Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Gina released a loaded sigh as she ran her fingers over Nini’s Cottilion dress— it was four in the morning and Nini was fast asleep, after a long day of interviews. Gina’s mind, however, had been endlessly racing. So much so that she couldn’t bring herself to rest. The only thing she could do to keep her mind from being busy was to keep her agile fingers even busier.

She was safe, and she knew that— she was in Auradon now, where her mother could never reach her again, and with her three best friends, Nini, Carlos, and Jet. She was good— they were good! Not because someone had forced them, but because this was the life they had now chosen for themselves and it felt great to be able to choose. 

She had a wonderful life here so far— she had a boyfriend who actually cared about who she was underneath the pretty face and bad girl persona for once. 

Jack was by no means the son of a prince, (actually quite the opposite) but still, he was as sweet as they came, and he treated her like a princess. All the people at school started to be nicer, and even more than that, the country that had hesitantly opened its gates started to accept her and her friends once they proved their goodness. 

Somehow she still felt bothered. By a myriad of things. 

She didn’t miss her old life— definitely not— it wasn’t that, even though she did feel terribly for the other innocent villain kids driven to lives of poverty and crime because of their circumstances. She certainly didn’t miss her that her mother was superficial and made her believe her looks were all that mattered— she still was affected by that every time she looked in the mirror and noticed a scar or the formation of acne, pretty much anything that indicated “imperfection”. 

Her mother’s words still had so much effect on her. She heard them in her ears every time she looked at Ricky— the way her heart churned in his presence— the way her mouth went dry whenever she looked at him too long— it had her mother inked all over. 

It was exactly the same feeling she had gotten the moment she first saw him. Back when her mind had still been power and position driven. She remembered his words as clear as day—

“Pleasure to meet you all, I’m Ricky.”

“Prince Richard! Soon to be king!” The screeching voice of his ex-girlfriend, Lily, chirped and Ricky smiled awkwardly. 

“You had me at Prince,” Gina whispered. “My mom’s a queen, so… That makes me a princess.” She smiled at him, hoping to win him over with that— she cringed thinking about it now. 

She cringed thinking about how badly she wanted to please her mother. How she thought Ricky of all people would be impressed with titles and how she only saw him as a prize to win, something to satiate Terri (which was the Evil Queen’s real name if anyone was taking notes) long enough that she’d take her eyes off Gina so she could breathe . 

Even if it was a polite smile, he smiled back, and that made her heart leap. She had curtseyed at once— her mother had taught her all about royalty and customs that were suitable for exchanges with them. Her head was still tipped as she continued, “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Prince Ricky.” 

“The Evil Queen actually has no royal status here. And neither do you.” Lily replied, still smiling from ear to ear, and Ricky only frowned as Gina did, backing up a little closer to her friends. Anything to feel a small semblance of stability. She had thought the people of Auradon were known for being nice. She guessed there were mean people everywhere. Not just back home. 

As Fairy Godmother continued introductions and left, dismissing the band, Gina was taken with Ricky, or rather, taken with the crown he represented. He, however, seemed taken with someone else. 

She saw the way they looked at each other. Nini and Ricky. The way she laughed at his joke about his over-the-topness. She was always good at telling when two people liked each other, no matter how much Nini denied her attraction to him when they were alone in their new bedroom without the boys. 

She had wished Nini was telling the truth when she said she felt nothing for Ricky but she knew her best friend, and she also knew when she was lying. The last time she had seen her like this was when she had briefly liked the son of Captain Hook back home— a nobody really, just Harry Hook, a flirt from the docks, but Nini worked hard to hide her blush against her cream skin whenever they argued (just a fancy, more villainy word for flirting). 

Gina tried to ignore the drop in her mood and pursued another prince— Prince EJ, son of Cinderella— if she couldn’t have Ricky she could at least make her mother happy, right?  

And when Nini gave Ricky the love potion that Gina helped make and she felt those dreaded feelings well up in her again she pursued EJ even harder, which ended up not working out at all.

EJ was a raging asshole despite his sweetheart of a mother and Gina was slowly learning that even heroes could produce villains. That was when she saw Jack— or rather, Jack saw her— the sweet son of one of her mother’s sworn enemies. 

Jack believed in her, even when no other hero (other than Ricky) seemed to. Focusing on Jack numbed the clench in her heart— more Jack, less Ricky— she liked that the dwarf’s son distracted her. Significantly more Jack, significantly less Ricky— and vis versa if she let it happen, which she never did— her equation had worked wonders. Until recently. 

She found herself understanding things about Ricky that Nini just struggled to get— she understood his passion for politics, why he had to be in the limelight, why everyone wanted to know what was going on with Nini as his girlfriend— if all went well she was going to be these people’s queen for crying out loud, she had to make a good impression. 

It was all too overwhelming for Nini who just wanted to withdraw, write songs, and hang out with her friends that reminded her of simpler times back at home— she didn’t want to be in the limelight or be interviewed by Aladdin and Jasmine about stocks and trading negotiations, peace treaties and plans for the future. Nini was still using her damn evil spellbook to please Ricky for God’s sake. 

Gina often found herself uniquely frustrated with her best friend because she always felt like she had the perfect answers to the questions that Nini stumbled over. Sometimes Nini couldn’t even answer properly what she liked most about Ricky. Gina had that answer perfectly—

She liked how kind his eyes were. Even since the day they met. He didn’t know her at all, she could’ve been a murderer back in The Isle for all he knew, but he smiled at her. His eyes smiled. It was like her past didn’t even matter to him because she never had a real chance to be good until now, and she liked being good. She liked Ricky. 

But now that Gina knew that the feelings could be quelled, she knew for certain she only felt these feelings about Ricky as sickly residue from her mother’s constant idolization of royalty. It was a part of her now. A part of her that she’d have to deny, and continue to deny until it went away completely. 

Deny, deny, deny. She repeated in her head as she threaded the needle— Ricky’s stupid smile. Deny. Ricky’s curly hair that looked so soft to the touch and fluffy. Deny. Ricky’s sweet singing voice and warm welcoming brown eyes. Deny, deny, deny, deny, deny, de— 

“Ow!” She yelped as her finger was pricked red, fresh with blood from the needle that she accidentally stabbed into herself, immediately she stuck her finger into her mouth to calm the pain and stop the bleeding, and when she took it out she mumbled, “Maybe now I’ll finally be able to fall asleep like Lily’s mom.” She stretched in her seat, and then a deep yawn overtook her.

“What about Lily’s mom?” Nini murmured, stretching and then turning in Gina’s direction rubbing her eyes. 

“I pricked my finger on a needle, so I was saying that maybe I’ll finally be able to get to sleep like Lily’s mom did.” Gina turned around in her chair to face Nini, scooping up her layers of dark blue curls and tucking them into a bun on the top of her head. 

Nini chuckled. “Don’t let Fairy Godmother hear that joke, or worse yet,” Nini gasped, and then leaned forward, sitting up slightly in her bed, “Princess Lily— Oh no!” She groaned and threw herself backward with a hand on her forehead, which caused Gina to giggle.

“Yeah, like Lily can hear me from her lofty palace.” She mumbled, turning back to her work, casting her little light down directly on it again. 

“Do you think she’s ever gonna come back?” 

“To Auradon Prep?”

“Mhm.” 

Nini sounded worried. As much as she didn’t like Lily, she didn’t want to be the reason someone left the school— they were already literally seen as the bad guys, and they didn’t need that added to. As her best friend, it was Gina’s job to calm her nerves. 

“Of course. Lily has a sick need to be a Queen bee. She can’t do that at homeschooling. There's no peasants to have power over.” 

Nini let out a burst of laughter. “You’re probably right.”

“I’m definitely right.” She looked back briefly at Nini to say with a smirk. 

There was a beat of silence as Gina got back to her work before Nini asked, “How’s the dress coming along?”

“It’s coming along well, thanks for asking.” Gina smiled.

“Great… Just great… ” Maleficent's daughter sighed, running her fingers restlessly through her purple hair, hair that only had small peekaboo pieces of lingering brown in the back. 

Gina knew she wanted to say something else— something was prodding at her, but Gina also wouldn’t force it out of her— she’d let her say it in her own time. She just turned back to look at her with one eyebrow quirked upward as if to ask, “What’s up?” as a small nudge. 

“Just… hate blue and gold. That’s all.” Gina gave her a hurt look— blue was her signature color. “On me.” Nini rushed to defend herself when she realized her mistake. “Blue looks much better on you than me.”

Gina smiled content with her friend’s save. “I don’t know. I think blue looks good on you.” She shrugged and returned to her work. 

Eventually, Nini drifted off back to sleep, and thoughts of Ricky bombarded Gina again— she wondered if he was up too… Even if he was, he was all the way in the palace. There was no chance of her being able to see him now, and even if she did it might look weird. 

It wasn’t like she was his girlfriend or anything. She was only a friend. 

A friend of the King who needed an early morning sweet snack— maybe she could bake something! 

She had been getting pretty good at that— she had always seen all the treats growing up but could never really attempt making them without all the proper ingredients back on the Isle. Here they had everything in the kitchen, and there was access for all Auradon Prep students. 

Before she knew it she was up on her feet and down to the kitchen about to make herself a batch of maybe brownies, or some cookies… Maybe a small cake? That could be too much, but she knew Jet and Carlos would eat anything she had left over for sure. 

When she got downstairs and turned on the lights the first thing she did was start flipping through the cookbook to look for something that seemed good enough to bake. “Maybe some brownies… I think I’m in the mood for chocolate…” She bit her lip as she flipped through the wide catalog.

“Honestly I could go for something chocolatey too.” As she heard the voice behind her she jumped, almost knocking over the flour she had taken out and sending the whole room into a powdery mess as she yelped. 

“Shit, Ricky!” She quickly covered her mouth. “Sorry…” She grimaced, closing her eyes tight. “I know you’re not allowed to use that sort of language in Auradon—” 

“Don’t worry Gina. I… I slip up a considerable amount too. Probably more than you do.” He laughed, as he walked around the table in front of her.

Then she laughed. “I didn’t even know you knew words like that.”

“Why? Because I’m a royal?”

“No, because they censor anything remotely close to a swear word here. I’m pretty sure I heard Fairy Godmother reprimand someone for using the word heck the other day.”

“Well, Jenn has always been so uptight, that no one can help—”

“... Fairy Godmother’s real name is Jenn?!” 

“...Yeah… Well technically Jennifer, but don’t tell anyone I told you.”

“I’m sure Nini has already told the boys—”

“Nope, not even Nini knows that one.” He chuckled, and their eyes met from across the table.

She didn’t shy away from it— “Well then I guess it’s our little secret then, hm?” She whispered.

He gulped. “Yeah… Our little secret.” He chuckled nervously, and Gina immediately felt guilty, as if the secret was that she had kissed Nini’s boyfriend when really all that occurred was that he told her someone’s real name. 

So why did it feel like they had committed high treason?

“So um… No offense, I know this like, your kingdom and everything but like… Why are you here? In the school kitchen? Don’t you have like six back at the palace?”

He laughed. “Yeah, but this is the original one. I just like to come down here sometimes. To feel connected to my parents' story. That’s probably stupid…”

She quirked her brow. “What do you mean original one?”

“I mean like… This is the kitchen… Like with all the talking silverware?”

“This is the kitchen that Mrs. Potts ran?! Like… Lumiere and Cogsworth and Chip?! That kitchen?!”

Ricky snickered. “Yes, that kitchen. My father’s old palace was transformed into the school— There were a lot of… bad memories there for him so he wanted to make good memories. They added more floors, renovated, added more buildings, a sports field, and viola! Auradon Prep!” 

“... I never knew that… That’s really cool…” She mumbled. “And it’s not stupid for the record. Wanting to be connected to your parents somehow even though you weren’t there. I get it.”

He looked up. “You do?”

“Yeah. I feel the same way about my Mom..." And my Dad... She thought but didn't say. "I didn’t really… understand her hatred for Snow White? At least not the way she did, so I used to ask her to tell me their story so I could hate her the same way... Then when I came here I watched it a bunch on her mini magic mirror... Before I turned it in, of course.” 

When she looked up she realized she said too much, Ricky had this look on his face, but then he just said, “I get that.”

“No way,” she chuckled, “There’s no way you get hatred, Ricky.”

“Maybe not hatred.” He shrugged, “But I never quite understood my Dad’s beastly ways either. The way he treated my mom at first— I didn’t get it, and I was all self-righteous about it, but then… I saw some of those same qualities myself… Sometimes it’s just… hard to do the right thing. To want the right thing, you know?” 

When they locked eyes she gulped. “Yeah. I get that. A lot. Especially as a villain kid.” 

“It’s hard for ‘heroes’ to do the right thing too.” He whispered, and there were invisible air quotes around the word heroes that she saw all too clearly, and they were making eye contact for a length of time that honestly felt illegal, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away. Then he followed it up with, “But yes… This is that kitchen… You’ll probably learn more about the architecture in Auradon this semester. Now that you’re out of Goodness 101.”

“Oh really? That’s cool. I thought maybe they’d just put it into like… Goodness 2 now or something…” She joked. 

“No. Those days are over. You guys proved yourself. No more goodness class.” He said sternly, and she knew he meant it. 

“Thanks, Ricky.” She didn’t know what exactly she was thanking him for but she knew it was for good reason. 

It seemed like he understood. “You’re welcome.” He replied. “So… What are we baking? Brownies, right?” He peered his eyes over into the book.

“We?” She laughed, looking at his head of curls that she had been thinking about earlier. 

“Sorry, did you want me to leave? I can totally leave if—”

“No, I just didn’t think you’d want to stay. That’s all.”

“I do.”

“Well okay, help me get some ingredients then!”

“I do have to warn you, I’m not the best at baking.” 

“Eh, we’ll figure it out together, right? I’ve been getting pretty good at it.”

“Well, then you take the lead. I’m at your will, chef!” He stood at mock attention, which made her laugh. 

“Okay, let’s get started then!” 

Chapter Text

Gina stretched her limps upward, the taste of brownies and frosting still on her lips as she sat up in her bed, her head aching at the lack of sleep as she woke up for her morning classes. 

Before she woke up Nini, she took a second to collect her thoughts of the night before— she and Ricky had stayed up way later than they had expected— it was minutes to seven when she walked herself back up to her room, a smile the whole way there. 

She knew she was horrible the minute she felt a buzz on her wrist where Ricky had touched it as she saw his portrait hung in one of the halls. All she could do was gently rub it with the fingertips of her other hand and hope it felt that way forever— hope it was the dearest most tender memory that she kept of her time in the kitchen with Ricky. If she couldn’t remember his exact words years from now she’d always remember exactly how they made her feel. Except she feared that she would never forget even a second of what happened. Not even for a little bit. 

Spending isolated time with him certainly didn’t help her feelings; they only expanded in her chest as it rose and fell back to her room. She felt caught between her emotions. Between admiration and guilt. Giddiness and shame. To quiet the negatives she thought on the positives.

They made brownies, and then shortly after they decided to do cupcakes as the brownies baked. They talked about their favorite desserts, and how his favorites had been linked to childhood memories. She didn’t have very extravagant desserts back on The Isle, but she promised to one day make them all for him. 

