AN: This is about the first time the VKs hold a party at Evie's cottage.

Timeline-wise: sometime after D3.

Hope you enjoy!

Party Poppers

"HAPPY HOLIDAYS!" shouted Jay and Carlos, pulling the strings off their party poppers and showering the vicinity with confetti.

Celia, who had been caught in the middle, covered her ears. She just entered through the door when the explosive greeting happened.

"Jay! Carlos!" came Evie's scolding. "Are you going to do that to every guest?" Before Celia's arrival, Doug and Ben had been surprised by the large party poppers too.

The older boy nodded. "We have too much of these from Tourney finals." He discarded the emptied party popper and drew two more from the box by the door. Carlos grabbed the other one from him and returned to his spot.

"Okay," she resigned, "But try not to make too much of a mess." Her gaze swept over the discarded containers and scattered confetti on the floor brought only about by welcoming the first three guests and dreaded the mess after everyone had arrived.

Jay waved her off.

Twenty or so party poppers and a whole lot of confetti scattered about later, the party went into full swing once everyone settled down. Carlos, taking on the role of game master after making a mess with Jay, prepared a series of questions, and started a quiz-like game.

Everyone took turns answering the questions posed to them, with other teams having the opportunity to 'steal' once ten seconds were up.

Jay was teamed with Mal and Ben, then Jane and Lonnie teamed up with Celia.

Evie was teamed up with Dizzy and Doug, which resulted in a victory for them. Dude was teamed with the Smee twins, and they surprisingly came in second.

"Maybe we shouldn't have been allowed to pick our teammates," said Celia, looking at Dizzy and the large basket of goodies the latter was holding as a prize. Lonnie and Jane were great, but the dark-haired girl wanted to win. The young VK perked up though when Carlos shouted, "Next game, musical chairs!"

With Celia's quick reflexes and overall bruteness, she won easily.

"Congrats!" laughed Evie, handing her the same basket as Dizzy's. The princess was still sore when she fell from the chair she and Celia targeted at the same time.

After that, Carlos and Jay kept announcing various games for them to do with Evie handing out gift baskets to the winners.

"It's cool you enjoy the traditional party games in Auradon," said Lonnie, accepting the gift basket from Evie after winning the nth (she lost count already) game.

"Some games," she answered, knowing her friends specifically handpicked today's program.

"Are we going to experience how Isle games are played?"

"Umm…" she trailed off, wondering how that will go. The last party she attended on the Isle had been replete with the possibility of getting her foot chopped off by bear traps. "Maybe?" Hopefully not.

"Time for piñatas!" announced Jay, holding a large paper-mache pine tree.

Mal raised her brow, half-eaten strawberry in her hand. "Don't you mean piñata?"

"Nope," said Carlos, carrying a large paper-mache star from behind Jay. "Piñatasssss." He dragged out the 's' like a snake.

"VK style. Mechanics are simple," said Jay, settling down the pine tree at his feet. "Everyone gets a bat and a blindfold. They're there, by the fireplace," he pointed to where the items lined up against the wall, "Everyone takes a swing with their blindfolds on. Carlos and I will hold the piñatas to avoid wussy injuries. Try not to hit one another. Clear? Okay. Game starts when everyone has a bat in hand and a blindfold on."

Mal, Dizzy, Celia, and the Smee twins, having no questions, each took a bat and a blindfold.

"Wait, what? We don't take turns?" voiced Jane, her hand raised as if she were in class.

"Yeah, and what if we hit you? Shouldn't you hook that to the ceiling?" Lonnie eyed the beams of Evie's home, looking for possible areas.

Carlos was bouncing on the balls of his feet, excited to get the game started. "The possibility of hitting one another is the point. We won't be blindfolded, so we should avoid your swings."

Evie clicked her tongue, already holding the unclaimed bats against her chest, "Nope, nuh-uh. Outside. We are doing this outside."

"But half the fun's running over furniture!"

"My furniture." She raised her brows. "Outside, please."

The boys headed for the garden.

/-/ /-/ /-/ /-/

Lonnie hesitated when she took the proffered bat from Evie. "So what's going to happen again?"

"It's a free-for-all. Jay and Carlos try to avoid getting hit while holding the piñatas, and we all try to win at the same time."

"Moving targets?"

Evie nodded.

"We stay here," Jay waved around the garden, "If anyone threatens to go out of bounds, we'll guide them back until these babies pop open." He grabbed hold of his pine tree piñata again. "Ready?" He eyed his friends putting their blindfolds on.

"Game, set!" called Carlos. "Go!"

Laughter roared from Carlos and Jay as Ben was the first to trip and fall. Mal directed her feet to where she heard Jay's laugh. She swung.

Jay leaped out of the way and laughed again, taunting the purple-haired girl. She growled.

Celia took a swing, thinking Jay was right next to her but was answered with a grunt from Doug.

Evie forfeited by taking her blindfold off and rushing to his side. "Doug!"

Jane fell on the ground too, tripping on her own legs. Carlos got distracted at the sight and it allowed Lonnie to hit the piñata, and Carlos' fingers, enough to make it break open.

"We have a winner!" shouted Jay.

"Who we hitting?" asked Mal, out of breath.

