Chapter 3 – Artistic Expression
-:-:-
Rainy days were not Chad's favorite but he understood them as the inevitability they were. After being denied access to the outside world for so long, the things he'd come to love most – plant life, animals, fresh air – were generally relegated to the outdoors, which meant he had to fall back on his previous loves to pass the time.
It wasn't a great burden by any means, especially not when he was free of critical tutors or his grandfather's furious gaze. In Moors Castle, Chad could still bake or read or draw or knit – he still had a bounty of options, though he'd have to do them without the company of Ben. It seemed that with the rain came more meetings that Ben was obligated to participate in – mingling with dignitaries from Enchancia to help settle relations between them while the others were forced through the trials of arranged social gatherings that would hopefully light some kind of spark between their kingdoms.
Out of respect for his friend, Chad avoided the library, knowing it would only be salt in the wound if he explored its depths without Ben by his side. He already had a few containers of experimental baked goods back in their suite, so that day left him wandering, exploring the smaller halls of Moors Castle with the permission he had accidentally acquired from Queen Maleficent.
With the constant white noise of rain and distant thunder, it was no surprise that Chad found himself in his favorite hallway, the one with the half-finished mural. Seeing as the space was abandoned, he didn't think much of settling himself on the floor against the opposite wall so he could take it in, reminding himself that the rain was only temporary, that eventually he would get to go outside again and see a meadow just as pretty as this one. His artistic flare was nothing in comparison to the mural artist, but he still felt inspired when he looked upon that lovingly crafted landscape. It was enough to have him fumbling for his sketchbook, opening up to a blank page and fiddling with his pencil for a moment before he tentatively started sketching some flowers of his own, something to fill in the blank space left by the mural. It would be nice, at least in his mind, to see the finished picture, even if it likely wouldn't be nearly as pretty as the original artist's vision.
He got a bit lost in his work, so much so that he didn't realize he had company until it was all but upon him.
"What are you doing?" a voice growled, and Chad startled up from his work to see a petite girl with brilliantly purple hair and pretty green eyes glaring down at him, her body dwarfed in a set of oversized coveralls splattered with paint, a bulky leather satchel casually thrown across her shoulder and an artist's pallet clutched in one hand. "Are you copying my work?"
"What? No," Chad said, surprised by her immediate aggression, something that left him leaning back against the wall. "I wasn't- I just wanted-"
"To get this shit past security," the girl continued with a growl. "Clever, sketching it out, but that shit would have only worked once and now you blew it." With that, she deftly snatched his sketchpad from his hands, Chad scrambling after it with a sudden swell of panic. "I should rip up your other stuff as a warning-" She cut herself off before he could beg her not to, before he could fully process the weight of her threat. "What the fuck is this?" she asked, staring down at the sketchbook.
"I was just filling in the blank," Chad said. "For myself, not for- I'm sorry," he continued, hands wavering nervously near his sketchbook, not daring to go closer but also somewhat terrified that she would actually start ripping up his mediocre art. "I'm sorry, I'll just-"
He cut off when she started flipping through the rest of his sketchbook, backtracking with furrowed brows while Chad just sort of stood there hopelessly.
"You have a lot of dresses in here," she deduced without inflection, her gaze locked to the pages of half-finished art.
"Sorry," Chad said, feeling his cheeks heat with embarrassment. "I just- I um-"
"You a pansy?" she asked, making Chad flush darker, because he wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but he got the feeling that it was close to a 'ninny' or 'sissy', which his grandfather always yelled at him for being.
"My mom designed dresses," Chad managed to stutter. "So I- I just thought…"
That maybe he could do that too.
The girl didn't say anything for a moment. "There's a lot of animals and shit in here."
"I like animals," Chad sniffed, letting his hands fall with an awkward shrug. "And flowers. I know it's not very good, that's why I was practicing."
"And finishing murals, apparently," the girl said, her fingers flexing against the edges of his sketchbook.
"For me," Chad repeated, his cheeks feeling hot. "Just- I didn't think I'd ever get to see what it looked like when it was finished, and that made me sad."
That earned a dry look from the girl, her brow quirked and disposition entirely unimpressed, enough that Chad had to remind himself that this wasn't Auradon Prep, and he wasn't getting bullied. This wasn't then. "Romantic one, are you?" she asked, tone unreadable.
