Hiya Descendants!
Omg... is this what on time looks like?
:)
Yay!
So hey, how 'bout that last chapter?
Don't forget we're a week ahead on Pat reon if you simply can't wait for the next chapter.
:)
Look for us there.
(So hey... I didn't know they were taking the word Pat reon out of our messages...)
Anyways,
Lots of Love,
-Dark-
"Ben," Lonnie calls out, "Doug!" She cries as she and Roy run up behind them.
"They got them!" Roy slaps his hands against Doug's back as if he were a drum.
"Dude!" Doug turns to swat at him, "We're in a sew- Wait, what?"
"Sorry! Sorry!" Roy immediately pulls his hands behind his back.
"I got through to David," Lonnie rolls her eyes at Roy, "they found them!"
"Thank god." He sighs with relief as it feels like a weight is lifted from his chest. "Are they okay?"
Days.
It had been days.
Lonnie takes a deep breath, "He, mentioned taking them to the hospital, but you know how David is, confidentiality and all that. He didn't go into specifics. He said to tell everyone he is begging that we go take a decontamination shower and get some sleep."
Her words barely register.
They were safe.
Mal was safe.
They'd found them.
"Right." He nods automatically.
"He also said he'll let us know when we can go see them," Lonnie adds as she lightly rests her gloved hand on his.
"Makes sense." Doug sighs in disappointment. "I can't imagine that they're in any condition that they'd be alright with us seeing them in, anyways."
"I would guess not." Lonnie frowns.
He reluctantly nods, "What matters is that they've been found and are safe." He frowns, "He didn't mention if they came willingly or not, did he?"
"He-" Lonnie's eyes narrow, "Well, he was yelling at Hiro a lot, something about reckless abandon and dragons not mixing well?"
Dragons? His brow furrows.
Had Mal transformed back into a dragon? Or was their Hawaiin counselor still reeling from seeing Mal turn into one in the first place.
He wasn't going to lie. Even being from the land of Magic, it had been a sight.
He was worried about her. He could only imagine how frightening the whole ordeal had been for her.
For them.
He had so much to apologize for.
He'd promised them. Promised. That their parents couldn't touch them here.
That they were safe.
And then Maleficent-
Were they ever going to trust anything he said again?
Were they going to resent him?
Was she going to resent him?
His worry had pushed the thoughts away for days, but now that they'd been found, it was all he could think about.
He takes a deep breath and almost gags on the fumes from the sewers.
Could he blame them if they did?
If she never wanted anything to do with him again?
Fear and anguish tear through him.
How was he supposed to-
"I think he was apologizing to Mal about something Hiro did." Lonnie continues carefully, "And he mentioned something about pineapples, which I still don't understand, but Nani sounded super happy about it when he told her. Other than that," She shakes her head, "I heard him tell Carlos that Hiro would be fine, like he was reassuring him or something."
"Hiro probably crashed hard after staying awake for so many days." Doug sighs before he uses his forearm to push his glasses up his nose, "If Carlos was worried about Hiro, he probably went with them willingly, which means the rest of them would have too, even if they-" He sighs, "Even if that wasn't what they wanted."
"Fuck yeah, One oh' one for the win." Roy pumps his fist triumphantly. "The rest of 'em will get over it. No way your Princess enjoyed slummin' it down here. And as for the two you both caught? If C and E are happy, they usually eat it."
"Can we get out of here now?" Lonnie asks as she looks around before she walks towards a ladder, "Continue this conversation away from the fumes?"
"For the love of God, yes." Doug nods emphatically as he joins her.
"Ladies first." He forces a smile on his lips.
"You heard the prince, move your ass, Roy." Lonnie teases, clearly feeling lighter.
"Funny, but I'll take it." Roy smirks before he starts climbing, "Anything to get out of this now that we don't need to be here."
