﹅ ۰ ۰ ۰ 𝗗𝗘𝗦𝗖𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗦 ┊ ❪ 𝑨𝙲𝙴 𝙾𝙵 𝑺𝙿𝙰𝙳𝙴𝚂! ❫
▍𝗜𝗡 𝗪𝗛𝗜𝗖𝗛 ｡ ｡ ｡ ｡ kids from all different backgrounds,
whether that being raised by a villain, raised by a hero,
raised by a mom, raised by a dad, or raised by b...
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"𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓, 𝐈𝐓 𝐒𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐖𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐃 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐑," Mal spoke, reading from her spell book as she traced her finger along the page. Removing her hand from the page, she started stirring the cookie batter with a sigh. ". . .and I never cry."
Carlos, perched on the counter beside a crate of onions, picked one up and tossed it in the air before catching it again. "Let's just chop up some onions," he suggested, casting a sly smile at Dude, who was sitting happily in a mixing bowl beside him.
Elizabeth's face lit up. "Oh, that's actually a great idea!" she said with a nod, pointing at the onion in Carlos's hand. "Onions make people cry, right?"
Carlos grinned, enjoying the fact that she seemed to approve. "Yep, works every time."
Elizabeth reached over, threading her hand between Carlos and Jay, who were on either side of Dude, and scratched the little dog's head, laughing softly as Dude's tail thumped against the counter. Jay nudged her shoulder playfully, giving her a quick wink before turning back to the task at hand.
Mal, however, was less than impressed. She rolled her eyes. "No," she said, exasperated. "It says we need one tear of human sadness. And this love potion gets the best reviews, so we have to follow it exactly."
Jay raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "A tear's a tear."
Looking over at him with her hand on her hip, Evie tilted her head. "That's not true, Jay." Evie replied. "They both have antibodies and enzymes, but an emotional tear has more protein-based hormones than a reflex tear."
Jay blinked, momentarily speechless. "Yeah... I knew that," he replied, trying to sound confident.
Elizabeth, watching the exchange, laughed. "Honestly, I have no idea what you just said, Evie, but give me a few minutes and I bet I could make myself cry." She scrunched up her face in an exaggerated attempt to look sad, which only made Carlos stifle a laugh beside her.
Just as Mal opened her mouth to respond, the door swung open, and Lonnie walked in, her face lighting up as she spotted Mal. "There you are, Mal! I was looking for you."
Mal froze for a split second, her eyes darting to the spell book on the counter. Carlos and Jay exchanged nervous glances, while Evie quickly threw a dish towel over the book, her smile a little too bright.
Elizabeth straightened, trying her best to look casual, though she couldn't shake the lingering shadows of her earlier memories.
"You know, all the girls want you to do their hair!" Lonnie went on, walking closer with a smile. Her gaze fell on the mixing bowl in Mal's hands. "Midnight snack, huh? What're you guys making?"
"Nothing special... just cookies," Mal replied, her voice a little too high-pitched, but Lonnie didn't seem to notice. Before anyone could stop her, she dipped a finger into the batter and tasted it.
"Oh no, no, no!" Elizabeth blurted, her hand reaching out in alarm.
"Lonnie!" Carlos said at the same time, eyes wide.
Mal, Carlos and Elizabeth exclaimed, everyone leaning forward towards her as she froze, slowly putting the batter into her mouth. "What?" Lonnie questioned, holding her hands out in defense. "I'm not gonna double dip."
Mal tried to keep her expression neutral. "Feel... anything?" she asked, glancing meaningfully at Elizabeth, who gave Lonnie an encouraging, if slightly awkward, smile.
Elizabeth nodded, "Yeah, like maybe it might be missing something?"
Jay then smirked, pushing a few strands of hair behind his ear before leaning against a pole that was beside Lonnie. "Hey, there," Jay breathed with a smile. Lonnie slowly looked over at him, giving him an awkward smile before turning back to the girls.
Lonnie laughed, looking amused and slightly confused. "Could use some chips.
Elizabeth blinked, thrown off. "Chips?" she repeated, furrowing her brow.
"Chocolate chips," Lonnie clarified with a grin, pulling open the fridge to search for them. She grabbed a small bowl and set it on the counter. "Just the most important food group."
As she tossed some chocolate chips into the batter, Lonnie looked around at the group. "Didn't your moms ever make you guys, like, chocolate chip cookies? You know, when you were sad? Fresh from the oven, with a big glass of milk. She'd make you laugh and remind you that everything would be okay..."
Elizabeth's smile faltered, and she swallowed hard, trying to push down the sudden wave of sadness. Jay, who was standing just beside her, noticed her change in expression and subtly placed a comforting hand on her back.
Her mind drifted unwillingly to her own childhood, to her mother's cold, domineering presence. The Queen of Hearts had ruled their lives with iron-fisted cruelty. There was no warmth in their home, no comforting words, no fresh-baked cookies on gloomy days. Just harsh, unyielding lessons on power, control, and fear.
"Love is a weakness, Elizabeth," her mother's voice echoed in her mind. "A true queen is feared, not adored. Remember that."
The bitter words had been drilled into her, and even now, they lingered like a dark shadow, a constant reminder of the expectations she had never wanted.
"Why are you all looking at me like that?" Lonnie questioned, breaking Elizabeth out of her thoughts.
Mal shook her head. "It's just different where we're from."
"Yeah, I know. I just, you know, I thought. . . even villains love their kids!" Lonnie replied, slowly pausing at their reactions before she looked down, tears filling her eyes. "Oh. How awful." Lonnie sighed, a tear falling down her cheek as she placed a hand on top of Mal's.
Mal looked down at her hand as it was on hers, before slowly looking up to see the tear. With a small gasp, Mal swiped the tear off her face and flicked it into the batter before patting her hands together.
"Yeah, well, big bummer, but we have to get these into the oven, so thank you so much for coming by." Mal said quickly, handing the bowl over to Elizabeth who began to mix in the tear as Mal pushed Lonnie out the kitchen. "Really, really, have a good night!"
Cutting Lonnie off as she was about to reply, Mal smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow. Evil dreams!"
