“Sandbar, I need your help!” Smolder called out as she kicked open the door to the common room.
Looking up from his comic, the earth pony saw a frazzled looking dragon coming toward the couch he sat on. He raised an eyebrow in puzzlement. “Smolder? What’s wrong?”
A pained look went across her face as she tried to find the right words, “I….need help with something….”
“I’m not helping you cheat on the midterm,” Sandbar flatly stated as he looked back at the comic.
“This isn’t about school! This is….something else….” Smolder corrected.
Again averting his gaze up to look at Smolder, Sandbar saw the orange dragon rubbing one of her arms with her other claw, almost struggling to speak. Closing the comic, Sandbar spoke, “Alright, what’s up?”
“I….need your help….with telling Gallus something….” Smolder explained with a pink tint to her face.
A small chuckle escaped from the stallion, “So, you’re finally admitting it, aren’t you?”
Quickly, the dragon became defensive, “What are you talking about?! I am not in love with Gallus!”
“I didn’t say you were, but you just did,” a smirk appeared on Sandbar’s face.
Smolder quickly let out an anguished cry in response to her verbal slip. “Alright, fine, I like Gallus! But don’t you dare tell any creature, got it?” she pointed at Sandbar and her words were delivered with a threatening tone.
Without saying a word, Sandbar mimed zipping his mouth closed. However, another voice spoke out:
“I knew it! I’m so happy for you two!”
Both creatures looked around for the source. However, the source found them as she poked her head from out behind one of the sofas in the common room.
“Silverstream? You were here the whole time?” Smolder asked in shock. Her attitude swiftly turned to one of a sinister tone as if she was willing to silence any creature by force if needed, “How much did you hear?”
“All of it!” the pink hippogriff cheerfly exclaimed as she also took a seat on the couch next to Sandbar. “I’m so excited that you’re going to tell him that you like him!”
Before Smolder could retaliate, Sandbar stepped in, “She is right though, the sparks the two of you give off could generate enough power to light up all of Ponyville.”
“We don’t have sparks or any of that mushy stuff!” Smolder strongly insisted. However, this was short lived as she sat down on the floor in front of the coffee table and rested her head on its surface, “Guhh, why do I even like him?! I don’t even know! He’s a complete idiot! This is the same griffon I slug across his stupid face when he makes a dumb joke!”
“Yeah, he is stupid,” Sandbar boredly stated.
“Don’t you dare say that about him! Only I may call him out like that!” Smolder lifted her head up and shouted.
Sandbar smirked, “Gotcha.”
Her face became flushed again, “Stop doing that!”
Silverstream nodded at the realization, “Ohhh, so you two have one of those relationships….” Sandbar raised a hoof up to his mouth to softly laugh at Silverstream’s comment.
“We don’t have any sort of relationship! Also Silverstream, don’t you have to be stupid somewhere else?” Smolder angrily asked.
“Not until my algebra class tomorrow,” the hippogriff answered.
“Whatever!” Smolder backtracked, “He’s just a friend! Not even that, he’s just a griffon that I use as a punching bag.”
“You’ve used him as a punching bag to the point of causing permanent soft tissue damage on him,” Sandbar pointed out.
“That still hasn’t been proven! We’re still waiting on those x-rays!” the dragon quickly stated, trying to keep herself free from blame.
“What about the time when you headbutted him in his beak and caused him to bleed?” Silverstream asked with a smile.
“Shut up!”
“You like him!” the hippogriff teased.
As much as she wanted to tell Silverstream to stop, Smolder simply covered her face with her claws and let out a moan in frustration and annoyance. This moan was directed at her own conflicting feelings as well as her friends.
While he did enjoy teasing his friend, Sandbar did want to get to the source of what she was feeling, “I still kinda don’t understand why you like him, Smolder. And need I remind you that this is the same griffon you’ve argued with about which are more dangerous: beavers and seagulls.”
“Because he’s wrong! Seagulls are little winged demons!” Smolder let go of her head and glared at Sandbar.
“Oh no, not this again,” the earth pony mumbled to himself before continuing, “Fifty minutes. It went on for fifty minutes before both objects and punches were thrown. I have never heard anycreature talk so heatedly and defensively about absolutely nothing before.”
“She is right though,” the hippogriff commented, “seagulls are vicious and they always steal my bread.”
Sandbar gave a quick glare to Silverstream, “You’re not being helpful, Silverstream.”