"Maybe?" Chad countered. "I wouldn't have come if I'd known you were going to work on it."
"You wouldn't have?" she asked, and for whatever reason, that seemed like a challenge.
"No," Chad said, very carefully letting his hand curl around the top of his sketchbook before he gently tugged it away, feeling relieved when the girl allowed him to do so. "You're kind of mean."
He wouldn't have said it because they were supposed to be diplomatic, but she wasn't trying to offer him any kind of benefit of the doubt and maybe that wasn't all that diplomatic either, so Chad thought some direct communication was in order.
There was a pause, and then the girl threw back her head with a startled laugh that made Chad freeze, because she was smiling. The angry, tiny artist was smiling.
"Yeah," she sighed, somewhat wistful, maybe a little bit proud. "I am, aren't I?"
"That wasn't a compliment," Chad said, tucking his sketchbook closer to his chest in case she felt like getting all grabby handed again.
"Spoken like someone who has it easy," she scoffed, rolling her eyes for good measure. "Sometimes you have to be a little bit mean to get what you want." With that, she abandoned her satchel to the ground and started rifling through it, pulling out different containers of paint. "In this instance, I wanted some space so I could paint in peace."
"Then I'll just go," Chad said, straightening his own satchel. "And also, you could have asked for that. We might not know each other, but it's not nice to assume I'd be too dumb to respect your space or whatever."
Chad could take hints. Granted, he'd ignored a lot of them back at Auradon Prep because otherwise he wouldn't have had any – not friends, but acquaintances – but he could take them. Especially when he was in a foreign land trying to not cause any diplomatic incidents.
With that, Chad turned on his heel, keeping his head held high the way his grandfather said he was never good enough to do so. Which just proved him wrong. That was one good thing Chad could mention on his call with Dr. Sweet.
Among many other good things, because he wasn't going to let this one bad interaction sour all of his other achievements.
"Wait," the girl called after him with a lazy sigh, and Chad paused, even though it didn't feel like the most sincere offering and he was supposed to be mindful of those. "I'm sorry," she continued, and that seemed genuine, enough to make Chad surprised. "You're right, I am being a tool." She let out a small huff. "Mostly because I'm in a dumb situation, but I shouldn't have taken that out on you."
"I accept your apology," Chad decided, because now that he looked at her she seemed more stressed than mad. "And I'm sorry for infringing upon your private time. Happy painting."
"Right," the girl said, tugging on the end of the sloppy pony her hair was pulled into. "Look, you don't have to leave if you don't want to." At that, Chad paused, trying to hide his surprise and likely failing because her cheeks heated in a flush that seemed embarrassed on his behalf. "You like this?" she continued, motioning to the mural. "Actually like it?"
"Yeah," Chad said, seeing no reason to hold back. "It's… I don't have words for it," he said. "But I think it's very beautiful, and that you felt the need to paint it here, to capture that scene…" He decided to go for broke. "This is one of my favorite places in the whole castle, and I'm not just saying that because you're grumpy."
That earned him a huffed laugh, but the smile that followed seemed to be genuine. "Thank you," she said, seeming to mean it. "You don't think this is- I don't know, inane?" At his confused look, she elaborated, "That I should be painting more important things?"
"If you felt compelled to paint it and paint it this well- obviously it's important to you," Chad said. "And that justifies your commitment in itself."
The corner of her lips quirked up in a smirk. "That how you feel as a fellow artist?"
"I wouldn't compare us," Chad said with an embarrassed flush. "You're way ahead of me – not that I should feel bad about that, because I just started drawing regularly."
His grandfather always broke some of Chad's fingers with the prince lingered towards less 'appropriate' pursuits as an active detriment, and sketching had always made that list.
At her strange look, he elaborated, "I've been seeing a therapist."
She quirked a brow at him. "That something you tell everyone?"
"It isn't something to be ashamed of," Chad countered. "Because sometimes you need help, and that's okay."
There was a pause where the girl seemed to think something over, her thin, purple brows furrowed together in consideration. "Speaking of help," she began. "Would you be willing to help me?"
"Me?" Chad echoed, like there was anyone else there. "You want me to do something?"