"He's not lying." Doug shakes his head before he turns to study him. He waits for Lonnie to start climbing before he leans in. "I know it's not really my place, but you need to breathe. You're not alone in this, you know? I can't lose her like this again," He slowly shakes his head, "I don't think any of us can. We'll figure this out. We have to. But we're not going to be able to do that if we're being torn apart with regret and guilt."
He blinks.
Was he getting that easy to read? He dismisses the thought with one look of Doug's concerned, determined eyes.
No.
A small smile tugs at his lips.
As unnerving as it was to have someone read him so easily, it was also nice.
After years of fake smiles and obligational niceties, he'd done it.
Found real friends.
All thanks to discarded stones in a pile of mail.
It had taken years. But this feeling?
The warmth that filled his chest at Doug's worry was worth it.
"Thank you," He whispers. "I know it's not going to be easy. To earn their trust back, I mean, but knowing that I have such great friends supporting me, supporting them- I just, thank you, Doug."
Doug beams back at him before he nods, "Sure thing man." He gestures to the ladder. "Your turn."
He nods before he pauses, "Wait, before I-" He smiles at the look of surprise on Doug's face, "It is your place. I consider you a friend, and I'm pretty sure you do the same, so please, never feel like you need to question that."
Doug adjusts his glasses with his arm again, "I'll keep that in mind the next time you're beating yourself up then." He smiles, "Now go on before we're stuck smelling like this, and Evie never touches me again."
He'd have argued, but no, he could see the genuine fear.
It was going to take so much antibacterial soap to get clean.
"Right," He smiles before he climbs up the rungs.
He still wasn't sure what they'd be walking into, but knowing he wasn't going in alone made him breathe a little easier.
It was nothing short of a relief to know he wasn't the only one willing to beg for them to stay. To give them a reason to.
And that in and of itself made things feel like things might be okay.
Once they're all out they work together to shut the sewer behind them.
"I vote we chill together once we're cleaned up." Roy exclaims after he takes a deep breath of mostly fresh air, "And then the moment we get the all-clear, we can pile in a car and fuckin' go see them."
"I'm down." 'Lonnie quickly agrees.
"I was never going to be able to get away from you in the first place," Doug grins.
"I'd really appreciate that." He smiles. "I'll have Lumierre set up a room for us."
"Boss." Roy grins as he grabs his hand and starts running, Lonnie's giggles following right behind them.
"Um, guys?" Doug calls out in exasperation, "The school and our cars are that way."
He throws his empty water pitcher at the television, the thin plastic container barely even making a noise as it smacks the screen before bouncing and then rolling to a stop somewhere on the other side of Mal's hospital bed. "Fake news. Someone turn this shit off or change the channel, something."
"But they're talking about what happened." Evie frowns as she looks between the screen and him in confusion.
"I mean, at least this station has both sides of the story," Carlos adds quietly.
"Ugh." He rolls his eyes as he falls back into the bed, dramatically covering his eyes, "You guys actually want to watch this garbage?"
Mal rolls her eyes, "Better to know what's being said than ignorant or some shit."
"It's like getting rumors straight." Jay rolls his eyes, "except in Auradon, they show all the different rumors on TV." He pauses, "Which surprisingly doesn't seem to make it any easier."
Were they serious?
He glances from one teen to the other with a frown.
Each of them was captivated by the "experts" on-screen currently debating whether they were good or evil. "Any of you run 'cause of this bullshit, I'm kidnapping all of you."
Jay snorts, "Brah-"
"Fight me." He crosses his arms.
Jay chuckles as he holds his hands up defenselessly, but it quickly ends with a grunt.
"Jay, be careful." Evie pouts with concern.
"I blame T-Hiro," Jay shakes his head, ignoring Mal's snort. "I blame Hiro."
"What did I do?" He lifts an eyebrow.
His eyes narrow as all four of them shake their heads before they go back to watching the news.
That did it.
He and T were meeting.
He didn't know how.
Or when.
But it was happening.
"I love that Snow keeps taking over the commentary talking about my design styles." Evie smiles as she leans her cheek against her palm, "I really did outdo myself with your dress Mal," Her lips pucker to a pout, "too bad it didn't make it."