Now, in the most sickly sweet way, all deserts she had ever had were permanently linked to Ricky, even dating back to her first experience with making them— she had even admitted that to him last night, even if it was mistakenly— that she was the one who had mostly made the desert part of the love potions, all Nini did was handle the magic aspects of it. 

“So you were the reason it tasted so good then?” Ricky asked as they waited for the brownies to cool and the cupcakes to finish baking. 

“… Guilty as charged.” She replied with a flirtatious laugh that she hadn’t meant to let escape. She silently berated herself for trying to use her Isle tactics on Ricky. 

“ Huh… So I guess you didn’t have a hand in the anti-love potion?”

“No. Nini did that one all by herself.”

“I thought it tasted… Different.” 

“Different huh?” She chuckled. 

“I don’t want to say it tasted bad… It just… wasn’t as good as the cookie, let’s just put it like that huh?”

“Okay.” She laughed. “Also, don’t tell Nini that I told you that? She wants you to think she’s good at baking and cooking… That sorta stuff.” She replied as she placed her chin down on the heel of her hand. 

“I guess we have another secret then?” 

“Yeah… I guess we do.” She shrugged. “And I feel bad for telling you now.” She chuckled, covering her hands with her face— it truly wasn’t her intention. He asked about her first time baking, and she forgot momentarily who she was talking to. At a lot of points last night it felt like she could tell him anything.

“You don’t have to. I won't tell anyone, especially not Nini.” He shrugged. “I get it. We all have our secrets. I want her to see me as this perfect guy too, ya know?” She did know, but she also knew that relationships were not supposed to be about pretending to be perfect. It was closer to the opposite. It was knowing each other’s faults and still choosing to work things out. Choosing to stay. Choosing the faults. 

But this time she remembered who she was talking to. “Yeah, I know… Wanna try a bit of brownie now?” 

“Oh, more than anything!” He laughed as she cut the treats into squares. 

God… She was a terrible person, wasn’t she? 

“Nini… Neens… Wake up.” She shook her best friend awake gently as she yawned. “It’s time for class.” She stated before walking over to her closet which was now full and bursting to the point of overflow. 

Nini rubbed her eyes, sitting up and scanning the room. “What time is it?” 

“7:45,” Gina replied, sorting through her stuff. 

Nini sighed. “You know I don’t need that long to get ready. Wake me back up at 8:15.” 

“K.” 

At this, Nini flipped over to look at her. “K? Just K? You never let me sleep in Gina, are you feeling okay?” 

“Mhm. Just fine— Ooh!” Gina pulled a blue leather fitted corset top out of her closet and paired it with a black, blue, and red marble mini skirt, throwing it onto her bed as she fished them out with some stockings and a small blue cropped leather jacket and some black thick-heeled shoes. “I’m gonna go shower, okay?”

“Okay…” Nini mumbled as she sat up, clearly unable to sleep any longer as Gina headed to the bathroom that was at the end of the hall— no matter how large the school was, the rooms still didn’t have individual bathrooms. Right now Gina was happy about that. 

As she stepped into the square shower she sighed as the water rolled down her back. She was going to do something different with her hair today. Usually, she just wore it straightened or curled with a curling iron, at least here in Auradon— no one had curls here as she did.

At home, she’d wear it in an afro, afro puffs, or out with no particular styling— here they looked at her with grimaces— a duchess had even told her once that her afro was too high, that she needed to move her “unruly” hair at a palace event her first week here, and in front of everyone in the balcony. She didn’t want to make a scene, so she said nothing, but it was mortifying— she found herself crying quietly in her closet after, as her whole body shook with vicious anger. After that, she started straightening her black and blue locks, creating artificial curls with the professional wands they had here. It wasn’t worth the fight. They were already seen as villains. She didn’t want to add to that at the time. 

But now she missed her curls. Especially looking at Ricky, whose hair was the most similar, but not exactly like hers. She guessed it was because he was the king, or a hero kid (or because his skin was shades lighter than hers), no one ever made comments about his hair.  

At this point, Gina was filled with what could only be described as a mix between anxiety and anticipation. Like she wanted to pull herself out of her body and then slowly wriggle her way back into it. Her hair was her hair! There was nothing she wanted to change about it. The anger rose into her throat again mixed with hot nerves.

Whether the people of Auradon liked it or not, she decided she would let her hair be— besides, they had accepted her as a hero now, so it shouldn’t be a problem anymore, right? She would let it be the way that made her feel the most beautiful. She would not be shamed for what was naturally hers, and if she heard another comment about it she’d bare her teeth at whoever dared to utter it. The tears pricked her eyes again and she wished she could stop crying about something that seemed so simple. 

Maybe she missed home a bit more than she was willing to say. When she was younger her mother used to detangle her hair for what felt like hours, but in the end, it would be two fat, cute braids, or a braided crown in the front with her curls out in the back, or a variety of other styles. A lot of the time sitting between her mother’s legs to get her hair done was painful, but it was when her mother seemed the most interested in her. She as a person, not an entity or an object. 

Her mother cherished her then, taking her time with her daughter’s head. Those were the only times she had ever seen her so… gentle, patient, so… unvillain-like. 

When she stepped out of the shower, her curls were restored to their former glory, and she found herself giddily grinning. God , she loved her hair. She was still smiling as she made her way back to her room in her blue robe.

“You’re up,” Gina said more like a statement than a question when she saw Nini walking around getting ready to go to the shower. “And… blonde…”

“Yeah.” She briefly looked back at her best friend. “Your hair looks pretty.” She replied quickly before turning back around to the pile of clothes on her bed. 

“Thank you.” Gina smiled before approaching her. “How are you blonde?”

“Mom’s magic spell book.” Nini replied casually as she sorted her clothes.

“Okay… maybe a better question is why are you blonde?”

Nini’s face remained unchanged. “I thought Ricky would like it better if I were blonde.”

“... Why?”

“Because blonde is softer. More… princess-like. Plus, Lily’s blonde.”

“Nini, Ricky liked you when your hair was almost completely purple . What are you talking about?”

“Well, what if that wasn’t really me either?”

“That’s fine,” Gina mumbled. “I’m sure he’ll still like you regardless.”

“Well, I like it blonde. I… I even kept my lavender tips and I think it looks great.”

“Well I do too, I just wasn’t—” Gina cut herself off. “It looks great, Nini.” 

“Thanks.” 

“What are you doing?”

Nini sighed loudly. “Trying to pick out a stupid outfit that’s good enough for Ricky’s girlfriend to be wearing.” She rolled her eyes. “I don’t know how Lily did this every day.”

“Okay, you’ve mentioned Lily twice and it hasn’t even been five minutes what is going on?”

Nini laughed a little, “I’m sorry, weren’t you the one talking about Lily last night?”

Gina took a breath. “Are you okay, Neens?”

“Yes. I swear. I’m fine. Just… A little overwhelmed with being Ricky’s girlfriend. Just feels like… A job , sometimes. Ya know?”

“Not really.” Gina laughed. She wasn’t sure how dating Ricky could ever feel like a chore. She wasn’t sure how being the maybe soon-to-be queen could ever feel like a chore.

“Yeah, I didn’t… Think so.” She mumbled.

“Well… let me pick out your outfit. I’m sure that’ll help, huh?” 

Nini gave a small smile. “Thanks, Gina! I’m gonna go shower!” She called over her shoulder as she left. 

“What would you do without me?!”

“Wither and die!” 

Gina laughed to herself as she got Nini’s clothes together, and somewhere along the line, she felt more like a lady in waiting than the princess her mother had brought her up as. 

She tried her very best not to be resentful. Especially as she and Nini walked through the hallway and were immediately greeted by King Ricky, Jet, and Carlos at the end of their descent down the stairs. 

“Morning ladies,” Ricky uttered, as the side of his mouth was upturned in a smile. His eyes met Gina’s as he took Nini’s hand. 

“Morning,” Gina mumbled under her breath as Ricky drank in her features— she could’ve sworn he drank her in fully as he turned to talk to Nini. 

“Try not to look so… longing.” Jet whispered. 

“Shut up,” Gina whispered back and rolled her eyes— even if that annoyed her she was glad the boys were here. She couldn’t trail behind Ricky and Nini like a lost lap dog again. It would cost her every bit of dignity she had left inside. 

“Your hair! It’s… blonde.” Ricky smiled as he looked at the daughter of Maleficent. 

“Yeah… Do you like it?” Nini asked.

“Yeah, yeah! It looks great…. How was your sleep?” Ricky asked Nini as he held both her hands in the space between them. 

“Huh?... I am well! Well, well, well!” She laughed, leaning slightly in, chuckling with a wide, toothy smile.  

“Did she even hear the question?” Carlos leaned in towards Gina to ask.

Ricky’s mouth again turns up in a smile. “That’s not what I asked.” He whispered as they started to walk away, and Gina was approached by Ashlyn, the daughter of Cinderella. 

“Hey! Gina! Do you think we can talk for a second?” Ashlyn asked, grabbing her arm and pulling her closer.

“Yeah, yeah of course!” She smiled. “You guys don’t have to wait up.” She said to Jet and Carlos, and they walked away without her.

“I wanted to know if you had any ideas for planning the Cotillion?” 

“Uh… Not particularly…” She mumbled. “Doesn’t the castle have… a staff for that or something?”

“We do…” Ashlyn whispered, and it appeared she was getting nervous as she laughed louder than she probably meant to, “We are totally prepared, like super prepared!”

Gina kept a smile, although her eyebrow quirked in suspicion. “Okay… Well, I have a class to get to so—”

“Wait!” Ashlyn grabbed her arm before she could walk away. “Um… We need help.” 

Gina was not eager to turn around. Quite the opposite— she knew exactly what Ashlyn wanted. Her help. 

“Uh huh …” Gina’s tongue pushed against the inside of her mouth near her teeth, and she sunk into her right hip, making her meet Ashlyn’s eyes just a little closer, but not by much. 

Ashlyn giggled again. “We need your help…” Ashlyn swayed. “I just… we don’t know Nini very well and… you’re her best friend … And you’re so talented .”

Gina nodded, looking past her. “Right. I’ll talk to you later, Ashlyn.” Gina’s molars bit into her tongue as she walked away from the redhead, and she knew she’d find herself having a hand in, if not planning the whole thing. 

But for one minute she wanted to pretend that she was not just Nini’s best friend. 

As she walked away she regained a joyous countenance, walking to Auradon Architecture and History with a pep in her step, and when she walked in she remembered that because this was a new class of hers she had no idea where to sit. 

“Gina!” She heard a call from the front of the room. “Come sit by me,” Ricky called over his shoulder from the front of the room.

Her lips parted slightly as she made her way up to the front and took her seat. “Thanks. For um… For saving the seat.” She cleared her throat, then closed her eyes tight. “Or… rather thank you for calling me over.”

“No need to thank me.” Ricky smiled. “I hoped you… would be sitting next to me.” He shrugged. “So much so, that I made sure we had this class together. Even though… I’ve taken it already… twice…” He mumbled, looking down at his fingers. 

She giggled. “You’re not serious.” She sat back in her seat, crossing her arms over her chest. “King Bowen I am not impressed right now.” She joked.

“No? I thought it was a pretty grand gesture.” He shrugged, assuming the same posture as she did with a smug smirk on his face. “I thought maybe I could help you study.”

“Right, right. By “ help me study,” you mean get me to bake you cookies and such in exchange for your royal fancy textbooks.”

“... Is it working?” 

“...Maybe.” She shrugged.

“So…” 

“So?...”

“I have a question.”

“... What is it?”

“Do you… Do you like it here in Auradon?”

Gina paused. “Of course, why?”

“I just… I wonder if you four… miss home sometimes. That’s all.”

“The only thing I miss about home is my other friends.”

“I hear that.” Ricky nodded. “I plan to bring more kids over from the Isle—”

“Really?” Gina beamed.

“Yes…” Ricky smiled. “It would make me… So happy to do that— I’m just… I’m fighting with my advisors right now, but hopefully, soon we can make it happen…”

“That’s amazing, Ricky… Do you…”

“Do I what?”

“Do you have… a plan drafted yet?”

“Not yet. I was trying to work on persuading my advisors first.” He scratched the back of his neck like a nervous tick almost. “I was getting there, I swear.”

“No, no, I wasn’t trying to rush you it’s just… I have some thoughts… and um… You’re probably the right person to share them with, I think.”

“Thoughts about legislation?” She nodded. And his face visibly relaxes. “Oh, great, please. Feel free to share them at any time. I have no thoughts at the moment. It’s a little embarrassing.” He chuckled. “I’ve been so busy with everything else… taking over from my dad… It’s been… quite stressful… Being a king at seventeen.” He whispered, looking down at his hands. “I’m… I’m sorry to dump this all on you.”

“No. I don’t mind listening. Not at all.” She smiled. “Even the king needs someone to talk to, right?”

He sighed. “Right. And my advisors it seems have advice or pretty much… Everything else.” And suddenly he was drinking her in again, just like the glance he took at her near the staircase. “Your hair looks gorgeous by the way. It… It brings out the brown in your eyes.” 

The corners of Gina’s mouth upturned, and she didn’t know how to respond when a match slipped from her heart and set her on fire. Ricky cleared his throat. “Your eyes are really brown. But your hair isn’t, it’s blue. But somehow the blue brings out the brown and… I’m gonna shut up now.” He cleared his throat again and looked forward as Gina stifled a laugh.

“Are you… Are you laughing at me, Gina? You dare laugh at your king?” He said in a serious tone although he was wholeheartedly joking, with a hand pressed against his chest. 

“Oh never! I would never laugh at King Richard Beast Bowen!” She said in an affected voice when Ricky’s cheeks tinted pink.

“How did you know that was my middle name?” He whispered.

Gina looked visibly shocked as she whispered back. “Your middle name… Is Beast?”

“... No.”

“Oh, it’s totally Beast!” She whispered back with a giggle. 

“Well actually it’s Benjamin Beast, but sure!”

“Oh that’s not much better—”

“What’s your middle name?”

“Not telling.”

“Gina! As your king I demand it!”

“How many times are you gonna pull the king card in ten minutes?”

“As many times as it takes to make you tell me!”

“ Fine, fine! I’ll tell you, but only because there will be something in it for me.” She wiggled her brows mischievously.

“Aw what? You can’t do this out of the kindness of your heart?”

“Villians don’t do anything out of the kindness of their heart—”

“Well, you’re not a villain.” He firmly stated, and even though they were only joking she was sure he meant it. 

It was silent before she said, “So do you want to know it or not?”

“Lay it on me!”

She laughed before saying, “It’s Evie Queen.”

“Evie Queen?... That’s cute.” 

“It’s not.”

“Evie is very cute. I think I’ll call you that from now on—”

“Ricky!”

“What? It’s adorable, Gina.”

“It’s stupid. Evie is short for evil—”

“Well, now Evie is short for Gina.”

“That makes no sense. Gina is short for Genevieve.”

“...Really?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, that only makes your name cooler! Genevieve Evie Queen Porter.”

“Can we agree on something?”

“... What’s that?”

“Both heroes and villains are terrible at picking middle names.”

“Agreed.” As it fell silent he asked. “So um… Did you mean it?”

“When what?”

“When you said you don’t mind listening? Because I want you to know that… I… don’t mind listening either. I actually… look forward to hearing what you have to say.” 

Her breath caught in her throat. “I meant it.”

“Good.”

