Markingby SugarHoneyIceTea123ChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 1So today was a lipstick day. Gallus took note of that as Smolder sat down to eat lunch with him and the rest of the gang, a layer of red on her lips contrasting with the orange scales of the rest of her mouth. It was no secret to anyone in their group that Smolder had… issues in the past regarding her self-image. The Dragon Lands weren’t exactly the most understanding to individualism. If you weren’t rough and rugged, you weren’t a dragon. But, since coming to Equestria to enroll in the School of Friendship, Smolder found herself more and more free to express a more... traditionally feminine side of herself. She was still Smolder. Curt, abrasive, and prideful. But she was becoming more and more open with being ‘girly’ from time to time. At first, it was an ‘all or nothing’ deal. She would go the whole nine yards to doll herself up before having her usual tea parties with Ocellus and, later, the rest of the gang. Gallus was honestly impressed with her sense of style, even if it was incredibly froufrou. Still, these forays into frilly were temporary releases. Soon as the tea party was over, the dress would be shed like a skin and the make-up quickly wiped away, leaving only a raw Smolder. And nobody in the school outside of their immediate friend group knew about these parties or Smolder’s personal dress code for them. That was a secret Smolder expected all of them to keep, and not without a few not-at-all-subtle threats of violent retaliation if they talked. But recently, Smolder’s been trying a new tactic. Rather than dress herself up to the nines for secret get-togethers, she instead decided to try going out in public with only the barest accouterment. Usually this would be a single accessory or one specific area of make-up applied. Something that let her experience feeling ‘girly’ without drawing too much attention to it. Both Gallus and the others had gotten used to Smolder randomly deciding to slightly gussy up in different ways to the point where they hardly even noticed it. Some days, it was a layer of eyeshadow. Some days, it was a necklace or bracelet. And, apparently, today was a lipstick day. And while, normally, Gallus and his friends didn’t draw any special attention to it, which they knew Smolder preferred since this was her attempt at normalizing it, Gallus couldn’t help but steal a glance or two at Smolder’s painted lips. Griffons didn’t have lips, obviously. So the very concept of lipstick was something of a novelty for Gallus. He couldn’t help but stare just a bit at how different the contrasting red and orange made her mouth look. “Something on your mind, Gallus?” The red lips suddenly said, pulling Gallus back to reality. “Huh?” Smolder shot an annoyed look at him. “You were staring at me.” “Uh… No I wasn’t.” Gallus defended, though even he knew how pitiful that sounded. “I was just kinda daydreaming, staring off to space. You just happened to be occupying that space.” Smolder raised an eyebrow, but shrugged indifferently and went back to her meal. The lunch hour progressed like it usually did until the group had to split up for their respective classes. —- With classes done for the day, Gallus had just finished putting his book-bag into his locker before closing it… And was taken aback a bit by Smolder leaning against the lockers behind his locker’s door. “Gah! Jeez, Smolder! You’re gonna give me a friggin’ heart-attack…” Gallus admonished. Smolder said nothing at first, merely keeping a steady gaze on Gallus as if sizing him up as she leaned against the lockers, her arms crossed. He noticed that she was still wearing her lipstick. “You gonna explain what that was all about in the cafeteria?” Smolder finally expressed. “W-What do you mean?” Gallus said, glancing around to see if any other student might walk in on the two of them. “Gal, it’s just the two of us. I promise, I’m not mad. I just want to know why you were giving me eyes earlier.” Smolder explained, and Gallus could tell that there wasn’t any of Smolder’s usual temper. She seemed… legitimately worried that something was wrong. Not wanting to leave his friend worrying over nothing, and realizing it probably wasn’t that big of a deal, Gallus sighed and ran a clawed hand down his neck. “Look, don’t take this the wrong way, but… I was staring at your lipstick.” Gallus admitted. “My lipstick?” Smolder repeated, genuinely confused. “Yeah, cuz… Y’know, I don’t really see a lot of griffon ladies walk around wearing lipstick, so I was just… curious, is all.” “You’ve seen me in lipstick before.” Smolder argued. “Yeah, but you’re usually wearing a bunch of other stuff that makes the lipstick a lot less interesting by comparison. This was the first time I’ve seen you in just lipstick and, well, it kinda caught my attention.” Gallus reasoned. Smolder kept her gaze on Gallus, not angry or defensive but disconcertingly neutral, leaving Gallus completely unsure of how she felt right now. After a second or two, Smolder smiled and shrugged, getting up from leaning against the lockers, apparently satisfied that this really was just a misunderstanding. “I can get that. Sorry for grilling ya, y’know how I get…” Smolder said, halfway apologetically. “It’s cool.” Gallus said, though now the two were left standing there with the situation more or less resolved thanks to proper communication. A rarity for the two of them, all things considered. Until… Smolder suddenly got a wicked idea in her head. And Gallus knew it was a wicked idea specifically because she only ever got that smirk on her face when she had her most wicked ideas. Somehow, the lipstick only made that smirk more terrifying than usual. “Y’knoooow…” Smolder drawled, taking a step closer to Gallus who instinctively took a step back. “If you’re really so curious… I could give you a closer look…” She said, making a very noticeable effort of lidding her eyes as she said this. Gallus could barely mutter an ‘Uh…’ before Smolder shot her hands forward and Gallus felt her scaly palms against the sides of his head. With Gallus trapped and paralyzed with shock, Smolder sprung forward, her puckered lips more pronounced with the red against the orange. Those same lips got closer and closer before planting themselves against Gallus’ feathery blue cheek. “Mwah!” Smolder audibly sounded out the kiss as her lips popped off of Gallus’ cheek. She took a step back, a self-satisfied grin on her face as she admired her handiwork. She stifled a giggle with a hand to her mouth, lipstick just barely smudged. “You look ridiculous right now!” Gallus just stood there in shock, mentally trying to process what in Tartarus just happened?! Apparently, Gallus’ gobsmacked expression only made the whole situation funnier to Smolder as her giggling gave way to straight up laughter, turning on her heel as she gave Gallus a coy wave goodbye. “Thanks for that, Gallus. I needed a good laugh today!” With that, Smolder simply walked away laughing, apparently unaware by how much her little stunt actually stunned the poor griff. —- By the time Gallus' mental faculties had finally caught up with the rest of his body, the sun was already starting to begin its descent below the horizon. As Gallus absentmindedly walked back to his dorm-room, the feeling of Smolder’s painted lips still fresh on his cheek, he couldn’t help but notice more eyes than usual were on him this evening. He was used to the occasional stare from his fellow students, being the only griffon enrolled in the school, but this was getting a bit… excessive. It wasn’t just the stares, but the fact that some of them, mostly the female students, were giggling incessantly to themselves. Not unlike Smolder. Even a few of the male students smiled and gave him a wink, as though congratulating him for something. Gallus wasn’t sure what any of this was about, and right now, he didn’t care. His frazzled brain just wanted to get him into his room as quickly as possible so he could digest what exactly happened between him and Smolder. Though the stares only seemed to increase as he quickened his pace. