Welcome to chapter 16. This is a longer one for Different Threads, but I think you all will like it.
I do have a little bit more to say on this one, but that'll be in the bottom author's note for now. Until then, and as always, feel free to favorite/follow and leave a review if you like the story. And, of course, enjoy...
Ch. 16: On the Town
Indigo couldn't remember the last time she had nothing to do.
Ever since her arrival to the Night Kingdom, pretty much her entire time was spent more or less guarding Fathom. With the other two guards still fairly uncomfortable around the animus, that meant that it was her who inevitably would be called on whenever Fathom wanted to do something or go somewhere, it was her who would cover any other shifts, and her who pulled the most weight. But if she was honest with herself, she didn't mind it all that much. It was her job, after all. Yet even though she got breaks now and then to do things like swim in the nearby palace lakes and take short walks and, of course, sleep when needed, it had been such a long time since she actually got to stop working and do something besides be a guard.
Not anymore, though. Today she had a whole day to herself.
Coins jingled in the pouch around her neck as she made her way through the Night Capital's marketplace, idly listening to the sounds and conversations of the crowd around her. Even last time she was here she'd had a very good reason to—finding a gift for Clearsight—but now she had time just to browse, to enjoy. A few dragons here and there gave her an odd look as she walked by, no doubt surprised to see a Seawing among them, but not as many as last time.
A whiff of something sweet caught her attention, and she found herself drawn to a small booth outside of a larger shop where a lone Nightwing had a display of a bunch of what looked to be small brown candies setting out. As she looked on, two small dragonets ran up to it and hopped up and down excitedly before their mother arrived with a bemused look. She said something to the shopkeeper and handed over a few small coins, receiving a small box full of them in return. Each of the dragonets squealed in delight as she gave them each a piece, both chomping it down loudly, as though it stuck to their teeth, then they ran off again as quickly as they'd appeared.
Interested, she approached the stand and asked the Nightwing what exactly was being sold.
"Just some sweets, mostly," the Nightwing, an almost completely jet-black female, told her, "Today's special is caramels; we just got a shipment of fresh sugarcane in from the western reaches to process."
"Hmmm," Indgio hummed, trying not to show that she had no idea what caramels or any of the other sweets on display were. Well, a few small berry-looking ones on the end looked like something she'd tried in the palace before, but she couldn't be sure. "How much?" she finally asked.
"Caramels are five for a copper, everything else out here is four for a copper," the Nightwing answered, "We've got some fancier stuff in the shop, if you're interested…"
"No, I think I'll be fine," Indigo answered, reaching into her coin pouch, "I'll try five of the caramels."
She handed over the coin and got a small bag of the candies, thanking the shopkeeper as she walked off. It was nice, she thought, to finally have some coin again. Fathom had been able to somehow get in contact with the treasury back home or with the one in the Night Kingdom—she still wasn't sure which—and secure some long overdue payment for herself and the other guards. It was still less than half they should have earned by now, but she wasn't about to complain to Fathom about that. At least, not now.
Of course, it was because of that payment that she got to have the day off. Lionfish and Warf had their own day on the town the day after they got their own coin, leaving her to do guard duty all by herself all day in exchange for each of them receiving a longer half-day shift now. She guessed it all worked out in the end, and she wasn't really worried that much anymore about anything happening to Fathom. As Darkstalker had pointed out, if the Nightwings were planning to do anything to him they could easily have done it by now.
She popped one of the caramels into her mouth and slipped the rest into another pouch, then ducked below and around a group of Nightwings hanging up some sort of banner in the street. Biting into it, her mouth flooded with an odd sweetness unlike most foods in the Sea Kingdom. In fact, she had very little she could even compare it too, besides maybe some berries, but even then it was a far cry different. The candy itself stuck in her teeth, making her open and close her mouth several times and run her tongue through her teeth as the substance slowly dissolved in her mouth.
Overall, it wasn't bad. There was still a long way to go, though, until she could really achieve her goal of tasting true Nightwing cuisine like she'd wanted to ever since eating at Foeslayer's.
She ducked under another group of dragons putting up another banner or something, and as she looked along the street it appeared as though there were a lot more dragons imitating them. She noticed that there seemed to be a theme: stars. The banners had a star pattern on them, shops all along the street had shiny, reflective star decorations hanging in windows, and small star-shaped glass statuettes were fastened on the tops of the lightposts. If she had to guess, they were all preparing for some star-themed holiday, but what that could be she had no idea.
