She hums happily as she skips into their room.
Florian was just the best.
He was charming and sweet and treated her like a princess.
And Snow?
Snow was just full of fabulous.
She knew so much.
And was so excited to share everything between her thoughts on current fashion trends and her reviews on the best brands of makeup.
It was like a match made in heaven.
She smiles at Carlos and Mal's absent greeting as one poured all her focus into a sketch while the other was bent over a table doing something or another with phones-
A lot of phones, if the piles of parts were any indication.
She smiles when Jay gives her a real greeting though.
"How'd it go, E?"
"Amazing!" Her smile widens, "They're just so nice! Snow is just everything I've ever wanted in- Well, honestly an older sister, which is ironic." She titters, "And Florian was one hundred percent the king I've always expected him to be. And I got to try a salad with these beautiful mini orange slices in it. Like Jay, they were only this big," She holds up her thumb and forefinger with barely an inch between them, "And blueberries bigger than I've ever seen before. Oh, and it had sliced almonds. I didn't know almonds could be sliced so thin, but it's like all the rage apparently. Fruit, nuts, and salad. Who knew, right?"
Jay snorts, "Glad it went well," He breathes as a smile slowly forms.
She could see the tension drain from his shoulders.
She smiles brightly before she steps forward and wraps around one of his arms. "It really did." She assures him, "Thank you."
"For what?" Jay asks as he shifts just enough to tuck her against his side and hug her.
"Caring so much about us-" She blinks, "I mean, it was hard to thank you on the Isle but now that we're here- Just thank you."
"Yeah yeah, I know." Jay chuckles as he uses his free hand to sweep towards the Isle, "I'm an asshole that was only really lying to myself back there."
She pouts as she shakes her head, "Not really, you were like Gil. Or how Carlos explains him anyway. People always scattered at the sight of you."
"Hmm, you know what. After getting to know the guy a little, I accept your compliment." He rests his arm across her shoulders.
"Good," She smiles sweetly. "Also, stress so isn't good for your skin. You're going to end up with crow's feet and frown lines before you hit twenty. And your hair? I'm no Dizzy, but I swear if you start going gray-"
"Okay, Princess. Thank you for all that, but don't you have fabric that needs sewing together or something?" Jay laughs as he scoots her towards her machine.
"Oh yeah!" She turns with a smile to pat his cheek affectionately, "Ruby paid me to make her a dress." She bounces over to the machine. "Though honestly, the girl should've paid me to spell that ridiculous hair. Her mom lived in that tower. Why does she need it like that. I can't count the number of times-" She shudders, "I've been absolutely forced to pick up a brush during class. I had to designate one. It's just- Who does that? I've found sticks, Jay. Sticks. What type of self-respecting princess has branches in their hair?"
Jay frowns, "I thought it had something to do with a magic flower." He shrugs before he walks over to his dresser, "And maybe she should look into weaponizing her hair if things like that happen anyways."
She blinks. "That's an opinion."
"By your tone, I'm going to go with it's a wrong opinion." Jay chuckles as he pulls a pair of swim trunks out of a drawer.
"Split ends, Jay! And do you know how quickly that would dry out your hair? And the amount of product? It'd be as stiff as Zevon's."
"Oh Zevon," Jay snorts, "Mal's lover boy is coming up soon in my list of VKs to collect information on."
She blinks as they dodge at the same time.
The thrown pencil breaks as it hits the wall.
"Say. It. Again." Mal bites out.
"I didn't say Zevon's lover girl." Jay winks at her before he jumps towards the bathroom door.
"God damn it, Jay!" Mal whips another pencil at him. "That's not funny! Fuckin' weirdo."
"Well, he did like you-"
"Not worth it, E." Jay chuckles from inside the bathroom.
"I can barely get her to wear makeup now," she whines, "She was so totally washed out on the Isle. What type of self resp-"
She steps back to avoid a pillow "-ting leader doesn't take care of their look like that?"
"It's your fabric," Jay warns as he comes back out wearing the swim trunks with a towel over his shoulder.
She bats her eyelashes at the green and yellow bruises mottling his torso, "Lonnie finally letting you get some exercise?"
"Letting?" Mal snorts, "Whipped much?"
"Says the Princess that can handle media interviews." Jay rolls his eyes.
"Claimed, tamed, but still the same." She sing-songs as she skips over to where she carved out her sewing corner.
"Don't you dare make that shit-iot's bullshit a thing!"
