First two-shot; here's part one. I'm fighting with part two a bit, or I'd leave it a one-shot, since it ought to end up about 2,000 words total, which is my average chapter length anyhow.

Guest: Of course I take requests. Says that in chapter two XD

Word count: 1,056

Evie jumped as the door slammed open and shut. Mal stormed in, throwing her bookbag down on her bed. Evie watched wide-eyed as her best friend threw herself down next to the spilled books, face buried in the bedspread. After a few seconds of silence, Evie quietly closed her book, got up, sat next to her fuming friend, and waited. Eventually, Mal rolled over onto her back and looked at Evie.

"Ben wants me to spend a day with his parents," she said flatly.

Evie blinked. "That's not so bad, M," she sighed, leaning backward. "You've survived days with them before."

"Yeah - always with you guys, or Ben, or someone else there. He wants me to spend a day alone with them." She rubbed her fingers against her temples, tugging on her violet hair. "What am I even supposed to say to them? It's not like we have a lot in common. They're the poster children for goodness, and my mother is the Mistress of All Evil."

"You have Ben in common," Evie pointed out gently. "Isn't he enough reason to at least try to get along with them?"

"I can get along with them," Mal said firmly. "I can get along with them, I can eat dinner with them, I can maybe even make light conversation over dinner with them. I can't spend a whole day alone with them. What do we do? What do I say?"

Evie smiled faintly. "I might be able to help you with figuring out things to say. But you'll have to figure it out yourself, Mal. You need to learn to talk to them now, or things will never be easy between you." Mal groaned and threw one arm over her face. Evie shook her head and patted her shoulder. "I'm going to go talk to Ben. I'll be back in maybe an hour. Don't go anywhere."

Evie touched up the last of Mal's makeup. "Stop fidgeting," she complained.

"I can't help it," Mal grumbled. She frowned as Evie stretched over and snatched up a little bottle. "What is that?"

"Mineral oil," she explained. "For your horns."

"For my - Evie, no. That's quite enough. They're uncomfortable enough as it is around me," she protested, coming to her feet.

Evie crossed her arms, and Mal knew already that she'd lost. "It's not like they're not visible anyway. You will look your best, top to toe, horns included. Now sit down and stay still." She took an eyedropper and put a drop of mineral oil on her forefinger, rubbing it together with her thumb for a moment before massaging the oil into the short horns peeking through Mal's hair. As the oil sank in, the horns turned deep black, gaining a gloss they hadn't had before. "You haven't been treating them," Evie accused.

"I've been a little distracted," Mal grumbled.

"Or you just don't want to do it. We've talked about this, M."

"Why do you know so much about it, anyway?" the fairy asked, turning to look up at her.

Evie hummed awkwardly. "I... may have done some research when we first got here. I figured I might as well use the library while I had the chance, before, you know, the villains got here and burned and pillaged the place. This was before we changed our minds about the plan, of course. I saw something on dark fairies and read it through. It's turning out to be more useful than I thought."

Mal shook her head. "Nerd," she grumbled playfully, but at least the tension had eased some.

That, of course, was completely nixed by Ben's knock on the door. "Come in," Evie called before Mal could stop her.

Mal's boyfriend smiled at her. "You look beautiful," he assured her.

"Thank you," Mal mumbled. "I'm not sure about this, Ben."

"You'll be fine," he promised, waving goodbye to Evie as they walked out the door and down toward the car that would take her to his parents' place. "Just be yourself."

"'Myself' is not necessarily a person your parents are going to like," she argued.

"They'll learn to love you," he reassured her, pulling her into a hug.

She laughed. "Careful. If you ruin my makeup, Evie's going to kill you. And, Ben?" she asked as she slid into the backseat of the car.

"Yeah?"

"I hope you're right."

He smiled at her and closed the door. She took a deep breath. No turning back now.

"Remind me again why we let Ben talk us into this?" Beast asked.

Belle smiled and straightened his tie, a mostly unnecessary gesture. "Because Mal is his girlfriend, and he intends to keep it that way, and he's smart enough to know that that means making us get to know each other." She took her husband's hand. "I know that you didn't like this from the start. I know you didn't want to bring her here in the first place. Neither did I. But she's here now, and hasn't she proven that she's nothing like her mother?"

"I suppose so," he grumbled. "Her actions at the coronation were honorable enough."

The sound of a car driving up outside pulled both of their attentions away. "And she's here now," Belle said, her attempt at levity betrayed by the anxiety underneath her voice.

"Thanks, I think," Mal told the driver. She stared up at the facade. "Oh, a palace," she muttered to herself as the car pulled away. "E would be thrilled." With a sigh, she started up the stairs.

The door opened just as she raised a hand to knock, and she found herself staring awkwardly into Beast's face. She realized abruptly that he wasn't that much taller than she was, and she was perfectly capable of looking him right in the eye. "Um, hi," she managed.

"Hello, Mal," Beast said, and somehow he made it sound like a jail sentence. "Would you like to come inside? I think Belle has tea ready." He stepped aside, and she entered the palace, all the time the saying 'gilded cage' ringing through her head.

Cutting it off there for now, I think. Part Two will come soon, promise.