Focused on the decorations around her, she wasn't paying too much attention to where she was going until she almost bumped into a poor Nightwing who was walking the other way. She glanced back, voicing an apology, and then actually did run into another Nightwing. A very familiar one.
"I didn't expect to see you here," Darkstalker told her before she could even open her mouth to apologize for bumping into him. She wondered if it was maybe a curse—the first time she was here his mother had nearly run her over, and now she'd walked straight into him—but figured it wasn't due to how the first incident had turned out for the better. "What brings you into the city?" he asked, "Is Fathom here?"
"No on the second count, and nothing special on the first," she told him, relaxing a bit. It was actually kind of nice to see a friendly face among the hundreds of nameless Nightwings that she'd never seen before.
"Oh, really?" he asked, then, noticing that they were standing still in a crowd of moving dragons, he motioned her to follow him alongside one of the buildings and out of everyone else's way.
"Yeah," Indigo confirmed, "I have the day off from being Fathom's full-time bodyguard, so I thought I'd check out the markets. I've only been here once before, and not for too long, and only now do I have the coin to actually buy something for myself. I figured that I'd just come and see if anything caught my eye. Maybe try some of the food that they have out that smelled so good last time."
"Huh," Darkstalker huffed. He paused, his eyes looking her over for a moment, then he tilted his head, just slightly, like he was trying to decide on something. A quick moment passed, and he blinked and straightened himself up, whatever he was trying to decide on chosen. "Would you mind if I joined you?" he asked.
She was a little surprised by that, but nodded her head, "Sure," she answered, "You can show me around a little, maybe point out the best places."
He gave a smug grin. "That I can. Here, follow me."
She walked alongside him as he led her back out into the streets, weaving around others walking too slowly or standing in line at some of the other vendors. It was almost midnight, near time for the midnight meal, and the air was full of the smell of raw, cooked, and semi-cooked meats prepared in the many different styles of the Nightwings. She noticed that those eateries were rather busy as the dragons out and about paused to eat a meal.
"So, why are you out here today?" she asked the Nightwing animus as they walked together, "You didn't come out here today just to meet me, did you?" she joked.
Darkstalker gave an amused huff and rolled his eyes. "We're almost out of ink at home," he told her, "…And Whiteout asked me to go get some for a school project she has to do later. I can't say no to my little sister, not even on my own day off." He shrugged his wings. "But that'll only take a second. Is there anything you wanted to look at here in the marketplace? Anything you want to buy?"
"Not really," she answered with a shrug of her own wings, right before a small breeze blew a delicious scent of some sort of cooked fowl full of herbs and spices straight into her nostrils and her stomach growled. "Well…" she corrected herself, "I was hoping to find a place with authentic Nightwing food. What the normal dragon eats, not the elaborate stuff in the palace."
"Oh, I know a great place!" Darkstalker exclaimed, "It's a little permanent shop just about a block away from here. It has a wide selection, and everything's good."
"Lead the way, then," she told him, more than a little interested at a place that would catch his own attention so.
He took her though the crowd, once more maneuvering between all the dragons milling about. She noticed a few interesting things as he took her to an unfamiliar part of the marketplace that she hadn't seen the last time she was there. One was a large stall full of sharp sword, spears, and other weapons both familiar and unfamiliar; she was pretty sure she noticed a few Seawing daggers on display and wondered how the store owner had gotten those. Another stall caught her eye and she was surprised to see several Sandwings standing aside a large wagon filled with so many things she could hardly make out what any were, each of the Sandwings peddling their wares to any Nightwing that stopped by. No Nightwing was acting like anything was unusual about it, though, so she assumed that trade with Sandwings must be a regular thing in the marketplace. Perhaps there were other tribes selling things here? She'd have to look…
"Here we are," Darkstalker told her, stopping outside of a small building with a few tables set outside in the marketplace and sandwiched between a large jewelry stall and another stall full of what looked like smithing equipment. The name above the doorway was faded—although even when she squinted the word looked unfamiliar, as though written in an unknown language—but the lack of clear signage didn't seem to dissuade the customers, as there were several sitting outside eating their meals.
Altogether, it didn't look like anything special; like just another little food shop. She knew that she'd wanted something authentic, but when Darkstalker had spoken highly of it she'd expected something a little more flashy.
"It's good," he assured her, no doubt reading the doubt in her mind, "Trust me."
Indigo gave a small huff but also a small smile as she resisted a sudden eye roll. Not long ago the idea of "trusting" Darkstalker with anything at all was a concept that she would have laughed at. She probably would have set fire to her tail first. Now she was about to each lunch with him like it was the most natural thing in the world.
