Chapter 8 – Lose My Doubts
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When they had chosen Ben's bracelet as an anchor, Gil had expected to land in his guest room at the Corona Palace or, at worst, maybe on a random garden path if the king was feeling particularly stressed.
What he had not expected was to show up in some random bedroom that was of equal fanciness – high ceilings and large windows and a solid wall of shelves overflowing with books, everything marble and perfect but wrong. Or at least, unknown.
This did not look like Corona. It didn't really look like any of the castles Gil had visited, and he'd been to a lot. Confused, he glanced out the window only to pause, because out on the water was the unmistakable dome that had played such a huge role in his childhood, a murky thing standing out like an ugly eyesore among the Auridion sea. That was the Isle of the Lost – but the barrier had gone back up.
Had Gil missed something? How long had he been gone?
"…excuse me?"
Gil startled at the intrusion, only to relax a second later because that was Ben.
Ben, standing in this strange bedroom, looking at Gil in a picture of confusion he had never seen on the king before. Belatedly, Gil realized Jane was huddled behind the king, though her hair was different? It was shorter, and her curls were gone. Gil kinda liked the huge bow though. That was cool.
"Hello?" Ben prompted again. He looked young, but… wary? His arm was held out in front of Jane protectively, like he was afraid Gil was going to attack him. "Who are you?"
"What?" Gil didn't have time to panic even though his brain really wanted him to, because none of this was adding up. Why wouldn't Ben know who he was? Why would Jane's hair be different? Why would the barrier- "Oh."
Before he could lose his train of thought, Gil strode past Ben, aiming for the large desk he'd seen nestled in the corner. He found what he was looking for quickly, and felt his stomach sink when the numbers added up.
"Hey um- is this up to date?" Gil asked, holding up the calendar.
Ben continued to stare at him as though he had grown a second head. "…yes?"
"Ah, peanuts," Gil muttered, trying to do the math in his head and failing. With a sigh, he reached for one of Ben's pens and started scratching it out on a spare piece of paper. Where was Doug when you needed him? "I didn't go far enough."
"Far enough from where?" Ben asked. "And who are you?"
Before Gil could think about answering his question, the door to the room flew open, Fairy Godmother entering the space with a few quick strides, King Adam and Queen Belle hot on her heels. "Are you alright, children? I felt a magical surge-" She cut off when she saw Gil.
He offered her a shy wave. "Yeah, that was um- my bad. The surge, I mean." He could see King Adam motioning for guards behind him and decided to get on with the story, because at this point, he was at a loss. "I was teleported into the past by a bad guy- I mean, a villain-" That was the word they used. "'Cuz he wanted my help? Long story short, I helped him-"
"You helped him?" King Adam interrupted. He did not seem pleased by this information.
"Well, technically I helped his dad, because he was… hurt." That was probably the best way to put it. "And I managed to heal him- well, the um- villain thought someone from my family could help but he couldn't get someone from his time period so he summoned me and- long story short-" Again. "He got his punishment and they were supposed to send me back to my time period but it looks like they were um…" He glanced at his chicken scratch math. "Sixteen months short. Which, if you think about it, isn't that bad." he offered to Fairy Godmother.
"You traveled through time," Fairy Godmother repeated, her tone sort of detached.
Maybe she was still thinking about it?
"Not on purpose," Gil said. "The first time, I mean. The second time I was trying to get home. Here-" He reached into his pocket with one hand, keeping the other up for the guards to see. "I've got their notes on how they did it. I was supposed to give them to you when I got home anyway."
He figured Varian wouldn't mind the white lie, something small that would hopefully build some trust between them.
Tentatively, Fairy Godmother retrieved the small notebook from his hands, thumbing through it carefully. With each page, her eyes seemed to widen.
"Well?" King Adam pressed. "Is he telling the truth?"
"Bibbidi Bobbidi, you'd-better-believe-it," she said, almost dazed, and it was nice to know that even lost in time; some things were still a constant.
"Sorry about this," Gil offered. "I really didn't mean to break into your bedroom. That was my bad."
Or Varian's bad for getting the math wrong, but it wasn't like Gil was one to talk. At least Varian had gotten this close.
"So… you're from the future," Ben said, breaking into the conversation for the first time since his parents had arrived.
