Hey Descendants,

Happy Monday! We're back at it again, writing book three.

Hopefully school and any holiday preparations are going well. We know those can get stressful. And right now it seems like everyone is getting sick. So take care of yourselves.

And now, what you've actually been waiting for…

Carlos's appointment was moved because Jay's session ran over, and Ben is dealing with the feels after finally getting a letter from Deez about herself.

Enjoy :)

-Dark-

Meanwhile...

Carlos sits in a chair in the hallway, absently petting Dude in his lap. He hated being early. But being late made his stomach hurt, and he still wasn't used to eating as much as he was able to here.

So, anxiously sitting in the chair outside the door it was. Because he hated throwing up even more.

"Not all changes are bad." Carlos sighs as he scratches Dude's belly, "Right, boy? Not all changes are bad. That's what Jay said, so we gotta believe him. Because he's Jay. And Jay's pretty awesome." He looks over at the door when he hears the handle jiggle.

A smiling man in a brightly colored shirt opens the door, "So next week, right brah?" he asks as Roy steps out.

"Yeah bro," Roy's fist bumps the older man. "Sound's good." He turns to walk away before he stops. "Yo, sup one oh one?" He grins as he holds out his hand. "See you an' the pup are up next."

Dude jumps from his lap as he beams, "Hey Robbin'ya." He takes the offered hand and stands before his smiles falters, "And yeah, just uh…" He bites his bottom lip as he looks up at the man holding the door open before he drops his eyes to the ground.

Roy raises a pierced eyebrow before he looks back to David. "Oh, it ain't that bad man, David's pretty cool for a shrink."

"What is he shrinking?" Carlos asks suspiciously. He'd been told he was going to talk to someone, had he been misinformed?

"Oh, that's right, isle speak, I meant he's pretty cool for a head peeper." Roy slides both his hands in his pockets.

Carlos takes a step back as he continues to stare at Roy, "Cool… Uh… Dude?" He absently pats his thigh. He wasn't going to do something if he couldn't even get the proper name for it. How was he supposed to look up all the angles?

"Howzit brah, you must be Carlos." The man greets, letting out a whistle to summon Dude before he kneels to pet the friendly dog. "And my profession is a psychologist, brah." He shakes his head at Roy's poor explanations.

"Right. Duh." Roy hits his head with a fist, "Catch ya later on COD?"

Oh good, he had looked up the right word then. His shoulders slump forward in relief, "Yeah man. I'd uh, I'd like that."

"Cool. Laterz." Roy nods before walking off.

David stands up lazily as he opens the door wider, "Well, welcome brah," He greets with an easy smile, "And lil brah." He looks down at Dude.

Carlos takes a deep breath before he pulls out his folder with his forms and walks in.

David shuts the door after Dude follows Carlos in before sitting crossed legged in the middle of the floor. "Aloha," David greets again, "Please, feel comfortable to make yourself at home. Whether that means taking a seat, claiming part of the wall, perching on the table or whatevs. Personally, I prefer the floor myself."

"You sit on the floor?" Carlos asks as he tilts his head to the side.

"Yeah," David chuckles, "I've found it helps give my clients an edge. Besides, the floor is pretty comfortable and I'm a sprawler." He offers as he leans his weight on his arms languidly.

"Huh…" Carlos narrows his eyes as he examines the room, "You know, letting people know you're giving them an edge negates the edge." He walks around the room slowly, "By acknowledging it you diminish it, once more giving yourself the edge."

"But answering a direct question honestly helps establish trust." David chuckles.

"I thought that was a negotiations thing." He didn't want to admit that was something he learned at Dragon Hall though. Never trust the negotiator. Their job was to trick you.

"Interesting thought process there, brah." David grins, "But this ain't a negotiation. It's just a run of the mill counseling session."

"Right." Carlos swallows the lump in his throat, "You call yourself a psychologist, right?"

"Yeah," David nods.

"That means you went to a lot of schools, right?" Carlos wraps his arms around his chest as he continues to walk around the room, holding his folder to him like a lifeline, "Like, that's a lot bigger than just being a wellbeing practitioner?"

David lifts his brow before he lets out a light-hearted laugh. "I see you did your homework, brah."

"I uh…" Carlos blushes as he looks away, "I feel better when I know what I'm doing."

"Coming to Auradon must've sucked for you."

"Kind of… Like at first." Carlos nods, "But then I discovered the internet. And Roogle."

David drops his eyes as Dude nudges his knee with his head. He smiles as he starts petting him again.

"And Dude." He smiles.

"All are pretty neat, eh?"

"Well, yeah. Dude was scary at first, but we got past it." Carlos slowly walks closer to David, wanting to hold Dude against his anxiety.

"Glad ya didn't meet my Ohana's dog first," David grins at him. "But it seems you two get along like a board and swell now."

"I don't know what that means," Carlos frowns as he shakes his head.

"Right." David shakes his head, "You've never heard of surfing have you?"

"Sounds vaguely familiar." Carlos muses, "Is it a sport or something?"

"Only if you're competitive like Nani." David stops petting Dude as he pulls out his phone and starts playing with the screen before he offers it to him. "I prefer to think of it as a way of life myself."

