How to Find the Truth

Chapter 3

Mal opened up the plastic case in her hands, and took out the small candy. "Yeah, um.." she showed the little gummy to him as he looked at it in thought.
"So, this thing will make me say what I really feel to (Y/N)?" He asked her, amazed.
"Yeah. I mean, this is a truth gummy, so...Take it or leave it," she told him. He nodded with a small smile. 
"Perfect."
"Hold on though," Mal said, stopping him before he could take it. "Are you sure that you wanna be taking this? Because this is gonna make you say the truth all the time, no matter what. And the only reason that I'm asking is because I know that if I took this right now, I would get myself sent back to the Isle. Which, it's not that that sounds super unappealing but, you know..." she rambled, finally taking a breath. Carlos nodded, wanting to go all in for me.
"Yeah. I'll take my chances, I guess."
"Okay," Mal sighed, letting her hands fall to her sides.

Quickly, Dude jumped at the opportunity for food. He jumped off the bed, and quickly ate the truth gummy from Mal's hand. Mal yelled, quickly bringing her hands back up again, as Dude jumped back onto the bed, getting away with what he had just done way too quickly. Carlos looked back at his dog, dumbfounded. "Bad dog," Mal told the mutt. The dog shook its coat, all while making little grunting noises. Mal gasped, realizing what had happened.
"Man, that thing was nasty," Dude told the two of them. They just looked at him, almost as if they had seen a ghost. Dude, the dog, was talking. Carlos looked at Mal, hoping they were both seeing this. "And you?" Dude asked Carlos. "You just gotta man up." They still looked at him, wide eyes, and mouths dropped. "And while you're at it," the dog continued, "scratch my butt."
"You heard him," Mal told the boy. "Scratch his butt."

And with that, Mal made a quick turn on her heel and headed for the door. "Mal," Carlos called after her. "You're just gonna leave me with him?" He asked her, gesturing to the dog. However, the door closed, and Mal was gone. Carlos looked back at the dog, not really sure what to do at this point.
"Come on," Dude pleaded, "you scratch your own all the time."

Carlos rolled his eyes, and sat down on the bed, next to his talking dog. He looked out into space while scratching Dude's butt. "Aw, yeah! That's the spot!" Dude exclaimed, wagging his tail with delight. Carlos looked over at him, eyebrows raised in annoyance.
"Really?"
"What? Oh, are we talking about (Y/N)? Then like I said. Man up. Just ask the pretty girl out," Dude told him like the solution was obvious.

Carlos grinned a little and stood up from the bed. He began to frown though as he explained. "You just don't get it, Dude. (Y/N)'s amazing, and I messed everything up," he sighed. "I literally tried to take over her kingdom. And yet, she forgave me! I just don't want to mess this up again."
Dude frowned. "Yeah, that's rough."
Carlos glared at him. "Not helping."
"Hey, I just learned how to talk. You've got to give me some time to figure out what to say."

The boy gave the dog a small laugh and sat on the bed next to him again. "I just...Dude, I think I'm in love with her."
"Awww," the dog said, almost sounding sarcastic. Carlos laughed, loving the words that had just come out of his mouth.
"Yeah," he smiled at the dog. "So what do I do?"
"Do what I told you to do. Man up. If you love the girl, then take a chance for her. Besides, I won't mind having more of her around here. She gives awesome belly rubs," Dude sighed happily.

Carlos grinned and rubbed the mutt's belly. He looked out at my dorm room window and sighed happily. Maybe something would finally change.

🐚🐚🐚

Back on the Isle, things were stirring up too, especially at Ursula's Fish & Chips. With a slogan like, "You'll take it how I make it!" you know there had to be some pirates up in there, seeking some revenge. As a matter of fact, the place was already packed. As another smug pirate waltzed into the place, he put his weapon into Sword Check, then handed some stolen, rotten fish on a string to a nearby customer, who was not thrilled with the gift. The red-coated pirate then shoved a customer off a barstool, and jumped over to the other side of the bar, almost like he owned the place. However, the junior owner didn't mind. In fact, she came in and slapped a plate down for the two of them to share. Though she respected him, she made sure he always knew that he was second in command. But, he was okay with her being first.