- Remember the Mal you had all the way back in chapter 3? Well, you're getting her again. Let me know which Mal you like better: normal Mal or Dragon Mal... not that they always coexist separately or that your opinion will change the story at all. I'd just like to know. Personally, I really like Dragon Mal.

Dragon Mal

(Day 35: Saturday Night)

"What the hell?" Mal yells, as she runs her fingers under the running water.

Evie rushes to the doorway, "What is it?"

Mal huffs in disbelief, "The water isn't hot."

"It's not?" Evie questions as she walks over and kneels down to test the water's temperature herself. "Well… it's not scalding hot, but it's still kind of warm."

"Kind of warm," Mal laughs. "Kind of warm isn't going to cut it."

"Well. Maybe if you don't have the cold water on—"

"I don't have the cold water on," Mal interrupts with fury, before she shakes her head and shuts the facet off entirely. "I swear. Whoever did this—"

"Mal," Evie rushes after her. "It's not like whoever did this did it on purpose."

"No," Mal evenly responds, "but they're still going to pay for it."

"With what?" Evie half-laughs. "Their life?"

"Depends on how well they can handle me," Mal surmises as she opens the door to the hallway, but only one girl is seen. "Hey. Lonnie."

Evie watches Mal's eyes transfix on her like some kind of prey, and she whispers, "Oh, no." to herself before going after her.

"Hey," Lonnie smiles. "How's your night going?"

"It would be going better if you can tell me who took my hot water."

"What?" Lonnie's smile falters in confusion.

"My hot water," Mal steps forward. "Do you know where it went?"

"Um," Lonnie tenses as she leans back towards the wall.

Evie tries to pull back Mal's shoulder so that she'd face her, but she isn't strong enough, "Come on, M. She doesn't know anything."

"No. I think she does," Mal suspects before glowing her eyes at her. "Who took all of my hot water? Tell me."

"Audrey."

"Tell me where I can find her."

"In the cafeteria," Lonnie answers.

Mal's eyes return to normal and she strides down the hallway, while Evie attempts to smile at Lonnie, "I am so sorry." before running after her. "What are you going to do to her?"

"Well," Mal walks down the stairs, "she took my heat source, so I think it's only fair that I take it back from her."

"Are you even hearing yourself?" Evie maddens. "Once water is used it's used." She tries to step out in front of her, but Mal is too fast for her, "You're not going to get it back."

"Then I guess I'm just going to have to take it from her directly."

Evie glances around, noticing the sudden increase in people, before she whispers behind Mal, "You're not thinking straight. Just come back upstairs with me. Please!"

"No." Mal continues forward, "I'm getting back what she stole from me." before they find themselves walking through the open cafeteria doors. Evie looks around the large room and notices several stations of what appears to be people getting manicures and their nails painted, and even some of the tourney players seem to be participating; however, she looks away from the scene when she hears Audrey.

Mal ignores her smile, "You're the one that took the hot water."

"Excuse me?" Audrey sasses.

Mal pushes her up against the wall, "You took my hot water."

"Get off of me," she squirms. "You're freezing."

"And you're warm," Mal counters as she lifts up Audrey's quarter sleeves and wraps her hands over her skin.

"Mal," Evie intervenes. "Don't do this."

She glares at her, "She took my heat source."

"I realize that," Evie anxiously replies, "but just think about this for a second. Do you really want to do this?"

She smirks, "Yes." as Audrey continues to try to push Mal's arms to get her off.

"Of course you do," Evie breathes.

When Mal glows her eyes Audrey fearfully asks, "What did I ever do to you?"

"You took my hot water."

"Okay. You know, look," Audrey laughs. "I'm sorry. Okay. I'm sorry."

"No, you're not," Mal eyes her over. "But you will be."

"Mal," the fairy godmother makes herself known. "This is complete and utterly unacceptable behavior."

When Mal looks over her shoulder and spots the headmistress her eyes glow brighter, "Silence!" She returns her sight to the girl, who still struggles to get free. "Don't fight it." She stops, and her arms slowly return to their resting position. "Stay still."

"Mal," Evie worries. "Please, don't do this." Mal inches closer to Audrey. "You don't need her. You have me." She pulls on her shoulder, "So, let's just get you back to our room, and we can get you all nice and warm. Okay?" She doesn't respond, only moving her hands to another section of the girl's arms as she moves in an inch more.

"Mal!"

Mal looks to her right and lets go of Audrey at the sight of the hotter heat signature, "Ben?" and as she moves towards him her eyes return to normal.

Evie uneasily smiles, "Nice timing." as she walks over to the two of them.

Mal hugs him, resting her head on his chest, "You're so warm."

He holds onto her shoulders and moves her away from him, "Mal. Why were you attacking Audrey? What's going on here?" Instead of answering, Mal merely smiles as she takes his hands from her shoulders and walks towards him, moving into that embrace again. Ben looks at Evie in question; however, Evie does nothing more than watch Mal, and not a moment later does he feel the side of his turtleneck lift and the cold hand hold his hip. Immediately, his eyes widen as he grabs her arm, "Really?" before he grabs the other and holds them together in front of her. "You're doing that now? Here?" He shakes his head, "What's wrong with you?"