Then she remembered as she took a glance around that they weren’t the only two people in the world and she asked, “Have you told Nini?” 

“About… About what I told you?” She hoped he would say yes. She also hoped he would say no. 

“Yeah, I did on the way over here but… She seemed a bit… preoccupied. Kinda like… her mind was elsewhere? She seemed happy about it, don’t get me wrong, but… I don’t know… She wasn’t as ready to talk about it as you have been.” He shrugged. “But I’m sure she just has a lot going on. Within Cotillion coming up and everything.

She doesn’t. I’m making her dress. All she has to do is show up and look pretty. She thought. But she didn’t say that. “Yeah, probably.”

In all their talking they didn’t realize that class should’ve already been started for the day until Seb, the son of Fairy Godmother walked in and yelled, “Hey everyone, Miss Archer is sick today! History is canceled!” 

Chapter Text

Normally Gina would’ve been happy to hear that a teacher was sick and couldn’t come to class— that meant free time to do whatever she wanted. But under this particular circumstance, she was quite upset. It was her first architecture and history lesson, a class she had been pretty excited about. 

And there was the teeny tiny small fact that she didn’t get to sit next to Ricky for the whole class. She didn’t get to accidentally bump hands with him, and pretend she wasn’t pulling a whole bunch of her other flirt moves on him… Then feel insanely bad after sort of hitting on her best friend's boyfriend. 

Even though Ricky was all Auradon, something about him just brought out the Isle in Gina— it made her angry with herself for suffocating that part of her. Like he just knew how to bring it out in a healthy way. 

Or maybe not so healthy, seeing as she couldn’t stop thinking about him. 

As the room was clear and Gina grabbed her bag to leave Ricky grabbed her arm before she could fully stand, and she by instinct just sat back down. “Hey… Um… Where are you going now?” She looked down slowly at where he was holding her arm, not saying a word, and he released her immediately. “Sorry… I… I know you guys are weird about touching.” 

She knew by you guys he meant the VKs (and he was right, about the others at least)— he was probably the only person who could refer to them like that and she wouldn’t feel utterly offended as a result. 

She knew everything he did and said was because he cared and he wanted their experience in Auradon to be a comfortable and happy one. 

“Well…” She kept eyeing him, and eventually she leaned over and pulled his hand back up on her arm, tightening his grip with her other hand. “I actually quite like touching.” She mumbled as a smile tugged on her lips. “Probably something you saw in my file though, right?” 

She had been in Ricky’s office (Beast’s old office) only a handful of times, but she had looked around enough to know that all four villain kids had a massive file. These files detailed all information about their parent's histories, potential villainous triggers, supernatural powers or abilities, skills they might’ve had, how they used them for evil, and if they could be utilized for good. 

It didn’t take long for her to realize that her flirting and looks had probably been written down as a skill. A skill she used to lure people in as her friends (or she herself) stole from them. But could you really blame her? She barely had any love to know what it should actually be like. 

Ricky gulped nervously as his eyes moved between her face and his hand on her arm that he suddenly had no interest in moving. “Something like that…” He whispered. 

Her eyes flickered down to his lips briefly before speaking again. “What were you asking me again?” She mumbled. 

“If you were um… Where are you going next…” He was still whispering as his grip loosened around her arm, and he slowly passed his thumb back and forth on the material of her jacket. “Soft stuff.” 

“Yeah. Made it myself. Faux leather. Apparently, they’re weird about real animals as fashion? We’re only allowed to eat them, I guess.” She shrugged, and he laughed. 

“Yeah. Ever since Cruella, we’ve been a little… leery about real fur and leather stuff… Don’t tell Carlos?” 

“I think part of him already knows.” She shrugged as she got up to leave and Ricky followed behind her. 

“Fair,” Ricky replied. 

“And to your question, I have a free period right now… I was gonna go work on some dresses for Cotillion. Nini’s is not even halfway finished and Cotillion is gonna be here before we know it.” Gina answered as they walked through the hallway. 

“I thought you had a free period after lunch?” 

“I have two… Been working extra hard… So hard that last semester I completed Bio 1 and 2. Won’t need to take Bio 3 until next year! Especially since I need more time for dress work. Pretty much everyone wants me to make theirs.” 

“That’s really cool, Gina.” He stopped walking in the empty hallway as he started to speak again, and she stopped as well, turning to face him. “But I um… I have a proposition for you…” 

“Okay… What’s the proposition?” She asked as she walked closer to him. 

“How about you give up one of your free periods to… meet with me?” 

“… Meet with you? What does that mean?” Her face contorted into confusion. He couldn’t think that because she was flirty she would let them betray Nini, right? “You’re not suggesting…” She opened her mouth to continue and then pursed her lips. “Ricky I couldn’t— I know you’re the king and I could be thrown in prison for rejecting you but— I couldn’t do that to Nini— Maybe if you two weren’t together then—”

“Woah woah, what are you talking about?” Ricky asked, taking a place right in front of her. 

Gina was stunned and embarrassed. But mostly embarrassed. Her cheeks flamed red as she spoke. “I just thought that you were… trying to… I don’t want to say it out loud.” Because then maybe you’d realize I’m not all that opposed to kissing you, but it’s just a stupid attraction. Physical. That’s it. Nothing more and nothing else.

“… Trying to what? Take advantage of you? Gina no, I would never— I could never use my authority and position—” He pursed his lips, considering his next words carefully. “That's not what I meant, okay?” He whispered in a softer and gentler tone than she’s ever heard him use with anyone. “I just meant that… maybe you could be like… an Isle Advisor for me.” 

Gina’s eyes shot up. “Isle Advisor?” She tried not to get too excited, but her eyes really did say it all. He smiled, he enjoyed the beam radiating from her eyes.

He smiled back. “Yeah... I mean that’s how I’d sell it to the board and to Jenn— Fairy Godmother— but you’d also help me with legislation and politics… Maybe help me brainstorm, and be a sounding board for my presentations and speeches to the board and the public. Then you could help me with actual Isle stuff— I’d talk to you as an Isle informant, and you could even help with communications with the Isle… But it’s only if you want to, I don’t want to put a whole bunch of pressure on you… Especially since you have so much going on— You’re a busy lady.” He laughed. 

“No, I’d… I’d love this opportunity, Ricky. Thank you.” She took one of his hands in between hers and squeezed it. 

“No problem, Gina. The choice of who to get to help was… really easy.” He smiled, and as they loosed hands he asked, “What type of government do you guys have over there? In the Isle?” 

“None. We kinda just… do whatever.” She shrugged. 

“Oh…” He frowned as they started to walk again. 

“But that can change, Ricky. There are good people on the Isle. Not all of them are evil. Some would be willing to hear you out. Some would be willing to take up office and work in conjunction with Auradon. I know it. I’ll go back and do it myself if I have to.” She affirmed. 

His face slightly soured at her last point— Gina tried her best not to read into it as him not wanting her to go. “You would also help me work on a plan to get the Isle kids over here too, right?” 

“Yeah… I started thinking about a plan for that too… I’ll tell you later?” 

“I’d love that.” 

Gina couldn’t stop smiling. “Thank you for listening, Ricky.” 

“Of course. It’s my pleasure, Evie .” The side of his mouth was curling into a smile, and that was the last thing she saw before a pair of hands fell over her eyes.

“Hey.” She heard the voice of her boyfriend, Jack whisper in her ear. 

She smiled. “Hey.” She replied, turning around to hug him. 

“I’ll see you later, Gina.” Ricky’s voice was back to that firm, unbendable stiff voice. The one he used around everyone else. His loyal subjects, not his friends. 

“Bye, Ricky.” She replied as she watched him go from Jack’s arms— she hated to admit that she was a little sad about it. 

“What were you guys up to?” Jack asked with his arms around her waist— he didn’t seem suspicious (which was good), he was really just asking. 

She looked back at him, and her smile reappeared on her countenance. “Nothing really. Just boring old… politics and stuff.” She laughed as they started to walk down the hallway. 

“Well, you know… I’m always open to listening.” He chuckled. 

“Yeah, I know… Hey, how come you aren’t in class right now?” 

“I wanted to check on you. I heard your teacher was out today and I figured you’d be in your room designing, but you weren’t and I found you here.” He explained easily. “Just wanted to see if you needed any help.” He shrugged. 

She smiled. That was her Jack. Always trying to be helpful. “Not really.” She needed to be alone with her thoughts for a bit anyway. “I don’t want you to miss anything happening in your class either.” 

He nervously laughed. “Don’t worry. I’m sure I’m not…”

She arched her eyebrow. “Something important is happening in class today, huh?”

“Only semi-important. We’re doing some presentations today, and we’re supposed to remember certain details of other people’s own for a quiz coming up.” 

“Jack! Get back to class!” Gina shoved his chest with a playful grin on her face. 

He grabbed her hands in between his. “You’re more important than class.” He grinned and then leaned in to kiss her, and of course, she kissed him back. Trying to enjoy what she had spent the last couple of months convincing herself she deserved. And she did deserve someone… good.

It took her a while to unlearn her old behaviors (and she was still unlearning evidently; her undeniable attraction to Prince Ricky said enough) — her gold-digging, prince-wanting, crown-driven behaviors. She liked Jack for who he was . Even if he was the son of one of her mother’s mortal enemies, and definitely no prince or shining night. He was still brave and worthy in his own way. 

Sometimes she felt like she literally wasn’t good enough for him— like she wasn’t enough of a hero. He was always so selfless, so kind. She felt like she was a terrible influence on him. Jack before he met her would never leave class during something so important— he never had a reason to before. 

As she kissed him more she realized the other part of her didn’t feel bad at all. She liked all the attention she got from Jack. It felt genuine; more genuine than any attention she’s ever gotten from a guy before. He was doing it because he cared, not because he wanted something from her. That was a first.

Was it really that bad that she didn’t wanna pass on his love?

Yes. It was. “Come on Jackins. Go to class.” She whispered against his mouth, taking his hand in between hers. “You know on the inside the idea of failing something is terrifying you.” She was working on being more selfless. For people other than the other VKs.

He chuckled. “A little.” Before pressing another kiss to her lips. “I’ll see you at lunch then?” 

“See you then.” She pressed a kiss to his cheek before turning around before the villain voice in her head could convince him to just hang out with her instead of going to class. 

When she got back to her and Nini’s room, she stopped in her tracks as she heard Nini reciting something. 

“Hmm… Beware for swear… Make a picnic full of Ricky’s favorite foods that’s beyond compare!... Yeah, that’s better…” Gina heard pages flipping before she decided to finally walk into the room.

“What are you doing?” Gina questioned, which made Nini yelp, almost dropping her book on the ground.

“Gina, my God.” She took a deep breath, placing her hand on her chest as she caught hers. 

“What are you doing, Nini?” She asked, lowering her voice in the way that typically meant that she meant business. 

“It’s nothing, Gina. I swear.” She mumbled, tucking her book away and turning around to her closet. 

“Are you still using your spellbook?” She whispered.

“Yeah. Is there an issue with that? Because quite frankly I don’t care.” She snapped.

Gina blinked hard. “Woah. Check that attitude, then try again.” Gina rolled her eyes. She wasn’t the one using magic to make a simple picnic for her boyfriend, she wasn’t the one using magic to her advantage period. She gave up her magic mirror to be a hero, and she sure as hell didn’t deserve to get sassed by Nini.

She strolled over to the rack of unfinished Cotillion dresses and grabbed Lonnie’s dress— really she was supposed to be making headway into Nini’s but she knew if she picked hers up right now she’d ruin something because she was angry with her. 

“Gi that’s not what I meant…” She whispered.

“Then why did you say it? Why say something you don’t mean ? And aren’t you supposed to be in class right now?”

Nini pursed her lips, now holding her book close to her chest. “Yeah but… I got excused. Ricky and I have a meeting with Snow White she a… She wants to interview us… I still have no idea what I’m going to say.” Nini chuckled. And this was the part where Gina told Nini exactly what to say, except that wouldn’t be happening this time. 

“Well maybe just sit there, smile, and look pretty. That’s what princesses were expected to do for centuries. I’m sure it’ll help you get through one interview.” Gina gave her a forced sweet smile.

“Gina I’m sorry, okay?”

“And I accept your apology, but I’m not going to tell you what to say this time. You know what’s important to you. Figure out how to say it yourself. It’s… It’s not my job, Nini.” Aren’t I already doing enough for you and everyone else? 

Gina could hear Nini saying, “I never said it was!” From the bedroom as she left. Gina took a deep breath looking around the hall for something to focus on as her mind started to cave in on itself.

She was tired . Tired of being in Nini’s shadow, and only being able to make change by talking through Nini. That would stop now because now she was getting to work with Ricky. She was getting to share all her hopes for the future of the Isle and Auradon with him— she would tell him all the things Nini was too afraid (or too relaxed, too in her own world) to tell him about. 

She wanted to make waves, and she couldn’t do that if she was beached next to Nini and constantly gasping for air. She settled into the dance studio, hoping to sweat out her troubles before her next class. 

♕

Gina felt a lot better once lunch rolled around. She had been nestled under Jack’s arm and had just bit into a really sweet apple. Carlos and Jet were sitting across from her and they were listening to Carlos vent about his latest dilemma. 

“Asking Seb to the Cotillion is just a lost cause.” He rolled his eyes, propping his chin up with his hand as he messed with his food. “The last time I tried his mother butt in—”

“You mean Fairy Godmother?” Jack asked, holding back a laugh.

“Yes, she is his mom, is she not?”

He exchanged a glance with Gina. “She is, she is.” He conceded. 

“Hey, hey. Don’t do that.” Jet squinted his eyes and then pointed his fork in their direction.

“Don’t do what?” Gina hid a smile behind the second bite of her apple. 

“That thing where you guys talk with your eyes. At least don’t do it when you can’t tell me what you’re saying.”

“Please, all Jack’s eyes were saying is, ‘I have the most gorgeous girlfriend in the world,’ what do you mean?” She pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“Eh, to be fair my eyes are always saying that.” He looked her in her brown eyes and he whispered and closed the distance between their lips.

“Can you guys stop? For like… five minutes just be my friends and not boyfriend and girlfriend?” Carlos groaned.

“Yes, yes, of course. Sorry. What else happened with Seb?” Gina egged him on to continue, taking another bite of her apple. 

“Then the second time, Ashlyn interrupted to tell him that their mother needed them to finish up some chores— Let me not even get started on how stupid that is, like, your mother is Fairy Godmother and you still have to do chores?! She can’t just make everything magically clean ?!”

“I know it makes no sense to us but Jack was telling me all about it a couple of months ago, apparently some heroes do stuff like that to teach their kids responsibility. Something like that.” She shrugged.

“... That’s still stupid.” Jet deadpanned, holding his hand out in a ‘what?’ motion.

“And it apparently only works for some of them,” Gina mumbled. “Just look at EJ Charming.” She rolled her eyes. “His mother cleaned and cooked and washed all her life and he still can’t even make his own bed.” 

“EJ is the exception to the hero rule… He’s almost always the exception to the hero rule.” Jack added.

After a couple of seconds, Carlos asked, “So… Where’s Nini?”

“Last I heard she had an interview with Ricky,” Gina informed him, trying to brush off the topic before they picked up on the fact that she was mad at her.