Silverstream shrugged, “Did you really expect me to be?”
“Okay, forget about that,” Sandbar turned his attention back to Smolder “Even outside of that stupid argument, you’ve said you wanted to kill him several times.”
“Yes, I have. And I will kill him, bring him back to life somehow, and kill him again for his idiocy alone,” Smolder held an open claw up and slowly made a fist as if she was crushing something unseen.
“And yet head over heels for him?” the pony asked in confusion.
Smolder scowled back, “Shut up, you don’t know me!”
Silverstream started to playfully chant, “You like Gallus! You like Gallus!”
“I said shut up! He might be an idiot, but he’s my idiot!” Her cheeks were burning and admitting her feelings, but Smolder still was being defensive, “Just because I like him doesn’t mean I don’t want him dead by my own claws at times.”
“True love,” Sandbar sarcastically commented.
A sigh escaped from the dragon as she placed her head back on the coffee table, musing her conflicted feelings, “Half the time, I don’t know whether to kiss him or punch him.”
“Seems like you know which one to go with since you keep sending him to the infirmary,” the stallion said.
“It’s his own fault,” Smolder claimed as lifted her head back up and stared at both Sandbar and Silverstream, “I bet all of you just love watching me squirm about this.”
“Personally, I just wish the violence and fighting would stop. But yes, I do enjoy watching this,” Sandbar had a sly smile on his face for a brief moment. “Why did you come to me to help you with this, anyway?”
“Because I need to tell some creature, okay?” Smolder admitted. “Ocellus and Yona are studying right now, I obviously can’t tell Gallus, and Silverstream….” she paused for a moment before she turned her head to see the hippogriff sitting on the couch, obliviously smiling. “....is here,” she concluded.
“Hi!” Silverstream waved.
“Alright, that answers one question, but I do have another,” Sandbar said.
“And what’s that?”
“Why has it been taking the both of you so long to do anything about how you feel about one another?” Sandbar stated.
Silverstream had a relieved look on her face, “Finally, some creature said it!”
The dragon had a puzzled expression, “What are you talking about?”
“Please, it’s obvious you two have something for each other. You butt heads and clash all the time, but the two of you are thick as thieves,” Sandbar explained.
“Yeah, this is the worst game of ‘will they or won’t they’ ever,” Silverstream sighed as she slouched down on the sofa.
“What? Why?” Smolder asked.
“Because neither of you will admit to how you really feel, so now it feels so boring. It started like a nice soap opera, but not anymore.”
“Soap opera, huh? Maybe if there was more physical violence in those shows, then yeah, it’s like a soap opera,” Sandbar laughed at the thought.
“Just tell him!” Silverstream insisted.
“I can’t ‘just tell’ Gallus that I like him!” Smolder refused the idea, “Maybe if it’s the last thing he will ever hear, but only then!”
Sandbar paused for a moment to process Smolder’s words, “Wait, so you’re saying the only way you’ll ever admit your feelings to him is if he’s dying on his deathbed and it’s the last thing he’ll ever hear?”
“It couldn’t hurt!” Smolder shrugged as she began to think aloud, “Do you think we can make that happen?”
The hippogriff started suggesting ideas, “Well, we would have to make it look like an accident, but we could start by-”
“Silverstream, no,” Sandbar interrupted. He turned his attention back to the dragon, “Look Smolder, it’s obvious you like Gallus. You have to do something about it and not be a nihilist about it.”
“What’s a nihilist?” Silverstream asked.
Sandbar answered, “A creature that doesn’t believe in anything.”
“Sounds exhausting,” the hippogriff cheerifully commented.
Smolder gritted her teeth in exhaustion, “Then what should I do, smarty?”
“How about writing him a letter about how you feel?”
“Oh, a letter, yes. That’s a much better idea. I was going to suggest let stuff just happen and keep my feelings bottled up until they lash out in a surprisingly violent way, but a letter might actually work,” Smolder sounded receptive to the idea.
“And I got some parchment and a quill right here!” Silverstream said as she pulled out the items out of seemingly nowhere.
“Silverstream, where did you get that quill and parchment?” Sandbar asked.
“I don’t know!” Silverstream answered happily.
Smolder took the parchment and quill from Silverstream and laid them out in front of her. With the quill in claw, she lowered it down to the parchment to make contact. Her claw did not move, as she froze as a wave of panic and dread washed over her.
Filled with second thoughts, Smolder spoke, “Actually, writing a letter just feels so weird. Can’t I just write his name on a brick and throw it through his dorm window?”