Carlos narrows his eyes as he sits on the ground on the other side of Dude and takes the phone. He watches a video as a guy and girl float on longboards. Eventually, the guy swims out towards a wave, grinning wildly as he stands in time for the board to travel along the breaking swell. "So, it's like physical science and math, because you have to do all those calculations to stay balanced on the board while also making sure not to broach the cusp of a swell that's traveling at several miles per hour, but also kind of a sport that you partake of as a lifestyle?"

David studies him for a moment, "You remind me of my iki braddah," He grins, "He's the only other person I've met that could turn surfing into a math problem." He chuckles, "But sure, yeah, if you want to be technical."

"What's an iki bra-dare?" Carlos struggles to pronounce.

"Little brother," David explains easily. "He talks circles around me too."

"Too?" Carlos tilts his head to the side before his eyes widen, "As in, you think that's what I'm doing?" he reaches out with both hands to hold Dude, "I'm sorry, that's not-"

"Chill brah," David holds up one hand. "It's no big. Math's just not my thing. Everyone has their skills. Mine are just more interpersonal." He chuckles sheepishly as he rubs his neck with the other, "Usually."

"So you're good at talking." Carlos pats his lap, smiling when Dude easily jumps up and curls into a ball.

"Or so I've been told."

"Yeah, I'm not so good at that."

"Don't need to be when you're a genius unless that's something you want to work on."

"It would be nice, I guess. I mean good communication skills are useful." Carlos sighs as he absently looks behind him, in the direction of the isle.

"Now that's something I can help you with." David grins. "I'm sure you're a quick learner."

"I try to be. I'm usually pretty quick when I get the right books." Like when Yensid would go through his bag and like magic have the books he needed to learn anything. He sighs, frowning as he continues to pet Dude absently.

"What's with the long face brah?"

Carlos blinks before he straightens up, "Sorry, nothing." He pulls Dude up to his chest and ducks to hide a blush before he holds out the folder with his free hand, "I was told to give these to you."

David reaches over and takes the folder, "Thanks brah." He opens the folder before pulling out the papers and starts looking through them.

"I didn't know what to write for a lot of the questions, sorry."

"I know this is gonna kill ya on a level…" David offers a soft smile, "But there aren't any right or wrong answers here. It's a soft science."

"Oh." Carlos takes a deep breath, "Well, I mean I also just didn't understand some of them, but yeah, I do like giving the right answer."

David chuckles, "Want to go over the questions you didn't understand together so ya can fill it out to your standard?"

"We don't have to." Carlos practically squeaks, "I just wasn't sure what symptoms meant. Like, open-ended or just about coming in to talk, or about something specific. It was just a very non-specific question."

"It's meant to be. It could mean a lot of things to a lot of people. For instance, someone might write when I'm nervous I get easily agitated, while another might put down that they get easily overwhelmed, or another might say they cry or others still might say they shut down. It's a very open question."

"But like, in reference to what?"

"To their daily lives." David shrugs, "Like, for instance, I can already tell you have some major anxiety brah."

"Uh-huh." Carlos nods as he stares at the floor.

"Which is an actual disorder here."

Disorder. He'd looked up that word. "Like, it's more than just a weakness?"

"Yeah brah, they are. They're either disruptive, coping mechanisms or chemical imbalances."

Carlos furrows his brow, "On the isle, it's just weak."

David tilts his head back as he studies the ceiling. "I don't know a lot about the isle-"

"I don't think anyone wants to, honestly." Carlos shrugs, "I mean, they put a barrier around it so they didn't have to worry about it right?"

"They did." David agrees. "But I'm kinda curious."

Carlos slowly looks up, making eye contact for the first time, "I don't think we're supposed to talk about it."

"Why not?" David quirks his head to the side.

"Um… Well, for one thing, people look at us funny when we do." Carlos explains slowly as he hugs Dude to his chest.

David nods his head, "I bet they do. Most people wouldn't understand what you guys have survived."

"It wasn't so bad, at least for me." Carlos quickly points out, "I got really lucky. A lot of people had it a lot worse."

"Brah," David shakes his head, "No one in Auradon has had it worse than the four of you."

"You think so?" Carlos furrows his brow.

"Pretty damn sure… Though pain is rather subjective."

"Yensid said that a lot."

"Yensid sounds like a smart guy."

Carlos grins as he nods, "He's the smartest. He's a Hero wizard that came to the island to teach us vks. And he was always nice to me and Deez."

David's eyes light up. "It's not usually my style to talk about myself, but I think I'll make an exception for you." He grins. "My uncle Jumba is a scientist that created over six hundred experiments, and my iki braddah is just as smart." He volunteers. "I've surfed in space."

"Space?" Carlos blinks before he sets Dude down beside him and rolls to sit on his knees, "Like space, space? Like the space outside of the planet earth's atmosphere that's a vacuum void of oxygen and life?"

David nods with a wide grin. "I prefer the waves myself, but yeah space, space."

"Cool! I didn't even know that was possible." He sits back before he pulls a notepad and pencil out of his jeans.

"Dude, you don't even know." David chuckles, "Me and Nani have a spaceship, it's not for like intergalactic flight but it's quicker than a plane."

"Intergalactic, like between two galaxies? Like our milky way and another galaxy? That's already possible?"

"For some of us."

