Happy Friday Descendants!
Sorry this is late getting out. Between gift wrapping, baking and people around us being sick it has been a day.
Anyway...
We've got some character development and fluff coming your way today!
We hope you're looking forward to Roy and Doug shenanigans, as well as some serious happy Ben moments.
Lots of love,
-Dark-
The next morning...
Roy grins. Last night had been a fucking blast. It had been a while since he'd had such an amazing all-nighter. He had no idea that Carlos was going to be such an intense gamer when he'd offered to start playing, and last night the kid's isle side had come out hardcore. He'd even learned some new curse words. Which was as impressive as it was surprising to hear come out of the nervous, timid kid.
"Can you not be so loud?" Doug complains as he grabs a bowl of fruit salad and adds it to his tray. He looks down at Roy's tray and rolls his eyes before he adds a bowl to Roy's tray as well.
"I'm just standing here." He chuckles as he looks Doug over, noting the bags under his usually bright eyes.
"Loudly." Doug groans before he snags a pot of coffee and a mug to add to his tray.
His eyes brightened with amusement. "How does one stand loudly?"
"I don't know, but you've clearly figured it out."
He snorts as he piles bacon and sausages onto his plate before he also makes himself a cup of coffee. He bumps Doug's shoulder with his. "Come on man, just think of how much shit you got done last night. Your schedule is cleared till next week. Think about how much stalking time that gives you."
"If you think I'm going to forgive you for yelling at a game all night-" Doug glares up at him as he gestures wildly with one finger before his shoulder bow, "You are one of my only friends, so you're probably right."
Roy claps him on the back, "That's my man." A shit-eating grin lights up his features before he starts silently following behind Doug when he walks off.
"What are you doing?" Doug groans when he notices him.
"Looking for Carlos?" Roy furrows his brow, "What are you doing?"
Doug glares at him, "Don't ruin this for me, I think I'm finally making progress."
"Deal, as long as you don't ruin me and Carlos." Roy grins when Doug looks at him, "We got a beautiful thing going." He adds with a kissy face.
"Fine." Doug sighs. "Just try to not to be so damn loud." He shakes his head before he continues walking.
"I will work on that." Roy shrugs. Once he managed to figure out what he was doing to be loud.
"Good."
"So cranky," Roy snorts. "Might wanna fix that before sitting with your princess."
"Oh, she was in the room with Carlos." Doug waves his concern off, "I can only imagine she is equally tired."
"You gonna tell her that?" Roy lifts his pierced brow.
"Who said anything about looking tired." Doug sneers, "Evie always looks perfect. No, I'm talking about a state of being."
"Oh." Roy chuckles, his eyes finally finding blue hair in the furthest corner of the room. He turns in that direction. "Found 'em."
"That's their normal table." Doug rolls his eyes but follows.
"Then you're dragging ass today, man."
Doug glares, "Can't imagine why."
"Yeah, you'd be feeling much better if you'd just joined us."
"Maybe next time I will," Doug states in a strangely threatening tone.
Roy glances over his shoulder, catching the glare before he turns back with a snort. "You're such a princess sometimes. Ya just lost a few hours."
"Shut it."
"Consider it shut." He grins.
"Then why are you still talking, " Doug grumbles.
"Doug!" Evie smiles prettily as they walk up. Her brow furrows, and for the briefest second Roy was afraid she was about to tell him to get lost, "Roy, right? Or do you prefer Robbin'ya? You sleep thief."
He cracks a smile when he sees the serious side-eye she shoots at Carlos. Oh, she and Doug were so cranky without their beauty sleep. "Roy." He plops down in the seat next to Carlos. "Sup one-oh-one?" He nudges his shoulder playfully.
"Awesome." Carlos beams at him. "Wanna play again tonight? We unlocked so much shit." He chirps.
"No." Both Doug and Evie answer for him.
"Why don't you two sleep in the same room, so the two of us can live life?"
"How are you living life-"
"Yeah, we can do that." Doug agrees eagerly. "I don't mind sleeping on the floor."
