Better Together

The Wonders of Soap and a Working Shower

Chapter Summary:  Bye bye, Shrimpy!

By the time Ben came up to see if they wanted to join him for supper, they were all gathered in Uma and Freddie's room, fast asleep. It had been a trying day; Uma had a painful ride over and Mal needed to rest while her ears mended.

The two girls pushed their beds together so they were almost one, they would get better use of the space that way, they knew from experience.

Uma laid back on the pillows piled at the head of her half of the bed, Harry's head on her chest where she could easily reach and threaded her fingers through his hair as they fell asleep, the soft hair sliding through her fingers with each gentle, soothing tug. Gil, Desiree and Jillian had managed to squeeze themselves onto the twin-size bed with ease. It wasn't like they hadn't done it plenty of times in the past, they knew how to fit them all comfortably in a tangled mess of limbs. Evie, Mal, Carlos and Jay had clambered onto Freddie's side with her too, in a puddle together where they felt safe.

The ten teenagers were comfortable and exhausted, so they quickly fell asleep, not even hearing Ben when he came to knock, who rightfully assumed they had fallen asleep when they didn't answer him. He didn't want to wake them when they had been so tired, so he resolved to come back in the morning with an invitation to join him for breakfast instead.

When morning finally came, the light that filtered and shined it's way through the windows was far brighter than any dawn they had ever experienced and Jay wasn't the only one to grumble and pull something over his eyes. "Is it supposed to be that bright this early?"

"Yup." Mal answered, "Everything is brighter in Auradon." she snidely commented in a faux super happy and cheerful voice, mimicking what she imagined most Auradonians sounded like based on all the newsreels that constantly aired on the Isle. Seriously, it was the only channel they sent them, and it was ridiculous. Her hair was wrapped atop her head in a fluffy towel and she wore a satiny pink robe. "Hey E? You're going to love showers." she informed her sleepy friend, still blinking the sleep from her eyes. Immediately she hopped up and made it to the bathroom before any of them could even move.

"Wow, somebody's eager to try a real working shower." Freddie said teasingly, but they all were, running water just wasn't a very common thing on the Isle. Pipes were a rarity to receive from Auradon, so they were used so sparingly. It was sort of a miracle that they even had working electricity.

Mal just got there first because of how early a riser she was. "How are you so... awake right now?" Gil sleepily groaned. "My mom raised me to be up with or before the first rays of dawn." she shrugged, "It's a habit that stems back all the way to her childhood in the Moors." she sits down on the desk chair, "Which reminds me, I should try and figure out how to get there from here." she mused, "Do you think they'd let me take a little field trip or will I have to sneak away?" she looked thoughtful as they heard the water run, a delighted squeal sounded and Mal smiled. "I knew she'd like it."

"Hey Uma," she looked back to the girl with her hair in a zillion braids. Wetting her lips as her attention was turned on her with a raised eyebrow, her fingers once again brushing through Harry's hair as she lulled him from his sleep. "Their shampoo is super strong, and there's so many in there." she tells her, "I think it might- um, I think it might help." she gestured at her own hair, to explain what she meant. Mal felt bad, she really did. She and Uma had been in a fight as children and in her rage she had dumped a bucket of rotten shrimp on her friend's head. She regretted it deeply, especially so when the smell wouldn't come out for anything. Poor Uma had been stuck with a lingering scent of bad shrimp in her hair for the past ten years.

Uma's nose twitched, but she acknowledged the apology in her friend's eyes. Mal made it her mission to make up for what she'd done, bringing Uma every scented thing she could, always an apology in her eyes, but nothing ever worked. Maybe now that they had brand new, fresh soaps they could try to do something and it would actually work for once.

It didn't take too long for Evie to finish up in the shower, she wanted the others to get in there and try it, and being pipes for water like this weren't common on the isle she wasn't sure how much water they had access to and didn't want to take it all, especially the nice hot water. She lamented over the years she'd had to boil pail after pail only to have it be barely lukewarm by the time the last one filled the basin. It wasn't fair, Auradon had this wonderful luxury at its fingertips and she was only just getting to try it because they took her away from her home.

One by one, the teens took their turns, Uma going last because she insisted, they all have their chance first. Harry tried to argue but was silenced with a sharp glare, she was Captain after all, her word was law. Finally, Uma herself stepped from the shower and to the bedroom again, toweling off her hair. Eagerly Harry leaned closer, and she rolled her eyes as he caught a braid in his fingertips, pulling it up to his face and inhaling peacefully. His eyes popped open, delighted. "Uma!" He breathed her name, and she looked at him curiously before the others swarmed her, smelling her hair.

"Uma! It worked! It worked!" Mal laughed joyfully, she was so relieved for her friend. The longtime battle with her hair smelling like rot was finally over. She smelt clean.

She held it in, she had a rep to maintain after all, but Uma almost cried. That smell had been relentlessly terrorizing her for years and it was finally gone.