Carlos waves his hands, dismissing the argument, "No no, if it's possible for someone it's possible for anyone." He wipes his hand across his mouth before he flips to lay on the ground, setting the pad out in front of him before he starts writing.

"I like that." David grins. "Very big picture."

"I do like big picture, but I like finding all the little steps that lead to the big picture." Carlos bites his tongue before he finishes a sentence and looks up, "It's like building a robot or a computer."

"Ha!" David beams, "I knew you reminded me of Hiro for a reason." He picks up his bag and dumps the contents on the floor, scattering pages and pamphlets everywhere. He shakes the bag until two metal dolls and remotes fall out.

Carlos's eye twitches before he pulls himself up and starts collecting all the loose pages into a single stack.

"Brah you don't have to-"

"I… recognize that you don't want me to do this. But I can't not. Sorry."

"But that gives us less time to play with these, iki brah."

"And I'm sad, but I have to count these now. And it looks like they go in folders, so I need those too man."

David studies him for a moment before he lets out a sigh and hands over the folders reluctantly. "And this is enjoyable to you?"

Carlos blinks at the question. "No?" He snatches the folders before he turns back to his self-appointed task, "But it's what I have to do."

"Who says you have to do it?"

"M-m-my brain?" Carlos sighs before he grabs the last loose page and sits down with the folders and large stacks of papers. He sorts the papers into different piles. One single loose. One stapled packets. And a pile for each colored pamphlet.

David nods. "Might as well pull one of the pamphlets for OCD and Anxiety out while you're organizing my life for me."

"I'm sorry. I just uh, I was already nervous," Carlos sighs and shakes his head, "and now I know what to do. Sorry."

David nods in understanding. "Help yourself brah. Don't apologize for my life being a mess."

"I think I was apologizing for not being able to stop." Carlos frowns as he hunches his shoulders, "But I can apologize for that too."

David chuckles, "Nah brah. You don't have to apologize for either." He rubs the back of his neck. "Nani's gonna kick my ass for this later- Not literally."

"Is she your leader?"

"Close enough."

"Mal gets mad when I do this too. I can tell her it was my fault, I'm used to being in trouble. I can take the hit." Carlos blinks as he continues to sort the papers, "Unless she has bear traps. I don't want to do bear traps."

"Does Mal use bear traps on you often for cleaning compulsively? Because from my experience that just makes the compulsive cleaning worse."

"Mal wouldn't do that to me. She's tough, but not mean like that."

"Bear traps was just awfully specific."

"My mother protected her furs with bear traps."

"Was your mother a fan of irony?"

"Ivory, yes." Carlos nods before he opens all the folders and lays them out on the ground, "How do you know what the folders are for?"

David shrugs, "For putting papers in or around." He teases.

Carlos looks up and down the row of folders before he looks up at David, blinking several times in quick succession before he jump-kicks to his feet, "I got it, I just need a marker." He starts looking around the room.

"I have no doubt." David grins, "And here." He digs through one of the zipped compartments and pulls one out. "Have at it Brah."

"Cool. Cool cool cool." Carlos nods before he walks back over to the pile. He eyes it critically before he starts marking the folders and sliding matching colored pamphlets into them.

"So your mother, she have you clean a lot?"

"I cleaned everything." Carlos shrugs absently, "That's what good sons do. They clean. And dye hair, and brush furs, and pretty much anything else they're told to do. It's why I made a robot. It swept and vacuumed for me so I had more time to do other things."

"Very pragmatic of you," David observes. "Hiro didn't start making practical robots 'til he was nineteen. Did you ever make or fix anything just for fun?"

"All the time. T was great at coming up with projects. I fixed a tattoo gun, the whole machine. It took months because T had to scavenge the barge for parts."

"That's impressive. I bet you didn't even need the manual." David breathes out. "I could never do that, it takes a lot of skill."

"Yensid helped me kind of reverse engineer it. I would have loved to read a manual on it, but I had to get creative with parts to make them function properly. Deez had to make a few parts out of glass for me."

"I'm sure you had to get creative with parts and all your projects on the isle. It's cool you had such helpful friends. That can make or break ya, brah."

Carlos smiles, "I was part of, like a secret group, we called ourselves Book Club. But we had to be careful because me and Gil were in rival gangs, and Deez and T were like the isles independents. So we couldn't let anyone see us together." He sets the filled folders aside in a neat stack before he pulls the pile of stapled packets to him and starts sorting them.

David raises a brow in surprise. "Really?" He asks curiously. "How did you end up joining a sub-club with a rival gang member? That sounds dangerous."

"T wanted to see if we could learn how to do blacksmithing so we could all have better weapons. Like, our swords were shitty. So he figured out who would be best at everything, and got us all together. We made a sword for Mal first, and Deez gave it to her and explained what we were doing, so she ended up saying it was all cool, as long as we didn't get caught."

"Clever." David grins, "I don't think many in your position would have come up or been able to execute something as elaborate as making swords and figuring out who would be the best at what."

"Deez was kind of obvious." Carlos shrugs, "She's a fire demi-god, so she was the forge."

"Of course makes sense, please continue."

"I figured out measurements and the formulas for each kind of sword."

"Because of course you had to make more than one type of blade." David grins at him, "For different types of fighting styles I imagine."

