After School Swim!

Ethril laughed a little nervously. Oh she liked several people and of course she felt the twinges of physical attraction. But Fascino had warned her, several times, that people here weren't as open about displaying affection. She couldn't go around hugging, nuzzling, and cuddling with people that she cared about. Fascino had said people would misunderstand what she did and she could get into trouble for it.

Ethril rubbed her chin as she thought about the prize. "Well back home when we played games usually the prize was something embarrassing, a favor, or a piece of a person's hoard. Pyronim won a game once and he demanded my top." Ethril laughed in embarrassment. Sistra had not been happy she'd lost a piece of her clothing. Pyronim had returned it a few days later, but that hadn't been the point.

"Or you can just claim an IOU and ask for the prize when you think of it." Ethril grinned and swam to the edge of the pool. Now that the game was done there was something she wanted to do, and it involved the diving board.

"That's no fun!" Ciel whined, watching her retreat to the other end of the pool. He just brooded in the water, grabbing his knees and bobbed up an down. "IOU's are even worse because I'd never know when to use it!" As he despaired, he tried to think on a suitable prize once more.

He continued to follow Ethril with his eyes as she swam away, thinking of a way that wouldn't offend her. She seemed to be rather fine with most things, chummy as they were after only her first day at the Academy.

"Aha! What say you to a date, mon cher? Nothing romantic if you don't want. Just getting together and hanging out again." He smiled, waiting for her response from the diving board end of the pool.

Ethril giggled and shrugged as she climbed out of the water. She shook out her wings unconsciously and carefully walked over to the ladder that lead up to the diving board. "Sorry, but I can't think of anything, it is your prize after all!" Ethril grinned mischievously and climbed up the diving board.

As carefully as she could, she walked to the edge of the board and then looked down. She'd never dived from this low of a height before. Diving from such a height meant she would be coming down at an angle and her wings would have to be folded tightly against her back or else she'd risk them slamming into the water and being pulled at by suction. She stood there for a moment, her tail swinging back and forth lazily as she thought about how to dive.

Ethril grinned and nodded to herself when she figured out at what angle she should dive at. Carefully, so as not to bend her wings at an odd angle, she tucked her wings under her arms and wrapped them around her midsection. The way her wings folded up made her look like she was wearing a gold strapless dress.

Mid jump she heard Ciel proclaim his prize. "D-date?" Her foot slipped slightly and she ended up diving into the water on her side. It was a good thing she'd tucked her wings in. Ethril came up sputtering, her cheeks a bright crimson. Ciel wanted to go on a date? If she went by Ciel's definition of what a crush was then she was most definitely crushing on Ciel. Ethril doubted though that Ciel would know about her feelings. She'd been content enough to just consider him clan.

"S-Sure I'm ok with that!" Ethril was still blushing a deep crimson even as she accepted the terms of Ciel's prize.

"Tres bien~" Ciel clapped his hands together in front of him, looking almost like he was praying. He was quite happy that they'd be getting together again. And that way, he could better come to know his new friend. Common sense soon took over though.

"But my dear, are you alright?" he asked expelling a bit of air from his hands like jets to reach her quicker. "You hit the water pretty hard, and it didn't look like your dive went well." He frowned in concern. "And you're face is so red! Mon dieu! You didn't hit it on the bottom did you?!"

He placed his hands on her cheeks and moved in until he was about two inches from her nose to examine her closely. Healing wasn't something he was good at, but he could still find injuries and treat them best he could.

Ethril was glad she could make her friend happy, after all that was what a friend does. "I-I'm fine! I tucked my wings in so I'm fine!" Ethril said quickly and with a nervous laugh. Her emotions were starting to get out of hand again and she had to fight to keep her instincts in check. "This end is deep enough I didn't even hit the bottom!" Her blush deepened again as his hands came up to her cheeks.

Ethril held her breath for a moment as she tried to organize her thoughts and instincts. Right then what she wanted was to curl around Ciel and take a nap. She remembered sleeping in piles with her friends back home when they were in their dragon forms. It was so comforting to be so close to those that you cared about.