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he slammed the door to his room open and quickly slammed it shut behind him, taking a few quick breaths as he shut the leering eyes of his fellow students out of his mind. Sandbar, his best bud and roommate, had apparently already settled in for the night as he was curled up on the bottom bunk of their bunk bed, reading a comic. He looked up in alarm at Gallus’ frantic entrance. “Yo, Gallus? You alright, man?” Sandbar said, concerned. He put away his comic, obviously having more interest in making sure his friend was okay. “Uh… Smo-Smo… I-uh…” Gallus stammered. He still wasn’t entirely sure what just happened, much less how to articulate it. Sandbar got up from his bed to face Gallus… then promptly froze as he got a good look at his friend’s face. “Uh… You have a good night there, buddy?” Sandbar asked, cocking his head to the side as the slightest smile tugged the corners of his mouth. “Huh?” Gallus expressed, not quite grasping what he meant. “You should probably go take a look at the mirror, dude.” Sandbar suggested, not even trying to hide his smile now. “Did you walk here with that?” A jolt of panic shot through Gallus as he thought back to the constant looks his fellow students gave him. A look that was identical to the one Sandbar had right now. Rushing past his roommate and into the bathroom the two shared, Gallus pulled the cord attached to the ceiling light before staring at his own visage in the mirror. Oh… That’s what she meant by ‘You look ridiculous.’ Gallus stared dumbfounded at the offending mark. A perfect red imprint of Smolder’s lips on his cheek. Chapter 2Today was not a lipstick day. And Gallus couldn’t decide if he was relieved or disappointed. This time around, Smolder apparently decided to accentuate herself with a pair of golden bangles loosely hanging off her wrists. Gallus wasn’t entirely sure where she got the bangles but chances were they were one of many presents and gifts their friends got for her in a spur of the moment feeling of kindness and generosity. Even Gallus was guilty of gifting Smolder a few innocuous trinkets here or there, knowing full well that she appreciated any new additions to her wardrobe. This time, Gallus was not staring at the golden bands, clinking gently against her wrists every time she moved her arms. Both because, unlike lipstick, bracelets were a common enough jewelry among griffons (the few who could actually afford jewelry, at least), and also because he was justifiably worried over what Smolder might do if she caught him leering again. For her part, Smolder apparently had no memory of the event last night that stuck with Gallus all throughout a restless sleep. That, or it just didn’t even register to Smolder as something even worth bringing up. That alone should have told Gallus everything he needed to know. The kiss was just a bit of fun between friends. A chance to make Gallus look silly with a smudge of lipstick on his face. For Grover’s sake, Gallus thought, it wasn’t as if his other friends couldn’t be surprisingly affectionate with each other while still keeping things platonic. Welcome to Ponyville, Gallus! He couldn’t even count the amount of hugs, hand-holding, cuddles, and other displays of softness he and his friends shared with each other with no talk of romance or dating even being considered. They were just… that comfortable with each other. So of course Smolder felt comfortable enough to give Gallus a totally platonic kiss on the cheek all in the name of a good laugh at smearing her lipstick on him. Which means Gallus could totally be comfortable in enjoying a totally platonic kiss from his good buddy, Smolder. Why, he could probably go for another of those totally platonic kisses! That’s just how comfortable Gallus was with the totally platonic affection he and Smolder shared! As long as she puts on lipstick first. Gallus screwed his eyes shut as his mind tried to purge whatever insubordinate part of his psyche thought that. Apparently, Gallus wasn’t exactly being subtle with his inner turmoil as he felt a gentle nudge against his arm. “Hey, Gallus? Are you okay?” Ocellus asked, obvious concern in her iridescent, blue eyes. “You seem kind of out of it?” Gallus gave a noncommittal shrug as he poked at his slightly-above-average-school-food with his fork. “Yeah, I’m good, Cell. Just… bit of a restless sleep last night.” “Got a lot on your mind, bird-boy?” Smolder teased, her smirk letting Gallus know that she knew exactly what kept him awake. “Hey, I know a way we can all de-stress. It’s been a while since we’ve had one of our little ‘private get-togethers’...” “Ooh, great idea!” Silverstream exclaimed, seemingly more eager at the chance to dress up than even Smolder. True, they all went along with these secret tea parties for Smolder’s sake, but they all still enjoyed doing it in their own ways. Even Gallus didn’t mind dusting off a fancy top hat and dinner jacket he kept around just for these occasions. They weren’t exactly lucrative, being students, so these secret tea-parties were pretty much their only chance at feeling high-society every now and then. While helping Smolder come to terms with her self-image issues was certainly the catalyst for these tea parties, it was hardly the only reason they did them anymore. “I can tackle getting some snack cakes and pastries from Sugar Cube Corner.” Sandbar offered, falling into the group’s comfortable routine of delegating prep work for the tea party. “King Thorax actually sent me some new tea brews from the Hive. This would be a perfect chance to try some of them out!” Ocellus gushed, excited at the prospect of sharing some of her culture with the group. “Sounds like a plan, the rest of you just bring yourselves and be sure to look the part.” Smolder said, turning her attention to Gallus. “Maybe this’ll help you unwind, Gal?” Not wanting to rise to her bait, Gallus just gave a smile and said “Wouldn’t miss it.” Oh, right, Gallus thought as he walked through the door into Smolder and Ocellus’ dorm-room, his top hat slightly askew from him stopping dead in his tracks. Smolder wore lipstick as part of her ensemble. Smolder, of course, had multiple outfits for these events that she kept in rotation. Some of them elegant, some conservative, some just straight up the poofiest, frilliest tapestries of fabric and lace you would ever lay eyes on. This time around, she kept it relatively simple with a white, floral patterned blouse and knee-length, navy blue skirt. As always, her accessory game was on point with a conservative set of pearls draped around her neck. And, as Gallus noticed the second he walked through the door, she had an even coating of bubblegum-pink lipstick on her lips. Gallus found he actually preferred the red lipstick from last night. The crimson contrasted much more sharply against the orange scales of her mouth and the flash of red in her smile invited just the tiniest hint of danger. Shaking his head to get those incredibly intrusive thoughts out of his mind, Gallus couldn’t help but wonder where in Tartarus that had come from? He never really made it a habit of critiquing Smolder’s make-up style before. Still, he had to admit, the pink lipstick did lower his guard that he didn’t even realize he was still holding up from last night. It was certainly a much more cute, innocent choice. He wondered how the pink might look on the blue feathers of his cheek? Dang it, enough! Gallus practically screamed into his own mind. He was here to have a nice, relaxing time sipping tea and trading stories with his friends. This was going to be a perfectly friendly, perfectly platonic evening, and that’s that!! “Uh, Gallus? You’re kinda holding up the door, man.” He heard Sandbar say behind him. Of course Sandbar was behind him, they walked here together from their own dorm-room. Giving a sheepish apology, Gallus stepped aside and let Sandbar enter the room, a plate of crumb cake and mini-strudels perched on his back with the balance that only a millennia of not having opposable thumbs can give a creature. “Hey boys, party’s just starting.” Smolder said, acknowledging their arrival. Indeed, Gallus and Sandbar appeared to have arrived just a few moments early as Ocellus was still in the process of brewing a couple pots of tea in the assorted arrangements of electrically powered hot-plates they used for these events. Gallus assumed each teapot was filled with the ominously unknown Changeling brews hitherto untasted outside of the hive. “You just make yourself comfortable there, handsome~” Smolder said, and Gallus wasn’t sure if she was talking to himself or Sandbar. They both did look rather smart in their outfits, Sandbar going for a more urban-formal look with a vest and slate-grey, wool flat cap. Sandbar apparently took the invitation, though, as he deposited the pastries for the evening on Ocellus’ worktable and took his seat at the table the two dorm residents set aside for their friends. Gallus finally managed to get his brain to send a signal to his feet to move him over to the table, taking his usual spot next to Sandbar. And that’s when it happened. Smolder, who Gallus was sure was fully aware of how uncomfortable he was right now, got the same smirk on her face that she had last night before pouncing on Gallus and leaving her mark. With half-lidded eyes, Smolder made an over-the-top display of sashaying over to the table, looking for all to see like a high-society lady type. “We’ll be right with you gentlemen as soon as we get this tea done.” She said, placing the tips of her claws up to her mouth before blowing the two of them a kiss, her pink lipstick making her puckered lips even more pronounced as she gave an audible ‘Mwah!’ Gallus swore he could actually see a little cartoon pair of pink lips fly out of her hand and go straight towards him. He knew it was only his overactive imagination, but it still took a lot of his willpower not to physically dodge the flying kiss. As Smolder turned on her heel to help Ocellus prep the mystery tea, Sandbar leaned over to Gallus with a way too innocent smile on his face. “Boy, she really likes playing the part, doesn’t she?” He said, not picking up at all on his roommate's inner turmoil. The tea party continued on as it usually did. Eventually, Silverstream and Yona joined the festivities, Silverstream’s near royal ensemble giving some of Smolder’s more extravagant outfits a run for their money. Gallus silently wondered if the two had a bit of an unspoken rivalry of trying to one-up each other. Beyond that, it was about as textbook as their tea parties usually got. The discussions they had during these parties wouldn’t be out of place if they were to have them in the cafeteria or library or any of their other usual hang-out spots. This just had the added fun of dressing up and enjoying some sweet treats and competently freshly-brewed tea. On that note, concerning these supposed brand new teas from the Changeling hive, Gallus had to admit they weren’t his favorite. The flavor wasn’t bad, but they had a bit of an earthy aftertaste. Eventually, evening gave way to night and the gang knew it was time to retire. Gallus ended up getting roped into helping with the clean-up while Sandbar went on ahead to their room without him. Something he would be more suspicious of if it wasn’t Ocellus who asked him to stay behind. Eventually, with everything put away and Smolder even freeing herself from the trappings of her clothes, modesty being a non-issue for a society where clothes were optional at best, Gallus was ready to call it a night himself. The good conversation, good food, and not-at-all-bad-but-not-as-good-as-usual tea actually helped to distract him from all thoughts of Smolder and her painted lips. He might actually get a decent night of sleep tonight. Before Gallus could cross the threshold of Smolder and Ocellus’ dorm-room, he heard a voice call out behind him. “Hey, wait up.” Smolder said, locking Gallus in place. Gallus turned back and saw Smolder looking perfectly innocent, no trace of a wicked thought in her head. If anything, she looked downright chipper after yet another successful tea party with her friends. She was still wearing her pink lipstick. Glancing around, Gallus realized that Ocellus had absconded into their shared bathroom, no doubt washing up for the night. Meaning she wasn’t here to run interference on… whatever might happen. “So, did this help at all?” Smolder asked. Again, Gallus couldn’t sense any ulterior motive in the question. “Help?” Gallus repeated, not sure where she was going. “You said you were restless last night.” Smolder said, her smile dropping ever-so-slightly with concern. “Did this, all of us hanging out together, help you with whatever was buggin’ you?” Gallus deflated a little but, secretly, he was relieved. He really was just making a mountain out of a molehill. Here he was, mentally tearing himself apart over a silly little kiss, and here was Smolder worried about his feelings. She obviously didn’t think much about the kiss, since she apparently didn’t piece together that she was the cause of the stress that kept Gallus up last night. So what right did he have to pay that kiss any more mind than she did? “Yeah, this actually helped a lot.” Gallus said, giving an apologetic smile for making Smolder worry. “Thanks, Smolder.” “No prob, happy to help. You have a good night, G.” Smolder said, walking Gallus out the door. “You too.” Gallus said, happy to put this whole business of kisses and lipstick behind him. Then Smolder grabbed his head, puckered her lips, and planted a big smooch on his cheek. Once more giving a very audible ‘Mwah!’ “Night Gallus.” Smolder said, apparently not even realizing what she had just done as she left a paralyzed Gallus standing right outside as she closed the door. As Gallus shambled, zombie-like, back to his dorm-room, he didn't even need to check the mirror for the pink mark he knew was on his cheek. The stares and giggles of his schoolmates gave him all the confirmation he needed. Chapter 3Gallus wondered if today was a lipstick day? He hadn’t seen Smolder yet that day, so he wasn’t sure. And he wasn’t sure how he’d react if it was. He couldn’t, for the life of him, get a read on what Smolder was trying to accomplish. Was she just screwing with him? Just trying to get a rise? Did kissing mean something completely different for dragons that he and his friends just never picked up on? Gallus normally didn’t particularly care for Chemistry as a subject, but right now, he was completely engulfed in his measurements and calculations in an attempt to distract himself from any more thoughts of the matter. He was so distracted, he didn’t notice Smolder walk up behind him. “Whatcha cookin’, Doc?” Smolder asked, poking her head out from behind him. “Gah!” Gallus exclaimed, very nearly accidentally dumping the contents of the phial in his hands into the beaker he had been mixing his compounds in. If he had done his calculations right, too much of this compound would have resulted in a much more volatile reaction. And Gallus had just about enough volatile reactions caused by Smolder. “S-Smolder! What are you doing here! You don’t have this class!” Gallus hissed, trying not to raise his voice too much over the ambient chatter of his classmates. Both so he wouldn’t cause someone else to make the same mistake he nearly did, and also to make sure not to draw too much attention to the two of the- Oh, Grover, now she’s wearing purple lipstick. Why did she look so good in purple lipstick!? Gallus thought. “I had a free period.” Smolder said, shrugging. “But I’m not staying, I just wanna grab Ocellus’ history notes from you. Remember, she let you borrow them? She needs them back and she sent me to grab ‘em.” Gallus sighed, happy that she wasn’t sticking around to do whatever horrible things she no doubt had planned with those striking purple lips. Did he just think the word striking when describing a pair of lips? What was this girl doing to him!? Putting the phial on a rack for now, he rummaged in his book bag for a bit before producing the particular set of notes she asked for. “Thanks, G. Catch ya later.” Smolder said, grabbing the papers and giving Gallus a two finger salute as she walked off. Letting out a sigh of relief he didn’t even realize he was holding in, Gallus picked the phial back up and tilted it ever-so-slightly, making sure not to put in a single drop more than the recommended amount. “Oh, hey! I almost forgot!” Smolder’s voice behind him caused him to turn around, only to turn directly into a pair of purple, puckered lips diving straight for his face. Smolder stood on her tip-toes as her lips pressed against the clear plastic of Gallus’ safety goggles, giving Gallus a very clear view of her lips staining the plastic as Smolder pulled away, leaving a perfect mark of her lips coloring half of Gallus’ vision purple. “Mwah!” With that, and a very self-satisfied grin on her face, Smolder turned and left without another word. Gallus could barely see her leave as the mark she left practically half-blinded him. He certainly didn’t see himself absent-mindedly dumping the entire phial in his hand into the beaker. He didn’t even see his beaker explode into a flood of pink goo and foam until the student sitting at the station next to him started screaming about her textbooks getting stained by Gallus’ project. “Mr. Gallus!” Professor Time Turner shouted, though Gallus barely registered his reprimand. “I am not so prudish as to be against public displays of affection, but please try to keep such frivolities on your own time!” Dodgeball. Dodgeball would give him the release he needed. Dodgeball was always a great stress relief for him. Active without being too taxing, and fun to boot. The school didn’t