“I think she and Ricky are on a picnic near the courtyard. One of the guys from the band saw them. Nini had a huge spread of food. He said it looked pretty extravagant.” The spell was all making sense now. That’s what she was trying to do! Gina tensed under Jack’s arm. “You okay, Gigi?” He asked, trying to make eye contact, and she obliged. 

“Mhm.” She gave him a mostly fake smile, but he didn’t seem to notice it— if he did he brushed it off, which was probably the smart thing to do, all things considered. 

They sat for a couple more minutes, just eating their food until Carlos said, “Ricky?” A little louder than he intended.

Gina turned around to see him barreling towards their table, stopping on a foot or so behind Gina and Jack. “Hey everyone. Gina, can I talk to you about something? In my office, please?”

“Uh…” She looked around at the three boys who all had questioning eyes. “Yeah of course… Want to go now?”

“Yes. That would be preferred. Thank you.” He started to walk away before she could even reply. 

“Uh, well I guess I’ll see you all later?” She said her statement more like a question as she gathered all her things and took off behind a speedy Ricky. 

Chapter Text

“Hey, hey, Ricky, slow down!” A tinge of laughter could be heard as she followed him off the grass in her boots. With the shoes they were about the same height— Ricky really liked her height. She was a lot taller than Nini, and he wouldn’t have to bend very far to place a kiss on her forehead, or a peck on her lips. Not that he wanted to do that, it was just a thought. 

He stopped as he heard her voice, turning to face her as the heels of her boots kept getting caught in the wet grass.  “Crap, where are my manners— Let me help you.” Ricky walked back to where she was and scooped her up, carrying her bridal style down the rest of the hill without even a second thought about it.

When they were halfway down he finally realized how close they were, how his hands were positioned on bare her legs and back, and paused again. “I’m sorry, is this uncomfortable? Should I put you down?… Is this… weird?” He asked, still holding her in his arms. 

“… Not… Not weird at all…” She smiled, and her eyes held a look that he couldn't put his finger on as her hands spread along the back and side of  his neck, her fingers sneaking a little into the back of his hair. “Besides, I’d hate to mess up these boots. They’re pretty don’t you think?” She asked, lifting up the bottom half of her leg and wiggling her foot. 

He had to fight to remember that being flirty was just her personality, she herself, and her file had made that more than clear. She didn’t flirt because of him, she flirted because of herself. It was part of her charm, just who she was. That still didn’t stop the faces he made whenever she did it. 

A smile spread across his face, “Yeah. I think they’re very pretty, Gina…” He was grinning like an idiot now and he knew it. “Well then. Let’s get you off this grass.” 

“Okay.” She smiled as he continued his trek towards the door of the building that held his office. Once they got to the door, even though they had been long off the grass, he finally put her down. “Thank you. You’re such a… gentleman.” She held back a giggle. 

“You’re dying to laugh at me right now, aren’t you?” He didn’t care if she was laughing. He loved her laugh. And her smile. It sounded like a melody to his ears. He’d make a fool of himself a thousand times over if he could make her laugh… platonically, of course. All of his feelings towards her were solely platonic. 

“Yes. Definitely yes.” She still was trying to stifle her laugh. “I would’ve been okay, you know.” They still were standing at the entrance, but it was the royal family entrance and therefore secluded behind some trees. 

“But it’s a gentleman and King’s duty to—”

“To constantly look for ways to serve his country and the people around him. I know.” She replied monotonously, but her face didn’t seem annoyed. It was soft, like it normally was. A sight he relished in seeing. 

“Yes. I see you have memorized my pledge to myself well.” He spoke as he opened and unlocked the door for her to stroll right in. 

She gave him a skeptical look as they walked down the halls. “Wait what? I thought that was some… oath all the kings have to recite or something.”

“No… Weren’t you there for the coronation when I had to recite those?” He grinned wickedly as he remembered the events of that day oh so clearly— gripping, but also happy. Nini’s company was all he wanted back then. Right now he wasn’t so sure. 

He blamed it on the nerves of her newly elected status, and his new kingship as well. The pressure of her new position. Their fight earlier. The way she didn’t understand the kind of stress he was under. The way she probably never would, it seemed… 

He tried not to think about it too long. He didn’t want Gina to notice his change in demeanor. If she noticed she didn’t acknowledge it as they got to the door of his office that he carefully unlocked. 

She laughed as she pranced in. “Oh I was hardly focused on anything going on up there at the front. I was far too nervous waiting for Nini to grab that wand. And far too sad that our time in Auradon was coming to an end.” She mumbled the last bit as he locked the door behind him, flicking on the lights. 

“Well, it’s a good thing it didn’t end then, huh?” He replied as he walked towards her. 

She clasped her hands together behind her back— something he found she did quite often. “Yeah. It’s a very good thing.” She smiled, taking a couple steps towards him. “So… What’s wrong?” 

Damn, maybe she was a lot more perceptive than he had been giving her credit for— he knew she was fairly good at reading most people, but he was notably hard to read as Lily and Nini and his parents had frequently told him. He was surprised his upset was so easily spotted by her. 

“What… What do you mean?” He chuckled. She tilted her head to the side, a smile gracing her face as her eyebrow quirked gently. “Right…” He released another chuckle as he strolled over to sit on his desk. “I’m really stressed, Gina, and I’m so sorry to burden you with this, but I have no one else to talk to.” 

He paused, awaiting her response— he wanted to see if she wanted him to stop. She walked closer, her boots clicking rhymically until she stopped about three or four feet short of him. “You’re not burdening me, Ricky.” It looked as though she wanted to say more on that front, but she didn’t— her pink lips parted delicately before she pulled them back together, as if she was considering her next words. “I’d much rather you tell me everything bothering you than keep it all bottled inside.” 

“And you the same.” He quickly said without even thinking. “If you have anything you want to… share… That you can’t share with the VKs.” 

She laughed but there wasn’t much humor behind it. “Oh boy, do I.” She swung her foot gently. “But we can talk about you first.” 

“Are you sure? I wouldn’t mind talking about you first.” 

“Mmm… Your issue seemed more pressing. Seeing as you came to rangle me away from lunch to talk… Or maybe that was about something else?” 

“It wasn’t… I was going to stall but then you asked what was wrong before I could…” He nervously chuckled. “It’s hard to…” His brow scrunched up as he tried to articulate his feelings. 

“Share how you feel?” 

“Yeah…” 

“I get that. My friends don’t always understand how I feel either…”

“What about Jack?” He had to stop listening to that stupid voice at the back of his head telling him to ask, and say certain things. His conscience has been steering him wrong these days. Clearly. 

“I don’t know. He understands a lot of things but… He’s very… sheltered. Like a lot of you heroes are. I think sometimes that he’s too… good for me. Not like value but like…”

“Hero wise? Morally?”

“Yeah…”

“So you like… bad boys, then?” Ricky thought he could be bad. Maybe not Gina’s idea of bad but he had a rebellious streak. One he was sure Jack didn’t have. He didn’t know what even led him to this line of thinking, but here he was. 

Gina giggled. “I wouldn’t say that . Isle boys are too bad for me. I need a… A healthy…”

“Balance.”

“Mhm. You get it, as I suspected.” 

“As you suspected?” 

“You get a lot of things about me that other people don’t seem to get. It’s weird. I’ve… tried to ignore it but…” She shrugged. 

“I’m glad I could be that… for you.” He smiled at her. 

And a smile started forming in her face before she spoke again and then her lips straightened out. “So… What did you want to talk about?” Her fingers were being wrung out behind her back— was that a nervous tick of hers? 

Did Ricky make her… nervous? 

No. He was getting far too ahead of himself with this line of thinking and he needed to put a stop to it right now. 

He put a proper bite in his lip as he thought about how to say his next thought, gnawing at the corner of his mouth in deep contemplation, and he thought he saw Gina’s eyes dart to them. 

“Stop biting your lip, Ricky. You’re gonna make it bleed.” Huh. Maybe she was looking. But clearly it was only for his safety, nothing less and certainly nothing more. 

“Right, I will.” He broke out into a smile. “As soon as I figure out how to say this…”

“Say what?” She walked an inch or two closer and tilted her head again in the way that made him want to spill all his secrets to her. 

“I don’t think Nini is cut out to be a princess. Nor do I think she wants to be one.” When he let it go he felt a second of relief, then tension again as he looked at Gina whose face was also scrunched. “I know it’s not what’s outside that makes you a princess… It’s your insides— because if it was on the outside only she’d have it downpack, I mean, she’s a very beautiful girl—” He almost cut himself off as he spoke about Nini’s beauty in front of Gina, when he looked up into her brown eyes. 

But then he continued. Nini was his girlfriend. He was allowed to talk about her like that in front of Gina. In front of anyone for that matter. “Very good looking, and I’m proud to be her boyfriend, but… she just doesn’t have the passion and drive that a princess does for a nation, you know? She doesn’t have the passion and patience to someday be a queen. To someday by my queen. Her passions lie elsewhere, and normally that would be fine, but— that’s not the type of queen I need… I need someone who’s…”

“Heart beats like yours. For Auradon.” She finished with a small gulp as she fidgeted a little.  

“Yes. And for the Isle.” He added, and that made her smile. “I see so much potential there. I hope you know that.” 

“I do. I know you do, Ricky.” A beat passed before she continued her statement. “Is it terrible of me to say that I agree?” She was now wringing out her fingers in front of her. 

“Absolutely not.” 

“Because I agree wholeheartedly. Everything Nini says any interview that's about politics has been my writing. My opinions, my thoughts, and I’m sick of helping her now. If she wants this, if she wants you , she has to fight for it.” Gina took an impassioned breath after she finished. 

“Well it seems as though I wasn’t the only person this was eating alive then.” He mumbled with a small chuckle. 

Gina sighed. “I guess not.” 

“Have you really written all of Nini’s interview answers? Nothing was her?” It was all starting to make sense— Ricky would try to consult Nini about political matters concerning Auradon off camera,  and she would just stutter about or give some other half-hearted, non-answer response. He had all but given up in finding a confidant he could trust until he realized how well-versed Gina was in politics. He was finally putting the pieces together now that she said it.

“Yes. She never knows what she wants to say, and even if she does know, which is rare, she doesn’t know how to say it. I love her, I do, but I’m tired of just being her best friend.” 

“You’re not just her best friend.” Not to me. He felt like adding. “You’re a lot more than that. You’re intelligent, bold, fashionable and beautiful, talented and… You’re… a princess, Gina.” 

Her eyes shot up to his as she took an emboldened step forward. “I’m not a princess.” She smiled down at her feet again as her hands dropped to her sides. “As much as I’ve been raised to believe I’m one I’m nothing but a villain’s daughter, and villain royalty means nothing in Auradon—”

He grabbed her hand and yanked her forward, closing most of the distance between them. “You’re not a princess because of status. You’re a princess because of what’s in here,” he touched the side of her head with his thumb, gently rubbing back and forth, and then his hand lingered right about her heart necklace touching the ruby in the center with his index finger. “… and in here.” He whispered. “ That makes you the princess I know you are.” 

“You know , huh?” She whispered, trying to grin to ease the thick tension, but to no avail. 

“I do.” He gulped. 

“My heart.” 

“What?” He asked, his finger still pressed against the ruby. 

“It’s not there.” 

“Huh?” 

She took his hand in hers and then pressed it right under her collarbone, but just low enough that he could feel her heart beating steadily. “It’s right there.” She whispered, their foreheads nearly touching, and she was dizzyingly close now— he could smell her sweet perfume, and her hair had this rich smell of coconut and maybe sweet cream. He couldn’t put his finger on it but he didn’t need to. It just felt right, the moment. Too right for any words or any movement. He wanted to stay like that forever. If time froze he didn’t think he would’ve noticed. 

“I feel it.” He managed to choke out in a whisper. “It’s racing.” 

“Is yours?… Racing?” 

And he can’t believe he uttered these next words, “See for yourself.” He whispered as they made eye contact and he dragged her soft hand up to his chest, and surely it was pounding against his ribcage. 

“It’s racing too.” She whispered and gulped as they got closer, the distance between their faces becoming smaller and smaller until their lips gently grazed. 

He didn’t know when he met her but he knew now. He didn’t know when he chose Nini, but he knew now. He didn’t know when they hugged after the Coronation and she physically shook in his arms after they chose good because she was so nervous and excited and happy but he knew now. 

He knew, he knew, he knew. 

They had been friends for so long now but suddenly his feelings were starting to change and he didn’t know why. He didn’t understand. 

He loved the way she was so into politics. The way she was sweet to everyone, greeting them all and knowing exactly to say, even to the stuck up hero kids. The way she was so graceful and loving, going out of her way for everyone around her. He wanted to be the one that would go out of his own way for her, because she deserved it. No one else did it for her and she deserved it. 

She deserved the whole world. 

And he wanted to give it to her. 

“Umm…” But he couldn’t while he was with Nini. She couldn’t while he was with Nini. Not right now. Maybe not never. He took a firm gulp and she leaned back a little, like she was suddenly snapped out of a spell. “Maybe we should… um…”

“Talk about why you feel that way. About what made you feel that way?” She cleared her throat as she backed up. 

“Right. Let’s.” He sat back on his desk, suddenly feeling the loss of her presence as she sat down in the chair in front of his desk. “She used her spell book for our picnic. For the whole picnic. It’s making me wonder how many other things she’s spelled.” 

“… Do you want an honest answer?” 

“Do you know the honest answer?” She nodded. “Then yes.”

“Everything. She’s spelled pretty much everything. Since the moment she gave you the love cookie. She’s been… working towards being your perfect princess since then. But I’ve told her you’d love the real her, so there’s no reason to do that but… I don’t know… She doesn’t believe me I guess.” She shrugged. 

“I do. Love the real her.” Ricky wasn’t so sure that he’d ever seen the real her, honestly. It was becoming clearer and clearer to him that she was showing him a persona. Showing him someone she wasn’t truly. That he probably hadn’t ever seen the real her. 

“I know you do. You just… You have to prove that to her.” 

“But how can I?” Especially now, when I feel like I don’t even know her. 

“I’ll help you.” 

“You would do that for me?” 

She pulled her lip into the corner of her mouth a little. “Yeah. Yeah of course. Nini is my best friend, and you’re a good friend too. You both… deserve to be happy.” She smiled, but Ricky couldn’t tell if her smile was real. 

“Thank you. That’s very… admirable of you, Gina.” She has always been so selfless and protective. At least as long as he had known her. 

“Thanks.” 

“So… What was your thing? That you wanted to talk about?” 

“We kinda… Covered it already. I’m just glad that now I get to talk to you about my ideas. I didn’t want all of them to be conveyed via Nini…” She chuckled. 

“Well it’s clear that you’re the one that’s passionate about it, anyway. Wanna start brainstorming a little bit now?” 

“I’d really like that.” She smiled. He smiled back, leaning off the front of his desk and walking around it, her following along and dragging the chair behind her. 

“We can start with your idea about bringing more children over from the Isle. Then I can show you the start of my plan to present you to the board?

“Actually… I had another idea.”

“What is it?” 

“How about… we put funds into rebuilding the Isle? Like… bringing it up to Auradon standards?” 

“I see what you mean… Maybe we could start an Isle Preparatory School! Kinda like Auradon Prep!” 

“That’s a great idea actually! The only problem is… what would we do with the actual villains? Like the ones wanted for actual crimes?”

