Topaz

“Off to go bother Topaz, again, East? Don’t you have birds to tend to?” an artist called out from street level.

East dipped a bit lower in the sky to call out a response, his voice a sing-songy lilt, “The birds need breaks just as much as you and I do, Pop. Besides, Topaz is much more fun.”

He sped off then, never one for idle chatter. When he did arrive, landing with a sudden thud behind Topaz, she almost fumbled the trick to one of her games. She managed to pull it off, but the customer gave her a strange look as he left.

“Hey there, East. May I ask why you’ve decided to come bother me during work hours again?” Topaz asked, a mix between a grimace and a smile on her face.

“Oh, no particular reason. The birds have gotten tired of hatchlings tugging their feathers, so I’ve decided to give them a break before they start tugging back.” East responded, slinking through Topaz’s stand and poking around at different games.

“East, how many times do I have to tell you! Don’t touch those!” Topaz groaned in irritation, before nearly falling over in her rush to both stop things from falling over and not to knock into East.

“Well, there’s not much else to do in here. How about you take a break and come get lunch with me?” The Spiral asked suddenly.

Topaz nearly fell over again in her surprise. “What? No. No. No, I have work to do. I have to keep working. Not all of our stands pay as much as yours, East.”

The Spiral drooped, disappointed. “Oh, sorry.” He looked awkwardly around the stand, his electric energy suddenly drained. “I should… probably go, then”

“No! No, I’m sorry. Look, I overreacted. I’m sorry. How about you go get us some lunch and we can eat here?” Topaz rushed the words, trying to cheer East back up.

It worked, and he perked up immediately. “Okay, awesome! I’ll be right back!”

Topaz let out a small sigh as she watched him go, always disappointed to see him leave despite herself, and despite how annoying he tended to be.

“Well, looks like someone’s got a bit of a crush, doesn’t it? Sure hope it doesn’t distract you from your work. It would be a shame if someone else would take over your spot.” A neighboring scammer leaned over from their stand.

“Oh please, how much treasure have you earned today?” Topaz asked, storming over. She scoffed at the paltry quantity of treasure in her rival’s cashbox. “Not even half of what I’ve earned. I don’t think I’m the one who needs to up my game.”

She walked away, still irritated, and her “rival” was left staring open-mouthed as she went back to her own work.

It was cold. There was a faint drizzle that made her feel chilled to the bone. Today would be a slow day. Very few dragons liked to come to the fair on days like this, and Topaz couldn't really blame them. It was only about mid-morning when Topaz called it quits. She was a swindler, not a fool, and there was no point in letting her fur get any wetter when the total number of customers was zero.
She was a fire dragon. Born in searing heat of the Ashfall Waste, and she hated this cold. It wasn't like their seasonal visits to the south. There her fur protected her from the chill, but here on the edges of the Windswept Plateau? No, all her fur did was get wet and muddy, making it incredibly hard to fly. So, here she was, trudging along on the ground like some lost Snapper. A cold breeze blew, causing her to shiver violently. At least if she got sick, she could play on the sympathies of their 'guests'. She could see her destination, and opened her wings, only to nearly be blown over by a particularly strong gust. Topaz re-folded her wings with a grumble. This was the worst.
After far too long, she reached the tent. This was the closest thing they really had to an indoors, and it was mostly dry, as long as you stayed away from the 'walls' where rivets of water had begun to seep under the edges. Huffing to cover another shiver, Topaz made her way over to one of the many fires that had been lit inside the structure. As she approached, the dragons that were standing around that particular flame decided that they had elsewhere to be, one of the many benefits to having a formattable reputation. Settling herself in to dry, Topaz heard the flutter of small feathered wings approaching. Great.
Slinking around from behind her and settling on the other side of the fire was a white spiral. And his normal entourage of avian fiends. Sometimes, reputation only went so far.
"You look cold.", he said, his voice kind. His voice was always kind though. The spiral's name was East, and he was far too trusting, to nice, and far too concerned with birds. As Topaz was thinking of a properly prickly response, she felt a weight settle atop her and froze. East was nice, some of his 'friends' were less accommodating. The spiral opposite the fire had the audacity to laugh at her! It was actually more of a gentle chuckle, because he didn't even know how to mock someone properly.
"He's just trying to help.", and though Topaz felt like protesting that his stupid bird was not helping, it actually... was. It was very warm. Very, very warm, an it felt nice. With a huff that sounded more like a sigh, Topaz relented. The bird could stay, at least until the chill went away. Naturally, so did the birdkeeper, to make sure his beast didn't peck anyone's eyes out at the very least.
Rain pattering the roof, fire crackling beside her, spiral chattering away about nothing important, Topaz let herself have a small smile, hidden beneath her paws. Sure, she still hated the rain, but sometimes days like this were... nice.