Chapter 5 – Shifting Winds

-:-:-

"What is it?"

To say Mal was irritated would be an understatement. Her conversation with Carlos had given her more questions than answers, which left her operating with an extremely limited well of patience.

"What?" Doug blinked up from his book, like he hadn't been slowly huddling in on himself when he thought Mal was absorbed in her sketching.

"What is it?" Mal repeated, narrowing her eyes at the dwarf-kin. Something was wrong, had been wrong for days, and Mal was sick of it. Doug was usually the direct one – neutral and calm and smart – but now he was retreating.

Doug fidgeted, his gaze shifting uneasily between his book and her face before landing on the floor. "What is um… what?" he asked in the worst attempt at relaxed ease Mal had ever seen.

Mal was not a patient person. She was substantially less patient when one of her crewmates was hurting, because if they were hurting she wasn't taking care of them, she was failing them, and Mal didn't like anything that was hers hurting. It was a point of pride. A small part of her might argue fondness, but that was an Auradon thing, not a thing for Mal who had spawned from evil, so pride it was.

And it was that pride that had Mal setting aside her sketchbook, that had her moving so that she was seated next to Doug on the couch. She paused for a moment, considered his growing nerves, then dragged him into her lap, the dwarf-kin letting out a startled yelpin response.

"What is it?" Mal repeated, hooking her chin over his shoulder, wrapping her arms around his waist. "What's wrong?"

Doug tensed. "What makes you think- Mal!"

"That's my name," Mal drawled as she undid Doug's belt. If he was going to be obstinate about this, she needed to use alternative methods of interrogation, and there were few tried and true methods that could make Doug as easily flustered as foreplay.

"Mal," Doug whined when she eased a hand into his pants, fondling him through the soft material of his underwear. "You don't have to-"

"I don't do things I don't want to do," Mal said, eyes narrowing in consideration as she ground her palm down against Doug. "But if you'd rather not-" Because consent was a thing (an Auradon thing, but Doug's Uncle Dori seemed determined about it, and after the talk, Mal wasn't going to risk crossing that guy).

"I always-" Doug gasped. "I um- always want to."

"Then this isn't a problem," Mal hummed, hooking her finger into the waist of Doug's boxer briefs and dragging them low so she could play with his length directly. Such a thick, full boy. "So now we're back to square one," she said. "With something else being a problem."

"Wh-What makes you say that?" Doug gasped, his hips jutting into her attention while she teased him with one hand, using the other to summon a bottle of lubricant to make the job a little easier.

"You think I don't notice how you've been pulling back?" Mal drawled, trying to keep her frustration reigned in. She knew part of her current anger was kindled by Carlos, who was doing similar behavior but was so much more difficult to call out on it. "You're speaking up less, visiting the shelter less. You almost didn't tell us about your jazz concert."

"I just thought-"

"What?" Mal snapped, and now she actually was mad. "You thought we wouldn't care? You're mine."

"By chance," Doug gasped.

The words had Mal freezing, her thumb planted on the top of his length, where he began leaking slow beads of interest. "Explain."

"Mal," Doug whined, shifting in her grasp.

"Explain," Mal hissed, nipping at his neck as she began to pump his member with renewed frustration. "Explain why you thought we wouldn't care."

"You didn't mean to involve me in this," Doug said, his voice coming in pants while Mal continued to tease him. "You just- because of how I defined dating and-"

Mal had heard enough.

She pushed Doug off of her lap, pinned him down on his back against the couch while she ripped his shirt open, buttons flying as she worked to expose his pale chest.

A small noise of surprise swallowed in his throat, Doug's pretty green eyes wide as he looked up at Mal in shock, the villainess posed over him with a feral scowl.

"I do not do things I don't want to do," Mal repeated, staring Doug dead in the eye so he wouldn't mistake this. "I do not play with people I don't want to play with. I do not claim people I don't want to claim. You, Douglass," she said, pressing a finger against the center of his chest. "Are mine. And no matter how many people get added to this thing, how many princesses or Tourney players or whoever the fuck gets added, that does not make you less mine than before. It doesn't mean that I do not care about you, or don't want to talk to you, or don't want to share a space with you no matter how we got started."

"But." Doug's throat bobbed in a swallow. "I-I just- I don't know what you see in me."