“We can create a section of the Isle just for them… Wait let’s pull up a map of the Isle… Maybe we can make holding cells for them in Auradon too? So it doesn’t feel like the Isle is just a—”

“Prison.” They said at the same time. 

“Right.” Ricky replied, smiling at her. “Also… I really want to… bring down the barrier eventually. Maybe after putting some of these things in place, like the holding system for actual criminals…”

“Better and not corrupt law enforcement. An actual political system, checks and balances, judges, court !” 

Ricky sighed. “Looks like we have our work cut out for us, huh?” He bumped her shoulder as he said it. 

She laughed. “It looks like it.” 

“I think we can tackle it together though, no?” He looked into her eyes as he asked. 

“I agree. We make… a great team.” 

“We do.” She nudged his shoulder this time as he said it.. 

“So when’s your meeting with the board about me?”

“Next week Friday.” 

“You’re gonna be great.” 

“I better be! I need you in my corner, Porter.” She rolled her eyes as a grin crossed her mouth. “What?” 

“You’re acting like I’m not always in your corner already, Ricky.” 

“I mean… I guess you're right.” 

“Even if they say no, I’m still gonna do everything I can to help you. I believe in this. I believe in you .” 

“Thanks, Gina. It means a lot.”

She batted her lashes at him one more time before getting up. “Well… while this was fun, I have to go. I have class and I can’t be late again.” 

“What class do you have? I can write you a King’s pass.” He pulled a gold-looking shiny, filmy paper out from one of his drawers and started to write one up. “You can’t get in trouble if you have one. It’s the highest kind of pass. Even higher than Fairy Godmother’s.” 

“Really?” 

“Yeah. I hardly give them out, because I don’t want people to think I’m giving them out just because I like the people that have them. This will be my second one… I gave one to Nini two weeks ago.” Her smile faltered a little— he could’ve sworn her smile faltered a little. 

“Oh, okay. Sure, I’ll take one.” 

“Just make sure you come back to me to get the stamp refreshed whenever you need, okay? You’re the only one who I’ll allow to constantly use one…” He wanted to see her smile again that’s why he offered that. 

And she did, but it was a closed mouth smile that only pulled to one side of her mouth. “Okay… Well… I guess I’ll see you later?” 

“Later.” He smiled. 

♕

Ricky grinned to himself as the board members filed out of their meeting room— not only did they overall approve of Gina being their official Isle Representative, but they loved the idea. They thought it was a great way of creating a union between the villain kids and Auradon. Well… at least the majority did. 

Some of the older more seasoned members of the board were still against the idea of having a joint Auradon and Isle, or even improving the Isle, the same people that were still against the idea of the villain kids being here. Thank God for the board members that could be swayed lest Ricky would be caught in a major bind right now. 

He was just happy his idea was accepted. He’s just happy that his friends— and that Gina was accepted. She had brilliant ideas and it was about time she stepped into the spotlight and started helping in the big ways that she wanted to. He’d get to announce her new position to everyone next week. 

She deserved it. 

As he strolled away from the conference room, hands in the pockets of his suit pants and a smug grin plastered on his face, Jet and Gina were practically running over to him… well as fast as Gina’s high heeled red shoes could take her. 

“Gina, great news! The board accepted you! You’re gonna be my official Isle advisor!” 

The concerned look on her face broke and crumbled down and a jovial smile replaced it. “What?! Are you kidding?!” 

“No! I— I just got out of the meeting and the majority ruled! We did it, Evie!” Somehow using her middle name made it feel more special. It made his heart spring forward and do a summersault. 

Before he knew it she was jumping into his arms and they were taking a spin around. “We did it, Ben.” She whispered against his ear as they spun, and he resented the way she fit perfectly in his arms. It was wrong, and he couldn’t bend any more morals to allow for his mind’s fantasy. 

He didn’t even know if they would work, really. Just that it’s a nice thought, and that’s how it will stay. Just a thought. Never anything more. 

He already made his choice when he smiled too hard, bedazzled by the girl with the purple hair. The one he saw first, the one that wasn’t as eager to speak with him. He felt like he never went after the people that wanted him genuinely. 

Him and Gina were a fantasy. And that’s why they could never be a reality. Maybe he should’ve looked around harder the first time they met. 

Now that he’s thinking about it, all he acknowledged was her beauty the minute he saw her, and it made sense— she was the Evil Queen’s daughter after all. Looking through the two photographs they had of her in her file he was immediately drawn towards her, and then immediately put off by what he saw in her file.

He didn’t think there was a chance in hell she could ever actually want him for him. He judged her way too prematurely; but she wasn’t her mother’s daughter in that regard at all. He didn’t think she’d ever treat anyone so superficially, in a manner that was only about looks and status. No matter what her damn file said. 

When he saw her, her sweet smile, her brown eyes he couldn’t resist the little smile that crept up his face too. But then the damn file flew up in his face again. She’d want you for your crown. The one attached to your side already does, you don’t need someone else like that in your life. 

And he turned his eyes to Nini, purple hair, eyes that didn’t shine for him as brightly as Gina’s did, and he underestimated just how little she’d care about the crown. Not enough. Not his best for it. Nini was more wrapped up in everything going on with her to care about rulership, which is understandable, but he was rulership. He couldn’t escape that. Not the way Nini wanted him too. 

“We did.” He put her down and then squeezed her waist reassuringly. “We’ll start as soon as we can.” 

Jet looked between the two of them suspiciously as they still held on to each other and Gina inched out of his touch awkwardly, him pulling from her the rest of the way when he remembered where they were. 

“Well… We’ll start as soon as Jet, Los and I get back from the Isle.” Gina bit down on her lip. 

“The Isle? You guys are going back? Why?” He couldn’t bear the thought of the four of them going back to stay. 

“Nini’s gone. She took Dana— Maleficent— and she’s gone. On her bike.” Gina informed him. 

“The guard said he opened the barrier for her because he thought she was cleared to go. That’s what she told him anyway.” Jet added. 

“It’s probably because of our fight last week…” Ricky mumbled. 

“No… She’s been… wanting to go home for a while I think. She mentioned something to me a little while ago about if I ever just…. missed being evil and missed being home… I thought… I don’t know what I thought.” Jet relayed, coated in uncertainty. 

“She mentioned missing home to me too but… I didn’t think she’d actually go…” Gina muttered, clutching her arms to her side. 

“I don’t know… Our fight got pretty… heated. She mentioned wanting to leave a lot.” Ricky replied, shoving his hands back in his pockets as he thought back to the two of them at table after he realized she had spelled the picnic. 

“I just don’t understand why you felt the need to spell the picnic! I liked peanut butter and jelly!” He took a bite of it. “See, good!” He mumbled through a bite of the sandwich. . 

“Because, you were expecting… a spread! You were expecting foods you like—”

“ I like PB & J!”

“Ricky, you were expecting something your mom would do for your dad. Something Lily would’ve done for you—”

“Lily wouldn’t have done any of this, the royal kitchen staff would’ve and—”

“At least she knows how to order around the staff and what to say—”

“Nini that's not what makes a good princess—”

“I don’t know what makes a good princess, all I know is that I’m not it!” She whispered in a yelling tone as people started to turn their attention to them, simply because they were them. 

“Nini you don’t have to be a perfect princess! Or even a good princess. Just be you .” He tried to calm her as he rubbed her arms up and down. 

“I don’t think you know who that is, Ricky.” She whispered as her eyes started to water. 

“What?” He whispered. 

“I hate this.” She mumbled. “This life. Princess dresses, and meeting with foreign leaders and banquets. This isn’t who I am , Ricky. I’m just… Maleficent’s daughter. From the Isle. I want to… be free to do whatever I want, whenever I want. I… I want my friends, and skipping school and hanging out whenever.” 

He was taken aback, honestly. “You hate this? This is who I am , Nini. This is me . I am the meetings, and the interviews and the tough conversations. Thinking and overthinking and wondering what’s best for everyone. That’s me. I can’t do anything whenever. I have a whole country looking to me for direction, and to protect and watch over them—”

“But don’t you ever just wish you could run away?” She asked, clasping his hands between hers and holding them toward her, she was practically pleading with him. 

“Sometimes, yeah. Maybe even a lot.” 

“Then let’s do it. Let’s run away to the Isle. Together.” 

“For like… a vacation? I can organize a vacation to the Isle—”

“No.” She giggled at his obliviousness. “For good. Like… to live together.” 

His face dropped. And as did his hands from hers he replied, “What?… No. I couldn’t… I couldn’t do that, Neen—”

“No, but just think about it. Me and you, in my hideout. You get to see the streets of the Isle. I… I bet you’ve never even been.” 

“No I haven’t but… I’d have to come back. I couldn’t leave Auradon like that—”

“They will be okay! King Beast is still alive, he can just take back over and they have enough resources to—”

He stepped back from her. “Nini, this is my life’s work. I’ve spent my whole life preparing for this and now… It’s finally all mine, and I want to make some change—”

“We can make change back at home—”

“Nini this is my home! Look around you! You might know the Isle. It might be what’s comfortable for you but this is all I’ve ever known.” He stepped back and ran his fingers through his hair before turning back while frustrated to continue. “Ever since I’ve known myself I’ve known that I was destined to be king, and I couldn’t wait to make a change. The only way that I can make things better for the Isle is being here, on that throne. In the lawmaker’s room. I’d stress way too much about what was going on here. If I was gone for good, I wouldn’t have any fun in the Isle. I can promise you that… I… I can’t run away with you. My duty is here…”

“Okay. I understand that… That was… brash. Asking you to choose me over Auradon. I don’t know that I could choose you over the Isle—”

“Neens it shouldn’t feel like you have to choose. I don’t… I don’t want you to choose between me and the Isle. I don’t want you to choose between me and that part of you. They can coexist just fine—” 

“I don’t want to choose either.” She mumbled as tears leaked from her eyes. 

“Good. You don’t have to.” He pulled her into a hug, smushed against his chest and after a little bit or holding on suddenly she pushed him away. 

“I need time to think. Away from you.” 

“Oh… Okay. I get that.” 

“I’ll see you around.” She murmured, grabbing her bag and her jacket from the table and stomping away without ever even looking back. He knew she was angry, hell he was sorta angry with her too, but he figured they’d work it out later. He didn’t think she’d… run away. 

He didn’t think they’d go nearly the whole week without talking, but he had other things to focus on. Getting Gina approved, making plans about reform, talking with his parents and other “advisers,” Fairy Godmother’s meetings about the school, cotillion fittings and dance practices… 

Jet’s voice snapped him back to reality. “Well we gotta go after her. She can’t just stay there, over on the Isle we’re pretty much most hated! All four of us are traitors to them.” 

Gina took a deep breath and nodded slowly. “Okay. Then we gotta act quickly. Let’s go get her tonight.” She decided. 

“I’m coming too.”

“You? On the Isle? Yeah, I don’t think so. That’s not a good idea.” Jet cautioned. 

“I think it’s something I need to do.” He whispered. 

“Have you ever been on the Isle? Ever?” Gina asked. 

“… No.” 

“That’s it. You’re definitely not coming—” Jet firmly denied. 

“Jet, you can’t just tell the king he can’t go somewhere… Even if he is our friend.” She crossed her arms over her chest as she looked back at Ricky. “Do you really wanna go?” 

“Yes.”

“Okay. Let’s do it.” 

“Gi this is a terrible idea—” Jet interjected. 

“We need to get Nini back. Besides, a king needs to know the place he intends to rule. He knows Auradon… Now it’s time he knows the Isle.” The girl explained to her friend. 

Ricky nodded. “I’d like that. To see and know the Isle.” 

“Great. But you can’t go dressed like that.” She pointed at him. 

“Like what?” He looked down at his suit— he didn’t see a problem with it. It had been newly tailored this morning… Did Gina not… like it? 

“Like… royalty. Fix him, Gi.” Jet clapped his back. “I’m gonna go change into some of my clothes from the Isle.” Jet informed them as he started to back away. “I’m gonna tell Los to change too. Meet you guys at the entrance of the school?

“It’ll have to be at lights out. No one can know we’re gone. If we go during the day they’ll know.” Ricky told them before Jet left. “I’ll find a reason… an excuse to tell my parents as to why we’re all missing. They can’t know Nini ran away.” Maybe he’d tell them Gina was taking him on a tour of the Isle… As her first official act as Isle Advisor, and the other VKs were helping with the tour. “ Then we have the whole weekend before people start to worry and wonder.”

“What about the remote? The barrier…” Jet questioned. 

“I’ll handle it. Just get ready and be quiet when you’re sneaking.” Ricky instructed. 

“Okay.” Jet nodded before running off. 

Ricky and Gina began to walk away to her dorm and she jested, “Seems like you have a rebel streak,” as she bumped his arm with her elbow lightly. 

He smiled. “I don’t get what you mean.”

She rolled her eyes. “Sneaking away, lying to authority figures, what did you think I meant, King Ricky?” 

He shrugged, suppressing his grin because she realized he could be bad if he wanted to. “I do it from time to time.”

“From time to time ? Jack could never even think of doing that. I think skipping class would make him have an aneurysm.”

“Skipping class is easy. Just make up the work, make up an excuse and don’t get caught lying.” He shrugged and hoped he was playing it as cool as possible. He hoped he was impressing her. 

She gave him a face of faux shock. “You’re a little bit of a bad boy!” 

He laughed. “Not really.” 

“Yeah. But it’s better than nothing. You’re willing to take risks.” She made eye contact with him and then quickly looked away. “Nini… likes that.” 

“I guess.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Nothing. Just a little fight we had.” 

“Oh… Okay.” It was like she could sense he didn’t want to talk about it, because she didn’t even bother asking. For that he was more than grateful. “Let’s dress you up, my king.” She gave him a low curtsey before he burst into laughter and gently shoved her shoulder. “I heard the lower the bow or curtsey the higher the rank, is that true?” 

“Yeah. Give me a second, I forgot something.” He stopped her by grabbing her arm and as she turned to him he gave her a deep bow in return. “My princess.” 

Her face was in awe as he came back up, like she didn’t know how to reply. What to say. Her lips pursed in a gentle smile. 

“Or do you prefer… queen?” He asked. 

“I don’t know… I’ve never considered being a queen before…”

“Well… Let me consider…” He bowed again, deeply. “My queen.” 

The two words together twisted his stomach into knots. Gina. His queen. His stomach twisted even further. His throat was dry. As he came back up he could’ve sworn Gina’s cheeks were tinted pink. 

“That… was…” She looked down at her fingers, wringing them out again. “Indescribable.” She whispered. “And it’s very hard to render me speechless.” She nervously chuckled as they began walking to her room again. 

“Well then.” He laughed. “I think I did a good job, then.” 

“Yeah, maybe. My mom was always queen, so there’s no way I could’ve been one but… I kind of… like that idea now.” 

“It suits you, for what it’s worth.” He added and she smiled back, looking satisfied with his answer. 

As they got to her room, Ricky asked. “Hey Gina?” 

“Yeah?” She asked as she went over to her closet. 

“What’s wrong with my outfit?” 

“What? Nothing.” Then the longer she looked at him she determined, “Well… Maybe you could lose the tie. Button down the shirt. A little chest being shown never hurt anyone.” She shrugged casually before turning back around. 

“Alright… But nothing… major?” 

