We're Rotten... To the Core.

evie had to admit that sometimes it was hard being around her friends. they had more knowledge about her than even she did and it sometimes wasn’t fun to catch their expressions. the ones that were sad she wasn’t - well herself. but she was grateful to have them anyway. she liked having friends. 

evie smiled brightly when she looked up and spotted his white blonde hair, dropping down beside her. she hugged him back, happy to just be around her friend. “carlos! hey!” she greeted, setting her sketchbook aside. “i’m alright i guess. school is stressful. and work. i’ve been working extra shifts to save some money up. i don’t wanna stay in the dorms longer than i have to,” she chuckled. “how are you? i’ve missed you too. i’m sorry i kind of disappeared.”

“You’ve been busy.” The male noted with a small grin and a tilt of his head. It was honestly - very much like the Evie he knew, putting her all into everything. “You are remembering to take care of yourself though right?” There was a hint of concern in his voice when he asked, always wanting to make sure his freinds were alright. 

“I’m alright, I’ve been looking around - searching and stuff - trying to find out more of what I can about how we got here - why and well, why some of us remember things others don’t.. Its curious but, answers are hard to find I guess..” He sat up slightly, thinking for a moment, “You wouldn’t happen to have seen a small dog at all right? About - this big, a little scruffy but real friendly.Answers to the name ‘Dude’.” It was a stretch he knew but, of all those he hadn’t yet seen - Dude was the one he was concerned for. Mal, Evie, Jay they were all safe and sound here as far as he had seen.

“i’m not sure if that’s reassuring or not, to be honest.” belle replied with a small smile. “auradon? where’s that? i’ve never heard of such a place. i want to get home too. my family are all there.”

“you clearly do“ marie smiled back. she shook her head,“i just like it. retail therapy, ya know. what about you? what brings you to this store? looking for something….“ she looked at him, “..leather?“

Carlos gave a small laugh, shaking his head slightly, “You remind me of a friend of mine - although she tends to make most of her own clothing.” He paused before shrugging his shoulders slightly, “Honestly - I was just looking for ideas more than anything else.. sometimes I like taking a peek at others designs and putting my own.. twist on things.” A small smile appeared on his face at the thought, “Although I do have a small thing for leather, its a habit I have yet to break.”

“neither have i… i am, yes. can i ask where you were from before this?”

the day following the ball, marie was just kind of in a daze. that night was probably one of the most frightening of her life. those dogs were terrifying but only like an hour after it started, they disappeared. she was scared and confused and as she left she heard people saying things about krampus. was that the thing that was on the stage? it made sense but she thought it was just a scary tale. 

all that aside, she tried to get back to normal and make herself feel better by going shopping. after a little bit, she had a good amount of items hanging off her arm. she remembered a shirt she saw at the front of the store and went to get it. she was about to grab it when some of the clothes started to slip off, she crouched fast to try to keep them on her arm. without looking, she grabbed the shirt and was beginning to stand back up when she heard someone talking to her. “thanks but i think i know what i look good in.” she said politely, no hit of sass in her tone. she began readjusting all the items on her arm and realized the shirt she’d grabbed was actually the wrong one. she looked at the guy, back at the shirt, then back at him, giving him an awkward smile. “okay, i stand corrected.” she put the shirt down and grabbed the correct one. “thanks.”

It was always a nice feeling when he could be even a little helpful, helping others was so much easier than actually working on helping himself. Weird perhaps, but he preferred it that way. Even if it was just for a small thing, a small moment when he could do something to help. Even if - in this case it was something small. The fact that he got to use his knowledge of fashion, of colours - something he usually would share with Evie - well, it certainly helped and it put a small smile on his face.

“You’re welcome.” He spoke quietly, offering a small shake of his head and another little smile. “My friend - she says I have an eye for these kinds of things - are you picking it out for something? Or .. just cause you like it?” It couldn’t hurt to start a conversation right?

                 despite his first impressions of the ball, jay had to admit it was becoming more enjoyable as the night progressed. eventually, he even found himself toward the center of the ballroom, socializing, dancing, and just having an all around good time. all the while, though, he couldn’t help but think about his friends. his instincts had always been to protect them, so with everything going on, he was definitely worried. but evie had mentioned mal and carlos’s names even without having any memory of them so he held out hope that they were around somewhere.

                he was in the midst of a large crowd of people when he felt a tap on his shoulder and, despite being mid-conversation with someone, he immediately spun around to see who it was. a bright, toothy grin appeared on his face when his eyes settled on a familiar freckled face. “carlos!” he yelled, surprise and excitement evident in his voice. “I’m so happy to see you, man, you have no idea! but wait–” interrupting himself, jay bent down slightly to look skeptically into the other’s eyes, “you remember me, right? you’re not gonna act all weird like evie did?” 

