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He was the second one to put his farewell in such a way that day. Elliot and August, they had both insisted that this was not a good-bye. Perhaps she should look upon Verdi's death in the same way... that it was not so final and conclusive as she felt it to be.

Anna thought on this as she milled about her office. Sitting down was proving to be dull, but walking could make the time pass a bit faster. When would she see Pyralis? she wondered as her little walk brought her by the door again. Anna thought of him snoozing away on a couch somewhere, regaining the lost hours of sleep. He deserved a rest. He deserved many things after he had performed so well at the Ball and had looked after her.

Eventually the lull hit once more, making the quiet a bit too much. Anna looked about at all her books resting upon the shelves, and then at the thin veil of dust beginning to coat the woodwork once more. That's what she could do, she thought, and so Anna retrieved a dusting cloth from her desk. Before setting to work, the window was thrown open. The day was unusually warm in the early afternoon. The fresh air was quite welcome within the office, especially when dust was about to be swept about.

And that is what she did in her free time. Anna dusted and polished and organized and sneezed. Anything to provide a distraction from her dark thoughts.

"One moment!"

Anna's little elven feet carefully picked their way down the steps of the small ladder she had brought out to reach the topmost shelves. She hoped the redness in her eyes could be passed off as an irritation from dust and not her crying, because even she didn't want to admit that past events had made her very stressed. Anna hated crying, almost as much as she disliked having someone fuss over her because they knew she had been.

After patting her hands together to rid them of any dust, Anna opened up the door to reveal the most pleasant relief of her entire day: Pyralis.
"I wondered when I would be seeing you," she said softly, a most welcome smile coming upon her face as she let him inside.

Anna wasn't sure what it was exactly that made her unravel when he was near, but somehow she couldn't keep that tight weave of deception about herself any longer. She couldn't pretend she was happy with what had all happened the night before, or throughout her day.

The elf found herself hugging her dragon so tightly, almost as tight as her throat felt as she fought back all of her emotions.
"I wish it were so when I welcomed in new students," she whispered. "I wanted so badly to tell them to go home, to go back away from this place so that they may be safe."
Even if the world was not a safe place to begin with, somehow Anna felt that those dangers were something to be fought and overcome. Demons, though, were not so easy.

"And I wanted so badly to explain to them what had happened, but they were human, and I just knew they wouldn't have believed such a story..." Finally Anna let herself fall quiet, and just cherish the warmth she found in his arms, even if she was competing with some sort of package for the space.

Anna watched the picture so closely, eyes never leaving it and heart never quite able to release that feeling of homesickness. The smile Pyralis loved so much appeared through her little murmurings of, "my goodness" or "so lovely...", and even though a few little tears fell from her eyes, they were from happiness.

"Thank you, dearest," she said once she was done taking in her gift for the first time. Pyralis was always finding some way to call her back into the grander scheme of things... and how thankful she was for that as well. Books had been such a wonderful escape for her, and yet for all her knowledge, she still had that habit of looking at things around her instead of the grander picture. The picture that was sitting right in front of her, all along.

Anna rose and soon caught him in a hug once more, and not without giving him a few gentle kisses to show her true gratitude.
"It is absolutely beautiful, love... and I have something for you as well. It may not be much to your dragon stomach, but..."

The elf stepped away from Pyralis to go behind her desk. With a bit of a heave, she brought from the floor to the tabletop a large basket filled with gingerbread cookies, small breads, packs of candy, and packets of cocoa. There was also a wrapped box within the hoard, with something inside that she had a good feeling he would like.

"Well. I made you as much as I thought you could bear."

"Something. You'll have to open it and see..."
Anna's eyes were glinting from her own excitement at seeing him so happy with what she had made. It had been a long, frustrating day, but with the help of a few cooks they had made the gingerbread and everything for Pyralis' basket.

"Is the cookie any good? I wasn't so sure about them myself when they first came out... and I knew I paid attention to every little detail as I had no reading material aside from the recipe to distract me."
Her eyes went from his hands upon the package to his eyes to see if he truly did like his gifts, though judging from the kiss, he did.

But the real gift, she thought, the one he could have forever, was in that box. It was a letter opener, though sharp enough to be used as a dagger, she supposed. Dragons liked treasure, Anna thought, as she had picked that out for him. But the real touch was that upon the blade was etched in scrolling elvish script a message that translated to, To my A'mael, Pyralis, in remembrance of our first holiday spent together. With all the love in the worlds always, your Anna.

Practical, but with him in mind. But he had to open it first.

Anna's kisses came just as his did, though it surprised her how a simple gift could set him so ablaze. Any questions on that, though, disappeared. She kissed and nuzzled, deepened most of them and kept a few simple and sweet. All of her emotions were coming out with each minute that passed, until it became evident that this passionate kissing was all she would do, all she could do. Anna felt a tinge of guilt as she broke away and buried her face in the curve of his neck, too afraid to go any further, if that was what he even expected.

I'm sorry, she thought to him, slightly embarrassed.

Anna let her mind be as open as she could have it be as well, so that he could see her past relationships, more prominently the last one with Adrian. The pressure, the promises, the anger she had been given because she was not ready, but she never gave in. There was a fear of being used and of losing something to a false promise. Anna knew there was no such fear to be had with Pyralis, but the past had left its mark. The gently sent memories told of that fear, and she communicated a deep, deep gratitude for him believing that she was enough, no matter what.
I love you, too. I love your understanding, and your control. You've no idea how much I adore that, and being enough. I don't think I ever have been enough for anyone besides you.

Someday, she thought privately. But for then, she was content with being held close by the dragon who was in great need of a cooling off.

Anna laughed. Still a little red in the cheeks though she was, she was ready to get out into the chilly world outside. A little growl of her own escaped from her empty stomach, making her laugh even more.
"Goodness, I haven't eaten anything all day... I think I shall have to take you up on that offer before I join you in your little growls."

Anna went to fetch her coat, gloves and scarf before she took his arm tightly. If there was one definite benefit to having a dragon as a love, it was the constant warmth in the bitter cold.