Carlos writes on several folders before he slides stacks of papers into them, "Is this one of those things where people look at us weird?"

"Why? Because they weren't clever enough to do it themselves?"

"Or didn't have to." Carlos bows his shoulders again before he reaches for the last stack of loose pages and starts sorting them.

"Technically no one has to do anything, but the fact that you guys saw a need and filled it is amazing. Don't let other people take that from ya, brah."

"I am really proud of the things we did." Carlos sighs, "Before we got taken, we were going to start working on a staff for Yensid and finish up Deez's, Gil's and Uma's sword. Gil was trying to make Uma's really fancy."

"You should be proud of the things you did. They sound like things you should be proud of. Not many teenagers can say they had a secret club where they made weapons behind their parents and other gangs noses. It speaks a lot about the four of you. Very resourceful. I'm sure your Ohana was proud of you."

"Ohana?"

"Family- Or in this case gang and friends," David explains with a goofy grin. "You guys probably had some of the nicest blades on the isle."

"Gil is a pretty wicked blacksmith." Carlos nods, "I think you need more folders. Like five of them."

"Huh." David slowly gets up, "Let me take a look." He offers as he walks across the room and starts going through random drawers and cabinets.

Carlos nods as he starts marking the rest of the folders before sliding the larger stacks into them.

"So, T and you sound like you were pretty close. Did you guys do a lot of projects together?"

"Oh yeah." Carlos nods, "We both liked science, or he at least liked doing science with me. He'd freak if he could see all the lab stuff Auradon has. Or the games. He'd fucking flip for the games here, especially the ones that are 3-D. Or the tech in general. We probably wouldn't see him for weeks if he had Roogle. That's kind of what happens when he gets a lot of information though."

David chuckles, "Sounds like you two had a lot in common. Did he ever help you clean too?"

"Yeah." Carlos slows, "A couple of times." He admits absently as his hand hovers over a folder.

"This is a safe place ya know Carlos, no one's going to yell or set off bear traps on you for sharing. Nothing leaves this room. It's kinda like our oath as mental health professionals." He explains warmly, "Boohyeah," He turns with a fist full of folders. "They're even different colors." He walks over and hands them to Carlos.

"Cool. Cool cool cool." He nods as he looks over the folders that already had papers and then the empty ones before he starts marking again.

David stays silent as he picks up one of the remotes and switches the robot on.

"Done!" Carlos shouts triumphantly as he slams the last folder on the neatly stacked pile, "You even have a folder for Miscellaneous."

"Damn." David blinks, "You're a quick sorter brah."

"You get faster with paper when you're used to sorting stone letters."

"Demi-god thing?"

"Also Ben thing, but related, yeah." Carlos shakes his head before he stands, "Robot?" He asks excitedly.

David holds up a remote. "We still have fifteen minutes left."

"Cool!" Carlos eagerly takes the remote and starts playing around with the controls, watching the way the robot on the ground moved intently. "Cool! So much cool." He smiles.

"I know right?" David grins, "They're called battle bots."

"What?" Carlos tilts his head, "Like, they battle? Like, fight? Why would you risk damaging it?"

David chuckles, "Normally I wouldn't. But these were made by Hiro. We usually only play till something falls off but watch-" He hits several buttons on his remote, attacking Carlos' robot until it's in three pieces on the ground, "Can I see your remote?"

Carlos was staring at the small pile of parts as he struggled to speak.

David leans forward and plucks the remote from Carlos' hands, "Imma just take this…" He states before he switches the remote so it expands.

"How did you…" Carlos watches David intently.

"More importantly," David hits several buttons on the remote, "These robots are designed much like the mind." He explains as the broken pieces start shaking. "You can damage them over and over but in the end, they can mend back together." He demonstrates as he hits one last button and the robot springs back together like a magnet. "Much like this little guy."

Carlos tilts his head before he drops to his hands and knees to inspect the small robot. Eventually, he leans back to sit on his heels as he grips the newly remade robot before he turns back to David, "So, like it's never the same, because the pieces don't all go back exactly the same way, but it can still function like normal?"

"Yeah." David nods. "Pretty much. Both the robots and the mind are as resilient as heck. One just, unfortunately, takes a lot more time to mend than the other. But even in dysfunction, they can still do the job. Wanna see?"

Carlos nods.

David grins as he hits the buttons for a moment making his own robot fall into pieces before having what used to be the arms grab Carlos' robot by the foot as its legs come up to kick it sending the middle piece flying. "When he was about," He eyes Carlos, "your age actually, Hiro used to hustle other robo fighters with this model. Nowadays I find them better for demonstrations."

"Your family is the coolest."

"You don't even know the half of it." David winks. "My iki sistah saved the world from a global invasion when she was seven because her dog couldn't behave."

"I don't even know what I was doing when I was seven." Carlos admits with a blink, "But man, I think I wanna know, except maybe not about the dog not behaving. But the rest sounds cool!"

"Sure brah," David looks at his phone. "But we're gonna need some time for that story. Maybe you could borrow the bot till then and get some practice in? See if you can be making one of your own?"

"For seriously?" Carlos looks down at the controller in his hands to the small heap of parts.

"For seriously brah," David nods, as he reaches over and picks up the folders, "I mean if you do one favor for me."

