admitting I might not want to know the answer to this, did he die?" Beast asked.
Jay had to think for a moment. He struggled to keep track of everyone. Just what had happened to... Ah, right.
"Yes, but my dad wasn't responsible for it. Frollo took a dislike to half-goblins and had him drowned. I think Frollo hated pure blooded goblins too but was too scared of Maleficant (who thinks of them as her property) to do anything. You don't poach from Maleficant. Ever. As some clowns insisted on discovering the hard way. Now, are we done or would you like to hear some of the truly horrifying stories?"
"There's worse?" Beast asked. "Can't these people just settle down to watch the sunset and smell the flowers?"
"The sun can't get through the magic barrier very well and there are no flowers to smell. Not that many of them would if they could. And yes, it gets worse but please don't ask me to say anything else."
The fact that the sun never truly shone on the Isle got through to them.
"Not enough sunshine..." Belle muttered. "No flowers... how did... but surely..."
And something in Jay finally snapped.
"Ben, if you'll excuse me, this conversation is over."
Jay stormed away, Dude following after him. How dare they, all regal and resplendent, even try to think about what it was like for him. What did Ex-Queen Belle know of hardship? Sure she'd endured a month or so of genuine peril, and several years of minor teasing, but how does that compare, really? And what of Beast? He'd been cursed a long time, sure, but he hadn't lived every day in fear (at least Jay didn't think he had). Even Cinderella with her step-mother had a better time of it than he and his fellow Isle children had.
In fact, as far as Jay could tell among Auradon's heroes and rulers, only those who'd had to deal with Frollo for ages like Esmeralda had any real reference point for what the Isle might've been like. Maybe a few of the others but none of the royalty at all. And certainly none of his own generation. Because Auradon was paradise - a land in which such things were thought to be consigned to history. History was of course prone to forgetting minor inconveniences to storytelling like the Isle technically being within Auradon's borders.
Jay ached for his life, a feeling so overwhelming it defied belief. Half bitter happiness, half raw sorrow. The desire to hit something rose in him like never before, and for the briefest of moments he caught himself considering kicking Dude, before instead scooping the dog up and cradling it like Fairy Godmother said you should cradle a lost child (Jay wasn't convinced she was right, his attitude was more 'take it to the guardhouse and let them deal with it').
He was useless in this state. He had to find Mal and fast. Or failing that Carlos. Someone who could calm him down.
It was an uneventful trip to Mal's room, where he was sure she'd be by now, but he was very surprised by the sight when he got there. Mal was there, but she was talking to Audrey of all people, and it appeared to be heartfelt.
But that wasn't the most surprising thing. Four words, five syllables, fourteen letters. Carlos in a dress.
He was still full of fury, but it took a backseat behind mirth at the absurdity of it. He would be milking this one for months to come. He started paying a bit more attention to what everyone was saying.
"...everyone watching on TV. My love meant that little to him... Mal, of the two of you, you're currently the one I'm happier to see." It seemed Audrey was talking about Ben. Jay didn't know whether to feel sorry for her or not. On the one hand, sure it was upsetting for her but on the other, frankly if that was the worst she had to endure then Audrey had had a good deal. Being dumped, however publicly, cannot compare to the Isle, which was growing back into his mind again.
OK, it's settled. Audrey needed thicker skin. She was actually shaking with grief over could've-beens-with-Ben. On the Isle this would've resulted in a very nasty blow to a very sensitive body part, though having never administered it to a girl he had no idea which body part was used. Boobs perhaps? He made a mental note to ask Mal about it when the others weren't there.
But while he didn't know exactly what people did to girls to snap them out of silly reasons for 'oh woe is me' attitudes (and occasionally un-silly reasons too), he was certain that it was not pulling the crying girl into a hug. Isle Mal would never have done that.