Mal let out an unintelligible noise of frustration. She hated this, when her things did not see their worth. "I see Douglass," she spat, cradling his cheek, letting a hand trail down his side. "I see my smart, clever boy. I see tiny smiles and carefully delivered information. I see small blushes and a furrowed brow and if you ever think of doubting my dedication again without talking to me about it, I'll break your fucking legs myself, because I might be shitty but I'm not that shitty."

"Mal," Doug gasped, a pretty flush spilling down his chest. "I didn't- it wasn't like that."

"I know you didn't mean it like that," Mal snapped, because her crew never did. They'd just been conditioned to think they were worthless. "But that's how I took it. So trust me and trust Chad and stop shrinking away because you think you're not as pretty as Audrey, because newsflash." Mal drew herself close to him, close enough so she could whisper into his ear. "You are just as pretty as Audrey. You're just as pretty as Chad and Jay because I am Mal Bertha, and I do not claim ugly things."

"Mal," Doug moaned, seeming to really get something from the praise. "I- I'm sorry."

"Me too," Mal said, sucking a mark against his neck. "I did a poor job of comforting you. Let me fix that now."

"Mal," Doug whined when she began to play with him again, teasing nipples and fondling between his legs. That afternoon, Mal decided, was going to be a long one, and she hoped Doug was ready.

Because she certainly was.

-:-:-

While Mal didn't like any of her crewmates having a crisis of faith, she did enjoy the process of boosting their egos. For Doug, that involved slowly stripping him of his clothes and doting on him with kisses, complimenting the curve of his muscle, the smooth line of his sides, and of course his very pretty length. She spread him out on the bed to do it (because he was worth it, worth the best), and had already ridden him once by the time Jay climbed through the window, looking fresh from the showers.

"Oh, hey," he greeted with a blink, watching as Mal continued to stretch Doug while he writhed. "What's going on?"

"We're doting on Doug this afternoon," Mal declared.

Jay didn't even blink, but then again, he also loved doting on Doug. "Awesome," he chirped, shucking his bag of Tourney gear to the floor and shrugging out of his shirt as he strolled over towards the bed. "May I suck his dick, please?"

"It is encouraged," Mal offered sagely while Doug crooned.

They rocked his damn world until he had nothing left to give. Only then did they run a bath for him, taking turns washing him in the warm waters while the other lazily made out with him.

"Does this mean he's not going to be all shy anymore?" Jay asked between kisses, the Agraben intent on sucking a mark just under Doug's ear. "Did you set him straight?"

"Of course I did," Mal huffed, like that would even be a question. "Now go back to giving him kisses."

"Mal," Doug tried to protest, had been trying to insist that he knew he'd been wrong.

"You're mine," Mal growled. "That means you're the best. And the best deserves nice things, so."

"Awww," Jay cooed. "You think I'm a nice thing."

"Well," Mal sighed. "You're what I have on hand."

"You wound me," Jay drawled, but then he went back to turning Doug's jaw towards him for some truly filthy kisses.

Huh, looked like Doug was flushing again. Mal should probably check between his legs again, just in case.

The following moan made it totally worth it.

-:-:-

Doug was so blissed out by the end of it that he didn't protest being tucked into bed naked. Odds were that he was too out of it to register his lack of clothing, wouldn't figure it out until later and then that lovely flush of his would blossom in his cheeks, the way it always did when he got shy. But Mal wanted to see him valiantly try to hide behind his blanket to retrieve his clothes from the dresser across the room and whine when Jay deftly stole it from him so he could put on a show. If he was still stretched, Mal might even fuck him against the dresser.

The options were limitless, really.

"That was awesome," Jay sighed, sprawled out on Chad's bed shirtless, his hair splayed around him like a silky waterfall as he watched Doug cuddle against Mal's side. "Can we do that once a week?"

"If you're good," Mal hummed, running a lazy hand through Doug's hair. His eyes were fluttering shut, the honor student seeming to make an effort to stay awake but it was a losing battle, Doug thoroughly spent.

Good. Maybe he would remember he was treasured now. That they wanted him there.

Further conversation was interrupted by Chad and Audrey strolling into the room, the prince holding the door open for Audrey with a smile before deftly locking it behind them. He grinned when he saw Doug passed out against Mal, a small blush dusting his cheeks when he noticed the bare state of Doug's torso before turning his attention to Jay, who offered him a flirtatious wink.

At Mal's nod of encouragement, the prince crossed to Jay, wasting no time splaying across his torso so they could trade lazy kisses.

Yes, and all was well with the world.

It took Mal a few seconds to notice Audrey frozen still in the middle of the room, the princess's attention torn between the two beds.