exactly have a professional dodgeball team, at least not in the sense that they played against other schools like their Buckball team, but he and his fellow players still had enough athletic pride to take their in-house games seriously enough to work up a good sweat. “So, before we get started with today’s game,” Coach Rainbow Dash said, gathering up the players, Gallus among them. “I got a special treat. Since we’re in a bit of a dry spell in the Buckball season, our Cheerleading squad is feeling a bit out of practice. So we’re gonna kill two birds with one stone today and have the squad come cheer you guys on while you play. Should get you nice and pumped up and be a good refresher course for their routine.” Well, that’s a nice idea, Gallus thought. How responsible of Coach Dash to try and further as much of their physical education regiment as much as she- Oh, Grover, Smolder’s on the cheerleading squad. Dread and woe creeping down his spine, Gallus turned to the gymnasium doors as they opened, the School of Friendship’s official cheerleading squad walking through, talking amicably among themselves. Gallus wasn’t all that familiar with the two ponies on the squad, but he of course recognized his friends Ocellus, Yona… And Smolder. And today was a lipstick day. Specifically, she decided to color coordinate her lipstick with her cheerleading uniform as it was the same seafoam green as the trim of her outfit. Smolder was discussing something or other with Ocellus as she walked through the doors, but she stopped as her eyes met Gallus from across the gymnasium. She smirked, shot Gallus a wink, then went right back to talking with Ocellus. Gallus gulped. So far, the game proceeded as it normally did. The cheers and chants from his friends (and those two ponies he didn’t know) actually did manage to give him a good rhythm to move his body to. He was, without bragging too much, crushing it. He idly wondered if Smolder was impressed? Shaking those thoughts out for now, Gallus took a headcount of both his team and the opponent’s. They were down 3-to-2, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t turn around. He managed to get one of his opponents out with a ball caught in midair, using his wings to flip to the side before landing on his hind paws. Yes, he was absolutely showing off. He was a show-off. He cocked his arm back, ready to return fire and bring his team back into the majority… when the corner of his eye caught Smolder again, swaying her pom-poms and swinging her hips. She puckered her seafoam lips and kissed the air once, twice, and thrice. A salvo of smooches aimed directly at him. Gallus whiffed the shot as the ball went flying directly into the air. He took an enemy shot directly to the head, bouncing off his cranium with a comical ‘Doink!’ which he barely reacted to as he fell to the ground. At least his teammate clinched the win since the opponent team was too busy laughing at him. Go team. Wanting to put his utter failure and humiliation behind him, Gallus had shed his gym clothes and was two steps from entering the boy’s locker room to hit the shower, when… “Gotcha!” A rush of orange and purple suddenly erupted from behind a laundry cart just outside the locker room, latching it’s scaly arms around Gallus’ neck. Before Gallus could even register what was happening, Smolder leaned her face in closer to his trembling beak. She was still in her cheerleading outfit which Gallus couldn’t help but admit to himself looked better up close. “Good game, G. Here’s your reward…” She said, and a sea of seafoam green puckered up and closed the distance. Gallus couldn’t even muster the frame of mind to struggle out of her grip, much less audibly protest as Smolder planted a wet one right on the edge of where his beak was attached to his face. “Mwah!” Dazed by the smooch, both this and compounded with all the ones that came before, Gallus barely resisted as Smolder gave him a hearty slap on the back, causing him to stumble into the locker room. Where every single student therein got a real close look at the seafoam green mark on his cheek. Gallus couldn’t tell what made him redder. The steam or the comments. It was strange. Gallus wasn’t sure what was happening today. He knew it was a good day. Scratch that, it was an important day. Possibly the most important day of Gallus’ life. But he didn’t really know why? He didn’t even remember how he got here. He was sure he was supposed to be up here, because all of his friends were up here with him. And they all looked so happy. So, clearly, whatever was happening was a good thing, right? There was someone else, standing right in front of Gallus. Someone wearing a white dress. One of the poofiest, frilliest white dresses Gallus had ever seen. Their face was obscured by a white, gossamer veil, so Gallus couldn’t tell who this was in front of him. This day was important. This person was important. Gallus had to see who it was, so he lifted the veil. Oh, it was Smolder. And she was wearing lipstick. Smolder was smiling, stepping forward towards Gallus. Gallus instinctively took a step back, but he didn’t seem to go anywhere. Smolder puckered her lips, red lipstick shining and glossy. She kissed the air in anticipation. “Mwah!” She took another step forward and the puckering lips only got closer and closer. “Mwah!” Until, finally, all Gallus could see was red lips, waiting for a kiss. “Mwah!” Gallus woke up in a cold sweat. He was too terrified of going back to sleep. The next day was a weekend, so Gallus didn’t have any classes. Which meant Gallus didn’t have to leave his dorm-room for the day. Which meant Gallus wasn’t going to leave his dorm-room for the day. Because if he left his dorm-room, he’d run into Smolder. And today would be a lipstick day. Sandbar, bless his soul, gave Gallus silent company as he curled up in his bunk, content to read his comic book in companionable taciturnity. Gallus merely gazed out their dorm-room’s window to the outside world, marveling at how nature continued on, completely unaware of the absolute insanity broiling in the depths of the young griffon’s mind. Sandbar turned the page of his comic. “So are you and Smolder, like, dating?” “I DON’T KNOW!!!!” Chapter 4Much as Gallus wanted to, he couldn’t hide in his dorm-room forever. The weekend came and passed and Gallus couldn’t just play hooky until Smolder just gave up on her little hunt. Not without grabbing the faculty’s attention and starting a conversation that Gallus really did not want to have. He was more alert than usual, poking his head around every corner to see if he could spot any orange and purple before continuing on. He must have looked ridiculous, he realized, sneaking around like he was in a spy movie. Worse yet, he was trying to hide from one of his best friends. What exactly is the plan here? Gallus thought to himself. Avoid Smolder for the rest of my life because I can’t handle a little kiss? For Tartarus’ sake! They’re not even that bad! Gallus sobered a bit at thinking that. They really weren’t that bad. End of the day, all Smolder was doing was kissing him. Heck, it wouldn’t even be the first time one of his friends put their mouths on his face. Silverstream once kissed him on the cheek, though she had been in a real good mood that day and pretty much kissed all of their friends on the cheek. That was just Silverstream being Silverstream. Yona kissed him once for a dare. Ocellus and him got caught under a mistletoe once during a Hearth’s Warming party. Even Sandbar gave him a totally platonic kiss on the head once when he had to babysit Gallus who was coming down from a bad batch of catnip. He said it before, his friends have always been mushy and overly affectionate with each other and it still never went anywhere beyond platonic. So why was Smolder having such a profound effect on him? Gallus realized… It’s because he still had no idea why Smolder was even doing it! If any of his other friends kissed him, he could give a pretty good guess as to why. They were just being affectionate or they wanted to comfort him. But Smolder’s kisses deliberately took him out of his comfort zone, deliberately made him freeze up and mentally check-out. And given Smolder’s reaction every time, this was clearly the desired effect. The more Gallus thought about this, the more he realized that, eventually, he was gonna have to confront Smolder and ask her, straight up, what her deal was. But not without doing some research first. Ideally, Gallus would have wanted to ask another dragon about a dragon’s behaviour. But Smolder was, so far, the only dragon student at the school and Spike had recently