"Me. Lonnie won over Carlos."

The girl in question took off her blindfold and gasped at the sight of Carlos' bruised fingers. The latter disregarded her concern. This game was still too tame than what he was used to.

With a scream, Mal swung, headed for Jay's voice again. She hit him on the shoulder, then the pine tree in his hands. He yelped, the pine tree breaking open and scattering both candy and confetti on the ground.

"We have a winner!" announced Carlos, discarding the broken star in his hands. "Mal over Jay."

Celia groaned, pulling the blindfold off her face.

"This is a little scary," commented Jane, smiling at Carlos as he helped her on her feet.

"Heh. Not as deadly as we had back then," quipped Celia, lightly patting her bat on Dizzy's shoulder.

/-/ /-/ /-/ /-/

Mal checked the time and sighed, tapping Ben's shoulder. "We have to go." They promised Belle they'd be back in the castle by the time desserts were served at Beast's party.

"I really don't want to," muttered Ben.

She pursed her lips. They were already on thin ice by insisting they went to Evie's party before Beast's.

"Kidding, kidding." He stood, patting his pants down. "Doug, we'll be going ahead, man." He patted his friend on the shoulder.

"Mm. Say bye to Evie, yeah?" He picked a card from Celia, who was telling his fortune.

When the couple did as they were told, and suffered from Evie's pouting and guilt-tripping, they walked out of the door.

"Losers get bombed!" shouted Jay, firing off two party poppers at the same time. His partner-in-crime, Carlos, did the same from the other side.

Mal and Ben screamed in surprise with confetti raining down on their heads and attaching to their clothing and hair.

"Jay!" Evie stood by the door, her hands on her hips.

He shoved the cylinders behind him, acting innocent. "What? Carlos started it." They ran back inside the house.

This is such a mess, thought Evie but refusing to voice it out in the open. She was taught not to communicate her complaints as it was unbecoming. With the food, drinks, and amount of candy they consumed, the tabletops and floors had turned sticky. The confetti from the piñatas and Jay's party poppers scattered from the living room, to underneath the furniture, all the way outside the garden.

As the hostess, it was expected she would do the cleaning up after her guests left. As fate would have it, Carlos and Jay were scheduled to join Lonnie on a hiking trip after tonight. Jane, naturally, had a curfew by midnight so the Smee twins and Celia were going to go with her once she left. That left Dizzy and Doug, who were going to sleepover, but to ask them to help her clean up was a big no-no.

Her mother's angry face burned her mind. "Evie, clean up. A nice princess knows how to clean up after everyone else," she'd say without picking up a broom herself.

She cringed when she touched the doorknob after Jay and Carlos reentered. It was sticky from candy as well.

"Pass me the broom, will ya?"

A blue broom in mid-air made its appearance in Evie's line of sight.

"Ack. Bad throw," Jay scolded Doug then swept the floor of the living room.

Her peripherals caught Celia and Dizzy in the kitchen stacking leftover food and throwing out the used paper utensils and plates. Jane was collecting trash along the way, while Doug mopped after Jay swept the floors.

"Uh…" What's going on? Her voice escaped her.

"Evie," Carlos shoved an empty trash bag in her hands, "Lonnie's throwing the broken piñatas, but she might need an extra bag." He turned back to help Jane.

"Wait."

"Shoo. You didn't think you'd clean all this by yourself, did you?" As Evie's first friend back on the Isle, he knew how the Evil Queen ordered her daughter around all day.

Jay grinned, dumping the dustpan's contents into the trash bag Jane held open. "Mal and Ben promised to feed us for ditching."

Evie, half-dazed at the turn of events, went to the garden as instructed. Lonnie was bent at the waist, collecting stray pieces of candy.

"I have an extra bag…"

"Nice." She pointed to the wrecked paper-mache star. "You can take that one."

When she did as she was told without another word, Lonnie restarted the conversation. "Did you have fun?"

Her cheeks pulled up. "It was my party."

"That doesn't answer the question," she paused to chew on a candy she popped into her mouth, "For what it's worth, I truly enjoyed it. Different." She hummed as if satisfied by the taste of what she chewed on. "Definitely less tiring without the singing and dancing."

Evie laughed at this. Indeed, parties in Auradon always involved some form of musical participation whether it be in song, dance, or both. "Sorry Carlos made you clean up after though."

"Huh? Girl, we offered." She tied her trash bag to close.

Evie felt her chest constrict but it wasn't from pain. What… is this?

Lonnie linked her arms with Evie's and began to walk back into the, surprisingly lively, house.

As Evie stared at her friends make a fuss over cleaning the place before they left, she knew her days on the Isle may have been long gone but was definitely grateful for what they left behind as well as for what they brought for her - a family.

"You have more of these?" asked Doug, unearthing a handful of party poppers underneath the couch.

"Shoot. I'll, uh, I suppose I'll take them with me," said Jay, clearly not thrilled with the idea.

Evie held Doug's shoulder. "No, it's okay. Let's stock them for the next party, yes?"

AN: With the lack of parties and festivities, I realized after-party clean-up is something I definitely do not miss haha.

This 12-day challenge turned 12+ months already lol. Anyway, stay safe and sane. Happy New Year!