Evie lightly blushes before she looks away, "Like I'd make you sleep on the floor."
"No, you can be like her Dude and sleep at her feet." Roy offers with a Cheshire grin.
"Roy!" Evie hisses before she reaches over the table and slaps his shoulder.
Which only makes him beam with happiness.
"Dude doesn't sleep at my feet." Carlos frowns.
"Aw, do you cuddle him? Doug would totes be a Dude."
This time it was Doug that slaps him, in the back of the head.
"Heard." Roy chuckles, noting the way both of them blushed at the teasing. How adorbs was that?
Carlos grins before he turns to Evie and whispers into her ear.
"Me too." Evie smiles as she wraps her arm around his shoulder.
Roy frowns as he lifts his pierced brow, his stomach tightening in fear he was about to get booted from the table, but when they don't ask him to leave he drops it.
Evie daintily clears her throat as she turns back to the table, "You two haven't seen Mal or Jay have you?"
"Still haven't heard from them?" Doug asks in concern.
"Nope. Why? Are we looking for them?" He asks curiously as he begins scanning the cafeteria for purple hair, appreciating the fact that so many of them were so easy to pick out.
Carlos shrugs, "Mal never texted us after she and Ben went off to talk. And I think Jay was with them and David, but we never heard from him either."
"Huh." He smiles. At least one of them had taken to counseling. Good. That meeting with the FGM had been awful. And embarrassing. But if Jay or Mal were actually willing to talk to someone about the shit Doug found them looking up, then it was worth it. "I could totally see someone losing time talking to David. Guy's way chiller than I expected him ta be. Maybe he just crashed on the couch?" He offers.
Carlos frowns, "Maybe." He turns to look at Evie, "David is pretty cool. He reminds me of Yensid."
Evie frowns, "He did spend a lot of time there the other night."
The table falls into a contemplative silence before Roy snickers, "Mal and Ben wandered off together and stayed out all night though?" His eyebrows wiggle. "Look at them gettin' it. Good for them." He flinches when Doug cuffs the back of his head again.
"What?" Roy asks in faux indignation as he rubs the back of his head, "I wasn't even sexist with that. I coulda been like 'Looks like the beast was an animal last night' or like 'Look at the dragon corrupting the prince.'"
"How about 'oh look, there they are'." Doug rolls his eyes before he smacks Roy's shoulder again.
Carlos and Evie immediately turn in the direction Doug gestures towards. Both in yesterday's clothing.
Huh. Roy rubs his shoulder absently as he finds Ben and Mal just feet from the table. His stomach suddenly tight again with apprehension. He'd made it through the first hurdle with flying colors, and slid under the second one with only a scrape. This one was a bit more difficult to predict. "So they are."
"Sorry about last night." Ben greets, waiting for Mal to sit before joining them.
Roy averts his eyes when the prince's eyes settle on him in surprise as he slides into the chair next to him. The small smile confused him.
"Who the fuck is this now?" Mal asks with a raised brow when she finally notices them.
"Uh, this is Roy." Carlos quickly jumps in, "He's my uh-" He furrows his brow before he leans closer to Roy, "Are we friends?"
"Yep." Roy jumps to answer, not giving him any room to question his response.
Carlos smiles excitedly as he sits back up, a little straighter in his seat, "He's my friend."
She looks him over with calculating eyes, "So we're collecting stray stalkers now. Great."
He grins. "We're a stubborn group."
"He plays Crown of Duty."
"Oh yeah." Evie rolls her eyes before she grabs the coffee pot off of Doug's tray and fills her mug, "They played all night last night."
"You guys were up all night?" Mal raises an eyebrow.
"Some people haven't adapted to texts yet, apparently." Evie huffs as she takes a sip of the black liquid. "So we lost time waiting for you two to get back."
Did the four of them share a room? He thought it had been weird that Evie was in Carlos' room last night.
"I was able to finish embroidering Jay's new coat, though," Evie admits with a resigned sigh. "I should have put us to bed when I got to the crown of the cobra."
"Nah, I remember that. I was unlocking so many achievements, I would not have gone to bed."
