The golden eyes staring back at me felt like they were burning through my skull... the seconds ticking by felt like hours. My heart was racing a mile a minute, waiting for the angelic woman before me to either make it burst or tear it in two. Was that a smile forming or am I just imagining it? My eyes shot to my lap as I made contact with those golden orbs again. I reluctantly let go of her sleeve, hearing no answer. I wanted to ball my starscapes into my lap, suddenly feeling the lick of the light breeze on my skin. I was burning up from the inside, no doubt a flaming blush rushing across my skin.
My arm refused to draw closer, being encapsulated by a heat that was not my own. My eyes followed the skin-to-scale transition, finding my hand clasped between Aurel's long fingers. I continued upwards, finding her face beaming back at me with clear delight. I no longer heard my heartbeat, instead feeling it in my ears. Aurel's answer could not have been more clear, vigorous nods accompanied by a stream of 'yes's.
Aurel pulled me to my feet and promptly smothered me in a hug, our height difference brought to light as she rested her head atop mine, nuzzling my face into her chest. I could hear her heartbeat, almost as erratic as mine. I could also hear a distant whooping in the background. Clearly, our teammates decided to follow us, and they have seen the entire interaction. I managed to wrestle my head around to see who EXACTLY was hollering at us.
I could see Euryale perched atop the shoulder of Lance, Grant and Medusa standing next to them with the source of the hollering being Rán and Stheno standing at the very front of the group.
I just about managed to flip off my teammates, before being forcefully wrenched back into Aurel's chest.
"Don't mind them, they aren't worth your time." Her whisper tickled past my ear.
I could barely contain my excitement. After I managed to ask Aurel to the dance I stood in the courtyard in her embrace for what felt like an eternity, our embrace only broken when one of our teammates approached us with an interesting proposition.
"Hey Lovebirds, we got an idea we think you should get in on." came the voice of Rán, clearly the poor sod who was sent out to tell us as she was alone and an awkward look on her face betrayed her uncaring tone.
I was turned around to face my teammate, still with Aurel's arms draped over my shoulders and her head rested atop mine.
"We thought that now that everyone has a date, we should split up to help each other pick out our dresses and surprise our dates." Her casual attitude couldn't help her slowly spreading blush.
"And who came up with this great idea?" I could feel more than hear Aurel ask.
"You'd be surprised, Lance asked Grant to help him pick out a suit, Euryale latched on to the idea and said we should do the same."
"I think it is a great idea, What do you think Aurel?" I asked as I looked up. She just nodded as much as her current position allowed her.
"Great, meet us at the cliffside so we can catch a ferry down to Vale, the boys already have a headstart as they believe it is going to be quite the mission to find a suit that would even remotely fit Lance."
I giggled lightly, remembering that Lance once told us he often had to have his clothes custom made. "I guess we should get ready then, wouldn't want to be walking the town in our uniforms now would we?" I said as I managed to wriggle out of Aurel's grip.
Turning to head towards the dorms, a warm hand suddenly grasped mine. Walking next to me was Aurel, an extremely bright smile on her face. We walked hand in hand in total silence, content with the other's presence. When we reached the doors to our dorms, Aurel surprised me once more as she pulled me into a hug, placing a light kiss on my forehead. She disappeared into her dorm seconds later without a word, the spot where her lips landed still tingling likely.
We were standing on the airship platform just outside Vale, trying to figure out our routes so that the surprise element of the day won't be ruined. We determined Myself, Rán and Euryale would go together while Aurel, Medusa and Stheno would go with each other. Our plan was to go to Vale's shopping district and head into different boutiques, using our scrolls to keep each other up to date. We determined our budgets, Myself and Aurel offering to float a little extra Lien to our teammates if they needed it, even sending a message to the boys so they knew as well.
With a plan laid out, we set off on our days' adventure, agreeing to meet up at a local restaurant in a few hours when all was said and done. Our little group waving off the other group as we moved towards different boutiques, Rán dragging Euryale and myself into a slightly empty shop that specialised in traditional Mistral clothing. I shot a look towards the violet haired woman next to me as we were dragged into the store, a nervous smile crossing her face as she was clearly not sure what to do in this situation.
