(Mal)
Despite the panic rampaging through her veins a particular warmth plummeted to the depths of Mal's body, the connection she had formed relaxing her stomach and heart while decreasing the amount of tension in her nervous system; though it didn't have much affect due to the intensity of her current panicked state. The connection was thrilled to have Evie so close to her, she, on the other hand, was not as ecstatic. Think quickly, Mal. What the fuck are you going to do, now? She had no idea, and her body didn't seem to receive a single one of her brain's orders, leaving her standing just inside the doorway, feet nailed to the floor professionally and eyes widened in panic, glued to the blue-haired girl who had looked up on her obnoxious entrance.
"Evie," Ben said softly from somewhere behind her; but she couldn't tell where because she couldn't take her eyes off the girl he was addressing. "I'm sorry to show up unannounced and late, but we've gotten a new student at Auradon Prep, and yours is the only room not currently rooming a pair."
"Everything's fine, Ben," Evie bared her brilliantly white teeth, her smile – to Mal – seeming bright enough to blind her due to its radiance. "You're welcome whenever."
Just then, Evie's unique red-brown eyes fell on Mal again, briefly taking in her appearance before locking with the smaller girl's bright green eyes. Oh my fuck. Mal inhaled sharply, stomach threatening to twist violently despite the calm from the connection between her and the girl. That picture didn't even do her looks justice; which was miraculous with how beautiful Evie had been in the picture. She swallowed thickly under Evie's light stare, the radiance of the girl's smile making her shift uncomfortably; the first movement she had been able to do since entering the room.
"Hi, my name's Evie," the beautiful girl introduced herself, her smile spreading even wider than before, making Mal want to flee from the room before she found herself sinking through the floor beneath her feet.
I would really appreciate it, you abnormally beautiful human being, if you would stop smiling at me like that. It was really throwing off her tough reputation – well, at least it was her reputation in her own mind.
Seeming to realize that she wasn't about to introduce herself as well, Ben did it for her; his voice, once again, coming from somewhere behind Mal, somewhere she wasn't ready to look because it didn't house Evie. "This is Mal, she's completely new to Auradon, though she never did say where she came from."
Mal watched in fear – and newfound curiosity – as Evie's eyes widened for the smallest fraction of a second before returning to their normal shape, the intriguing glint previously present dulling the slightest bit. What's wrong, gorgeous? Terrified by the name? That thought returned to her a small portion of her bravado; only a small portion, though. As well, it returned some common sense; why did I call her those two things? What is wrong with me? She almost couldn't stop herself from narrowing her eyes at the girl before her with her next thought; what are you doing to me? Evie cleared her throat delicately, and Mal began wondering if everything the girl did was done in an elegant manner. Such a graceful one.
"It's great to meet you, Mal," Evie's smile returned, twisting Mal's stomach into a relentless knot. "I hope you don't mind the state of the room, it's kind of a mess currently."
Mal arched her eyebrow, green eyes scanning the orderly room, finding nothing that screamed it was a mess. "Okay," she drew out the word unsurely, her gaze seeming to bounce directly back to the girl as if she had missed prime staring time. "I'm..." she cleared her throat, "not sure exactly what you mean by 'mess'. It looks obsessively clean to me."
Evie glanced around the room, and Mal took the advantage to trail her gaze along the girl's sharp jawline. She only averted her gaze when the girl turned back toward her, her lips parting to speak; though she only found herself desperate to watch the way they moved. What is wrong with me? She nearly groaned in frustration.
"It's messy to me," Evie laughed quietly, gaze dropping to the ground just before her own feet.
Mal's ears perked at the sound that had slipped from the girl's lips, though giving the aura of being in embarrassment it floated through the room with elegance, just like everything else that left the girl's mouth did. How does she do that? She honestly didn't know how this girl managed to radiate elegance but she found herself wishing that she didn't seem so perfect. Just what I needed for a roommate. A perfect princess. At least, she figured Evie was a princess of some sort because, to her, everything about the girl screamed princess straight into her face; a warning – in her perspective – to stay away from her undoubtedly devious nature. However, she found herself internally sighing, not being able to locate anything devious about the girl. And she couldn't bring herself to wish there was something off about the girl like there was with everyone else she had met so far, in fact, she couldn't stop herself from wanting Evie to be different, someone she would be capable of getting along with.
