Hey Descendants,
I'm so sorry! Twisted and I actually got to write today, so I forgot to post the updated chapter.
Lots of Love and Apologies,
-Dark-
Huh. That had not been what he expected. Like at all. But not in a bad way. Just in a way that didn't have him dragging her up the stairs kicking and screaming so she'd join them in the cabin.
He just couldn't bring himself to do it. He glances back down the stairs with a curious frown before he sighs and heads back to the cabin.
If nothing else he finally knew what everyone else had been hiding from him now. So, all that was left was talking to his Captain and First Mate about how this was setting a shitty example for their new family members. Secrets were the reason T ended up in such a bad way in the first place. He runs a hand through his hair.
He steps back into the cabin. "We need to talk." He interrupts as he walks over to sit at the table next to where Harry was brushing Deez's hair, and Uma was watching deep in thought.
Harry furrows his brow as the brush slows.
Uma shakes her head, as she looks over at him. "I know," She sighs, "I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner but-"
"But nothing Uma." Gil frowns as he crosses his arms. "I thought we weren't going to keep secrets anymore. Especially T's." He frowns. "Look where that got us last time? There's no way any of us have forgotten that. We can't be mad at Deez and T for keeping stuff from us if we're keeping stuff from each other. It's setting a bad example." He looks between Uma and Harry in disapproval.
Good. They should look away. It wasn't often he called them out. Almost never. He trusted and respected the two of them, so he rarely found the need to correct them. This time, however? This wasn't cool.
Deez frowns as her eyes drop to her lap.
Uma turns back to him first, "Gil," She runs a hand over her braids.
Gil lifts his brow at her pause. "Waiting."
"You're right." She sighs. "We should've told you sooner. That wasn't fair, and you're right, it's not the best way to show our new family members how to act. Sorry."
Harry sighs, "We both be mate." He shakes his head. "We did'nah be knowin' how ya be ah takin' it."
His eyes narrow. "I might not have taken it the best, but that still doesn't make it right that you two thought it was okay to not tell me..." He wanted to say it didn't change things, he really did. But now that he knew just what T had been protecting all these years, he couldn't help but feel protective too. He wasn't thrilled about the thought of T going off ship alone anymore, but to be fair, he had felt that way since before this morning. "Family doesn't keep secrets. At least this one doesn't."
"I agree." Uma nods slowly, "There's no excuse for what we did, all I can say is I'll do better. I should have at least said I needed to tell you something, but didn't know how."
Gil nods in approval as he feels some of his tension seep from him. "This is going to be hard enough for-" He glances at Deez. He wasn't sure she'd had lied to him about anything in years. At least nothing more than absently saying she was okay when she wasn't. "T to learn to trust us like we want him too, with us keeping stuff from each other. And Faustina just tried to lie to me too." He rubs the back of his neck, "Poorly," He fights a smile. He'd have given up his anvil for the rest of their family to have seen her trying to pretend to be T. "but still, the attempt was there."
Uma's eye twitches as the corner of her lips curl into a small smile, "Yeah, I'm sure it was poorly." She sighs, "Usually she's very forthcoming when directed."
"She slammed the door in my face, and then tried to pretend to be T when she opened it again." He frowns. Because she knew they were keeping her a secret from him. His brow furrows. That couldn't have been a good feeling for her, could it? Hadn't she been hidden away long enough? Had they even thought about how that might make her feel? It was one thing to hide something like that from the crew, but from the rest of her supposed family? It had to hurt her on some level, that or even worse, she was just so used to it she thought it was okay.
Harry snorts before he holds a hand up, "I wish I could be ah seein' that." The smile slowly slips from his lips before he shakes his head and starts slowly pulling the brush through Deez's hair again. "But uh, on the subject of admittin' things and not keepin' secrets-" He trails off with a sigh.
From the corner of his eye he sees Uma lift an eyebrow. Good. This is exactly what he wanted. Open communication. It was better to all be on the same page than for some of them to be a chapter or two behind. How else were they supposed to help each other?