"Do you need anything else organized?"

"Kai no." David shakes his head, "Just-" He flips open the folders and searches for a moment before he pulls out three packets. "Look these over for me before next week and let me know what you think, brah. And the bot's yours for a week."

Carlos looks down at the packets. OCD. Anxiety Disorder. PTSD. "So, I get to play with the robot, read about what's broken in me, and come back to talk to you again?"

"If all that's cool with you, I'd love to talk to you again, but it is totally up to you brah, whattaya say? I wasn't that boring right? I can bring more cool shit next time."

"You're pretty awesome, actually." Carlos admits with a furrowed brow, "Even without the robot."

"Sometimes." David chuckles, "But I know the robot helps." He grins. "I'd love for you to come back so we can talk more."

"Me too," Carlos admits before he looks away, again in the direction of the isle. "I'd like to talk again."

"Mahalo. I'd like that too brah." David grins lazily as he picks up Carlos' robot's pieces and hands it to him.

"Cool." Carlos smiles before he opens a pocket in his jeans and drops the pieces in. He furrows his brow before he pulls out his phone and taps the screen quickly, "Thanks?" He tilts his head to the side.

David lets out a light-hearted chuckle as he nods. "We like mixing our languages in Hawaii, we call it pidgin."

"I like it." Carlos shrugs, "It means I can Roogle things."

David languidly stands to his feet. "I think this is the start of a wonderful relationship, brah." He holds out his hand.

Carlos grins before he holds his hand out and shakes David's, trying to mimic the way Ben did it when they first arrived. His brow furrows.

David smiles kindly, "Grip my hand, it's okay, promise ya won't break it."

"Oh grip." Carlos rolls his eyes at himself as he tightens his grip, "And I'm not strong, I never have to worry about breaking people."

"There are more ways to break people than just strength."

Carlos blinks before he grins, "I'm gonna assume not in a handshake though."

"I'm never one to assume anything, it's safer that way."

"Are you into Philosophy?" Carlos asks suddenly, finding himself missing Yensid and Deez deeply in that moment.

"Philosophy is kind of a cousin to psychology."

"Cool," He shakes David's hand again, "Better?"

"Much," David assures him. "Look at us making progress on those interpersonal skills already."

Carlos blushes as he pulls his hand back to rub the back of his head, "Thanks. You don't make things super awkward, so I um, I appreciate that."

David chuckles, "And you don't make me feel like an idiot even though you easily could, so thank you."

Carlos smiles, "Cool." He blinks as he looks around, "Uh… I don't know how to end this. Sorry."

"Same time next week work for you or do you have another preference?"

"Do I only get to keep the robot until our next talk?" Carlos smiles mischievously.

"How bout you keep the robot till you come up with a better one?"

"Really?" He blinks as he looks from David to the controller and back, "So like, if I wanted to, I could come back sooner and that would be okay?"

"Sure brah," David nods as he pulls out his phone. "When were you thinking? I've got Saturday free all day or two open appointments for tomorrow night at seven or eight."

Carlos slowly nods, "If you don't mind, I uh, Saturday morning?"

"Sure. What time?"

"Um, what's too early?" Carlos looks down at the floor as he scuffs his heel.

David frowns in thought before he shrugs, "Four in the morning."

Carlos bites his lip, "Does telling you what I want to talk about help?"

"Can't hurt. I might even be more prepared."

"I um," Carlos bows his shoulders as he wraps his arms around his waist, "I get night terrors. And I um, I don't have time with school, so you mentioned Saturday, and I was hoping, maybe if I got here early enough I'd be able to remember them so I could talk about them. Otherwise, I'll have to bring someone with me, cause I always talk."

"Huh." David walks back to his bag checking several pockets before he pulls out a small blue rectangle and walks back. "Here." He offers him the card. "You can call me before class, or text me what you remember, or whatever. We can work on that together." He grins at him. "So instead of picking a time, why don't you just call me on Saturday when you wake up?"

"That's okay?" Carlos looks up, blushing when he realizes how blurry the world looked, "I won't be bothering you?"

"Brah, I wouldn't have offered if it did." He steps forward and gives him a bear hug.

Carlos briefly freezes, holding his breath for several seconds before he slowly relaxes. He timidly reaches up to mimic the hold David had on him, embarrassed by the way he shook before he tightens his grip.

After a long minute, David slowly lets him go.

"Sorry," Carlos mumbles as he wipes at his face in frustration, "I didn't-"

"For what, being human? Everyone cries occasionally. Even those who say they don't."

"But you still have to say sorry for being weak." Carlos takes a deep breath.

"Crying doesn't make you weak." David shakes his head. "But that's for another session entirely. Till then please know that you don't have to ever apologize to me for being human- But I won't get mad at you if you do either."

"Cool. Cool cool cool." Carlos nods as he starts backing up towards the door.

"But till Saturday try roogling how to cope with night terrors and trying the different suggestions."

"Yep. On it. Thanks. Sorry." Carlos spins on the spot to open the door, patting his thigh as he calls out to Dude to follow before he scrambles out awkwardly.

Ben gasps as he jumps back from the door, startled when Carlos barrels out of it and into him, "Hey. Whoa, you okay?" He instantly grabs the other boy to keep them both from bouncing to the ground. His grip on the letter in his hand tightens reflexively. Had his session gone that bad? He studies the younger boy in confusion.