"I appreciated how pretty it was, even as a blanket." Carlos grins.
"Thank you, Carlos." Evie sighs. "But no matter-"
"Because when we get out of here, we'll use the rest of our money to buy you as much fabric as we can. How's that sound?"
Note to self. Buy all the fabric.
"Sewing is more than just fabric, Jay, but yes, please."
Thread. Needles. Buttons, zippers… There had to be-
Note to self. Look into sewing.
"I'm just moving into your room." Mal shakes her head.
"Like we're splitting up anytime soon." Jay rolls his eyes.
"Oh good," Evie smiles prettily, "because I really wanted to make Belle a dress before we…"
The four of them fall silent.
He wanted to shoot something.
"You're not going back." He shakes his head. "I know. I know it's hard to get that through your heads, especially now, but. No. You guys shouldn't have been there in the first place. None of you should fucking be there. It's fucking dumb."
Evie slowly turns to him, her fingers twisting awkwardly in her hospital blanket, "That's one of the reasons we decided to come back."
"Cause if we can make this up to Auradon," Carlos sighs and bites his lip, "maybe Ben's plan will eventually work, and we can get everyone else here."
"Or else we would have just let you take us." Jay finishes.
Oh yeah.
So fucking evil.
So wicked.
Cruel even.
Fucking Auradon.
He sighs.
No, it wasn't Auradon. It was some of the royals of a few of the Kingdoms that had joined Auradon.
Jaded, cowardly, spiteful bitches.
He sits up. "Selfless to a fault, you kids are something the fuck else." He grins brightly.
"Your offer still stands though, right?" Mal rolls her eyes, "Offer, not threat?"
"Just tell me when." He smiles as he leans back, crossing his arms to pillow his head. "So… Like, random question. You guys play Crown of Duty. How close to the Isle is that?"
"First of all, no guns, or at least guns weren't a major thing yet when we left," Jay shrugs, closing his eyes at the action before he continues, "More swords and knives, threats and displays of dominance."
"The Isle was more of a take what you want, or make people pay if you can't take it," Evie adds with a frown.
"At least on the VK level." Jay nods, "I'm not sure what all the OVs had, though Shan Yu definitely had guns being made."
Carlos scrunches his face, "We never got the chance to figure out where he was getting everything to make them. Or the black powder."
So rudimentary guns at best and a shit ton of gang violence.
"Good to know." He nods.
If push did come to shove, he'd have to find a place to stash these kids for a few years.
Neutral territories maybe?
Maybe he'd ask Fred if they could hide the kids on one of his family's Islands. His eyes narrow or like buy one and build them a private little resort.
His eyes narrow.
Yeah. He nods, liking the idea more and more.
Nothing but luxury with that option.
It wasn't like he couldn't afford one.
He looks up at the board. Searching for the date.
March.
If he was doing his math right...
Which he was.
December.
Auradon had to December to get their shit together.
Then it was his turn to make things right.
And they were fucking lucky to be getting the rest of the year.
He turns to the TV and rolls his eyes at another argument over why Chibi-chan and friends should be sent home.
Between him and Jumba, they could figure out a way to get the rest of those kids off the fucking Isle and someplace safe.
It was a twofer.
He'd be able to sleep at night-
And what type of Christmas gift could beat the liberation of all your friends?
He smiles as Carlos slips off his bed and grabs his IV stand before slowly walking over to his side, "Are you actually feeling better? You still look, ya know, tired."
"Yeah," He chuckles, "This ain't my first all weeker."
"Good to know you've always been an idiot then." Mal rolls her eyes and groans. "I didn't need another of those on my conscience."
"Aw Malgon," He places a hand over his heart, "you do care."
"That you could have killed yourself staying up fuck knows how long looking for us? Yeah, I care how bad that would have looked on us. The biggest brain in the world, dead because of VKs," She waves her hand in the air dramatically, "story to make you hate the VKs even more to follow."
