morning glow.

Looking up, Hook looked at the grown man in front of him and wondered why he looked slightly familiar. Not making the official connection, she shook his head before looking down at his map once more. “I’m working.” He answered simply. “What do you need?” 

Henry should have realized that the pirate wouldn’t have recognized him, but the old memories were too much for him to comprehend.  “Working on what?”  He asked, raising an eyebrow.  “Just wanted to make sure I wasn’t mistaking this for some other ship.  I should’ve known, I can smell a codfish from a mile away.”

Hadley smiled brightly as she pulled away and she shook her head. “God, I love you.” Hadley said softly before looking around at the party. Now that it was midnight, people were starting to disappear so she just held out her hand. “You want to go back to my place? We can sit on the roof and watch the stars? I’m not exactly tired and sleeping now would just take time away from spending time with you.” she teased before wiggling her fingers. “we can go get greasy fast food too and get out of these clothes.”

“I love you more.”  Cecily purred, taking Hadley’s hand with a soft smile.  She loved parties as much as anyone, but she was kind of relieved to see that people were clearing out.  “Well, I am on a diet, but I guess there’s no better cheat day than New Year’s.  Besides, sitting on the roof with you sounds like exactly what I need right now.”  She grinned, wrinkling her nose slightly.

“Should have started with that.” the younger sibling rolled her pushing in and handing over the bottle. Moving in with quiet force the brunette leaned against one of his chairs and focused back on her brother. “Do you wanna know what I found while I was at work today?”

“Well, at least now you know for next time.  Should I get glasses for this or are we just gonna drink straight from the source?”  Julian teased, taking the bottle as his sister walked in.  “Please, the suspense is killing me.”

“I say so.” She bopped his nose with a soft smile and laugh. “I think Elise might just take to being a baker. Either that or she just really loves playing with the batter.” Letting her hands run over his arms Marion clasps their hands together to walk out of their room. “I’m up. You’re up. Lets eat some cake.”

“Hm, it might be nice to have a baker in the family.  There will never be a shortage of sweets around here.”  He chuckled softly, holding her hands in return.  “Cake sounds just about perfect right now.”  He smiled, not letting go of her hands as he made his way toward the kitchen.  “Have I missed any other notable things today?”

“Hope so. These pictures could open a lot of doors for me.” Mason just wanted to prove himself and show that he could accomplish this dream of his, no matter how much work it might’ve taken. Hearing his father’s agreement, Mason smiled before nodding his head. “Water sounds good. Have to keep hydrated to keep up with you.” Mason teased a bit, letting out a light laugh. 

“Well, I’m sure you have wonderful opportunities ahead of you.  I can’t think of anyone more deserving.”  Robin chuckled, filling up a glass with water and sliding the glass across the table.  Shaking his head, he replied,  “Please, my skills aren’t what they used to be.  I’m slowing down in my old age.”  He joked, reaching for his back as if he was in pain.  “My old bones can’t handle it anymore.”

“I’m sure things will pick up. I think introducing us Isle kids is gonna stir up the rule breaking side of the Auradon kids a bit.” She spoke with a small laugh. “Well, you’ll have to keep me updated on what happens with her. See if she’s good enough for my brother.” Ginny teased a bit. “Indeed. Usually Jasper is busy with his work, and Helene has school, so I keep myself entertained.” 

“I mean, if Addie’s any indication, royals are starting to rebel all on their own.”  Trip chuckled softly, rolling his eyes.  “I don’t need you to tell me who’s good enough and who’s not good enough, Gin.  I’m a big boy, I can make my own decisions.”  He joked, running a hand through his hair.  “Well hey, you’re always welcome to hang out at the shop.  I could always use the company.”

addie couldn’t imagine what trip was going through. how gothel even found him when he was a baby was a mystery to her considering from what imari told her; the porter’s lived in the literal jungle. “maybe after dinner you can come over?” she suggested before smiling. “my parents are out of town for the weekend so you wouldn’t have to worry about running into them. my sister may be home, but she’s nice. we can play mario kart or something? i have a lot of video games and movies. just to help get your mind off stuff. or if you wanna vent or whatever. me and my chameleon, pastel, are great listeners.” she squeezed his hand back before smiling slightly. “no need to thank me.”

