Hey Descendants,
Got another chapter for you today. Just want to start this with a simple reminder... We are writers, we don't always, or even usually agree with what our characters do and say. In this chapter a character uses variations of a certain word. We cringed at writing it, but felt it was the best representation of her character. We do not condon calling anyone this name, or any variation of it. Please don't flame us for writing a character that is represented with all her ignorances and flaws intact.
With that out of the way, please enjoy the chapter :)
Yep, another month goes by...
This was getting ridiculous.
Jay growls in frustration. He'd seen the little shit swing by over ten times this week. So ridiculous! It had been three months since the damn well thing. He was over being worried, and beyond curiosity at this point.
T would show up and stand in the same spot. He'd start pacing. It would go on forever! Then he'd start to head to the hangout (Jay didn't even question how T knew about the hangout at this point) before bitching out. Then came the running in the other direction, as if Maleficent herself had manifested in front of him. It had comical the first few times… But now?
It was just ridiculous.
T was being so… Ridiculous. Dumb! Stupid! Obvious! And Ridiculous.
Jay rolls his shoulders. Well, not this time. Mal was demanding a meeting with T, and this was probably the best situation he could hope for. Before he can talk himself out of it, he slinks around the corner.
"Sup T?" He asks coolly as he corners the other kid. "Been a long time."
T freezes in awkward silence for several beats. "Has it?"
"Oh yeah." Jay grins mischievously. "But I've seen you skirting around here like you're looking for someone… Or are you spying for Uma and her crew now?" He grimaces, that had started off as a taunt, but now that the thought was there… Mal was surely having the same thought too. He didn't need that kind of extra pressure right now.
T frowns. "No. I was just…" He pauses. "I uh… Hyades has just been with you four a lot."
"She is starting to do that again..." Jay nods as he continues to stare at T, waiting for a real answer.
"Well… I did knock her down a well." T blinked, as if that explained everything.
"Uh huh…" After a moment Jay sighs. "You know she's grateful." He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. No, the problem wasn't her going into the well, it was the fact that she couldn't control her fire when she was emotional, and Hyades was just an emotional kind of person.
"Ah." T nods. "I wasn't sure."
Jay shrugs. "Then why are you avoiding us, and hanging out with Uma's gang?"
"It's just her."
"Fine…" Jay rolls his eyes. "Then why are you avoiding her?"
How to answer that question. "I-uh-I." T frowns. "I think I waited too long."
Jay runs a hand down his face in frustration. "What does that mean?"
T tilts his head to the side. "I uh… I shoulda- I kept putting it off, because I thought it would be…" He pauses for a long moment. "Awkward? I guess, So...I just- I dunno, don't."
Jay snorts. "Well yeah, of course it's going to be awkward." He huffs in frustration. "You really think any of us know what we're doing when we talk to Hyades? She's Hyades."
"I… Guess not." T states. "But I still don't want to."
"Then why do you keep coming?"
"Because I want too." T shrugs.
Jay rolls his eyes, "Well then man up and figure out what you actually want. This hovering and pacing thing is getting old."
T bristles, ducking his head to hide the blush. People had seen that? Fuck him.
Jay sighs. "Look. I don't um, I don't really understand our gang…" Wow, was he really about to be this open? Was it because she was actually a girl that disguised herself as a boy? Or the fact everything about the person in front of him was a fucking mystery? Or was it more that he was maybe, jealous? T didn't seem to care what anyone thought...His eyes narrow. Or maybe cared too much and that was why she hid. Actually, maybe not jealous, maybe it was, sadness. He groans inwardly. What the hell was he doing? "We're uh, weird. I know that. But uh, I, I think you might be our kind of weird too."
T tilts his head to the side as he studies the other boy for a moment before a small smile pulls at his lips. "That must have been painful…"
"Shut up!" Jay frowns and turns away, trying to hide the blush creeping up his face. "It ain't like we're taught the nice stuff. That's what Auradon is for. This is the isle, where there are rules and, you know, stuff."
T nods. "Sorry, that wasn't…" He frowns. "Thank you."
Jay nods and wipes at his face with his jacket sleeve. "Great!" He reaches out and takes T by the upper arm. "So we'll just go back to the hangout, because if I have to deal with D being sad about missing out on the chance to talk to you one more fucking day." He rolls his eyes at how true that statement was. Not that T was going to be meeting Hyades today. He was pretty sure she'd mentioned hanging out at the beach.
"Oh." T frowns, falling into step with Jay easily. "I didn't realize… That this was going to bleed into the rest of you…"
"This? This what?" Jay asks as he continues to guide T.
T blinks. "This avoidance thing…"
"Well yeah. She's wanting to meet you or talk to you, so why wouldn't we hear about it?"
T blanches. "Talk? Why?" His feet halting for the briefest of moments before he continues at the slight tug.
