#and aria is still always a nice option but I feel less comfortable with people I don’t know as well using it for me

[anguis-sapphire]

i can’t believe I didn’t try using Astral as an online name before now. yes, I had had it as a placeholder on something for ages, but having

a way of referencing one of my absolute most treasured interests that has been so treasured since I was little (DQIX),

without it necessarily being directly tied to that interest,

and that also works as a link to what is arguably my most recent new interest (FFXIV) despite that not being at all intentional,

as well as being a name that so far does not activate either my latent “it’s too edgy” hangups about going by Void or my “it’s not serious enough” hangups about going by Echo,

really does make it click into place well.

[junicai]

Aria + Periods + 127 = Chaos

Taeil

taeil has a younger sister, so he didn’t need her to explain anything to her

honestly, he’s one of the members she’ll go to first if she needs anything

the least likely to make a big deal out of it

just kinda

shrugs

and does what is needed of him

sometimes pain meds don’t do anything for aria’s cramps they get so bad

and on those days, she’ll slid into his bed and either

A: snuggle with him and let him cuddle her

or B: just curl up underneath his sheets until he gets back from wherever he was and then do option A

he really hates her periods

like, more than she does

because she’s always a little deflated in the upcoming days, and for the first two of the actual periods

and he hates seeing her in pain or be sad

even if the thing she’s sad at is the advertisement of the cute dog

definitely chuckles at her when she comes to him with slightly teary eyes and whines that she misses her dog now

but opens his arms willingly anyway, letting his maknae plonk herself in his lap and rest her head on his chest

Johnny

there is no better man to try and make aria feel better

that’s actually a lie

aria will point blank avoid him on her periods

he read once

once

in an article that physical exercise helps with cramps and the other pms-ing symptoms

and now every single time she opens her mouth to complain about her uterus trying to eject itself from her body

johnny’s right there with an invitation to the gym

he’s literally packed and changed, they can go right now

truth be told aria took him up on the offer once

never again

she couldn’t walk afterwards

he had to carry her out

asides from that though

he’s pretty okay with everything?

like obviously, he doesn’t really get it all too much, but if she wants someone to massage her back, then he’ll offer without too many questions

but when she’s crying about something?

oh ho ho ho

bear hugs

just a big ol’ swaddling hug that makes aria feel warm n safe n content

they heal everything

it’s aria’s life philosophy

Taeyong

totally understanding

she needs pads? he’s either already bought them, or will go out to buy them for her

doesn’t have a tracker for her, but somehow knows when she’s cramping the week before its due

once came up with the innovative idea of using their handwarmers as a makeshift hot water bottle when they were on a schedule and aria was suffering :(

aria gets really bad lower back cramps, and its super common to just see him gently pushing her onto the couch

so he can try and massage some of the tension

keeps pads in his travelling bags

completely unprompted - it just started being something he’d pack

like heat packs and pain patches and bandages;

period supplies just eventually got added to the list

was a little uncomfy with the whole thing at the start

but his older sister yelled at him

told him to stop “being a baby” and “she’s your responsibility, act like it.”

aria felt really bad for burdening him with it all

lowkey wished she was a boy for inconveniencing everyone with it

and taeyong had to sit her down and tell her no baby

it was natural and it didn’t bother anybody

that she didn’t have to hide it

that she could come to them if she was in pain because of it

Yuta

oh this man

when he found out that aria was getting lightheaded on her periods

when he found out that she passed out once on her period

did so much research on why that might have happened and how to help

literally stayed up all night and came to aria the next morning like

“are you eating enough iron?”

the answer was no, btw

made it his mission to make sure aria did after that

always has a little bag of nuts or something else in a side pocket of his bag if he knows aria’s on her period

gets concerned asf when she misses her periods

because he knows it’s because of unnecessary diets or her putting in extra time in the practice room

aria loves going to his room when she’s feeling miserable

he’s always down to watch a movie or just lay down with her

he’ll plait her hair or just lay together and press a lil kiss to her forehead when she whines about the cramps

hates hates hates when she cries

he knows it’s because of hormones, he has two sisters

but that doesn’t make it easier

will do absolutely anything to get her to stop crying

once went out at 3am to get her ice-cream

which actually made her cry harder

bc she felt bad that she couldn’t eat it because she’s lactose-intolerant

he just felt worse

that was not a good night

now the freezer in the dorms has a little tub of non-dairy ice-cream with aria’s name on it

curtesy of yuta

Doyoung

when aria first moved into the 127 dorms

he bought a little pink box with a lid that he then proceeded to fill with tampons and pads; the whole shebang

which he then put in the locker beneath the sink

and told anyone that if they made a big deal out if it, he’d kill them :)

incredibly perceptive

knows when aria’s on her period before aria knows

“hey do u need a pad?” “ why do i need a pad?”