"You can sit if you want a better view," Mal offered, motioning to the desk chair by Chad's bed. "Or you can help me cuddle Doug."

Audrey gave her a strange look. "I thought you were dating Chad."

"I am," Mal hummed. "We all are, and he's dating all of us."

This did not seem to compute in Audrey's mind. "…all of you," she repeated, perching herself at the foot of Doug's bed. "You're all a dating group."

"Polyamory," Chad gasped between kisses, Jay beginning to get a bit more insistent. "That's what they call it in dwarf culture. It's not uncommon, for them."

"You're not dwarves," Audrey pointed out, her expression neutral.

She was processing this, then.

"Yeah," Mal allowed. "But we figured they were onto something. Why choose when we're all good?"

Chad pulled away from Jay, much to the Agraben's displeasure. "If you were um- doting on Doug, does that mean you reassured him?"

"Yeah." Mal grinned, puffing up in pride because they'd all noticed but they'd trusted her to fix it. "I did."

"Reassure?" Audrey echoed, staring at the state of Doug's neck. "Does that mean- did you have sex?"

"A few times," Mal confirmed, carding a hand through Doug's hair. "Dwarven stamina, and all that."

Audrey did not seem to know what to do with this information. "So what, basically this is an excuse to have sex with each other?"

Mal let out a grumbled sigh, but Chad shot her a look that begged for her patience, one Doug would have given her were he actually conscious.

So Mal forced herself to pretend it was Gil. "No," she said. "That's just a bonus. We're there for each other. We watch each other's backs and share stuff and give comfort when it's needed."

"And sometimes, we have sex," Jay added with a grin.

Audrey just sort of stared at them.

Mal sighed. "Look, you're already crew. You've already got the other stuff. If you want to date us, you can also do sex stuff, but you don't have to."

The princess froze, startled. "You want me to date you guys?"

"Only if you want," Chad offered so Mal wouldn't have to deal with more mushy feelings stuff. "It's just an option. You can also keep doing what you're already doing."

There was a moment of intense deliberation from Audrey, but eventually she turned to Mal, the leader. "None of you can fuck me."

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to do," Mal said. "If you just want to use your hands, or just like, watch and maybe kiss, that's totally fine."

"Your body, your choice," Chad dutifully echoed, remembering the wise words from the talk.

"We're not going to force you into anything," Jay hummed.

"In that case, I'm in," Audrey decided with a haughty tilt of her head, moving up so that she was cuddling Doug's other side. "So for the record, I now have three boyfriends and a girlfriend?"

"Yes." Mal nodded. "And we are all treasures, so you'd better recognize that."

"Yeah," Audrey said, taking over Mal's job so she could run her fingers through Doug's hair. "I think I already do."

"Then you've got a good start," Mal decided. "Now get comfy, Jay's appetite has been kindled, so he's probably going to give Chad a blowjob once he can talk him into it."

"Since when do you have to talk me into blowjobs?" Chad asked Jay, a furious blush blooming across his cheeks.

"Since a pretty princess joined our audience," Jay hummed, but then he was pinning Chad against the bed, teasing the blond's pants and underwear down to the sound of Mal and Audrey's catcalls.

And that was how they officially claimed Audrey.

-:-:-

The good thing about Audrey was that she liked doting on Doug.

Mostly, Mal suspected it was because the princess had sensed Doug was wary of her, worried he might bore her or not be worth her attention, and Audrey set to rectify this misconception in the most direct way possible. She echoed Mal's actions and was always quick to shower Doug with attention, and the number of times Mal had walked in on the dwarf-kin spread across his bed, writhing while Audrey worked a hand into his pants, whispering filthy into his ear, was too high to count.

And when the princess had realized all of Mal's boys were trained for anal, then she'd gotten to walk in on Doug naked on his bed, legs pulled up towards his chest while Audrey worked a plastic, buzzing bullet thing in and out of him.

"Vibrator," the princess explained with a wink. "He seems to like it a lot."

"Show me," Mal demanded, and then the two of them would cradle Doug between them, the Dwarf-kin moaning all the while.

It wasn't long before they introduced Audrey to Doug's family, who was sort of the only positive family support they had between the four of them.

"Nice to meet you, princess," Ori had greeted, his voice gentle as always. "Has Douglass been treating you well?"

"The greatest," Audrey boasted, much to Doug's embarrassment, all while Dori and Chad traded an easy conversation about baking tips and Jay looked at Nori with starstruck eyes as Doug's uncle explained his duty as spymaster of Erebor.

