The day in Auradon was sunny and bright, with hardly a cloud in sight. The citizens were going about their daily business, as per usual. Even in the castle-turned-school, there was nothing unusual going on. Students were studying, doing their homework and hanging out with friends. Gossip was spreading around the school about whatever was the subject of the week. To the relief of five particular students, the gossip was no longer centred on the coronation, which had happened a few weeks ago. The four VKs were getting tired of people asking them what it was like to face Maleficent and if they were scared (wasn't that a given? Maleficent was literally known as the Most Evil Of Them All), whilst the new king was getting tired of people asking him how it felt to be the new monarch of such a big country and how annoyed he was that his coronation was interrupted (which he found particularly annoying because obviously seeing as his friends were in danger, he felt more concern than annoyance).

The youngest of the VKs was very pleased when people stopped asking him questions and the gossip of everything died down. He often noticed that if anyone asked him those questions when the headmistress's daughter was anywhere near, she'd get really uncomfortable. He wasn't sure why, but he hated seeing her uncomfortable, so he'd try to give short answers and change the subject as quickly as he could.

Speaking of the headmistress's daughter, since their dance at the coronation, Jane had been spending a lot more time with him. She said it was because she enjoyed his company but Carlos didn't believe her. He knew that she was being shunned a bit by many of the other students so he was probably one of the only people who actually talked to her. He didn't mind though. She was really good with helping him learn how to properly take care of Dude.

Carlos loved looking after Dude. The dog was his favourite thing about Auradon Prep. He was such a gentle, fun-loving dog who wasn't at all vicious or rabid. There was something so comforting about holding Dude in his arms and he always seemed to know when Carlos wasn't okay, because he would go up to him and lie on top of him or cuddle into his side. Carlos found running his hand through Dude's fur was really soothing. The only thing that could possibly make Dude a better friend is if he talked so he could give Carlos some advice about how to go about things in AP. But that was a silly idea. Who'd ever heard of a talking dog? Anyway, he had his other friends to help him when he needed it most.

Dude had very quickly moved into Carlos's dorm, making it his permanent sleeping area. Evie had made a new dog bed for him as the old one was quite worn out, and then had gone on to make him some jackets so that he could match with Carlos. Now there was no doubt about who Dude's favourite student was. The two were inseparable. Whenever Carlos wasn't in class or at dinner (both had no dogs allowed rules), it was very likely that Dude would be at his heels.

On this particular day, Carlos was on the ground playing tug-of-war with Dude, using an old piece of rope that he'd had found. Dude was straining as he tried to pull it out of the boy's hands but Carlos wasn't going to give up easily. Carlos's friends were sat a little ways away from him, watching him with mild amusement.

"I swear that kid prefers the dog over us," Jay, the oldest of the VKs, commented. The two girls laughed affectionately.

Evie then sighed, "It's weird, isn't it? I thought I knew what Carlos's smile looked like before we came here but now that he has Dude, it's like a whole new expression. It's kinda sweet."

"Cruella would be shivering in furs if she saw this," Mal commented, "She was already shocked when he called him a pet."

The other two laughed at the thought. They briefly watched their friend continue wrestling with the dog before turning back to each other and shifting the conversation onto other topics.

Carlos was completely oblivious to his friends watching him and simply kept playing with Dude. Just as he was about to be victorious in this game, someone called out his name and he looked up to see Jane and Lonnie heading over to him. He raised his hand to wave in greeting but in his brief distraction, Dude managed to get the advantage and ripped the piece of rope from Carlos's grip. Carlos was lucky he was wearing gloves, otherwise, that would've hurt. He called after the dog in annoyance as Dude ran away, keeping hold of the rope as he ran towards Lonnie and Jane. Lonnie leaned down and picked up the dog, laughing as Dude dropped the rope and settled into her arms. Jane picked up the rope and the two girls headed over to Carlos, who had joined the other three VKs.

Dude stayed in Lonnie's lap while they all sat and chatted. Carlos was surprised at how settled Dude was but he presumed that it was probably normal for dogs in Auradon to be super friendly with everyone.

The group was soon joined by Ben, who had just come from a meeting about something or other (Carlos didn't really pay attention to whenever Ben told people what his meetings were about). Mal's face had instantly lit up when Ben sat down next to her and she scooted slightly closer to him, ignoring the raised eyebrows and smirks she received from the other VKs.

Once he greeted everyone, Ben nodded towards Dude who was sat on Lonnie's lap, "Hey, I see you managed to kidnap Dude. Almost like the old days."

Lonnie rolled her eyes at Ben, "Oh yeah, just like the old days. Where you were still a prince dating Audrey, these guys were still on the Isle and none of us had any clue that we'd get to see Maleficent face-to-face."

"I said almost," Ben said, jokingly defensive.

"What do you mean by that?" Mal asked, looking up at him.

Ben smiled, "Oh, Lonnie used to look after Dude before you guys arrived. She's the one who found him, convinced FG that he'd be a good mascot and even named him," he explained.

"Yes, please tell everyone that I was so uncreative in freshman year that I named him Dude the Dog," Lonnie replied, causing the others on the table to laugh.

While he was laughing, a thought occurred to Carlos. He noticed how happy Dude was with Lonnie and he began wondering if by being the one taking care of Dude, he was technically stealing him because he'd never asked Lonnie if he could look after him. Before Carlos had a chance to say anything though, Lonnie suddenly plucked Dude off of her lap and passed him to Carlos as she stood up, explaining that she needed to go call her parents. Carlos took him happily and was pleased that Dude settled down into his lap quite quickly, stilling Carlos's thoughts for a little while.