moved back to Canterlot after Headmare Twilight’s coronation. Not that Spike might have any useful insight on dragon behaviour to begin with, Gallus admitted. So, the next best thing was to consult an expert on many different subjects and hope that draconic psychology was somewhere in there. Thus, Gallus made his way to the library where luck finally went his way for once as he spotted Ocellus reading a book in her favorite reading chair in the corner, as she is usually wont to do. Gallus quietly approached her, stepping lightly around the tables where many of his schoolmates were studying up on this or that, careful not to disturb them. “Hey, Ocellus.” Gallus whispered as he got closer, pulling Ocellus out of whatever reverie her book had her in. “Hmm? Oh, hey Gallus.” Ocellus whispered back, maintaining the sanctity of library silence. “What’s going on?” “Can I poke your brain for something? It’s… for a project.” Gallus lied, not really ready to discuss what was really going on with any of his friends. Ocellus smiled, holding up a hoof to her mouth in a shushing motion before pointing to a doorway off to the side of the library. Gallus knew the layout of the school well enough to know that those doors led to a balcony overlooking the school’s garden where students studying for hours on end could clear their heads in the fresh air. Catching her meaning, Gallus nodded as Ocellus hopped to her hooves, gently placing her book at an end table set aside for anycreature making use of that particular corner. The two made their way to the balcony and took in a quick breath before Ocellus spoke in a normal volume. “So, what seems to be the problem?” She asked. “So, uh… You wouldn’t happen to read up on… dragon courtship rituals or anything of the like, would you?” Gallus asked, mentally slapping himself for how sloppy of a cover that was. “Dragon… courtship?” Ocellus echoed dryly, raising an eyebrow. The slightest smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Now why in Equestria would you want to know about that, I wonder?” Gallus started to sweat. “Uhh… Y’know, it’s a… A biology project. Extra credit and stuff.” “Biology?” “Uh! I mean… Sociology! No, wait, anthropology?” “Gallus,” Ocellus interrupted, placing a gentle hoof on Gallus’ arm as she giggled. “Is this about what’s been going on with Smolder?” Gallus sighed, realizing there was no point putting it off. “You’ve heard about that, huh?” “Ponies like to gossip, and Smolder hasn’t exactly been subtle.” Ocellus said, rolling her eyes. “The rest of us haven’t said anything cause we figured this was something the two of you had to figure out between yourselves.” “Well, that’s kinda what I’m trying to do.” Gallus admitted. “Figure this out. The fact is… I have no idea why Smolder suddenly decided to friggin’ assault me with lipstick! Everytime I turn a corner, there’s Smolder ready to plant one on me.” Gallus leaned his arms against the railing of the balcony, looking out across the garden square. “This isn’t just… flirting. I could handle it if it was just flirting. Heck, I’d… I’d probably flirt back, if that’s what Smolder wanted. But I don’t know what she wants! It’s like it’s a game to her, except I don’t know what the rules are!” Ocellus sighed. “Look, I might have a theory, but I can’t say for certain.” Gallus raised an eyebrow but gestured for Ocellus to continue. “Smolder once told me about, when her brother was her age, how he started getting marked for the first time.” Ocellus explained. “Marked?” Gallus repeated. “Apparently, the way Smolder described it, when young dragons start getting an… interest in each other, they’ll burn little scorch marks on each other’s scales.” “Wait, hold up.” Gallus said, holding up his hands to pause Ocellus’ explanation. “You’re saying dragons set each other on fire when they like each other?” “They’re fireproof, Gallus. It’s not like it hurts.” “Oh, right…” “Anyway…” Ocellus resumed, somewhat annoyed at being interrupted. “These scorch marks are basically a show of claiming a dragon as yours, basically a message to any other dragons that this dragon belongs to you.” “Sheesh, and I thought dragons couldn’t get any scarier.” Gallus said, letting out a whistle. A moment passed before his face screwed in sudden apprehension. “Wait, what does that have to do with Smolder…?” “Well, you’re not exactly fireproof, Gallus. If Smolder wanted to mark any of us, she couldn’t exactly do it the usual way.” Ocellus explained. “My theory, and I have to specify that this is only a theory, is that Smolder’s little ‘lipstick attacks’ are her way of marking you without hurting you.” Gallus stared at Ocellus, gobsmacked. “W-Wait, so you're saying that when Smolder is planting a lipstick mark on me, she’s…” “Basically telling the whole school that you belong to her, yes.” Ocellus said. “Chances are, she may not even realize that that’s what she’s doing. She did say it was a lot like hoarding, more instinctive than conscious.” Ocellus, focused as she was on relaying this information, took a second to notice that Gallus had suddenly gone deathly silent, staring out to the treeline of the woods beyond the border of the school. “Uh… Gallus? You okay, there?” Gallus took in a breath, held it, then slowly exhaled. “I need to talk to Smolder.” It didn’t take him too long to track Smolder down. Classes were just ending for the day, so it stood to reason that she would be making a beeline for her locker to put away her stuff before embracing freedom from academia. Lo and behold, there she was as Gallus rounded the corner to the hall of lockers, shuffling things around in what Gallus knew to be an absolute horror show of her locker’s interior. Taking another deep breath, Gallus steeled himself and approached, thankful that Smolder’s messy locker meant she had to stay behind for a few more minutes than her schoolmates that would have also been depositing their equipment. It was just the two of them. With a grunt, Smolder shoved her textbook into whatever wedge she could find before realizing that Gallus was standing only a few feet away. She wasn’t wearing any lipstick. “Well, hello there, Gallus~” Smolder said, lidding her eyes as she flashed another of her shark-smirks at him. “If you just wanna wait right there, I think I got a new tube of cherry red I wanna try. Think it’ll look good on ya…” Gallus just stood there, rubbing the back of his neck. He looked away from Smolder, not willing to meet her eye. “Er… You, uh… You gonna say anything? Do anything?” Smolder asked, raising an eyebrow. “I mean, you gotta give me somethin’ to work with here, Gal.” Gallus finally met her eyes, and Smolder was taken a bit aback when his gaze met her. “Smolder…” Gallus finally said. “What are these kisses to you?” Smolder was silent, stunned for a sec by the bluntness of Gallus’ question. As Gallus predicted, she went on the defensive, scoffing as she crossed her arms and leaned against the wall of lockers. “W-Well, what are they to you?” Gallus had to admit, it was a good question. Really, at any point, Gallus could have just straight up said to Smolder ‘Stop’ and she probably would have. She wasn’t a bully, she knew where the boundaries were. “I like them.” Gallus admitted, just as much to himself as he did to Smolder. “You… You like them?” Smolder repeated, as though she were unsure she heard him right. Gallus could swear that she was fighting to keep the corners of her mouth from pulling into a smile. “Yeah. They’re a bit more… wild than a normal kiss, but you’ve always been a wild kinda girl. They always throw me for a loop when you do it, but… it’s kinda thrilling not knowing when it’s gonna happen or what you're gonna do next.” Gallus explained, and he found himself meaning every word. “Plus, I’m just gonna be a ‘guy’ and say it: You do look really good in lipstick.” “I… I see.” Smolder said, turning her back to Gallus and stuffing her face into her locker. “W-Well, then I guess I won’t be doing it anymore! I-I mean, it’s no fun if you’re enjoying it, y’know? Kinda defeats the whole purpose!” “Smolder…” Gallus said softly, placing a claw on her shoulder. Smolder sighed, pulling herself out of her locker to face Gallus again. “I, uh… I might have taken things a little too far, haven’t I?” She said, rubbing her arm as she refused to meet Gallus’ eye. Gallus winced. “Maybe just a tad?” He said, holding his finger and his thumb within a hair’s breadth of each other. Smolder groaned, hitting the back of her head against the locker wall. “Argh! I’m sorry, okay! I was just… I was just having so much fun! The first time I did it was such a spur of the moment thing, and you just looked