"Don't take this the wrong way," Audrey said later, when they were cuddled on Doug's bed. "But I'm not introducing you guys to my family. But that's entirely because of my grandmothers."

"Say no more," Mal hummed. "We all gotta do what we gotta do."

"My mom's really nice though," she offered, voice soft.

Chad grinned. "I'm glad, Audrey," he said, entirely genuine, and Mal-

Sometimes she marveled at how she could get a thing that was so good.

She supposed at some point, it had to happen. That was just the way of things.

-:-:-

The good thing about being open about dating Chad was that Mal was now allowed to do a host of whimsical and unnecessary things with him in public. Now, Mal could surrender one of her hands to him when they were walking to classes. It still seemed like an inefficient handicap, but the way it made Chad smile made it worth it. He'd blush, squeezing Mal's fingers carefully before staring at their joined hands in wonder, a literal bounce in his step as they showed off their relationship for the whole world to see.

When she was feeling especially mischievous, she'd give him a kiss on the cheek, which was always guaranteed to short circuit his brain when they did it in public.

"I'm not surprised," Ruby boasted when Mal settled into art class. "All those notes he left on your pieces were super cute, but also super obvious. And you volunteer with him down at the animal shelter too…"

"How'd you know that?" Mal asked, her gaze narrowing in suspicion.

"Lonnie posted it," Ruby hummed. "She volunteers there too, thought you guys looked like you were having fun." The princess leaned over with an obnoxious wink. "I guess she was right."

"The Tourney team had mixed responses," Chad admitted when they reviewed their homework that night. "Like, half thought it was cool and half thought I was just in it for sex, I guess? But then Ben and Jay helped me set them straight. I mean, they did most of the work because I wasn't getting it-"

"Because you don't think like that," Jay reminded him, holding still while Audrey wove an intricate braid into his hair. "Because you respect Mal. You're not dumb for not being able to stoop to their level."

"What he said," Audrey murmured, offering the prince a small grin when he looked over for reassurance.

Doug didn't say anything, but he did offer a supportive smile of his own, which in terms of Chad-validation was more than enough.

"Anyway," Chad continued, now blushing up a storm. "Ben thinks it's awesome and um- wants us to double date with him and Evie so she'll feel more at ease?" His gaze fell to his lap, where his hands were twisting restlessly together. "I didn't give him an answer. I thought I'd talk to you guys first."

While he didn't explicitly say it, Mal was pretty sure it was Audrey's feedback he wanted more than anything. Chad didn't like making people upset – he was stupidly thoughtful that way.

Audrey hummed. "It would be best to go," she advised. "Turning down the crown prince of Auradon might make you guys look like snobs, and besides," she continued, shrugging. "It would be good publicity. If you can show the world that Isle kids are just, you know, kids, then maybe Ben will be able to get more of you into Auradon."

For all that Mal liked to think over every possible outcome for her schemes, the one where Ben willingly aided her cause had never actually occurred to her.

Because Mal could not show such a short-sighted weakness, it was Jay that spoke up. "Do you think he'd help us?"

Audrey froze, leaning around Jay so she could get a look at his face. "Do you think he wouldn't?"

Obviously. He'd brought Mal's crew over as some kind of gesture, maybe an attempt to console some remnants of guilt, but it wasn't like he was starting a movement or anything.

"Why would he help us?" Mal pressed so Jay wouldn't have to. "He doesn't owe us anything."

It was that comment that made Doug speak up. "VKs are technically Auradon citizens, Mal," he said quietly. "Citizens that are being wrongfully imprisoned. Of course Ben wants to get all of them off the Isle. The only reason he didn't get more off in his initial decree was because the council wanted proof that you could integrate into Auradon life appropriately."

"Sort of like a probationary period," Audrey said.

"Which is kind of dumb," Chad decided. "Because like, whether you can settle in or not, you guys didn't commit any crimes, and if you didn't commit any crimes, you shouldn't be on a prison island."

"Exactly," Audrey hummed. Her thin brows drew together. "I couldn't see that before-"

"You've already apologized," Mal reminded her in an effort to distract from the slight feeling of bamboozlement. They- the three of them, and Ben, apparently, wanted to help them.

"He'll help you," Doug said gently, pulling Mal's focus back towards him. He seemed so earnest. "You're not bad, Mal. None of you are."

"You're passionate!" Chad chirped. "And talented and protective and super nice, and Jay, you're also nice and funny and-"

"We're not nice," Mal snapped, struggling to handle the deluge of compliments.

