High On Mushrooms

Part Six: The Arm-Wrestling Match

Mal walked-no, strode into the Fish and Chips Shop, already looking thoroughly annoyed, crossing her arms after pushing the swinging doors open.

"I'm back," the purple haired fiend singsonged, catching everyone's attention.

"Dumbass, party of one; right this way, please." Uma mocked, gesturing to a small table and noticing Harry waltz into the room.

Mal scanned the place, spotting Harry and Gil but no Ben-also no blue haired druggy. She was quickly forced to tug her eyes back to Uma, who pushed a chair towards her in a nearly successful attempt at hitting her shins.

"Place still stinks," Mal commented, turning the chair backwards and straddling it.

"Are you referring to this place specifically or the Isle in general, princess?" Uma asked in return, tilting her head.

"Where's Ben?" Mal questioned, unable to come up with a suitable answer for Uma's inquiry.

"Well, answering that would take all the fun out of things," Uma said with a sarcastic smile.

"There's no need to bring Ben into this!" Mal yelled suddenly, slamming her hand down on the table.

"You're telling me you would've gone through all this trouble to save Evie?" Uma asked, leaning on the table in front of Mal, "What about Jay? Or Carlos?"

Mal didn't respond, actually hating that she had to think about the question.

"Here's the deal," Uma started, interrupting Mal's thoughts as the pulled up a chair and placed her arm on the table, "if you win, Ben's free to go."

Mal quickly put her arm up and reached for Uma's hand but missed as the girl pulled it back.

"Don't you want to know what I get if I win?" Uma asked, slightly pitching up her voice, knowing how much it annoyed Mal.

"Careful, I think Mary Jane is rubbing off on you," Mal mussed with a smirk, grabbing Uma's hand.

"On three," Uma said, squeezing Mal's palm as she tried not to give her any indication Chess was working with her, "One,"

"Two,"

"Three,"

"Speaking of, where is my favorite homo?" Mal questioned, now simply trying to be as annoying as possible.

Uma gasped sarcastically to hide actual dismay, "I thought I was your favorite?"

"Oh, silly me, it's a bit loud in here; she's probably hyperventilating under the counter," Mal continued, pretending she hadn't heard Uma and making sure she was loud enough for everyone to hear.

"They," Uma corrected, trying not to get distracted, already struggling slightly.

Harry was clenching his fists; even though he didn't particularly like Chess, he wasn't a disrespectful peace if shit. As for Gil, he rarely got angry, but he was dangerously close.

"You can put a tiara on a villain, but you're still a villain," Uma pointed out, trying to change the subject.

"And you can slap a pirate hat on, but you're still shrimpy," Mal mocked in return, pitching up her voice like she'd heard Uma do so many times before.

At this point, Mal was winning, pressing Uma's arm halfway to the table, keeping eye contact(mockingly telling Uma, "Oh, I guess you haven't been around her too much.").
But when Mal was about to win, ready to grab Ben and leave, Uma startled her by laughing.

"If I win, you bring me the wand," She said in an undertone, causing Mal to loose focus and, by extension, the arm wrestling match.

Unfortunately, as Uma was explaining to Mal that she was expected to be back there and on the docks at noon, wand in hand, or else, Chess got bored of Ben and walked out into the Shop.

Harry grabbed their arm, trying to pull them back as Gil attempted to nock them over.

"The hell, Gil!" Chess exclaimed, startled, wiggling away from Harry and watching the blonde fall directly on his side with a painful sounding thump.

Uma turned over her shoulder, locking eyes-as much as anyone did-with Chess and tilting her head towards Mal.

"Hey, Mary Jane!" Mal yelled, waving dramatically(she wanted everyone to hear her, but was unaware one of those people would be Ben).

Before Uma could slap her, Mal quickly left, skulking off to tell her friends what happened.

"I thought she would've left by now," Chess said quietly, offering Gil a hand and pulling him up to his feet.

"Apparently she hasn't changed a bit," Harry commented, fists still clenched as he glared at the patch of floor where Mal had been standing.

"Jay hugged me," Chess stated, still baffled by the experience.

"Jay?" Uma repeated, semi-gracefully hopping over the counter.

Chess nodded rabidly, their sunglasses nearly falling off their face from all their bobbling.

A couple silent moments passed, Harry, Uma, and Gil all wanting to say something to comfort Chess but unable to find the words.

"I'm gonna head home," Chess stated, their unbothered persona starting to slip from their voice, startling Harry and Gil.

"Stay here," Uma said quickly, making Chess turn and raise an eyebrow.

Then, seeming to notice both Harry and Gil staring at them, Chess shrugged and fixed their face, casually asking, "Why?"

"Because the Isle isn't safe during the day, let alone at night," Uma answered, very clearly wanting to say something entirely different but not wanting to look caring.

Suddenly, Gil wrapped his arms around Chess, nearly nocking them to the ground and yelling, "Slumber party!" at the top of his lungs.

Harry laughed, starting to grow a bit more fondness for Chess, unsure if it was from seeing their persona slip or seeing them smile and hug Gil.