*an hour later*

“oppa do u have any pads”

he’s less of a come here and i’ll comfort you type

and more of a, i’m going to help you from the sidelines without ever actually acknowledging it’s existence

like perceiving it makes it worse

honestly aria’s pretty thankful he’s like this

she loves that the other members take care of her like they do, don’t get her wrong

but its like, for five days - she can do no wrong, she’s accommodated, and sometimes walked on eggshells around

it’s nice to have someone who’s going to treat her like normal

to balance it out

does that stop her pulling the “i’m in pain” card when she’s about to get scolded?

no

Jaehyun

jaehyun doesn’t have any siblings, so he was really learning from scratch with aria

however

that was actually a good thing

because it meant that whatever aria told him; he did

if she needed a heating pack - he’d go find one for her

if she needed to just lie down for a bit - he’d take her into her room and close the curtains to let her take a nap

now, she didn’t take advantage of this

much

but she just thought it was really sweet of him

and tells him as much

and every time, he’ll just pat her head

maybe a lil kiss on the forehead

and pull the blanket up to her chin before leaving and flicking off the lights

that’s kind of the extent of what he’ll do

mainly because the other members have a lot of it covered already

but it’s pretty common for him to give her a piggyback ride somewhere

if her back is cramping a lot and she doesn’t/can’t walk

no complaints

he just kneels down and aria asks him is he sure

like she’s heavy or something

and he’ll just carry her to wherever they’re going

there’s a lot of fantaken pictures from these moments

people speculate that she’s injured or sick

it happens so regularly that nctzens are genuinely convinced that aria just doesn’t possess an immune system

Jungwoo

jungwoo was surprisingly well prepared when aria first bent over from a sudden onset of cramps

man was ready and knew what to do

he had hyuck going out of the room for water

and had a hand placed on her lower back rubbing gently

never really makes a big deal out of it all

although has told her to play it up once or twice because he wanted to go to bed and practice was running late

she did, and they did end practice almost immediately after

honestly, aria’s pretty convinced that all of jungwoo’s information on how to deal with girls on their periods came from a wikihow article

but that did mean that he had taken the time to look up a wikihow article

so she guesses she can forgive him

and honestly, the fact that he takes it upon himself to do a little of her chores?

she’s not complaining

after the first three times she felt bad enough to tell him to stop though

he didn’t

and now it’s just normal

is very conversational about it all

has no problem with asking her what she needs, instead of hovering around and guessing

which makes it easier on aria as well

the first few times, she felt quite burdensome

and jungwoo levelled her with a look when she told him this

“the only way you’d be burdensome, is if you didn’t talk to the rest of us and suffered silently - in pain.”

that was the end of that really

Mark

unfortunately for mark

aria got her first period when she was with him

poor boy thought she was going to die

“ohmygod you’re bleeding - you’re BLEEDING-”

aria had to calm him down before going to the bathroom

he is pretty oblivious as to what exactly goes on

aria complained once that she missed her last two periods because of the stupid diet she was on

mark literally thought she was going to die

very concerned

she had to sit him down and tell him that no, she wasn’t going to die  

he’s gotten better over the years

as a topic, he’s still pretty uncomfortable with discussing it

but its less of a “i’m a man and this isn’t a manly topic” and more of a “i don’t know anything about this subject and i don’t want to offend somebody, help”

he did by her her first hot water bottle cover though

up until then, she had been using hot water bottles wrapped in towels to prevent her skin from burning

but mark showed up one morning

with a yellow fuzzy thing hidden behind her back

it was a winnie the pooh cover :(

Donghyuck

cuddle buddies

that’s his main role

aria on her period? donghyuck’s pulling out the fluffy blankets and making a pile of her plushies on his bed

time to pull out netflix and cuddle

aria could cry every single time she walks into his room and he’s just opening the covers for her to slip underneath

he does it every time

and somehow she’s still not expecting it

it’s been five years bestie

has accidentally made her cry on more than once occasion though

he doesn’t mean to!