She fidgeted with the thumbs on the tips of her wings since they were still wrapped around her midsection. Her tail was swishing rapidly back and forth in the water so she could keep her balance. She'd never felt her instincts this strongly before! Shadow had come close to evoking strong responses like this, but she'd never gotten the chance to act on them. She was older, albeit only by a year, and that meant being closer to full maturity for a dragon.

Ciel tilted his head in relief as a sigh escaped him. "If you say so. I don't see any injuries, so I suppose you are fine, dear." He dropped his hands down to her shoulders, closing his eyes and smiling. "I'm glad."

Being so close to her, Ciel noticed something odd about the dragoness. Maybe he hadn't picked up on it before because of the high tension in the room. Now though, he opened his eyes, pure joy emanating from them. Quickly, he wrapped her up in his arms, a gasp building in his throat as his hands came to rest just under her wings.

"Maaaa~~ Mon dieu, chéri! You smell just like honey!!" He couldn't help but nuzzle into her neck to take it in all the better.

Ethril took a deep breath when Ciel moved his hands to her shoulders from her cheeks. She hadn't told him that her markings were her personal special spots. The one on her cheek being one of the more sensitive. His question had been if dragons had special places on their bodies. Not if she had special places. "I don't injure easily!" Ethril said proudly. She'd gotten worse injuries then falling into water at the wrong angle!

There was a shift in Ciel's mood that Ethril was able to pick up on. His eyes went big and she could see the joy in them. Ethril felt the blush, which had finally calmed down, return as she felt his hands skim across the markings just below her wings. Ethril bit her tongue to keep from gasping. The hold she had on her instincts though broke the second she felt his nuzzle.

Ethril's eyes closed and she wrapped her arms around him in return, nuzzling against his shoulder. From deep in her chest she began to purr and her tail came up to wrap around both of their waists. His hands on the small of her back felt so good and she would have clung to him more if they weren't in the pool. As it was she was still using her legs to keep herself above the water. "I love honey." She was able to whisper against his shoulder. "I have tons of it back home."

"I know~" Ciel cooed, still relishing in the scent. "It's so lovely though," he sighed. He had felt her tail come up to wrap around them, pulling their waists together. He didn't mind at all though.

It reminded him of home, the smell. Having left from his squatting home at the appropriate age, Ciel had taken up residence high in one of the many maples of Fair Cove. The knothole he'd chosen however neighbored one of the largest hives he'd ever seen. The bees were nice enough, and never threatened him. He even helped to keep birds away. But his home always smelled of honey.

"We'll have to lounge together some day~ Everything would be so much better if I could just relax to such a warming scent."

Ethril's purr grew louder as she agreed with what Ciel said about then lounging together. She liked cuddling with others and curling around things, in and out of her dragon form. Sometimes back home she would curl around Shadow while he sat in front of their camp fire. Ethril nuzzled Ciel's shoulder again, still completely out of it. This is what she'd been missing since Shadow's death nearly a year ago. She'd missed having someone to hold.

"Why don't you come over to my place then?" She asked, her words slurring slightly. "Fascino won't care." Ethril tilted her head slightly so she could look at Ciel from where her head was resting against his shoulder. Her eyes were glazed over with happiness and there was a soft and warm smile on her lips.

"I can show you that sea monster scale!" Ethril said as she remembered their revelation that both of them had similar treasures.

Ciel chuckled. He heard he purring, and he thought it was cute how it got louder the more she seemed to relax. He lifted his head, coming to a straighter position again.

"I'd love to come!" he said with a smile, rubbing at whatever area his hands could reach. He couldn't really move much with her muscular tail holding him in place, but it didn't really bother him at all.

"And seeing that scale would be wonderful! I wish I could show you mine, mais... they're so tiny," he said with a sad smile. "They're large enough to me, seeing as how I'm only 5 and five-sixths inches, really."

Ethril's eyes closed again as she felt his hands rub against her back and markings. Her tail relaxed from it's grip holding them together and floated down in the water on to rest against Ciel's ankle. Until her instincts were satisfied, Ethril wouldn't be happy unless she stayed in physical contact with Ciel. Until then she'd stay in a half mesmerized state that she was currently in.

