Down in the tourney playing field stood Ben, Kenzie, and Carlos. The boys prepared to start training while Kenzie watched from the grass off to the side. Carlos was at one end of the field, crouched and ready to run as to kickstart practice, and Ben at the other with a stop watch at the ready.
"Okay, Carlos," the king-to-be started, "we're gonna start with some sprints, ya ready?"
The frost haired De Vil gave a nod of affirmation. Ben started the stopwatch and Carlos took off. Unfortunately for him, the Auradon Prep's mutt Dude began running after Carlos who, unbeknownst to the other two present, had an intense fear of thanks to his mother. The freckled teen began screaming as the dog kept chasing him. Ben seemed clueless to the boy's obvious fear while Kenzie was a little more observant.
"Uh, Benji?" she called hesitantly.
The tallest of the three was still oblivious to the situation. Carlos bolted past him and Ben stopped the watch with a "Whoo!"
By this time, the princess noticed Carlos continued running and jumped up to give chase. Before doing so, Kenzie saw how the prince still didn't know what was happening, "Benji!" The teen startled before realizing the situation.
"Carlos?" Ben called, turning to where the boy was running, still screaming his head off. "Carlos!" then Ben immediately started chasing after the younger teen.
"Wait!" Kenzie cried, following their lead but at a much slower pace. Aye, my dad's Emperor Kuzco; ya really think he'd put me through physical education? "You're lucky your my friends or I so wouldn't be doing this!"
Carlos ran on the dirt path and hurriedly climbed a tree before Dude came too close, "No, stay back!"
"Carlos!" he heard the voice of his saving grace.
"Ben?!" Cruella's son cried. "Ben! Ben, help!" The Prince of Auradon showed up shortly and picked up Dude. Carlos pointed to the canine companion frantically, "This thing is a killer! He's gonna chase me down and rip out my throat! This is a vicious, rabid pack animal!"
"Hey!" Ben cried in defense.
"Oh my goodness!" a third voice cried sluggishly as the daughter of Kuzco appeared on scene. "I swear if either of you make me go through that again, I will deploy my uncle's old employer's schemes on you." Kenzie took this moment to catch her breath.
"Carlos, who told you that?" Ben asked, in favor of ignoring his best friend to better understand the situation.
"My mother!" Carlos answered, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Cruella?" Kenzie inquired before sounding more confused. "Wait, what did your mom tell you?"
"About the true nature of those vile, vicious creatures!" the De Vil son cried as he jutted a finger to Dude. The lad, still clutching the tree for dear life, calmed mildly to explain more, "She's a dog expert, a dog yellerer." Ben gave a laugh as Carlos became frantic again, "Why are you holding him?! He's gonna attack you!"
"D'oh, please," Kenzie brushed off his comments and took the dog from Ben's arms. "Dude wouldn't hurt a fly, isn't that right?" she coddled as she snuggled the dog in her arms.
"Kenzie, stop it! You won't make it out alive!"
"Carlos, you've never met a dog before, have you?" Ben questioned a smile on his face.
"Of course not," the tanned lad replied, still a tad fearful.
Beast's son reached over and pat the head of the still cuddled dog, "Dude, meet Carlos; Carlos, this is Dude."
"Dude, here," the only female present continued, "just so happens to be the campus mutt."
Carlos began to loosen his hold on the tree, "He doesn't look like a vicious, rabid pack animal."
Kenzie gave a slight chuckle, "Oh, trust me, he's not."
The De Vil child finally relinquished his hold on the tree and creeped closer to the dog. "Geez," Carlos began, "you're a good boy, aren't you?"
He reached a hand to pet the dog when Kenzie started to fully hand Dude over to Carlos. The teen looked up to her in confusion but all he received was a warm smile and a nod of confirmation. Carlos didn't realize how equal they were in height until that moment; he did notice, however, the slight butterflies he got in his stomach when he saw her smile. He thought the empress-to-be was pretty from the beginning, but the smile she sent him at that moment made her look more than beautiful.
Dude was completely in Carlos's arms now and Kenzie doesn't remember a time when the frost haired teen looked as calm or happy as he did right then. She shared a smile with Ben as Carlos quickly became attached the campus mutt, and it seems to be the same for Dude, as well.
Ben's happy face dropped after watching how the son of Cruella was acting, "Guess you guys have it pretty rough on the island." Kenzie lost her happy smile as well when she thought back to her encounter on the same topic. The way they had exchanged looks that night showed how they all felt about that place and how it truly was.
"Yeah," Carlos replied after a moment, "let's just say you don't get a lot of belly rubs."
