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part one .
- mal was quickly growing impatient.
- it had been a couple weeks since she and ben had broken up ( it had been amicable enough, at that point it was obvious that without the love potion they simply had no emotional connection. mal was still unnerved about the prince’s utter lack of anger about the whole situation though ). not to say that she was sad about it - her friends made sure of it. especially evie.
- no matter what, her best friend would always be around. in the morning, they’d grab breakfast together; evie would pack a picnic and they’d visit the enchanted lake; they’d study flash cards and gossip about dumb boys in their room; come nighttime they would brush each others hair and mal would make sure to do all one hundred strokes as instructed and - well, you get the point. it was a lot.
- and mal loved every single second of it. which is why it made her current situation so goddamn annoying.
- just say ‘hey e, i think you’re really special and i wanna take you out on a date’ - is it really that hard ? mal internally complained while evie was twirling around, showing off a new design. ( it was cute, as usual, but she was having trouble focusing on it, as usual ). do you like it ? evie would always ask, a little smile on her face as mal could only nod her head, giving a mildly breathless hell yeah before evie would flash a full on grin, tiptoeing back to the corner to change.
- ( one time before evie starts pulling a new creation off mal swears she waits for mal to look over, and even if they didn’t meet eyes mal can see her smiling, but mal wasn’t quite prepared to bring it up ).
- it was clear that this could only go on for so long - one day or another mal had to confess such feelings, or maybe evie would do it first, or maybe something would just happen and they’d be dating without anyone having to make a big deal of it. and yet, day after day mal would find all of these little moments between the two of them when it would be utterly simple to bring it up, ask the question, and she’d freeze - all the happy scenarios being suffocated by the numerous ways everything could go wrong. opening her mouth, just to shut it again; never letting herself hear the end of it.
- so with that, mal was impatient.
part two .
- evie was also growing impatient.
- since quickly dropping doug ( realizing quite quickly that she didn’t care for him romantically, or really, any princes at that point ), she had come to realize that she still had a crush on her best friend. naturally, this was a bad thing.
- on the isle, after she and mal became friends ( and after she got over the prickly fact of maleficent and co. ruining a good chunk of her life ), mal would take her around the island, without the boys, and teach her all the things she missed out on: the stealing, cackling, how to make a grown man fear you, how to make a goblin cry. evie was a very good student, and always eager to please, would pick up the skills as fast as she possibly could - blending together mal’s tactics with her princess lessons for an evie-ordained battle plan that never failed. it was always really easy to trick people into giving her what she wanted: a smile here, a wink there, a hand slipping where it must, and tada. jackpot.
- jay would always tell her that the best part of any heist would be the thrill that ran through you as you did it; the adrenaline coursing through you at increasing levels before you had the treasure in your hands. he told her this after the four of them had knicked a bottle of liquor from frollo. his hands had been on his knees, he was panting from running too hard, with the bottle standing at his feet. picking up he added, no, warned, ‘the heist is always the best part though. so you can’t get too excited.’ evie could only nod, utterly exhausted at the time.
- he had a point though. because no matter how good she felt when stealing, it was far too forgettable compared to the jolts in her stomach whenever mal leaned in to tell her something, to tell her what she had to change, to tell her what she did right. anything really. she supposed it was her own little heist. but knowing fully well that mal was not someone to date and hold hands and all the other fluffy things she secretly dreamed about in her cold castle, she decided the heist would simply have to do.
- but not in auradon. where people could laugh and smile and eat actual food and become meaningful and princesses could be princesses and want princesses and - she couldn’t be the only one who could see it, right ?? but when ben and mal started dating, she decided to get over it. and then they weren’t anymore.
- so evie finally started putting those damned prince attracting lessons to good use. she was always around mal. she made them picnics and made sure to add strawberries and wear strawberry perfume and chew strawberry gum ( which she doubted mal noticed - she could be quite oblivious about these things ), and none of it was working. except for her dresses. mal always reacted positively to that part of the day.