It was just Chad's dipshit way, she knew that, but she couldn't- they weren't-

"Mal," Audrey interrupted, her tone firm. "I get that kindness probably didn't do much for you on the Isle, but you've been better to us than most people. You treat us well, you support us, and you don't ask for anything in return."

"Except like, snuggles," Chad offered. "But um- we also like those, so everyone still wins."

"We're- guys, we're definitely not nice," Jay said, hopelessly confused. "I mean, I'm a giant asshole. Do you know how much shit I stole the first week I was here?"

"Yeah, but that's normal on the Isle, right?" Chad asked, startling Jay further until the Agraben could only nod. "Okay, so you didn't know it was bad because that was your normal."

"Of course it's bad," Jay snapped. "It's stealing."

"Yeah, but have you stolen anything recently?" Audrey asked, her tone suspiciously innocent.

Jay opened his mouth, closed it. He turned a bashful look onto Mal before allowing his head to drop.

"It doesn't matter," Mal cut in. "He doesn't need to steal anything because you guys give us all the shit we need."

"Exactly," Doug said. "Before, he was stealing to survive. And when you first got here, he was stealing because he wasn't sure what the school would give him. That stopped once he felt safe."

"Stop trying to rationalize us as good people," Mal pressed, her eyes narrowing.

"Stop trying to insist you're evil," Doug shot back. "Your parents might have done shitty things, but you aren't them. And you don't have to be, if you don't want to." He dropped his voice. "You have that choice now."

It seemed entirely too good to be true. The only thing special about Mal was her lineage. Take away her mother and she was just another half-Fae reject struggling to survive. Without Maleficent, Mal was nothing. She wouldn't be able to protect her crew, she wouldn't have gotten her crew-

But she'd gotten Chad and Doug.

She'd done that entirely on her own. Chad hadn't even known who she was. And Doug had followed her, even though he was so very smart, even though he was wary. He had shared his family and his music and his stories, and he hadn't done that because of who Mal's mother was, he'd done it in spite of that.

"Mal…" Jay said, drawing Mal's attention back to the present. The Agraben looked tense, his shoulders shaking with minute quivers as his gaze seemed to shine with an unfamiliar wetness. "I don't- I don't want to be like my dad." He squeezed his eyes shut, stray tears leaking from the corners of his eyes, revealing a vulnerability she hadn't seen from him since the first time Jafar had gone at him. "I don't want to be my dad."

"You don't have to be," Audrey assured him, abandoning the braid so she could wrap around his back, pulling him into a tight hug that Chad rushed to pile onto, the prince more or less settling in Jay's lap so the Agraben could wrap his arms around him. "You don't have to be anything like him."

"But that's all we have," Jay croaked, burying his face in Chad's shoulder. "On the Isle – that's the only choice we have."

"You're not on the Isle," Audrey murmured. "And you're never going back there. I promise."

"Even if I'm an asshole?" Jay sniffed. "Because I am-"

"You're fucking not," Mal snapped, storming across the room to fucking comfort her crewmate, snagging Doug's sleeve and shoving him into the cuddle pile as well. "You're not an asshole and if you don't want to be your dad, you don't have to. From here on out, I order you to be yourself. Play Tourney and be sappy and don't steal anything."

"B-But then I'm not earning my keep," Jay pressed, looking torn. "Mal-"

"You're already earning it," Mal snapped, motioning to Doug and Chad, to Audrey. He helped Mal take care of them, he watched after Carlos – Jay did more than enough.

"Mal," Jay croaked, tone tentative, a bit scared. "Could we be good?"

Somehow, Mal wasn't surprised by the question, because it was Jay.

Jay, the romantic. Jay, the sweetheart.

Mal knew without question that Jay could be good. If he wanted to give up villainy, he could manage it in a heartbeat. He could settle down with Doug and play Tourney and cheer the dwarf-kin on at his concerts and dote on Chad and get Audrey presents. Of all of them, Jay was most prepared for domesticity. It wasn't that he lacked ambition, it was just that his greatest desires were small things. He'd hidden behind grand visions as a matter of necessity, but that wasn't who Jay was at his core.

The problem was that he'd asked if they could be good. If Mal could be good.