Ben chuckles, "So you two had your first all-nighter in Auradon huh?"
"If by all-nighter you mean neither of us even attempted to sleep, yes." Carlos nods.
"I'll remember to be better at texting you in the future."
The smooth prince was smooth. He grins mischievously. He wasn't expecting the assist from him, but he'd not only drawn the dragon's attention off of him, he'd managed to slip in that their escapades last night might be a repeat thing.
"What about Jay?"
Mal raises her brow. "What about Jay? I assumed he was running laps."
"He never came back either," Evie whispers as her brow furrows.
Mal frowns, "We left him with David." She admits hesitantly.
"He probably just crashed on the couch." He offers with a shrug. "David doesn't seem like the type to wake someone up."
Ben nods as he taps his phone, "That's true." He smiles when his phone lights back up, "Good call Roy. David says not to worry, Jay stayed in the office last night and is spending the day with him
Mal lifted a brow. "Huh." She turns back to her plate and starts eating from a pile of strawberries, the action triggering everyone to actually start eating.
"Oh." Evie blinks prettily in surprise.
Carlos furrows his brow before he looks at Mal, "We are allowed to talk to him about anything right?"
"I fucking hope so," Mal stabs a strawberry before she pops it in her mouth.
Ben sighs before he wraps an arm around her shoulder, "Of course you can." He assures Carlos, "David holds his oaths in high regard. He would never betray any of us."
"Yeah man," Roy nods, "David's for real legit." He agrees easily. "You can look up reviews about him on roogle."
"Wait, what?" Carlos turns his upper body between Ben and Roy before he pulls out his phone, "Does anyone know his last- Wait- he gave me a card thingy." He dives into his bag by his chair, grinning when he straightens back up with the blue card in his hand.
"Nice try, pup." Mal rolls her eyes before she leans over him and Ben to pluck his phone out of his hand. "Eat. Then obsess."
Carlos frowns as an incoherent whine of disappointment leaves the back of his throat.
He chuckles at the dragon's endearing reprimand, regretting it as Mal's eyes land back on him critically.
"So, the Jay mystery is solved." Doug grins, "Are you two okay?"
"Yeah, we just passed out on the north tower while we were looking at the stars." Ben nods, "Sorry again for worrying you guys."
Evie nods slowly, "Okay… I mean, yes. That's okay. We just um-"
"But does everyone not wanting to come back to the room last night have anything to do with the reason you didn't want us to go to the meeting with David?" Carlos finishes.
"Yep," Mal pulls her eyes off of him to glance at Carlos, "It does." Her tone was filled with a warning that pretty much screamed 'drop it'.
Carlos immediately looks down at his plate.
Evie frowns as she looks between the two before turning to Ben, "So you guys watched the stars until you fell asleep together? That's so romantic."
Ben smiles unflinchingly, "Well, it wasn't planned that way. But thank you, Evie."
He has to bite his cheek to keep from grinning as Mal blushes and drops her eyes to her plate, clearly embarrassed. He takes a single breath before he starts counting back from three.
"I have a telescope, I could make us a picnic and we could go stargazing if you like." Doug offers.
"How about you one-oh-one, feel like stargazing in COD tonight?"
"Hell yes!" Carlos grins, instantly bouncing back. "We never got to finish leveling our characters last night. And level fifteen unlocks all the cool shit."
"You two are crazy." Doug shakes his head. "I'm passing out after dinner. Today is going to drag so bad."
"I have to agree, and I think it would be in both your best interests to do the same," Evie adds in a clipped tone.
Mal grins, "Took the words right outta my mouth E."
"Now who's the thief?" He grins.
Evie bats her eyelashes at Roy, "I don't have to steal to get what I want." She quips back with a flip of her hair.
"Ouch princess," Roy holds a hand to his chest, unable to wipe the grin off his face, "Ouch."
Evie tilts her head to the side before she puts her elbow on the table, propping her chin up as she looks up at Roy with a dazzling smile and bright eyes, "Aww thank you."
Doug narrows his eyes as he looks between the two, "Hey." He snaps, "Watch it."
