Uma smirked as she walked into her dorm room. It had been a few days since she'd been to the Isle and oddly enough it was the first time that she had a chance to see Blueberry. It always seemed that she was off with her dad or working on her business or hogging Mal by talking about Cotillion or homework or even cheer practice of all things.
Yeah it seemed like a stupid thing to be jealous by but Uma still couldn't believe that Mal was willingly spending time with the blue haired girl. This was Blueberry they were talking about after all! The only one they couldn't stand more would be Freddy, though Audrey was getting up there as a firm fourth (after Zevon). Charming Jr. was also up there but now that Uma knew he couldn't exactly help his annoying behavior with the hypnosis, he was rather low on her list.
Maybe top ten if Uma was truly being honest because of the fact that he was still rather annoying to be around. Even Ben's shadows found him to be a pain at times and those two seemed to like anyone and everyone they met. But Evie would always be in the top three of Uma's list of annoyances.
Which was why Uma was armed with a smoke bomb, ready and willing to remind Blueberry who's territory she was in.
"Don't. Even. Think. About. It."
Uma blinked, her arm raised with the teal smoke bomb clutched firmly in her hand. Blueberry had her back to her, how had she...?
"You think I don't know by now when a smoke bomb's coming?" Evie asked. "You've pelted me at least once a week Uma. It's a safe assumption by now."
Evie turned to face Uma and put her hands on her hips. "The thing I don't understand is why. Mal I at least understood, even if it was rather petty. I didn't invite her to my birthday when we were kids and back then, I thought her Maleficent's daughter. But you, you went to my birthday party. You, and Harry, and Jay, and yet you're even worse to me than Mal was when we first arrived here."
"Stop being so prissy about it, Blueberry," Uma scoffed as she set the smoke bomb down. Hey, there was no reason to risk it going off accidentally after all. Plus, as she thought it over, Mal would probably kill her for setting off a smoke bomb in their shared dorm. As well, this was really the first time Blueberry had stood up to her like this. It was rather intriguing in a way.
"I'm not being prissy. I have the right to know what entitles you to be a hypocrite about the whole thing," Evie shot back. "I get it, I don't act like a girl from the Isle and that ostracized me from the others. But for Mal's sake, it won't kill us to get along and yet every time I turn around I'm still getting pelted with smoke bombs by you. I have the right to feel safe in my own dorm Uma!"
"We're VKs, when did we ever have the right to feel safe?"
"We've left the Isle! We're in Auradon!"
"That doesn't change the fact that for sixteen years, the Isle made us who we are! And even when we were on the Isle, you always acted like you were better than us," Uma shot back. "And yeah, I attended your birthday party. But only after Mal told me to go. I was ready to skip it. As well, do you really think that Jay or Harry really had a choice in the matter? Your mom was in a rivalry with Maleficent yet you still invited Jafar and his kid plus you invited Hook and Harry. Hook, who was terrified about how Maleficent would react to the idea of Harry besting Mal in a fight if we roughhoused. Hell, you invited DeVil and he wasn't even under our protection yet. Do you not understand how big of an insult that was? In addition, you didn't invite Virgil, Panic's son. So now you've not only insulted two of the biggest players on the Isle, you insulted my cousins by not inviting them and you insulted my allies by using Shenzi's cubs as party favors."
"But that was a party when I was six, it's been at least ten years by now!"
"And Maleficent cursed a baby for not getting invited to a party. I don't think I need to remind you that being petty and vindictive is kinda our parents' MO. Or did you forget that your mom tried to kill her step daughter because she was prettier than her?"
Evie sighed. "The hyenas were my mother's idea. To have them in the baddie bags. Since hyenas were so powerful, they'd be good to have for allies and she figured it'd be a good way to get me some allies as well. Or even a potential match later on."
"And you didn't try to put the kibosh on that?"
"A Princess doesn't say 'no'," Evie said, her dry voice sounding out of place. "Not to mention, what would have happened if you'd told your mom no Uma?"