It was weird to see him so young. Like he had weathered less than before and seemed less certain with everything he did. "Yeah, but I can't tell you anything about it. Can't mess up the timeline, you know."
"You can't say anything?" Jane asked, seeming to shrink in on herself when she realized she had spoken the words aloud.
Gil offered her a small grin. "It's better to be safe than sorry. And like- I get that this is all weird. And you don't owe me anything, but if you guys could help me get back to my actual time, I'd appreciate it, because I really have no idea how any of this stuff works."
"Magic is forbidden in Auradon," King Adam said, as though he'd found a way to reassert his authority into this awkward situation.
Gil got it – honestly, the guy was just trying to protect his kingdom. He knew King Adam got a lot of shit because the Isle was better in theory than in execution, but he had been trying to do what was best for his people. Same with the magic ban.
Gil had actually sort of forgotten about that being a thing since Mal had taken care of it with the fall of the barrier, so he'd never lived in a version of Auradon where Jay or Evie or Uma had to hide their penchant for magic.
Guess he'd have to readjust to that, and this old (or young?) version of Ben's parents.
Gil sighed. "Yeah, I know. Sorry. Just- I don't know if it's safe for me to stay here."
Granted, he probably could wait sixteen months to get back to Corona, Gil just really didn't want to. Not with everything he knew.
Before King Adam could reply, the queen rested a hand on his shoulder, her gaze fixed to Gil. "I think in this one instance we can make an exception," she advised. "State it as a pressing emergency and keep it on a need-to-know basis. We don't know if his presence here will disrupt the timeline, but it's best not to risk it."
King Adam tensed. "Belle-"
"He already made the jump once," the queen soothed. "He can do it again. We will help him."
The king sighed. "Fairy Godmother?"
"I'll get to work on it." She was still staring at the notebook, hadn't looked away from it since she'd opened it. "Try to calculate a proper solution before the fall semester starts."
"Until then, you will stay here," the king ordered, his heavy gaze fixed on Gil. "Where you will have constant supervision. Step out of line once-"
"I um… know what you do to people who step out of line," Gil murmured, painfully aware of the Isle barricaded in the far distance. "I really don't want any trouble."
"Then we have an understanding," the king decided, sounding as ominous as any villain.
And that, apparently, was that.
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"Do I know you?" Ben had decided to stick to Gil's side while he was being escorted to his 'guest quarters', which he was pretty sure was the queen's old bedroom when she had been put on house arrest. Which was the nice way of saying 'being held hostage', but history was written by the victors as Mal liked to say, so – house arrest.
Jane, for lack of anything better to do, fluttered behind them, her hands twisting together in a nervous way that was directly contrary to the stubborn and sure young fairy he had gotten to know.
Gil shrugged. "I mean, you will. But we haven't met yet."
"But you know Jane," Ben pressed. At this declaration, Jane let out a small squeak that she immediately stifled with both hands, her cheeks flaring in a pretty blush. "You didn't seem confused with who she was."
"That's 'cuz I'm not."
"Then why haven't we met you yet?" Ben seemed stuck on this point, his brows furrowed in that certain way that indicated he was fixated on a particular puzzle. "Anyone would know who I was through media coverage, but Fairy Godmother is protective of Jane. You must have met her at Auradon Prep, but we know everyone who goes there. Did you transfer in?"
Technically, Gil had met her in the forest outside this very castle chasing down a beastified version of Ben, but the prince's suggestion was a better one. "Seriously, dude. I can't talk about it." Gil didn't know how much he could change on accident. He still remembered the reluctance on Varian's face when Gil had finally left Old Corona. "I'm really sorry about breaking into your bedroom-"
"About that," Jane interrupted, her curiosity seeming to outweigh her shyness. "Why did you teleport into Ben's room?"
"To be fair, he was supposed to be in Corona," Gil sighed. "We used a bracelet Ben had given me as an anchor point." Because Gil had two of them and hadn't felt comfortable losing anything else through magical mishap.
"So we're friends?" Gil didn't know why Ben was so determined to get to the bottom of this. "If I gave you a bracelet."