"It's Deez." Jay points out with a snort, "She likes stories."
"Not much of a story." T huffs.
"You clearly don't know her at all."
"Correct. We've never met."
"But you stalk her."
"I know she writes a lot, have no idea what she writes besides articles."
Jay's grip tightens as they reach a chain-link enclosed fire escape. "I read some of them. She's kinda good I think." He grabs a rock and hurls it at a sign. "And she writes about a lot of stuff." He grins, letting out a triumphant noise and exaggerated fist pump as his first throw connects, "Girl can fill in blanks to make great stories. Like the fact that we have a shadowy vigilante on the isle." He steps back, tugging T with him, "You think anyone really gave her much to work with?"
T narrows his eyes as he lets out a snort. "Does anyone ever give her much to work with?"
"Nope." Jay chuckles, "I think that's probably why she's gotten good at filling in blanks." For now he was going to leave out the fact that sometimes she was scarily accurate. That was probably too much for T to handle. "Here we go." He grins as he points up the stairs.
T frowns at Jay, "Can we get back to sword lessons if I do this?"
"Sure, after ya get some of this talking outta the way." Jay pulls T along as he ascends the stairs. He felt a little bad for the deception, but he didn't have another way to make this meeting with Mal happen.
T lets out a groan, "Why does everyone wanna talk all the time?"
"Because talking is the only way we know to- Talk?" Jay shrugs, "I mean it sucks, but whatcha gonna do?"
T pouts, "Pace circles around your problem?"
"But then we'd never get back to sword lessons."
T lets out a heavy sigh, "Fair."
Jay pauses outside the door, "So… Look, I'm not sure if D is here right now, but Mal has been insisting that she get to meet you." Before T can respond, Jay opens the door and walks in, still guiding T, "Hey guys, Sup? I bought a newb I think ya'll know."
T blinks as he suddenly finds himself in the brightly lit hideout, with bright paintings on the wall along with the scent of fresh paint.
The sounds of a spray can echo to a stop. Was it just Mal here today? Jay gulps, maybe not the best way to formally introduce T.
T turns to look at Jay with a raised brow and eyes narrowed with disapproval.
"Jay, that was quite the introduction for a washed up street rat." Mal greets with a sneer as she walks into view, purple can of paint still in one hand.
T swallows, as he steps away from Jay. "Mal, I see your presence precedes you." He responds carefully.
"I've heard alot about you too Mr. Hero." Mal rolls her eyes, "You wanted my attention," She straightens up and tosses the rattling can away, "Well you got it."
"Um," T hesitantly raises his hand, "Didn't want your attention."
"Bull-fucking-shit you didn't." Mal rolls her eyes and leans back against the wall in a lazy challenge, "You targeted my fucking crew."
"Whoa now." Jay gestures with his open hands for everyone to slow down, "I don't think that's really what happened Mal."
"No, that's what I did." T corrects Jay, with a shrug.
Jay glares at T before turning back to Mal with a fake grin and chuckle. "You are so not helping." He whispers from the corner of his mouth.
"So you expected me to ignore you?" Mal scoffs, as she shoots Jay a glare. "After you specifically targeted my crew."
"Well, kinda yeah, that was the hope…" T agrees easily.
"You know, he follows D and even checks in on Gil and the Wha-stuff." Jay drags his hand down his face, Maybe shouldn't have mentioned the wharf rats.
Mal's nostrils flare as her eyes brighten to their magnificent green, "I know a rat when I smell a rat, Jay. If this shit ain't vyin' for my attention-"
"Or Uma's." T rolls his eyes.
Mal sneers as she drops her chin to stare up at T, the look threatening even from across the room. "Excuse me, did it sound like I was fucking talking to you?"
"No it sounded like you were talking at me actually, thank you for asking." T retorts dryly as he leans against the wall, arms crossed in a near perfect mirror or Mal.
Mal blinks as she stares at T in complete disbelief. "Are you fucking serious right now?"
"Are you?" T quips back seemingly unphased.
Mal barks out a dry, surprised laugh, "Wow." She turns quizzical eyes on Jay, "Where did you find this one again?"
Jay lets out a deep sigh, "We met when I caught his shadow outta the corner of my eye." He shrugs, "He was following E and D once while they were shopping or something." Not that he hadn't already told her the entire story. Mal loved to make points though.
Mal's eyes narrow as she turns back to T, "So why were you following them?"
"The same reason I've followed you and Jay."
"What?" Mal snarls, "When?"
Jay shrugs. At this point he was just hoping his meeting with Harry didn't get brought up.
T studies Mal for a moment before he shrugs, "Once a month you go down to the go-"
"I can leave if ya want Mal." Jay quickly interrupts, "This sounds like I don't need to know unless you want to tell me kind of stuff."
Mal narrows her eyes, "How the fuck did you find out about that?" She demands as she steps forward.