"But yes," Jay rolls his eyes, "Lonnie and I have been swimming a couple of times a day until the school's Baymax clears me to rejoin Tourney and Roar practice."
"Please tell her hi for me," She smiles.
Carlos absently raises his hand before he returns to his task.
Her lips pout.
Someone was distracted.
Usually, when he was in his zone, a foghorn could sound next to him and he still wouldn't be pulled from his work.
"I'll tell her you all say hello, but she might come back to the room with me." Jay shrugs, "She said something about a dress."
"Excellent!" She chirps.
Two dress requests in one day?
She smiles giddily. Oh, she had so many ideas for the two of them, though she would need to get a few more details before she could start sketching up her designs.
Oh!
She knew Snow was going to be doing an interview soon.
An exclusive fashion show in London.
"Have fun at the pool!" She dashes past him with child-like glee to swipe the remote from the night table.
"Hopefully there will be less people this time." Jay groans as he walks over to grab his phone from the charger.
"Problems?" Mal bristles.
"Apparently not everyone uses a pool to work out." Jay rolls his eyes.
"Dumb. That shit is heated."
"But terrible for your hair." She responds absently as she starts clicking through channels before her eyes widen and a gasp escapes.
No!
He wasn't!
It couldn't be!
He wasn't even wearing a button-
Her eye twitches.
An oversized character Tee? To a debate with a Queen?
Lilo had let him-
What was she thinking? Of course the Mal obsessed artist-
Wait!
It takes everything in her to shove away the disgust.
This was so not good.
She scrambles to hit the power button.
"What?" Mal asks, her pencils and sketchbook scattering at her feet as she jumps off the bed.
"The fuck?"
Jay's voice in her ear has her squeaking in surprise as she spins on one heel to face him, gracefully shifting her arms to conceal the remote behind her back as she blinks up at him.
"Nothing." She shakes her head, "Just, a horrible mix of patterns. You know me. Can't-"
"I thought you hated it when we lied to you."
Jay's reprimand was like a slap to the face.
Worse.
Jay holds his hand out expectantly.
Her eyes dart to Carlos as she bites her lip. "He's doing it." She quickly whispers harshly. "He was serious."
Jay's eyes narrow before they follow her path, closing once they land on Carlos. "I see."
"You can't be fuckin' serious?" Mal demands, matching the tone of her whisper.
"As my morning routine."
Jay takes a slow breath before he turns. "I'll be back. Let me see what happened."
She nods as her eyes follow him out the door.
"What a fucking shitiot." Mal runs a hand down her face.
"M." She whispers harshly.
"Wha-" Mal follows her eyes. "Ah." She nods before she pulls out her cell phone. "Got this." She scrolls with a groan before she hits dial.
She tilts her head curiously. What was she-
"Yeah, I'm fuckin' surprised to." Mal rubs her temple. "We're in the pup's room. Come get him before his eyes go cross from staring at tiny parts."
Oh. She giggles suddenly, understanding the groan.
Roy.
"Glad you're not a complete shit-iot." Mal sighs. "See you in-"
Both of them startle when there's suddenly a rap at the door.
"A second, apparently." Mal finishes.
"Are you going to complain about his prompt presence?" She smiles as she walks towards the door.
Mal sniffs indignantly as she hip checks her.
"So yes then." She titters.
Mal and Evie would take care of Carlos.
They always did.
It was the one thing in this situation he knew he didn't have to think about.
The rest of it though-
He growls as he shoves his hand into his pocket and pulls out his phone.
U here at school?
-J
No sense stomping to David or Nani's office if they weren't even here, and sometimes they took Saturdays off when no one needed an extra appointment. Or left after seeing him and Carlos.
We are. Where do you want to meet?
-D
Almost at your offices.
-J
Did they know about this?
Know that Hiro was publicly debating Queen Leah?
They couldn't have known.
They would have warned him, right?
Or at least warned them to keep Carlos occupied.
Fucking Hiro.
He goes to shove his phone back into his pocket but groans when he remembers he never changed out of his swim trunks.
Shit.
He quickly texts a message to Lonnie, apologizing and explaining that they had a pack issue come up.
When he comes to the hall leading to their offices, Nani's open door catches his eye.
He takes a deep breath before he walks into her office.
David and Nani both turn to him apologetically.
"We didn't know 'til this morning, brah." David rubs the back of his neck.
Nani nods, "And only cause Lilo was acting odd, even for her." She sighs as she runs a hand through her hair.
"I figured." He sighs, "Don't worry, we caught it without Carlos seeing it. The girls are handling that."