sometimes he’ll say something in passing

and aria will get upset but won’t show it

because she knows she’s not actually upset - it’s just hormones

so she doesn’t tell him she’s upset

and just leaves to go to her own room

does that stop doyoung telling hyuck off for being insensitive?

no

not at all

but he’s normally really good! especially after the first few times

living together has generally made him more preceptive

also just growing up in general

if her cramps are really bad she’ll wake up during the night

and if she had slept in hyuck’s bed the night before

then he usually takes it upon himself to go get her pain meds and a hot water bottle

he’ll rub her back and help her fall back asleep

and then he’ll make sure to write down in his phone that she took x brand of pain meds, so in the morning she’ll have to take y instead

[coloraturadiva]

My voice

This Tumblr was born for me to have an anonymous place where I could talk (rant) about my voice and my study to develop as a singer. But as I’ve recently started to use Tumblr again for other reasons, the main goal of the blog was lost, so I thought that I might start to talk a bit about music again.

Let’s start with a bit of history. About myself!

My life has always been filled with music. Both my parents are amateur singers: they sang (and still sing) in a choir that my father founded with some friends in our village centuries ago. Both my grandfathers were big opera fans and my paternal grandmother possessed a beautiful voice and used to sing all the time. I’ve started in my parents' choir myself as soon as my voice changed to adult voice: I was 11. During my years with them we changed choir master a couple of times and when a young and very ambitious lady started to conduct us, our level grew dramatically and we started to take part (and win) competitions. When I was 18, in my last year of high school, a famous choir conductor came to visit us for a masterclass and heard me singing. In the previous months I realized, and with me the choir conductor, that my voice had suddenly matured. Until that moment I sounded very light and soft, but in those months my voice became more round and powerful. This famous conductor listened to me during a choir piece, and then asked me to sing a line from that same piece alone. I was terrified. Never in my life I sung a solo. He listened to me carefully and then turned to my choir conductor and said her “this girl is good! She should start some serious vocal training!” I was stunned and, most of all, I didn’t feel “good” at all. I was just an unexperienced choir girl with an average voice. A lot of people tried to convince me to start working on my voice with a proper teacher but I resisted for more than a year. High school was finished and I started university. One day my mother took me to a lady living in my village. She was a former opera singer that, after a short career, decided to devote more time to her family and to teach. For the first four or five months I was completely lost. Not only I wasn't (apparently) improving, but I also felt like I was struggling too much to do even very basic things and I was going backwards. During my long choir “career” I learned a lot, but I've also picked up some bad habits, and what I was feeling at that point was that only my bad habits and my defects were showing, while my strong points were completely lost. Thinking about it now, I realise that my teacher of that period was good at teaching technique, but most of all she was outstanding in psychology. From the very beginning she understood what were my weaknesses and the strongest parts of my personality and soon enough she learned how to use this knowledge to help me. I'm a naturally shy and introverted woman with low self esteem, high school had done so many damages to me (some things I realised only just recently, and I'm 31...) and she helped me greatly in regain at least a bit of self esteem (when I first met her I was absolutely sure I was worth less than nothing in all the departments: beauty, talent, skills …) and she taught me that singing was a “safe” way to express myself, where my voice was “just” an instrument that was performing other people's work. That made me feel safe and satisfied. But I was stuck. For months I met with her for lessons every week and I kept on doing wrong the very same things every single time. So she had an idea. She tried to challenge me. When you are a beginner, you start with simple vocalises or what we call “arie antiche”, a standard collection of simple opera arias from the baroque era the are easy and useful enough for the development of a young voice. That's what you do, that's what young singers do. But it wasn't working for me, so she decided to give me an aria from the actual repertoire. She knew I loved Mozart, and she chose for me a piece form “Le nozze di Figaro”. And it worked. Ok, that's not the most difficult opera aria in the world. At all. But it's something that you hear in actual opera houses sung by professional singers. At the end of the school year I sung for the first time in public as a soloist. I sung my Mozart. It wasn't perfect AT ALL, but I did manage to sing all the notes in front of a public: it was a great beginning. We worked together for around 5 years. With her I learned all the basics of the technique, I experimented with repertoire, I had my very first small engagements , but the most important thing was that I finally understood what my voice was. When I first started in the choir I was put in the sopranos section but growing up I was concerned that my high notes were not good enough while my lower register was good. Before starting working with my teacher I was sure I was a mezzo. Maybe a high mezzo, but for sure not a soprano. I was completely wrong. My problem with high notes wasn't my voice, was my technique. After a full year of work with her I discovered that I was indeed a soprano, and one of those that reach the stratosphere. When I first vocalized to a top F (the highest note of the queen of the night) I was shocked. I was really able to go that high? Now I can tell you that I vocalized multiple times to an high A flat, and even reached some A natural, but that's likely my most extreme note. All of this while keeping a nice chest register with a solid low G. That's more than 3 octaves. It's a lot. During my time with her, I had the possibility to study also with a famous singer that lives in a town close to mine. Her father in law was a friend of my grandfather and when he talked to her about me, she wanted to listen to me and gave me some lessons. Of course she was, and still is, a professional singer, so she doesn't have the time to work closely to students, but her occasional lessons were incredibly useful and I still see her from time to time. When I was around 22, at the end of my university studies and on a good path of development as a singer, I was starting to like the idea of becoming a professional singer. But life went in a different direction. In the space of 18 month my mum was diagnosed with cancer twice and my beloved paternal grandfather suddenly died (he was 96, but it was completely unexpected). The world fell on me. For more than two years I was a mess. I won't go into the personal details, but I can tell you what happened to my voice. It froze. I wasn't able anymore to do things that were easy for me. High notes were gone, breath control was gone, even my timbre sounded dryer. My voice lessons, most of the time, looked more psychotherapy than vocal technique. For two years I didn't sing a single note in public. I finally found a bit of my voice back when my parents celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. As my mother was getting better from her illness (the worst part was behind, she was winning her battle) we had a big celebration with family and friends and, of course, they wanted me to sing during the Mass. That was a very nice day. All their choir came to celebrate them and sang for them and I had my solo part. My voice was back, more or less. I was very happy with my teacher, but something broke between us. All of a sudden she told me (and all of her other students) that she was tired of teaching, so we should all have to find a new teacher. Alternatively she was still available but her fee was now three times higher than what it used to be. It was way too much. We all left her school. First she told me that it was for my good, as I needed a more advanced teacher, but once I went to a new school, she stopped talking to me (and my family). I met her on the supermarket just a couple of days ago. I greeted her, but she looked away... So now I was in a new school with a new teacher. And I was a new person. My mother illness traumatized me, in a way. Or, better, it made me realize what I really wanted: the life of the professional opera singer wasn't for me. Too much travelling, too much time away from family and friends, to much instability. I can be strong for certain things, but I'm also too fragile for others. That kind of life would have broken me, even if I had the luck to have a successful career. That was the end of my dream. I wanted to keep on developing my voice, but making it my job wasn't an option anymore. That's what I said to my new teacher. She understood my point. She took a similar decision when she was already singing all over Europe and decided to “limit” herself to concerts, that require to stay away from home for shorter periods. She's still my teacher. If with the previous one I learned what my voice could do, with her I started to be in control. My former teacher was like a mother figure for me, the actual one challenges me constantly and we fight a lot. A positive kind of fight, but still a fight (I'm shy and introverted with lots of self esteem issues, but I'm also definitely an alpha female with a very strong personality) on the things to do and how to achieve them. We built so much together. With her my repertoire expanded spectacularly and I did lots of concert experience. But there's still a lot of work to do.