"Soooo… Leaving?" Jay asks again, his voicing rising in pitch from sheer desperation. T knew a lot of things about him that he didn't want anyone else knowing, he could only imagine what things Mal wouldn't want anyone else to know.
"Don't you fuckin' dare." Mal snarls at Jay, before she grabs two handfuls of T's shirt collar,"And don't you dare say another word about it." She growls in T's face, her own red from her blush."
"So do you want to know how, or want me to not say another word about it?" T asks deadpan.
"How?!" Mal spits out between her teeth.
T shrugs, "You've been doin' it for years, not sure how long, but definitely back before you hung with Evie." He blinks, completely unphased by her anger.
Mal's eyes widen as she lets go of T, and steps back with her mouth open in a perfect 'O'.
"So yeah… T's good at getting information." Jay states the obvious, feeling uncomfortable with how long the silence was dragging out.
"That's not what I would call it." Mal snaps.
"I would call it black mail." T and Mal say at the same time, as T lets out a heavy sigh and rolls his eyes.
"You can only really call it blackmail if he's trying to sell you his silence." Jay shrugs, "Which he's never done to me."
Mal's eyes narrow as she looks at the boy with a mixture of distrust and disdain. "Then what the fuck is the point of gathering it?"
T shrugs, "You paint. Jay works out. Evie Sews. Carlos fixes shit. D writes. I observe people."
Mal lets out a sigh, "That's not a fucking hobby, that's a job."
"And he's good at it." Jay reinerates.
"Too fuckin' good at it." Mal growls as she pins T to the wall again. "So again, I ask what is this little fucking freak getting out of it?"
It takes Jay nearly every ounce of self preservation not to laugh at Mal's word choice. Mal was small. She knew how small she was. Yet somehow she still managed to strike an imposing figure even when nearly everyone else towered over her. Sometimes he even secretly wondered if that was the real reason she let Hyades stick around, so at least one person was shorter than her. But, watching her deal with T right now… His sides hurt. It almost looked like T was hunching over in order to give Mal better access to his throat. He wasn't sure when it had happened, but he and T were nearly the same height. T was lanky, but that only added to his entertainment as he watched the two stand off.
"Sheer amusement, I assure you." T deadpans.
"What the fuck does that mean?" Mal demands with another growl.
"It means I observe people for my own interests, no one else's." T clarifies monotonously.
"But why?" Mal asks in frustration as she stomps her foot.
T rolls his eyes, "Because the interactions of others interests me." He shrugs.
"But why do they interest you, you gods damn shit for brains fucktard?" Mal all but bellows in T's ear out of frustration.
"I don't know what you want me to say."
"I'm saying I want the name of the fucking villain that owns you. Who the fuck are you working for? What the fuck are they giving you? And what the fuck is wrong with you for not getting that you fucking tard?!"
"How the fuck am I supposed to know that? No one is giving me anything. I don't work for no one, and like fuck anyone owns me." T answers monotoned. "What's so hard to understand about that?"
"ALL OF IT!" Mal snaps back as she puts all her weight into the pressure on this kids throat. "I want the fucking truth!"
"Mal!" Jay jumps forward, putting one hand over hers, "I really think he's just, ya know, kinda like D. No one owns her either."
Mal snarls as she glares at T. "Fucking stay. Or you'll regret it." She drops her hands from his throat and turns to Jay, pulling him off to the side of the room.
"I think he works for my mother." Mal hisses out the minute she is sure they are a good enough distance away from T.
Jay crosses his arms in front of his chest. "Really Mal? If you're mother knew about, whatever it is that you didn't want T to finish saying, do you really think she wouldn't have done something malicious to stop it by now?"
Mal thinks for a moment, "Tch, with mother I can't ever be sure. She could be playing the long game. I don't like it, and I don't like him."
"We all know there's only one villain known for his long games." Jay sighs, "And I know you don't like it, but T's useful. And I'm teaching him the sword, so I also know he's tough."
Mal's eyes narrow suspiciously, "Like I have much of a choice with the amount of blackmail he has. Assuming he's not working for my mother, that means he could go to her or any of our parents with shit he has on us at anytime- And what the fuck is stopping him? I don't like it. I don't like how calm he is about this whole thing. He should be terrified." She points to herself. "I am terrifying."
"But that's the thing, I do like how calm he can be in bad situations. It means he doesn't do shit to get himself killed…" Jay lets that sink in for a second, "Or the people he's with."
"What do we have on him?" Mal asks with a frown.
"Absolutely nothing." Jay states firmly, excusing himself the one little exception. But really, how was the fact T was a girl something that they could 'have on him', "Think about it though, that means no one else does either. So we don't have to worry about people getting to him to get to us."
Mal narrows her eyes in thought. "Jay step outside."
"Are ya sure? I can stay, I mean ya really didn't want me to leave-"
"Are you questioning a direct order?" Mal demands with a raised brow.
