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 Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2016 3:03 pm
 It was a quiet enough evening. One might even say peaceful. Perhaps.
The dragon Wraik's tail tip swayed and tapped out a relaxing beat while his claws moved at a more clipped pace. His attention was focused on the delicate materials in his paws, deftly twisting, turning, and maneuvering them as he needed. As a passing thought, he was suddenly thankful to have claws for a task like this. It would have been impossible likely if he'd had hooves.
Not that there was anything wrong with hooves! No no, of course not! They were simply better at other things...he supposed.
Shrugging off the thought hurriedly, he refocused on his work. He shifted slightly, making himself more comfortable. It was so pleasant this evening, and the work before him kindled a warm feeling in his chest. He even felt the start of a song as a hum on his lips...
"SpiiiIIIIIIIiiiiike!"
Spike instantly sat bolt upright, eyes wide. Oh crap. Crap crap crap! His eyes darted around the room for a moment and he immediately became regretful that he owned so little to his name. Other than the single pillow he'd been lying on...that would have to do. He hastily shoved his project beneath the cushion and rushed to the door of his room. Had to intercept before she--
"There you are, Spike!" The dragon immediately found himself face to face with a dark unicorn. She tossed her head, which swept the waves of voluptous hair over her shoulder and cleared the view of her icy blue eyes. She blinked at him in a moment of curiosity. "Where HAVE you been?" Though, it seemed her curiosity was quickly overshadowed by the reason she'd sought him out. "I'm absolutely starving! Be a dear and go prepare me something to eat."
"Oh! Yes, Miss, of course!" Spike rushed to go, subconscously wishing that she might follow or at least be dissuaded from entering his room. Surely it wasn't up to her standards, afterall. Now that she'd found him, she'd return to her own room, right? It was much finer than his, more to her tastes...his own was far beneath her, of course. That being said, he couldn't keep her waiting. He shook off any hesitation and rushed off to the kitchen, as fast as his claws would carry him.
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2016 3:05 pm
 The dark unicorn coolly watched the dragon's retreat. What in the world had kept him so busy this evening? He'd nearly forgotten to prepare her dinner! Hmmph...so hard to find good help these days. She could have starved to death!
Her gaze flickered towards the room Spike had exited. Ah, must be his own quarters. Not that she'd ever given it much thought. She figured he must have found somewhere to stay when he'd come into her service. Beyond that, she hadn't thought much of it. Likely something like her own...
...or not. A quick cursory glance and the unicorn had stopped cold. A sparse small room, empty aside from a single pillow and a blanket. Was this...really all he had? That alone almost prompted her to return immediately to her own quarters and its luxury. Though...she was so hungry. Nearly famished. And exhausted as a result. She would just wait here until he returned. Perhaps only a short time...it wouldn't be TOO terrible. Hopefully.
She stepped delicately around the pillow, looking it over warily. Cotton from the look of it. Far from the silks she was used to. However, the pillow had been procured with the intention of supporting the dragon, so she found it to be well-stuffed at least when she chose to recline upon it. That was something, she supposed. It would do for now. My, what a dreary room though! No paintings or wall hangings, nothing to look at but bare walls. How did one cope like this? How did one survive?
She shifted uncomfortably at the mere thought of living like this all the time and was surprised when one of her hooves caught on something. She thought perhaps the pillow was torn and she'd caught her hoof on a loose thread (how dreadful!), but instead whatever had caught came free without much fuss. She found herself staring in puzzlement at a tangle of wire and silken cloth. In the middle of it all, a clear jewel shone in the light coming from the hallway. It was the only fine thing in the room, even if she couldn't puzzle out what it was, and it held her attention enraptured. That jewel...it seemed familiar for some reason...
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2016 3:08 pm
"My lady? Your dinner is served in the dining h--"
Spike froze, not only at the sight of Rarity in his room, but at what lay at her hooves.
