Il libro di Jaylos

call me stupid

taken from: RottenKidNextDoor (PortalofWords) on Ao3
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Jay didn't like words. More specifically, he didn't like letters . They weirded him out. He knew there was no magic on the Isle of the Lost (his father only complained about it a hundred times a day), but Jay swore that letters were cursed somehow. They were always jumping around and flipping and tricking him every time he dared to blink. Thankfully, Jafar didn't make him do too much reading. His jobs were more... physical in nature. Jafar didn't have time for old spell books and deep, historical learnings, and Jay was okay with that. He'd learned how to turn just about anything for a profit, even some of the most broken, worn-out junk that came over on the barges. It made him feel useful - talented, even. He'd never for a second considered himself intelligent, no; he wasn't deluded. He couldn't copy down pages of copious, dark notes from the professors at Dragon Hall, but no one required him to. Just as long as Jay could punch hard and run faster, he could be just as successful as those little evil geniuses.

Still, he sometimes wondered what it would be like to defeat the letter curse. To be able to glance at something and understand what it meant without having to study it for a wasteful amount of time. Reading wasn't an essential skill, but that didn't mean it wasn't useful. And he was tired of having to spend twenty minutes deciphering notes slipped into his pockets by admirers. So, Jay decided to ask someone about it. He knew of other kids who could read; surely they would know of a way to get around the flipping letters.

Luckily, the opportunity to ask someone presented itself rather shortly thereafter. Neither Jay nor Mal were exactly sure when he'd become her right-hand-man, but one smoggy night on the roof, he'd felt comfortable enough around her to bring up the curse.

"Hey, Dragon Breath?"

She turned to him, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"You read, right? You can read?" Jay studied her carefully. "Like your mother's spellbook and shit?"

Mal snorted. "I'm barely allowed to touch that thing." Then, she nodded grudgingly. "But yeah. I've learned on some of the other lesser spell albums she has lying around. I'm pretty good, actually."

He chuckled weakly. "Uh - yeah. Me, too." Jay didn't want her to think that he was stupid. "Just - how did you get the letters to stop... you know... jumping?"

"Jumping?" Mal narrowed her eyes. "What freak books have you been reading?"

Jay felt his heart sink slightly. "Like... the letters flipping and shit? How did you get them to stop? Is it magic?"

"Magic?" Mal folded her arms. "You and I both know there's no such thing here. Seriously, what are you on about? Jumping letters? Have you been trying to study and drink at the same? And since when do we study?"

Defeated, Jay shook his head. "Forget about it," he smiled casually. "Just messing with you."

And maybe she believed him or maybe she didn't. But he didn't bring it up again for a long time.

-----

Auradon was different. Auradon valued reading and writing and all that shit Jay had learned to work around. Jay knew he wasn't smart - and by now, he was old enough to realize other people didn't have his same curse - but it had never truly bothered him until teachers started asking him to read and write consistently.

"Jay," Fairy Godmother smiled indulgently, waving around her pointer like a wand. "Would you read the next passage aloud for us?"

Inside, he could feel his heart begin to beat a little faster than usual. Jay knew he wouldn't be able to read from the textbook, all those fancy words and tiny print; he would just make a fool out of himself. So instead of complying, he grinned up at her - all charm and arrogance. "Nah."