"When me an' T be ah goin' off ship, we be ah splittin' once we be ah finishin' up my business." Harry admits heavily, "I were hopin' it be helpin' him feel like he still be ah havin' the freedom he be ah wantin' while he be adjustin'."
He nods, that made sense. T always had the freedom to come and go. To expect him to stick in one place for too long, or to stay where he was told? That was going to take months of work. Maybe even years.
"And it be workin'-"
"Was it working?" Uma tilts her head to the side, "Because I'm thinking that was when T got away with making deals with Senior."
Deez sighs, but doesn't look up.
"He made more deals?" He can't help his groan. Why? Hadn't he learned anything from his last dealing with an OV? Not that he should be surprised. Senior seemed too curious about T for his liking after he'd had time to think over the whole incident. It was weird for him to take an interest in any of them. His eyes had always been solely on his daughter. Which bothered him of course, but at least he knew Deez wouldn't be killed by him.
"You have every right to be upset Deez." Uma bites her lip before she reaches over and rubs her arm, "At least one deal involves you."
That wasn't what that sigh had meant. Deez sounded more exasperated and resigned than upset. He was though. What type of deal had T made with the god involving Deez? And at least one? That was even more alarming.
"I'm- I'm not upset." Deez slowly explains as he watches her fingers wrap in the heavy material of her hoodie hem, "It made something make sense. I'm guessing he made a deal to work with me on my abilities or something."
"Aye, that he be ah doin'." Harry looks down at her, "Ya be connectin' dots ya wanna be ah sharin' with us?"
Deez sighs, "T and I are working on something," Somehow she makes herself look even smaller, "but I'm not ready to talk about it yet."
"Is it dangerous?" He can't help himself. T was all over the place right now. What would he be willing to drag Deez into?
"It was my idea. I just thought it was a little weird that he didn't even ask why." She bites her lip as she looks up at him, "And I trust T, but to answer your question fully-" her eyes harden, "I don't think it's dangerous, but you probably wouldn't agree with me."
He studies her for a moment before he looks at the other two. "Look what you guys did." He pouts.
"I won't lie to you," Deez reaches out to rest a hand on his thigh, "but I also don't want to talk about it yet."
Uma stops drumming her fingers on the table. "Can you just answer one question? And then we'll drop it."
Deez nods as she turns to watch Uma.
"Does it have to do with your fear of water?"
"Yes." Deez drops her eyes.
Gil sighs. Uma's word was law when she used that tone. "But you'll talk about it when you're ready?"
"I promise."
He sighs but nods his head before he frowns. As loathe as he was to admit it, helping Deez out with her abilities or powers was something T always did, "So, what exactly did T get for that one?"
Uma blinks, "Oh, I- I didn't think to ask that."
That checked out. He sighs. She was probably too pissed he made the deals in the first place to ask what he'd be getting out of them- If he got anything out of them. More than just surviving Senior's presence anyways.
"He's always helped me with my abilities anyway, so I'm glad he's getting something for it."
"Yeah but," Uma starts with a sigh before Deez interrupts.
"He's going to bring me to my father to work with the cuffs?"
He sits up as his eyes sweep over all three of their faces. So she wasn't wrong. He closes his eyes, counting back from ten. Okay. So. He takes a deep breath, struggling to look at it from a rational perspective. If there was one thing he knew without a doubt about T, it was that he would never put any of their lives above his.
So, there had to be a reason he'd agreed to do something so- He shakes his head. For as long as he'd known Deez, her father had come and claimed her on a whim. But then Deez had told him she'd made a deal to return to him of her own free will. And now this? He lets out a long-suffering sigh. Alright. It didn't surprise him that Senior had found loopholes for days. And this wasn't all bad. At least they'd have warning now. There was no way T would take Deez to him without plausible chances of her actually being able to take off the cuffs. He'd stake all his trust on T about that. And even after all that happened, he'd still trust T with all their lives.
"Aye," Harry answers, finally breaking the silence.
"I promised Gil he could come with me, but-" Deez looks up at him, her blue eyes shimmering with worry.
