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Quartz stared intently at the little sketchbook in her lap, scribbling away with a pencil. Or at least that's probably what it looked like. She was still working on shading effects using only pencils instead of colors, and the results were quite...varied. For her age she did quite well, but that could be attributed to the fact that she was almost constantly drawing. Her little goat plushie, a constant companion, peeked out of the top of the bag on her back where she kept all her art supplies.

It didn't help that her subject kept moving.

With a sigh Quartz stood up and gave her bag a tug to make sure it sat straight on her back. She'd been out walking with the most interesting freshling had walked by. Something about their colors and the way their features looked had captured Quartz's interest. She wanted to try to sketch them, but she wasn't good at drawing people by memory and didn't want to go up to a stranger and ask if they'd sit still. So she'd taken to quietly following them, trying to get as much done as fast as she could. She was about halfway finished, and hoped that this time the freshling would stay put in one place long enough that she could complete her sketch. Afterwards she might try to replicate it so she could do a colored version, but a monochrome version was quicker and would do for now.

Quartz froze up a little when the subject of her drawing turned and started to approach her. There was no mistaking it, since it was just late enough that there weren't many people around. She thought she'd been doing a good job at being sneaky, but the hard floors did make being quiet a challenge when one had hooves.

She quickly closed her tiny sketch book and tucked it against her chest; if she thought she could get away with it she might even have fled. She was used to drawing inanimate things, and didn't really know how to respond when her subject turned around and talked to her. Her blue eyes were quite round with anxiety and nervousness.

"I'm fine," Quartz squeaked in a tiny voice. "My mom is running errands, so she left me here for a bit. She'll be back pretty soon." She unconsciously clutched at her goat plushie, pulling it snug against her body in an attempt to seek reassurance. In her worry she was blowing the whole thing a little out of proportion, afraid this Naga might get mad enough at Quartz for following her around that she'd yell or tell someone, then an adult would give her a lecture about misbehaving.

Quartz nodded. "I just started," she said shyly. "Me and my brother. We live at home though, instead of in the dorms. My gold mama has been the the Academy before because she's visited other freshlings, so she got permission to show me around so I wouldn't get lost."

As she spoke the Baphomet's fingers itched to get at the crayons she had in her bag. With the Naga here in front of her, unmoving, and in a good source of light, Quartz could get a clear view of all her colors. It didn't look like much at first, just plain red, but when she moved it caused the light to ripple over her scales and turn them into interesting new shades of red. It reminded her of some of the pretty rocks her mom had on a shelf in her room, though she couldn't remember the names of any of them just now. She really wanted to finish her drawing before the details faded from her mind!

Ah, but it would be so rude to just open her book up and keep drawing. Plus, Quartz was usually very shy about letting anyone but family see what she had drawn, and even then that was only if they caught her in the process of a drawing.

"My name's Quartz," she added after a brief moment of silence, unsure of how to fill the void since she wasn't great at conversations, and belatedly remember the Naga had introduced herself, so it would be rude not to give a name in return. Still casting about for a safe topic of conversation, her eyes fell on the green plushie in Maerad's hands, the colors stark against her red scales. She reached out a hand and pointed at the turtle. "I like your plushie."

Quartz hugged her own plushie to her, pleased and proud that Maerad liked it. She'd had it for a long time, since she was a little baby. Some people might have thought a plain golden brown would be boring, but she still really loved it.

She did fidget ever so slightly when Maerad questioned her about her hobbies. "I go for walks with my mama a lot. We most go through the park, but we go off the path a lot so it's like an adventure. I also like to draw," she added like it was an afterthought. Most adults upon hearing this usually cooed and asked if she had any drawings they could see or if she could make something for them. Other kids were sort of a mixed bunch, with some acting like the adults and some not really caring at all. It wasn't that Quartz didn't like showing off her drawings, but she felt like she wasn't really good yet and sometimes got embarrassed. She wanted to get lots better at drawing before showing off her art, so that people would actually think it was pretty rather than being polite so they didn't hurt her feelings. She could always tell when adults thought that, and it had hurt her feelings quite a bit in the past.

Quartz thought about it for a moment. Her mom hadn't specifically told her to stay in any one spot. Really they were so used to walking everywhere that Quartz could have made the trip back to her house on her own, and it was only her young age that made her mom insist on being there with her. If her mom came looking and couldn't find her, she'd probably wait by the main gate for Quartz to finish her explorations.

"Sure," Quartz agreed, coming to the conclusion that it should be just fine. If anything her mom would be pleased she'd met someone who could be a new friend. She didn't have any musical inclinations herself, but it was still fun to explore the building and Maerad seemed to know where things were. "Will we get in trouble for being there alone?"

Quartz had to trot at a brisk pace to keep up the Maerad when the little Naga took off, her hooves making soft clopping sounds that echoed from the stone floors. She wasn't even the least bit out of breath when they reached their destination, partially due to all the walks she'd been on and the rest because they hadn't had to go all that far.

She crept in behind Maerad, a bit more hesitant and looking around with mingled caution and wonder. She had no clue how most of these instruments functioned, and that people could make such lovely sounds from them seemed like some kind of magic to her. Maerad was busy with a case over towards the back of the room. Quartz walked over to stand nearby, and busied herself with looked around while she waited.

When Maerad turned to show Quartz her harp, she made a soft, "Oooh," sound. She didn't really know anything about the instrument, but the wood was a pretty color and she had to stop herself from reaching out to see if it felt as smooth as it looked. "You know how to play it," she asked, knowing that Maerad had said as much earlier but still feeling that sense of wonder and awe that anyone could know the secrets to such things.

Quartz's eyes widened with wonder as she listened to Maerad play the harp. She clutched her plushie close and just stood there, listening. It was a simple tune, one she knew, but it still sounded so pretty to hear the notes coming from the strings. It was amazing that they could produce sound like that!

She smiled at Maerad when the Naga finished her tune, still marveling at the pretty music. Then the offer, and Quartz's eyes got huge again and her heartbeat picked up. She was instantly torn. "I don't know how," she said, part of her desperately wanting to touch that pretty harp and the other half of her frightened to death of breaking it somehow with her inexperience. The harp was clearly something precious to Maerad. Quartz imagined the harp getting broken would make her as sad as Quartz was when someone broke her favorite pencils. The difference was there were lots of pencils she could buy to replace her broken ones, but she hadn't seen any harps for sale in any of the stores she'd been to with her parents.

Quartz looked back and forth between Maerad and the harp. From an outside adult perspective it was probably cute to watch. The little Baphomet, looking back and forth, face so crinkled with indecision and longing that her lower lip wibbled like she might cry and her hands clutched at her plushie so tight that if it had a voice it might have protested.

She took a few hesitant steps forward, little hooves making soft echoing clops, and reached a hand out to stroke the wood of the harp like it was glass. Her fingers lightly brushed over the strings, then she snatched her hand back like they might bite, shaking her head. "I really don't think I'd be good at it," she said, heart racing from just touching the instrument. It was illogical, she saw Maerad touching and playing the instrument, but she still felt like she might break it.

Quartz reached for the bag on her back and pulled out her little sketchbook. "How 'bout you play something, and I draw a picture of you playing," she suggested, feeling much more calm and at ease with paper and pencil than with wood and string, though each was lovely in its own way.