Rán started dashing between the rows upon rows of colourful kimonos and yukatas, many with beautifully intricate designs and patterns, some even came with accessories that sat above the dress on a small shelf. While I knew the style didn't particularly fit me I couldn't help but smile at Rán's enthusiasm for the style, I could also see the Gorgon sister browsing the dresses with much more stoicism. Within minutes both Rán and Euryale had a selection of kimonos and yukatas to try on, directing me and a store attendant towards the back of the store where the fitting rooms were. I sat down on one of the small circular couches while my friends disappeared into the curtained cubicles, the attendant following Euryale in as she indicated she didn't know how to put the traditional dress on.
After a few averages-at-best designs the girls exited the cubicles and caught my attention immediately. Rán came out dressed in a light purple yukata with cut-outs that exposed her shoulders. Her sleeves were a light maroon colour alongside some accents along her side and on her bust, a creme coloured lining that ended at her hands with some frilly bits. The yukata also had some golden accents on the sleeves and two golden lines crossing the sleeves upward, connecting to two golden bows holding a mini purple shawl hanging lightly off her back, the shawl having black tassels hanging off the ends. The Obi sash around her waist was a deep purple and had a golden lining along the top half, tied off in a small bow resting on her hip. The yukata was decorated with white and red flowers with a gold centre arranged at the tips of the sleeves and on the bust. The accessories really made the entire outfit, a black choker with a green pendant wrapped around her neck, a black and red wave-like comb stuck into her messy ponytail.
Euryale, on the other hand, had a comparatively simpler design. The kimono was a sky blue and was decorated with a beautiful red, white and yellow floral design, A gold and white cloud themed Obi sash tied down with a light pink sting, all topped off with an extremely fluffy collar.
"So, What do you think about these?" Rán asked inquisitively.
"I think they look good on you, definite winners," I answered honestly. "They get my vote."
"I still don't get why you won't try one on yourself but each to their own," Rán said as she dipped back into the cubicle, Euryale following suit with a slight glow from the compliments.
Soon both women left the cubicles in their casual outfits, holding their newly picked out outfits. Moving towards the counter to pay for the outfits, I could feel Rán's gaze burning into the back of my head. Soon we were back out on the street, scouring the boutiques for something that appealed to my sense of style.
"Hey Starscape, Why didn't you try anything on? I saw one that would've blended in with your arms perfectly." I heard Rán ask from behind me. I could feel a slight blush creep up my face.
"Uhm... To be honest, I'm embarrassed to admit... but... Uhh-" I scratched at the back of my head, trying to formulate my sentence."Let's just say I didn't know how to put them on and uhh..."
"Spit it out Starscape," Rán said with an unamused face.
"I didn't want to bother the attendants!" I spat out, my blush now breaking out in full force.
"Oh for fucks sake, It's LITERALLY their job," I swear I could hear Rán roll her eyes.
"Give me a break, I haven't been shopping since I was five!" I blindly defended myself.
I could hear both women gasp behind me, both rounding to face me as I hid my blush behind my hands.
"How haven't you been shopping since you were five?" they asked in unison, trying to pry my arms away so they could look me in the eye.
"Back in the day in Vale, it was easier for my mother to do all the shopping for obvious reasons. So yeah, haven't been shopping since I was five." I glanced down at my hands, briefly feeling self-conscious." I could feel my friends enclose my hands, looking at me with sincere eyes.
"We could go back if you want to." Euryale soothed.
"No, it's fine I-" just as I was beginning to form my sentence, something caught my eye. I couldn't even form a response, just pointing at the boutique that caught my eye.
The shop in question proudly boasted making fine clothes specifically for Faunus customers. My embarrassment forgotten in seconds, hastily dragging my friends into the shop.
"Welcome to Bengi's, how can I accommodate you?" called the singular shopkeep from behind a counter at the back of the shop.
"I need something to match these." I slid my hands forward, the shopkeep immediately springing to action.
...
...
"SAVE US!"
I shot up in my bed, wildly looking about for the source of the voices. Slowly I came to realise it was just another bad dream, my nightgown sticking uncomfortably to my skin as my skin broke out into goosebumps. Looking around I could see my teammates still asleep, not even the slightest stirring from anyone of them. I could see our outfits hanging on the outside of our closets, neatly arranged from smallest to the largest in the dry clean bags they were sold in. Looking around I found our shared clock and found it to be 3 Am. The Beacon ball being today we were given the day off to prepare with no stress, so I really didn't mind waking up this early.