Uma paused, knowing full well what would have happened. Her arm or leg or even torso would have been squeezed by one of her mother's tentacles, if she was lucky. If she wasn't so lucky, the tentacle in question would have been around her neck. And then her mother would have just done the thing Uma had objected to regardless—so the only thing Uma would have gotten out of the whole thing would have been pain.
"Exactly," Evie said after a few minutes of silence. "As you've said, we're VKs. My mother may not have been a typical Isle parent but that didn't necessarily mean I was taught 'love' and 'friendship' like they were here in Auradon. My mother taught me how to apply blush before I could talk. Looks and matches were all that mattered to her. It was my father who tried to teach me there was more in life than finding a prince."
The blue haired girl smiled at the thought of her father. Daniel had finally gotten out of the hospital and had actually moved into Snow's castle, on the insistence of the royal. Daniel had an open invitation to stay until he got back on his feet, and even then Snow said he and Evie could stay as long as they wanted.
Evie loved the idea of staying with Snow but she wanted to have a place for her and her father to stay on their own. Hence the reason why she was working so hard to get her business off the ground. Doug ran the numbers. With all the dresses and the cape she was making for Chad—and Mal and Ben's clothes—it wouldn't be long before she'd be able to make a down payment on a castle.
It'd be a modest castle but Evie didn't need a lot of rooms. All she needed was a place for her and her dad. And Doug and eventually Dizzy.
"I am sorry though," Evie said softly. "About not inviting Mal when we were six. It was stupid to do and maybe if I hadn't, Maleficent wouldn't have abducted my dad. But the rivalry was always just between the two of us and now Mal's buried the hatchet."
Uma sighed. "Do you remember our motto? My crew's motto, I mean?"
"It...it was something like Ruthless yet Loyal right?"
"Right," Uma nodded. "Meaning I look out for my allies and attack those who go after them. You hurt Mal that day. She probably would never let you know it, and she would have never let me know it, but I'm her cousin. I've been in her life for as long as I can remember so I'm going to be able to read her better than most. Probably better than even Ben. Though...there was a benefit to you not inviting her."
"There was?" Evie asked, tilting her head a little in confusion.
"Because you didn't invite Mal to your party, Aunt Steph gave her Estelle," Uma explained and paused as she realized something.
Estelle had saved Mal's life that day when they were nine. Yes Harry had helped by holding her up for twenty five minutes while Uma ran to get her Uncle Hades but if it hadn't been for Estelle jumping in and grabbing her collar, who knows if Mal would have been able to stay up long enough for Harry to get her?
Evie, in a strange way, had done Mal the biggest favor she could by not inviting her. Because who knows what creature she would have gotten in her baddie bag had she gone? It definitely wouldn't have been Estelle though.
"Uma?" Evie asked softly after about five minutes of silence. Evie bit her lip in slight worry, not knowing what was going to happen. Uma looking at you in silence usually wasn't a good thing, especially if she was known to hate you.
"Look Blueberry, I'm not going to promise that we'll be buddy buddy but...for Mal's sake and because we share a room, I can promise to lay off the smoke bombs," Uma said with a small sigh.
"That's more than I could ask," Evie told her. "Um...I know I might be pushing my luck but could I ask a favor?"
"Depends on what the favor is," Uma said and Evie nodded, scurrying over to her dresser and pulling out a sheet of paper.
"I know you worked hard on changing Mal's dress and I really do love what you've done with it," she said, turning back to Uma, "but...I've been thinking about it and the style still isn't Mal."
"So far I'm in agreement with you but I'm not hearing a favor in there," Uma stated. It was true that the strapless look wasn't Mal in the slightest even if they'd changed the dress to a single color rather than the yellow and blue mess that it'd been originally.
Evie nodded and held out the paper to Uma. "I want to create this for Mal to wear at Cotillion. It may not look the most fancy but it's true to Mal."
Uma looked at the paper in shock. The design of the dress looked almost like a dragon, with the sleeves looking like dragon wings and the hem of the dress almost appearing like dragon scales. If that was just how the sketch looked, Uma honestly couldn't wait to see how it appeared in real life.