“No, because that’s also my window!” Sandbar objected.
Silverstream looked at the dragon and asked with concern, “Smolder, are you nervous?”
“I’m not nervous! It’s this paper that’s nervous!” Smolder said as she tried to steady her arm as she began to write across the parchment. After a few words, however, she quickly picked up the parchment to crumble it up into a ball and used her flame breath to light it on fire and destroy it.
“Apparently that one wasn’t good enough?” Sandbar sarcastically asked.
Silverstream spoke up before Smolder could respond and asked, “What kind of relationship do you want with Gallus.”
The question caught the dragon off guard. Smolder paused and thought about her words before speaking, “I….I don’t know. Maybe I want us to try out dating, or maybe I could even see us together long term, you know?” Stopping again, Smolder tried to think of what to say. However, she seemed disappointed in her inability to find the right words, so she let out a sigh and added, “I guess I want us to just be.”
“Just be?” Sandbar repeated and raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah. Around Gallus, I don’t have to worry nothing, heck I don’t even have to think. Really, I don’t have to do anything at all because it all just feels right.” Smolder’s voice sounded earnest, almost wistful. “And in that moment with him, it’s great. We just….be.”
Sandbar gave a small smile upon hearing the dragon’s words, “Wow, I never thought I’d hear you talk about Gallus in a positive light.”
“And if either of you tell him what I said, I’ll end you both,” Smolder pointed at both Sandbar and Silverstream.
“There’s the Smolder we know,” he commented.
“But what freaks me out the most is….what might happen, you know?” Smolder admitted. “The last time I let myself feel this feeling for any creature….it didn’t end well and I really don’t want to experience it. Or have him feel that way because of me.” The dragon paused for a moment with a melancholic look on her face before finishing, “If I tell him, it could hurt us both. And if I don’t, it will eat at me forever.”
“It’s okay to be scared about admitting how you feel,” Silverstream spoke in a comforting voice, “It does take a lot to share something private with somecreature you care about, even more so if it’s how you truly feel about them. But if you can do it, it lifts the weight off your shoulder and you never have to worry about what could have been.”
“I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but Silverstream has a point. It’s not easy, but if you take your time, you’ll find the right words to properly admit how you feel about Gallus,” Sandbar added.
“But what if-”
Sandbar raised a hoof up to interrupt, “You can’t worry about ‘what ifs’, Smolder. If anything is going to come from this, either you or Gallus will need to do something or nothing is going to start. You keep pushing this chase on. Do you actually want to be with him?”
“Of course I do!”
“Then prove it,” Silverstream said.
A small smile appeared on Smolder’s face at the words from her friends, “This is one weird pep talk from you two,” she sarcastically stated.
“Well, you two are a weird pair,” Sandbar fired back. “So think you can swallow your pride and actually give him that letter?”
Without a word, Smolder returned to writing on the parchment with newfound energy and determination.
As the dragon started to write, Silverstream turned to Sandbar and asked a question, “You think they’ll kiss as hard as they fight?”
Without missing a beat, Sandbar answered, “Oh, most definitely.”
“WHAT?!”
There was a knock on the dorm door.
“I’ll get it,” Ocellus said as she got up to answer the door. Upon opening the door to see who was on the other side, a blue griffon barged right into the room, starling both Ocellus and Yona. “Gallus, what are you doing?”
“I need help from you two,” Gallus said as he made his way into the dormitory.
“What’s got friend Gallus’ feathers ruffled?” Yona asked as she looked up from her notes and textbook.
“We’re trying to study for our biology midterm,” Ocellus tried to inform him as he entered.
Gallus brushed it off, “That can wait, I need help with something more important.”
“What is it?” Ocellus asked. She closed the door and returned to the floor where she and Yona were studying.
Gallus began pacing around as he struggled to find the right words, “I….I need to….I….”
“Gallus?” Yona concernly asked.
“I….I think I have feelings for Smolder….”
There was a silence as Ocellus and Yona looked at each other, both with the same tired expression..
Ocellus boredly stated, “About time.”
The yak agreed, “Yona was wondering how long it would take.”
Gallus stopped his pacing and was in disbelief, “Are you telling me that you both knew about it?”
“Not just us, we all can see it,” Ocellus explained, “You might as well have a giant, flashing neon sign.”
“But how did you know?” Gallus asked.
