prince taylor of maldonia was a diligent and industrious individual, much like his mother who had instilled the value of hard work in him from an early age. however, he struggled to find a balance between work and play, unlike his sister and parents...
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A series of familiar, rhythmic knocks reverberated through the dormitory hallway, just as the evening curfew was about to begin. Doug, deeply engrossed in his slumber, remained oblivious to the sound, prompting Taylor to let out an annoyed sigh as he rose from his bed and crossed the room to reach the door. The sleep-deprived boy yanked the door open with as much annoyance as he could convey but his irritation went away slightly when he found his sister standing next to her roommate, Lonnie. Both girls shared a smile.
Taylor emphatically shook his head, his expression firm as he emitted a resolute sound of dissent. "No, not a chance," he stated firmly. "Please," Lonnie let out and made her lips form a pleading pout. "We haven't had your beignets for, what, two weeks, we want some."
"No," Taylor responded, standing firm in denying the girls' request. His arms crossed across his chest as he looked at his sister and Lonnie. "Mom taught you how to make beignets also."
"Yeah, but they're not as good as yours," Nia stated. She took her brother's hands in hers and looked at him with imploring eyes. "Please?"
Taylor knew that she knew his soft spots and she knew how to exploit them. And she was good at it, cause the instant contact between the siblings caused his firmness to soften. With a roll of his eyes and a "Fine.", Taylor pushed past his sister and her roommate and headed toward the kitchen. Lonnie and Nia celebrated with a cheer and hugged each other victoriously. Moments afterward, they followed after the prince.
"Oh, and by the way, Lonnie," the daughter of Mulan hummed a sound of acknowledgment as she met Taylor's eyes. "I like the new hair. The bob was-" he let out a small grunt when Nia thrusts her elbow into his side but concealed it by clearing his throat. "T-The bob was good... this is great."
"Thanks, Taylor," Lonnie said, moving a long piece of newly brown hair behind her ear. "Mal did it for me, actually... which is surprising, because I thought she would've set my hair on fire before she did this. But I guess they're different from what we've been told."
"Yeah... training with Carlos has been... fun, I guess," the prince informed. "He met Dude, by the way, ran straight to the woods, and then basically adopted him."
"Cute," Nia let out, enunciating the last letter of the word as she thought of the boy whom she thought once feared dogs now enjoying the company of one.
"Yeah, I guess," Taylor cleared his throat as they reached the doors to the kitchen. Behind him, Lonnie and Nia's eyes met and their lips formed matching smiles, speaking a thousand words that no one could hear. The three were surprised to find the four VKs in the kitchen. "Okay... I don't even wanna know."
"There you are, Mal! I was looking for you. You know, all the girls want you to do their hair!" Lonnie declared, stepping forward to stand on the other side of the counter in front of Mal and Evie. The daughter of Maleficent laughed nervously as the three approached. "Midnight snack, huh? Whatcha guys making?"
"Looks like cookie dough," Taylor spoke as he looked at the contents of the bowl.
"Exactly, nothing special. Just cookies," Mal shook her head. Taylor reached over, dipped his finger into the cookie dough, and licked his finger clean. The four VKs exclaimed for him to not do that, causing the kids from Auradon to flinch. "What? I'm not gonna double dip," Taylor let out.
"Feel anything?" Evie asked.
"Yeah, like maybe it might be missing something?" Mal added. Taylor merely shrugged his shoulders before hearing footsteps approach him. Carlos stood beside him with Dude in his arms.
"Hey, Tay," the white-haired boy greeted with a smile and wave of his hand.
"Hi," Taylor let out in a confused and awkward manner. His eyes scanned the boy's freckled face before he turned to Mal and Evie. "Ah, I know just the thing." Taylor turned toward the refrigerator and returned with a small bowl of chocolate chips. "Chocolate chips are the key component to a good cookie."
Taylor took a handful of chocolate chips and sprinkled them into the dough. As he had, Lonnie asked, "Wait... did your moms ever make you guys, like, chocolate chip cookies?" to which the VKs looked at her with perplexed eyes. "Like, when you're feeling sad, and they're fresh from the oven, with a big old glass of milk and she just makes you laugh and puts everything into perspective and..." Lonnie trailed off when she noticed the upset expression on Mal's face. For the first time in a while, Taylor felt his heart ache for someone else's pain. His eyes fell on Carlos, who shared the same expression as the girl with violet hair, causing his heart to hurt even more.
"Why are you all looking at me like that?" Lonnie asked.
"It's just different where we're from," Mal told her, continuing to stir the chocolate chips into the dough.
"Yeah, I know," Lonnie let out. "I just, you know, I thought... Even villains love their kids." Lonnie and Nia's eyes scanned the faces of the new kids in the room before they understood. "How awful."
Lonnie placed her hand on top of Mal's leather-covered hand. A tear fell from her eye as she comforted the girl. Mal noticed and quickly wiped away the tear from her eye. Going unseen by the kids from Auradon, she had flicked it into the dough. "Yeah, well, big bummer, but we have to get these into the oven, so thank you so much for coming by," Mal said as she led the three kids out of the kitchen. Evie took over stirring and waved goodbye to them. "Really, really have a good night. I'll see you guys tomorrow. Evil dreams."
"Good night," Lonnie let out as she left.
"Night," Nia and Taylor simultaneously told the villain kids.
"Aw, I didn't get my beignets," Nia let out in a disappointed manner.
"Tomorrow, sis," Taylor advised her before heading toward his room.
