#a neat combination of characters. and a coincidentally interesting setup :eye:

[nelithic]

although she had not seen them in thousands of years, it was as if the spines of gradlon's mountains themselves were erupting beneath her skull. weary, distant eyes linger on a far corner of the ballroom as she sits with back to the cooling flat of the marble wall, a wineskin of ice — courtesy of water, who had seemed the most contrite of the five over their fellow elementals' behavior — pressed to the worst of the pulsing injury a few inches beneath the crown.

in truth, she feels deeper regret for having resorted to her transformation than most other things about the altercation.

events had moved quickly after that, and it had been impossible to tell just how many had seen her in her draconic form, and how many would remember it; rather than, with any luck, dismissing it as yet another absurd fantasy of the night, not to be trusted any more than the dust of fairy wings and serving mice at its conclusion.

shy movement in her periphery draws a sidelong glance — straightening with a sigh where she sits, nel recalls she'd been deposited at the side of another. something about a date, which does not concern her now. only that the girl is a stranger, a student aboveground, and a potential witness to something she would have rather kept to herself.

"how much did you see."

　▀▀　@nabataprophet　₊