"Oh. Ben. Sorry." Carlos instantly drops his head and averts his eyes.

"No problem." Ben's eyes sweep over him in concern. "Everything okay?" He asks as he helps the other boy steady himself.

"Yeah. Sorry, I uh, I just didn't see you." Carlos admits as he takes a deep breath, "So uh, you go to counseling too?" He tilts his head slightly, his eyes trailing over the letter in his hand.

"Ah." Ben nods, "Yeah, it's helpful."

"Is that-" Carlos' eyes widen, "That's Deez's handwriting!" he grips Ben's wrist tightly, "She wrote a letter! Can I read it? Please?" He drops Ben's wrist so he can start carefully folding the papers in his hand to tuck in his jacket.

"You want to read it before Mal?"

"Yes-because-I'm-here-and-she's-not-and-I-miss-Deez-please-can-I-read?" He bites his bottom lip as he holds out his hand.

Ben swallows a grimace. "Carlos, if you don't mind me asking, how did your counseling session go?"

"My-" Carlos looks up from the letter into Ben's eyes, "I talked a little bit about the isle while I fixed all his papers and then he showed me this," He pulls out the controller and a part of the robot from his pocket, "Which is a really cool fighting robot and then we talked about how I'm not broken I'm just in disrepair and then I asked for another appointment because I have night terrors and I was hoping I could talk to him Saturday morning because I didn't want to bring Evie with me to tell him what the night terror was about because I forget them after like ten minutes. And he was really cool and taught me how to shake a hand like you and then he hugged me which felt nice except I cried and now can I read it?"

"Oh." Ben blinks. He was not expecting such a thorough response. "Well, I kinda needed it for my counseling session actually..."

"I can read fast?" Carlos asks, his eyes never quite able to sustain contact for more than a second at a time as he bites his lip.

Ben rolls his lower lip between his teeth, so this is what Deez and Mal meant by puppy eyes? He hated making him beg. "It's a really private letter… I wanted to talk to David before sharing it with the four of you, I'm sorry."

"Oh." Carlos nods slowly, "That's okay Ben. I didn't uh, I'm sorry. I just, Sorry." He squeezes his eyes shut as he tenses.

"No, I'm sorry, here," Ben reaches into his pocket to pull out several of the other, less private letters he'd received. "You can read these. There's one about a Howler and another about Gil."

"Really? And it's okay?" Carlos slowly uncoils as he looks at the small pile of opened letters.

"Yes, you can even take them to the others if you want to show them," He offers with a warm smile, "And I'll track you down after my session and we can talk about them if you want."

Carlos nods, "Yeah, I can do that." He bites his bottom lip as he takes the letters.

"Awesome." Ben turns toward the door to David's makeshift office

"Um, Ben?" Carlos hesitantly taps him on the back.

"Sup Carlos?" Ben turns back.

"Are you okay?"

Ben's smile reaches his eyes, "Yeah, just kinda distracted." He admits. "I have a lot on my mind." He offers, "But thank you for caring enough to ask."

Carlos nods, "Sorry I got so excited, I um, I should have asked you first."

"Hey man, I don't blame you. You miss your friend, I feel like a jerk-"

"No!" Carlos flails his hands between them, "You're the opposite of a jerk. I just, you look sad. And I'm sorry I, you know, overwhelmed you with my stuff instead of, respecting this?" He gestures between the two of them and the door.

"No, no, Carlos, it's totally cool. I asked you how your session went. You didn't overwhelm me. I just have a lot of stuff weighing on my mind right now and need an objective adult."

"I can get that." Carlos takes a step back, "I hope you feel better."

"I'm sure I will." Ben offers in reassurance, "I really do appreciate you caring so much." He adds, "It's kinda nice. I promise I'll meet up with you guys in the boy's dorm after, 'kay? I wanted to ask Mal out on another date, so it's kinda like a two for one."

"It's cool," Carlos smiles before he takes another step back, "Cool cool cool."

Ben chuckles as he holds up his empty fist. "We're good. Promise."

Carlos takes a slow, deep breath before he smiles up at Ben and bumps his fist with his own, "Thanks."

"Any time." He smiles kindly, "Maybe you can show me how the robot works later too?"

"Cool!" Carlos grins, "I'll go practice!" He turns and runs off.

Ben smiles as he watches Carlos and Dude run off. Honestly, running into Carlos felt like it had calmed him down a bit. He knew he was doing the right thing, knew that things were going to be hard. But having Carlos stop and realize that something was wrong, it really meant a lot to him.

Carlos must have been feeling some kind of effect after his session, and he knew the boy well enough to recognize the nervous energy that had been rapidly fired at him.

He could have handled it better if he'd been paying more attention. But, seeing Carlos brave the social awkwardness to make sure he was okay made him feel better than a perfect encounter would have.

"Aloha Ben, sorry I didn't want to interrupt." David cracks the door open. "Please come in." He steps to the side.

Ben smiles as he turns, "Aloha David." He walks into the room, gripping the letter still in his hand tightly, "And thank you. I was afraid I had scared him off, but we were able to work through it."