"I have an extra scale, you could have it if you wanted." Ethril said with a loopy grin as she nuzzled Ciel's shoulder again. "mmm strawberries." Ethril mumbled as she happily continued to cuddle against Ciel, her arms wrapped loosely around his waist. Ethril knew that if they were going to get out of the water to head back to her place, she would have to let go of Ciel and get dressed.

Ciel laughed. "Strawberries? It's a curse of mine." He smiled, feeling her tail sink down against him. "Having so much hair-- it's bound to carry scents. Strawberry is my favorite flavor everything~" he said with a smile.

"And that's too beautiful of a gift, mon cher. I could never ask for your monster scale." He frowned thinking of the question he was going to ask.

"Should we go then? You say your Fascino won't mind, but I'd rather not bring you home late. It's unfit for a gentleman," he added with a smile.

"There aren't many strawberries back home, at least not in the desert where I lived. They're pretty expensive so I've only had them a few times." Ethril said with a lopsided smile. She'd had her first strawberry while visiting the high elves in their forest. Strawberries grew wild in that area so there had been plenty to eat then. "Their scent is so soft and gentle."

Ethril blinked a few times as Ciel's question filtered through her groggy and happily fogged up mind. "I guess that means getting dressed." Ethril said as she very reluctantly let go of Ciel Her ears lowered considerably as she forced herself to let go, even for a little while. Her eyes were still half closed as she smiled at Ciel.

"Fascino won't mind you coming over, he's always too busy doing his research to ever notice anything about me...well except for my uniform." Ethril giggled as she recalled her and Ciel's earlier conversation about her uniform.

"Sorry, dearest, but yes. Dressing is rather crucial to departure." He took in her visage as she spoke about Fascino. He scowled inwardly at the tint he was sure had developed across his nose when she smiled at him with half-lidded eyes.

"Ma~" he chuckled, rubbing at the loose hairs at the nape of his neck. "I'll meet you outside after I've changed, oui?" He managed to get out of pool without killing himself and made his way back to the lockers to get dressed.

He made quick work of it all, pausing only for a moment with his underpants. He still wasn't used to it and didn't want to trip trying to get them on. Ciel finished with his clothes and checked himself in a mirror. Reluctantly, he undid the bun and ribbon in his hair.

It was a horrible sopping mess. He placed his hands just below his ears, cupping them upward to surround his head as best he could. Then he blew. A pink mess shot straight up and rippled in the wind. When he was sure it was dry, Ciel let it drop back down. It was frizzy yes, but a few combs with his fingers fixed that. He sighed happily as he fixed his ribbon (which he also dried) around his neck again before grabbing his bag and stepping out to find his friend.

Ethril sighed as she climbed out of the pool after Ciel and headed for the girl's locker room. Having sacrificed her hair tie to Ciel her hair was completely soaked through. Ethril worked on wringing out her hair as she went over to the locker she had stuffed her things into. She untied her bathing suit and then dried off the best she could.

Her tail wasn't a problem to dry off since it was very flexible. Her wings on the other hand were a problem. She'd have to wait until she was outside to stretch them out fully and flap them dry.

As quickly as she could Ethril pulled on her white shirt and worked on buttoning the back. She cursed loudly as her hair got caught in the buttons. This was why she liked ties, they were a simple process. Ethril pulled on her skirt and then looked at the blue half vest. She frowned and then stuffed it in her shoulder bag. She didn't need to wear her full uniform anymore, at least not until tomorrow!

And with that she left the locker room, her wings still dripping dry. Ethril glanced around and then smiled brightly when she saw Ciel. Her tail lifted up and the tip flicked back and forth to show her happiness as she half skipped over to her friend. With her instincts still running high, she immediately reached out and took his hand in hers.

"Ha~" Ciel reached into his pocket where he'd stashed the hair tie that was loaned to him. "Here you are, Miss Ethril," he said, holding it out to her. He was quite fine with holding hands, so he wasn't going to upset the area where they were connected now.

"I'm going to assume that we are walking, but that doesn't change the fact that i don't know where you live." He twirled a curl of his in his free hand as he grinned like a moron. "You're going to have to show me where it is, mon cher."