He reaches over and runs a hand over her silky hair. He wasn't thrilled. At all. About any of it. But- "As long as you're going with one of us…" He swallows a groan. "And T's one of us, so I guess no worries on that promise. It's not like T knew we already had that arrangement."
Though he doubted that would have stopped him anyway. Still, it made it easier to swallow this way. "And I know he at least won't bring you until he thinks you can make a dent in them." He takes a deep breath and lets it out. If he were being honest with himself he probably would've ended up doing something stupid if he went anyways. T could at least restrain himself when it came to the god.
Deez bites her lip, slowly nodding before he catches her as she leaps into his lap. She frowns up at him.
"If you want I can still come with the two of you? But, if T made the deal, it might be better if it's just the two of you..."
"I just didn't want to break a promise." She admits before she wraps her arms around his neck.
He smiles as he places a gentle kiss to the center of her forehead. "No promises broken." He assures her. He looks up, "No one made T promise not to make any more deals with OV's did they?"
Uma closes her eyes, "Last time I make that mistake. I, myself, thought it was a pretty obvious lesson learned."
"Kid be too damned curious." Harry mutters under his breath as he sinks into Deez's vacated chair, propping his head up on his hand, "Are we gonna be tryin' ta get the promise from him? I feel like we just be ah settin' ourselves up for ah mite more disappointment if we be ah doin' that."
Gil hangs his head. "Could we at least ask what he was thinking when he did it?"
Deez shivers against him, "I don't think you guys really want that answer."
Uma lifts a brow, "Why's that Baby Girl?"
She sighs before she shifts in his lap to look at Uma, "Because I know you want him to have put a lot of thought into it, weighed the pros and cons, something. Anything. But he didn't. He probably just wanted to know what my father wanted."
Gil snorts. That checked out.
"Ugh." Uma drops her head. "Great."
"Ya gotta be ah kiddin' me. T be ah smarter than that." Harry frowns as he studies her with brow furrowed.
"T is smart." Deez quickly assures them, "He's just-" Her eyes narrow thoughtfully, "He just-"
"Wants to know." Gil finishes. "That's how he's always been. And with Senior showing up like he did- T would probably want to know pretty badly."
Deez nods as she leans back against him.
Uma slowly drags a hand down her face. "Still sounds like I'mma have ta have a conversation with him." She groans before she turns to Deez, "And you're not upset, even a little, that he made a deal involving you without asking?"
"When was he going to ask?" Deez shrugs.
"He didn't even ask her when he made the deal with Maleficent." He points out. At the howler, both Deez and Mal had both been upset about it. "Not like the three of us were complaining about it then."
Uma drops her eyes to the table, obviously still feeling guilty over that entire situation.
"You said deals multiple?" He prompts, wanting to get her mind away from darker thoughts.
"He also be agreein' ta be Senior' entertainment," Harry explains.
Deez snorts before her eyes narrow, "Sounds like my father was handing out freebies."
"What?" He looks down at her in confusion. "Why?"
"We're all his entertainment." She ticks against one finger, "He knew T was helping me with my abilities." She ticks a second finger, "We talked about it before the howler. And I had already made a deal with him to go back to the temple occasionally to try the cuffs," She ticks a third finger, "so making a deal with T to go with me? What could my father get out of that?" She frowns as she drops her hands to her lap.
"Huh." Uma frowns. "I didn't think about it like that. Or know that you talked to him about T helping you."
"Unless it was more specific entertainment T agreed to give him." He hugs Deez closer. "It doesn't sound like we have a lot of details." He frowns. "Maybe if you drop the ship arrest he'd be more willing to share the details. He's still getting used to this Uma. It was one thing to throw him in the water, another to expect him to tread this. It took Deez years to see things our way. I mean, maybe not drop the having to sleep in here with us bit… He's pretty bad at remembering to take care of himself."
"And I still struggle," Deez admits softly.
Uma grits her teeth, her jaw sticking out starkly as she clenches it, "I guess I could offer it and see what he does."