He straight laughs in response he raises his hands defensively, "It's your princess with her claws out."
"I'm not worried about her claws." Doug glares, "And damn straight she's-" He blinks before he looks around the table, "Her own princess." he slowly deflates.
Ben is the only one with the decency not to laugh, snicker, or chuckle as Evie averts her eyes from Doug with a pretty blush coloring her cheeks.
"Good catch, bro." He gives him a shit-eating grin.
Doug glowers at him, "Remember twenty minutes ago when I said don't ruin this for me?"
"Dude, my bro, I don't remember anything that happened before we sat down."
"Ah, okay-" Doug nods his head in false understanding, "Knock it the fuck off."
"Doug said fuck." Carlos chuckles.
"We do seem to be wicked influences." Mal chuckles before she pops another strawberry into her mouth.
Jay smiles as he grabs his tray and starts filling it. He was starving. Who knew talking shit out could work up an appetite?
"Hey," He feels his shoulder bumped into. "Noticed you weren't in any of our classes this morning. Your hands doing any better?"
"Yeah." Jay grins as he turns to face Lonnie, "You know, getting there." Seriously, his hands were not having a good month. Luckily David had the foresight to take him to the Baymax before releasing him for lunch. Freshly bandaged hands looked a lot less threatening than bloody ones.
"Ah." Lonnie nods in understanding, "That's good to hear."
"Hey um," Jay rubs the back of his neck, "Thanks for, ya know, helping me out the other day."
"That's actually what I came over here about," She smiles sheepishly. "I was hoping to spar with you again today."
"Yes!" Jay instantly accepts before he takes a step back, "I mean, sure, yeah. That sounds pretty cool."
Her face lights up as she pumps her fist in triumph, "Yes! I was hoping you'd be down."
"Seriously Lonnie, anytime you want to spar, I'm so down. The pup is great and all, and Ben's pretty damn awesome too." Jay shrugs, "But you and I have a pretty cool back and forth that just works well."
Lonnie blushes slightly, "I thought so too." She turns back to pick up a burger before adding it to her tray.
Jay turns back to the table, his cheeks warm as he looks over the selections before grabbing blindly, "Hey uh…" he takes a deep breath, "You uh, feel like joining us for lunch?"
She turns back to look at him in surprise, "Really?" She asks hesitantly, "Your friends won't mind?"
"Nah." He chuckles, "Besides, Carlos and Ben are both on the team, and I don't want E and M to lose their edge, so maybe we could talk them into joining our practices every once in a while."
"That would be awesome." Her chocolate eyes brighten, drawing his attention to the different shades of richness there, "I've never gotten a chance to spar multiple people outside my family. I'd love that."
"Wicked." Jay grins as he turns to lead her to the table.
"Hey guys. Lonnie's sitting with us now." He nods as he takes a seat next to Carlos and nods at the new face, "Sup Roy?"
"Not much..." Roy grins with a wave, "Sup with you?" He looks between him and Lonnie. "I didn't know you guys did invites. I thought people just imposed until you accepted them."
"That's what stalkers do," Jay shrugs as he pats the table next to him, "Lonnie's special."
Lonnie blushes as she slides into the seat next to him.
"I wasn't technically a stalker…" Ben blushes as he pushes around the food on his plate.
Mal snorts. "Says you."
"No, Ben's right," Jay chuckles, "Stalkers and the prince that invited us here showed up and stuck around."
"It was hard not to once you guys started talking." Ben chuckles.
"Agreed." Doug nods, tearing his eyes off Evie. "You guys aren't nearly as scary as everyone talked you up to be, well maybe Mal is, but not like in a bad way."
Lonnie chuckles, "Mal's just cool." She runs her hands over her hair that was hanging in front of her shoulder.
Jay smiles at the conversation. He takes a few bites of his pizza waiting for another conversation to pick up before he leans close to Carlos, "Hey man, I just wanted to let you know." He sighs, "I'm going to be seeing David every day for like an hour."
"Really?" He whispers back in surprise. "We can do that?"