He led her forward into the shop, a small, cozy establishment lit up by two big lanterns supplemented by about a hundred smaller candles scattered about the walls and counter. A Nightwing sat at the main counter, glancing at her with interest, while another Nightwing worker appeared from another room behind the one she was in to give a bag filled with something (presumably a meal) to another customer who was waiting for her order.
Behind the dragon at the counter was a large sign with the menu. Like Darkstalker had told her, it was rather extensive. Lists of different meats ranging from poultry to cows to deer to rhino met her eyes, each with about a half dozen different options to be prepared. Now, Indigo was more than familiar with shops such as this, but she was used to the ones in the Sea Kingdom where the options were all different types of fish that she already knew what to expect from. Now, facing this, she suddenly felt like a fish out of water.
"What do I get?" she asked Darkstalker, her eyes still scanning the menu. There were sides, too, that she hadn't noticed before, as if it wasn't complicated enough. She vowed right then to pay attention more to the foods she was served at the palace, so she'd remember next time what Nightwing meals she liked.
"Get anything," Darkstalker told her, "Like I said, it's all good."
"Well, what do you get?" she asked. Surely he had something that was his favorite.
He gave a shrug. "It depends," he answered, "Right now I'm thinking the house recipe goose. It has excellent flavor."
Indigo gave a hum as she continued to mull her options. She really had no idea what to expect from anything, and in the end she decided to just get what the Nightwing animus went with.
As he'd said before, Darstalker ordered the house recipe goose, and Indigo followed suit. She was just reaching into her coin pouch to pay when he stopped her. "No, no," he told her, "I'll get it." He reached into a pouch of his own—one so black that it camouflaged right into his scales to the point where she hadn't even noticed it—and pulled out enough for both meals. The Nightwing at the counter took the payment and yelled their orders to the second Nightwing in the back.
"Thanks," Indigo told him, a little surprised at the action. It was a rather kind gesture for Darkstalker, but then again, he'd been becoming much nicer towards her ever since she'd helped save his mother. In fact, in the past week or so he'd seemed to actually be going out of his way to be pleasant towards her, including her in conversations with Fathom when they went flying and inviting her to join in on playing games when the opportunities arose.
It was almost difficult to believe, but she was beginning to think that Darkstalker may see her as an actual friend. And, even more difficult to believe, she figured that she saw him as one as well. The only time that the two of them ever even exchanged scowls anymore was when the topic of animus magic came up and she sided with Fathom on urging him not to use it, but other than that things were actually rather well between them. Well enough for him to decide out of the blue to join her on her day off.
"Don't mention it," he said, flashing her a charming smile, "It's no big deal."
Their order was delivered a few moments later and Darkstalker led her back outside, swiftly taking a table near the store entrance. She sat down across from him as he pulled out the pair of geese, an enticing smell wafting from them as she noticed for the first time that they were cooked. However it was prepared—she wouldn't know since she didn't exactly fancy herself a cook in any capacity—it seemed to do the trick of creating a meal appealing to the senses.
"So, do you eat here often?" she asked Darkstalker as he took one goose and gave her the other, the meat wrapped in a paper-like covering that she began to unfold.
"Yes…well…kind of," came an uncertain response from the animus, "It's a place that I know really well because Clearsight and I eat here a lot in tons of futures, but we haven't really done it in reality yet. I think we might have come here once, but I'm not completely sure. It's one of those confusing future seer things."
"I think I get it…" she told him, pretty sure that she did. He and Clearsight had said something similar when they'd taken that trip to the special seaside cave, how she only knew where it was because she'd had visions of it but couldn't really explain how she should have known without the visions. Like it was some sort of self-fulling prophecy where the prophecy itself was the prophecy. Yes, future seeing sounded very confusing.
"Anyway…go ahead and try it." He urged her, getting back to the meal. The goose was now laid bare before her, and she carved out a slice with a talon and brought it to her mouth. She hesitated for a brief moment, then took a bite.
Flavor exploded in her mouth, tastes both familiar and unfamiliar. The meat itself was a bit greasy—or oily—but tender and smothered in an almost overpowering zest of whatever herbs the shop used for the recipe. It was strong and tangy, leaving a powerful taste in her mouth even after she swallowed, but it was a rather good taste. She'd experienced similar tastes and flavor in the palace, she knew, but not like this.