"What do you need me for?" Uma asked.
"Keep Mal distracted mostly," Evie said as she took back the paper. "I've got a couple of the Fitzherbert kids working tag team on it so we can surprise Mal with it before Cotillion but I need to make sure Mal won't accidentally walk in and see it. Especially since I've got cheer practice and classes."
"Evie, you might be spreading yourself a little too thin," Uma stated, not realizing she'd said Blueberry's first name rather than one of the many nicknames.
Evie, though, did notice and stared at the Godling in shock. She'd grown used to hearing that from Mal and Jay but to hear her first name from Uma?
"What? Do I have kelp on my face or something?"
"You...you just said my name," Evie said softly.
Uma shrugged. "Huh. Guess I did. Well, like you said, for Mal I can make peace. Not to mention, it's not that long till Cotillion. Once it's over, and Mal's got a breather, I can go back to hating you again. No smoke bombs in the dorm room though."
"Fair enough," Evie said with a small smile. "So...while I have you, think I could give you a fitting for your Cotillion dress?"
Uma sighed. "If anyone other than Mal walks in and sees me in that, you'll be dodging smoke bombs the minute Cotillion ends until we graduate Auradon Prep," she threatened.
"I'll lock the door," Evie promised. "Mal gave me your measurements so the dress should fit but I just want to make sure it's comfortable. It'd be bad if you couldn't breathe in it considering Cotillion's a few hours and all. I've also got a suit made for Harry and Jay, and Carlos."
"...you have been sleeping right?"
"Of course, why do you ask?"
"Mainly because I think this is the first time in a while I've seen you in the dorm," Uma said as she began to get undressed. Being a pirate, she wasn't exactly shy with shedding her clothes in front of others. Hell they had to do that every time they got injured in a face off after all. No sense in getting blood stains on their clothing unnecessarily after all.
Besides, Blue—Evie was another girl. There was nothing Uma had that Evie hadn't already seen on her own body.
"I've been sleeping," Evie promised her as Uma slipped into the dress. "I mainly sleep over at my dad's on the weekends now though. Or at least in his hospital room while he waited to get discharged. Otherwise I'll crash at Snow White's castle or I'll slip in here after you and Mal have gone to bed."
Uma couldn't help the small frown that appeared on her face at that. While she wouldn't be close friends with Blue—Evie, she didn't want to chase the girl from her own room.
Or at least, she didn't want it to seem like she was chasing the girl from her own room. Hey, she was a pirate after all. They were loathed to give up territory willingly.
"How's it look?" Evie asked as she zipped up Uma and held up a full length mirror so that Uma could see all of the dress. Uma could only stare in shock as she saw the dress—the sketch had not done it justice. It was something that Uma could admit. Evie had a gift when it came to designing clothes.
Her hair didn't clash with the dress in the slightest and the gold and silver netting in the skirt honestly seemed to shimmer like mermaid scales rather than look trashy.
"...is it safe to assume there are shoes to go along with this?" Uma asked as she looked at Evie.
Evie grinned. "So it fits alright? You can breathe and everything?"
"Evie, I'm going to be completely honest here. I know absolutely nothing about clothing but this actually feels like a second skin," Uma told her. "It's not constricting in the slightest. If I needed to have a sword fight while wearing this thing, I wouldn't risk injury."
"Good! Well not good if you'd need to have a sword fight but I know Mal," Evie stated. "Something loose and not as constricting as a traditional Auradon dress is more her style and I figured that'd be more your style too. If you want, for your accessory, you could do the tri-cornered hat I found in the wardrobe."
"Hey, I was wondering where my hat went to," Uma grinned. "I thought Estelle stole it."
Evie chuckled. "Nope, it was in the wardrobe. Actually, it was on the floor near the back. Almost like it'd fallen off a hook when someone was grabbing something."
Hmm, that might have been me actually. I thought I knocked something down when I grabbed Mali's jacket but I never stopped to see what it was, Uma thought as Evie went to grab the hat. Dusting it off, Evie handed it to Uma who gently put it on her head.