The changeling snarkily added, “We have eyes, that’s how.”
“That doesn’t explain how you know anything!” Gallus grew defensive.
Ocellus rolled her eyes, “Every time we see you two fight, we just wonder if you two will finally kiss.”
“Really?” the griffon asked, turning to look at Yona for an answer.
“Yona has read romance novels with less intimate tension between creatures than friends Gallus and Smolder,” the yak stated.
“Honestly, the tension between the both of you is….” Ocellus trailed off as she was searching for the right word.
“Is what?” Gallus egged on.
Yona interjected with the correct word, “Extreme.”
“Yes, that’s the word. Extreme. You can cut the tension with a plastic spoon,” the changeling said as she looked back at her study materials.
“We don’t have any tension!” Gallus insisted. His cheeks were flushed at the thought. “And I don’t need the two of you judging me, I get that enough from Grampa Gruff.”
Ocellus added with a sly smile, “When you two argue I swear it looks like you’re flirting.”
“Yona agrees.”
Gallus’ face burned more as he shot back, “Stop saying that!”
Both Yona and Ocellus couldn’t help but chuckle at Gallus’ outburst.
“Friends Gallus and Smolder not see their own signs?” Yona asked in jest.
Ocellus joked back, “Perhaps we were giving them too much credit.”
Their laughter didn’t help the griffon. He let out a strained groan in annoyance and admittance, “Gahh, why do I like her?!” His words were pained at the thought of liking the dragon.
“Why does friend Gallus hate that he likes friend Smolder? Yona thought creatures are supposed to like the ones they like.”
Gallus was quick to list off “She’s rude, she’s vulgar, she’s crass and so aggressive!”
“You just described Smolder completely,” Ocellus pointed out.
Yona asked Gallus a question, “When did friend know that they fell in love with friend Smolder?”
“I think it was the moment she gave me a right hook,” Gallus recalled, “I might have hit the floor hard and gotten a black eye, but I guess I’ve been smitten since.”
“How romantic,” Yona commented with a smile.
Ocellus was confused, “Is that a griffon or a yak thing that I don’t understand? Like, how violence is part of a mating ritual?” She shook her head and then continued with a followup question of her own, “But you keep saying you can’t stand her from time to time, what is it even that you like about her?”
The griffon shrugged, “It’s the friction, I guess. She’s an absolute spitfire of a dragon and it’s the friction that draws me in.”
“If we’re talking friction between you two,” Ocellus stated, “then I’m surprised there hasn’t been a wildfire yet.”
“Ha ha,” Gallus mockingly laughed. “I just don’t know how to put it into words. I guess I like butting heads with her.”
“Do you mean metaphorically or literally?” Ocellus asked, “Because I don’t think any of us like taking you to the infirmary anymore. Not to mention the soft tissue damage….”
Gallus rolled his eyes, “I know, I know. I should be getting those x-rays back soon, so that will be at least one mystery solved. And I can’t get back at her because she has wings, so I can’t shove her down a flight of stairs.”
“Yona think Yona gets it,” the yak spoke up, “Yona think friend Gallus like friend Smolder so much because Gallus can’t control Smolder.”
“I don’t want to control her!” Gallus swiftly retorted.
“Maybe control isn’t the right word,” Ocellus added, as she thought aloud, agreeing with Yona’s thought, “Rather, you can’t really predict Smolder, and that she is so far different from what you were expecting to find here when you came to the school. Instead, you found some creature so much like you that you can’t imagine being without her.”
“Wow….is that really it?” Gallus asked.
“Yeah, it’s obvious!” Ocellus replied loudly.
He stood and thought about what Ocellus said to him. Gallus then raised his talons to his head and rubbed his temples in effort to alleviate some sort of headache. “Nah, that all sounds too stupid. This is Smolder we’re talking about. She's like a cactus in every possible way!”
“And you know what’s inside of a cactus?” Ocellus asked.
“....fire?” Gallus guessed.
Yona answered, “No, sweet water.”
“Correct. If you would study for the biology midterm like Yona and myself, you’d know that,” the changeling gave a little attitude towards Gallus.
“Yona think Gallus don’t know how much Smolder likes Gallus,” the yak stated as she scribbled something onto her notes.
“Huh? What are you talking about?” Gallus looked at Yona.
Looking up at her friend, Yona explained, “Yona good at noticing small details about friends and what they think. For a while, Yona notice that friend Smolder more playful when around friend Gallus, even if Smolder hurt Gallus.”
