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Pigeonpanhandle
Hope this one's better! I kept the beginning and most of the middle, but changed the reaction and the last scene a bit.
---
"This is your music instructor, Banshee," the strange Rock Goblin informed, gesturing towards a crystal-Cyan dragoness before the miniature Nocturne.
"She can't speak Sorniethan, so I'm her translator."
The dragoness before her wore a beige-brown thorn collar the colour of freshly sewn soil, her arms and legs cuffed with their own golden strands of translucent silks. She had bone-white antlers riding upon her sea-blue, crystallized head and had petals attracting to her from every angle, bobbing up and down as if on the waves leading up to a beach.
She clicked and chirped at the Guardian beside her, cocking her head to the left. Tine could recognise that language anywhere from the history she had to study from being an ex-ruler of a clan; the dragoness must have come from a Mermanian clan.
"She said welcome to the Sorniethan School of Music," he informed her. "And she wanted me to tell you that her name's Banshee."
Tine waved a small paw in her new professor's direction, smiling slightly. She watched with anticipation as her teacher waved back with a bright smile spread across her face.
"If you could follow me, my dear, I'll lead you to the classroom you're going to be sitting in."
The Smoke-coloured dragoness followed the small familiar down the twisting crossroads of corridors, taking in the place with an extravagant amount of awe.
The walls were patterned marble with golden trimming, the floor being tiles of cobblestone that clicked melodically every time it was stepped on. Grand cotton flags of navy-blue holding the school's logo waved in the soft wind sifting through the open windows, large, translucent curtains swung idly from enormous glass windows, shaking from side to side as if to shake off the sweat from the summertime heat. Lockers lined the doors, all ranging in decoration. Some had clefts; others had rests decorated on their doors in many different shapes and forms. Even the doors had some kind of musical note or instrument carved into them specifically for this school's purpose.
They walked for what seemed like moments, even though it was probably longer, and their walk ended at a door with an unknown symbol engraved into the door. Banshee's name was written underneath it.
"This is your new classroom, Tine," the rocky walker said, knocking her back to reality. "I hope you enjoy it here."
He then opened the door to reveal a sharply contrasted room - black and silver lining every wall in a peaceful mosaic pattern the shape of flowers in a hatchling's colouring book. Guitars the size of a Fae, harps taller than an Imperial, violins as dark as the night sky and all sorts of others were stacked around the room, Oakwood desks sitting untouched in the middle of the room where students could write stuff down. The floor beneath was black carpet, possibly to save from all the screeches and scratches that dragging something as large as a harp could do to someone's ears and to the expensive possibly-wooden tiles or cobblestone that would've been placed there instead. Numerous dragons and dragonesses were at different instruments, but there was one dragoness that caught the little Nocturne's eye.
The teacher caught her staring at the female at clicked her tongue. "Her name's Saaya," the Rock Guardian translated, the moss growing on his arms swishing slightly with the gesture he threw in the Guardian's direction. "She's royalty in this clan."
The multicoloured Nocturne just continued to stare at the Guardian, who was sat by one of the larger Harps in the room, and decided to take in everything; the long, blood-red mane, the starry robe with the Arcanist's symbol etched into the side, the lanterns floating around her with such grace they almost looked celestial. She even had a similar wing cover and crown to Tine - feathered and hues of the early night sky.
A whistle shook her back to reality, making her jump and stare into the crystal eyes of her new tutor. 'Go introduce yourself,' they seemed to say. Tine took it upon herself to flatten out her now-ruffled shawl and her royal banner, took time to straighten her twilight-hued Sylvan crown as - if it were not in the right place - it would clash with her sensitive and snow-white Roundhorns, all this before wandering shyly over to the harp-playing princess.
Saaya looked up at her curiously, never faulting in her beautiful music. "Hello, you must be the new student."
Tine almost missed the question, having eyed at the Guardian whilst coming over and continuing to do so when she stated the obvious. "I am, yes," she answered hastily.
Her eyes were bright with kindness and her new-found smile radiant. "Well then, sit down and let me introduce you to the rest of the dragons and dragonesses here."
---
The slip of paper before her fluttered in trembling paws, the largely lettered, scrawled handwriting burning into her mind as her crush rested her scaly chin on the Nocturne's shoulder. "It's okay, you're going to do great," Saaya reassured her. "I know it."
Tine looked her way, feeling the anxiety well up in her. "What if I don't, though?"
"Hey, none of that. I know you'll do great. You've been doing so well so far."
"But--"
She felt a purple, calloused digital pad push against her lips, a small 'sh' sounding in her right ear. "I tell you what," Saaya whispered teasingly. "You do this, and I'll take you out for dinner."
A heavy blush came over the Smokey Nocturne, causing her voice to become nonexistent when she opened it to agree to the deal. Tine quickly turned her face away so that the princess couldn't see her face redden, hoping to calm down her slowly but surely speeding up heart by looking around the room they were both sat in.
After they'd both giggled and walked like a drunken couple on the way home, they'd come to a stop outside of Saaya's own place and gone straight into her room, ignoring the weird looks her familiar gave them both before trotting over and flopping lazily on their padded, silken bed in the corner. Saaya's own bed was the colour of the galaxy beyond their reach, matching the blues and purples on the walls and it even had a few constellations dotted around in the silky fabric. The curtains were as white as snow in late Winter, glistening as such in the afternoon sun, and the carpet beneath them was soft to the touch with bookcases of all sizes standing around the room and a golden-coated Harp sitting idly in the corner.