"I'm glad to hear that." David nods as he shuts the door behind him before he walks to the center of the room and plops to the ground crossed legged. "So, howzit?"

"Well, I got a shipment of letters in today and well, first of all, I realized that I haven't offered you and Nani a valuable resource should you want to take advantage of it." Ben shrugs out of his suit jacket, tossing it over the back of a chair before he lays out on the ground.

"Nice. We're always open to valuable resources." David leans back putting his weight on his arms. "But I'm more interested in you at the moment, brah."

Ben nods before he slowly rolls to his side, "I don't know if you've heard the name Deez yet, but she's been writing to the king for years now. On these heavy stone tablets that I've been collecting since I first found them." He taps the paper letter in his hand against the ground thoughtfully.

"Well, she started writing on paper. And I'm just now getting letters that are over a month old, well over a month old in many cases. But this one," he taps the letter against the ground again, "Is kind of special. Because it's the first one she's ever written about herself. But that's also where I'm running into a problem, because I'm not sure I should share this with the kids that have come over from the isle."

"Do you mind if I read it?"

"Please." Ben eagerly rolls to his stomach to hold it up, "It's not like her other letters at all, and um, I'm worried. But I can't tell if I'm worried because of things that are normal for them, or if I'm worried because I feel a personal connection to her, or if I should be worried because there are real reasons to be worried."

"There's a good chance it's D, all of the above." David lifts his hands off the ground as he leans forward and takes the letter.

"She does talks about wondering if things would be better if she was dead. But it sounds like those were past thoughts, or like she doesn't think that way much anymore."

"I would imagine most kids who grew up in that kind of environment had those kinds of thoughts. Teenage years are some of the roughest, barrier aside. It's not uncommon. Even here if that helps. As long as she doesn't have an active plan I don't think suicidal ideation would be out of place for her." He explains as he opens the letter and begins reading it.

Ben rests his forehead against the ground and takes a deep breath before he switches to laying on his back again.

It takes about twenty painstaking minutes before David finally lowers the letter. Another two or three minutes is spent with him staring at the ceiling, "Right, so that's a lot to unpack even for me brah. There's so much crammed into this, it's hard to know where to start. So with that being said, let's go with your main concern first and filter it through your A, B, and C." He sighs as he offers Ben the letter back. "And then go from there."

"A. I think that this is unfortunately normal for them, as in all the kids that grew up on the isle. It would be hard to imagine that any of them had much better childhoods than she did, growing up on an isle with so many villains. So those thoughts are probably, and regrettably, commonplace there. B. I can imagine you feel a personal connection since you seem to think of this girl as a friend and you are worried about her on that merit alone. This is some serious stuff. I'm worried about these kids too. Why do you think me and Nani flew out here so quickly? C. I wouldn't worry about her current mental state, she seems to have built strong enough bonds since her ideations to distract her from such drastic measures or idealization in the present." He takes a deep breath, "So what I need you to take from this is that no, I don't think she's in danger of committing suicide."

Ben draws in a deep, slow breath before he breathes out again. "Thank you." He takes another deep breath, "I guess it was just a shock to read that this girl, this girl who's worked for years to get a message out to us here in Auradon, thought about the world being a better place without her."

"Yeah brah, the contents of that letter sucked to digest."

"I've spent all morning reading it. I also felt compelled to tell my family and everyone on my staff thank you and how much their love means to me. My heart breaks for her, for all of them. But because of her, I got an opportunity to be thankful and grateful to my family."

David's lips twitch slightly, "We often don't appreciate things 'til they're taken away from us. That's just human nature. You don't know what you've got till its gone. I'd be lying if I said reading that didn't make me want to go hug my wife and call my family. The letter is as inspiring as it is harrowing. She's clearly skilled in her craft."

"It's been a developing talent. You can see the progression in her works. I've been collecting it for years, trying to catalog it in my office. I've read hundreds of her letters. But this letter was different. I can always make connections in her other letters, but this one. I can tell she ran from something. I don't know what, but whatever it was it drove her back to the temple and her father."

David opens his mouth before he shuts it, tilting his head back to study the ceiling.

"You know something, but you can't tell me." Ben sighs.

"Very astute." David looks back to him with a sad smile, as he leans his weight on his arms again.

"I just. I feel so angry about this. So angry that she was killed, and instead of anything, I mean he made her question everything. She didn't think she had friends, I just… Who does that to their kid? Who purposely makes them feel worthless, not to mention the fact that she constantly feels like a monster. How can she feel like she's not worth saving?"

David tilts his head back to study the ceiling. "It's some really messed up messages to deliver to anyone, let alone a kid. It's not fair. They're Villains Ben. Villains would make their kids feel like they were small and worthless so they never rebel. It's a classic tactic used by sick people called gaslighting. And we both know, as I'm sure all her friends do, that she is worth saving, and sometimes that just has to be enough."

"But if I've felt like an outsider here, what has she been going through her whole life? Like I said, I feel this connection with her. Like we think the same way, we have some of the same interests and skills. How is she doing it?"

"It sounds like she found her own family from the letter Ben. She found her own way to survive and stave off the loneliness that comes from feeling like you never quite belong anywhere. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be to relate with someone in a similar, albeit, perspectively a lot worse situation as yourself. And she's doing it because she has people that make it worth surviving, if not hopefully, living for."

