Swiftly - Harry Hook

~Chapter 1~ | At Least You're Not a Bear

"Hi, Jay"

"Jay!"

"Hi!"

A chorus of high-pitched female voices followed the trio as they walked through the courtyard. Jay had always been the ladies man of the bunch, however irked he got. Ryllian groaned in annoyance. Another minute of hearing these girls whining like lost puppies would make her lose her head.

"Hi," he said, mildly irritated. He did his best to avoid any eye contact or physical contact with his "suitors." 

Carlos snorted, "Why do you torture them? Just pick someone to take to the Cotillion already."  

Jay shrugged and grinned mischievously at his friend, "I'm going solo." He made a funny gesture with his hands. "That way I can dance with all of them." 

Ryllian looked at him and scoffed, "And leave a string of broken hearts behind you." She nudged him playfully and sighed wistfully.

"Och, Jay. My heart belongs to ya and only ya. Take me to the Cotillion so that once we get off this stupid boat, we can get married and ride off into the sunset," she mocked him, her thick accent showing.

Carlos grinned and Jay shoved her. The three of them had gotten along from the start, Jay and Carlos being much less like the snobbish princes Ryllian had grown to dislike, and Ryllian having a sort of boyish charm, despite her outrageously feminine attributes. They roughhoused, practiced for tourney, and overall made fun of all of the unbreathable Auradonian stereotypes, but such was their friendship.

"Ah!" Carlos exclaimed suddenly, stopping in his tracks as they reached the gardens. "You guys are the experts."

"Hardly," Ryllian cut him off with an eye roll.

Carlos huffed and turned to Jay, "Um. If you were gonna ask someone, what's the best way to go?"

"Listen," Jay said sincerely. "All you got to do..."

Carlos nodded.

"...is look like me."

Ryllian broke into a huge grin, much to Jay's amusement, and she clung off his arm and batted her lashes in the most horrid way possible, making fun of all the girls who had previously thrown themselves at him. Jay chortled and shoved her off, earning him a shove in return.

"Oh, ha-ha. You guys." Jay clapped his shoulder and began to talk, as Ryllian tuned out the conversation.

She turned and glanced around the Gardens, which were being decorated for the Cotillion. Carlos had wandered off to go talk to Jane, who he had been pining after for a few months now. It hadn't gone far, much to Ryllian and Jay's dismay.

She saw Mal and Jan talking, or rather, Jane spit-firing and Mal looking flustered and nodding like a bobblehead.

"Hey," said a sift voice from behind her, making her jump.

"Great Bears, ya scared me, Evie." Ryllian exhaled sharply. Evie had become on of her closest female friends, perhaps due to their similar affinity to fashion.

"Sorry, love," she hummed. "But we've got to get started on the dress fittings."

Ryllian nodded and followed Evie into the center of the Gardens. Evie tried to gain people's attentions, but it worked to no avail. Ryllian rolled her eyes.

"Step aside, lass. And mind your ears. We've been through this drill a thousand times."

Evie nodded and placed her perfectly manicured hands over her ears, while Ryllian walked over to the fountain in the center of the garden.