If it hadn’t been for the fact that Carlos knew both Evie and Mal had been going to go to this thing, Carlos wouldn’t have pushed himself into going at all. It wasn’t his kind of thing, even if he enjoyed being able to dress up for it, balls were well - strange still to the De Vil boy. He felt uncomfortable, out of place really. Sure he had been having some fun, but it wasn’t the same - he still felt a little odd. Like it was a game of pretend or something.

But the familiar sight of his other friend, and Carlos was off - moving through the crowd with ease. Memories or not, this was Jay - he knew that, just like Evie - Just like Mal. With their Memories or not, he knew his friends - his family.

evie turned when she heard the familiar voice, a bright smile gracing her features. she felt like they hadn’t seen each other in awhile and he hadn’t asked her to help him with his outfit. she was impressed at what he had come up with though. “you look so good!” she exclaimed happily. “i’m great. this all has been so much fun. do i look alright?” she asked, looking down at her blue dress with red embellishments. “are you having fun?

Carlos’s own face lit up as his eyes met her own, he was damn proud of his outfit. After so long back home that he had spent helping Evie plan and make outfits for himself, their friends and then in Auradon many others - he was pretty confident that he had done a good job and was looking forward to show Evie what he had done. To make her proud. “Do you really think so? Its alright?” He gave a slight turn of his own, a grin tugging onto his face, “You look amazing Eves!” He held a hand out for her, “Like always, as for me - no real fun yet - but now I have some company, I should have more fun”

A ball. He was at a ball - without being forced there. It was - crazy really, that this new world - this place he had found himself in, that he’d end up at a ball of all things. That wasn’t to say that this one was all that bad, it was even a little fun - at least he had Mal and Evie, even if Evie didn’t yet remember him - it was still his Evie, there was no doubt about that at least. A small smile tugs onto the freckled boys face, he was more than glad to have his girls around. But he missed everyone else - particularly Jay. He missed his partner in crime.

It had taken him awhile before he had allowed himself to actually show up, not that he wasn’t ready - he had actually planned on coming to the ball. He was invited after all, and the last thing he wanted was to be rude and not actually make an appearance. But he did get a little nervous. What if he didn’t run into anyone he knew? Would he just be on his own for the whole thing? Now that would be a little embarrassing. 

“washington dc… right, okay. do you know a place called prosien? or atlantica? i need to get back.”

Carlos was trying to work out what he was going to wear for the ball that was coming up, as much as he was truly questioning the whole thing. He rarely let a chance go to dress up and show off a new outfit, it was something that himself and Evie had in common and both loved to look their best. But this time it was a little harder for him, as Evie’s memories weren’t back yet, he was trying his best to come up with something herself. Which was how he found himself now searching shops for new materials. “Hey hold on a second!” He called out, reaching over to pick up what he had already been looking at, moving towards the girl. “I’d suggest a different color for you personally - no offence.”

An invitation for a ball, of all things, it was something he hadn’t expected at all, it was a strange thing to have suddenly, but maybe there could be some fun involved. If nothing else - he was having fun trying to come up with an outfit to wear, it was something he would usually do with Evie but for now he was off on his own looking around for ideas. At least he had been, until he took a mistep and stumbled into someone, “Oh - I’m so sorry, are you quite alright?”

harry never had an issue with where he was. so long as he had access to his hook and his sword he could always o what was best for him and survive. and that was exactly what the pirate had been doing in the strange new town. he was able to collect a large sum of loot from random weaklings in the town and it had easily been enough for the male and his captain to get by on.

but the opportunity to torment someone from home was something that the male was not about to pass on at all. especially when he spotted the smaller white haired boy.

“surprise we’re here too, you’re not free of us yet.” he snarled as his hand remained on the hitch of his sword. “few months, uma’s around here somewhere. probably off doing the same thing that i am.” the male sneered at the white haired boy. “gil, well he’s off somewhere, he was only just found. what about your traitor friends? where are they all at?”

Time seemed to be the only real fix to how Carlos was feeling about this Washington place, he was slowly getting used to things but some things well.. they weren’t all that easy to adjust to. Not having some people he was used to around him was certainly the worst part, at least for him. 

He held back a sigh as he stared back at Harry, this was a familiar thing - perhaps not really comforting but it was familiar. Something he was used to, something he knew how to handle even on his own.