“No. Your suit fits you very well. The blue compliments your skin and your build. The material looks great on you and, I’d say your height fills the pants out perfectly.” She turned around as she carried some clothes to be dumped on her bed. 

“Then why’d you say I needed to change?” He pouted. “I thought you hated my outfit.” 

“What? No! I think you look… good.” She replied, taking it as an opportunity to begin scanning him. “Yeah. Good.” Her cheeks tinted a bright pink as she looked back down at her bed to sort through clothes. “I just said you needed to change because you wouldn’t fit in on the Isle wearing that, no matter how nice it looks. It’s too fancy, and the material is too expensive. You’d get robbed, probably.” 

“Oh… oh. ” He spoke as he fully realized what she was saying. 

“Yeah. But don’t worry. I’m gonna fix it.” She smiled as she turned around again. 

They weren’t any different— their interactions were still the same, but he felt a subtle change between them, and he was sure that she felt it too. There was a shift in the way their eyes met as they looked at each other, when they touched each other, and it needed to be addressed before it spun out of control. 

After a minute or two of watching her move about as he sat on her bed he finally got the nerve to bring up what happened between them in his office nearly a week ago. “Gina?” 

“Hm?” She asked as she went through her closet. 

“Do you think we can… Talk about… What happened between us?” 

Chapter Text

“What… Happened? You mean… In your office the other day?” She asked, as she cleared her throat and looked back down at the pieces of clothing in her hands, examining them like there was something super interesting about them that she hadn’t seen before. 

“Yeah…” Ricky gulped, leaning down to sit gently at the foot of her bed as she stood on the side. “When we almost sorta… um… you know.” He chuckled awkwardly. He couldn’t say it out loud. If he said it out loud then it was real. Not just his feelings, but his actions. Those always had consequences; these were ones he wasn’t sure he could deal with. 

“Yeah. I’m sorry.” She chuckled nervously. “Old habits die hard, I guess.” She shrugged, looking down again at her bed. 

“Old habits?” Ricky mumbled like he had no idea what she was talking about, but he did. He had read her file. He was just hoping that it wasn’t true. He hoped that their moments weren’t just lapses in Gina’s better judgment. That he wasn’t just another person for her to flirt with whenever she got bored. 

She laughed. “Yeah… You can stop pretending you didn’t read my file, Ricky.” She shook her head like his confusion was absurd. “I know you saw my… strong suit… ” She scoffed. “I’m… a flirt. It’s who I am , okay?” But it sounded more like she was trying to convince herself rather than him. “I just… I got a little ahead of myself, and I’m sorry for that, alright?” 

He nodded his head slowly like he was having trouble comprehending what she was saying. “Right… Okay… So… What were you trying to get from me, then?” He got up off her bed so he could get a better look at her. “ If she wanted to play the file game, he could play the file game. 

“What?” She mumbled, twisting the material between her fingers, winding it tightly around them. 

“In your file. It said usually whenever you used your… special skills… It was because you were after something, whether it was for yourself or for your friends, or mom. What were you after, Gina?” He asked, looking her dead in the eyes as he asked. “Power? Money? My position? Trust? ” He pushed, and maybe it was wrong to do that but he needed the truth. Or some little piece of it. 

He couldn’t take this being the truth. It would hurt too bad. It also just… didn’t align with who he knew Gina to be. She wasn’t someone who was power-hungry, or a gold digger, even if that’s what she thought of herself. She was compassionate and sweet. She hadn’t been destroyed by her time on the Isle, and she was so much more than that stupid file. 

She let out a small, nervous laugh. “Let’s get you dressed to go to the Isle, Ricky.” She gathered pants, a T-shirt, a leather jacket, and a beanie together from her pile of clothes and placed them all in front of him. “Here you go.”

“No.”

“No?”

“Tell me what you were using me for, Gina.” He mumbled. If you were even using me… “What did you want from me? To prove that… that I’m not a good enough boyfriend for Nini or something? To trick me? I don’t get it.”

“This is most certainly not about Nini.” 

“So what was it about, Gina? Huh? Why do that if… If…” If you don’t feel what I feel. “If you didn’t want anything? There has to be something— Did you just want the position you have right now? Because it would’ve been yours regardless of—”

“Are you trying to say I’m flirting my way to the top?”

“What?! Gina, I would never… That came out wrong— What I meant was if you’re saying it’s your old habits coming out to play… There has to be something you want from me right?” She didn’t answer right away; instead, she gave him her doe-eyed sad puppy face. He tried to stay strong as her eyes grew wider. “Right?” He mumbled. 

“Why? Because I’m from the Isle? You think I need your charity?” She asked defensively, trying it appeared to put away her doe eyes, but they just wouldn’t go (and part of him was glad for that because they were just so darn cute).

As she gave him that look he could feel that she was lying and that familiar beastly anger began welling up inside. The anger that he constantly pushed so far down that he couldn’t even connect with that side of himself anymore. “What? Gina, you’re deflecting, you’re the one that brought up your damn file! If you want to bring the damn thing up, stand by it! That’s what it says! So what do you want from me, Gina?!” He needed to know. Even if it was going to make him sad. He needed her to stop lying. 

Her eyebrows creased gently as he expressed himself and the quietude fell between them— he knew she had never seen him get this loud before. He had always been so calm and collected because he had to be that way. Constantly safeguarding himself from the Beast inside that was dying to claw its way out. 

“Huh?! What is it?! Speak dammit!” His face was getting red as his voice bellowed, but she didn’t look afraid. 

Honestly, the intrepid look on her face reminded him of how his mother was when his dad got like this, so antsy and angry. His mother never backed down, and that was one of the things his father loved most about her— it was the whole reason he learned to tame his beast. She taught him to see the humanity in himself. That he wasn’t just some reckless animal even if he had been relegated to that for years. Belle had seen something in his father that nobody had seen in him. That he hadn’t seen in him. 

Everyone saw The Beast. She saw Michael. 

Ricky wondered if even through this moment Gina could see Ricky, too. 

Her eyebrows only contorted more the longer her eyes were on him. “No.” She boldly stated. 

This damn woman was going to make him lose his mind.  “No?” He scoffed. “I am your king, Gina and I demand that you—”

“I said no!” She yelled back. “You think you can get loud and angry?! I can get loud and angry too, Ricky! I said no! You might be the King, and I respect you as such, but am I not a lowly peasant under your feet! My King has always been responsible and treated me as an equal! When you’re ready to be my King again, we can talk then!” She bellowed much louder than she probably should’ve and as she did Ricky remembered his childhood. A very specific moment. A turning point.  

He had done something, albeit, pretty bad, and his father had verbally skinned him alive for it. “But Dad all the other kids are messing with magic too—”

“I don’t care about what all the other kids do, Ricky! They have parents of their own to show them right from wrong! You are the future king of Auradon! You can’t just act however you want all willy-nilly! Soon you’ll have an entire kingdom to run, you have to be responsible, there are consequences for your damn stupid actions—”

“Aren’t kings allowed to make mistakes?!”

“Not moronic ones like this! Not stupid ones that could potentially get you and others hurt, or even killed! If they hadn’t gotten everyone out in time you could’ve killed someone! I couldn’t save you then Ricky, no matter how much I wanted to! You have to wear your head on straight, kid, I’m begging you! Your actions affect an entire country, even if you’re only a teenager!” His dad scolded. “Do you want this crown?”

“What?”

“Do you want this crown, son?” 

“Yes. I do. More than anything I’ve ever wanted.” He mumbled, not meeting his father’s eyes. He wasn’t brave enough for that yet. 

“Well, you need to start acting like it. Fourteen is not too young to be responsible. You have two more years before you’re crowned. Clean up your act. Tame the damn beast inside! You shouldn’t even be trying to morph without me around to guide you yet, Ricky! ”

“Why?! So I can be like you? Reduced to a trained house dog on a leash because you’re so scared of what the damn kingdom will think if they see the real you?!” Ricky yelled. Ricky didn’t have to look into his father’s eyes to know he hit a nerve, but when he did the man’s eyes were narrowing, and his eyebrows were so twisted they were almost mashed together. His fists were balled at his sides and before Ricky could mutter an apology his father was storming away. 

“We’ll finish this discussion later, son.” He grumbled, the shadow of him was long gone before Ricky could even reply back. He knew his father didn’t deserve his words, and neither did the poor vase his dad was probably about to go shatter. 

Hot tears were rolling down Ricky’s face as he watched the way his dad had left. “Dad…” He choked out, but there was no way he would’ve been able to hear it. 

“Honey?” He heard his mother’s voice coming from behind him, and he turned around to face her.

“Oh great. Are you here to lecture me too?”

One eyebrow lifted. “Cut the attitude, Richard Ben. Right now. I’m not the parent you have screaming matches with, remember?”

“Sorry, Mom.” He replied sheepishly.

Her face softened. “Come here.” She beckoned him over to the Queen’s seat in the throne room, and she took a seat on the arm of the chair. “What really happened?”

“We… We had been talking about magic… And I confided in some of the guys that I could… That I could…”

“Beast out?”

“Yeah…” He rubbed his arm awkwardly. “They thought it was pretty cool.” He laughed a little. “But then each time I turned without Dad around to help me I started… I started having trouble controlling it…” 

“And you ended up trashing the locker rooms…”

“They said it’s beyond human repair… But the only reason I was losing control was because they kept egging me on, Mom! EJ had learned that the angrier I got the more powerful… It… Yeah…” He was blinking back the tears as he spoke to her. “I’m really sorry, Mom.” 

“Oh, Ben…” His mom pulled him towards her, and he sank into her embrace with a sob. “They were all so scared of me, Mom.” He was having trouble breathing as he cried harder. “Lily hates me now. She’s never gonna marry me, Mom, I’m a monster! She’s terrified, they all are! No one is going to want me to be their king now!” She rubbed his back in circles. 

“Don’t worry son. Mom and Dad are going to take care of it, okay?”

Ricky sniffled. “Does… Does Dad hate me too now?”

“Absolutely not. He knows what this is like, remember? He was a beast fully at one point, and at your age, he had absolutely no guidance, no one around him could understand what was even going on… He just wants to help you.” She sighed. “Just give him some time to cool off, okay? Even at his age he struggles to contain his beast sometimes.” 

“Okay…” Ricky took a deep breath, and from that moment he had sworn to always subdue his anger. Even if Fairy Godmother had wiped everyone’s memory of the incident, he remembered it, and it’s what has kept his beast locked up for so long. It’s what would keep it locked up inside forever.

As he finally left the labyrinth that was his memory, Gina released a breath that had gotten caught in her throat. “I’m sorry, I… I forgot who I was speaking to for a second.” She whispered. Ricky couldn’t even move. He was stunned. Speechless even. Almost nothing had ever left him this speechless. She… she didn’t cower when he yelled. She… yelled back … She… put him in his place… He was her king. 

“I… It won’t ever happen again, King Ricky.” She started to back away and then fell into a deep curtsey. “I’ll… I’ll leave you to change.” Before he could even say another word she was scampering away and out of the room, and he was watching the back of her head in awe as she left.

♕

Ricky dressed in silence. In fact, the room was so silent he could hear the low purr of the central air. He pulled off and on those clothes in record time, and all because he needed to see the girl on the other side of the door. 

Right as he finished he flung the door open to see Gina there in a whole new outfit. One that was not as preppy as she normally was, a little bit more Isle chic. “Gina.” That was the only word he could seem to make out and say out of all the words swirling around in his head. He settled for saying it again. “Gina.” This time it was softer and accompanied by a small grin. 

He hated to say that her putting him in his place hypnotized him even more. No one aside from his parents had ever seen him in that state and had the gall to speak to him that way. They mostly satiated and comforted him until he was calm again— he found that he liked Gina’s method better. He wasn’t ready to admit why quite yet. 

“King Ricky.” She mumbled. Her curls were now tucked into an afro puff on the top of her head, she sported a new golden crown, and she still managed to work heeled boots into her new fit. 

“You look… different. But good different.”

She lightly smiled. “Thank you.” She spoke as she stepped into the room.

“How’d you change?”

“I used the bathroom, Your Majesty.” She replied as she placed the clothes down on her bed, next to his folded suit and turned back around. “Are you ready to go meet Carlos and Jet?”

No. What he had really wanted to ask was why the hell she was addressing him so formally…  What normally filled him with such esteem now almost felt like a smack in the face. Like distance between them. He didn’t like it one bit. 

“Not yet. Not before I… apologize.” He muttered, pushing his hands into his jeans pockets that had a significantly less amount of space than his slacks did. “I’m sorry for the way I spoke to you, Gina.” He could feel his fists tightly balling as he said it. “I… I let my anger get the best of me, and I let the beast in me out… I shouldn’t have and I feel terrible — I— I almost always have it under control and I just… I’m so sorry—”

“No. I… I shouldn’t have screamed louder than you after that. I guess… I have a bit of beast in me too.” That comforted him way more than it should have. She had no idea how much it meant to him to hear her admit that. 

He chuckled. “I’m really sorry, Gi.”

“I wasn’t like… scared of you, or anything. If that’s what you're worried about. I know you’d never... never hurt me.” That was more of a relief than she’d ever know— her actions had already indicated that enough to him, though.

“I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I hurt you, Gina.” He mumbled. 

She nodded. “I know. I’m… happy you trusted me with your beast, Your Majesty.” Oh, you don’t know the half of my beast, Gina. But something tells me you wouldn’t be scared of the rest of me either. He thought. “Shall we?” 

It was resolved, their argument, but it didn’t feel resolved. It was like covering a tiny mistake on a canvas with a different color, but missing how that affected the overall painting. “We shall. Let’s find the guys.” 

♕

Ricky wished he could read minds. Specifically, the mind of a blue-haired warrior princess whose middle name happened to be Evie. 

He and Gina were sitting on opposite sides of the limousine, and for the entire duration of the ride, she had been looking out the window and hadn’t said a single word, much to Ricky’s dismay. The boys didn’t seem to be too worried about it, so Ricky was trying to take it in stride. 

However, he still wished he could read her mind. Maybe then he’d know how she truly felt about everything that happened between them. Maybe then he’d know whether he was crazy for feeling this way about her or not. Does the thought of me drive you crazy too, Evie ? He wondered as he tried to focus his eyes anywhere but on her. 

Carlos was sitting next to him, and filling the silence. He and Jet had been going back and forth for ages about something or the other. With the two of them, it was always a trivial argument that’s answer wouldn’t matter at the end of the day, and Ricky couldn’t have been happier about it. That way he and Gina’s silence would go unnoticed. 

He used this time to try to get inside Gina’s mind without being obvious. He couldn’t understand why she had gotten so distant so quickly. Was it something that he said? Something that he did?

Or maybe, just maybe she meant every word of what she had said. That was the probable truth that was weighing on him the most. He couldn’t understand why he cared. He had a whole girlfriend for crying out loud, who happened to be this girl’s best friend . Why did it matter if Gina reciprocated his stupid crush? Was his attraction to her even big enough to call a crush? Did the thought of his lips touching hers drive her crazy too?

He rolled his eyes. He hadn’t obsessed over a girl like this in his entire life, so why now? He tried to push every rumination about Gina to the back of his mind, but what kept coming up was the words she had said to Jack before they had left for the Isle. 

He was being stupid. She could be unusually quiet because she wasn’t currently on the best of terms with her boyfriend. It probably had nothing to do with Ricky in the slightest, and he had to stop being so self-centered. Not every upset she had was about him. 