"Thank Kai," David lets out a heavy sigh.
Nani's face shifts with relief before she nods and sits on top of her desk as David plops on the floor.
"We were worried about him."
He shakes his head, "He's going to freak because we'll have to tell him eventually." He presses his fingers to his temples, "The whole school is going to end up watching it."
David frowns as he looks up at the ceiling and lets out another heavy sigh before he tips back far enough to lay down.
"You're not wrong," Nani groans. "I could strangle him some-" She pauses as she turns to Jay, "Uh-"
"David is laying on the floor."
Nani shoots an amused look at her husband before she turns back to him, "I really want to hurt your uncle right now."
"Fair. I want to hurt my uncle over this." His hands ball into fists before he slowly exhales, "I also didn't come to my councilors over this. If that's okay."
David gives him a lazy grin as he pushes himself back to his feet, and Nani's eyes flash brightly as a smile lights up her lips.
"Of course," David nods.
"Mahalo." Nani smiles with warm eyes, "That makes this easier. Cause I'm kinda pissed."
He eyes her, trying and failing to fight amusement, "Kinda?" He asks carefully as he covers his mouth with a hand.
"Is a relative term." Nani rubs her eyes.
He looks between the two before he spots water bottles and teacups on the coffee table, "Did you guys turn it off because of me?"
David shrugs, "We wanted to make sure you had our undivided attention."
"And since that debates a train wreck in the making-" Nani groans, "Off felt best."
It was going to be a wreck for sure, but he was still worried.
What was going to happen to Hiro after this?
What would Hiro and Queen Leah debate?
He was almost entirely sure he and the others would come up.
The Isle.
VKs.
It was weird, having someone else fight their fight.
And it made him feel, strange.
He needed to watch it, but he also knew Hiro had a tendency to talk faster than he could understand at times, not to mention how smart the guy was.
Would he even understand a conversation between Hiro and Queen Leah?
"Can we watch it together?" He asks, rubbing the back of his neck as he bites his lip.
At least then he could ask questions.
David and Nani never made him feel stupid.
Nani nods, "If that's what you want, sure." She smiles as they walk back to the couch, where she sits as David settles with his back between her legs.
He looks around the room, confused about where the tv was.
"Can you hit the lights, brah?"
"Uh, sure?" He nods as he switches the lights off.
Nani smiles as she pats the couch next to her before she pulls out her phone.
He tilts his head to the side before he shrugs and sits next to her, noting her soft smile.
He blinks in surprise as a Tv screen blinks on, floating in the air just above Nani's phone.
"What the f- Phones can do that?"
"Our Ohana's phones can," Nani shrugs as she messes with the screen making the image larger before she sets it on the table across from them.
"Hiro is putting that on my phone to make up for this shit. The pup's and girls' too." He leans forward to run his hand through the image in the air, distorting it for mere seconds before it snaps back as if nothing happened.
"He better do more than that," Nani growls as she glares at the man in question, who was currently leaning against a wall lazily messing with his phone. "to make up for this 'ino akua* bull shit."
"It still hasn't started?" He asks as he sighs in relief.
"Not yet," David sighs, "This is jus' the preliminary stuff."
"They're laying out the terms of the debate and rules the two will have to follow," Nani explains.
"There are rules?" He asks before he rolls his eyes.
It was Auradon; of course there were rules.
Not that he'd ever heard of a debate on the Isle. Those disagreements were settled with fists or swords.
Nani nods, "Mostly to keep the debate from going lolo." She scoffs, "But doubt all the rules in the world can keep that from happening."
David's chuckle gets cut off by a grunt.
"Right." David coughs, "Not funny."
"Brave man." He shakes his head.
Laughing like that within easy slapping range.
"Isn't he just." Nani glares down at her husband.
"Dude, you didn't even try to dodge."
"I didn't think it was gonna come so soon." David grins at him sheepishly, "But, good point." He pushes himself up and walks over to sit on his other side, "She won't hit you." He whispers.
"If she goes for you, though, I have instincts that will get me out of her way." He points out with a grin.
"Good to know." Nani nods her eyes bright with amusement, "Hear that, kãne*." She says sweetly, "Jay knows when to duck."
"Sorry, brah." He whispers from the side of his lips.
"This is gonna suck." David chuckles.
He pats his shoulder, "I feel like that every time T opens his mouth around Mal."
Nani snorts. "So I understand." Her eyes shine with mirth before she grows serious and meets his eyes, "Please don't hesitate to ask us questions, or let us know if we need to shut it off. Or let us know what you need in general. Kai only knows how this is going to go. And that might be a stretch."