I have a peculiar voice, with high but also low notes, fast coloratura and it's way more powerful than the average high soprano. I can tell you, it's VERY HARD to control. The pianist I usually work with says that my voice is like driving a SUV in a path designed for a small motorbike: if you are not perfect, you end on a wall or down a cliff. But sitting on a SUV is way more comfortable and enjoyable than straddling a motorbike. My voice gives me enormous possibilities in therms of repertory (there are very few things I can't sing), but for every single piece I have to find the right balance. And that's it, every single day I work on balance, on incredibly small details that can make my performance excellent of horrible.

And now I realised that I wrote way too much 😂

[thecrazydragonlady]

Pride Zine 2020 Piece

Summary: After travelling, Aria and Magnolia get a moment’s rest in a hotel. However, they’re still learning about each other and with it, comes some pretty open talks about identity. How does one classify a half-dragon anyway? 

Author’s Note: Happy Wrath Pride Month everyone! This Zine was established by @kestrelmakesart​ and is available for free download at gumroad. There are optional tiers for some extra goodies. All proceeds are going to global charities. Please check out the hardwork of all the amazing creators who put a lot of work into it. 

One last note, this is an original character story. Aria and Magnolia are the main protagonist for a novel I’m planning for my Dragon Breeder’s Daughter series. I hope you enjoy this small snippet from their world!