The Peruvian princess reached over and mussed with his hair, "Well, at least you're here now, am I right?" Carlos shot the girl a happy smile and nodded in reply.
"Good boy," Ben said randomly as he clapped Carlos on the shoulder. The De Vil son shot him a confused look before light haired male continued, "I mean, you're a good runner; you're fast."
"Oh," Carlos started with a smile, "thank you."
"Listen, I'm gonna give you guys some space." Carlos looked to him and nodded, "You guys get to know each other and come find me when you're done, okay?"
"Okay."
Ben finally began walking and left with a "See ya later."
"See ya out there," Carlos replied back.
"Pfft," the ebonette snorted, startling Carlos who had mildly forgotten about her, "oh deary me, that boy was so awkward, ahaha!" She wiped an imaginary tear from her eye and grinned at the white haired teen. "However, he was right about letting you two bond, so I'll see ya later, 'kay?" Carlos nodded with a little laugh, mainly about how she acts with these situations. Ugh, you're such a cutie pie, I can't stand it!
"Uh, yeah, I'll see you," he replied back. The tanned girl reached her hand forward and rubbed Dude's head in farewell before showing the same treatment to Carlos. With things said and done, Kenzie took her leave back up the dirt path, this time without all the overexertion involved.
Dude gave a little bark to which Carlos, still staring the way Kenzie left, replied dreamily, "Yeah, she's great, isn't she?" The De Vil lad took a seat on a log behind him and started "Carlos-Dude Bonding Time".
Returning back to her dorm after the little fluff moment back in the woods, Kenzie opened the door to find another girl with long hair facing away from the princess. The dark eyed teen's face grew confused, remembering her roommate has short dark hair rather than long light brown. However, she took in the fact that the girl was wearing Lonnie's clothes so Kenzie took a leap of fate.
"Lonnie...?" the emperor's daughter called hesitantly. Said roommate whipped around and squealed when she saw Kenzie.
"Kenzie! Look, look, look!" Mulan's daughter gestured excitedly to her hair. "Doesn't my hair look so cool now?!"
"Uh, yeah," the Chinese female's dorm mate drawled in reply. "Your hair was fine before, in my opinion, but it still looks nice." Kenzie shot a questioning glance to her friend, "How did you even get your hair to grow that fast to that length? If I remember correctly, it was a cute little bob before."
"Mal did it for me!" Lonnie explained, still quite excited over her new hair. "And look!" the daughter of General Shang gestured to her skirt, to which Kenzie just noticed a large rip at the bottom.
"Oh no, what happened?!" Kenzie gasped, just imagining what she would do if any of her long shirts were ripped in a similar way. Cut me some slack, I don't have any skirts!
"I happened!" Lonnie exclaimed.
"Wait, what? And since when have you had this much energy?!"
"Kenzie! Big picture here!" the daughter of a general gestured her overall appearance to her roommate, "Look at me! I'm so cool now!"
"I'm confused, why does that matter exactly," the daughter of Emperor Kuzco questioned with a truly perplexed look.
Lonnie groaned at how her dorm mate wasn't quite getting the idea, "Of course, you don't worry about stuff like this! You're the daughter of an emperor with the highest self-esteem I've ever seen!"
Kenzie smiled confidently and acted as if she were flipping her pulled back hair, "Ah, yes, your description is quite accurate." The tanned girl's roommate gave her a deadpanned look, "What?! How can I not have the self-esteem I have? I am a sight to behold, you know."
"The point is!" Lonnie cried, earlier happiness washed away. "You aren't as worried about your image as the rest of us! So many of us students here strive to be socially acceptable! But you just do it with ease!"
"Oh, please, you think I'm socially acceptable?" Kenzie asked, receiving a rapid nod from her friend. "Is it because of how confident I act?" Another nod. "Well, sugarplum, that's where you're screwing up."
"What do you mean?"
Kenzie gave a chuckle, "I'm not completely accepted here, doll." Lonnie was about to protest but the tanned teen threw her hand up, "Ah-ah, no interrupting." Seeing her friend close her mouth, the princess continued, "You apparently don't know how many comments I get when people hear I was the only one happy about the Isle of the Lost kids comin' here; or about how much of a 'snob' I am; or, the best one, how my father was a llama. No one cares that it wasn't even for two weeks, barely even one! No, everyone only cares about the fact that he was turned into a llama." Kenzie crossed her arms as she continued, "It doesn't help when people like Chad and Audrey hate you 'cause then everyone else basically teams up with them." Lonnie looked shocked by all this, "But ya know what?" The now brunette female shook her head, "Me displaying my confidence and how much I love myself more than I care about their opinions makes me feel like I belong, and most importantly, makes me happy. I know all my good features, I know all my flaws, and I definitely know I'm not what everyone says I am." Mulan's daughter looked to her friend with a new found admiration, "So, no, I'm not socially accepted, but I'm still happy with myself; I'm not gonna change for anyone else other than myself. And Lonnie," said girl nodded, letting Kenzie know she was listening, "you shouldn't have to either 'cause the Lonnie I know is fine the way she is."