"Yep," she said, not even detouring to make fun of him as she reached into her bag and tossed him a piece of chalk. "Go ahead and sketch those flowers of yours in the empty spots."
There was a moment where Chad was struck by the immensity of the offer, understanding it despite how casually it was offered.
"But," he began. "It's yours."
"We're artists, blondie," she said with a roll of her eyes. "It's called a collaboration. You seem to be the only other person who gives a shit about this wall, so congratulations, you now get to contribute to it."
"So long as you don't mind," Chad said, holding the chalk in a careful hand, like he was afraid of ruining the stone if he didn't show the appropriate amount of consideration.
"I wouldn't have offered if I minded," she said, rolling her eyes again. "Now get to it – chop, chop."
"Yes, ma'am," Chad said, deciding to go along with this, deciding to look on the bright side and maybe tentatively make a new friend to add to his slowly growing list.
She made a face. "None of that, now," she said. "Call me Mal."
"I'm Chad," the blond offered.
"Chad," Mal echoed, her tone unreadable. "So tell me, Chad, which Auradon kingdom are you from?"
"Sardinia," Chad replied. "Right next to Central Auradon."
"Ah," Mal hummed. "I know nothing about that one."
"It's not really a priority for Enchancia right now," Chad offered, not taking any offence. Since none of the wooing candidates were from Sardinia, there wasn't much point in learning about the kingdom.
"In that case," Mal said. "How'd you end up on this trip anyway?"
"Broadening my cultural horizons," Chad said. "With the added benefit of keeping me out of my family's hair for a few months."
It hadn't been sold as that, but Chad could read Fairy Godmother well enough to determine that all of his grandfather's hearings were going to take place while Chad was safely outside of Sardinia. All of his accomplices needed to be weeded out of the Sardinian government and until that could happen, it wasn't really safe for Chad to be home.
"Ugh," Mal said as she loaded up her pallet. "That's rough."
"It's not so bad," Chad said. "I'm learning lots of new things – and now I'm helping with a mural, and that's pretty cool."
"A flower mural," Mal huffed, like she still couldn't believe it. "What's that one you're drawing right now?"
"This?" Chad asked, pointing to the flower in question. "These are bluebells – they stand for kindness."
Mal quirked a brow at him. "Flowers have meanings?"
"In Sardinia, they do," Chad said, feeling his cheeks heat with embarrassment. "I put them next to some tulips for courage."
"Odd choice," Mal hummed. "Courage and kindness."
"It was my mother's motto," he admitted. "They feed us all these stories about heroes valiantly rescuing the day, but she always believed that their capacity for kindness was just as important as their capacity for courage."
"That sounds entirely sappy," Mal murmured. "I think I like it, though – it definitely works for you."
"Because I'm a romantic?" Chad asked, feeling his flush darken.
"Because you chose to spend your rainy day staring at a half-finished mural," she said. "Because you wanted to try and fill in the blanks to have some feeling of how it would look when it was complete."
"I guess it's indulgent, isn't it?" Chad said, echoing the words his grandfather had uttered to him time and time again.
"Eh, you're on summer vacation," Mal said. "If that isn't a time to be indulgent, I don't know what is." She paused her work and tied a half apron over her coveralls, an array of brushes held in its grasp. She selected one at random, seeming to arm herself for war. "Tell you what, I am definitely being indulgent right now," she continued. "Is there somewhere else I'm supposed to be? Yes. Will I go there? No, because if I do, I'm going to start tearing someone's hair out, and it probably won't be mine." Her lips quirked up in a smile as she started loading paint onto her brush. "So really, this is the best choice for everyone involved."
"Obviously," Chad agreed, settling back into his work.
Once he got used to Mal's disposition, it was nice spending time with her. She was passionate and talented and so very grumpy, and Chad found that he liked her a lot.
"You said was," Mal said out of the blue after ten minutes of peaceful silence. "That was her motto – the courage and kindness."
Chad didn't pause because it wasn't a new hurt, but he did need a moment to settle before he moved on. "She died when I was little," he said. "Car accident."
Orchestrated by his grandfather, but they wouldn't learn that until later.
"I'm sorry," Mal said, and to her credit, she seemed to mean it.