He takes several even breaths as he watches her face, noting the worry in her eyes and the serenity in her voice.
He nods as he sinks against the back of the couch, strangely comfortable to be sitting between her and David.
Like he didn't feel the need to watch his back, or at least it wasn't the first thought in his head.
It was there. Somewhere.
The need to check. To look for eyes.
But he felt safer.
It was a weird thing to realize while waiting to see what Hiro was going to do.
Safer.
"Mahalo." She nods before she turns back to the screen, her eyes narrowed at Hiro.
The glare was a startling contrast to the expression she usually had. And so at odds to David's subdued amusement.
He smiles when he compares it to the way Deez could get when talking about things she hated. The girl was so strange on the Isle, but even she could turn a glare as cold as Mal or Evie's when she wanted to.
He turns when David nudges his shoulder, "No matter how this goes, me an' you can have a session with Hiro about this later if ya want, brah."
"And Carlos?" He seriously couldn't imagine telling the pup about this without Hiro standing in the room with them.
He nods, "If you want, I was gonna have a separate one with them, but you're right. Might be best to have it be all four of us."
"Thanks," He nods, "it helps to know that."
David grins.
"-After I talk to him." Nani purses her lips as her glare intensifies.
"I'mma kill him." She growls when Hiro shifts, revealing his whole shirt, the same time a loud snort leaves David.
"There's not really an after if you're planning to kill him," he points out with a grin.
"Baymax'll bring him back." Nani waves off his concern.
"Evie was fixating on his clothes too, I think." He grimaces, "At least that's what that face usually means."
"It's not just- Well," Nani rubs her forehead, "He shouldn't be wearing a damn t-shirt in a political debate-" She growls, "It's the damn kanji written on it."
Kanji?
He leans closer to the floating image.
"That's something people can read?"
It looked like scribbles with smiley faces.
David chuckles, "It's Japanese. Some countries have completely different writing systems."
That made sense.
Nani and David spoke another language.
So did Lili and Hiro.
Even Lonnie occasionally threw Chinese words at him.
If it was spoken, why not also written?
It made him feel so damn small to realize how much he never knew he didn't know.
And he had a feeling it was just the beginning.
He frowns as he sits back, "And you guys can read it?"
"Yeah," David grins. "Want to know what it says?"
Did he? Or was it going to make this worse?
"Can a lot of people read it?" He asks carefully before he shakes his head, "Actually, yeah. What does it say."
It was just better to be prepared.
David grins lazily, "Most royals are brave. Most of them true. But QL's a bigot. Watch me own this newb."
He snorts before he covers his mouth.
No need to put himself on Nani's radar.
"Sorry." He quickly apologies as he turns to her, ready to duck if necessary.
"It's fine." Nani groans. "Fuckin' shit starter." She facepalms, "So help me if he has shirt cannons at a damn debate." She drags her hand down her face, clearly exasperated.
Shirt cannons?
He sighs, settling between the only two adults he trusted as he folds his arms over his chest to watch the images of Hiro and Queen Leah walk to the middle of the stage they were on to face each other.
Why?
Why, oh why, was Hiro grinning like that?
Are you ready for it?
Like really ready for it?
Like really, really ready for it?
You guys were the ones who gave us the idea, and boom.
Excited?
I should seriously be making my comments about this chapter but…
Are you ready for it?
Me and Dark fought hard core in RL over it.
Like, so fucking much.
She's so good at being Leah it's infuriating. Like literally. I was so in Hiro's head space i was hissing and spitting like a pissed off Shrimpy.
*slaps face*
Right.
Love how adorable E was in this chapter. Ever the princess.
And Jay's verbal smackdown? Priceless.
As was everyone's reaction to the 'preliminaries'.
In my far from humble opinion anyways.
Wanna put me in my place?
Cause honestly, go for it.
Ire fuels me.
Fave quote:
"Oh yeah!" She turns with a smile to pat his cheek affectionately, "Ruby paid me to make her a dress." She bounces over to the machine. "Though honestly the girl should've paid me to spell that ridiculous hair, her mom lived in that tower. Why does she need it like that. I can't count the number of times-" She shudders, "I've been absolutely forced to pick up a brush during class. I had to designate one. It's just- Who does that? I've found sticks Jay. Sticks. What type of self respecting princess has branches in their hair?"
-The one and only E
What was yours?
Much love and appreciation,
Waiting on your excitement with much anticipation,
-Twisted