However, later that evening, when Carlos was lying on his bed, Dude lying next to him, his thoughts went back to the fact that Dude used to technically belong to Lonnie. He gently stroked Dude's fur as he debated with himself.

If Dude had really belonged to Lonnie, then Carlos had technically stolen him and that wasn't something that good people did. Then again, Lonnie hadn't said anything and didn't seem bothered by the fact that Carlos was taking care of him so maybe it wasn't stealing. But Lonnie was a really nice person so maybe she just didn't want to hurt his feelings by telling him that Dude was actually hers. However, Ben had basically given Carlos Dude when he left them to get to know each other, right? And Ben was the king, so surely if Ben had given Dude to Carlos, then it wasn't stealing, But had Ben asked Lonnie if it was okay? And Dude did seem really comfortable with Lonnie. And Lonnie seemed to be really good with him. Not to mention, she had held him the whole time they were all hanging out, so maybe she actually wanted him back. What would a good person do, though? Carlos felt confused and unsure.

"What do you think, Dude?" Carlos asked, scratching the pooch behind his ears. Dude just stared at him with his cute eyes, which caused Carlos to sigh. "Sometimes, I really wish you could talk." When Dude didn't reply, Carlos gave a short laugh and just kept stroking the canine.

The question of what a good person would do ran through Carlos's mind for the rest of the night as well as a good chunk in the morning. In the end, Carlos concluded that the hard thing was usually the right thing and that meant giving Dude back to Lonnie. But maybe Lonnie would let him see Dude occasionally. Lonnie was a nice girl, so she'd probably let him, right? Yeah, probably.

Carlos took a deep breath as he and Dude approached the picnic table where Lonnie was doing some homework. She looked up as they walked up to her and smiled. "Hey, Carlos. No jacket for Dude today?" she asked, as Carlos arrived at the table.

"Uh, no," Carlos replied. He leaned down and scooped up Dude, "It didn't seem right seeing as I'm giving him back to you."

"I'm sorry, you're what?" Lonnie asked, putting down her pen as she looked at him in confusion.

"I have most of his stuff in my room so I can bring it to your dorm later if you want but I wasn't sure if you already had stuff for him."

"Woah, woah," Lonnie exclaimed, holding up her hands to shut him up, "Back up a bit. You're giving him back to me?"

Carlos nodded, "Yeah," he replied, "He's yours. I didn't ask if I could take care of him so I basically stole him and I know for a fact that stealing isn't something that's done in Auradon so I'm just trying to do the right thing. I was wondering if I could maybe spend some time with him occasionally."

Lonnie shook her head, "Carlos, no."

Carlos felt his face fall, "Oh. Okay, that makes sense. When do you want me to-"

"No, that's not what I meant," Lonnie replied, "Dude was barely mine. I was just the one who named him and made sure he was getting properly fed. He belonged to the school. And anyway, I've never seen that dog as happy as he is now. I'm not letting you give him to me. He's your dog."

Carlos looked at her confused, "But..." he frowned gently, "I don't understand."

"Carlos, you didn't need my permission to take care of him," Lonnie explained, "Ben knew that I was struggling to keep up with checking up on him on top of all my studies and my dance, so he gave Dude to you. He said that if you had him, you could be reminded that you got over your biggest fear and Dude also seems to have had a huge positive impact on your life from what we've seen over these past couple of months." Lonnie gave him a soft smile, "He's yours, okay? Besides, he prefers you over me."

Carlos looked at the dog in his arms and realised how Dude had made no move to leave his arms and go to Lonnie instead. "Are you sure?"

Lonnie laughed, "Of course I'm sure. But hey, I'll make sure that Fairy Godmother knows that you're learning how to do the right thing even when it's hard. She'd be quite proud."

Carlos gave an awkward smile and then looked back down at the dog in his arms. Gently, he put Dude down and smiled when Dude simply sat and looked at him, waiting to see what Carlos would do next.

Lonnie called Dude over and smiled as the dog puttered over to her. "Hey, Dude," she said, picking him up and holding him to her face. "Be good for Carlos, okay? Take care of him."

"I will," Carlos said, smiling brightly.

Lonnie laughed, "I was talking to Dude. You need him just as much as he needs you so I'm making sure he knows that."

"Oh," Carlos replied, scratching the back of his neck. "Okay."

Lonnie smiled and put Dude back down. "I do, however, reserve the right to pick him up and cuddle him whenever he's in the vicinity," Lonnie said, pointing a finger at Carlos.

Carlos laughed, "Yeah, okay, deal." He then whistled at Dude, "Come on, boy!"

Lonnie smiled and watched as boy and dog ran off, the friendship between them solidified.

Here you go, PotatoGirl! Sorry this took so long. Inspiration was a bit lacking.

Request Count Down: 38

Response to Reviews:

gloria: Thank you! I love Jonnie too! There's about another ten oneshots to get through first before the next Bal, I think?

Grace: Hush you. I'm glad you enjoyed it! No idea how I came up with that last bit though ;)

pmbb: I'm so pleased that you love them! And the next Bal chapter isn't really for a while, sorry.

Guest: Thanks! There is some Jane and Carlos coming soon, I think but there won't be much in this round of requests.

BillaB: Maybe. Probably not in the near future though. Not sure if there is a story where I can easily introduce her.

Thu: I love adult Jonnie too! It's quite different from teenage them. So happy you liked it!

PotatoGirl: Thank you! Hope you enjoyed this one too!

Love you guys so much! Stay home and stay safe!

SparkyGurl

P.S. Please don't be afraid to leave constructive criticism. It helps me.