"Thank you," Chad replied. "I appreciate it. But that's… that's why I design dresses and draw flowers and all that. As an effort to keep part of her around."
"That's fair," Mal said, and while Chad didn't really know her, he had the feeling that this wasn't a consideration she offered frequently. "I'm sorry about asking if you were a pansy."
"You were upset," Chad said. "That does not make it okay, but I appreciate and accept your apology."
That earned him another smile. "That therapy of yours really seems to be working."
"It does help," Chad chirped, unapologetic. "I used to feel awful and anxious all the time, but now things are better. I can look on the bright side and know that nine times out of ten, I'll actually get it, as opposed to um…" Before, when the bright side might as well have not existed for him. "Well, that's not important. What matters is that we are friends now."
"We are?" Mal hummed, raising her brows at him. "You've decided?"
"Yes," Chad said. "Even if you are grumpy, you are an endearing form of grumpy, and very talented. So if you don't mind…"
"Yes, we can be friends," Mal huffed, like such childish things were beneath her. "You're damaging my rep with all your awkwardly candid communication."
"I have no apologies," Chad informed her sagely, earning another chuckle.
They fell into a comfortable silence as they worked on their specific areas, Chad slowly but surely expanding his vision while Mal fell in behind him and gave it actual life – painting and mixing colors in ways Chad could never hope to achieve. It was a struggle not to get lost staring at her, but somehow he managed. Probably not well, but he managed.
"We should get lunch after this," Mal hummed an hour into their work. "Take a break and come back fresh."
"Oh, I just learned how to make quiches," Chad chirped, excited. "Mrs. Flittle lets me use one of the kitchen workstations as long as I stay out of the way, I could make some for us."
"You're a chef too?" Mal asked, seeming both amused and fond by this concept.
"Cultural experiences," Chad reminded her. "Everyone knows the best cultural lessons start with food."
"Ah, forgive me," Mal drawled. "I have been living in ignorance."
"It happens to all of us sometimes," Chad offered with a grin.
Before Mal could reply, a new voice interrupted, startling both of them from their work.
"Is that a smile I see?" a male voice drawled, and Chad looked down the hall to see a gentleman in his mid-twenties garbed completely in black, seeming to have the same kind of magical agelessness Queen Maleficent had. "Didn't think we'd get one of those all summer."
"Fuck off, Diaval," Mal muttered, earning a delighted grin from the man who Chad guessed was accustomed to Mal's grumpiness. "We're busy."
"I can see that," Diaval hummed. "Coincidentally, you just happened to be scheduled to be busy somewhere else this fine afternoon. Isn't that peculiar?"
"I called in sick," Mal huffed. "I'm allowed to call in sick."
"You're allowed to call in sick when you've put up some kind of effort," Diaval countered. "So far all you've done is tried your best to glare people into submission. Not the most positive of efforts."
"Fuck you and the horse you rode in on," Mal escalated, turning back to her work with a sniff.
Diaval reared back in an overdramatic show of offense, pressing a hand against his chest as though calming some mock injuring. "As though I would ever ride a horse."
"What's wrong with horses?" Chad asked before he could remember he definitely wasn't supposed to be part of this conversation.
And yet, Diaval only offered him a delighted grin. "Absolutely nothing for you, I suppose," Diaval said. "You're the animal lover, right?"
Chad felt himself flush, despite the fact that he'd already admitted as much to Mal. "Yeah, that's me."
"No need to be embarrassed," Diaval assured him. "All the birds greatly appreciate your treats."
"All the birds, huh?" Mal echoed, seeming amused by this. "You sure none of them are biased?"
"Absolutely," Diaval hummed.
Chad was getting the feeling he was missing some other kind of conversation, but neither of them seemed angry so he guessed it was okay.
It seemed then that Mal decided to cut to the point, her patience worn out. "What do you want, Diaval? It's not like I can go to those dumb meetings magically well after tell them I'm down with summer flu or whatever."
"This is true," Diaval agreed. "I mostly came to check on you. Make sure you're not terrorizing the minor dignitaries or something."
"I have some restraint," Mal huffed, blowing a stray curl out of her eyes.