The argument had seemed like it was getting a little heated though… 

Gina had been standing not that far off from the limousine when Jack came running up with a sleeping bag, and a myriad of other camping supplies, and he was shouting, “Gina! Gina! I’m coming with you!” and grinning, like the dopey dwarf he had descended from.

“Jack?” She seemed more puzzled than anything else. 

“Hi.” He smiled sillily, and Ricky had to physically hold back a scoff as he, Carlos, and Jet stood a ways away near the limousine. 

She laughed. “Hi.” Her smile spread all over her face as she took in his features— he made her pretty happy huh… “What are you doing here?” 

“Carlos told me that you were going camping, so here I am— honestly, at first I thought it was pretty absurd because, you would never go camping unless you would describe camping as staying in a five-star hotel, and roasting marshmallows over the stove. But then I figured, if you’re going camping, then I want to go with you—”

“You can’t come.” She said, a little too quickly, and his eyebrow raised gently. 

“Oh… How come?” 

“Because. You can’t.” 

“But Ricky’s coming.” 

“What? No. He’s not.” 

“Gina, I saw him walking with you guys out here to the van from the dorms when I was gathering my things.” 

“But you can’t come Jackiekins, I’m sorry—”

“I don’t get it, you’re taking Carlos, who hates anything and everything outdoors… I guess Jet is understandable, and Ricky ? But I’m your boyfriend—”

“And you’ll still be my boyfriend when I come back! But I have to go! And without you!” 

“But Gina I don’t get it—”

“I just don’t want you to come, okay?! I don’t have any more time to explain, I have to go.” 

“Are you even going camping?” He muttered, letting his sleeping bag sag in his arms. 

“No. I don’t know why Carlos said that. He, myself, Jet, and Nini are taking Ricky on a tour of the Isle. Nini went ahead of us to make sure our hideout on the Isle is clean and safe for Ricky. Now I have to go, okay? I’ll be back before you know it.” 

“I could… Come to the Isle with you guys?” He was offering but even he sounded unsure. Ricky wasn’t especially close with Jack but the poor guy was probably shitting his pants being out this late after curfew. He wouldn’t last even a second on the Isle. 

“Jackiekins…”

He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry I’m acting like this I just… I feel like I haven’t seen you in so long. You’ve been running around so much with Ricky, and… everything else has been taking up so much of your time… I just… I just feel like you don't really need me anymore, I guess. I just feel a bit like… Ricky is replacing me. I don’t know… It’s probably stupid…” 

“That’s not true, Ricky has a girlfriend, Jack. And that girlfriend happens to be my best friend.”

“I know, it’s just… When I see you guys hanging out I can’t help but remember what you told me about your feelings towards him, and I just feel a bit threatened, I guess…” 

“Shhh…” Gina whispered, and Ricky made sure his eyes were firmly planted on Carlos as he spoke about only God knew what so that when she looked around she wouldn’t notice that he was listening in. But as he waited for her to speak again his heart felt like it stopped.

Her feelings toward him?  “I already told you so many times I don’t feel that way about Ricky anymore—” Ricky had to really strain to hear her because she was speaking so softly. “I promise we’ve only been spending so much time together because of the new position. As soon as I get settled in my role as Isle Advisor we’ll be back to hanging out all the time, okay?” 

He took another deep breath and smiled. “Okay. I believe you…  I’ll see you when you come back?” 

“When I come back.” Gina pressed a kiss to his lips before walking back over to where Jet, Carlos, and Ricky had been standing, and as the three of them talked, the words still replayed in his head. They keep repaying now, even as they made their way to the Isle.

“So… We haven’t really discussed this, but what’s our plan?” Jet asked when they finally got to the border. 

“Well, first we have to hide the limo,” Gina spoke, finally sitting upright. 

“That’s the easy part,” Carlos replied. “What about Nini? What about Kourtney?”

“Uma Kourtney? Daughter of Ursula?” Ricky asked as he sat up in his seat, finally interested because the conversation had shifted to Isle talk. Maybe he could get to learn about some of the VKs to decide who the next four he’d be bringing over are.

“Yeah. Ever since we left she took over, and she hates us, especially Nini.” Carlos informed. 

“Speak for yourself, she doesn’t hate me” Gina crossed her arms and shrugged. 

“Neither me.” Jet shrugged as well. “I think we might've started dating if I hadn’t left for Auradon.” He was smug as he crossed his arms over his chest. 

“Right… Like she would’ve been giving you the time of day with Howie Hook around and her crush on Nini—” Gina replied.

“Wait she had a crush on Nini?!” Jet exclaimed. 

“You couldn’t tell?” Gina questioned, and Ricky was just trying to process all the information as it flew at him in their rapid-fire conversation. “I’m pretty sure Nini had a crush on her too. The way she wouldn’t stop picking on her when we were kids. Calling her mean names and all.”

“Wait, I thought Nini had a thing with Howie—” Carlos interjected. Nini had a thing with someone over here?! And she never told me?! 

“They just flirted, it was never anything serious. Besides, Howie never quite got over his crush on moi.” Gina gave a small grin as she teased, and something slimy boiled within Ricky at that comment.

“Has anyone on this God-forsaken island ever gotten over a crush on you, Gi?” Jet laughed.

“Nope, and no one that has ever had a crush on me ever will.” She shrugged with a smug smile at her friend as she got out of the limo. 

Ricky didn’t think truer words have ever been said. 

Chapter Text

“Ricky, dude, you gotta stop walking like that.” Jet scoffed. The way Jet’s pants now sagged made him walk with a certain slow swagger that Ricky didn’t think he would ever be able to pull off. Jet glared him down with his hands crossed firmly over his chest.

“Walking like what?” Ricky mumbled, trying to adjust slightly, only now looking as though he was getting increasingly constipated with every step.

“Alright, alright stop.” Jet placed his hand on Ricky’s shoulder. “Gina. Fix him.” 

Gina, who had been walking in front of them suddenly stopped in her tracks and turned around to face them— Ricky tried not to notice the way her walk had changed. Instead of walking with her head held high and her sternum to the sky like she normally would, she was slouching slightly as she walked now, her hips swaying less than normal. “Why can’t I just ignore it like everyone else?”

“Because I can’t ignore it, and if I can’t, no one else is allowed to!” Jet exasperatedly stated. 

“I still don’t understand what I’m doing wrong,” Ricky whispered.

Gina closed her eyes and took a deep breath before walking toward him. “Well, it’s not you, per se. If you’ve never been on the Isle, you'd have no idea how to act over here.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry Ricky, but you kinda can’t walk around like you own the joint over here. That’ll probably get you stabbed.” Carlos grimaced, crossing his arms over his chest.

“ Stabbed ?! Is it really that violent over here?!” Ricky was actively suppressing the fear in his voice… or trying to.

“Carlos, don't scare him!” Gina reprimanded. “Not everywhere on the island is like that— most parts of the Isle are not like that. It’s just… in the more violent parts, it’s dangerous to walk around… presenting the way you do. Like you’re in charge. Some villains will take offense to that.” 

“We know you’re in charge in Auradon dude, but you’re definitely not in charge over here,” Jet informed. 

“You just need to act more like you belong.” Gina aided. “Not… draw attention to yourself.”

Ricky crossed his arms over his frame. “But I clearly don’t.” He mumbled, looking defeated. “Maybe I should just wait in the limo.” 

“That’s an even worse suggestion.” Jet humorlessly chuckled, turning back and clutching his head. “Someone’ll see you and then we’ll be screwed even harder than having you with us.”

“Jet shut up.” Gina rolled her eyes. Jet shot up his hands questioningly in defense before the girl turned her attention back to Ricky. “You just need to… find your wicked side .” 

Ricky bit at the inner corner of his mouth, “I don’t think I have one.” He mumbled. 

“Everybody has one. We’re all made up of varying degrees of villain and hero… At least that’s what I believe. You just need to find your… villain capacity.” Gina shrugged. Ricky sighed, fidgeting restlessly, not allowing himself to make eye contact with her. 

Sure, he had made fun of Jack for not being able to act the part of the bad boy that Gina might want, but he was starting to see that maybe he couldn’t either. He wasn’t like the people here, and he had always learned that that was good. 

That it was good that he carried himself like a prince, a king, because that’s who he was, but to these people, he was probably lower than their lowest. They probably hated him, and they weren’t wrong to feel that way. He hadn’t done much to help yet other than bring four kids over, and that doesn’t do much for everyone in need here…

There was such a huge disconnect, how would he rule over these people if he didn’t know what it was like to be like them? If he couldn't even understand their status at the lowest threshold then— 

“Ricky.” Gina’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. “Get out of your head.” She whispered. “I know you think that you can never be like us, but we’re gonna show you how to do that, okay?” 

“We are?” Carlos asked. 

“Yeah,” Gina replied. “You need to drag your feet a little when you walk. Show him, Los.” Right as she said it Carlos looked hesitant, but she egged him on with her eyes. He stepped in front of Ricky and slowly showed him how to do it and then walked at a normal pace, still dragging his feet. “Just like that. Thanks, Los.” Gina smiled at him reassuringly and turned back to Ricky. “Do you think you get it?” 

“Yeah. I get it.”

“That’s the next thing. You don’t talk a lot on the Isle. You have friends, and you have enemies.” Jet informed him. “When people you don’t know talk to you, you nod your head. Or shake it. That’s it. You don’t make conversation, you don’t make small talk, unless it’s to make fun of them, or berate them, or something else negative, and you are never nice unless you’re getting something in return… or faking it.”

“... That’s a sucky way to be,” Ricky mumbled. 

“Well, that’s how you survive, dude.” Jet shrugged. “When you’re nice you get taken advantage of. So no one’s nice.” 

“There are some nice people.” Carlos interrupted. “But you have to look hard to find them. Gina is— was the one nice person on this damn island.” 

“Hey, Emmy is pretty nice,” Gina replied.

“Who’s that?” Ricky asked, looking directly at Gina.

Gina smiled brightly. “Drusella’s daughter. She’s the sweetest little girl I’ve ever met and the most badass hairstylist and singer… Like that girl has got some pipes .” 

“How could I forget about little Emmy.” Carlos smiled and then turned to Ricky to give him more deets on Emmy. “Gina’s like… her biggest role model, and she has the largest crush on Jet—”

“She’s darling… When she’s not being creepy. I think she’s kept my hair every time she’s given me a lineup and trim.” Jet shivered. 

“Does she mean a lot to you?” Ricky asked Gina.

“The whole world.” Gina almost whispered. “She’s like the little sister I never had.”

“Girl you’re practically her mother.” Carlos laughed. “Well… were.” Ricky knew at that moment Emmy was definitely one of the next people they’d have to discuss bringing over. He’d talk to Gina all about it later for sure. 

“Yeah,” Gina mumbled, looking down at her fingers. “Anyway! Let’s keep going. What else does Ricky need to know.”

“Whenever you’re just standing around idly, lean back. Like against something. Don’t just stand up tall and vacant. Like a statue or… a really handsome NPC.” Jet added. 

“Okay, lean around a lot. Got it.” Ricky muttered. 

“Also, I know this is a new environment for you, but you’ve gotta stop staring.” Gina versed. 

“You also need to be better at acting like you don’t care.”  Carlos continued. 

“You need to just not be so… Ricky.” Jet grimaced. 

To say Ricky was feeling overwhelmed at the pace with which information was coming his way was an understatement. “Hey, are you okay?” Gina asked, stepping into his bubble of confusion. 

“Yeah, yeah. I’m good.” He brushed her off, with a little chuckle. 

“It’s okay if you’re a little overwhelmed, you know.” She whispered. “I know we all felt the same way when we first came to Auradon. It’s really hard adjusting to all the social rules, regular rules, and everything else when you’ve known something entirely different all your life. I get it.” 

“I don’t know what I’m doing.” He whispered back to her and then nervously laughed. 

“That’s okay. That’s why we’re here to help you, alright?” Gina smiled back at him. “I can show you how to be cool over here, but beware being cool also means breaking all of Auradon’s rules. But once you get it, you’ll be like us.”

“… Like a villain?” Ricky asked. “Or an ex-villain?” He quickly corrected, he didn’t want them to think that that’s how he thought of them. 

“Yeah. Like a villain.” Gina smiled.

“ Chillin ’ like a villain.” Jet smiled, nearly parting the air with his hands as if he were writing the words in the sky.

“… Wow. You are the corniest person I’ve ever met in my entire life.” Carlos laughed. 

“Huh. Did you just come up with that? Jettie?” Gina asked. 

“Nah, I’ve been kind of sitting on it for a while— it was never the right time to use it once we got to Auradon and right now the only time we’re without Nini so I had to take this opportunity to say it without getting spelled.” 

“Totally telling her you said it when we find her.” Carlos chuckled. 

“Dude, don’t. She’ll like… turn me into a roach or something.” 

“You’d deserve it.” As the two continued fighting Gina continued with her lesson from where she was next to Ricky. 

She observed Ricky as he stood a little too straight, biting his lip and looking nervous as he placed his hands in and removed them from his pants pockets. “You draw attention when you act like that, you know. The aim is to not look so proper. Or so fidgety and nervous, it’ll make nosy villains, ask questions that we don’t have any answers for. I mean, you have a pretty recognizable face, so you need to blend in as much as possible. You pretty much have to be wrong to get it right around here— Going against all of your instincts is what I’m telling you to do.” 

“Like for instance…” Gina leaned into him. “It’s okay to flirt even though you have a girlfriend over here.” 

“Oh?” Ricky’s cheeks tinted pink, and he could feel his heart racing in his chest just at the idea of her being so close, and at that being okay.

“Yeah…” She whispered, getting closer to his face. “Think of it as training.” She spoke, and even Jet and Carlos arguing in the background was drowned out. 

“Okay.” He tried to avoid looking at her lips. 

“I’ve done it a bunch… Maybe I shouldn’t admit that, but—”

“I like knowing this side of you.” He cut her off to reassure her. “The person you were here.”

Her face brightened. “I had a lot of trouble being good over here.” She confessed. “It’s not easy… Unless you find people who are equally as vulnerable.”

“People like Emmy?”

She nodded. “And Carlos. He was my first real friend over here. He was so timid… I couldn’t take advantage of that.” She shrugged. “Plus… I’m not exactly his type.” 

At that, Ricky laughed. “So how should… approach this? Flirting?”

She gave him a knowing look. “Don’t try to convince me that lady’s man King Ricky doesn’t know how to flirt.”

“I don’t!”

She scoffed. “You forget I’ve seen you in action, Ricky, while you were wooing my best friend?”

He blushed— he had forgotten briefly about Nini, and that Gina had watched the whole thing happen. “That’s not the same!”

“Just try!”

“Fine.” He playfully rolled his eyes. 

“Just show me how bad you can be.” 

He looked up at her through his eyelashes, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. he gave it a second before he spoke again. “You’re beautiful, did you know that?”

Her mouth was left agape as she smiled at his attempt. “That was forward!”

“I’m not done.” He muttered as he walked closer, and Gina put her hands up in surrender. 

He ran his hand up her arm and against her neck, reaching to tilt her chin up and run his thumb over her lips. “Why don’t you come back to my castle and I can show you my library, where all the stories about the beautiful girls are. Then we can make one about you and me to add to my collection.” Gina blinked, batting her eyelashes slowly as if she was shocked.