No. Stop thinking like that, Mal! She scolded herself, quickly biting down harshly on the inside of her cheek; stop thinking she's different. Stop thinking you want to get to know her. It's all empty wishes. You don't want to get to know anyone, especially the girl you'll have to steal from in the future. Though 'steal from' was the most optimistic outlook on what she would have to do. And for that same unknown reason that made her falsely believe that Evie was different than the rest of Auradon's residents, she felt her stomach twist nauseatingly at the thought of having to release the life from the girl's body.
And just like that, her heartbeat increased in panic again, her connection to the girl not even being capable of calming her down this time. Her mind went haywire at that moment, spouting off everything she had repeated multiple times over the past couple days as accusations; you weren't supposed to get anyone's attention, let alone the target's. You were supposed to stay away from Evie, to not allow her to know you existed. You were supposed to stick to the shadows. In those terms, she had failed in every added aspect of the mission, however, she allowed herself to remember the changes she had made to the mission when she had made it her own; I decided not to stay in the dark, and not to keep from everyone's attention. I did, however, decide to keep the rule about not meeting Evie. She chewed on the inside of her cheek nervously; oops. She pulled herself back into reality despite the acceleration of her heart, quickly realizing that she had never torn her eyes from the girl's. Way to seem creepy. Mal huffed internally, stopping herself in her own thoughts; wait, this is actually good. Maybe the creepier I seem, the more she'll stay away from me. But she refused the idea; I'll just act the way I normally do, then she'll definitely not want to be around me. No one else does.
"Well, since it's late I'm going to head back to my room, now," Ben spoke up, drawing the attention toward him; though Mal kept her gaze on Evie, allowing herself to study the girl's seemingly flawless features when she wasn't paying any attention to her.
"I bet you have multiple of those, don't you," Mal scoffed lightly, her distaste for the boy returning when she decreased the amount of attention she was putting on the girl in front of her, who – she could tell – didn't much care for the way she had spoken to the boy; then again, who did. "You probably don't even have to make your own bed. Let me guess, maids? Or maybe, your mother still does it for you, wouldn't that just be very kingly," she said the last part sarcastically, enjoying the power that surged through her when she fired shots at the King, feeling as though it returned her usual bravado into her possession from the large amount she had lost while facing Evie.
Not surprisingly, Ben laughed. "Actually, I'm not allowed to, though I've tried on multiple occasions. It gets tiring, if I'm being perfectly honest."
"I'm sure," Mal nodded, making it clear that she didn't believe a word he had said. "Have a good life, King."
(Evie)
If there was any word that described Evie at that moment it was stunned. She was completely and utterly stunned by the way her new roommate had just treated Ben right in front of her; though she knew she shouldn't be as surprised as she was when recalling the girl's behavior before the tourney game. What is wrong with this girl? She thought, finding that she now wondered where she had come from. Childhood always has a great deal to do with the way a person acts when they're older. Therefore, she figured something must have happened to the girl when she was younger that forced her into the rough behavior she was demonstrating at her present age.
What happened to you, Mal? She asked the question in her head as the door closed, encasing her and Mal in the room alone. What's your story? Who hurt you in the past? Why are you here, now, instead of where you're from? Evie couldn't stop the river of questions from flowing through her mind, each one taking a second to themselves as her main focus. Her thoughts made her feel invasive even though she hadn't vocalized them to the girl, and she immediately started an internal debate on which question would seem the most casual.
Suddenly, she felt a conflicting mix of feelings toward her new roommate because the second after she decided which question she could ask the girl without seeming to invasive, the flicker of fear she had felt when Ben had told her the girl's name returned, intensifying to a greater peak than before. Mal. She hadn't been able to remember the name of the girl Lonnie had told her about until that very moment, and that could only be for one reason; this was the girl that had been looking for her. Has she come to hurt me? To take me away? Her panic flared when the girl's eyebrows knit together in confusion as they locked gazes, but it quickly died down after she read the expression on the girl's face. It was clear that this girl meant her zero harm. Come on, Evie, be logical. If she meant you any harm she would have pounced as soon as Ben had left because it would be the most likely time that no one would disturb us. She's not going to hurt me, she's just a normal teenager starting at a new school, just like I did last year.