Harry claps his hands together as he stands and moves to hover over Uma, "Be ah soundin' like ah plan ta me." He runs his hands over Uma's shoulders, "But I be ah thinkin' that be enough serious for tonight. If Gil be feelin' it," He walks over to him and slowly starts kneading his back muscles, "I propose we be ah havin' some quality family time, ta be ah makin' up. Aye Sweet Boy?"
"That sounds good to me." Gil grins up at him.
"So, everyone's okay now?" Deez looks around the room.
Uma stands up, nodding as she holds a hand out, "Yes Baby Girl. It sounds like we're all on the same page again."
Deez smiles as she takes Uma's hand before she looks back at him, as if seeking his confirmation.
With a smile he claims her lips, standing with her in his arms before he moves to the bed, dragging Uma along with them.
"Finally!" Harry cheers before he quickly loses his jacket, tossing it over the back of a chair before he jumps into the bed.
T frowns as he stands outside the door before he cracks his neck and slips into the cabin.
Faustina finished what she'd been working on. He was going to be trying it later, after he was done with this whole ship arrest thing. He had no idea what the effects were actually going to be and didn't want to worry the others with it.
He sighs, pausing in his steps when he notices the nude bodies twisted in the sheets.
Huh. So Deez had joined that then? He shudders at the thought. Had Uma really expected him to stay in the room during that? He didn't even want to be in the room now. But as obnoxious as this decree was- He could get where she was coming from. He'd fucked up. He knew that.
He grabs a workbook off the table before he jumps in the hammock.
"Finally came back huh?" Uma's voice startles him about halfway through the second page.
"Faustina dipped." T shrugs not looking up from the book. "Sorry I was such a douche yesterday morning. It wasn't cool." It was one thing to do it to Harry, the other boy never seemed to care in the slightest, but Uma? Even he knew that was crossing a line.
Uma walks past him to lean against the table and face him. He could feel her gaze on him.
"Sup?" He closes the book and looks up.
"I was-" Uma runs her tongue over her lips, "Thanks. I get you're not a morning person, so I appreciate the apology."
He sighs. "'preciated."
Uma sighs as she folds her arms across her chest, "So, I have an offer for you. To break the ship bound decree, if you're interested."
T tilts his head to the side. "Seriously?" He twists so his legs are dangling off the hammock, "Sup?" She said offer, but this was going to be a deal.
"Yeah-" She looks down at her bare feet before she sighs, "I know you need a certain amount of freedom to come and go as you please. I know you're not comfortable without it. And it's not fair to force you to immediately conform to our standards."
She was being dead ass. He could see that at least. The seriousness and resignation were written all over her face. Still, he was surprised. "I know I fucked up," He shrugs, "But thank you for getting that." his hand grips his arm. "I would really like that, it would make both of our lives a lot easier."
"We're all working on things lately," Uma says, almost like she was admitting it.
"I mean, it's the goal." He frowns, "I really wanted to start on you guys picking locks today…"
"I agree." Uma immediately nods, "That sounds like something we should work on almost every day."
So he'd be here. "I still have shit to do, but I'd come back for that."
"I haven't agreed to you not being bound to the ship yet."
"We both know I'm going to agree to whatever you want if it means off."
Uma narrows her eyes, "So when you say you have shit to do-" she rolls her wrist, indicating for him to continue.
"A couple of things. Like making sure the Goblins know what to do. And telling Senior what I'm going to be doing so he knows where to look for his entertainment that day, I mean if I remember or have time. Messin' with the core four's OVs. Collecting metals and other shit for the cove and ship. Checking up on Freddie, Cecelia, Dizzy, and the urchins I check in on. Gathering more herbs. Getting more black powder. Getting the shit to make another mold so Gil can actually get a hammer instead of a sword, and a smaller one for lock picking sets- Cause lets be honest he's going to break several sets and we only have so many, and I'm sure I'm forgettin' some shit, but that's the pretty much the gist…"
Uma's eye twitches before she nods, "See, I don't understand why it's so hard for you to just tell me what your plans are." She rolls her eyes as she braces her arms on the table behind her, "It was like I was torturing you the other day."
