✨Blaschko’s lines ✨

posting the tags so i can add this panel bc he also married a woman visibly young enough to be his daughter (although bernard is definitely wrong, dana has to be older than twenty). not illegal but yk. really quick turnaround after janet's death so he clearly just wanted a woman in his life for a sense of normalcy and she was the one he spent the most time around post-surgery. from their time on page you can tell the relationship isn't that emotionally deep

okay maybe the lipstick would smudge a little

Being nonviolent is an important part of their character, and while it's interesting to ponder what could drive them to feel vindication or relief through violence, them doing so can't truly be construed as a positive development

or

"You run funny." 

Carlos stops running entirely. "Do not." 

Right. Weakness is a fate worse than death to the Isle kids. 

"Right," Ben says, looking carefully away. Eye contact is also a threat. He's got to look away, but stay alert. The most trustworthy position is shoulder-to-shoulder. Looking out, not looking at them. He knows this, now. "Of course not. If, hypothetically, you happened to want painkillers--" 

"I'm not dying." 

"You're allowed to take a painkiller before you feel like you're dying." 

"That's illegal." 

"I can assure you that it's not." 

Carlos laughs, soft and sharp and aimed mostly at the rubber-coated ground. "Name one law." 

Ben moves to hip check him, and stops short of making contact. Friendly roughhousing probably isn't the best idea if he's in pain, and it's an even worse idea if he's refusing to admit it. "Auradon Sovereignties law 56.A7, prohibits indentured servitude without pay, except for punishment after a crime convicted in a court of law"

"I set that bar too low." 

"You did," Ben agrees. "I can give you more, if you'd like." 

"Sure." 

"Auradon Sovereignties educational law, section 16.4.7. Says that all students must be given equal opportunity to participate in school-funded sports."  

"Bullshit." 

"For the purposes of that law," Ben says evenly. "Competition leagues, such as A.U.R.O.A.R.A. aren't school-funded. The schools can choose to have parents contribute to a private team that just happens to meet on school property." 

Carlos looks up just enough to flash him a sharp little smile. "So we're cheating the system. Competing on the R.O.A.R team." 

"You're scholarship students. There's a fund. Some generous donor gave a lot of money to make sure that Isle kids-- you guys, and the ones we're going to get out in the future-- can all play on whatever teams you want." 

A laugh. Good. He's not in so much pain he can't be distracted. "Is this generous donor in the room with us?"

"The donor set up the fund through an anonymous charity," Ben admits. "And uh, funneled the money through a fundfriend account that was closed a month after."

"Your dad must've been pissed." 

"He blames the Charmings, actually. They’re known Isle sympathizers. Chad has a baby sister, have you met her yet?" 

Carlos glances up at him. They're still walking on the track, but they're coming around the corner towards where their stuff is, so they'll be able to stop soon. If Ben can distract him enough, he might even win the painkiller argument this time. "M' not allowed off school property, so unless she's old enough to be here..." 

"She's at the junior school. Chloe. She, uh, bit me. When we were kids." 

That wins him a laugh. "So she's down to commit treason. Sounds like a cool kid."  

 Ben grins. Chloe really is a cool kid. The sort of little sister that he'd want, if he had one. He’s never resented his parents for leaving him an only child, but it’s hard not to wonder what his life might be like with a little brother or sister. "Yeah. She is. She's really into R.O.A.R, too. I used to spar with her over summer break, when Chad and I would hang out, and one time she saw a close opening and chomped down on my arm. I think I've still got a scar." 

Carlos's eyes flicker up to Ben's face, there and back again quicker than a flea hops up and down on a donkey's back. 

"I--" 

He stops. 

Ben keeps talking. He knows some tricks now, and silence has never made any of the Isle kids want to talk more. "Chloe used to get so mad about us being in the military academy all summer long. When we were out on the weekends she'd beg and beg for us to play with her. I think we must've broken fifty practice swords that summer." 

Carlos stops. "How old?" 

"What?" 

His voice grates. "How old were you? When you broke swords. With the Charmings." 

"I-- thirteen, maybe?" 

Logically, it can't be possible. Ben's never left Auradon, and up until last year, Carlos has never left the Isle of the lost. It shouldn't be possible, but the VKs do impossible things like they're trying to beat the Wonderland record. Before them, nobody had ever managed to get a schoolwide ban on superglue put into place. Nobody had ever heard Fairy Godmother curse before, and now all it takes is a glass and a key to the supply closet next to her office. The VKs make impossible things happen all the time, so why shouldn't that extend to impossible things that hurt them?