It was more like Gil was a pity tagalong to the people Ben actually wanted to be friends with, but the king- prince, now? He seemed so earnest that Gil didn't want to break his heart. It wasn't like he wouldn't figure it out for himself soon enough.
So Gil mustered a smile. "Yeah Ben, we're friends." And then, because he didn't want Jane to be excluded. "And we're friends too, Jane."
Though he honestly wasn't sure why.
For whatever reason, this made the blush on Jane's cheeks darken. "…we are?"
"Yes?" Gil didn't know why this would be suspect, unless Jane was questioning her future taste. "I promise I'm not that awful."
"It's not that," Jane said, but what was it?
Before Gil could ask, Ben cut back in, "What's your name, anyway? Or is that on a need-to-know basis too?"
Probably. Yes.
Gil swallowed. "Call me Flynn," he said quietly. It had worked once before and now it was a- what did Carlos call them? A self-fulfilling prophecy.
Because it was Ben, wasn't it, that had called Gil that back on the Isle, his brows scrunched together in confusion.
At the time, Gil had smiled through the bitter sting of not being what someone wanted yet again.
That was-
Wow, that was a lot to swallow.
"Flynn," Jane said, almost – reverently? The same way she said Mal's name when she was awed by her magic and strength.
It was weird, having it aimed at him.
"It's nice to meet you, Flynn," Ben greeted, his smile wide and hand warm. "And hey, if we're friends, there's no need for you to stay in a guest room."
Gil felt the confusion of his guard detail as they came to a stop around him. "What?"
"We're friends," Ben repeated. "You can stay with me. I'll chaperone you."
"Except I could be lying," Gil pointed out, because someone needed to. "A lot. A lot of lying. You literally didn't know me before ten minutes ago. Don't-" He scrunched his nose. "Look, I'll just go to the guest room. That'll be better for all of us."
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Somehow, Gil ended up in Ben's room.
At this point, he wasn't even sure how it happened, only that Jane was there too and seemed equally confused, and the guard left in the hallway had given his very best 'I'm watching you' scowl before the door had closed in front of him.
"What just happened?" Gil asked from his spot by Ben's fireplace, staring down at a large cup of hot chocolate that he, for the life of him, couldn't remember getting.
Beside him, Jane shrugged. "Ben," she said, as though it explained everything. "Though I know how you feel. Tonight was supposed to just be dinner with some old family friends and then Ben was going to loan me one of his books and-" She made a sort of poof motion with her hand. "Now we're having a sleepover, I guess? Mom's in the zone right now, I don't think we're leaving."
"Well, the more the merrier," Ben declared, setting down another tray of goodies. "I haven't had a sleepover in… well, I don't think I've had a sleepover before, so this will be fun!"
"More fun than a random guy teleporting into your room?" Gil asked, taking a careful sip of his cocoa. Curses, it was delicious. Mrs. Potts really knew what was up. Part of Gil had hoped that Carlos had been exaggerating. "On second thought, that sounds more scary than fun."
"It's not a random guy if it's a friend," Ben cheered.
"But I could be lying?" Gil didn't know why he was the one who had to stress this point.
"I gave you a bracelet."
"I could have stolen the bracelet."
"Then why did you want to teleport to me?"
"Maybe I didn't have something from anyone else."
"Did you?"
Uma's bullhead necklace and Harry ring and Evie's shirt and everything else seemed to buzz relentlessly against Gil's skin. He was pretty sure Carlos had given him his bandana too.
"…I could be lying."
"But you're not," Ben declared, and man, Gil had never seen his smug face before – he didn't think Jane had either, because she seemed just as amazed by it as Gil was. "Why do you keep trying to deny it?"
"Because I don't want you to get hurt." And it could happen so easily, Gil hated it. Hated the idea of leaving casual destruction in his wake, even if that was what he kind of did.
"Because-" Ben leveled a dramatic finger at him. "You are my friend."
"Ugh," Gil sighed, grumbling into his delicious hot chocolate. "You're impossible."
"An impossible friend," Jane piped up, immediately basking in the glow of Ben's smile.
It was going to be a long night.
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Realistically, it would be better for Gil not to hang out with them. He knew that. He'd just experienced several very intense revelations and was now just kind of stuck in an awkward waiting period where he had plenty of time to process, he guessed, and it would probably be better if he didn't waste Ben or Jane's time.
