The stables were quickly becoming a part of his life whether or not he wanted them to be. Watching as Carlos opened Mist's stall and walked in with a set of brushes, Jay decided it wasn't so bad. It was rare for the pup to be so confident, moving without fear around the huge animals, even letting them nudge him with their noses while they tried to figure out whether or not he'd brought treats. They'd only been in Auradon for two weeks and already every animal in the stables greeted Carlos in one form or another. Even Jay got a few greetings, though it was mostly from the cats who had apparently decided he was the only person, other than Carlos, they wanted to pet them. If the girls found out, Mal would start calling him sensitive again.

Checkers sat next to his leg, tail curled around her feet, as they both watched Carlos. Idly, Jay scratched behind her ears the way he'd seen Carlos do it and the cat purred. Even the girls were adjusting to Checkers and he'd caught Mal slipping the cat a piece of meat yesterday at dinner. Evie was planning a collar for her and always gave her some scraps or yarn to play with.

"I was only admiring it, not trying to steal it," a man's voice said, accompanied by the sound of hooves.

At the words, Carlos peeked out of the stall and looked at Jay. Had they just heard what they thought they'd heard? The man had sounded playful when he'd said it, but neither of them had heard the Auradon kids joke about that kind of thing.

A horse snorted and gave a sharp whinny.

"I'm wounded, Max. I haven't stolen a single thing since Rapunzel."

Another snort.

"That wasn't stealing. Those were free samples."

At the door, a huge white horse Jay recognized as Max from previous visits appeared with a man on its back. There was something in the man's smile and eyes that made Jay subtly check his pockets to make sure everything was still there. Carlos's eyes narrowed and Jay saw him adjust his vest to make it harder for anyone to steal from him.

As the man dismounted, each movement too fluid to be a noble, he moved like them, he added, "Besides, I can actually buy things. It isn't like I don't have money." The horse gave him a look and Jay swore it did the human equivalent of raising an eyebrow. "Not all of my money is stolen. I sold things." A snort answered him. "So some of the things I sold had been stolen, but the money I got selling them wasn't."

Shaking his head, the man turned to walk into the stables and finally spotted them. "Morning," he greeted. "Don't mind us. Max gets grumpy in the mornings if he doesn't get his apple."

Beside him, Max lifted his head to glare down at him, insulted.

"All good, man," Jay shrugged. Max wasn't usually in the stables, but Carlos had never mentioned him being a difficult horse to get along with. Well, he never said any of them were. All he'd say was that they had personality and Jay knew he adored them anyway. "Is he yours?"

Again, Max looked insulted even as the man said, "Yeah, you could say that," before immediately getting kicked. It wasn't hard enough to cause serious injury, but he would definitely have a bruise. Jay winced. "Okay," he wheezed. "He's a member of the Corona's guard."

Curious but wary, Carlos exited Mist's stall. "A horse can be a member of the guard?" he asked.

Catching his breath and giving Max a wide berth, the man nodded then thought about it. "Not all horses. Max is-" he glanced at Max who stared back at him, "unique." When he wasn't kicked again, he relaxed. "I'm Flynn by the way."

"Jay," Jay replied and nodded at Carlos. "And that's Carlos."

Flynn studied them and something like realization flickered in his eyes. But nothing in his posture changed as he said, "Nice to meet you."

Carlos had caught it too and eased a little closer to Jay, picking up Checkers as she rubbed against his leg.

Restless, Max butted his head against Flynn's shoulder and the man swatted him away with a, "Yeah, yeah. Let's get your saddle off."

Silence fell between them as Flynn began to untack Max and Carlos eventually returned to grooming Mist, though he stayed closer to the stall door to watch Flynn. After giving Max a few quick brushes and opening his stall for him, Flynn said, "I'm meeting with my girlfriend for lunch, so I'll see you arou-"

"Eugene!"

There was a bright laugh, a flash of gold and purple, and a girl nearly tackled him, arms wrapped around his chest. Eugene?

And then he realized Mal and Evie were standing in the doorway, confused. When he caught Mal's gaze she just shook her head. She had no idea what was happening.

"I was just about to head to lunch," Flynn? Eugene? told the girl.

When she pulled back a little, Jay saw her smile. "I made some new friends," she said, gesturing towards Mal and Evie. "I invited them to lunch."

At "friends" both he and Carlos looked at the girls. Evie gave them a confused smile and Mal just huffed. Who the hell was this girl?

Flynn? Eugene? Whoever he was, followed the girl's gesture and when he found Mal and Evie there was another flicker of realization. Like last time, nothing about his posture or expression changed. He turned to Jay and Carlos with a grin and shrug. "You two want to come?"

When Jay glanced at Mal's expression, she nodded. She had no idea what was happening, and she wanted the numbers. But she didn't look worried, just confused.

"This is so much fun!" the girl smiled as she skipped out of the man's arms, hair flowing behind her as she spun. "My first school lunch with friends!"

Oh gods, this could be an interesting day.