"oh!" Ethril took the hair tie and smiled, slipping it into her shoulder bag along with the others she always kept with her. "Thank you! If you ever need it again just ask." Ethril couldn't stop smiling. She just felt so...so happy. She couldn't even remember the when the last time was when she had felt this happy before. Her tail curled back and forth as she lead the way out of the school.

"Fascino's house is on the way to town, so it's not far. It's only a ten or fifteen minute walk." her words were still a little slurred but at least her purring had calmed down. Ethril felt her mind start to clear a little as they left the school and began walking outside. It was just enough for her to realize that she was holding Ciel's hand and she blushed a little.

"Oh one sec!" Ethril said quickly as she let go of Ciel's hand for a moment and took a few long steps away from him. Once she had the distance needed Ethril spread her wings to their full 30 foot wing span and began to flap them. She lifted up off the ground a few inches while she dried her wings. Once Ethril was satisfied with how dry her wings were, she stopped and hopped back over to Ciel. "Sorry, but damp wings aren't fun."

"Oh." Ciel rubbed his arm at the statement. "I won't ever have any so I don't really know what it's like for them to be wet. I've just got the Fairies and Pixies to compare to, and they can get wet.. They just can't fly like that, so going out during the rain is out of the question. Puddles are quite deadly."

Not wanting to depress her though, he tried to switch it to something a bit happier. "Ah! The closest I've got to wings work like jets. If I've got to go really hard or fast for some reason, I can redirect all of my thrust to my shoulder blades. If someone was flying at the same speed, they'd be able to see it even!"

He felt kind of weird talking about it. Air jets weren't actually very interesting, and he was just rambling anyway. He was still a bit flustered from when Ethril had first grabbed his hand.

"Oh..." Ethril felt her ears lower at Ciel's comment about not having wings. Sure wings could be annoying at times, but she couldn't imagine living without her wings. It was like that for most dragons. If a dragon lost their wings, they typically went insane. Sistra was the exception having been attacked years and years ago by a dragon hunter. The hunter had cut off her wings and left her to die.

"Well...Have you ever smelled wet leather? That's what dragon wings smell like if they're not dried off properly." Ethril said with a laugh. "At least you can fly without wings! I know so many dragons who can't fly anymore because of dragon hunters." Ethril sighed and went back to Ciel's side. She happily took his hand again and she purred lightly.

"How did you learn to make the air jets? Did someone teach you or did you know it naturally?" Ethril asked in curiosity. She was always interested in magic she'd never be able to do, Sistra said it was because she was naturally curious about everything.

"The air jets?" He thought for a second. He wasn't entirely sure if he'd been 'taught.' "Well.. as you know, air is my element. I've always had control over it. I think maybe I've always been able to do it. Even though we don't have wings, all of the Sprites can fly for one reason or another..."

He furrowed his brow then. Remembering his own life's history should not be so difficult. "O-oh! The jets specifically-- Father taught me ((I am going with the parents things XD)). Channeling the air to that area is rather difficult, so it took some time to learn. Ma~ Such a slow learner I was..." He laughed at himself then.

"Mais! I was quick to develop my own tricks and things. Jets are usually for emergencies or heavy bearing... Like when I carried Patrick home. I used jets then. Everything else I do is all my own though!" He smiled, finally feeling at ease again. "I prefer to use my hands though during flight. It's a lot easier to control..."

He noticed then just how much he'd been talking. "A-ah~ Mon dieu.. listen to me babble. I do apologize," he said his heart sped up a bit in embarrassment.

Ethril's eyes were sparkling and she was hanging off of Ciel's every word as he described how he had learned how to fly and how he learned how to control his jets. "That's so wonderful!" Ethril said in excitement. "To be able to fly without straining yourself! It took me years to build up the strength in my back for prolonged flight! It took weeks to even get strong enough to lift myself off the ground!" Ethril was so impressed with Ciel and his control over air.

"Does flying put strain on you at all?" Ethril asked in amazement. She wanted to learn everything about her new friend! "You're not babbling." Ethril said in surprise as she tilted her head in curiosity. "But please, tell me more!" It must have been nice being able to fly without the wings.