But.
Ben seemed determined, and Gil didn't want to rock the boat and make even more of a fuss than he already had, so he decided to just sort of treat it all like some kind of weird vacation. It wasn't like he hung out with Jane or Ben all that much in the future anyway. Just- they'd chill, and Gil would be on his best behavior, pretend the trip to Corona had never happened so he could just enjoy the moment and the company he had instead of feeling bad all the time.
Yeah, he just needed to regain some of his old-Gil charm or whatever. There was no need to overthink things.
"Okay." Ben was equipped with an armful of blankets, wandering around the room as he stared at various spots on the floor. "Let me just…"
Gil and Jane watched him from the couch, both of them clad in pajamas that had appeared sometime after dessert – Jane's a long nightgown with matching robe and Gil straining against someone's hand-me-downs. They were the signature blue and yellow of Auradon though, so Gil kind of loved them a lot, even if they were a little tighter than he was used to.
"What are you doing?" Gil asked, because he was pretty sure Jane was too polite to do so herself, even though she was equally confused.
"I'm trying to figure out where we should sleep," Ben replied, as though that made any sense.
"Um…" Gil shared a look with Jane. "The bed?"
Ben paused, and from the corner of his eye, Gil caught Jane's face light up in a brilliant flush. "We can't- we shouldn't um- share the bed."
"What?" Was this a manners thing? Gil hated manners things when they didn't make any sense. "Look how big it is. We could totally share it. I mean-" Wait. "Unless you don't want to, because it's your bed." That was a manners thing Gil could understand. "We could just sleep on the couch while you take it."
"I'm not going to sleep in the bed while you guys…" Ben motioned vaguely, explaining nothing.
"Dude," Gil sighed. "It's your room. I promise, it's fine."
"I thought maybe we could make a blanket fort?" Ben continued. He seemed to be blushing as well, because manners or whatever.
"Your bed has curtains," Gil pointed out. He knew there was another word for it but seriously, the giant bed had giant curtains like it was its own little house. "That's like a fort, right?" He turned to Jane, who had been silent to this point. "What do you think?"
"Um…" It came out as a squeak, and then Jane buried her face in her hands, which also didn't help.
Gil patted her back in a way he hoped was comforting. This early-Jane was kind of weird. Still good, 'cuz she was Jane, but weird.
"How 'bout this?" Gil tried. "We each grab a blanket and sleep on top of the covers-" That looked really squishy and cool but whatever, Gil understood if Ben didn't want to share his sacred sleeping sheets with two people he didn't seem to know very well. Or at all. "-shut a few of the curtains and bam, instant fort. That's a compromise, right?"
Usually, Uma or Doug would be there to confirm that it was, in fact, a compromise, but right now he had a catatonic Jane and slowly-becoming catatonic Ben to work with, so Gil was going to have to hope for the best.
Ben shrugged, still not quite looking at either of them. "That could work. Are you comfortable with that, Jane?"
The young fairy squeaked. "…yes? Yes," she decided, looking up from her hands.
"Cool, problem solved!" Gil cheered, jumping up from the couch. He crossed to Ben, taking half of the blanket pile off his hands because he could be a polite guest sometimes. "It's your bed, where do you want to sleep?"
Ben stared at him like he was an unfathomable being.
Gil sighed. "In the middle? On the edge?"
"Oh." His cheeks flushed darker. "The edge, please."
"In case you need to pee." Gil nodded sagely. "Good call. Jane?"
"Um… the other side?" she offered over Ben's sudden sputters. He was so weird.
"Cool." Gil saluted her, dumping his pile on the bed. "That leaves me with the middle."
Which Gil preferred, honestly. It allowed him to pretend Harry and Uma were there, wanting to be near him, urging him into their bed.
Gil looked up from sorting his blankets. There was a giant fuzzy one that he wanted to try cocooning himself in, it looked so soft. "Can one of you get the lights?"
"I'll do it!" Jane said, leaping at the chance to be helpful.
Gil could relate, sometimes he just wanted to do something, and having that thing be helpful was an added bonus.
"Any blanket preferences?" Gil asked Ben, motioning towards his pile as the prince finally abandoned his own at the foot of the bed.