- so she was stuck sewing at her station early in the morning, watching her best friend sleep as she would work on her outfits, figuring out what she would do next. she knew she was bordering on clingy at this point, and she knew she couldn’t do that. but she really liked being around mal, so she was stuck coming up with cute little things to do under the guise that she was helping her get over a by that she couldn’t have possibly been that into.
- so yes, evie was impatient.
part three .
- evie and mal were walking away from their dorm room - evie carried the basket while mal was frowning at her phone. she had no idea where the two of them were going, nor why mal wasn’t looking at her. she mentally ran through all crucial aspects of her appearance ( her lipgloss was set, fresh breath, impeccable outfit ), and decided to run her fingers through hair she already knew was alright. her lips pursed a bit, and she quickly darted her eyes towards the other before looking away, reminding herself to relax.
- mal was not relaxed. earlier that day, she had approached a lone ben at a picnic bench , and after explaining the situation ( he chuckled as she spoke. ‘i guess that’s why we never really talked’ he marveled ), he pulled out his phone. ‘you are really bad at this stuff,’ he remarked as he scrolled, holding his hand up just as mal opened her mouth, already knowing her that well. ‘you can take her here,’ he suggested, whipping his phone to show her a picture. ‘my dad took my mom here once, and that scenario went really well, because -‘ the prince gestured at himself, and mal gave an amused eye roll. ‘how do you get there ?’ she asked, and ben wrote it down on a note, then texting it to her. ‘you can’t gps it.’
- ‘you know what ? that’s the reason i broke up with you: you keep using gps as a verb,’ she said, and ben tilted his head jokingly. ‘i’m pretty sure the papers declared that i broke up with you, but whatever you want.’
- ‘yes, those were fun to read,’ she shot back, wanting keeping up the banter, but she couldn’t help but to sigh afterwards. she went through the text. ‘sure it’ll work ?’
- ben cleared his throat. ‘i mean, location can only do so much, but yeah, it’s really nice. plus you guys keep going to that lake time after time after time, after i took you there once - you’ve ruined like five potential dates of mine, you should know that.’
- she rolled her eyes, but her spirits had been lifted, to ben’s relief. ‘have fun though. relax. and good luck,’ he added, sliding his phone back into his, getting up to leave. mal cocked him a goodbye. ‘don’t worry about me.’
- but he was right to worry, because here they were, walking in silence, and she can tell evie’s getting nervous and she hates that she’s causing it and oh no evie ran a finger through her hair she only does that when she gets really nervous because it messes it all up and -
- ‘could you believe all the homework fairy godmother gave us for the weekend ? like honestly, it’s as if we’re not expected to have lives or anything.’ talking about school ? a cursed date topic, but evie’s head shot up in nothing short of physical relief.
- ‘yeah, i know. the chivalry topic is really boring though: anyone can hold open a door,’ evie chuckled, trying to remember the last time she actually did that.
- they both smiled, but with a sinking realization that it wasn’t a sustainable topic, the conversation fell back into silence. ‘take a right here,’ mal said, pointing as they followed the cobblestones.
- evie nodded, trying to remember anything to talk about before an idea came to her. ‘speaking of chivalry lessons: remember our evil lessons ?’
- mal grinned. ‘yeah i do ! i mean, don’t get me wrong, you were quite the challenge-‘ evie leaned to nudge her in offense, a pout on her strawberry tinted lips, and mal laughed before nudging her back, ‘- but you were the best student i ever had.’
- evie narrowed her eyes a bit. ‘wasn’t i your only student ?’
- ‘no. there was carlos, but jay was more involved with that,’ she answered, pointing towards the dirt road coming up on their left.
- ‘well yeah, but carlos had a crush on him, so of course he’d want to hang out with him.’
- ‘everyone wants to bang a teacher - it’s au naturelle,’ mal joked, and evie blushed deep red before lightly swatting her arm. ‘mal !’
- ‘don’t tell me you’re taking it personally. who is it: fairy godmother maybe ? wanna see where the real magic is ?’