The two of them just stood where Ben had left them, Mal with her gaze surveying the room, Evie with her eyes surveying Mal; she just couldn't help but use the moment she was allowed to better absorb the girl's appearance, an appearance that intrigued her. She focused first on the features she hadn't been able to make out when she had seen the girl from her spot on the bleachers, and one feature in particular stole her attention for a lingering moment.
Her eyes.
The girl's eyes were a vibrant green that Evie had never witnessed in an eye color before, the strong, clear color drawing her in almost as if she were being pulled through the pupils to witness the girl's entire world. She could see panic in them, fear, but about what she had no idea; she could see her heightened nerves, and she wondered why she was so nervous; and behind it all she could see a whole other world of pain, the sight causing her heart to clench tightly in her chest. Not being able to handle all the emotions running thick through the girl's eyes she moved on. She took in the girl's thin, nicely arched eyebrows with her own folding into impressment, being able to tell that they weren't made to be that way, they naturally were. Allowing her eyes to slide further down – only stopping a moment to revisit the girl's stunning eyes – she studied the soft bridge that trailed down into a ski-jump nose, the tip dipping in before coming out to a small point. Next on her curiosity list was the girl's plump lips, the top lip's thickness normal while the bottom lip puffed out with a round plumpness that held a crease in the middle. She found herself wondering how soft they were until the girl's green eyes fell on her, dragging her back into the reality of the situation, her cheeks heating at the thought of being caught. Why was I wondering how soft her lips are? I just met her, she wondered; well, she is strangely attractive.
"That bed is yours," Evie gestured to the bed to her right, which – though completely unused – had clean sheets put on it every week; she didn't like the way the bare bed looked. "I've put some clean sheets on it recently."
Mal arched her eyebrow, and Evie quickly got the feeling she was being judged for her actions. Her cheeks heated again, causing her to feel as though she should face away from the girl, but she forced herself to watch as she traveled over to the bed, looking as though she were scouting it for any traps or issues. Like I would put a trap in an unused bed. She suddenly felt embarrassed in the girl's presence. And even if I was going to, I would have had to know someone was coming in the first place. She found herself wishing she had been given at least a hint that she would be receiving a roommate, then she could have cleaned the room and made it more presentable.
The necklace pulsed slowly against her chest as if it were a dying heartbeat; struggling to hold on while a greater force stole its last bit of life. As Mal approached the bed she moved closer to where Evie stood, and the closer the girl got the less noticeable the pulse was and the more she felt relaxed, almost like she was in the presence of the one person she could trust the most. But I'm not. How could she be the person I trust the most when I've known her for less than ten minutes? It was impossible, and from the earlier beat of her necklace she felt she should be wary of her new roommate; however, she couldn't bring herself to feel anything toward her roommate beside overwhelming interest.
"So," Evie started, figuring it would be best to ease into the conversation given the fact that the girl hadn't talked much outside of insulting Ben; by the way, why did she do that? It was another question she wanted to ask. "How old are you?"
Mal didn't so much as glance at her. "Seventeen."
"Are you a junior?" Evie questioned curiously, nearly desperate to know more about the mysterious girl she had only noticed existed this morning. She wondered how long she had been in Auradon.
"Nope," was her answer, with a popping sound added onto the end.
Evie huffed lightly, bringing her hands up to play nervously with the ends of her loosely-worn hair. What's a noninvasive question that should get her talking?
"Why did you come to Auradon?" Evie asked, hoping she wasn't prying but, at the same time, wishing she could delve deeper. She added on with a light laugh. "You know, with wherever you're from."
"It wasn't my choice," Mal responded, moving over to the window to peak out of it, still without even giving her a brief glance. "And nice try, but you're not getting where I'm from out of me."
