Chapter 1
Joy. That was all they could feel. Joy, happiness, all the yellow and orange emotions… Hades damnit, did he just express his emotions in a healthy way? Huh. That’s new. Must be Jay rubbing off on him. Speaking of which, where is that handsome motherfucker?
He laughed, and giggled, and flapped his hands as he jumped- watching his friends dance and talk and laugh and… and be happy. Happy. They were all finally happy. As he was pulled into a mocking, fast-paced dance by Harry- he fully understood why. He could express himself, he could be him. Not her. Him. He was reminded of that every time he spoke with his friends… and he wouldn’t trade it for the world. Not even the hundreds of medications Gaston made him use. He could trade ‘normal’ for ‘happy’.
Laughing and talking with Gil and Carlos- he could never be happier. Scuba diving in rainforests was fun, yeah- but nothing could compare to being home. Home with his boyfriends. Gil was describing their encounter with “a shark as big as the castle!” And Carlos was listening intently. Probably spaced off, but who could tell when it came to him?
Gil was a mess- but a pretty mess. There should be a word for that. Metty? Press- no, that’s already a word. Metty. Yeah, that was it. Gil was a metty. Huh, the last time he was inventing words like this he was using the enchanted 3d printer for Jane! But she was over there, doing… things. So he could lose himself in Gil’s eyes. As he did with Jay. Completely normal stuff for bros to be doing.
He loved her. He loved the way her dresses spun when she danced, the way her violet hair always fell back in place, the way his bleached hair caught the lighting perfectly as he sat there, not nearly as poised and proper as Mal had taught herself to be. The way his tacky suits always managed to come through and look chic. The way- wait. He wasn’t talking about his wife, was he? He shook his head. “Snap out of it, Ben. You’re married,” he reminded himself. He glanced down at his ring- Hades had chipped off a bit of his ember to give him and Mal the ‘perfect rings.’ He had asked Hades why, to which he just got a pat on the back, a “if you ever leave her…” speech, and a “go get ‘em, tiger.” This memory hit him as he chugged down another cup of punch- spiked, courtesy of Harry and Uma.
“Enjoyin’ the punch, princey?”
Speak of the devil.
“I am, indeed, Uma.”
The pirate captain knocked some of the fancy glasses to the side, hopping up onto the table holding them. It was a long table draped with a pristine white cloth, wrinkled via Uma’s decision to jump on it at an odd angle.
She just laughed at him, head in her hands and her elbows on her knees.
“Is it the alcohol or that dog-boy making ya all spacey?” She stared, mouth curled into a grin.
Despite not being scared, he jumped. Preposterous!
“No! I love Mal, why else would I get married to her!?”
Uma simply sat up, leaning back and extending her legs in the air.
“I dunno, why’ya asking me of all people? There could be plenty of reasons. You’re feelin’ forced to, you’re in de-”
“I’m not in denial!” He cut in before she could even finish. This earned him an eyebrow raise and an odd look. Uma stayed like this for a minute, before getting bored and jumping back down to the ground.
“Right, well, I’m not going to be the one who helps with all of the… emotional shit. It’s your wedding day, princey! Go enjoy your life. And if ya don’t talk to dog-boy on your own, I may have to snatch ‘im up and throw ‘im in your room from the window!” Uma smirked, giving Ben a small salute before turning and joining Mal and her friends.
Ben was left stunned. He needed another drink. Was it a healthy coping mechanism? no. Was it a coping mechanism? Yeah. Was he going to enjoy having an escape from the horrors of his love life and the weird way some of Uma and Mal’s friends made him feel? Well, duh. That’s the whole reason he needs an escape mechanism in the first place.
It was only when he felt an arm lazily drape across his shoulders and a warm body press against his side that he stopped his binge drinking.
“Ay, that ain’t healthy for ya. And while I’m all for ya drinkin’ this fuck-hole away, It’s yer weddin’ day. Ain’t Auradon ‘spossed to be all fun n’ shit?”
“Hey, Harry.” He stated, busy moping. “Uma tell you to come… make me angry?”
A side-effect of him being drunk: forgetting words, slurring said words, and doing everything in what is accidentally the most seductive way possible.
“Ay, Benny-boy, I get if ye want me to bang ya and stuff- but I’m not gon’ do it while yer mopin’ ‘round like this. But, if ya ever-”
“NO!” He cut in, much like he did with Uma. Not in denial, huh?
Harry stood up, holding his hands up innocently.
“I hear ya, I hear ya… ye don’t need to get all fussy, Benny-boy. Sounds like ya might… I dunno, like me?” Harry smirked at Ben, causing the latter to down another cup full of 60% alcohol and 40% fruit juice. They were 19- an early age to get married, Ben knew- so any form of alcohol as a party beverage was frowned upon by his parents. It wasn’t illegal, per say, but many still considered it underage.
Harry huffed at the lack of actual reaction, plopping his head on Ben’s shoulder. At some point he had walked over to Ben’s front, which caused Ben to pause. That pretty, seductive asshole. He was uncomfortable, just not in the… normal way. Which Harry noticed, of course. He grinned up at the now-King.
“Aw, really? I’m flattered.”
Ben simply shoved Harry away, walking into the crowd of people. He had set his half-empty cup down, and Harry knocked it over. Uh-oh! The tablecloth! There certainly weren’t a million more just like it that hadn’t yet seen the light of day.
Harry snickered and walked over to Jay, Gil, and Carlos. He’d successfully made Ben run away, now let’s see who else he can torment.