"There's nothing wrong with her," Evie defends, equally as loud, and then Ben looks at her. "She's just part dragon. She can't generate her own body heat."

He looks down at Mal, "Is that true?"

She grins, "Who needs body heat when I have you?" but she frowns and her eyebrows furrow when she's unable to break free. "You're strong."

"Oh! Sorry," Ben lets go and watches as she rubs her arms. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Mal smiles again, "I'm fine." before she moves in closer and places a hand to his face.

"Okay. Look." He takes the hand away, "I understand that I'm your boyfriend and everything, but please don't use me like that." He watches her remain quiet as he comes up with a solution, "Does the sun work? Do you get heat from that?"

"Sometimes. Some."

Evie interrupts, "How's that going to help her. It's nighttime."

"I have an idea," he reassures, before he guides Mal over to Evie. "Can you get her back to your dorm? I'll be there shortly."

"Yeah," Evie smiles, before she places a hand on Mal's back and walks her out. "Come on. It's time for the little dragon to return to the nest."

When they return to the dorm Evie guides Mal to her bed and sits her down, but then Mal tugs on Evie and she sits down as well. Evie watches as Mal's hands touch her shoulders and press forward, forcing her to lie on her back, "What are you doing?"

Mal smiles, before she leans in and kisses her, "Your lips are soft."

Evie stops Mal from moving in again, "We can't do this right now. Ben could be here any minute."

She smiles, "You're so cute when you're all serious." before she kisses her again.

Evie turns her head away, "No. I'm mad at you."

Mal laughs, "No you aren't," before she moves onto her neck instead.

"Would you stop that?" Evie frustrates as she pushes Mal up, and they sit upright again. "I am mad. You almost kissed her. If Ben hadn't showed up—"

Mal places a finger to Evie's lips, "Shh." before she moves her hand to her cheek. "Do we really have to talk about this right now?"

"Yes," Evie strongly answers, "because you probably won't even remember it later."

When she sees Evie begin to tear up, Mal moves her hand down and holds Evie's, "Trust me. It was nothing personal. It's just that she stole heat from me, so I had to steal it back from her." She uses her other hand to run the fingers through her hair, "That's all there was to it."

Evie shakes her head, "No. You didn't have to do it." before a tear falls into her lap and she looks back up at her. "You could have just stayed. You could have just stayed and had me." She watches as Mal opens her mouth, but before any words come out her attention is diverted to the opening door.

"I hope you have a spare outlet," Ben says, before he comes in, shuts the door, and finally looks up at the two of them. He frowns and takes a few steps forward, as he sees Evie running a couple fingers under her eyes. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," Evie answers. "I just should know better than try to talk to her when she's like this by now." She feels Mal continuing to touch her hair, and then unclasps the metal chain from her wrist.

"Your hair is shiny."

"Yeah. My hair is shiny." Evie frowns, "You know what else is shiny?" before hangs the bracelet in front of Mal. "This." She places it in her hand, "How about you admire it for a minute instead." She takes a deep breath as she stands from the bed, before she tiredly shuffles towards Ben, "Sorry." She looks down at the large object he holds. "What's that?"

Ben tries to smile, "It's a heat lamp."

She eyes it carefully, "It looks like a regular lamp."

"Yes," he agrees. "It does, but hopefully it will help."

Evie nods, "Follow me." before she walks to the other side of the bed. "There's an outlet here." She watches him plug it in and adjust it so that it hits Mal's bed perfectly.

After he's finished, Ben notices Mal continue to admire the glass beads hanging from the bracelet, "It is just me or does she seem a little different?"

Evie almost smiles, "You've never seen Mal like this before, have you?"

Ben shakes his head, "No. I'm not sure I have."

"Well, then," Evie steps between the two of them, before she gestures to her. "Let me introduce you to Dragon Mal. This delightful personally tends to emerge either when she's cold, she's in danger, or someone or something she cares about is threatened. Normally she's just very affectionate, but she runs on instinct and so doesn't really think a lot."

"Is that why she attacked Audrey?"

Evie fully turns to him, "So long as you keep hot and shiny things nearby, she isn't normally an issue." She glances towards the floor, "Let's just be grateful you showed up when you did." before she turns back to Mal and folds her arms. "I guess I just wasn't important enough to her." Mal looks up at her but doesn't speak. "Are you done with the bracelet?"

She frowns, "Yeah. I am."

Evie walks back around the bed to get it back from her, and after she puts it back on she nods up, "What do you think of the nice heat lamp Ben got you?"

Mal turns around and kneels up, before she places her hands on the black lamp, "It's so warm." She moves nearer to it and smiles, "I love you."

Ben smiles, "I love you too."

Evie gives him a look, "She was talking to the lamp."

He frowns, "Oh."

Evie partly smiles, "Don't worry. She loves all of her heat sources."

"All of them?" Ben questions in insecure unsureness.

Mal moves to wrap her arms around him, "Thank you, deer." before she kisses him.

Ben's smile returns, "Ahh. You're welcome."