Aria sighed as she sat down on the edge of the bed. The heat was high in the village they were in; it was much different than the comfortable, temperate climate she was used to with her teacher, but that was a past, many days, and months now removed. Thinking back on it almost seemed like a dream. One minute she was training to be a town doctor. Then she was on this journey, trying her hardest to help her friend find her mother.

Who could’ve imagined that this was how her life was going to turn out?

Speaking of her friend… Aria opened her eyes and assessed her sitting on the windowsill, her tail’s tip twitching back and forth as her ruby red eyes scanned the ground below. A soft rumbling noise came from her throat. She pressed her face closer to the glass as something caught her attention. The two horns that protruded on both sides of her head, circling a bit towards her face, made a soft tapping noise as they hit it. Aria giggled into her hand. She wasn’t sure how aware Magnolia was of her cat-like behaviors, but it was always cute to her when she spotted them, especially in the calm moments.

The room they were in was pleasant. It wasn’t big but had two beds for the both of them, a table and chair for writing, a basin for washing, and that was roughly it. The walls were made of sandstone. The floor, a hardwood harvested from the odd trees she had seen in their passing. Aria was not sure what to call them, but she would be sure to ask. The door had a deadbolt on the inside, which was good for them since this was where Magnolia was going to spend most of her time during the day, just to keep her perceived unnatural appearance out of sight of the common people. It made her feel a bit sad. After everything that they had been through, this type of situation fit their current lifestyle, but she hoped that, one day, after they found her mother, Magnolia was going to be able to live the life of freedom that she deserved.

“I’m sorry that you can’t be in the sun,” she said. Magnolia turned from the window to face her. Aria looked at her with soft eyes. Magnolia shrugged.

“I am dragon,” she returned, “Dangerous if in front of humans.”

“Your language is getting better,” Aria praised. Magnolia beamed a bit. Aria reached into her satchel and pulled out her notebook and quill, documenting the brief exchange. Magnolia leaned her head to the side.

“Why write?”

“I’m documenting.” She smiled when the word elicited another turn of her head. “It means I’m copying down what just happened. It makes it easier for me to remember things.”

“Why write instead of remember?”

“Well,” Aria mused, “Sometimes, my brain does funny things. It can change what I remember so to be acc- correct, I write what I need to as soon as it happens, so I don’t forget.” She held the book up for Magnolia to see, and the half-dragon squinted at it. “See? I wrote down ‘She claimed to be a dragon today by saying, ‘I am dragon’. That way, I’ll remember how good your language was and I can figure out how to help you more.”

Magnolia’s tail hit the ground a bit harder, “Why she?”

Aria froze. She placed the book down on her lap and looked calmly at Magnolia, taking in the signs of irritation: the tail twitching, mouth at a slight angle, eyes narrowed, pupils narrowed like a cat, tiny wings twitching a bit. After a few moments, she asked, “Do you not identify as ‘she’?”

Magnolia huffed. “Am dragon. Not she.”

“Yes, well,” Aria started. The words were caught in her throat for a second as her head spun. How in the world was she going to explain supposed gender identity to Magnolia?

“Not he or she,” Magnolia repeated. “Dragon.”

Finally, Aria released her breath, “Okay.” Magnolia perked up.

“Okay?”

“Sure,” she smiled. “It’s how you identify.” She paused and the smile turned a little bit sadder. “Magnolia, I know you don’t like it, but I have to ask you something really serious.” She moved a bit closer, pulling the wooden chair nearby closer so that they could have this conversation. Magnolia allowed her. “Magnolia, there are some dangerous people in this world. You know that, right?”

“I remember,” the half-ling growled. “Circus. Bad men. Stole me. Hurt Mama.”

“Yes, just like them,” Aria confirmed. “However, there are people out there that are dangerous for other reasons.”

“Different… dangers?” She shook her head. “All dangers are the same. They hurt.”

“You’re not wrong.” Aria took another breath. “There are people out there that aren’t going to care that you are part dragon, like my teacher. You remember her, right? The nice lady I was with when we pulled you out of the stream?” Magnolia nodded. “But there are people that are going to seem like they don’t care about that, and they won’t, but if you say you are not a ‘she’, they will… hate you.”

“Hate me? For that?” Aria nodded.