"Parish any suggestions that may have implied otherwise," Diaval chirped before his gaze turned to Chad. "Will you make sure she eats? She tends to get so caught up in her work that she forgets things like healthy limits and resting."
"Asshole," Mal muttered. "We were literally just discussing lunch."
"Excellent!" Diaval chirped. "I'll have a picnic basket sent up to you and you can dine wherever you please. Preferably anyplace that is far away from minor dignitaries."
With that, he deftly turned on his heel and left them, offering another cheerful wave before he disappeared back into the shadows.
"You're not clever!" Mal called to his retreating back. "And I swear if there's any damn chocolate sauce, we're having fried raven for dinner!"
"Do you not like chocolate?" Chad asked, wondering what he should take from that exchange.
"I fucking love chocolate," Mal huffed. "But not when he's being so smug."
"Ah," Chad said, not really getting it, but then again, he was pretty sure he wasn't meant to.
-:-:-
The picnic basket was delivered by a wide-eyed page boy who scampered away almost as soon as he arrived, leaving Chad and Mal to clean off her brushes in a nearby bathroom before Mal led them down a narrow staircase that brought them to an even more abandoned hallway.
"You are entirely too trusting," Mal declared as they walked through damp chambers that steadily led downwards. "I could be leading you to your demise."
"You have to give trust to get trust," Chad said, repeating his mother's old adage to combat the sudden spike of worry in his stomach. It was okay, he had his emergency beacon on him. It would contact his dad and Ben and Fairy Godmother if needed, so hey, maybe he'd die, but at least they'd know about it.
"Romantic," Mal huffed before reaching behind her and grabbing his hand. Chad startled, but she seemed unaffected. "The area ahead isn't lighted so well," she explained. "And I'm gonna go ahead and guess you don't have darkvision."
"I… do not," Chad said.
"Then we get to be hand holding buddies," she drawled. "Don't tell anyone about it – I will deny it to my dying breath."
"This is fair," Chad said, because everyone worked at their own pace.
Soon enough they were walking through pitch darkness, and though Chad was scared, he felt a bit better with Mal's hand in his. Just when he thought things were going to be too much, he saw hints of light building up ahead, things that grew the closer they drew to it.
"Check it," Mal said when they came to a new hall, smooth stone abruptly trading out for what seemed to be… a nest? The ceilings, walls, and floor all seemed to be made out of hundreds of wooden branches all woven together into some fantastical, otherworldly structure. "This is the side of the castle we don't show proper people. Too much nature for them, but I figured you'd like it."
"It's amazing," Chad said, going with his gut instinct. "But what is it?"
"Follow me," Mal said, her lips twisted up in an approving smirk, and then she was guiding him forward, still holding his hand despite the fact that he could actually see now.
Chad didn't question the generosity, he appreciated the added comfort and clung to it, following Mal through airy, wooden tunnels before they abruptly cut off into a large, fantastical cavern.
"Yeah," Mal said, tone radiating pleasure as she took in his awe. "That's the appropriate response."
"What is this place?" Chad asked, staring up at the ceiling that expanded so very high above, the floor beyond the large ledge they stood on dropping so very far down. Unlike Moors Castle, the architecture of this area seemed to be entirely natural – different nature biomes somehow merging together seamlessly – from rainforests to the artic to desserts, and he knew the Moors relied more on magic than science, it was just different seeing it in practice.
"This is the home of the Dark Fae," Mal said, motioning to the dozens of Dark Fae flying in the distance – children and adults alike taking to the skies. "We're a private race, but I figured if anyone would appreciate this, it would be you."
"You're a Dark Fae?" Chad asked somewhat stupidly, wincing at his response. "I mean- right, the hair."
But Mal only shot him an amused look. "Right, the hair," she said, like there was more to it than that. "And technically I'm only half Fae, but I can still summon my wings when needed."
"That's amazing," Chad said, not caring if he was gushing. "We're going to eat here?"
"Sort of," Mal said, and then she was closing her eyes, a purple sheen of energy building up on her back that eventually expanded in the form of wings, dissipating to reveal a pair of dark purple wings. With the top of her coveralls undone and tied around her waist, she was down to a purple tank top, and it really was an odd dichotomy, though one that suited her. "Do you trust me?"