so ridiculous! Like a deer in a spotlight! I just… I loved that I had that kind of power over you! That I could get such a huge reaction out of a tube of lipstick.” Despite everything Smolder had put him through these last few days… Gallus had to chuckle. “Yeah, I guess it could be kinda funny on the other shoe.” Gallus gave a sideways glance to the young dragoness. “So… this was all just, like, a dragon dominance thing?” Smolder scoffed. “Of course it was a dragon dominance thing, who the heck are you kidding?” “Right…” Gallus said simply. “But… It’s done now.” Smolder said. “I think at this point, the joke has run its course. So you can rest easy of any more smooches in the future.” Smolder turned once more to her locker to finish the colossal task ahead of her of trying to jam her stubborn textbook in her locker. It… was over? Did Gallus want it to be over? Was that why he decided to talk to Smolder? “Ocellus told me… That you might have been trying to mark me.” Gallus said. Smolder’s book fell to the ground. “M-Mark you?” Smolder said, carefully choosing her words. “Gallus… You do understand what that means, right?” “I only know what you told Ocellus. And, well…” “Okay!” Smolder said, raising her voice a little. “And- And so you know that when a dragon marks someone, we give them a scorch mark! Right?! We don’t use lipstick! That’d be just silly! Dragon’s don’t do lipstick!” “You do.” Gallus said, simply. “I ain’t exactly a normal dragon, Gallus!” Smolder yelled, she was starting to get angry. “And I’m not exactly fireproof.” Gallus countered. “That’s-! I-I mean, you don’t-!” Smolder stammered, getting red in the face. “I’m sorry, when the heck did we turn this back around on me!? You’re the one who said you apparently like it when I plant a smacker on you!” “I do like it.” Gallus said. “Do you?” “I-!” Smolder stammered before finally exploding. “Yes! Okay!? I like putting my lips on you! I like rubbing my lipstick off on you! I like seeing my kiss on you! I like seeing proof that I’m the one that gets to kiss you! Because… Because I was marking you, okay!? I wanted everyone who saw that lipstick on your face to know that I was the one who put it there!” Smolder huffed and puffed, her heart on display as Gallus just stood there, shocked and absorbing it all. “Because…” Smolder continued, forcing herself to say it. “Because I like you.” The two stood there, staring at each other. Nothing else existed at this moment but the two of them. “I like you, too.” Gallus finally admitted. Smolder was silent as she took in his confession, stress, confusion, elation all flashed across her face at light-speed. “Can…?” Smolder began. “Can I kiss you?” Gallus placed a tentative, experimental claw on Smolder’s cheek before leaning in, brushing her lips with his beak. It was a great deal more gentle, more tender than any other kiss the two shared within the past several days. But it meant so much more. All things considered, nothing really changed all that much. Gallus and Smolder still went to classes as usual, still learned lessons about friendship and harmony as usual, still hung out with their friends as usual. But, at the same time, nothing was the same. It was difficult to put into words, but both Gallus and Smolder knew that there was a new dynamic, a new dimension, to each and every interaction, no matter how familiar. A lingering look, a hand brushing over the other. Even among their most affectionate friends, there was definitely a different boundary of affection just for the two of them. The group slowly, but surely, settled into a new normal where Gallus and Smolder were just a tad closer to each other than they were before. And, occasionally, more than a tad. Though moments like those were kept in private, just for each other. One such moment, while the group were walking together to the library, Smolder and Gallus brought up the rear when Smolder got her usual wicked grin. One that Gallus had come to look forward to every time he saw it. While Ocellus kept the other’s attention with talks over the upcoming group project they were all to work on together, Smolder hooked her arm around Gallus, giggling silently as she pulled him away from the group and into one of the school’s many supply closets. Another example of dragon dominance, Gallus thought. Keeping him all to herself. Gallus smiled at his girlfriend’s mischievousness, already giving her a gentle kiss as she closed the door, leaving the two in near darkness save for a grimy window bathing the two in a dull light. Smolder happily returned the kiss, wrapping her arms around Gallus’ neck. For a while, this gentle affection was enough… until Smolder pulled away… And pulled out a tube of red lipstick. “Seriously?” Gallus asked, feigning exasperation though he and Smolder both knew that he was going to enjoy what was coming. “Sorry, Gallus…” Smolder said with absolutely no apology in her voice. She puckered her lips, making an exaggerated show of applying the crimson red so that Gallus could see every stroke. She definitely knew how to tease the poor griff. “But everycreature should know who you belong to.” Gallus smiled nervously. Although they had both come to admit that this was equally enjoyable for both of them, a primal part of Gallus’ brain still reacted with fearful apprehension from, essentially, giving himself up to her, letting her win… Letting her claim him. Smolder suddenly grasped his arms as she pushed him against the wall of the closet, bringing her face close to his. “Pucker up, bird-boy…” “Mwah!” Several minutes later (almost seven, to be exact), the door to the supply closet opened as a very smug looking dragoness practically sauntered out, her lipstick almost completely worn off. Smolder turned back to the closet and the sole remaining denizen therein. “I’ll see ya at the library with the others. Y’know… Once you get a chance to clean up.” Blowing a kiss into the closet, Smolder turned and started to make her way to the library. “Love ya, Gal.” Gallus, weak in the knees, slumped against the wall of the closet as he fell to the floor. He looked down at his body and saw countless marks of red lips dotted haphazardly across his chest and arms. He knew there were at least six or seven identical marks on his face alone. Possibly more considering Smolder had to reapply her lipstick halfway through. As Gallus gave a hearty sigh, finally able to breathe after Smolder’s non-stop onslaught, a single thought broke through the haze of ecstasy. Everyday should be a lipstick day.
Chapter 1So today was a lipstick day. Gallus took note of that as Smolder sat down to eat lunch with him and the rest of the gang, a layer of red on her lips contrasting with the orange scales of the rest of her mouth. It was no secret to anyone in their group that Smolder had… issues in the past regarding her self-image. The Dragon Lands weren’t exactly the most understanding to individualism. If you weren’t rough and rugged, you weren’t a dragon. But, since coming to Equestria to enroll in the School of Friendship, Smolder found herself more and more free to express a more... traditionally feminine side of herself. She was still Smolder. Curt, abrasive, and prideful. But she was becoming more and more open with being ‘girly’ from time to time. At first, it was an ‘all or nothing’ deal. She would go the whole nine yards to doll herself up before having her usual tea parties with Ocellus and, later, the rest of the gang. Gallus was honestly impressed with her sense of style, even if it was incredibly froufrou. Still, these forays into frilly were temporary releases. Soon as the tea party was over, the dress would be shed like a skin and the make-up quickly wiped away, leaving only a raw Smolder. And nobody in the school outside of their immediate friend group knew about these parties or Smolder’s personal dress code for them. That was a secret Smolder expected all of them to keep, and not without a few not-at-all-subtle threats of violent retaliation if they talked. But recently, Smolder’s been trying a new tactic. Rather than dress herself up to the nines for secret get-togethers, she instead decided to try going out in public with only the barest accouterment. Usually this would be a single accessory or one specific area of make-up applied. Something that let her experience feeling ‘girly’ without drawing too much attention to it. Both Gallus and the others had gotten used to Smolder randomly deciding to slightly gussy up in different ways to the point where they hardly even noticed it. Some days, it was a layer of eyeshadow. Some days, it was a necklace or bracelet. And, apparently, today was a