Ocellus smirked as she added, “It is true. I’d say opposites attract, but the violence would say otherwise.”
“But beneath jokes and such,” Yona continued, “Yona notice that friend Smolder cares deeply about Gallus. Even more than other friends. Inside the rough exterior of friend Smolder is the sweet center of Smolder that loves friend Gallus. Just like how Gallus loves Smolder.”
“I don’t love Smolder!” Gallus quickly defended himself, despite his flushed red face saying otherwise.
Intervening between her friends, Ocellus spoke up, “Gallus, I just don’t get it. First you come in here asking for help about admitting your true feelings to Smolder, and then next thing you do is talk about how much she gets under your skin. Then you go right back to saying how you are unable to fully explain how you feel about her. You keep swinging back and forth like a pendulum.”
Yona gave her thoughts, “Maybe it griffon thing?”
“Hey, no need to stereotype me!” Gallus fired back. He paused for a moment before adding, “Though it is kind of true that most griffons marry the one who annoys them the least. But that’s not the point here. The point is that I admit I like Smolder and….and I don’t know what to do about it.” Gallus looked down at the floor and his talons with a crestfallen sigh.
With a shrug and a sigh of her own, Ocellus spoke, “Alright, maybe it’s something I just don’t understand. Maybe I won’t really understand. But the way you two argue, I’d say you were already married and withholding intimacy as a weapon.”
“Creatures can do that?!” Yona asked in surprise.
“Putting a pin in that,” Ocellus interrupted Yona’s thought as she continued to talk to Gallus, “Do you know the kind of dragon that Smolder is? She’s not as rough as her scales imply. Not only does she have a soft side as Yona stated, but she’s the same dragon who has weekly tea parties with me. We dress up and, as she calls it, ‘act all girly and silly.”
“Really? That happened more than that one time?” Gallus asked.
Ocellus nodded, “Yes, and she thoroughly enjoys it. She doesn’t like to talk much about it, but that’s who she is.”
“Wow, guess I never thought Smolder really had that side to her. That being said, the thought of her in a dress is actually kind of hilarious. Cute, even.”
“Oooh, I wouldn’t say that to her face,” the changeling warned, which Yona silently nodded in agreement. “But there’s a lot more to her that she lets on, like her gentle side and the side that has an affinity for cute things. Like how she told me you were purring when you slept against her on the train ride back from our field trip to Appleossa.”
“I did WHAT?!” Gallus asked in horror.
Yona giggled at the thought, “Friend Smolder told friends at sleepover!”
With a playful smile, Ocellus continued, “Do you think Smolder would have let you sleep against her if she didn’t return those feelings? You should stop hiding how you feel, otherwise it’s only going to get worse.”
“Friend Gallus need to break down the wall between him and Friend Smolder, even if it hurt to do so,” Yona added.
Gallus looked up at the ceiling with a long groan, but he agreed, “Fine, you’re both right.”
A smug expression appeared on Ocellus’ face, “I love being told I’m right.”
“What friend Gallus going to do to tell feelings?” Yona asked.
The griffon simply shrugged, “I dunno.”
“How about a letter detailing how you feel?” Ocellus suggested.
Gallus quickly and bitterly replied, “I rather eat broken glass.”
Yona gave a surprised look, “Wow. Dedication.”
“See, there’s that pendulum again, swinging the other way,” Ocellus commented with a bit of frustration.
“Alright, alright,” Gallus conceded with a defeated sigh. He sat down on the floor of the dorm room and took a fresh piece of parchment from the stack near Ocellus and Yona’s study materials. He took a few moments to stare at the blank parchment before looking back up at his friends, “Last chance to talk me out of this. Could you? Please?”
“One of friends must start something or nothing will ever happen,” Yona asserted firmly.
“But this is Smolder we’re talking about….” Gallus trailed off.
The changeling spoke up, “Yes, the same dragon you have been flip-flopping on since you came in our dorm. It is said that we come to love not by finding a perfect creature, but by learning to see an imperfect creature perfectly.”
Gallus was awestruck by Ocellus’ words, “Wow, that’s so poetic. Did you just come up with that?”
“Yona think Gallus not pay attention in literature class,” the yak added in her commentary.
“Okay, fine,” the griffon finally spat out, “I’ll write the stupid letter.” Taking a quill from the pile of study materials, he began to start writing. His writing was a bit sporadic as he kept looking up at Ocellus and Yona who were watching him write. “Do you mind not staring while I try to write this?”