"You know...I've always wondered if we couldn't dye it teal," Uma said softly. "Mal's got one we managed to dye purple over at Tremaine's shop for her birthday but I think it's still at her dad's."
"If...if you want, I could see if it's possible," Evie offered. "I don't see why it wouldn't be."
Uma paused and looked over at Evie. "Why would you do that for me after how horrible I've been to you?"
"Because that's in the past," Evie shrugged. "Besides, you, me, and Mal are the only three VK girls here. Like she told me after the Championship Tourney game all those months ago, there's safety in numbers. Besides...you're still a Godling. I'd rather not anger Olympus thank you."
Uma shook her head. "Olympus doesn't care about the VK Godlings. You wouldn't have to worry about that. However...you might have a point about safety in numbers. The goal's to bring more VKs over, we already sent the applications for them to fill out but while we wait..."
"More VKs are coming?" Evie asked.
"Yeah," Uma nodded. "Hadie suggested we bring Dizzy so don't worry. I know you were going to ask about her."
Everyone and their mother knew how close Evie was to the Tremaine brat. The only reason she was under the crew's protection was because she was also friendly with Hadie and Celia. Plus she was Celia's cousin.
"But...if there are applications, there won't be a guarantee Dizzy will be one of the ones selected," Evie said softly.
"Honestly Princess, we're giving the applications to the cheer squad to review," Uma told her. "And who do we know who's a VK on the cheer squad?"
Evie paused and looked over at Uma. Somehow, the nickname 'Princess' seemed less demeaning coming from her now than it had been back on the Isle. "You're not suggesting I bias the cheer team into picking Dizzy are you?"
"Well considering Charming probably won't be a factor since he's an on again, off again prat and Jay and Carlos won't be deciding since they were in the meeting, you're the only one who can be there and not make it seem like you're tainting the selection pool," Uma stated. "But you know, if you wanted to..."
"I'd make sure Celia got in," Evie said softly.
"How'd you—?"
"Mal told me about your family," Evie said with a small shrug as she fluffed out the skirt of the dress. "But no matter what, I'd make sure the young kids got selected Uma. Besides, other than Dizzy, I don't really have any allies back on the Isle. Most of the girls hated me because I was a flirt and most of the guys dropped me after I got what I wanted from them."
Uma nodded, neither girl noticing Mal slip into the room. Nor did they notice her pull out her phone and take a photo.
"Mal!"
Apparently they did notice the flash from the photo once the photo was taken however.
"Yes?" Mal asked but neither blue haired girl bought the faux innocent tone to her words.
"Delete that," Uma growled.
"Honestly Uma, I just took it to send to mom," Mal shrugged. "Uncle Poseidon wanted a recent photo of you and she realized she didn't have one to give him."
"If Grandfather wants a photo of me, then it will be one where I don't look like a prissy princess!" Uma vowed. "Honestly, why does he even want a photo of me?"
"Because you're his granddaughter," Mal shrugged. "Speaking of which, are you going to meet Odie?"
Uma sighed. "I'll think about it. Maybe after Cotillion. The woman's ancient after all and it couldn't hurt to meet her. At the same time..."
"I know," Mal said gently. "But Uma, you're one of the few of us who can meet both of your grandparents. Mom's still not sure if she wants me to meet Demeter and you know the whole deal with Kronos."
"Oh yeah," Uma nodded. "I think Uncle Hades would die before he let you get near Kronos. Well if Zeus hadn't defeated him that is."
"Probably the only good thing Zeus ever did," Mal nodded. "The hat looks good with your dress."
"Thanks," Uma smiled slightly.
"Harry'll probably faint when he sees you," Mal added, a smirk growing on her lips.
"Why would he do that?" Uma scoffed.
"Because he's in love with you," Evie stated, cleaning up slightly. "Everyone with eyes can see it."
Mal chuckled at Uma's stunned look. "I've corrupted you well, Evie."
"He's not in love with me!"
"Honestly Uma, when are you going to leave your denial?"
"I'm not in denial!"
"Whatever you say cuz."
"Mal!"