"Yeah. And if you want to, you should." Jay claps Carlos's shoulder encouragingly, "You just gotta tell David it's what you want."
Carlos's eyes brighten as he pulls out his cell phone. "Thanks man," He grins at him.
Now, this was exactly what he was hoping for. It had just taken a couple of weeks. His eyes sweep over the table as a warmth settles into his chest. He'd known that Mal and her gang would draw the interest of those on the fringe.
First with Doug, though the reason still surprised him. He never would have expected the awkward boy to become so bold with only so much as a glance at the isle's princess. Unexpected, but so welcomed by the group even though Evie didn't seem sure what she wanted to do with him. Which was a fascinating dynamic to watch develop.
Then there was Auradon's original bad boy, Roy joining the group this morning. Which had also been a pleasant surprise. He seemed more comfortable with the gang than him though. He didn't let it bother him too much, he just tried to offer support when he could. He was enjoying the easy bromance he could see forming between him and Carlos. And watching Carlos come more out of his shell was pretty awesome as well.
Jay introducing Lonnie to the table at lunch had blindsided him. And he thoroughly enjoyed it. Lonnie easily slipped into the group. They'd run in the same social circles since her parents had become the ranking generals of Auradon's army. It helped that she could hold thoughtful conversations with Mal and Evie about art and fashion before turning around to talk sports with the boys and video games with Carlos. She was easily the most adept at the table at crossing untamed boundaries.
The table was starting to run out of space to sit at, and he couldn't be more thrilled by the new dynamics. This felt like what true friendships were supposed to be.
"Hey. Why don't we all go to the Enchanted Lake on Saturday?"
Carlos furrows his brow as he turns, "What's enchanted about it?"
Doug holds a finger up, "By definition, it can dispell low-level spells, charms, and potions."
"And it stays at the same temperature year-round," Lonnie adds with a grin.
"And how everything surrounding it stays green, like all the time," Roy adds with a shrug. "Which is pretty cool if you're into birds."
"Kinda like it's eternally spring there." Ben grins.
"Isn't that where you took Mal?" Evie blinks innocently.
"Yeah," He smiles. "What do you think Mal?"
Mal eyes the table before she looks back to him, "I did want to make sure everyone knew how to swim."
"Cool!" Carlos grins, "That place sounds wicked anyway. I wonder how it keeps its temperature." He drums his fingers once across the table before he dives for his bag.
"Ha!" Roy snorts, "It's magic." He chuckles, "Good luck quantifying that, one oh one." He turns to Ben, and nods, "And I would love to go."
Ben smiles widely, "Great. Lonnie? You in?"
"Yeah, I mean if it's okay I'd love to come."
"It's totally okay." Jay grins.
"Want me to bring some swords?" She offers with a grin. "Practice in more natural terrain."
Jay's eyes light up, "Hells yeah. Now that sounds like a plan. I've always gotten some of my best practices in near water."
Mal lifts her brow, "Our practices were always in an empty pool."
"Yeah, pack practice." Jay shrugs, "Me and T usually practiced on the beach. Even book club was always on a beach, and those were some wicked blades to work with."
"Until they shattered." Carlos points out with a frown.
"You guys got better." Jay's hand hovers near his waist before he drops his head, "I miss that blade."
"I know right?" Mal agrees. "For a bunch of nerds, you guys made wicked shit."
Ben smiles when he notices the three newer members hanging on their words in fascination. Same.
"The blue and reds you guys managed to infuse into mine were always a perfect hit when it came to accessorizing my outfits," Evie adds with a pretty smile. "And the fact that you came up with three styles to better suit our techniques, was just so insightful. It handled my abilities perfectly."
"Thanks," Carlos blushes before he looks down, "You know, I cracked all the metal formulas before we got taken, so Deez and Gil are probably making swords even as we speak."
Jay reaches behind Lonnie to playfully punch Carlos' shoulder, "That's cool man, it was kinda bothering me they never got theirs."
"Me too." Carlos nods slowly.
"Wait-" Roy holds up a finger as he leans closer to the table, "My dudes, are you telling me you can make swords?"
