Descended

Chapter 6

There was a spread of breakfast food for the King's guests along a wall of the gardens. There was also a stack of paperwork on his desk that had had him considering having everyone join him around his workspace. However, one mention of this to Mal on the phone had squashed that idea. This morning he was getting to know the pirates.
He could do this. They were all meant to be friends now. Maybe he could get some answers to all the questions that had been swirling in his brain last night.
"Oh, hey Doug." Ben greeted as he saw The boy approaching. "How'd you sleep?"
"Honestly, not well. I spent a good amount of time reading about sleeping curses. I'm not sure we can wake their parents."
"Hmm. I am pretty sure there is just the one way, unfortunately."
"Yeah. And, I know this is a small thing really, but I gave a lot of thought to the way Uma and Harry interacted last night. The way Evie laughed when I asked if they were dating. The way Mal looked at me. I felt like I was missing some big joke."
"You were not alone. I miss out on a great deal of what they say without saying. I keep trying to understand more about the Isle way, but Mal is not forthcoming." Ben let out small sigh.
"Speaking of the Isle." Doug gestured to three approaching pirates.
"Uma! What are you doing here? I mean, it's great to see you...('I bet it is,' Harry murmurs darkly.) But, I thought you had plans to brunch with Mal and Evie?" Ben says with all the excitement inside him barely contained. He cannot help being happy to have the sea witch on his side.
"Just dropping these two off." Uma gestures toward Harry and Gil. "I'm heading over the Evie's now."
Doug is staring at Uma hard. She notices and winks at him.
"Be on your best behavior boys."
She moves between Harry and Gil knowing that Doug is still watching. This is so fun. Confusing the poor kid was not quite the same as outright breaking things, but it had the same effects on her brain. They were all watching her run her hands across Gil's bicep and her fingers through Harry's hair.
Harry lets out a barely audible moan.
He found himself, not for the first time, staring at the rear end of his Captain as she saunters away.
"I feel you watching, Harry."
"Aye, ye do, Darling."
Everyone laughs.
"And you, Dougie." She draws his name out and he feels himself blush.

Jay and Carlos are talking animatedly about some adventure from when they were kids. Jay is working hard to distract his friend from the realities of the previous night. It is working fairly well as Carlos is howling with laughter at the older boys pantomimes.
They both stop short when the see Uma approaching.
"Hey guys, I left the party just beyond those bushes." Uma vaguely gestures behind her.
"Funny. We left the party at E's," Jay retorts.
Uma laughs. "Play nice with my boys." She smiles wickedly as she walks away.
Carlos watches her go for a moment before Jay prods him on.
Just as they round the corner and run into the rest of the guys, Carlos sputters our, "Those clothes were definitely..."
"Ours." Gil and Harry say at the same time. Though not quite in unison as Gil has an excited confusion in his voice, and Harry. Harry is just glad Gil spoke louder than he did so none of the others could hear the desire dripping from the syllable as it poured from his mouth.
Ben looks at Doug. "I guess you have your answer then."
"Answer to what?" Harry snaps back to reality.
"I asked if you and Uma were dating. She never really gave me a response. None of the girls did."
"Uma and Harry aren't dating," Gil jumps in. "Are you?" He looks at Harry with a hurt expression.
Harry simply makes one small shake of his head. Ben and Doug do not notice.
"Did you do that to her though?" Jay asks.
"Do what?" Ben looks mildly concerned. What could Harry have done?

"You marked yourself!" Mal exclaims as she welcomes the sea witch into Evie's kitchen. Jane and Audrey had arrived just moments before.
They were chatting about the sleeping villains when Mal's laughter pulled their eyes to the exchange.
Evie came rushing out of the pantry, ingredients for pancakes being unceremoniously dumped on the counter as she pushed passed Mal to see for herself.
"Oh my gosh, you did!"
Uma laughs. "I did."
"Hey ladies." Audrey asks timidly. Not wanting to ruffle feathers. "Um, what are you talking about?"