- ‘mal !’ evie yelps, but before she could give a proper retort, she looked ahead, clutching mal’s arm. ‘m, look !’
- she does, her mouth dropping as she looks around the clearing. there’s beautiful grass and flowers, and a little cottage. ‘i can’t believe it - it’s better than the photo.’
- knowing she’s distracted, evie takes her hand, lightly moving it down until it’s around the other’s wrist. she uses her index and lightly pushes mal’s pinkie down - mal suddenly grabs it. ‘we hold hands all the time, e,’ she reminds her, but she knows it’s a bit different, at least for her.
- ‘i know that,’ she responds, but her cheeks are beginning to pink up: mal finds that really cute. ‘let’s just go to the cute little cottage you picked out,’ and evie can’t help but grin, because it’s a little cottage that mal looked at it and thought ‘i wanna take evie there.’ and so they walked, evie skipping a little and mal happily being dragged, and at some point their hands were laced together and both of them knew and neither of them brought it up and neither of them let go.
part four .
- it was a cute date. well, if they were calling it that, evie would call it a date.
- hands laced and swinging, they were walking back to the dorm, and while mal’s head was spinning, evie had only one thing on her mind - dress showing time. granted, this one was going to be a bit different: her head had been in a completely foreign space, but she was super excited to show mal.
- ‘this was really fun !’ the bluenette perked up, and mal grinned, coming back to earth. ‘yeah, for me too - i mean, you trying to make chocolate fondue for the strawberries and almost burning the place down was ridiculous-’ causing evie’s face to scrunch up in equal parts laughter and embarrassment ‘- but it was all really good. yeah ... really good.’
- by the time mal finishes that sentence, they’ve reached the dorm, and without the laughter they’re just looking at each other, evie leaning on the door with a soft smile, and mal just trying to catch her breath, looking back up. ‘ask her out !’ she thinks, a brilliant flash in her mind, and she thinks she’s ready for it. ‘e ?’
- evie’s digging through her purse, and after a quick search she finds her room key, then pulling it out and sticking it in the slot. ‘yeah, m ?’
- ‘i just wanted to ask you -’ wait. that’s not how she was supposed to start it. she always started with ‘i was wondering’ or ‘do you wanna go out on a date ?’ or a bunch of other phrases infinitely better than ‘i just wanted to ask you -’, which could mean anything. ‘i mean, i had a really good time today -’
- evie’s head whips. ‘yeah ?’
- ‘mhm. and i was wondering, if -’ mal’s mind is blanking. she has no idea what she’s going to say next, no idea how to properly convey everything she feels when she looks at her best friend, or even thinks about her, so she’s left with an empty brain and a million sirens going off in there as evie just stares, confused, wondering why she’s been cut off.
- ‘if what, m ?’ she asks again, concerned at this point.
- mal sighs, internally kicking herself --- she lost the nerve. ‘if you ... had the homework done for professor grumpy, with the crystals and such.’
- evie dropped down from tiptoes she hadn’t realized she was doing, and she sighed, turning away to open the door. she had the smallest hope that mal hadn’t been trying to ask her, but it didn’t matter much if that was the only question she had received. “i was going to do it tomorrow.’
- ‘okay.’ mal replied, watching evie swing the door wide. ‘share it with me when you do ?’ ‘yeah, definitely,’ the other called out, placing her purse down before settling down in her sewing corner. mal flops down on the bed, pulling out her phone.
- it stays like that for half an hour, but mal glances over a couple times, hoping for eye contact but receiving none as evie works furiously on a dress, pinning and threading faster than she’s ever went before. mal is intrigued, and quirks up a brow, bending up higher. she catches a dark blue, and a fabric almost shiny - the name’s escaping her - before evie looks up, lips pursed but amused. she waves her hand down.
- ‘wait mal, i’m almost done,’ she teases, going back to her work; mal flops back on the bed, pulling out candy crush. she mentally tries to figure out what comes next in her evie conquest, but she’s too anxious to focus. it feels ... too late, for some reason. she doesn’t like it.