lipstick day. And while, normally, Gallus and his friends didn’t draw any special attention to it, which they knew Smolder preferred since this was her attempt at normalizing it, Gallus couldn’t help but steal a glance or two at Smolder’s painted lips. Griffons didn’t have lips, obviously. So the very concept of lipstick was something of a novelty for Gallus. He couldn’t help but stare just a bit at how different the contrasting red and orange made her mouth look. “Something on your mind, Gallus?” The red lips suddenly said, pulling Gallus back to reality. “Huh?” Smolder shot an annoyed look at him. “You were staring at me.” “Uh… No I wasn’t.” Gallus defended, though even he knew how pitiful that sounded. “I was just kinda daydreaming, staring off to space. You just happened to be occupying that space.” Smolder raised an eyebrow, but shrugged indifferently and went back to her meal. The lunch hour progressed like it usually did until the group had to split up for their respective classes. —- With classes done for the day, Gallus had just finished putting his book-bag into his locker before closing it… And was taken aback a bit by Smolder leaning against the lockers behind his locker’s door. “Gah! Jeez, Smolder! You’re gonna give me a friggin’ heart-attack…” Gallus admonished. Smolder said nothing at first, merely keeping a steady gaze on Gallus as if sizing him up as she leaned against the lockers, her arms crossed. He noticed that she was still wearing her lipstick. “You gonna explain what that was all about in the cafeteria?” Smolder finally expressed. “W-What do you mean?” Gallus said, glancing around to see if any other student might walk in on the two of them. “Gal, it’s just the two of us. I promise, I’m not mad. I just want to know why you were giving me eyes earlier.” Smolder explained, and Gallus could tell that there wasn’t any of Smolder’s usual temper. She seemed… legitimately worried that something was wrong. Not wanting to leave his friend worrying over nothing, and realizing it probably wasn’t that big of a deal, Gallus sighed and ran a clawed hand down his neck. “Look, don’t take this the wrong way, but… I was staring at your lipstick.” Gallus admitted. “My lipstick?” Smolder repeated, genuinely confused. “Yeah, cuz… Y’know, I don’t really see a lot of griffon ladies walk around wearing lipstick, so I was just… curious, is all.” “You’ve seen me in lipstick before.” Smolder argued. “Yeah, but you’re usually wearing a bunch of other stuff that makes the lipstick a lot less interesting by comparison. This was the first time I’ve seen you in just lipstick and, well, it kinda caught my attention.” Gallus reasoned. Smolder kept her gaze on Gallus, not angry or defensive but disconcertingly neutral, leaving Gallus completely unsure of how she felt right now. After a second or two, Smolder smiled and shrugged, getting up from leaning against the lockers, apparently satisfied that this really was just a misunderstanding. “I can get that. Sorry for grilling ya, y’know how I get…” Smolder said, halfway apologetically. “It’s cool.” Gallus said, though now the two were left standing there with the situation more or less resolved thanks to proper communication. A rarity for the two of them, all things considered. Until… Smolder suddenly got a wicked idea in her head. And Gallus knew it was a wicked idea specifically because she only ever got that smirk on her face when she had her most wicked ideas. Somehow, the lipstick only made that smirk more terrifying than usual. “Y’knoooow…” Smolder drawled, taking a step closer to Gallus who instinctively took a step back. “If you’re really so curious… I could give you a closer look…” She said, making a very noticeable effort of lidding her eyes as she said this. Gallus could barely mutter an ‘Uh…’ before Smolder shot her hands forward and Gallus felt her scaly palms against the sides of his head. With Gallus trapped and paralyzed with shock, Smolder sprung forward, her puckered lips more pronounced with the red against the orange. Those same lips got closer and closer before planting themselves against Gallus’ feathery blue cheek. “Mwah!” Smolder audibly sounded out the kiss as her lips popped off of Gallus’ cheek. She took a step back, a self-satisfied grin on her face as she admired her handiwork. She stifled a giggle with a hand to her mouth, lipstick just barely smudged. “You look ridiculous right now!” Gallus just stood there in shock, mentally trying to process what in Tartarus just happened?! Apparently, Gallus’ gobsmacked expression only made the whole situation funnier to Smolder as her giggling gave way to straight up laughter, turning on her heel as she gave Gallus a coy wave goodbye. “Thanks for that, Gallus. I needed a good laugh today!” With that, Smolder simply walked away laughing, apparently unaware by how much her little stunt actually stunned the poor griff. —- By the time Gallus' mental faculties had finally caught up with the rest of his body, the sun was already starting to begin its descent below the horizon. As Gallus absentmindedly walked back to his dorm-room, the feeling of Smolder’s painted lips still fresh on his cheek, he couldn’t help but notice more eyes than usual were on him this evening. He was used to the occasional stare from his fellow students, being the only griffon enrolled in the school, but this was getting a bit… excessive. It wasn’t just the stares, but the fact that some of them, mostly the female students, were giggling incessantly to themselves. Not unlike Smolder. Even a few of the male students smiled and gave him a wink, as though congratulating him for something. Gallus wasn’t sure what any of this was about, and right now, he didn’t care. His frazzled brain just wanted to get him into his room as quickly as possible so he could digest what exactly happened between him and Smolder. Though the stares only seemed to increase as he quickened his pace. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he slammed the door to his room open and quickly slammed it shut behind him, taking a few quick breaths as he shut the leering eyes of his fellow students out of his mind. Sandbar, his best bud and roommate, had apparently already settled in for the night as he was curled up on the bottom bunk of their bunk bed, reading a comic. He looked up in alarm at Gallus’ frantic entrance. “Yo, Gallus? You alright, man?” Sandbar said, concerned. He put away his comic, obviously having more interest in making sure his friend was okay. “Uh… Smo-Smo… I-uh…” Gallus stammered. He still wasn’t entirely sure what just happened, much less how to articulate it. Sandbar got up from his bed to face Gallus… then promptly froze as he got a good look at his friend’s face. “Uh… You have a good night there, buddy?” Sandbar asked, cocking his head to the side as the slightest smile tugged the corners of his mouth. “Huh?” Gallus expressed, not quite grasping what he meant. “You should probably go take a look at the mirror, dude.” Sandbar suggested, not even trying to hide his smile now. “Did you walk here with that?” A jolt of panic shot through Gallus as he thought back to the constant looks his fellow students gave him. A look that was identical to the one Sandbar had right now. Rushing past his roommate and into the bathroom the two shared, Gallus pulled the cord attached to the ceiling light before staring at his own visage in the mirror. Oh… That’s what she meant by ‘You look ridiculous.’ Gallus stared dumbfounded at the offending mark. A perfect red imprint of Smolder’s lips on his cheek.