“If friend Smolder kills friend Gallus, can Yona have friend Gallus’ Alicorn In Reigns records?” Yona asked with genuine curiosity.
“Hey, I wanted those!” Ocellus sounded sad that she didn’t say something first.
“But Yona called it first! And Ocellus don’t like Alicorn In Reigns!”
“I’m not going to die! I mean, I don’t think I will,’ the griffon interrupted with a shout. He paused for a moment as he thought aloud, “Well, maybe it’ll be by her claw or maybe it’ll be from embarrassment.”
Gallus resumed writing as Ocellus and Yona watched on.
“It’s going to end with them either finally officially dating or one of them killed by the other, not sure which.”
“Yona has twenty bits on friends dating.”
“You’re on.”
Smolder was pacing outside of the dorms, feeling the cool night air against her scales. In her claws, she looked down at the envelope she had sealed not an hour ago. She took a few deep breaths in hope to relax but her nerves were getting to her.
“Guh….this is stupid….just so stupid….” she muttered to herself.
Her goal was to go and deliver the letter, and possibly run away immediately afterwards, but Smolder had stepped outside to take a quick breather. But now, her doubts were getting the best of her and growing the more she thought.
A voice called out and broke her from her endless cycle of self-doubt,“Yo, Smolder!”
The dragon looked up to see a familiar face. It was that of the blue griffon she was hoping to see.
“Oh, hey Gallus,” she waved back with her free claw, hiding the claw that held the letter behind her back. “What a….what are you doing out here?”
“Looking for you,” Gallus explained as he got closer and took note of Smolder hiding one of her claws behind her back. “What’cha got there?” he asked, pointing.
A chill ran down Smolder’s back as Gallus pointed at her. “Looking for me? Well, I was looking for you!” she tried her best to change the topic
The griffon seemed confused, “For me? Why?”
Gritting her teeth, Smolder softly whispered to herself: “Guess it’s now or never.” The dragon lowered her head downward as she brought the letter forward toward Gallus. Her face was blushing a deep red.
It seemed like an eternity for Smolder as she waited. For what, Smolder wasn’t sure what to expect. However, she did finally get some response from Gallus.
“You wrote a letter too?”
“Yeah….well, I burned about six of them before I got to this one,” Smolder explained as she lifted her head up before it dawned on her, “Wait, what do you mean ‘too’?”
Silently, Gallus lifted up his left wing, revealing a hidden envelope. Grabbing it, he held it forward toward the dragon.
Smolder looked at it for a moment before asking, “Is this gonna have any of your wing stink on it?”
“My wings don’t stink!” Gallus quickly bit back. He moved to take a quick sniff of the wing that hid the letter, “Oh no, they do….”
A small smirk appeared on Smolder’s face, “Surprised Sandbar didn’t tell you yet.”
Gallus simply rolled his eyes as the two creatures exchanged envelopes. As he was about to open his, Gallus stopped as he noted that Smolder simply stared at the letter she had received.
“Aren’t you going to open it?” he asked.
A few soft words left the dragon’s mouth, “....I think I’m afraid.”
“Afraid?” the griffon was surprised, “What are you afraid of? You’re a dragon that can roast me, both metaphorically and literally.”
Smolder simply gave a bewildered look to Gallus at his choice of words.
Noting her expression, Gallus answered the immediate question that was on her mind, “Yes, I have been paying attention in language arts class.”
Bringing herself back, Smolder continued as she looked elsewhere. Her words were filled with doubt, “I just feel afraid that….maybe what I wrote in that letter wasn’t the best thing to write to my friend….”
“Really? I thought I was your arch-nemesis or something,” Gallus commented with a chuckle.
Smolder finally gained the courage to look up to meet Gallus’ eyes, “I don’t see you as some sort of enemy, Gallus. Rather, I see you as a challenger. You know, a rival on equal terms that I love clashing with.”
Gallus quickly interjected, “Which might end in my death one day.”
“Yes, that might end with your death one day. Exactly.” Smolder agreed. She paused for a moment before her attitude turned melancholic. Looking away, she continued, “Look, I didn’t really want to say anything because….because I like what we got. I guess the idea of change is a scary thought to me.” The dragon let out a quick sigh before she added, “Can’t we just stay in this rut forever?””
The griffon looked at Smolder and then her letter in his talon. A small but genuine laugh came from his beak, surprising the dragon. Gallus then spoke, “If only you knew what I mentally had to go to write this stupid letter.”