The words rang back to the stories his few good nannies had managed to sneak him – Lord Consort Aladdin offering Sultana Jasmine a ride on his flying carpet. King Eugene leading Queen Rapunzel through the woods to see the glowing lights. Queen Anna asking her soldiers to defy every instinct they had to right an old wrong.
Maybe Chad was a hopeless romantic, because in light of that, there only seemed to be one answer.
"Yes," Chad said, smiling wide. "I trust you."
Mal scoffed. "You're stupid," she declared, voice full of fondness. "But hell, I am too, so let's do this."
"Do what?" Chad asked, but then she was magicing the picnic basket out of existence, which Chad worried about for half a second before she was wrapping an arm around his waist, using her free hand to wrap his arms around her shoulders, and he would have panicked about that but then she was pushing him backwards, over the edge of the cliff-
They fell, and Chad was terrified until he felt Mal's arms curl around his waist, until he felt the familiar thrum of her magic circle around him like a safety net, and even though she hadn't explained it, he knew he wouldn't fall even if he did let go.
"You're crazy!" Chad laughed as she flew them through the gigantic cavern, the wind rushing through their hair.
"You're crazier, you asshole!" Mal countered with a cackle. "Fucking call me grumpy!"
"You are grumpy!" Chad hollered, couldn't help but laugh because this was, it was absurd, but he was flying. Ben was going to ask him what he did that day and Chad was going to say that he flew, which seemed like a way greater insult than visiting the library alone.
"And you're an idiot!" Mal laughed. "But we're friends now, so I guess that works out!"
It was a breathless, majestic ride through the inner workings of the Dark Fae home, Mal taking him around the different styles of shelter the Dark Fae had for themselves. Most of them seemed to have huts built from the nest-like material, but others opted for treehouses or stonework. Others still seemed to live in hanging eggs entirely comprised of greenery, without only a small, round opening leading to the outside world.
It was in one of those that Mal finally settled them, Chad feeling shaky an exhilarated as he took in the view provided from their temporary home.
"Wow, Mal," Chad said, unable to help himself. "Just- wow. Thank you for sharing that with me."
"I pushed you off a cliff," Mal pointed out as she summoned the picnic basket back into existence.
"But you didn't let me fall," Chad countered. "And you showed me your super-secret hideaway – which will stay a super-secret, just to clarify."
"That's what I figured," Mal hummed as she pulled out a picnic blanket. "Now stop being mushy and help me get this stuff sorted out so we can eat."
"Yes, ma'am," Chad said, happily getting to work.
The food wasn't fancy by any means, which was a relief for Chad. It was good, of course, filling and handheld and easy to eat.
"Fucker," Mal muttered when she pulled out a container of chocolate sauce that she set next to a box of strawberries with a flush.
"We don't have to eat that," Chad offered, trying to help how he could.
"Oh, we're going to eat that," Mal snapped, which probably wasn't for the best because Chad ended up getting it smeared all over his mouth, despite trying very hard not to do just that.
It was like the chocolate wanted to stay on his lips or something.
"You got a little something." Mal gestured towards his mouth lazily, her lips completely untarnished. "Let me just…" She leaned forward, dabbing at his mouth with a cloth napkin, Chad trying not to die from embarrassment because it was like he was a toddler. "You don't have to be embarrassed," she huffed, thumbing the corner of his lips and making his breath catch for what was obviously dumb reasons. "This happens to everyone."
"Right," Chad said, but not everyone got cleaned up by the super talented and mildly crazy half Fae they'd just met, who was important enough to have food sent up to her and could shirk whatever her duties were to paint some obscure hallway.
"Here," she said, offering him her thumb, the chocolate from his lips now safely collected on the pale, calloused skin. "Want it?"
"Um." Chad was pretty sure the answer should be no even though he maybe wanted it to be yes, and that probably meant bad things for him.
Fortunately – or unfortunately – their relative privacy was interrupted by a throat clearing not long after.
"Mal," a dark Fae greeted, his hair done in dreadlocks and eyes gold, skin dark as the shadows that surrounded him.
"Conall," Mal countered, pulling her hand away from Chad and sucking her thumb clean herself. "Can I help you?"