“Jay-Jay! Long time no see, eh?” Harry would place his head on top of Jay’s.
Jay looked up at Harry, giving him a little sigh and a grin.
“Harry, I saw you less than twenty minutes ago.”
“Too long, I say! Besides- are ya gettin’ bored of me? I’m offended, bluejay!”
Jay let a breathy laugh out. “And how do you know what a bluejay is?”
“Let’s just say, I’ve been gettin’... close to Ben. Intimate, some might say.”
“Intimate and ‘unable to take a hint’ are two completely different things, airhead.”
“Pssh. You’re just jealous I’m actually gettin’ some action! Unlike you, ya virgin.” Harry playfully smacked Jay’s head as he teased them. To Harry’s absolute delight, this got a reaction out of Jay. The ideal reaction- which would be for Jay to pin Harry to a nearby wall- would most likely not be happening in this conversation, but at the very least Jay waved Harry away- sputtering out some bullshit excuse about how they were not, in fact, a virgin. Harry knew this, of course, but considering the fact that he had been the first one to ever sleep with Jay… Harry could tease them all he liked.
“Wait, what-!?” Carlos turned to them. He wasn’t as surprised with the conversation so much as he was surprised at how open Jay and Harry were with this topic. Harry more than Jay, but still. He was never that open with Jane!
Harry leaned on Jay’s shoulder. He enjoyed using people as body supports. “Ya surprised, Cai? Los? Carlitos? C-boo?” Harry made finger guns as his nicknames for Carlos got progressively worse and worse.
Carlos just cringed a bit. “Please… never call me that again.”
Harry shrugged as Carlos dodged the question. “Whatever ya say, dog-boy. To quote Uma.” He flashed a large grin, wiggling his eyebrows. To this, Carlos laughed a bit. He turned back to Gil, letting him continue talking.
Harry opted to continue to bother Jay, which soon devolved into an intense flirting session. At one point or another Carlos and Gil had run off to do whatever they usually did. He didn’t know; probably some nerdy-ass but incredibly cute shit. I mean, it’s what they did when others were around anyway. Why would that change?
So, as Harry sat there- having a flirting battle with Jay and letting his mind wander- he didn’t even realize the party was over until he was hopping back on his ship and blowing Jay a kiss goodbye. Which they promptly ‘caught’ and then pantomimed tearing up. Ah, how he loved them.
Jay was too busy tearing up the kiss Harry blew them to notice what was going on, or who was around them. It’s not their fault Carlos is like- a head shorter than them!
Oh, well. At least they caught him before he actually hit the ground?
(Jay would realize later that Carlos was in no danger of falling. Stumbling back a couple of steps at worst, and Carlos was agile as hell. So was anything going to happen to him? No. Was Jay looking for an excuse to hold Carlos outside of being used as his human heater? Yeah.)
“Woah-! Jay! Hi! Just- I was just looking for you! Want to head back to the dorms, or-”
“Yeah, dude! Just give me a-”
BONG
“-second.”
Oh, well. Looks like they used up their second, eh?
They turned back to Carlos, grinning stupidly. Carlos, ever the nervous one, just looked shocked. Or- surprised. Frightened? They weren’t sure. Maybe just dumbfounded. That strike of the clock meant it was midnight. And that they were out an hour later than Fairy Godmother permitted anyone to be, even her own daughter. So… they were screwed. Maybe. If she caught them, they were screwed. But they’re Isle kids. You can take the V.K. out of the Isle, but you can’t take the Isle out of the V.K. (for better or for worse), as they always said. So they did what you do on the Isle: run.
“Last one there’s gotta give Dude a bath!” Jay called, breaking out into a full-blown sprint. Carlos sputtered, calling Jay something akin to the Isle’s version of “asshole,” and followed. Carlos was the fastest of the group, that was just a known fact. But Jay got a head start- and even their abs have abs. As the kids say. Plus; they were not giving Dude a bath. Nuh-uh. No way. They had put up with the Common Mold- a virus that leaked in through the entrance to Wonderland- but who knew what sort of infections Dude had!? They didn’t. And they didn’t want to know, quite frankly. So they ran like there was no tomorrow.
They managed to get to their dorm first, Carlos not far behind. Bursting through the door, they collapsed onto the bed. Mal had enchanted it in the early days of their arrival at Auradon, so they didn’t need to lock it. It didn’t let anyone but them in.
Carlos tackled Jay to the bed, before just rolling over and letting his limbs spread out- successfully stretching and punching Jay in the face.
“De Vil!” Jay tsked, sitting up and shaking their head. “You did that on purpose, huh?”
“Huh-? Did what-?” Carlos played dumb; before bursting out laughing. He enjoyed nothing more than tormenting Jay in the friendliest way possible. And the feeling was mutual. Jay smacked Carlos in the arm, before rolling over and hugging him to their chest. They slept like this every night. They had gotten used to it on the Isle, and, well- can’t take the Isle out of the V.K., eh?
So as they tactically cuddled, Jay didn’t mind Carlos’s tossing and turning. He simply hugged the de Vil boy closer. And when they started holding Carlos closer out of nothing more than love for him, there wasn’t any actual romance behind it. Right?
Right?
Gil held Harry’s hand, happily talking him through the night. Harry was a good listener. He was an even better hugger, despite his reputation for being all dangerous and stuff. So Gil liked him. Maybe as more than a friend. Gil and Harry: boyfriends sailing the seven seas. He liked that.