She went in for another slice and Darkstalker gave her a grin. "I see you like it," he said, probably from reading her mind but possibly just from watching as she began to make short work of the fowl in front of her.
"Mmm hmmm," she affirmed before swallowing a large bite, "What's in this anyway?"
"I'm not completely sure," he admitted, his own meal disappearing a bit more slowly than hers, "I know there's some basil and some…oh, I forget what it's called; this is more my mother's area. But there's garlic. Lots of garlic."
"Is that what's…"
"Yep," he answered before she could finish, "That's the strong taste that makes it so good."
Indigo couldn't really speak for the rest of the flavors, but she knew right then that she loved garlic. That was definitely something to keep in mind next time she had a choice in what her meal would be.
They finished their lunch in relative silence after that, just enjoying the food and each other's company. She watched the dragons as they passed back and forth through the street, each going their own ways. It was a scene that Indigo seldom got to just sit back and enjoy; normally she'd have to be scrutinizing everyone from the youngest dragonet to the oldest wrym, assessing them for whatever danger they could pose to Fathom. But Fathom wasn't here right now, so there really was nothing to worry about.
She glanced away from the crowd and back to Darkstalker, who had followed her gaze and was still watching the crowd pass by himself. It was quite nice, she thought, for him to bring her here to this place that sounded like it may be rather special to him. Offering to show her around and then buying her meal, too, was quite generous of him. She'd been seeing this side of him more and more, a look at Darkstalker the dragon and not Darkstalker the (potentially) evil animus. It hurt her pride a little to admit, but she'd misjudged him quite a bit back when they first met and, while it was her job to be suspicious of any and every possible threat to Fathom, she was a little ashamed that it had taken her this long to finally get this close to him.
Close to Darkstalker, she repeated in her thoughts, Who would have thought? She certainly wouldn't have, back when she'd tried to convince Fathom to just let her kill him and be done with it. Now she was glad she hadn't; Darkstalker was many things, but he had shown to her that he could be a good dragon, kind and caring to his friends and loved ones.
Her eyes roamed over him, tracing his body from his snout to his tail. He's also a handsome dragon, too, she thought, Not a Seawing, of course, but he carries himself well. He'd make quite the mate. I wouldn't mind…
She stopped herself right there, a sudden ping of alarm echoing through her mind.
Where had that come from?
She looked away from him and prayed that he hadn't been listening to her mind as she tried to distract herself by watching the passersby again. It didn't work, however, as her mind continued to zoom, processing that sudden thought.
Okay, so she admitted to herself that Darkstalker was a likeable dragon, charming and good to his friends. She could even admit to herself that, the more she thought about it, he was not unattractive for a Nightwing. But none of that meant that she should see him at all like that. There was absolutely no reason that she should feel any…attraction towards him. Besides, there was Fathom! She already cared about Fathom that way.
But he doesn't care about you that way, another part of her mind suddenly argued back, and she was forced to admit that it was right. Yes, he was good to her—keeping her as a friend and at times acting like things would be like they used to—but things just weren't like they should have been. He hadn't even wanted her to come with him to the Night Kingdom in the first place. Every time it felt like they were becoming close, like whatever had been broken on that horrible night was healing, he pushed her away again.
She once would have said that she loved Fathom. She still did, in a way. But Fathom had made it clear that he would not, that he could not, love her back. As frustrating as it was, Indigo could no longer hold out hope that her longtime friend would ever allow himself to see her in that way that he may once have had.
This was no means a new revelation to her, but for some reason it hit particularly hard right now. Or maybe not hard, per se, but rather just different. She found her eyes unconsciously drawn back to the Nightwing before her as she found herself wondering just how bad it would be for her to explore other prospects.
Don't be silly! Her mind yelled at her again, He's Darkstalker! He'd never see you that way, even if you were crazy enough to see him that way. Besides, he already has Clearsight. Why would he want to throw in with a Seawing without any powers at all?
She blinked rapidly and shook her head, trying again just to get her thoughts away from the whole topic. Why would she even be thinking something like this in the first place? There was no way anything could even come of it!
She gave a frustrated sigh before noticing that Darkstalker had turned his head and was looking right at her. She froze, noticing an odd look in his eyes as he tilted his head slightly at her.
Three moons, She thought in a sudden horror, He heard me. There was no way he hadn't. Indigo wasn't a mind reader herself, but she could imagine that whatever had just happened in her own mind would have been akin to her shouting it out loud in the open for him to hear.