"Some of our-" Carlos' eye flick to Mal and Jay in hesitation, "Some of our friends still on the isle can."
"Really?" Lonnie asks in awe. "That's incredible. I've always wanted to learn how to blacksmith."
"Gil's wicked at it." Jay nods, "Once our pup figured out how much of what metals, it was almost like breathin' for him. Thinkin' bout it, Gil and I might actually have more in common than I thought." He chuckles absently, rubbing his wrapped knuckles. "And with Deez as his forge, the two could go for hours."
"Deez was a forge?" Roy tilts his head in confusion.
"Yeah, she's the isle's demi-goddess. It was a great tool for her learning how to control the temperature. Best two for one, ever." Carlos explains with a shrug.
"Wait, a blacksmithing group called itself book club?" Doug's brow lifts.
Jay snickers.
"I know, annoyingly deceptive right?" Mal props her chin on her hand, looking over Carlos with pride.
Carlos smiles sheepishly, "We learned how to do it from the books Yensid gave us. And everyone in the club liked to read. So, it made sense to us. But it was appealing on that level too."
"No one suspected the book club?" Roy nearly falls out of his chair trying to contain his laughter.
"Exactly." Carlos agrees, his eyes shining with mischief. "And meant no one would care to eavesdrop. If they could even find us. Deez made us a cave to smith in."
"Made?" Doug blinks. "Like with fire into stone?"
Ben leans in. This was a new story.
"Yeah!" Carlos nods with enthusiasm. "Like full-on fucking lava flowed out of it, making the floor. It was like so fucking boss. I had no idea she could burn that hot."
"I thought the barrier was supposed to stop all that." Roy tilts his head, suddenly sober again.
"It stopped everything but innate abilities." Mal shrugs, "One of us claimed to hear the spirits, another got accurate tarot readings, and when I'm intense my eyes glow."
"That's pretty fucking dope." Roy grins.
"So," Ben claps his hands together lightly, "Saturday around three then?"
"How are we getting there?" Lonnie asks, "My car can sit five."
"I can also take my car this time." Ben offers.
"Fuck yeah car trip! I call dibs with Lonnie!" Roy pumps his fist. "I'll bring snacks."
"You know it's like a-"
"Shh, shh, shh." Roy holds up his finger to Doug's lips. "Shh. I'll bring snacks."
Ben chuckles, "Sounds great."
"It's a date!" Lonnie grins before her eyes land on Jay and she turns away with a blush.
So many ways to be wicked… And getting Hero kids to swear is definitely one of them. ;)
On that lame reference…
What did you guys think about Roy's POV? I don't remember if it's his first or not, but there will eventually be more.
Are you guys still enjoying him?
And how cute was the first scene by the way? Talk about fluff. It was a fun scene to write. Hopefully it was as fun to read and broke up some of the heavy shit some of these characters are going through…
E and Doug being kept up? And Roy's suggestion of them sharing a room next time?
Roy and C pulling an all-nighter playing Crown of Duty?
Ben and Mal spending the night star gazing?
Speaking of which, what do you guys think about Jay and Mal keeping C and E from the truth? Do you get their motives? Or do you think it will blow up in their faces?
How about Jay inviting Lonnie to sit with them? Anyone else see that coming?
And the dialogue about how everyone else imposed themselves on the VK's without invites? That had me loling all over again. Did anyone get a giggle from it? Not gonna lie, our other fic is a lot funnier than this one, but this one still has its moments of hilarity.
Ben's introspections are as fun to write for me as they are difficult. As I've said before, I rarely write the feels characters, so I went with the angle of him loving puzzles. And unwinding the story and pasts of any of the VKs, even with Deez's letters, is just fascinating to this princes. (And off-screen, his mother.) So, how did you like his observations about the hero kids and their interactions and introductions to the VKs inner circles?
Is anyone surprised the VKs are so welcoming to the intruders? We spent a long time discussing it, and we're curious to hear your thoughts on it.
And who's excited about this fifteen-minute road trip?
Let us know,
In the box below!
Much love and appreciation
-Twisted