Without really thinking about it, Ethril began to play with the palm of Ciel's hand with her finger tips. It was a show of affection to pet and caress a clan member. With her instincts still in high gear she really didn't realize what she was doing.

Ciel giggled a bit at her interest. Besides that, she was effectively tickling him. It wasn't that severe, so a quick giggle was enough to satisfy the itch to laugh.

"Ma~" He blushed a bit. No one had ever shown such curiosity in him before. That may have been because the people in his society knew how the other races worked, more or less. Either way, he was enjoying himself.

"Pas, there is no strain. The fair folk are very close to nature, so our control over the elements is something like breathing to us. It's like our central magic is built into our DNA almost. The air I use to get off of the ground actually just comes from inside of me. Once I'm up though, it's manipulation that keeps me there. Putting out so much means I've got to pull more in. If you're close enough when I am using air control, you might feel a tug from the intake my body does."

Since she actually wanted to know more, Ciel figured it was a good time to do what he'd been wanting to since he'd arrived at the Academy. He could finally tell someone that he could do more than one type of magic.

"Back at home, we can actually mix our magic together. River and I used to do it a lot as children. She has control over water mainly, so we can make snow! Because of the air inside of water by itself, I can manipulate that to an extent as well. It's impossible for me to do earth magic, but I can do a bit of light tricks. River says it's rubbed off on me from my time with Patrick."

"That's so amazing!" Ethril crooned as Ciel went on about how he was able to fly. Dragons are physical creatures that rely on themselves to fly, not their power. In fact it was possible for a dragon to be born without magic although such an event is very rare. The only race of dragon that could fly using magic was the air dragon race. They didn't have wings but they were born with the ability to effectively remove their own body weight so they would be as light as air.

"I wish I could do that! Flying wouldn't be half as tiring if I could just lift myself into the air by breathing!" As it was she had to get a good amount of lift in her wings and then push herself off of the ground in order to fly. If it was too cold out she had to work twice as hard. And then when she was in the air she did more gliding then actual flying.

"Oh!" Ethril exclaimed as Ciel described being able to mix magic. "I can kinda do that! It's how I create fire!" With her free hand Ethril concentrated on the space between her fingers and in her palm. Her brows furrowed together as she sucked in air between her fingers and built up the light in the palm of her hand until finally a spark formed and then grew into a small flame. She giggled and grinned proudly at Ciel.

"Tres bien, mon cher!" he congratulated with a smile. "Fire is another one that is lost to me. Though, it's hypothesized that once my light magic builds up enough, I should be able to do it! I'd be tri- -or even quadra-elemental then. You don't see that often," he smugly boasted. "Though, I'd never be able to do it as well as a natural born user. So it may not count as much."

He blew a raspberry with his tongue. "Technicalities I say. Most people can only do two. I'm happy with what I've got. Besides, using irregular magic is still slightly frowned upon by the older generations. I don't need some old woman telling me that it's 'unnatural' every time I do something that doesn't strictly involve air."

He sighed dramatically then and flourished a hand to his forehead in mock despair. "Oh the tragedy of infamy! Everyone knows everything about you! Mon dieuuuu~"

Ethril continued to grin even as he wrapped her hand around the flame to put it out. She liked listening to Ciel, he had such a nice voice to listen too. She was quiet as mentioned being a quadra-elemental. Was it really so uncommon for a person to be able to manipulate multiple elements? Her dad was a crystal dragon so he could control earth, fire, air, and water. Her mother had only been a light dragon though with the ability to tap into the element of spirit. So what did that make her? She could create fire, but only manipulate water. She could make plants grow and move earth, but she only have a limited control on air. Her primary element was light which meant she could never control shadow magic. She hadn't even tried anything with spirit magic yet.

"Well then I guess I shouldn't meet your older generation then." Ethril said with a big cheesy grin. "They'd think I'm a real freak!" Her strange comfort with 5 elements was part of the reason the elders of her clan had encouraged her to start adventuring at such a young age. They had wanted her to learn where her true talent was.

Ethril stopped running her fingers along Ciel's palm and just went back to holding his hand. Her tail started moving slower as she spotted Fascino's house just ahead of them. "I can't believe we're almost here already."