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Jay supposes he should be happy Carlos is eating something, even if that something is ... a ring pop.
With a frustrated grunt that made Chad raise an eyebrow in his direction, Jay began googling 'candy nutritional value' and reading as fast as he could.
But there is so much contradiction in what the internet offers him. Some has protein (the peanut butter ones, usually, maybe), and others maybe offer a few vitamins (what does Vitamin G do?). But it doesn’t tell Jay enough to determine if his boyfriend is going to be okay for the next few days.
Another dramatic sigh escapes Jay's lips before he can stop it.
“Dude what is going on? We won today's game, that's no reason to be moping.”
Chad has his arms folded across his chest, attempting to be serious, though the polka dot PJ set and fuzzy slippers he's wearing makes it comical.
“Carlos is just eating candy.”
“Nothing wrong with that.”
“No. He's only eating candy.”
“Ohhhh. Like. Just candy? Like sugar and chocolate? For how long?”
“Since we left, I think.”
“I mean, it won't kill him.”
Jay grunted in distress at Chad’s response, glaring at his bunk mate that he was stuck with for the duration of the tourney tournament.
“Okay, sorry, poor word choice. But really, he'll probably just get a tummy ache, have to puke, maybe. He won't seriously be hurt from eating only candy.”
“It's just...” Jay sighs, knowing Chad was right, but needing to justify his concern for the white-haired boy to an Auradon-born. “He's so malnourished already. A weekend-long candy binge is just going to set him back.”
Chad doesn't say anything for a long moment, long enough where Jay feels ashamed for saying anything.
Carlos’s health was his own personal journey, though anyone only had to look at him to see how gaunt he was. Even a full year off the Isle hadn’t been enough to make up for the previous fourteen years of undernourishment. His ribs still poked through his skin; his cheeks still hung hallow in his face. Even Evie was worried, and she was the only one of the four of them who’d been diagnosed with an official ‘eating disorder’. Auradon didn’t consider ‘lack of food to the point of extremely irrational rationing’ to be an issue, even in Carlos’ case.
“Well…listen. Maybe this is a good lesson for Carlos to learn, so that way in the future he knows not to only eat candy while you're gone. I mean, I'm sure he's stressed to be the only VK stuck at school, and well…if eating candy is helping him not freak out, I'd say that's pretty manageable. So what if he gets a little sick? Next time he'll remember that and eat something healthy, ya know?”
Jay frowned, taken aback by Chad’s insight. It was true that they'd left Carlos alone among only Auradonians for the weekend—Mal and Jay were both on the tourney team, which meant they were in Sherwood for a four-day tournament, and Evie was attending a science conference in Auradon City. That left Carlos by himself back at Auradon Prep for the next three days.
And that was probably scaring the hell out of him.
Jay ran a hand through his hair, groaning. Of course, why hadn't he seen it before? Chad was right. Carlos was coping with his separation anxiety, and his general anxiety about being in Auradon, via candy.
As far as Carlos' coping skills methods, this was by far the least dangerous. Carlos was prone to numerous methods of self-harm, so. If getting a tummy ache helped him avoid a full break down, then hell, Jay would buy his boyfriend all the candy he wanted.
Jay turned back to the text messages he and Carlos had been exchanging. He hadn’t responded to the picture of Carlos displaying a bright green ring pop on his slender fingers. It honestly reminded Jay of Cruella’s favorite ring, though he would never say that to Carlos. Cruella already saturated every bit of Carlos’s mind; Jay didn’t need to bring the woman up anymore.
‘LOL’, Jay texted back, somewhat reluctantly. ‘Don’t forget to eat real green food though.’
‘yeah yeah, I’ll eat a piece of broccoli or something’, came Carlos’s reply within seconds.
Jay gave a small smile at his phone screen, satisfied that Carlos would be okay.
Chad noticed Jay’s expression and tucked himself into bed with satisfaction. His work with the VK’s was done for the night.
Ben had reminded him before the trip that they weren’t used to being separated. Or valued for things beyond villainy. So Chad had decided that he would try to…care? Support? Engage with? Whatever. He decided he wasn’t going to let his roommate for the next few days mope around. Jay was pretty easy to read, so Chad was glad that they were rooming. If he had to room with Evie, or Good prevent, Carlos… no. Chad knew Jay in a way he knew that both of them would despise to say out loud.
They were jocks, people who valued action over words. A group that allowed each other to express their emotions on the field rather than through…actual feelings. Chad understood that. He, too, had grown up with a father who didn’t quite want a son. Yes, an heir was nice. Someone to fulfill what their fathers had not. But a son…that was something both his and Jay’s fathers didn’t know what to do with. He would never say that to Jay because he knew their childhoods were exact opposites but. Chad understood Jay’s struggle to feel valued. To feel wanted. To be a person that was worth more than an inheritance.
And here they were, sharing a room for a tourney weekend. And Jay was stressing about Carlos, whose life was one of the worst that Chad could imagine.
He’d spent a long time with his mother talking about Carlos DeVil, over winter break. About the way Carlos reacted to (what Chad considered) normal things, the way he ate and stood and learned. And now, Carlos reminded Chad of his mother, Cinderella. The trauma of a parent who didn’t recognize you as a person. Carlos had it much worse, Cinderella informed Chad solemnly. Cinderella, now Ella Charming and also Mother, escaped. Carlos didn’t get to escape. So, when anyone brought up Carlos, Chad leaned in to listen.
He learned how Carlos coped by locking himself in a wardrobe for days on end. How he sometimes refused fresh food and dove for rotten scraps in the back of the cafeteria. How he’d go for three full months without uttering a single syllable, haunted by his mother, even in Auradon.
Chad couldn’t pretend to understand any of Carlos’s trauma responses. Or any of the other ways the Villain Kids moved throughout the world. But Carlos he felt lenient towards. Partly because of his mother. And partly because the only time he saw Jay with a softness in his eyes was when Carlos was around.
And to Chad, that was a kind of softness that Jay needed. That all Villain Kids needed. That Carlos needed.
So as Jay grinned softly at his phone, Chad let out a silent sigh, relieved that Carlos was okay enough for Jay to relax. They still had to win another game tomorrow, after all.