"Spike? What is this?" The question was delivered coolly and without obvious emotion. Rarity had stared at the bangle for some time, wondering the same, as well as why Spike would have such a thing or where it had possibly come from. Had he just wanted some shiny bangle for himself? Possible, when she had so many. Had he taken it from her then? She would have been furious if that were true, but aside from the jewel seeming mildly familiar, she couldn't recall seeing the rest of it before. And she wasn't missing anything that she had noticed. Why then? He clearly didn't have such things in his possession, given the state of the room. And if he could get possession of such a thing, why hide it? Why not get more like it? she was puzzled and had found no answers on her own in the time he'd been gone.
Spike swallowed hard. "I-I can explain, R--uh, Miss. It's...it's not what it looks like."
"Then, what is it?"
The calmly delivered question made the dragon worry; what was going through her head? He had no other choice but to come clean, of course. The cat was out of the bag, so to speak. Settling on his haunches in the doorway, Spike glanced aside awkwardly. "It's...not done yet. And I mean, it's not much, but...it's supposed to be a tail wrap. You know, for formal events or...just because...for you." It'd been most difficult to find the jewel that matched the ones on her necklace and tiara, but once he had that, the rest had been relatively easy to come by. After all, he already knew the best tradesmen for acquiring fine fabrics and jewelry. He could have easily ordered something custom made from them among the other things he already bartered for on Rarity's behalf on a regular basis. But...he wanted this one to be special. He'd wanted to make it with his own claws.
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2016 3:09 pm
It had been one thing to assume that Spike had been keeping the bit of fabric and metal because he wanted something shiny of his own. In a room like this, who would blame him? But when he'd started describing making something with it, a fine tail bangle, yes...she could see it now...it was incomplete, but the concept was there...she'd felt an unexpected flare of rage. Who had ordered him to make this? Was someone else compromising her assistant's time? How dare some other hussy muscle in on her--
It was for her. Her anger faded into confusion. But...she hadn't asked him to make this for her. So why would he...? She couldn't fathom what would have possessed him to make this of his own accord, and so she blunted asked, "Why? Why make this for me?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2016 3:10 pm
Spike was puzzled by the momentary irritation that had crossed the unicorn's face. Was she upset that he'd tried to make her something? Was it not up to her standards? Clearly that was it, she was insulted by the shoddy craftsmanship...he'd explained that it wasn't complete yet, but he'd hoped the intention had been clear enough...
Wait, she was asking why he'd been making this for her? Was it not clear enough? Did she want him to say it aloud? Afterall, why else would he have wanted to be her assistant? It was as close as he could get... His face flushed, adding a slight red-violet hue to his scales. He took a deep breath...then chickened out at the last second. "I...just thought that you'd like it. I mean, when it's done, it'll match your other pieces. I made sure that the jewel would match, and thought that uh...it'd look nice. Err, not that you don't already look nice, of course!" he added hurriedly, staring down at his claws.
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2016 3:11 pm
Rarity stared at the fumbling dragon for a moment, some hint of clarity dawning. That's why the jewel had looked familiar. It matched the two she already wore perfectly. He'd been sure to get that detail correct. And the fine fabric and intricately woven vines of metal, the care being taken with the creation...and all on his own volition. She rose to her hooves, moving towards the door with graceful strides. The dragon Wraik seemed too preoccupied to notice her approach until she was close enough to touch him. He nearly jumped when she spoke again in a quiet voice, and she had to work to hide her amusement behind her sly smile.
"If I know you, you've gone and prepared far too much food again for a delicate lady to be expected to dine alone. You will just have to accompany me to help me finish it. Come along, Spike." She brushed past her assistant with a swift stride, not missing the pleasantly surprised expression that flickered across his face as he hurried to follow.
"Yes, Miss!"
"...'Rarity' will do just fine."
"Yes, Miss Rarity!"
...close enough. For now.*****
[FIN]
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2016 10:27 pm
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