XF → Harry Hook [2]✔

Guilt

It was the second time XJ had been in Audrey's room, but she played off having never seen the place well. She looked the place up and down, scanning it like she had upon her first impression. Audrey's shift from good to evil hadn't been documented in her décor; everything was just as pink and pastel as it had been when XJ had last seen it.

"God, she had an entire dorm to herself?" Jay asked, half in awe and half annoyed that Audrey was the owner of so large a room. "Could I have asked for that back when we were in school?"

Ben chuckled. "Fairy Godmother wouldn't have let you – she thought that you rooming with someone else was helpful for developing your social skills."

"You were barely in your room anyway," Evie looked at Jay, bemused. "I stopped trying to look for you in there when I realized that you were more likely to be at tourney practice instead."

"Yeah, but I need the space for my equipment – do you know how big a tourney stick is? And how much bigger the cleaning kit is?"

"You're not even that good at the sport," Harry suddenly said. "I don't know why you try so hard."

"Uh oh," Mal muttered as she saw Jay's head snap towards the pirate boy, like a snake that had had its tail stepped on.

"You've never even played the sport – I can guarantee that you're worse by far. Besides," Jay sneered. "How would you know?"

"XJ dragged me to one of your games," Harry responded, grinning widely at his successful provocation. "We were bored one day so we decided to see exactly how bad you all were."

"The answer was pretty damn bad," XJ added from her place at Audrey's desk, where she was rummaging through drawers.

Jay was about to snap at her, still deeply offended by the questioning of his tourney abilities, when he saw XJ pocketing something. Although it had been a while since he had stolen anything, once a thief, always a thief, and XJ's actions stirred a memory of himself.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" XJ tossed something bright and shiny to Harry over her shoulder without even looking. Her boyfriend caught it with ease and slipped it into his coat, any prompt unneeded.

"No," Evie shook her head. "We're not here to steal Audrey's stuff."

She walked towards XJ, wary of the other girl. However, it wasn't until Evie tried to make a grab for the rings in XJ's hand did XJ react. She threw it at Harry, inches away from Evie's fingers, and Harry snickered as he caught it.

"XJ!" Evie exclaimed exasperatedly. "Stop it and return the things you took! They're not yours!"

"That would defeat the point of stealing in the first place." XJ said calmly, holding up a bracelet encrusted with diamonds to the light. Evie tried to snatch it away again, but XJ easily evaded her.

"What do you even want them for?" Ben frowned. "If it's money you want, you can always ask Fairy Godmother to get you a job."

Harry howled with laughter from the other side of the room, making all but XJ stare at him. XJ's own lips had quirked up into an amused smirk, but she at least explained what Harry found so funny.

"Because any sane employer would absolutely hire two villain kids who have clearly shown how little they care for the kingdom and the authority that runs it."

"If Fairy Godmother recommends you, someone will let the two of you work." Ben persisted.

"Why do you want the money anyway?" Mal grumbled.