Evie nodded in understanding, she's sure being difficult, isn't she? Once again – though her curiosity had recently increased – she wondered where Mal had grown up, a strong feeling that her hometown took up a large portion of the reason she acted the way she did shooting through her.
"So, what classes are you taking?" Evie pushed on, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach.
"Boring ones."
This time when she huffed in frustration Mal looked over her shoulder to briefly study her, and although the front layer of the girl's mask showed no emotion Evie could see passed the outer mask and into the raw emotion on the girl's face, revealing the curiosity she felt. Why can I see through her so easily? It wasn't like she was trying to see the way the girl was feeling, but her emotions were displayed to her with such vivid clarity that she couldn't resist reading them, and she grew even more confused as to why she could do so every time the girl's emotions changed and she could watch the shift as if they were her own.
"Problem, Princess?" Mal questioned, thin eyebrow arching as the left side of her mouth quirked into a lazy smirk.
Evie opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again as she swiftly debated whether or not she should take the nickname offensively; and she figured with the torn, ragged look the girl presented that she didn't care much for princesses. So she decided to be split on it.
"I would be more offended by your use of that title if I weren't actually a princess," Evie replied, now wondering what issue the girl had with princesses, and if she had the same issue with all royalty; considering the way she treated Ben, I wouldn't be surprised.
The right side of her mouth curled up to join the left in completing the girl's smile, and although Evie saw that the girl tried to cover it up and make it seem faux she could tell that it was genuine; Mal liked her response, and it almost seemed as though she had used the title in search of clarification. She thought I was a princess, but wanted clarification. She didn't know how she knew that, but she did. As she caught another glimpse of the girl's smile something jumped excitedly in her stomach with the knowledge that she had stolen a smile from the girl. I'm just as much of a thief as Jay, she stopped; okay, maybe not, that was such a terrible joke. She was glad she hadn't said it out loud, but at the same time, she found herself wanting to coax more smiles from the girl, curious as to what her full-on smile looked like; she bet it was beautiful.
"And no, by the way," Evie continued, hoping the girl would talk more after they had shared a smile. "I don't have a problem."
But Mal went back to giving her silent responses, only acknowledging what she had said with a small nod of her head before turning back around to look out the window again. She grasped for something that would require a verbal answer. Why is she so quiet? Why won't she talk to me? I'm going to be her roommate after all, she's stuck with me.
"Did your parents come with you?"
Even though it was slight, Evie saw the way Mal's muscles tensed and noted how her posture stiffened, and she immediately started panicking internally, worried she had hit a sensitive subject. She waited for an answer, holding her breath.
"I don't have parents," Mal deadpanned, her voice cold and lacking in every emotion outside of anger.
Evie knew she had pushed too far, but she also knew that she wouldn't have if the girl had been more open to conversation. She was highly frustrated with the way Mal was acting; frustrated with how she looked everywhere but at her unless it was only a brief glance; frustrated with the short, choppy answers she received; frustrated with the casual way Mal treated her as if she weren't even there, weren't even human. What happened to the staring you were doing earlier, huh? What happened to the fear and wonder that glued your eyes on me? She had seen every emotion swirling through the girl's glowing eyes when they had first made eye contact, and she had been able to tell with ease that Mal had been curious about her, that she had been just as intrigued as she was. What she couldn't understand was why the girl was acting the way she was when it was obvious how much interest she had originally found in her. It frustrated her into the state of hopeless confusion.
(Mal)
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be invasive. My mom isn't here with me, either," Evie spoke barely over a whisper.
Mal could feel the girl's gaze searing the area between her shoulder blades, she could tell she was staring at the dragons sewn into the material of her jacket, and she could feel that she felt terrible for bringing up a sensitive subject – though nothing was sensitive for Mal. She could feel the confusion and frustration coursing through the girl's body, the connection allowed her to do so. Before forming the connection between them she knew she would be able to feel the emotions bubbling inside the girl if she got close enough, and she found herself worrying that Evie could feel hers as well.
"Then stop asking questions," Mal shot back in panic, hoping her voice was cold enough to leave a bite. "I'll see you later, I need to go grab something."