“Wow… That wasn’t bad… Although I do have to say if you were anyone else I would be cringing right now… You made that work.”

“Thanks.” He smiled, holding her face for a second longer before letting her go.

“What’s going on?” Jet asked as he approached. 

Gina cleared her throat. “I was— We were—”

“Gina was just showing me how good her flirt game is. Apparently it’s an Isle staple?”

“Oh definitely.” Carlos chuckled. 

Before Jet could say anything else Gina said, “And here’s another lesson that you should learn!” Gina walked closer to a shop stand. “Jet come here.” As Jet walked up Gina pointed at a golden necklace and said, “I want this necklace. You gonna get it for me?”

He smiled. “Only the best for Gigi.” He replied, and walked up to the stand, snatching it when the stand worker wasn’t watching, and strolling back over to her, dangling it out for her on his index and middle fingers. “Here you go, milady.” 

She smiled, “For me?” Before taking it and clasping it around her neck. “Why, it’s just my style!” 

“Man, Auradon is great and all the rules are… I guess for a good reason but it’s good to be back!” Jet laughed. “Want anything else, Gi?”

“Anything for our favorite princess!” Carlos added with a laugh. 

“Gina…” Ricky whispered uneasily as he came up by her side, eyeing the necklace around her neck. “Do you really think you guys should be doing this? I mean you guys just got out of Goodness 101— and I think it was merited but—”

“But what, Ricky?” She scoffed. “That guy selling the necklaces probably stole them from somewhere else. That’s how things work around here.” He continued to eye her, and it made her roll her eyes again. “I’ll put it back if you seriously think we should–”

“Nah, Gi. You know the rules. If you want it, you gotta take it. And if you can’t do that you gotta break it.” Jet shrugged. “That’s the unspoken rule here, Ricky. Auradonians like to pretend they’re all good and high and mighty, but not stealing doesn’t make you a good person—”

“But neither does stealing, Jet,” Ricky replied with a sigh. “I get it, I do. Life is different here. People have to survive, but you guys aren’t like that anymore—” He hated having to argue with them about stuff like this. It wasn’t like he was riding on morality’s high horse either, but Gina now had tons of necklaces back home, some that probably weren’t even costume jewelry. Taking something just felt… wrong. 

“Woah, since when do you get to tell us what we’re like ?” Jet asked.  

“Jet I don’t think that was the intention, I think he just means that we’re in a place in our lives now where we don’t have to live like that anymore–” Gina explained.

“Well you don’t get to judge us—”

“I wasn’t judging you, I’m just saying you don’t have to steal—”

“Hey, I was the one who encouraged him to do it. It’s not his fault.” Gina added. “If you’re gonna blame anyone, it should be me.”

“I didn’t want to blame anyone, it wasn’t about that, I’m just saying it sucks that people even have to steal things here and act so… defensively— but— if you don’t have to you shouldn’t. That’s it. That’s all.”

“Whatever, man. I’m over it.” Jet shook his head and started to walk away. 

“Jet!” Carlos called after him. “I’ll go after him.” He whispered to Gina before running off in his direction. 

“Shit.” Ricky ran his fingers through his hair. “Shit, shit, shit!” He yelled and kicked a trash can, sending it rolling down the incline of the street they were on. Once it crashed he jumped, “Oh— Should I go get that?— I’m sorry.” He pointed at it as he looked back at Gina, who was still, unmoving. “Gina?” He asked, walking closer to her. 

She let out a chuckle. “Of course not.”

“... Of course not what?”

“You definitely should not go get it.” She smiled, gently then turned to look at Ricky. “This is hard for you. I know that—”

“I just want— I want to be able to do this right. For you— I mean— For you guys … You all left here, your home, to come to a place that you’re not at all familiar with. A place that looks down on you all. A place that pretends to be the authority on goodness, I understand completely how I came off to Jet just now, and I’m so sorry about it, but I couldn’t just let you all steal and I just—”

“Shhh…” Gina muttered, stepping closer. Normally Ricky would’ve been insulted at someone shushing him, but the act just felt so gentle; so caring. “It’s okay. I get that I do, but I think you should probably just apologize to Jet. Honestly… The Isle… Our time here… It’s a kinda rough subject for all of us. If our parents even find out we’re here right now we’re as good as dead, and that’s not an exaggeration for some of us… My mom wouldn’t lay a finger on me because she wouldn’t want to taint my features… But… I can’t say the same about Jafar…”

“ Oh …” He had no idea. I mean, of course, he had no idea or he wouldn’t have said a thing to Jet, but… The reality of their lives was truly starting to set in. Hearing about the conditions of the Isle via Auradonian agents and reading their files (that clearly had very limited information on them) could only do so much. Seeing it in person… Confronting it head on… That was a different story. “I… I get it. I will definitely apologize when I get the chance…”

Gina smiled. “Thank you, Ricky. Now… Maybe we should go find them?”  

“Let’s… Let’s go.”  He nodded along as they began to walk in the direction that Jet and Carlos had gone. 

As they walked along the path, Ricky began to feel… weird. Almost like they were being followed— as if there was this dark presence looming over himself and Gina. Ricky reached out to grab Gina’s arm. “Wait, Gi.”

“What?” She came closer, lowering her voice to a whisper. “Is something wrong?”

“I think… I think someone is following us.” 

“You’d be right to assume that, Princey.” Antoine, son of Gaston spoke as he emerged from the shadows with a quiet polished French accent. 

“Oh Antoine where are your manners? He’s a king now. Didn’t you see it on the news?” Howie Hook asked as he emerged. 

“Back away from him.” Gina’s voice shook a little as she whipped out a small fighting knife.

“Woah, Princess. Put the knife away! We don’t wanna hurt him. We’re just gonna take him to Kourt.” Howie told her.

“You’re not taking him anywhere.” Gina firmly stated. 

“Oh really?” Howie laughed. “Who’s gonna protect him?”

“Yeah, you and what army?” Antoine asked. “Where are Common Thief and Furball?” 

“Mind your business.” Gina spat. 

“We’ll just take both of you to Kourt.” Howie lunged forward and grabbed Gina, her knife clattering to the ground in the process as she thrashed wildly in his grasp. 

Antoine went to punch Ricky, but to no avail, as Ricky grabbed his fist and pulled it down, grabbing for his other arm. “Howie!” Antoine yelled.

Howie looked back at him as he struggled with Gina. “Are you serious Toine?! You had one job! Pepper spray! Why are you trying to fight a king?! ”

“I didn't think he would have combat training!”

“Why wouldn’t a king have combat training, hello?!” Howie grunted, pushing Gina back onto the ground, and pulled out his sword. “ Don’t get up. Or you’ll regret it, Princess.” Gina seemingly threw herself back onto the ground as Howie helped Antoine wrangle Ricky. 

“You guys better not touch her!” Ricky yelled as he thrashed wildly against the two of them. 

“We won’t! We won’t if you just cooperate and come with us. We can cut this very short if you just come with us right now.” Howie negotiated. 

Ricky tensed up and slowly stopped thrashing. “Okay,” he panted.

“Ricky, no—” Gina muttered. 

“I’ll be fine, Gi. Just… do what you need to do, okay?” He didn't want to be specific, for fear that if these two idiots knew they were looking for Nini, they would make Gina take them to wherever she thought she might be. He didn’t want to make things any harder than they already were for Gina. “I’ll see you again, okay?!” Ricky shouted as they dragged him away from her, holding his arms behind his back. 

♕

“Hey, kingy,” Kourt smirked as Howie and Antoine pushed him up the steps of the ship onto the top level, where she stood. 

“Hi,” Ricky muttered. “You must be Uma.”

“Yeah. But I prefer going by my middle name. Kourtney.”

“Nice name.” 

“Thanks. Nice eyes.” She said before turning around to her henchmen, the boys who had gotten him here. “Tie him to the vessel, boys.” 

“Don’t trust me with me hands-free, Kourtney?” He asked in a mumbled voice as Antoine grabbed his arms and Howie grabbed some rope. 

She turned back to face him and crossed her arms over her chest. “Not even a little bit.” 

“What did I do to you?”

She laughed. “It's cute that you think this is that simple. Like we’re kindergartners in the sandpit and you took my juice box or something.” 

“So help me understand then.”

“Are you expecting me to pour my heart out now or something? Open up to you? Change my ways?” 

“No. I’m asking you to tell me why I’m tied up on your ship right now.”

“Well, you wouldn’t be tied up on my ship if you weren’t on my island in the first place.” 

“I can go wherever I please, thank you.” 

“Ha! Kingy’s a little sassy I see. I guess I can understand why Nini likes you so much. I’m a little sassy myself sometimes.”

Ricky arched an eyebrow. “And what does that have to do with me?” He was leaning into the lack of manners, and honestly enjoying it more than he thought he would— he had been ace at obeying instructions since the moment he was conscious of his actions. It felt nice to not have to be. 

Kourtney raised an eyebrow and a smile cracked on her face. “Well, looks can be deceiving huh? Who knew you had all this damn mouth!” Kourtney laughed and then whipped out her sword. “Be kind when you talk, Kingy.” Then she pouted sarcastically. “It hurts my feelings when you’re mean.” Then she thrust her sword upward and turned around to yell, “And what do we do with people who hurt my feelings?!”

“We throw them overboard!” Howie yelled, and all the crewmates whooped and cheered. “And I can’t wait to do that with you, Princey.” Howie ran his hook along Ricky’s jaw. He pulled out his clock, a little one attached to a chain. “Tick, tock, tick, tock.”

Ricky rolled his eyes. “You better hope your girlfriend comes to get you.” Kourtney quipped, taking a seat in front of him.

“I’m not so sure she’s my girlfriend anymore,” Ricky mumbled, and that made Kourtney smile. 

“Leave us alone, Howie.” When he wouldn’t budge she followed it up with, “Go!” He scoffed, rolling his eyes. 

“Shout if you need me, Kourt.” He mumbled as he walked away.

Ricky waited till he walked away to plead his case. “Listen, I get you guys don’t deserve this—”

“This.” She laughed. “What don’t you get? Because of your dear old dad, this island is a prison.” Then she continued, “And stop pretending like you care about us because no one cares about us.” 

“So this isn’t your mother’s plan?” He thought that maybe Kourtney could be going through the same dilemma that Nini had.

“Yeah, right. My mom doesn’t care about me. Unless she needs someone for the night shift.”

“Ouch.” 

“I don’t need your pity.”

“I know you don’t. You’re very resourceful.” He had gotten a good chance to look around at the ship, and it was massive. He didn’t even know they had ports out here in the Isle, much less one that could house such a large vessel. It’s not like they could go too much out, though. The barrier wouldn’t let them get too far without pushing them back. “Pretty impressive ship you got here, Kourtney,” Ricky mumbled. 

“It was my mother’s.” She replied, then added. “Well, technically it belonged to Prince Eric. It became my mother’s after it impaled her… She hates to see it, though. That’s why it’s out here. Far out of her sight.”

Ricky looked up at the mast. “You repaired it.”

“Yeah. We all did. Looks good, huh?”

“Yeah. It does.” Ricky fidgeted, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “So… How far have you guys gone?”

“What do you mean?” She asked, finally turning to look at him.

“Like… sailing.”

Kourtney busted out laughing, sweeping a couple of her braids over her shoulder. “That’s real funny, Ricky,” she replied as she sat forward, elbows on her knees. 

“What’s the joke?”

“This ship has never left the port.” She replied. “There’s no need to. There’s nothing out there. Just water. And past it, the barrier.”

“So how do you guys… fish and stuff?”

“We use dinghies. We don’t need a big ship like that for fishing. The big ships are for voyages. Exploring. All the islands and treasure and cool stuff like that is outside the barrier.” 

“Do you… Want to explore?” Ricky asked, and Kourtney’s eyes had a distant beam in them as her face lifted.

“More than anything.” A small smile appeared on her face as she voiced her love for the sea. “I read my mom’s story at one of the merchant stands in town. Eric was a voyager. It details very little of his travels but… Just that little bit is enough to get me excited, you know?” 

“Yeah…” Ricky smiled. “I have a lot of maps back home…”

“They only have a couple on the Isle… They’re mostly torn, and I had to fight to get them but… It’s still cool to have.”

“... Why don’t you come to Auradon? There are so many uncharted waters past the barrier. You could explore them all.”

Her face soured. “Oh so now I get an invite?” She laughed. “I wonder why.” She looked down at the ropes around him. “No way.” She snapped. “I’m not a sell-out like those other VKs. I’d never leave my family and friends to go play princess at that dumb prep school of yours.”

“Are you… sure?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“So… If I had picked you in the first bunch of VKs, you wouldn’t have come?”

She laughed. “You’re funny, Ricky. I really hope I don’t have to make you shark bait.” She turned around to pick at her nails.

“The plan was always to start with four, and then bring over more people… I never thought about the fact that I could’ve been hurting the people I didn’t choose.” She turned around slowly, her face visibly softening. He took that as a cue to keep talking. “You’re a leader, Kourtney. So am I. Come back to Auradon and help me change things.”

She scoffed. “Me? Help you change things?” She laughed. “Nah.” She smiled. “But you know what I do wanna talk about? You and Gina.” Her smile grew as she inched toward him.

Ricky’s face contorted. “Me and Gina? What about us?” He had wondered if somehow news had gotten back to her about Gina being his Isle advisor and she was upset about that.

“Howie and Antoine said there was some closeness between you two while they were watching you guys. Is there something I need to be made aware of? Maybe a scandal? An affair ?” She grinned, crossing her arms as she stepped closer. 

“What?! No way. You know Gina and I would never do that to Nini.” 

“Hm.” She shrugged her shoulders. “The way she was so upset about us taking you says otherwise, but okay. She looked damn near tears to me… You guys were getting pretty close too.”

“Because she’s worried about a friend? This concept might seem foreign, Kourtney, but people care about their loved ones.”

“Ha! Good one, but I can tell the difference between being upset over a guy you’re pining after and being upset over a friend. You get in the face of all your friends like that? Jet must enjoy that!” 

Ricky tried not to let his face change. Could Gina… reciprocate his crush? “Whatever. We’re just friends.”

“Okay! Whatever you say. As long as someone comes to get you and brings what I asked for, I don’t care. My plan works just the same.” She smiled. 

It was hours before anything else really happened— time felt like it was moving so slowly, and Ricky’s mind drifted. He wondered if he and Nini would be able to work this rough patch through; couples got into it all the time. His father and mother had pretty intense fights in the past, and they were still happily married and in love— all of the fairytale couples had had rough times, but they all made it past those. What’s to say that he and Nini couldn’t be the same?

But Gina… Gina had crept up on him. She understood so many things about rulership without having even been in the position. She was creative, outspoken, and compassionate. She just had exactly what it took to be queen someday. The way she just got him was like no one he had ever met. He kicked himself every day for not immediately gravitating to her the way that he did Nini. 

He thought at the time that she would’ve been just like Lily; power-hungry and obsessed with title, but he couldn’t believe the verve with which she proved him wrong. No other girl was as balanced as she. She was the best. The most beautiful; from her blue curls to her pink lips and beautiful smile. No one had it all quite like Gina, and—

“Look alive Kingy.” Kourtney strutted towards him excitedly. “They’ve finally come to get you.”