"No, I uh… think all blankets are equal," Ben said with all the naivety of someone who hadn't gone camping. It was a bold-faced lie, but Gil let him have it.
"Okay." Gil shrugged, then moved to undo the fasteners on the curtain.
Ben stopped him. "Maybe we'll save that for tomorrow."
Which implied Gil would get the nice bed again. Sweet.
Maybe landing in this time period wouldn't be so bad after all. It was just nice and stressless fun.
He grinned, grateful for his good luck. "Fine by me." With that, Gil grabbed his blanket selection and then crawled towards the middle of the large bed, lying back against the mountain of pillows with a happy sigh. About that time Jane had finished her task and was hovering near the foot of the bed, Ben's bedside lamp providing the only light as they settled in.
"I um…" Jane snatched up a blanket and then moved, crawling onto the bed carefully before curling up in a ball a couple feet from Gil. "Goodnight, I guess."
"No guessing necessary," Gil sighed. "Unless you want us to have nightmares?"
"No." Jane turned to face him, but he was pretty sure it was a reflexive thing because she seemed shocked by it half a second later. "No nightmares. Just, um- sweet dreams!"
"I second that," Ben said, sliding onto his side of the bed. The blanket he had chosen was a bit of a monstrosity – a plaid of blue, yellow, and green that Gil immediately adored. Evie would hate it, but it looked comfy, and it was kind of cute to see a future king wrapped up in such a horrible blanket. "Goodnight, guys."
With that, he turned off the light, showering them in darkness.
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Normally when he was sleeping in a new location for the first time Gil was in for at least one restless night. Despite the sinfully comfortable bed, Gil had been expecting another night of almost-sleep, but to his surprise the sun was rising when his eyes opened, and he didn't feel like he'd been dragged through the mud for hours on end.
It must have been because of Ben and Jane who were both still fast asleep, hair adorably mussed and blankets curled around them like suits of armor. Both of them seemed to have drawn closer to Gil in the middle of the night, though neither were touching him, seeming to take comfort in his presence alone.
He was grateful to help them the same way they helped him, so he stretched back and enjoyed the moment, resting his eyes until one of them decided to wake up.
Or until someone barged into the room unannounced – he guessed that was the same thing.
"Good morning, Master Ben," a lady chirped. "Today we have some nice buttermilk waffles with a selection of fresh fruits for your breakfast, as well as a pot of tea should you- Master Ben."
The lady, who Gil guessed was Mrs. Potts based on Mal's descriptions, looked up from where she had been setting the breakfast table (because Ben's room had that. At this point, Gil was willing to bet Ben's room had a secret slide to the library) to stare at the prince's bed.
Gil offered her a small wave while Ben struggled to coherency, blinking at the sunlight like some kind of sleepy kitten. "…yes, Mrs. Potts?"
"I…" The (helper?) lady didn't seem to know what else to say, but she recovered quickly. "I wasn't aware you'd be bunking with our guests."
"What?" Ben asked, then followed Mrs. Pott's gaze to look at Gil and Jane.
It was kind of amazing how fast he was able to get off of the bed.
"This isn't um-" He flushed. "We're just-"
"Blanket fort," Gil offered while Jane mumbled in her sleep, burying her face in the covers. "We each got our own blankets." He held his up for good measure. "Hey, Jane. Breakfast."
"…what?" She was so cute. Like a tiny possum.
"Waffles?" Gil tried. Gil was pretty much an equal opportunity breakfast-food kind of person, but he was beginning to think waffles were near the top of his list. It was certainly nice to get something that wasn't eggs. "And tea? There's food."
"But I didn't make anything," she muttered, rubbing at her eyes.
"Mrs. Potts did," Gil explained, pulling himself into a sitting position. "Come on, it's better when it's hot."
Granted, it was also delicious cold, but Gil had learned that Auradon people had weird standards when it came to that sort of thing.
"Mrs Potts?" Jane pushed herself up on her elbows, squinting around the room in confusion. "Why would Mrs. Potts…?"
Jane could get off the bed almost as quickly as Ben. It was impressive.
"Oh," she murmured to herself, seeming way more awake. "I thought that was a dream."