“It’s sad, and pathetic,” she confirmed, “but cowardly people can be afraid of people who don’t always fit their ideas. Gender, the ‘she’ and ‘he’ thing that you don’t like, is one of those ideas.” She reached out and gently grabbed Magnolia’s hand. Aria could feel the heat radiating off the golden scales embedded into their skin like tiny metal plates, the claws gently brushing the skin of her wrist; there was a stark difference between Magnolia’s golden color and her darker skin. “It doesn’t make sense. Humans don’t always make sense. However, I’m telling you all this so that I can ask you if you would be offended if I used ‘she’ and ‘her’ to talk to other people about you? I want to protect you and sometimes, if we don’t know that person is going to be dangerous for that reason, it would be best if we used the ‘she’ and ‘her’ to keep you safe.”

Magnolia’s tail thumped again, “Don’t like…but understand.” She nodded. “May use when talking to strangers.” Aria smiled softly.

“Thank you, Magnolia.” She released their hand. Aria looked out the window as a small flock of birds flew past it, up into the crystal blue sky and white fluffy clouds. “One day, I pray that someone changes the laws and the mindsets of the people. I hope that people can learn to love everyone, no matter their type.”

“Speaking from sadness.”

Aria turned, surprised. “What?” Magnolia huffed again but didn’t divert their attention from her, ruby red meeting hazel brown; they sparkled with a wisdom that was yet to be voiced and Aria made a mental note to document her questions into her journal later: was it Magnolia, the human-dragon hybrid, speaking now or was it something much more ancient? Could she truly carry the knowledge of her parents as dragon legends often proclaimed? Would the dragon blood make her that perceptive?

“You speak from sadness,” Magnolia repeated. “You know.”

Aria sighed-chuckled. “You did much better that time with the sentence. You added in the subject at least.” She looked back out the window. “Yeah, I do speak from sadness. I know what it’s like, being attacked by people who hate you because you don’t fit their narrative.”

“Skin?”

“Oh no. That was thankfully not one of the reasons. My hometown was fairly good about that; I don’t recall anyone ever attacking me for my skin color or its condition.” Her shoulders slumped a bit. “In fact, nobody there hated me for anything that I am. They were pretty accepting when I finally was old enough to tell them.”

“Tell what?”

Aria looked down at the people. She spotted a couple passing by and she pointed to them, “You see that couple down there? They’re together because they love each other and what is traditionally supposed to happen next is that you’re supposed to be attracted to them sexually.” She could tell that the last part escaped Magnolia’s understanding, so she explained, “Having sex between a male and female is how more humans are made. They make a baby together.”

“No egg?”

“Well there is an egg, but it’s really complicated, and not important right now. I can explain it later to you if we can work on your language first. Okay?” She coughed. “Anyway, I do not feel that kind of attraction. I love people, and I have had relationships like that in the past, but I do not feel that need to make a child with anyone.” Her head dipped forward a bit as she looked at her hands in her lap. She squeezed her skirt as the memories came back to her, to the harsh words that were thrown her way after visiting the capital for the first time. “My family was visiting a cousin,” she whispered. “I had never met him before, but he was related to my dad. I was so used to the safety of my hometown that I didn’t think anything of it, when I explained what I felt to them.” She sighed. “They called me broken, told me that I was less than human, and failing my job as a woman. For a long time, I thought that I was broken because of it and I tried, I tried hard to feel something for someone, anyone, for years after that. But… I never could. I was a kid. They hurt me, a lot.”

“You are not broken. You are Aria. Aria is Aria. Aria is whole.”

She couldn’t help but laugh, “You’re right. I am Aria and I am whole.” She sniffed a bit. “I am better now. I promise. My teacher helped me to understand that when she agreed to take me in as her student.”

Aria looked down, in surprise as she felt the warm scales of Magnolia’s tail wrap around her left arm. Her little wings flapped a bit. She knew that this was one of a few ways that they showed affection; many nights, she had found them curled around her when they were sleeping in the woods or a nearby cave. Their tail was often wrapped around her arm. Aria closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth they gave off, even if it was already so hot in the room from the desert sun. It was comforting to be supported.

“I like you.”

She had to catch her breath for a moment, remembering that Magnolia’s “like” was not a normal human’s like. The dragon part played a role in this so Aria smiled, and softly said, “Thank you, Magnolia.” She stood, allowing the tail to gently slide from her arm. “I’m going to purchase lunch. I’ll make sure to grab your favorite grilled meat if I can find some.”

“Travel safe,” Magnolia chirped, another sign of happiness. Aria waved to her as she opened the door and stepped outside, pulling the hood up on her travelling cloak to protect her from the glaring sun.