He frowns, "I'd just gotten back- I didn't want a lecture. I wanted sleep. And to hear the consequences, so we could move on with our lives."
Uma lifts an eyebrow, "And how far did fighting me get you?"
"Not very."
"So, can we call this a lesson learned on both sides?"
"I mean, I'd love that to be the case." He was going to fuck up again. But he was going to try his best not too.
"I would too." Uma hesitantly admits, "I'm not an idiot. I'm a leader. And as a leader, I need you to trust me. That means sometimes you have to tell me what you're doing, even if you don't want help." She sighs, "And honestly T, I get it. I get wanting to prove yourself. What the fuck do you think this ship represents?"
He winces as he looks away squeezing his bicep harder. "Safety."
"Yeah. But I had to earn this place. I had to prove to fucking Captain Hook that I was a capable leader. And even when I won he still tried to give her to another." Her eyes harden before she closes them and sweeps a hand in front of her, "Not the point," She pushes away from the table before resting her fists on her hips, "I get wanting to prove yourself. We all do it. But now that you're part of a family, you have to let me know where you are when you're not here. Not because you can't handle shit, but because things can go wrong."
T frowns, swinging one leg absently to rock the hammock before pulling the other up to his chest to wrap his free arm around. She wasn't wrong. But when was she? It wasn't like he hadn't fucked up before. He'd have to earn their trust back. His trust of himself back. "Heard. I will do my best Uma"
"I know." Uma's eyes soften, "If nothing else T, I trust that you don't do this on purpose."
"Thank you." He keeps his eyes on the floor. That meant a lot to him. And he knew she wouldn't say it unless she meant it.
He really didn't mean to piss her off. He just got so focused on tasks at hand he sometimes dropped other things. Sometimes for days. It was kind of embarrassing. He turns back to her "So… That deal?"
"Tell me more about the deals you have with Senior, and promise you'll be more detailed oriented in the future when you tell me things, and I'll drop the banishment to the ship, conditionally."
T takes a deep breath as he glances over at the bed where the others were still sleeping. "Can we do this in my room? You can tell the others later, but, if you yell I don't want D runnin'..."
Uma sighs before she turns on her heels for the door, "I thought I was doing a good job so far, just so we're on the same page."
"You are. I just-" He glances at the bed again, "Would rather you explain it to them later, while I'm out…" He slides off the hammock.
"Might be for the best," Uma admits as she glances over her shoulder, past him to the bed.
And he could wear his hood if they were in his room.
Oooh, Gil verbally spanked the shit outta Uma and Harry. Did any of you guess he had it in him? Or did this take you off guard?
Oh Uma, thinking T found something obvious when it comes to his own safety. Silly Captain. None of you seemed that surprised. Was it weird she was?
At least Baby Girl knows better. Though this time I don't think it has anything to do with dots, so much as understanding and knowing how T operates. There's a reason D so rarely can connect dots with what T is usually planning. Fuck it surprises us half the time, and we fucking write this bitch, lol.
I know that we all have concerns that are going to take a turn for the worst when it comes to T's deals, which let's be honest, probably. But any thoughts as to what SR's motives are? What he hopes to be getting out of these deals?
After all, Baby Girl usually makes some great points, and we both find it important to emphasize her thoughts on the deals T has made with Senior.
So, what do you think about Deez's thoughts on that whole shit show?
What do you think of Gil's point? The fact that T is still working to get used to their rules, and adapting to their way of life?
Do you think they're expecting too much from T? Or just enough and he's just being a DB?
Also, side note; There is nothing Dark hates more in this book than T's fucking hood. It is literally the bane to her writing existence. She probably hates it more than the whole Sea Family, and Core Four combined. (*Dark rolls her eyes* I really, really do. Description ruining, stupid damn hood.)
LoLz. Too bad, so sad.
We'd really love to hear your thoughts!
Much love and appreciation
-Twisted
Covid Corner
I'm trying to get a gig at a hospital cause I'm an ass hole with good intentions. Wish me luck, I'mma need it!
-Twisted-