Knowing she had to get out of that room – and quickly – she moved away from the window and swiftly closed the distance between her and the door, forcing herself to keep her gaze from wandering to the beautiful girl holed up in the room with her. You have to make her know you don't want her attention. But she did. You have to get her to stop wanting to talk to you. But she wanted her to. It was all she had to keep her gaze from straying as she strode across the room, opening the door and leaving with it slamming behind her.
Stopping just outside the door she could feel the broken feeling slamming into Evie's chest exactly as it slammed into her own. Fuck this connection, she thought, pushing passed the pain and moving out of its reach, letting the warm, relaxed feeling from being in Evie's presence slip through her fingers and welcoming the frozen, sharp impale of the blade that severed her heart and created an almost unbearable pain that surged through her; and it only increased the further she got from the girl.
She had no idea where she was going until she was hurling herself into the tree-line, her legs never ceasing movement until she was deep inside the forest where she collapsed, the pain from the brutally severed connection finally weakening her. It was worse than the last time, and she knew it was because the last time she was in the same room as Evie it had only been in her mist form; meaning she hadn't actually been there. Now that she had been realistically in the same room as Evie, and since she had left the girl to be drowned in her sadness, the break in the connection had all but torn a piece of her heart out with it; and she knew it had felt the same for the girl. If she kept leaving the girl on that note the pain would only continue to get worse. She remembered having read somewhere that a magically created connection between two people could either make them feel alive, or drag them into a state close to death, and with the way she was going about it she was currently hazardously driving them both to the cliff's edge. I can't stay here. I can't. I need to leave. I can't go through with this mission.
However, a severe pain shot through her chest and her stomach threatened to reintroduce the most recent food she had eaten when she thought about abandoning the mission. She wanted to, hell, she thought she needed to in order to spare them the inevitable pain to come, but something was stopping her. A vivid image of the guys' faces, those who had been standing outside of Evie's window dressed from head to toe in black, burglary clothing; the guys who had been planning to murder Evie in cold-blood. The pain intensified and she cried out into the night air, the only sound beside her scream being the rustle of the leaves from the light wind. She repeated it again, I can't, I can't, only this time, it meant the complete opposite; I can't leave her defenseless. She has no idea anyone's even after her. I can't leave her to be murdered by selfish, greedy agents. Her stomach dropped as the truth ran her mind over like a semi-truck could her body; like me. Agents like me. How am I any better? She shook her head, willing the pain to release its murderous hold on her. I'm not going to kill her. That's how I'm better. She's going to remain alive in my hands. But she couldn't even fool herself with that reassuring statement; but I was. I was planning on killing her. I'm not any better than them when it all comes down to it.
The pain, the thoughts, the nausea, it all decided everything for her.
I have to stay. I can't just leave her for the wolves to feast on. She could recall the first time she had thought about a teenage girl being the only capable one of activating the most powerful artifact, she could recall that she had thought Evie had to be extremely powerful in order to do so. But now she had met her, and everything, all her perspectives, had changed. Evie wasn't powerful. She didn't even know that the necklace held powerful magic inside it, and she definitely didn't know that she had powerful magic flowing through her veins. She was oblivious, and vulnerable because of it. I have to stay, Mal repeated to herself as the vicious grip began loosening from around her neck, slowly letting go of her entire body, one body part at a time. I have to stay. If I don't, Evie will be murdered before she even learns the truth about her life. Before she even learns the beauty of the magic desperately trying to ignite inside of her. And Mal found herself wanting to be the one to reach that magic inside of her, to be the one to ignite the fire deep within Evie.
Once the invisible grip released her completely she inhaled sharply, gasping for the air that had been stolen from her. She lifted her head and glanced over her shoulder in the direction she had come from, knowing she had to grab her bag from the tree and return to the room where the girl was. But she couldn't do it in her current state. She needed to calm down and ease her body from the recently experienced pain. This is going to be a whole hell of a lot harder than I thought. She spat the thick saliva coating her throat onto the dirt a foot in front of her, forcing her legs under her. I need a moment to think, to calm my mind. And with that, a sudden flurry of green and purple smoke surrounded her entire body as she transformed into her other form, claws pushing from the ground and wings spreading as she flew into the night.