But while Jay wasn't exactly happy at the thought of going soft, he knew, somewhere in the back of his mind, that the changes this utopia was making to them were for the better, idiot inhabitants aside. Mal being more loving couldn't possibly be a bad thing here, and in truth he'd only heard a tiny bit of the conversation so it was possible there was more behind that hug than 'Ben'. Still, like Carlos's fashion sense it was too good an opportunity to pass up.
"Well, isn't that a pwitty wittle sight. Don't you agwee wittle doggie?" Jay called into the room, everyone inside suddenly realizing that he was there. Mal and Audrey split apart, each looking awkward.
"How did it go with Ben? Did you talk about tourney?" The question took Jay by surprise for three reasons - one that he'd forgotten that that was what Ben had wanted to discuss with him in the first place, two that Carlos seemed really excited to see him, and three that Carlos was brave enough to say anything while trying to pull of an inverse-Mulan.
Nonetheless he felt he should at least attempt to answer.
"At first, but we were interrupted."
"Oh, who by?" Mal asked. "If it was Chad then please tell me you decked him."
Jay could tell there was a story there but he'd have to get it another time. For now he just pictured himself smashing that smug grin off that self-righteous, arrogant, lazy, pompous princeling. He found the thought somewhat therapeutic.
"I wish it was Chad, that would've been easier. It was Ben's parents." Carlos and Mal both grimaced, as did several of the others.
"Please tell me they didn't interrogate you about me?" Mal all but begged.
Despite still feeling, he guessed the word was 'violated' by them, Jay still smiled at the thought of telling them all the most embarrassing things about Mal at some point: the time she'd mesmerized Facilier for long enough for him to rob the store by giving him a striptease. The time she'd sneaked Carlos away from one of Gaston's sons by impersonating a banshee - shrill voice and all. The time she'd been super caught short when her mother took her out for a mother/daughter session of 'causing chaos' and in a desperate bit to both impress her and not wet herself she'd gone in a baby's buggy. The time when Mal and Freddie had been a little too into their rivalry. Or maybe the time when they'd been raiding the Evil Queen's castle (which always earned Mal faint praise from her mother, which was usually better than the alternative) and Mal had stopped to retch in the Evil Queen's still-being-made dinner. Actually, maybe he should consider telling Evie about that last one...
He would never actually tell Ben and his family those things though if for no other reason than Mal had a full library of embarrassing stories about him too.
"No, that too would've been easier, to say nothing of more fun. They wanted to discuss the Isle."
"What did you tell them?" Carlos asked after a moment.
"Well, just enough that I hope they have a few sleepless nights and I thi-" Jay was cut off by Evie giving him a side-on hug, presumably sideways so as not to squish Dude but why was she hugging him at all? He looked questionably around the room.
"We're having a hug-fest." Was that Jane in that tuxedo? Maybe she and Carlos had been involved in some kinky roleplay? If so then the dress was only slightly stupid.
"Oh well, in that case..." Jay handed Dude over to Carlos, then span Evie into a hug of his own.
This was nice. The warm embrace of a friend was just what he needed to get those painful thoughts out of his head.
Audrey however seemed to have gone mad as she sauntered over to him, not that it was a mad act in itself but it wasn't very Audrey-like as Jay understood it. "So how are you doing you great hero, you?"
Jay was confused. If this was the Isle, he'd have thought she was coming on to him but here that didn't seem likely.
"Are you trying to use Jay as a rebound guy?" Evie asked Audrey. "And if so, shouldn't you wait until you've actually broken up with Chad first?"
"I recall no such courtesy from Ben," Audrey snapped. "But you're right, I should. Luckily I'm not actually trying to seduce Jay, I just wanted to know how my dad would react to it. Sorry Evie but you've got me worrying about that now."
Everyone was quiet for a moment.
"Well sweetheart..." Jay's attention was drawn to a man he hadn't even realized was there. "I admit I did try to come up with something that would disqualify him as a worthy suitor for you, but realized that disallowing someone who took down Maleficent was to say the least hypocritical. Chances are I'm going to look for things to dislike about any boy you really like, but only because I want you to be the happiest girl in the world."
