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Carlos isn't soft.
He's younger than the other VK's at Auradon Prep, but he's been in just as much mischief. Pulled just as many heists and maybe even made more plans. He isn't soft. But the view that awaits him, returning to his room after a particularly strenuous practice makes him a little... gooey.
Jay's behind him, and bumps into his shoulder as they reach the door to their room. It's odd calling it their room, since the space Carlos had used to sleep in- what he called his room on the Isle- was the size of a postage stamp. He's not used to the space, keeps waking up sore from how tightly he has to curl up to match the shape of the closet floor on his new huge bed. As far as he knows, the others had rooms of their own, even if they were small and cramped too. So as much as it's their room, it belongs to Evie and Mal too, just as the girl's room is his and Jay's. His theories on these ideas are proven with what he opens the door to see.
The girls look more comfortable asleep than Carlos has seen them in Auradon so far. They're quiet and still, curled around each other, towards each other, like they'd been protecting one another in their sleep. He leans against the door jam and lets the foreign feeling of contentment swim from his stomach to his extremities.
Jay lays a hand on his shoulder, as if he can read Carlos' mind. Jay's the one that Carlos would accuse of being softer since their arrival. (Never to his face, his nose would never be the same). The older boy's able to smile, and laugh, and see the better side of their supposed vacation.
"Come on. We've got an hour or so before dinner." Jay whispers as he pulls the damp towel from around his shoulders, dumps the dirty work out clothes in the corner they'd designated as 'Laundry' and quickly twists his shower wet hair into a mass behind his head. The sweats he's wearing are plush and much better for... sleep protecting than their Isle leathers had ever been.
Carlos tosses his own bundle of practice clothes the way of Jay's and shuffles towards the bed. At the sound of the door closing and locking behind him, Mal cracks open a lid to show one bright glowing green eye. She huffs softly, barely breathing on the hairs of Evie's blue head just below her chin. She rolls her jaw into a more comfortable position and stretches her legs towards the end of the bed.
Carlos smiles. From Mal, that was practically a singing invitation. (Which he wishes he didn't know was a real thing, but apparently people in Auradon have THAT much extra money, time, and resources.) Jay fits near perfectly into the slight dip of mattress behind Evie, and Carlos sits behind Mal. The bed is large, with plenty of room for the four of them. Evie wiggles with the extra weight on the bed, until she settles again.
Carlos looks at his little family. The only family that has ever mattered to him. Or ever will matter to him. He smiles at them again, settling his arm over Mal's where it rests on Evie's hip. Jay's hand is there and he grabs it. His face is pressed into Mal's back, between where her sharp shoulder blades hide an indentation.
Maybe he has gone a bit soft. But if this feeling in his gut, in his heart, is the consequence of softness, maybe it's not so bad after all.