"Fair enough." Gil shrugged, climbing out of the bed himself. It wasn't everyday a guy magically teleported into your friend's room. "Thanks for breakfast, Mrs. Potts."
To this point, the housekeeper (maybe? He really needed to learn her title), had mostly been silent, her signature teapot clutched in both hands as though it was some kind of an anchor. "You're quite welcome, Mister…"
"Flynn." Gil coughed, readjusting his bandana. He had slept in it out of habit which meant he'd need to brush out his hair later, but it'd be fine for now.
"Mr. Flynn." Seeming to remember where she was, Mrs. Potts went back to pouring them tea.
Gil waited a few seconds before making his way to the table, because he might be a guest but he wasn't going to let the food get cold just because Ben was being weird. "What kind of tea is it?" Gil asked, trying to be well behaved. Jane – the old Jane – had informed him that this was considered polite for small talk.
Mrs. Potts stared at him as though she hadn't expected him to be capable of such a question. Which – rude. "It's mint, dearie."
"Nice." Gil hadn't tried mint yet. He hoped it was better than the green tea he and Jay had tried in Imperial City. That stuff was gross.
Ben approached the table carefully, eyes trained on Mrs. Potts as he took his seat. Jane followed at a more sedate pace, like a tentative cat waiting to be scared off. Gil felt better when both of them were at the table, and when Mrs. Potts finally stepped away. It wasn't that he had a problem with her, he just- he preferred to have his meals private, when he could. He had certainly had enough public dinners with Jay to last him a lifetime.
"Thanks, Mrs. Potts," Ben said when they were all settled, consciously avoiding the lady's gaze. "I'll ring you when we're done."
Ring. Wow, Gil hoped he actually had a little bell for that. He wondered if Ben would let him use it.
"And um-" Ben continued, seeming to square his shoulders. "I would appreciate it if our blanket fort was not blown out of proportion."
"Of course, Master Ben," the housekeeper demurred, dipping in a slight courtesy. "I wouldn't dream of it."
She bustled away before any of them could respond, and the moment the door closed behind her Ben's shoulders slumped. "She is totally going to tell the entire staff."
"Maybe," Gil shrugged. "But we didn't do anything wrong. And this is your turf anyway, so it's not like anyone would cause you trouble either way."
"I… suppose you have a point."
"Of course I do," Gil grinned. "My second point is to eat your delicious waffles while they're hot, because I can see the steam wafting off of them and if that is not magic, I don't know what is."
"Kitchen magic," Jane giggled, seeming to review her waffle in a new light.
Gil leveled a fork at her. "Exactly."
-:-:-:-:-:-
"I have an idea," Ben said later, and unlike every other time Gil had heard that particular sentence from the king, he couldn't help but feel a little nervous. To be fair, Ben was literally rubbing his hands together. "To help Flynn and your mom. There's a secret library hidden behind a column in my room-"
"Knew it," Gil muttered.
"-that I wasn't supposed to find, but…" Ben led them towards the column-in-question. "There's references to magic in some of the literature. I thought if we could maybe track down some more options, we could help Fairy Godmother land Flynn in the right time period this time."
"It's worth a shot," Jane agreed, though her gaze was glued to the musty room being slowly revealed to them, an anxious sort of energy setting on her shoulders. "Is that a book on Dwarven Runes?"
"I think so," Ben motioned them in, handing Gil a lantern because secret libraries didn't get electricity.
"Enchanted metalwork," Jane said somewhat dreamily. "If we could get the right incantations we could-" She shoved a book in Gil's hand. "Here, we need to start deciphering these."
"That's as good a starting point as any," Ben decided, but he was grinning, because this was progress. Sort of. Or maybe he was just happy to share his secret books with other humans.
It was probably the second option.
-:-:-:-:-:-
"We should just ask Doug," Gil declared what felt like hours later, his eyes crossing after trying translate so many incomprehensible scribbles.
Ben popped his head up from his pile of books like some kind of academic gopher. "Who?"
"Doug?" Maybe Ben had dust in his ears or something. "The dwarf guy? Son of… not the smart one, because that would make sense, but…" He trailed off at Jane and Ben's twin looks of confusion. "You know, Doug? Plays the trumpet?" Was fluent in more languages than Gil could count? Which granted, wasn't very high. "Doug?"