A hand circled her wrist, and when she came back from her thoughts, it was to see Doug looking up at her, his gaze painfully earnest. "You already are good, Mal," he said. "A bad person wouldn't have cared if Chad got sick in the rain. A bad person wouldn't have come to my band concert. They wouldn't have gone to check on Audrey. They wouldn't care if Jay was crying." He looked over towards her abandoned sketchbook. "They wouldn't create such beautiful things for the world. The first shot you got with real art supplies, you painted a portrait for Evie."

"Because it was something she desperately wanted," Jay added in a quiet voice. "You knew it would make her happy."

Mal rolled her eyes. "Happy crewmates-"

"You're not your mom, Mal," Jay interrupted. "I don't think you could be her if you tried. You're not ruthless enough."

She cared too much. It was always the problem, how much Mal cared.

"I'm not good," she spat, feeling desperate. If she wasn't Maleficent's daughter, then who was she? Mal Bertha was destined for greatness, but her path had been chosen before she was even born. She'd never had a choice in it.

Audrey sighed. "Yes, you are, and that's coming from me-"

"I love potioned Ben," Mal snapped, just to get them to stop looking so adoring, and all of them froze, gazing at her with wide eyes.

Mal's breaths started to come in furious gasps. "I fed him a love potion so he would fall in love with Evie."

For a moment, no one said anything.

Then Audrey cleared her throat. "Well, I suppose thanks are in order."

Fucking what-

"This," the princess continued, gesturing to all of them. "-is far better for me than dating Ben ever was. There was too much pressure, and I like Ben, I do, but I was dating him for the wrong reasons," she decided. "I was dating him because it was expected of me, like it was expected that we'd get married one day, and all of that was chosen before we were even out of elementary school, and-" She let out a sigh. "I like this," she said, squeezing Jay close. "I like what we have. I like that I can cry or be angry and grumpy and you guys don't even blink. Ben was always there to support me if I needed it, but he- he lives a fairytale life," she said without irony. "He's not used to experiencing as many problems as the rest of us."

"And…" Chad cut in, struggling for words. "Like, the um- potion thing isn't great, but you did that for Evie, right? Because it'd make her happy?"

Mal and Jay shared a look and eventually, Mal nodded.

"That doesn't make it good," Chad allowed. "But at least you did it for a good reason?"

"I think this will be better in the long run," Audrey decided. "Ben and Evie will be good together. She can be a voice for the Isle and help Ben fix things. Ben never would have thought to date her on his own, because, you know-" She motioned to herself. "But now that things are in motion, maybe we'll just…"

"You think we should leave him love potioned?" Doug asked, his voice carefully neutral.

"Not forever," Audrey said, rolling her eyes. "Give him a few weeks, at the most. Let him settle into a new rhythm. Once he sees the benefits, he'll stay with Evie."

"But won't he feel bad about you?" Chad asked. "Since he didn't actually dump you?"

Audrey hummed, resting her head against Jay's shoulder. Her sharp gaze found Mal. "Could I publicly date Jay?"

The Agraben tensed. "You want to date me?"

Audrey got an annoyed look. "We just went over all the reasons why you're the best, Jay – of course I want to date you." She turned back to Mal. "And if Ben sees I've moved on – and I have – then he won't feel bad about doing the same."

"I'm dirty, though," Jay said, face stricken. "Guys, I-"

"There is nothing that could have been done to you to make you dirty," Audrey cut in with a firm voice, a tone that refused to allow for any kind of argument. "Nothing, Jay."

The Agraben squeezed his eyes shut, fresh tears pouring down his cheeks that Chad smoothed away, the prince desperate to help how he could.

Mal considered this, though she was still somewhat reeling from the fact that they seemed okay with the love potion thing. That they were all just as accepting of them as before.

She cleared her throat. "Okay," she decided. "Okay, we can do that, but Doug is going to publicly join me and Chad." The dwarf-kin blinked at this, seeming startled by the suggestion. "No one is getting left out," she hissed. "I take care of my things."

"Because you're good," Chad reminded her, and-

Yeah, maybe that actually was the case.

-:-:-

Endnotes:

Thanks for the feedback, guys! It is always greatly appreciated! For those of your worrying about Audrey – this chapter should address most of the lingering issues. I was genuinely surprised at how angst-free it ended up being, especially since that's like, my favorite thing. Apparently, it can be done!

Story notes:

Hey, I bet you thought I was actually going to write that conversation between Mal and Carlos. I also thought this, didn't realize it didn't happen until I was editing the full draft so… off screen convos are where it's at, apparently ;)

Don't ask me what they were supposed to talk about. Present Paisley has no idea where Past-Paisley's head was at, lol.

Until next time :)