If he did—check that, even though he did—the animus didn't say anything about it. He just looked at her for second after agonizing second, his eye ridges slightly furrowed, his eyes themselves unreadable. Indigo swallowed, not sure what she should or could do.
A sudden crash across the street mercifully drew both of their attention away from the awkward moment at claw. A Nightwing had climbed up on some sort of stool, reaching up to place one of those glass star decorations on top of a light post and had lost his balance and fell, smashing into a barrel of apples sitting outside one of the vendors. The unfortunate dragon was already apologizing profusely to the store owner as he picked up the scattered fruits while the shopkeep hollered at him.
Darkstalker gave a chuckle. "You should hear their thoughts," he told her, and she couldn't quite tell if that was a joke or a subtle way of saying that he'd heard her own.
"What was he doing?" she asked quickly, changing the subject away from thoughts and mindreading. "I mean, I know he was putting up some sort of decoration, but what for? Is there some sort of celebration coming up?"
He answered with a nod of his head. "The starlight jubilee," he told her, "It's an annual festival held every year around this time when the stars align in a special way. You're supposed to be able to see every major star and the majority of the constellations all in the same night sky." He paused and glanced up at the sky for a second, as though looking for one of them, then shook his head and continued. "Anyway, this year's is even more special since Vigilance is celebrating forty years on the throne. She's dubbed this a special 'Glass Jubilee' and has commissioned dozens of elaborate glass statues and is hosting special glasswork competitions."
"Why glass?" Indigo asked.
Darkstalker shrugged his wings. "I'm not completely sure. I think it was something to do with how it reflects and captures the starlight, or even that it was fragile as a star or something sappy like that. Personally, I think it's just because Vigilance likes glass."
"Well, I guess she can do that if she's queen," Indigo told him, "I've seen firstclaw serving on Queen Pearl's honor guard that monarchs love to throw elaborate parties for whatever occasion. A foreign diplomat comes to visit? Decorate the whole palace in their national colors. A new palace addition is constructed? Gotta have a christening celebration. Tax day? Well, none of them are stupid enough to make that a celebration, but I'm pretty sure Queen Lagoon wanted to. My point is, queens can do whatever they want, can't they?"
"Yeah," Darkstalker agreed, a slightly darker tone suddenly in his voice, "They can."
Feeling like she'd somehow accidently hit on some sort of sore subject (although she wasn't completely sure what or why), she moved talk back to the festival. "So, when is the celebration?" she asked, "It must be soon, I'm guessing."
"In four days," he said with a nod, whatever mood evaporated as quickly as it had come, "Like I said, it will be a pretty big party all throughout the city. I was planning to ask you and Fathom to come along and enjoy it with Clearsight and I. I mean, why wouldn't you? The whole point of why you guys are here is to enjoy my delightful and captivating company."
She rolled her eyes at him. "I'm sure we'll be there," she huffed, "But remember, its only Fathom's job to be with you. I just have to make sure he doesn't get himself killed doing it."
"And you're doing an absolutely wonderful job," Darkstalker grinned at her, "He hasn't even died once since youcame here."
"Ha ha," she responded as dryly as she could, not quite keeping a grin off her own face. She ate the last few bites of her goose and disposed of a few bones she'd chosen to avoid as well as the wrapping into a nearby waste bin. "So," she asked once she'd returned to their table, "What are the special stars and constellations that you're celebrating? Are they any different from Seawing ones?"
"Maybe," he answered with a small swish of his tail, "Here, I can show you if you have a few minutes."
She said that she did—that, really, she had the whole night—and he led her away back into the street, then to a designated takeoff and landing area. Soon they were in flight over the city, then away from the city as he took her due north. A few minutes passed and she was just about to ask how far they had to go when he suddenly swooped down low and alighted on a grassy hill. The lights of the city were still just visible in the distance as she landed next to him and joined him sitting down on the soft grass.
"I'm not an expert on these things," he told her once she'd gotten comfortable, "But there are a few I know. Do you see that big bright one just aside that cluster of three or four? Yes? Good. That's Heinal. That means 'bright star' in our old language. Creative, I know."
He pointed up to another one, far east of the first. "Those two are called the twins."
"Which ones?" she asked, not quite sure at the exact two he was referring to.
"They're right next to each other," he tried to clarify, "One looks a little bit blue, the other reddish. The red one is a bit below the blue one from this angle."
"Ah, I see it," she told him, "I think we call those the duelists."
