THE SUN BEAMED DOWN on Oliver's back as he leaned against the bleachers, staring off into the field as players assembled in the grass dressed in the uniforms of yellow t-shirts and blue shorts, with body armor padding to support them during difficult falls. While Oliver wouldn't have normally been here, as he wasn't a big fan of this sport already, he was here only to show support for Carlos who followed Fairy Godmother's adivce and tried out for a spot on the team. Also to be there to help carry Carlos to the nurse's office when he got trampled.

"Oliver, I didn't expect to see you here?" Ben said as he walked over. He wore a similar getup to the rest of the tourney players but only with a whistle hanging from his neck and a clipboard and pen in hand.

Oliver pointed to where Carlos, who was spinning on his heels in the middle of the field wearing a look of confusion as he took in the set up of the field. "Here to show my support, Benny Boo."

Ben smiled. "How come you didn't sign up for tryouts?"

"Didn't seem like my kind of thing. Unless this place knows a thing or two about sword fighting, not interested."

"Auradon does actually. I can show i you if you like-"

Oliver held up a finger, stopping the soon-to-be-king as he search the field for a certain someone. "Hey, where's Frosty the Snowman? Why isn't he here?"

"You mean Jack?" Ben asked after he finally figured out who the boy was talking about. "He doesn't do tourney anymore." The tone of sadness was noticeable to Oliver, but he didn't bother to point it out as this was about supporting his friends. "Okay. Carlos, we're gonna do some sprints. You ready?" Ben shouted from where he stood. Carlos nodded determinedly and lowered himself into a starter position. As Ben began the timer, Carlos broke into a full fledged sprint that caused Oliver to jump to his feet, impressed by his friend's speed. However, that was until he took notice of the screaming coming from the shorter boy and the fact that a small dog was right on his heels.

"Dammit, Carlos, wait!" Oliver raced after out of the tourney field and into the woods nearby. "Slow down, man!"

"Oliver! Ben!" Carlos cried from his position where he climbed up the tree to avoid the small dog, that barked up at him. "Guys, help me! This thing is a killer! He's gonna chase me down and rip out my throat. This is a vicious, rabid pack animal!"

"Who told you that?"

"My mother."

"Cruella?"

"She's a dog expert. She's a dog yellerer." Carlos stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

Oliver leaned closer to Ben. "She's neither of those things." He raised an eyebrow in response when the future king placed the dog in his arms, scrunching his nose up when he caught a whiff of the 'impressive' dog breathe.

"Oliver, why are you holding him? He's going to attack you!" Carlos cried, still holding on to the tree branch. Oliver gave a snort and scratched behind the scruffy dog's ear, earning a pleased huff in reply.

"Carlos, you've never actually met a real dog, have you?" Ben asked.

Carlos scoffed. "Of course not."

"Dude, meet Carlos and Oliver. Carlos and Oliver, meet Dude. He's the campus mutt." Ben said as he introduced the pair. Carlos slowly began descending down the skinny tree that he onxe claimed for protection, staring curiously at Dude as he hung in Oliver's arms.

"He doesn't look like a rabid pack animal," he reached out his hand and gently rubbed the back of Dude's neck, receiving a lick to his palm. "You're a good boy."

"I guess you guys had it pretty rough on Island," Ben muttered. The carefree feeling had dissipated, as did Oliver's relaxed stance.

Carlos grimaced. "Yeah. Let's just say that we don't get a lot of belly rubs."

Ben placed a hand on Carlos's shoulder. "Good boy." Carlos and Oliver looked up at him, giving him strange looks. "I mean, you're a good runner. You're...you're fast, you know." Saving him from the embarrassment, Carlos nodded in reply. "Listen, I'm gonna give you guys some space. You guys get to know each other and just, you know, come and find me when you're done."

As Ben walked away from the two, Oliver frowned at Dude as the dog panted heavily in his face, which smelt horrible. "You know, I always wanted a dog growing up."

Carlos looked at him in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah. Ever since I was like, what, four? But...Mother was never really much of an animal person. She hated when I would bring in lizards from outside, swear up and down that they only caused trouble. After a while I just stopped asking." He wore a sly smirk. "I always wondered what it would be like to have a Dalmatian. They seem like good dogs."

This brought out a snort from the De Vil boy. "Yeah, this family has a 101 of them and they're doing just fine." He paused for a minute, biting his lip as he thought about his next words carefully. "Hey, Oliver, do you...do you think our parents notice us being gone?"

"I don't know, Carlos." Oliver admitted honestly, running his hands through his hair. "Maybe...they just got tired of having us around. Maybe they just want us to steal the wand." But that-that couldn't be true. His mother loved him, and probably missed him back on the Isle.

Carlos hugged Dude closer to chest. "Can I ask you something? About Gothel?"

Oliver shrugged, drawing a line in the dirt with a stick he found lying nearby. "Go for it."

"What was Gothel like? As a....mom?"

Oliver looked at Carlos from the corner of his eye, taking in how the boy flinched at his change stature. No one would really bring it up, but it wasn't exactly a good thing to get on Oliver's bad side. He didn't show it much, but when he did it left everyone on their toes. There was a silent agreement between the VK's that the boy's eyes would go three shades darker, his skin would become as white as asphalt and he appeared as if his dark thoughts were pooling around him.

Carlos quickly tried to change the subject, but Oliver cut him off.

"Let's just say mother can sometimes become a different person when things don't go her way. She is not someone you want to be around when that happens."

Deciding that silence was the best option, Carlos moved to transfer Dude from his lap to Oliver's, startling the boy for a portion of the action before letting out a sigh and just accepting as the dog licked at his neck and chin. He was only doing this because it made Carlos laugh. That was the only reason.

Little did the two know, a certain daughter of Rapunzel had overheard the whole conversation and was disheartened by what she heared.