While I briefly considered just starting my day now, my eye was drawn towards an unnatural light towards my left. What I saw knocked the air out of my lungs. I saw one of my portals, but instead of it just being a swirling turquoise hole I could see a scene that has been haunting me ever since I first saw it oh so long ago. The mouth of my quarry being dwarfed by a massive cloud of burning earth speckled with ice crystals and flashing bolts of lightning, without even thinking I plunged my arm through the image and pulled back instantly, causing the portal to fizzle out of existence. I dove back to my pillows, choosing some shut-eye over unnecessary stress, I'd work out what was happening in the morning.
I was awoken again at 5 Am by a call ringing in on my scroll. I picked it up without hesitation, wagering a guess at who it could have been, my guess proving correct when Sandra's hushed voice came through the speaker.
"Hey Boss, sorry to call you this early but something is happening in the quarry."
"Let me guess, the portals are showing images?" I just heard a sound to agree, clearly trying to keep the conversation short. "Listen, When I get the chance I'll find out what is happening from my teachers. Until then if any of the workers have an issue with an image only the other workers will see, tell them to suck it up and wait for me to fix the issue. If they have an issue with that they can personally call me to hand in their two weeks notice" I hung up without so much as a goodbye, flopping back into my pillow with the hopes of getting a little more sleep.
"Note to self, warn Aurel that her girlfriend is a dictator before her first cup of coffee." I heard Rán say from her bed with a giggle on her breath.
I dragged a scaled hand across my face, not even bothering with a retort."Did I wake you up?"
"I think the entire team is awake after that display, Starscape."
The rest of the team just grumbled in agreement, clearly a bit miffed at being awake this early in the morning.
"Sorry guys, I did tell Sandra to never call me this early unless absolutely necessary, How she thought this issue was necessary I don't know."
"Might as well start our day now though," Lance said as he lumbered out of bed. "Want to check if the cafeteria is open for early birds?"
"Sure," I heard Rán say as she got out of bed, lazily tying her wild hair back as she pulled on an oversized hoody over her bare chest.
With some effort, we managed to get the still half-asleep Medusa to pull on a nightgown and her glasses, her wild tresses left unkempt for now. With that our team bundled out into the corridor, our need for breakfast guiding us towards our objective.
The dance was fast approaching, the entire dorm building positively buzzing with excitement as everyone got ready. Rán, already dressed in her yukata was currently helping Medusa into her dress, a beautifully elegant lacy black number with a small white cut-in on the front, creating the illusion of a tuxedo top. A built-in lace choker joined the top and sleeves even lining the top of the cut-in leaving a generous boob window, the beautifully folded dress itself hung to her ankles where it met Medusa's free-flowing purple tresses, a floral and feathery headpiece being clipped in as a finishing touch. Lance did offer to braid our hair before he was hastily bundled into the bathroom to give us a chance to change, now knocking on the door to ask if he can be let out.
I looked into the mirror at the dress Bengi helped me pick out. It was a deep purple sleeveless number held up by two straps tied behind my neck, my shoulders and collarbones exposed. A small diamond-shaped window cut out just below my breast, the main dress split down the middle just above my waist leaving the front open, dropping round back and stopping at my knees. The inside lined with an opaque purple mesh-like fabric that hung down to my ankles. Both the edge of the main dress and the mesh-like fabric decorated with sparkles, giving the entire dress a feel very similar to the night sky my scales mirrored. The final touches were the knee-high opaque purple stockings and heels alongside a delicate silver tiara resting in my free-flowing hair. I had to give it to Bengi when he said he wishes to highlight what makes us unique instead of apologising for it he did a damn well job of achieving that.
I nodded at Rán, who opened the bathroom door and allowed Lance to lumber out of the bathroom, clad in a simple black on white suit, the top buttons of his dress shirt left open to display his chiselled chest. Lance had picked up flower bouquets from a florist he visited frequently in Vale, handing me and Rán a flower each to present to our dates. With all our preparations complete I escorted my team into the corridor before locking up our room, my excitement for the coming evening hampered only slightly by the distant voices screaming at the back of my mind.
An*
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It is a bit longer than my usual chapters, as I'm trying to gear up for the ending of this story. Warning that for next chapter I'm planning something spicy, hopefully, it doesn't take me an age to write it.
Stay Save and Peace