Without further delay, Lonnie reached forward and gave her roommate a bear hug, causing Kenzie to tense up at the show of affection. Her and Lonnie may be friends and dorm mates, but they weren't on the level of touching quite yet.
"Okie," Kenzie said after awhile, "I know I said some sweet things, but, um," she pushed the general's daughter away and crossed her arms in a familiar X fashion, "no touchy!"
"It was just so sweet and touching, I couldn't help it!" Lonnie laughed at the reaction from the princess.
"Well, fluff hour is over, so," Kenzie drawled and she stepped back to the door, overly awkward from the little speech she gave. Emperor Kuzco's daughter finally reach the dorm door and left with a quick "BYE!"
Lonnie laughed at her dorkish roommate. She knew the empress-to-be wasn't all self-absorption. She knew Kenzie could be sweet when she wanted to be, the ebonette was just a little awkward and out of touch with that side of herself.
Kenzie was walking down the hall at a fast pace towards the villains' daughters' room, curious to know if they wouldn't mind her hanging around with them. I shall get Mal to open up to me! Kenzie passed Ben on the way and gave him a quick salute, to which the prince just laughed at.
Kuzco's daughter soon reach their door and gave a knock, hearing a groan right after.
The door opened to reveal an annoyed Mal, who only mildly relaxed upon seeing Kenzie, "Oh, it's you."
"I can see you're warming up to me," the tanned female sang, pointing to the retreating teen. Taking this as the okay to enter, Kenzie walked in and noticed Carlos and Jay inside the room as well. "I see it's gonna be a common thing to hang out in each other's rooms," the princess gave a laugh. Kenzie looked to the bed closest to the door, "Mind if I sit here?"
"Of course not," Evie replied, making it obvious that the bed was hers. "Go right ahead."
"Sweet, thanks," Kenzie took her seat and looked to the Evil Queen's daughter. "I never knew you sewed, Evie."
"Oh, I love to sew," the blue haired female said happily.
"It's practically her favorite hobby," Jay commented from beside the window.
"Oh ho, are we finally done with the flirting, Sir Jay?" the emperor's daughter inquired, using the same posh accent from earlier that day.
"Yeah, I learned when to take a hint," the long haired male chuckled.
"Good! Now we can have an actual friendship, yeah?" She received a nod and clapped happily.
"Okay, this is ridiculous," Mal said after a momentary pause. "Why are you so accepting of us here?"
Kenzie looked confused, "Elaborate?"
"We're villains!" the daughter of Maleficent cried. "Even that girl Lonnie called us evil! Why are you acting so different from everyone else?!"
"Ya know, I don't really possess the crown to make assumptions on others," the Peruvian princess commented to the quartet of friends. "If ya hadn't hear, my dad was a llama. Do I really have the right to judge others?" She earned a chuckle from the boys and grinned herself. "Besides," the girl began as she looked at the four individually, "I judge a person by how they present themselves and how I'm treated by them." They all exchanged looks before looking back to Kenzie, "You guys have treated me better than most of the other kids here at this school," the ebonette gestured to Jafar's son as she continued, "regardless of some flirting here and there."
"So you're not trying to trick us?" Mal questioned finally.
Kenzie released a chuckle, "Not once."
The evil fairy's daughter looked to the other three in the room before sighing, "I guess you're not so bad, after all."
"Does that mean we can all be friends now?" the empress-to-be spoke with a grin.
Again, looks were exchanged before they all showed smiles in varying degrees, "Yeah, we can be friends," Carlos spoke finally, with a really happy smile. Kenzie could feel the little crush she had getting a little stronger as she saw the cute way his eyes lit up when he actually smiled happily.
The princess gave a laugh of relief and fell back to lay on the bed, "Fantastic." Laughs sounded from the children of villains' as they watched the ebonette in amusement. To any of the other kids at Auradon Prep, it wouldn't seem like over half these kids were from the Isle of the Lost.
A/N: I CAN'T WRITE FLUFF.