Ben nods again before chuckling lightly, "I'm not thinking rationally." He taps his pointer fingers together above his chest, "Like at all right now. I'm just angry because I found out a lot of horrible things have happened to a person I admire." He takes a slow deep breath again.

"This is a safe place to be irrational and angry, brah. This isn't something as superficial as crashing your parent's car and feeling remorse or guilt over it. These are lives. Real. Lives. And you recognize that. Which is great. Because they are. You recognize that she's important to you. You don't have to be perfect in here Ben. You don't have to know all the answers, here. You can just be the angry, irrational, sixteen-year-old that's scared for their friend."

"I know this isn't true, but it feels like no one else cares about them." Ben takes a deep breath, "I can name every name that Deez has written about, tell you something interesting about them and at their core if they're good or confused. There are hundreds of vks between the ages of eight and eighteen, except I have no real idea how old the majority of them are because proper records weren't kept. There are babies. And it seems like the very people who didn't do their jobs in the first place are the ones keeping me from doing the right thing now."

David closes his eyes taking a deep breath before he tilts his head up to look at the ceiling for a long moment before he exhales. "That really sucks. Like really fucking sucks. That's a lot of pressure on anyone's shoulders, let alone someone your age, and I can't understand the magnitude of that red tape and bureaucracy but I've had my fair share with it on a much smaller scale and I know it can be infuriating. And to feel like people are not only not with you, but acting against you on what should honestly be an open and shut case must be baffling. It shows you how much fear, hate, and grudges can stop people from being human."

Ben nods before he pinches the bridge of his nose, "What did you think of T? I know I'm working with a bit more info than you are because he shows up in other letters under different names, but still, I'd like to know what you think."

"I think that T used to be suicidal."

"Yep." Ben groans, "But I feel like I'm missing something else. Like the way she wrote about him in this letter was different too."

David shifts as he moves his knees up to rest his arms against lazily. "Are you thinking about sharing that letter with her friends?"

Ben grimaces before he twists enough to look up at David, "I, I don't know. Carlos wanted to read it earlier, and I inadvertently got a cliff notes version of your session with him." He shakes his head, "But, I don't know if I should while they're still getting adjusted to counseling and classes. And part of me feels like I have to protect the parts of Deez she never shared with them."

David slowly nods before he looks back up at the ceiling, "Did you know humans are pack animals? Not like wolves or anything. More in the sense like we need solid support."

"I guess that makes sense." Ben frowns thoughtfully.

"Nice." He nods, "Well there are instances in a pack when it comes time to utilize each other's strengths instead of relying on our own or we collapse under the weight of the pressure. Thus cutting off the pack from a vital member."

Ben sighs, "So I should at least see if they want to read it, then. Because if they're willing to help me, well. I already know I'm pretty lucky to have them."

"Pretty much… I can clear my schedule. We can do this one at a time. Or all at once."

Ben sighs as he sits up and faces David, crossing his legs as he leans his elbows against his knees, "Let me ask Mal and Jay if they'll mind coming. She's the leader, he's the second. That seems the most respectful way to do this. "

"Nice." David pulls out his phone. "In their case, they are like wolves. Alpha and beta seem like a smart bet."

"Especially since I'm not exactly in the pack yet."

"Yet. Guaranteed this will get you initiated quicker."

Ben gives David a small smile, "Thanks."

"It's kinda my job to be awesome."

"Yeah well," Ben stands up and starts moving around the room, "thanks for being good at your job."

"There, schedule cleared." He pockets his phone.

Ben nods before he pulls his phone out and speed dials Mal.

First, shout out for those of you still dealing with finals and all that other school shit, I hope you're kicking that shit in the ass.

FC and Dobby we know you got this shit if your as dedicated to your schoolwork as you are this story.

That being said back to Twisted's chapter review/ writer introspection...

We didn't mean to write out Carlos's session, but then we did because we're us and we love everything. Everything. So what do you think of this latest one? Anyone else Hilo lovers?

Aren't Carlos and David together adorbz? Then again anything with Carlos in it is a-fucking-dorable. Well, that's our thoughts on it anyway, what are yours?

What did you think about the pamphlets David gave Carlos?

Carlos' and David's talk over bookclub?

The battle bots?

Poor Carlos, and overwhelmed Ben. The part where they bump into each other was hard to write. Honestly, It's so ridiculously difficult to get any of our characters to say no to Carlos. Even Mal rarely tells their pup, no. So we were both surprised when Ben did it. On the plus side, he did have other letters for them to read, they just weren't as disturbing to him as 'Letter to the King' was.

Seriously though, how awkward was that scene to read?

What did you think of the stumbling on both of their parts from Carlos's curiosity to Ben's evasiveness?

Or Carlos' insecurity vs. Ben's inability to pull himself from his thoughts?

What about David and Ben's session? Sorry to anyone who was expecting David to be more formal with the prince. That was never going to happen.

Anyone get the vibes David's got really strong opinions about how Auradon runs things?

And how are we doing with the counseling sessions? Do they seem realistic? It's hard to write a RL counselor so some feedback on how his advice to these kids coming off would be fantastic.

Let us know

In the comments below

Much love and appreciation,

-Twisted