"Nope. Gone." Jay looks over her shoulder at T, waves once, and slips out the door without a sound.
"T!" Mal snarls as she turns her attention back to T.
"Sup?" T turns from one of her murals before lazily walking over to her.
Mal's eye twitches at the time it takes for T to heed the order, as she studies the taller boy. "Jay's vouching pretty hard core for you man…" She comments suspiciously. "He hasn't done that since discovering the pup." She sighs as she walks around T. "See the problem is I don't know enough about you to trust you, and you know too much about me to let you leave here."
T blinks, "That sounds like a shitty place for you to be."
Mal lets out another dry bark of laughter, "Most people would understand it's worse for them to be a risk to me and mine."
T lifts his brow, "Risk?"
"You know too much damn information," Mal growls in frustration, "You fuck twat."
"I don't think I know enough information… Like for instance, I have no idea what's going on between the two of us right now… But I've a feeling it's gonna end in violence."
"Was that a fuckin' threat?"
"What? No?" T tilts his head to the side, "I just assumed that's where this was heading…"
"And this is your reaction to that situation?"
"Well, we haven't arrived there yet."
"And if we did resort to violence for information?"
"Then you'd probably be shit out of luck."
Mal blinks, "Excuse me, what?"
"If you plan on beating me, or stabbing me, or-" His eyes lighten mischievously, "setting me on fire… Chances are I'll die before you get your satisfaction…"
"What. The. Actual. Fuck." Mal deadpans as her eyes continue to stare into T's bright green eyes. The color wasn't an exact match to hers or her mothers, but close. It was a strange detail to pick up on right then, but it was as if her brain refused to process the sheer amount of stupid this kid was trying to sell.
T shrugs, "Wanna test it?" He asks as he pulls out a dagger from his pocket and hands it to her hilt first. His eyes bright with challenge.
Mal slowly tilts her head to the side as she examines T, "You're fucking crazy."
T shrugs, "Probably." He grins at her.
"So what, are you trying to prove loyalty or something fucked up?" Mal asks as she snatches the dagger from T.
"I'm just trying to speed this up. You said I couldn't leave, I'm offering an out for both of us. You do your worst, I say nothing, we're square. I keep doing what I do, and you do you..."
"How does that prove or help anything?"
"Helps me leave. It's a simple solution to a complicated problem."
Mal stares at the dagger in her hand, "But you'll still know what you know. And I still won't know anything about you."
"And you'll know that information is mine, and mine alone. I earned it, I'm not just going to go and tell everyone how your moonlight trips down to the goblin homes really go. Or anything else I've learned through the years, that would make me a piece of shit. You want information about me? Well fact number one, I'd rather be stabbed than talk about anything I gathered. Even less inclined to talk about me, it's boring and I've better shit to do."
"Fair-ish…" Mal shrugs before she grips the dagger in a reverse hold and slices T acoss his midsection. "I don't stab unless I'm aiming to kill. So deal with a cut."
T's eyes widen at the sudden slash, "Appreciated." He nods as the blade bites into his skin.
"That wasn't anywhere near satisfying." Mal complains as she drops the dagger to the ground.
"Wouldn't imagine it would be… Want me to kneel and you can punch me in the face?" T blinks innocently.
"Just so you understand I'll be perfectly clear this time." Mal clears her throat, "You can hang out, be part of the group on a trial basis. But I will find out everything about you. One way or another."
T blinks, "Oh I don't actually want to join, but thanks for the permission to chill." T bends over to pick up his dagger, before he pockets it and turns back to Mal. "I look forward to the challenge Mal." He says dismissively, "Was a pleasure talking to you."
"I'm sure it was." Mal continues to glare.
"I'll send Jay back in on my way out." T offers, as he walks past Mal like their interaction hadn't just occured.
Jay walks in a few minutes later. "Really Mal? Blood?"
"I want to fucking know everything about that fucking freak Jay." Mal licks her teeth. "Fucking little psycho…" She clicks her teeth as she shakes her head.
Jay cringes, "I'll take it everything went well then."
Mal turns on her heels and gives Jay the nastiest death glare. "This kid needs to be under constant surveillance. Good job keeping him close. You know how much I despise unknown variables and that kid's a few bolts short."
"Yep…" Jay rolls his eyes as he drags a hand down his face, "I knew you two would hit it off."
"That kid is a fucking retard Jay, and I can't figure out if that's good or bad for us yet."
Hi again,
So what did you guys think about Mal and T's first meeting? Did it go the way you guys were expecting? Did you guys like our version of Mal? It took us a while to nail out what her personality would be like on our isle. Let us know what you think.
Don't forget to leave us your thoughts or some encouragement. We got a lot of writing done yesterday, so I'll be posting another chapter tomorrow!
Much appreciation and love!