"Sshhhh," He holds up his hand, "It's okay, your secret's safe with me. I care about you too."
He grunts when her pitcher hits him in the gut.
Jay's snort quickly becomes a pained laugh.
"Mal!" Carlos turns a glare on her.
"REFLEX!" Mal holds up her hands.
Carlos sighs before he takes her pitcher back to her and picks his up before he comes back.
"Can both of you stop throwing things," He pleads, "please?"
"I can do my best?" He grins.
"Ugh." Mal glares at him. "Can you just-" She turns to Carlos, "Does it have an off button?"
"Oh, come on, Malgon, you know I'm growing on you." He grins.
Carlos's head falls back, "Shouldn't you be sleeping?"
"Shouldn't you?" Mal quips back.
"Okay, Mal," Carlos sighs as he levels a glare at her, "That time I was actually talking to Hiro."
"Daaamn." He chuckles, "Chibi-chan's got you."
"He's got a fucking point, you stupid shitiot." Mal snaps, her voice rising with every word, "You took so many uppers and stayed up so fucking long, like the shitiot you are, that you get stuck in here with us."
"Eh." He waves his hand lazily, "Sleep is for the weak, dull, and unimaginative."
"Or, you know, the healthy," Carlos adds with a pout.
"Ah-uh-" He pouts, "Chibi-chan, I'm healthy. I swear."
"You passed out in a sewer. How's that healthy?"
"I'd like to point out everyone here has passed out in a sewer." He crosses his arms.
"And it wasn't healthy." Carlos huffs as he awkwardly crosses his arms over his chest, wincing when the movement tugs at the IV in his arm, "We have options now. We don't have to pass out in sewers."
He frowns as he looks him over in concern. "You're right. You're totally right. Now go lay down before you pull that needle out," he begs, "and I promise the next time I do something stupid, I'll hook myself up to fluids first. Forgot I was a dad for a minute. I need to set a better example and shit."
Mal's eyes flash green, "You teach him to mainline shit like that I'll kill you. It's already hard enough to pull him away from projects when he gets started."
He blinks innocently, "Would you rather him go without-" This time he laughs when the cup bounces off his head.
"I can't fucking escape him!" Mal groans before she slumps back against her pillows.
Jay's painful howl of laughter fills the room. "You really can't."
"Breathe Mal," Evie orders as she drops her hand from her mouth, "you're giving yourself worry lines."
"HE'S GOING TO GIVE ME WORRY LINES!"
"Oh, Malgon-"
"Please stop," Carlos begs before he climbs into the bed beside him.
"Oh hey Chibi-chan." He blinks before he smiles and moves the bed tray with his laptop on it closer, "Want ta check out the program I made to find you guys before I delete it?"
"Yes-" Carlos looks up at him with a furrowed brow, "Wait, why do you have to delete it?"
"Something about ethics, morals, and legality," He shrugs, "don't worry 'bout it."
"Oh my mother-" Mal pauses, "C!" She sits up. "C is their fucking off button."
"Ouch." Evie holds a hand over her heart.
Jay snorts.
He tilts his head, "Wait-" His eyes narrow, "Scary Girl's a cinnamon roll?"
"I'll have you know I am a Princess, the Isle Princess." Evie huffs, and if she'd been standing, her leg movement could have been considered a stomp, "So yes."
"Dumb." He snorts, "Out of all four of you, you've given me the most murderous looks."
Mal growls.
"Big softy." He turns to Jay, "Protective softy."
"I should have bitten down harder."
"But ya didn't."
"I didn't want to make Carlos cry-"
"Because-"
"Finish it shitiot, I fucking dare you."
He looks down at Carlos with a grin, "Aww, you're everyone's off button."
"Program you wrote in four days to find us?" Carlos taps the hospital tray, "Please, before something else gets thrown."
"Oh yeah!" He starts typing furiously to pull up the code.
Murders and heathens.
All of them.
He resists the urge to roll his eyes.
"Here you are-" He turns the screen to give Carlos better access.