Trip didn’t even want to think about how Gothel found him.  The lengths she was willing to go to in order to make someone miserable always astounded him, and as far as he could tell, she didn’t even have anything to gain from taking him.  He just wished he could get the answers without having to speak to her, because it was clear that he never wanted to do that again.  He looked over at Addie, a smile on his face.  “You had me at Mario Kart.”  He chuckled softly before his eyes went wide.  “Back up, you have a chameleon?”

Tarzan didn’t know how to talk to the person in front of him, mostly because he just didn’t know if there was something he should say. Pausing in what he was doing, Tarzan looked over the tattoos on Trip’s arm, actually finding them to be quiet impressive. “Wow, that’s pretty amazing.” He commented, giving a small smile before finishing up his bandage. It was interesting to think of the fact that the art gene had even carried into Trip. “How long have you been doing it?” 

Trip couldn’t help but smile.  Although the situation was awkward to say the least, he couldn’t help but enjoy the other man’s company.  “Thanks.”  He smiled, rolling his sleeves back down to cover his arms.  “Oh man, as long as I can remember.  I had to make ends meet on the Isle somehow, so it’s been going on for a while.”

Noah had just been walking to Aurelia’s from school, like he always did, and was completely in his own head when he heard his name. But not just his name, his name from Neverland. A name that no one called him here. Noah just turned around and eyed the adult, not recognizing him before really looking into his features and seeing similarities. “Uh…” he knew his real name. He did know it and he was blanking on it but it felt weird to call him Twin 1. “Henry!” he finally said, proud of himself for remembering. He had spied on him a few times growing up when he’d come out with Peter. “Look at you. All….grown up.”

Hearing his real name come out of the young man’s mouth caused his eyes to go wide.  After all, he’d only started to go by it after he’d left Neverland, which he supposed could only mean one thing.  He wanted to be surprised that they spied on him, but he couldn’t.  He knew that it was in their nature.  “Uh...  Yeah.  It’s been a while, I guess.”  He nodded, taking another look at his former friend.  Nothing had changed at all.  “What are you doing here?  I never thought I’d see you again, definitely not outside of Neverland.”  

Edmond nodded and just took a few deep breaths to calm himself down before talking again. He wanted to be able to talk as clearly as he could before continuing. “I-I’m sorry.” he apologized finally, a smile on his face. “I d-didn’t mean to turn it a-all about me. It’s just….you and I…d-don’t get me wrong I love G-Ginny and B-Bones and I have a d-different bond but..” he shook his head. “I-it’s just scary thinking about h-how your best friend for life isn’t r-really what you thought he w-was. You know?” he asked before smiling softly. “H-how are you holding up? I m-mean what are your….I mean y-you can vent too.”

“Hey, don’t be sorry.  I get it.”  Trip nodded, offering a soft smile.  As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he was scared too.  He didn’t want things to change, and although he was trying to convince himself that it wasn’t going to, he couldn’t help the nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach. He just had to ignore it.  “Trust me, I know.”  He looked down and let out a soft sigh before continuing.  “I’m scared too, Eds.  I mean, it’s like everything I knew was a lie.  Mom sucked, but at least I knew she was my mom.  Now that’s not even true.”  He shook his head.  “And what she did was awful, but on the bright side, if she hadn’t done it I wouldn’t have had the best brother ever.”

Tarzan was used to dealing with wounds like this, especially after living in the jungle, but he also learned that all animals had a reaction to blood. Tarzan started to walk, making his way to the back area of the zoo, not sure to what to say. Grabbing the supplies he needed, he was quiet for a moment before finally deciding it was time to say something. “So, what is it that you do, Trip?” Tarzan asked, starting to wrap up his arm. Was small talk actually going to help? Probably not, but it was all he had right now. 

Trip wasn’t often quiet, but this was an obvious exception.  Being faced with someone who could have been a huge part of his life, but who he was just now meeting for the first time, was something that shocked him speechless.  So, he decided to stay quiet until Tarzan finally spoke.  “I’m a tattoo artist.”  He replied with a soft smile, rolling his sleeves up to show off the designs on his arms.  “Designed them all myself.”