thank god for the sun.

He squinted his eyes at Dig and smirked. “I promise. You won’t be.” He chuckled and shook his head before using his ice powers to make a replica of him. Once he finished making the human version of him, he decided to do another one of him in his fish form. “Done.” He stated looking back at Dig.

when dignan stopped, ceridwen came to a quick halt as well. she twirled her finger a bit, absentmindedly playing with the bubbles of water at her sides. she stopped playing with the water as soon as she had room to speak, and zip hummed a, “don’t be sorry. i expected as much when i came here. i somewhat knew what my mother had done a few weeks prior, yet i still chose to attend … it is fine.” she offered the slightest of smiles, and blu continued, “nonetheless, thank you. i hope you are right.” she nodded, laughing a silent laugh at his last remark. “indeed, you are. ursula is so been there, done that,” zip joked; ceridwen gave a playful roll of her eyes, flourishing her hand around a bit for dramatic effect. “— but … thank you, dig. i truly appreciate it — even if you did stalk me because of my eels.” she smiled.

it was still strange hearing her thoughts come out of one of the eels instead of her own mouth. he wondered what ceridwen’s voice would sound like if she had one. now that he knew she was ursula’s child, he also wondered if her voice had been taken from her. 

she looked up when he repeated her father’s old nickname for her. “i mean, yeah, if you want, i guess. i don’t mind,” she said with a small shrug. she understood that her name was a bit of a mouthful. she folded one of her papers over, then tucked it into one of her folders. she looked up at him, squinting slightly as he went on about nicknames. she rolled her eyes at his laughter, though it was lighthearted. “how about no?” she laughed a bit, herself. “— dig. darcy and i don’t need nicknames. we’re just … darcy and astoria. we’re fine.” she shook her head in amusement.

“very true, very true. that’s always a plus,” blu said, lightheartedly. ceridwen couldn’t help but laugh a bit ( a silent laugh was still a laugh, after all ). “at least they were good sports about it. there are some people i know who would have flipped out.”

ceridwen blinked as the pebble went skipping across the pavement. she had to refrain from playing with the water bubbles at her sides ( a nervous habit of hers ), as to not make the boy any more wary of her than he probably already was. she nodded when he stated who his father was. “i figured as much — well, that you were probably at the dance. i wouldn’t have guess who your father is, though,” zip admitted, and ceridwen ran a hand through her blonde and green-streaked hair. she looked up at him once he made his last comment. “i am … not my mother,” zip said, “but that won’t stop people from being wary of me. it’s reasonable, especially with the most recent … midsummer ball, was it?” she nodded. “it’s understandable.” it wasn’t what she wanted, not at all, but it was understandable.

he still couldn’t help but feel bad. aside from the awkward first impression, they were getting along -- heck, he was even getting along with the eels. “...yeah, midsummer ball,” he nodded, confirming. 

Ranon brightened when she saw the boy. She was pretty sure his name was Dignan (though, she never really knew how to pronounce that, just that she saw his name in the patient registry once or twice). “Never say never,” she singsonged before laughing. She nodded bashfully, though her smile never dimmed. “It is! I found it in my locker along with the bag of chocolates! The gesture was so sweet and adorable! I mean, OBVIOUSLY, I want to know who it is. I just don’t know where to start.”

“perfect. that will be great, thank you,” blu said, and ceridwen offered a small smile as she looked around at the buildings. she looked back to him when he began to explain the story, and she couldn’t help but allow a small smile to take place upon her lips. “that sounds very unfortunate,” zip said with a bit of a laugh. ceridwen’s expression had already returned to it’s usual void-of-emotion look. “did any of the girls catch you?” he added.

she noticed the boy’s slight change in demeanor, and she stiffened a bit, herself. “ursula,” zip stated, plain and simple. ceridwen looked away from dignan.

“...it wasn’t that unfortunate. i mean, i’m alive,” he joked. “and yeah i was, actually -- one of them screamed when they saw me and the other was the one who shooed me out. they were both good sports about it, though.” 

“mhm. okay, dig,” she teased, laughing softly as he swatted at her pencil. she went back to her writing, though still listened intently as dignan spoke. crinkling her nose, she glanced up at dignan. “ria?” she shook her head. she was a picky one, truly. she paused. “now that i think about it, my dad used to call me stori. the nickname was lost before i even reached the age of ten, though.” she shrugged. “i mean… yeah, i guess, but …” she would be lying if she said that darcy wasn’t one of her closest friends, but she wasn’t about to admit as much — not with their current situation, at least. “— but dig is, like … everyone calls you dig. darcy and i don’t have nicknames.”

Ranon popped one of the chocolates into her mouth, turning over the envelope in her hand over and over again. She hummed happily before taking the note out for the umpteenth time. As she read, an innocent, bashful little smile spread across her lips. “I— I never got anything like this. It’s the cutest thing in the world,” she said as she felt a presence arrive. She looked up and shrugged. “Have you ever had a secret admirer?”

Mason paused and busted out laughing at the incident. “Dig, that was years ago before I found a way to control my powers. I promise you. I have them under control now. Want me to prove it? I’ll make a sculpture that looks exactly like you or whatever the hell you want.”

astoria smiled, glad to see her friend so happy. it was nice, how comfortable she was talking to dignan; forever study buddies, discussing the boy in her astronomy class. it was a rare, peaceful moment in the land of auradon. “those red ears of yours say otherwise,” she teased, reaching over to poke his ear with her pencil. she laughed. she went back to her paperwork for the time being, up until dignan spoke again. “a nickname? no, my name isn’t really … made for nicknames? i’m not a fan of being called tori — and asty?” she answered, making a face. still, she didn’t look up from her documents until the second question came. she paused. “… no?” she said slowly, finally looking up at him. “why would he?” she made another face, shaking her head.