"Cool." Carlos grins as he scoots closer before he starts tapping on his wrist.
On the watch he gave him.
A slow smile tilts at his lips.
Carlos kept it.
He thought he'd just missed it in the truck. He was determined, but garbage diving wasn't really- He closes his eyes.
Son of a bitch!
If Carlos had kept it all along-
Just fuck him.
Had he seriously been that stress-
Yes.
Yes he had.
Carlos was going to be one of the greatest minds of his generation.
He glances around the room.
And his pack were definitely going to make their own footprints.
And he could only imagine that, when given the opportunity, the rest of their left-behind friends would too.
So, yeah, he'd been fucking stressed.
Still, what an oversight.
Ugh.
He pulls out his phone, "So, how many kids do you think are on the Isle?".
Evie's brow furrows, "A couple hundred, at least."
"There were one hundred fifty-six attending Dragon Hall." Carlos comments offhandedly as he continues to search the lines of code, "I don't know how many attended the witch school or Serpent Prep though, but I know they had fewer students because, well, only witches at witch school, and the other school was way more selective."
"And then there are the side-kick kids that didn't get to go to school," Evie adds with a frown.
"And the Urchins," Jay adds absently.
"Heard." A thousand felt safe.
He looks up at the thought.
A fucking thousand. He looks around the room.
A thousand kids stuck in hell.
Kids like fucking Jay- The most selfless idiot he'd ever met.
Kids like Malgon.
Kids like Scary Girl.
Kids like- well, no, no one was like his Chibi-chan, but kids as innocent as him.
Fuck.
His stomach turns. So many fucking-
"You okay?"
He looks down to find Carlos's freckled face staring back at him, his face screwed up in concern.
"Yeah, just, ya know, hos-" he stops himself.
Do not say hospital food.
He sighs. Best not to lie anyways.
These kids were as good as Baymax detecting injuries. "It's just, thinking about there being nearly a thousand of you over there-" He shakes his head. "It's fucking sick." He takes a deep breath, reminding himself that he was preaching to the choir, "Aaaaany ways- Should I just buy a thousand phones-"
Jay spits out his water, "What!?"
He smiles, "-or do you want me to buy the parts in bulk, and you can learn to build them with me? Or we could work on building bots to assemble them?" He finishes asking Carlos. "Your call."
"I can learn-" Carlos shakes his head, "never mind. Stupid question. That one! I want to learn to build phones! And robots that build phones."
"Thought as much." He chuckles as he starts loading the components into his cart.
"When can we start? What do we need?"
He chuckles as Carlos crowds closer to watch his phone.
"In a few days and ordering now." He grins. "I won't be able to help with all of them- But I bet we can knock out a good percentage." He gently ruffles Carlos's hair, careful of the staples.
Ugh. He was so happy he'd slept through that.
Missing out on the first ten hours of being admitted to the hospital had its perks, because he was pretty sure he would've punched a doctor out of reflex if he'd seen Carlos so much as flinch at getting those put in.
"Wicked." Carlos grins before he starts tapping on his smartwatch, clearly looking up various aspects and the components of cell phones.
"Great." Mal sighs before she turns to Evie, "Gonna have to share your space."
"C knows my limits." Evie smiles as she turns to them, "Don't you C."
"Yep, one table and the space under it, got it, E." Carlos absently waves them off.
He snorts. "I've got it, Malgon."
"I will be happy to provide you with a more physical reason to be here," Mal glares at him, "besides the obvious brain damage you gave yourself."
"Technically-"
"You can shove it up your ass." Mal snaps.
"I mean-"
"-you should shut up, shouldn't you?"
"I didn't-"
"Mean to be a shitiot, okay, but here we are."
He smiles. She was so good at this game.
And it clearly bothered her so much.
It was entertaining.
Entertaining and cute.
But why?
His smile widens.
Oh, he knew why.
T.
"Can you-"
"Help you go the fuck back to sleep? Sure."
"How thought-"
"-less are you being right now? Very."