"Tine?"
She started, turning to see her friend's head having risen from her slim shoulder and was now cocked to the left, revealing a slightly concerned look. "Yeah?"
"Do you not want to, or--"
"No no no, I accept the deal, it's just--"
"Anxious?" her crush asked rhetorically in a sympathetic voice.
Tine just nodded in spite of the royal one's obvious knowledge of her anxiety, tugging on her robe's cotton blue cuffs. She stared as Saaya edged towards her again and threw her arms around her, pulling the little Nocturne closer towards her and into a massive, nerve-calming hug.
They stayed there for minutes, each one feeling like a lifetime that Tine could stay in that single safe space in her love's arms, before Tine's voice sounded without her consent. "I love you," she whispered in a wistful voice.
Saaya froze against her, causing the Nocturne to shoot up and face her. Her eyes were confused and shocked as she spoke. "What was that?"
"N-nothing!" she cried out, cursing to herself for being so foolish as she looked away from Saaya. "Just ignore--"
"Did you mean that?"
Tine turned her Smokey head back around, looking her crush in the face. "Of course I did. Why..?"
It was the princess's turn for her cheeks to go pink, her teeth playing with her lip. Silence fell between them as Tine waited anxiously for her to answer the question. Even the familiar in the corner of the room had its ears perked, its eyes wide and full of patience - unlike the Smokey dragoness. When she finally did, however, it did little to soothe her anxiety as the ex-princess's heart shattered into so many pieces that she struggled to keep her composure. "I need to go."
With that, the royal female swept out of the room in a wash of purple and blue, her familiar bounding behind her and Tine being left on her own with a broken heart and heating eyes.
---
The restaurant before her looked as bland as a rock. There was nothing that could be done to improve it after the heartbreak the female had experienced just days before. The sign that she'd once thought beautiful was dim, unwelcoming, and the red carpet leading inside between two grand, intricately designed wooden doors seemed dirty and was sickening to look at as it was specifically laid out for the princess inside.
Wandering aimlessly through the doors and waiting at a podium near the entrance, she noticed how everything was made from silks and smelled of lavender; how everything was either gold, silver or brass; how everyone was dressed fancifully and behaving as such for the presence of the royalty in the centre of the room, whom of which stood out from the whitewashed walls and fluttering, silver curtains like a splatter of purple paint against a piece of perfectly neat, white card.
Splatter, she scoffed, feeling anger bubble in her stomach. Such a delicate word for how she made me feel the other day.
She allowed her night-sky eyes to glance over to the princess sat alone at a small table and saw her face light up, waving her over with sudden urgency. Reluctantly, the small Nocturne moved over towards the princess, sweeping across the wooden floor like a light purple goddess and feeling as light-headed as cloud in the sky.
Saaya stood up, revealing a light purple the colour of the ex-royalty’s scales and stirring her anger further. She wore a pastel feathered clip just behind her ear, a rope of pearls dangled around her neck and a band of rubies on her wrist. "Hey, Tine," she called, embracing the Nocturne. Tine shoved her away, looking upon the hurt passing over the princess's face.
"Hello, Saaya," was her only reply as she dragged the chair out from the small, silk-covered table and set herself down.
She followed suit. "How are you doing?"
"Fine, thank you, Saaya."
A few seconds of silence from the pair passed by as Tine dragged a menu from its holding place and opened its bright red cover, blocking her view of the Guardian before her when she spoke again. "Why are you so mad at me?"
"No reason," the Smoke Nocturne replied, keeping her eyes on the menu held before her.
The princess grunted and gripped the top of the menu, yanking it from her paws. "Tell me, Tine. Please. Was it my reaction a few days ago?"
"Well, yeah! That hurt, Saaya."
The Arcane royalty nodded sullenly. "I know, I'm sorry. I really wanted to make it up to you through this dinner."
"Mhm."
"I'm being serious, Tine."
"I know, I just don't want to listen."
"Please," Saaya begged, grabbing her paws that was now tapping on the table. "Just hear me out."
With nothing else to lose, Tine nodded.
"When I heard what you said, I was in shock. I couldn't tell you that I just wanted to be friends, and for the last few days I've been eaten up with anxiety about your reaction. I don't want to date you - not because I don't love you, but because I just want to be friends with you. For me, that's more than enough."
Shock was all the Nocturne felt. She expected rage, or hurt - yet there was only shock. It wasn't a malicious reason for Saaya not to date her, yet it also wasn't fake. She genuinely wanted to stay friends.
"Tine?"
The ex-princess snatched her attention back to the dragoness before her. "Hmm?"
"Are you... mad at me?"
"Honestly?" Tine asked rhetorically. "No, I'm not. Just shocked."
"So, would you still want to be friends?" The Guardian sounded more anxious than she looked, her eyes glancing everywhere but her posture never faulting.
"Is it alright if I think about it?"
"Yeah, sure, but--"
"I'll make sure to get back to you before dusk," Tine informed her reassuringly. It brightened her friend's face up massively. "Right now, let's just enjoy dinner. Okay?"
"Okay."