"Repeating his name isn't helping," Ben said, not intentionally mean because his brows were furrowed, which meant his mind was elsewhere.
"Oh." Jane snapped, dust rising from her fingers. "You mean Dopey's son?"
"Yeah, that guy!" How could they not know Doug? He was Doug. "We should ask him about this. Doug knows everything."
"Everything?" Ben seemed to doubt this. Which was good, because he finally wasn't just taking Gil at his word. That was a start.
"Far as I can tell," Gil replied, nodding. "And if he doesn't know it, he'll figure it out."
"…I think he's an honor student?" Jane offered, still seeming unsure how to feel about this.
Ben set his book down. "I'll get my assistant on it."
It took Gil a few seconds to remember his assistant was not, in fact, Jane. At least, not yet.
Timelines, man. They were rough.
-:-:-:-:-:-
"Um…" Eight hours or maybe forty minutes a later tentative voice broke into the silence of the secret library. "Prince Benjamin?"
"Just Ben," the prince in-question might have tried to say, but Gil was so happy at seeing another familiar face that it was drowned out by his immediate cheer of "Doug!"
He took the excuse to abandon his research gladly, crossing the room to the other student who was just… so cute. His hair was short and slicked back but he was still rocking the sweater vest and his glasses were the same and Gil could just feel like, the stability coming back to him.
"Um." Doug shrunk back against the doorway. "Hi?"
"You don't know me!" Gil said this as a reminder to himself, but he couldn't help but smile, because Doug. "I'm- call me Flynn."
"…okay?"
"Hi, Doug." Jane was by their side in a moment, smoothing down her skirt and tucking a stray hair behind her ear. "This is our friend who needed your help."
"About that," Doug began, clutching the strap of his book bag tighter. It was noticeably lackluster and not at all Evie-approved. Definitely not enough secret pockets. "Your assistant didn't actually say what you needed help with."
"It's time travel!" Gil cheered.
The blood seemed to drain from Doug's face. "…oh."
Ben sighed. "Why don't we get you up-to-date with what we know?"
-:-:-:-:-:-
The good thing about having Doug around was that he was confident enough in decoding the runes that he could guide the others when they began to stray into tangents that wouldn't help their time traveling cause (which he had taken in stride, not that Gil was surprised because it was Doug).
The bad thing about having Doug around was that by comparison Gil seemed even more useless than before, so he redirected his talents to where he'd be more helpful, trying to give positive reinforcement when Doug broke one of the ancient codes (there were a lot of them – man, ancient dwarves were paranoid).
"Yay, Doug!" Gil cheered, patting the dwarf kid on the back. "Good job! You're awesome!" He paused when he realized Ben was staring at him with that smug expression again, and struggled to determine the reason for why that might be until he was sputtering. "I mean- Don't listen to me, I could be lying."
"You're not that good an actor," Ben said in that weirdly victorious tone Harry used sometimes.
"I could be."
"Or," Ben pressed. "You could be a supportive friend."
"They do this," Jane muttered, though it didn't seem to help Doug's confusion.
"Doug." Gil levered a finger at the dwarf kid, who seemed unsettled under the sudden attention. "I… do not order you to do anything because I um- don't have authority over you – but like, don't listen to me, okay? Don't trust me."
"Doug," Ben cut in. "As a person who does have authority over you, ignore that suggestion and follow your instincts."
Gil scowled. "You can't do that."
"Sure I can," Ben chirped. "I'm your friend."
"They do this too," Jane said, and the following laugh from Doug didn't seem nearly as hysterical as it probably should have been.
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Endnotes:
Yes, somehow Gil has managed to get this far in the story without having ever visited Auradon Castle. Like, the bedroom section, I mean. He got to see plenty of hallways when they were fighting enchanted suits of armor.
Did you see what I did there to get around saying actual dates? Yes, yes, that is clearly genius and not laziness, lol ;)
To clarify, Gil has been teleported to the summer before the events of Descendants 1, which I did not tag to avoid spoilers. But like, that one scene where Belle and Adam are asking Ben about his first decree – it's around that time period.
And you get to witness the start of me using King Adam as a minor antagonist – not because I don't like him, but because he's just in such a good position to provide those minor conflicts.
Until next time :)