"Yes," the Dark Fae replied in a soothing, lilting tone. "You can come out of your private and seemingly difficult to reach hideaway before the elders get worried."
About what, Chad wanted to ask, but his focus was on the way Mal's eyes glowed green. "You think I would do something untoward?"
"Yes," Conall said without hesitation. "I think you would do exactly that without care for the cost that would have to be paid by those other than yourself in order to escape the intricacies of human diplomacy."
There was a tense stare down, and then Mal huffed. "It's not fair," she growled. "I'm only half human, why should I cater to their dumb rules?" She paused, then offered Chad a few pats on the arm. "No offense."
"None taken," Chad said.
"Our world has gotten bigger," Conall continued. "We must adjust accordingly." He paused, lips drawing together in an unhappy expression. "This was not kind."
At that, Chad felt his heart begin to tense inside his chest, because he knew he was missing a conversation, knew there were pieces he didn't have that painted this entire afternoon in a light that wasn't as frivolously fun as he'd hoped it was.
"It could have been legitimate," Mal said eventually, her expression unreadable.
"Was it, though?" Conall countered, and Chad didn't have to be on their level to understand that it wasn't. There was a beat, and then Conall pressed forward. "Teleport both yourselves back to the castle proper," Conall said. "Do not do this again."
Mal tensed. "You're not my mother."
"No," Conall agreed. "And for that, you should be grateful."
He said nothing else before he hopped out of their hideaway, wings expanding so he could soar off into the distance. It left the two of them in an awkward silence, one Chad tried to ignore while he started putting away the food.
"I'm sorry," Mal said after a few moments when everything was packed away. "I'm sorry, Chad. You didn't deserve this."
There were some things Chad was never going to be good at, and political nuance was probably one of them. It was why he didn't bother to investigate further into what had occurred, because he knew it would only bring him unhappiness.
She'd wanted to use him for something. Many did, so it wasn't a surprise, he'd just been hoping for more.
He cleared his throat. "Oh, I dunno," he hummed, mustering a broad smile. "I think it was pretty nice – the picnic, the flight, the art. Overall, that was a pretty good day for me."
And there was no need to go searching for anything more than that.
Mal's shoulders seemed to slump as though she was relieved by this generosity, even though she obviously still felt guilty about whatever her plans had been.
"It was pretty nice," she said, reaching over to hold his hand. "Maybe we can do it again sometimes." Chad tensed, but then she continued, "With a chaperone, though."
Chad let out a small chuckle that didn't quite stem the ache in his chest. Chaperones were designed to protect both sides of the young political elite from the threat of any ungentlemanly behavior. When you got to a certain age, they were an unfortunately necessity, even if you were only friends.
"Perhaps Diaval could find some free time," Chad offered, liking the first man more than the ever-serious Conall, even if the latter had been the one to step up for him.
That earned him a laugh that made things seem a bit more even. "Maybe," Mal hummed. "Okay, I'm going to teleport us back to that hallway."
"Thanks," Chad said, letting himself get swallowed by her magic, surrendering to it until it whisked them away somewhere else, his magic adventure done for the afternoon.
-:-:-
Endnotes:
Mal's doing the best with what she's got. As it has become increasingly apparent, what she has is not a lot ;)
Thanks for the feedback and well wishes, everyone! I'm back on my original computer again, so life is good. I will now have plenty of opportunities to discuss how dumb Mal is (as will Conall and Diaval because Mal-wrangling is probably their life).
Story notes:
According to the brief google search I did, in the Victorian Era Bluebells meant kindness, which was better than the modern-day alternative, which is some kind of leafy plant rather than a flower.
Diaval would pack chocolate sauce because he knows it's a common romantic trope between Dark Fae and in this particular context, Mal doesn't appreciate the implication of romance, even if she does have a soft spot for Chad. And also maybe the chocolate sauce was enchanted a bit to require assistance in getting cleaned up, because Diaval's a snot like that.
Conall and the Home of the Dark Fae are from Maleficent – Mistress of Evil.
To clarify what happened in that last scene, Mal was taking the opportunity to cause a scandal by being alone with another young noble in a hard to reach location for an extended period of time. The goal was to tarnish her name enough so she could escape the whole romance contingent, but Conall's not about that life.
Until next time