Damn, she was good, like hilariously good.
How much practice did she have with this?
"I'm gonna get up and knock you both out, which will probably hurt like fuck, but here we are, me having to threaten both of you," Jay grumbles before he clicks the TV to a different station.
Evie glares at him. "Don't."
"Just saying." Jay grins before he turns Auradon Warrior up on the TV.
"Oh! This is one of my favorites." He grins. "They ever do a celebrity episode, I'm gonna own that bitch."
He blinks when he realizes the entire pack was staring at him.
"What!? I'm old, not invalid."
"You're not old." Carlos frowns, "But I didn't know you liked stuff like that. You never said anything about it in your interviews." His face reddens, "Or at least the ones I've seen."
He rubs the back of his head, "Regular workouts are boring."
"Yees-ooww." Jay whoops.
"Damn it, Jay," Evie pouts, "Be careful."
"Shush," Jay shakes his head before he turns to him, "You down to join our Parkour group then? Carlos could use another friend when we get back to it, and Roy needs all the help he can get."
"Sign me up." He grins. "I'm always down for a good run."
"Wicked." Jay smiles as he turns back to the screen, "See, Pup, you can be smart and good at running."
"I never said you couldn't- I just-"
"Ah, no. I said you. Specifically you." Jay snorts, "If your idol can do it, so can you."
"C'mon Chibi-chan, it'll be fun."
"I didn't say I wouldn't." Carlos pouts up at him, "But, building phones."
"It's good to change it up. And 'sides, staring at those parts for hours will give you headaches, trust me."
"Fair." Carlos sighs, "I used to get headaches all the time trying to put my robots together, so yeah, fair."
"Cool." He grins.
"But, does that mean you'll be staying a little longer then?"
"Yeah, at least for a month. I've got a thing I need to prep for here anyway."
Cause even if she didn't challenge him. He'd be fucking damned if he wasn't challenging her bigoted ass.
Man I love these HKs. Those four together make me smile, especially in this scene. Please soak it up while you can. There aren't many of them.
Ben is such a cinnamon roll sometimes.
Feeling loved because someone can read him so easily.
Feeling loved because he had genuine friends.
Question, which lolz, why the fuck else would I be here, but still…
Could you see the four being friends before the VKs had slipped into their lives?
I'd never really thought about it before, but 2 royals on opposite ends of the spectrum, a figurative outcast, and one of the nerdiest kids in the school?
It's a pretty diverse group.
So, yeah, I mean, even if Ben found them fascinating in the past they still had never clicked so… What do you guys think?
Also, yes Ben. All the scrubbing. All the soap. All the all of it.
Being willing to sewer slum for someone you love definitely shows a level of dedication.
Oh Hiro.
Man i fucking love writing him.
And yeah, he's not T, but damned if he doesn't share several quirks with him- like the love of poking dragons.
And putting words in her mouth.
That game was fun to write.
You guys ever play it with your friends?
It's just fun.
And I love that the pup is the adult in these scene. I mean think about it, Jay and Mal might be Beta and Alpha- But E and C are definitely mom and dad.
Any of you realize that before I did?
Cause you know, just thought about it and went huh, duh.
Gotta love the chemistry between these five though.
It's just crackling.
What do you guys think though, cause honestly that's more important to us. Don't forget at the end of this adventure (the thought makes my heart just ache), and after we finish the Pie series, we're jumping write (ha!) into our attempt of an OG series we're hoping will get published.
Wish us luck!
We're gonna need it.
That's why we're always looking for and appreciate your feedback, I mean sure, it might also fuel us and stroke our ego's but what really matters is knowing where and when we fuck up, if we can elicit emotions, if we can do characters justic, stay congruent, make enjoyable plots, interesting OCs and you know whatever other scraps and bones you guys can throw our way.
Fave quote:
"I can't fucking escape him!" Mal groans before she slumps back against her pillows.
Jay's painful howl of laughter fills the room. "You really can't."
What's yours?
Much love and appreciation,
-Twisted