"Just below them is the Cello Constellation," he told her, "It's those four in a kind of semicircle, and then the three in an almost straight-line nest to them. I forget what it's supposed to be, but I can usually find that one."
She nodded that she saw it and he looked around, searching the sky for other ones.
"I know of Hasnel and Brinal, but I don't think I can find them," he admitted, "But…oh! There's the constellation Gander. It's supposed to be a goose. How fitting for tonight."
She followed his gaze and asked for clarification, and it took a little bit for her to find it. Frankly, it looked nothing like a goose, and she told that to him.
"Well, they're just stars," was all he could say, "I didn't find and name them."
He looked around a little bit more without much success. "I guess the only other two I know are the Lionel constellation there," he pointed to a collection of stars to the west, "And Scorpio's star. You know where Scorpio's star is, don't you?"
"Of course I do," she said with a snort, "Everyone knows that star. You can hardly read a book about Sandwings without it being mentioned in some way."
"They do like that one, don't they?" he joked, "Them and their stories." He stretched himself out and then rolled himself backwards, laying on his back with his wings splayed out.
"Ah," he groaned, "It's been so long since I've done this. Stargazing, I mean. Sometimes, living in the night, you forget just how beautiful the night sky can be."
She gave a smile that he couldn't see, then joined him on the ground, rolling herself back just like he had. Their wingtips touched, just for a moment as she found a comfy spot where her back ridge wasn't digging into her too much, and she actually had to make herself pull it away from his.
"It is a beautiful night," she agreed, "Is this why you wanted to come out here? To lay down on the grass."
"That and the quiet," he told her with a contented hum, "Sure, I could have pointed the stars out from any rooftop, but that's not special at all." He gave a sigh and wriggled a little bit, and he ended with his tail lightly touching hers where they lay.
Neither of them moved theirs.
They stayed like that for a while. An hour? Half an hour? Indigo wasn't sure. Her time was split looking up at the night sky and also the Nightwing aside her. She tried to keep her mind off of the earlier thoughts she'd had, thoughts of sharing a night like this as more than friends, but she couldn't quite keep them off her mind. And, as she lay there next to him, suddenly the prospect didn't look that bad at all. It certainly would never happen, of course, but it wouldn't be a disaster to end all disasters if it did.
Finally, Darkstalker got uncomfortable enough laying on his ridge to roll back over onto all fours, and she did the same. Using her tail to brush some grass off her, she watched him do the same, admiring how the deep blackness of his scales still somehow managed to reflect the moons' light and how the white scaled under his wings gleamed like miniature moons of their own when he lifted his wings and stretched them out.
"As pleasant as that was, we should probably get back," he told her, "I still have several shops to show you too, and I don't want you to use your whole night off doing something you can do any night you want."
"And you still need to get ink for your sister, too," she reminded him.
"What?" Darkstalker asked, confusion on his face for just a moment too long, "Oh, yes. Whiteout's ink. Yes. Definitely need to get that."
She shot him a look. Wait, did he…
"How about a short flight first?" he interrupted her thoughts. "It's a beautiful night for it, and we can go for as long or as short as we please. I can show you one of our natural lakes not far from here, if you'd like."
She blinked once, then smiled at the idea. "Sure. I'd like that."
Over the next few nights they took several such shorts flights together, most of them occurring when she was on break and Darkstalker just so happened to bump into her. They went on their normal ones with Fathom, of course, but somehow Indigo found that she enjoyed them better when she was alone with her Nightwing guide who showed her all different parts of the city and countryside a short flight away. And she couldn't deny that when the night of Queen Vigilance's Glass Jubilee came, a part of her was more pleased with the idea of simply spending time with him than with any thoughts of celebration or festivities.
A/N: Alternate title/subtitle for this one: In which Indigo discovers Caramel and Garlic. Oh, and maybe feelings for a dragon other than Fathom. A bit long, but that decently sums this one up. Things are starting to move along for the two.
Next chapter will have a bit more action in it, I promise. Those who remember what exactly happened at the Glass Jubilee in canon might have an idea why.
A final note: I know the WoF community is reeling a bit right now at the cancellation of the animated series on Netflix. It's come to my attention that there is a petition out there online to try to save it (it's on change . org. But hey, that's not absolutely nothing). I encourage you all to sign it if you feel so led, as well as using the suddenly popular #SaveWingsofFire when applicable. I'd also like to take this opportunity to assure you that I most definitely will not be cancelling this story. For good or ill, I'm gonna see this out to the end.
Anyway, I hope you all have a good one. I'll see you next chapter.