- ‘and done !’ evie jumps up, clapping her hands in sheer excitement before feeling the dress up and down one last time. mal looks over. ‘am i gonna get to see it ?’ she calls out, stifling a yawn - it’s getting late.
- ‘mhm.’ evie rushes to the bathroom, dress covered from mal’s gaze. stepping inside, she turns back to tell mal: ‘close your eyes’. mal stares for a bit, not knowing what to make of that before shutting them. a satisfied evie goes inside to change, finally allowing herself to grin wide.
- mal stays true to her order, eyes closed tightly until she sees faint shapes on the lids. she’s not hearing much from the bathroom - usually an evie design has metal and buttons and zippers, or floofy sounds, but it’s quiet. she then hears the light switch turn off and the door open and close, the patter of feet on the wooden floors as evie whisks around. then mal’s mattress creaks, and she’s feeling hands on the side of her head. ‘you can open now,’ evie whispers.
- mal’s eyes open, and she has to blink really hard at first, making sure that her eyes aren’t playing games because ... it’s a really pretty dress.
- it’s a dark blue slip on, nothing you’d wear outside. spaghetti straps. the top is embroidered with cream colored lace, and moving down you can notice other seams ... the entire thing almost looks like a corset. mal squints in. ‘is that ..’
- ‘purple thread ? yeah. and the entire thing is silk - i got the design from chivalry class,’ evie whispers, and her face has the faintest blush on it as she takes mal hands ( mal can feel evie’s hands shaking ), holding onto the fingers as she brushes them across the line on her hips. ‘because in medieval times, women would design these in a way that they could best attract attention from,’ her irises flicker up, ‘desirable persons. it’s really strong thread too, i had to specialty order it, but i remember sitting here a week ago and wondering what to make and then it popped up in my head and mal ?!’
- mal’s still listening, but her hands began to move of their own accord - trailing down until she reached the next seam, then moving to the back. “you ramble when you’re nervous,’ she teases, hands moving up evie’s back ( and evie can feel them shaking too, so she bites her lip, waiting for mal to discover the next part ). ‘are those buttons ?’ they’re simple buttons: a thread loop on one side, a soft silk pearl on the other.
- evie smiles. ‘yeah - they didn’t have zippers back then.’
- ‘but we have zippers now. so why buttons ?’
- ‘they’re ... intimate.’ now evie has to drop her head for a bit, letting the blood leave her face - mal’s eyes are shining. evie’s head comes back up. ‘you know ? zippers are like swoosh, you’re done, but buttons ... you have to take your time with buttons.’
- keeping her eyes on evie, mal fiddles around a bit before managing to unbutton one. wetting her lips, her finger trails down, and evie’s left to gasp a bit, because it’s skin she’s touching at this point. mal does a second one. ‘they’re really easy.’
- ‘i know - i didn’t want it to be too hard for you,” evie chuckled.
- ‘for me ?’ mal is equal parts offended and ... invested in this statement.
- ‘yes, for you,” evie replies, and she swallows a lump, just realizing how far down the hole they’re in now. ‘who else ?’
- ‘you know, you spent a lot of time with me, e ? because you were trying to make me feel better over ...’ mal trails off, and evie smiles.
- ‘you can’t even remember his name, mal. why would i be comforting you over a boy whose name you can’t remember ?’
- ‘ben. his name is ben,’ mal pushes out. ‘you knew i didn’t really like him though.’
- ‘i didn’t know. i was more, hoping,’ she explains, beginning to miss their earlier activity. ‘was i wrong though ?’
- mal’s head shakes. she opens her mouth to say something else, but decides to close it. she undoes another button. ‘so this dress ... you made it just for me ?’
- ‘to take off,’ evie finishes.
- mal nods, reaching for another one, and another one, and another one, until she’s all done. she brings her hands back around to evie’s thighs, then lets them trail up her arms, resting on her shoulders. ‘i’m going to miss seeing your face,’ she whispers, and evie laughs a bit, before mal reaches over and switches the lights.
- physically, not much else happens.