Jay didn't catch who it was that gave the "Aww."
Jay decided it was time to reduce the sentimentality somewhat.
"You know, if 'Maleficent defeater' is what you're looking for than it's Mal you actually want Audrey. All I did was back her up slightly. I'm not the equivalent of your dad, I'm... Oh god, I'm one of those elderly fairies." Jay winced from the comparison.
"Actually what happened to those guys?" Mal looked up at Audrey's father. "Why are me and Jane the last magic users in Auradon?"
"I'm not-"
"A massive blast hole in the Isle forcefield says you are. Anyway, what happened to the others?"
"Well," said Philip, "Flora, Fauna and Merryweather accepted jobs teaching young royalty in a far off kingdom. Fairy Godmother is still the same person she always was, though I can certainly understand why some might think otherwise... The Blue Fairy took offence when some idiot posted a crackpot theory that she and The Coachman were the same entity and hasn't since left her star. Genie's still floating around having adventures but for the most part keeps out of the limelight. Same for Tinkerbell and her fairy friends. I don't know what happened to the others." He looked at her strangely. "It is odd now that you mention it. There are a few left though, you're not quite 'the last'. Anyway, Audrey, I meant what I said about wanting you to be happy, but suffice to say that if you come home with him I will have you tested not only for hypnosis and ensorcellment, but also have him interrogated to make sure he is't threatening you. This is not because he's Jafar's son in case you were wondering, but because I observed his behaviour earlier and I wouldn't put it past him to try it."
Jay was about to make an angry retort, then realized that he really did look rather suspicious while harrying Lonnie into a dance earlier.
"Sorry about that by the way." Jay looked at her sheepishly. "Would I be correct in assuming that it's..." Jay fished for the right word, "impolite to coerce or force your attentions on someone here? The Isle doesn't really have that - it's more of an 'anything goes if your tough enough' policy."
"'Impolite' understates it," said Lonnie. "More like 'super creepy'. But as you somehow didn't know it was wrong I totally forgive you, so long as it never happens again. Do you actually have a crush on me or were you just trying to wind me up?"
"I wanted to get to know you. I wouldn't call that a crush."
"Jay doesn't really understand any other method of making friends." Mal supplied. "It made his early interactions with Carlos rather entertaining to say the least."
"So just to be absolutely clear, it's bad to try to force someone to be with you? Even with hypnosis and sorcery?" Jay asked.
"Absolutely," said Doug, who Jay also hadn't noticed until now. "To take away someone's ability to make their own choices... it's one of the worst things you can do to someone. Even aside from the moral aspects of it, I wouldn't be surprised if the Anti-Slavery Act applies there."
Mal was looking at the ground for reasons that Jay knew, as he assumed did Carlos and Evie, but (thankfully) the others present had no idea. If it carried on like this though...
"Yeah, well, as has been pointed out, I'd better go and break up with Chad." Audrey announced. "Lonnie, would you please come with me, thanks to Jay here for the first time in my life I'm afraid to be alone with someone."
"Of course."
"And I'd better go back to my room," said Carlos. "I need to get out of the Cinderella dress." No agrument there.
After saying goodbye the three of them left, taking Dude and Jane (who'd been talked into going too) with them.
Then Mal left because she absolutely had to talk to Ben and Philip said something about wanting to find out from Fairy Godmother just why she'd stopped 'Fairy Godmothering' now that Mal had brought it up.
Which left Jay there with just Evie and Doug.
"So," he said to them in blissful ignorance, "why aren't you at the after party"...
An2: So hopefully the next chapter will be less dreadful than this one, and up a little sooner. It should because I think I'll manage that character a little easier than Jay. Unless I flip chapters 5 & 6 around... Oh, I don't know.
Also, again, I won't beg for reviews but if you do spot a glaring error, please point it out.