Smolder looked up at Gallus, puzzled.
“Writing that letter was….” Gallus started speaking, “It took a lot out of me. I mean, finding the right words, for one. But also I wanted to make it really say how I feel, you know? About everything with us.” He paused for a moment to sigh, “Like I said in the letter, there’s two things I’ll never understand: gazpacho and you. You are a crass and cold-blooded reptile that somehow manages to impress me daily on how much you can enrage me. That being said, seeing you each day and verbally sparring with you are the highlights of my day.”
Unable to hide the smile on her face, Smolder had to ask, “What’s your deal with gazpacho?”
“Who in their right mind eats soup cold?!” Gallus passionately asked to any open ear. He then asked a question right back, “There was another thing I did mention in the letter that I don’t understand: why do you always beat the various stuffings out of me?”
“Because we’re friends,” Smolder shrugged, “and because it’s fun.”
“Tell that to my x-rays,” Gallus said as he used his free talon to touch his ribcage.
“Look, whenever I headbutt some creature square in their forehead, I don't get hurt and they go down in pain. However with you, I actually feel something,” Smolder explained with a bit of wistfulness in her voice. However, all of that wistfulness vanished as she added, “But I’m also laughing as I watch you go down in pain. It’s like our thing.”
“Not many can go one-on-one with you, huh?”
“Bold of you to assume that you could,” Smolder fired back as she folded her arms, careful not to mess up the letter.
Gallus scoffed, “Please, you’re not as half as smart as you think you are.”
“Still smarter than you by far.”
“This coming from the napping princess of algebra class.”
“Says the ‘giver-of-lame-names’,” Smolder joked.
Both creatures looked at each other with smiles on their faces. The lights from the outdoor lamps lit up their faces enough to show the pink color in both of their cheeks.
“When together,” Smolder said, “we can’t help but one-up and call each other out. But apart….well, I miss it, and I miss you.”
“Guess it’s the friction,” the griffon suggested.
“Certainly makes things more interesting,” Smolder nodded at the thought.
“Sugar and salt.”
“Fire and ice.”
“Oil and water.”
“Day and night.”
“Hot and cold.”
“And tons of others I’m sure we can think of,” Smolder rolled her eyes at the thought, causing both of them to laugh.
After laughing, Gallus spoke, “We’re good friends, but it’s not exactly one of those so-called perfect relationships. But it’s ours. I think that’s more than enough.”
Smolder stuck her tongue out as if she had just tasted something bitter, “Guh….all this mushy stuff coming out of our mouth feels so gross.” Briefly, she made gagging sounds, as if she was attempting to induce vomit, “I might need to wash my mouth out with soap. Does that work?”
“No, don’t do that,” Gallus warned from experience, “Grandpa Gruff used to do that to us back in Griffonstone and it’s just awful.”
With a smirk, Smolder thanked him, “Appreciate the warning.”
“Happy to help a friend,” Gallus said.
“I can’t believe I’m even friends with a griffon like you.”
Gallus returned fire, “And I can’t believe I’m friends with the creature with the worst breath ever.”
“Says the bird with smelly wings,” Smolder verbally jabbed.
Each with a smile, Gallus and Smolder looked on at each other in silence. With only the sounds of distant birds and nearby crickets, the two creatures seemed to be in a world of their own.
Finally, Gallus spoke the words that were stuck in his throat, “I….I like you….”
Smolder’s words were snarky, “Wow, you really just want to piss me off, don’t you?”
The sincere smile didn’t leave Gallus’ face despite the jeering comment. The cheeks may have been red, but the words were both honest and heartfelt, “I do mean it.”
It took a lot of effort for the dragon to find the courage, and even more to finally speak:
“I….don’t hate you, alright?”
“Same to you, idiot.” That response was more than good enough for Gallus. “So, how does it feel to get it off your chest?”
The dragon asked right back, “I was about to ask you the same thing, dork.”
“I think it feels good.”
“Yeah, it really does.”
Without a word, Gallus motioned for the two to go back into the dormitories. Smolder nodded as she turned to join him in returning into the warm building. As they made their way to the door, the dragon took a quick look at the envelope that Gallus had given her earlier, and the griffon glanced at the letter that Smolder had given him.
“Just so you know, the letter is….”
“I know, and my letter said….”
“I’m not stupid.”
“Prove it.”
END