Chapter 2Today was not a lipstick day. And Gallus couldn’t decide if he was relieved or disappointed. This time around, Smolder apparently decided to accentuate herself with a pair of golden bangles loosely hanging off her wrists. Gallus wasn’t entirely sure where she got the bangles but chances were they were one of many presents and gifts their friends got for her in a spur of the moment feeling of kindness and generosity. Even Gallus was guilty of gifting Smolder a few innocuous trinkets here or there, knowing full well that she appreciated any new additions to her wardrobe. This time, Gallus was not staring at the golden bands, clinking gently against her wrists every time she moved her arms. Both because, unlike lipstick, bracelets were a common enough jewelry among griffons (the few who could actually afford jewelry, at least), and also because he was justifiably worried over what Smolder might do if she caught him leering again. For her part, Smolder apparently had no memory of the event last night that stuck with Gallus all throughout a restless sleep. That, or it just didn’t even register to Smolder as something even worth bringing up. That alone should have told Gallus everything he needed to know. The kiss was just a bit of fun between friends. A chance to make Gallus look silly with a smudge of lipstick on his face. For Grover’s sake, Gallus thought, it wasn’t as if his other friends couldn’t be surprisingly affectionate with each other while still keeping things platonic. Welcome to Ponyville, Gallus! He couldn’t even count the amount of hugs, hand-holding, cuddles, and other displays of softness he and his friends shared with each other with no talk of romance or dating even being considered. They were just… that comfortable with each other. So of course Smolder felt comfortable enough to give Gallus a totally platonic kiss on the cheek all in the name of a good laugh at smearing her lipstick on him. Which means Gallus could totally be comfortable in enjoying a totally platonic kiss from his good buddy, Smolder. Why, he could probably go for another of those totally platonic kisses! That’s just how comfortable Gallus was with the totally platonic affection he and Smolder shared! As long as she puts on lipstick first. Gallus screwed his eyes shut as his mind tried to purge whatever insubordinate part of his psyche thought that. Apparently, Gallus wasn’t exactly being subtle with his inner turmoil as he felt a gentle nudge against his arm. “Hey, Gallus? Are you okay?” Ocellus asked, obvious concern in her iridescent, blue eyes. “You seem kind of out of it?” Gallus gave a noncommittal shrug as he poked at his slightly-above-average-school-food with his fork. “Yeah, I’m good, Cell. Just… bit of a restless sleep last night.” “Got a lot on your mind, bird-boy?” Smolder teased, her smirk letting Gallus know that she knew exactly what kept him awake. “Hey, I know a way we can all de-stress. It’s been a while since we’ve had one of our little ‘private get-togethers’...” “Ooh, great idea!” Silverstream exclaimed, seemingly more eager at the chance to dress up than even Smolder. True, they all went along with these secret tea parties for Smolder’s sake, but they all still enjoyed doing it in their own ways. Even Gallus didn’t mind dusting off a fancy top hat and dinner jacket he kept around just for these occasions. They weren’t exactly lucrative, being students, so these secret tea-parties were pretty much their only chance at feeling high-society every now and then. While helping Smolder come to terms with her self-image issues was certainly the catalyst for these tea parties, it was hardly the only reason they did them anymore. “I can tackle getting some snack cakes and pastries from Sugar Cube Corner.” Sandbar offered, falling into the group’s comfortable routine of delegating prep work for the tea party. “King Thorax actually sent me some new tea brews from the Hive. This would be a perfect chance to try some of them out!” Ocellus gushed, excited at the prospect of sharing some of her culture with the group. “Sounds like a plan, the rest of you just bring yourselves and be sure to look the part.” Smolder said, turning her attention to Gallus. “Maybe this’ll help you unwind, Gal?” Not wanting to rise to her bait, Gallus just gave a smile and said “Wouldn’t miss it.” Oh, right, Gallus thought as he walked through the door into Smolder and Ocellus’ dorm-room, his top hat slightly askew from him stopping dead in his tracks. Smolder wore lipstick as part of her ensemble. Smolder, of course, had multiple outfits for these events that she kept in rotation. Some of them elegant, some conservative, some just straight up the poofiest, frilliest tapestries of fabric and lace you would ever lay eyes on. This time around, she kept it relatively simple with a white, floral patterned blouse and knee-length, navy blue skirt. As always, her accessory game was on point with a conservative set of pearls draped around her neck. And, as Gallus noticed the second he walked through the door, she had an even coating of bubblegum-pink lipstick on her lips. Gallus found he actually preferred the red lipstick from last night. The crimson contrasted much more sharply against the orange scales of her mouth and the flash of red in her smile invited just the tiniest hint of danger. Shaking his head to get those incredibly intrusive thoughts out of his mind, Gallus couldn’t help but wonder where in Tartarus that had come from? He never really made it a habit of critiquing Smolder’s make-up style before. Still, he had to admit, the pink lipstick did lower his guard that he didn’t even realize he was still holding up from last night. It was certainly a much more cute, innocent choice. He wondered how the pink might look on the blue feathers of his cheek? Dang it, enough! Gallus practically screamed into his own mind. He was here to have a nice, relaxing time sipping tea and trading stories with his friends. This was going to be a perfectly friendly, perfectly platonic evening, and that’s that!! “Uh, Gallus? You’re kinda holding up the door, man.” He heard Sandbar say behind him. Of course Sandbar was behind him, they walked here together from their own dorm-room. Giving a sheepish apology, Gallus stepped aside and let Sandbar enter the room, a plate of crumb cake and mini-strudels perched on his back with the balance that only a millennia of not having opposable thumbs can give a creature. “Hey boys, party’s just starting.” Smolder said, acknowledging their arrival. Indeed, Gallus and Sandbar appeared to have arrived just a few moments early as Ocellus was still in the process of brewing a couple pots of tea in the assorted arrangements of electrically powered hot-plates they used for these events. Gallus assumed each teapot was filled with the ominously unknown Changeling brews hitherto untasted outside of the hive. “You just make yourself comfortable there, handsome~” Smolder said, and Gallus wasn’t sure if she was talking to himself or Sandbar. They both did look rather smart in their outfits, Sandbar going for a more urban-formal look with a vest and slate-grey, wool flat cap. Sandbar apparently took the invitation, though, as he deposited the pastries for the evening on Ocellus’ worktable and took his seat at the table the two dorm residents set aside for their friends. Gallus finally managed to get his brain to send a signal to his feet to move him over to the table, taking his usual spot next to Sandbar. And that’s when it happened. Smolder, who Gallus was sure was fully aware of how uncomfortable he was right now, got the same smirk on her face that she had last night before pouncing on Gallus and leaving her mark. With half-lidded eyes, Smolder made an over-the-top display of sashaying over to the table, looking for all to see like a high-society lady type. “We’ll be right with you gentlemen as soon as we get this tea done.” She said, placing the tips of her claws up to her mouth before blowing the two of them a kiss, her pink lipstick making her puckered lips even more pronounced as she gave an audible ‘Mwah!’ Gallus swore he could actually see a little cartoon pair of pink lips fly out of her hand and go straight towards him. He knew it was only his overactive imagination, but it still took a lot of his willpower not to physically dodge the flying kiss. As Smolder turned on her heel to help Ocellus prep the mystery tea, Sandbar leaned over to Gallus with a way too innocent smile on his face. “Boy, she really likes playing the part, doesn’t she?” He said, not picking up at all on his roommate's inner turmoil. The tea party continued on as it usually did. Eventually, Silverstream and Yona joined the festivities, Silverstream’s near royal ensemble giving some of Smolder’s more extravagant outfits a run for their money. Gallus silently wondered if the two had a bit of an unspoken rivalry of trying to one-up each other. Beyond that, it was about as textbook as their tea parties usually got. The discussions they had during these parties wouldn’t be out of place if they were to have them in the cafeteria or library or any of their other usual hang-out spots. This just had the added fun of dressing up and enjoying some sweet treats and competently freshly-brewed tea. On that note, concerning these supposed brand new teas from the Changeling hive, Gallus had to admit they weren’t his favorite. The flavor wasn’t bad, but they had a bit of an earthy aftertaste. Eventually, evening gave way to night and the gang knew it was time to retire. Gallus ended up getting roped into helping with the clean-up while Sandbar went on ahead to their room without him. Something he would be more suspicious of if it wasn’t Ocellus who asked him to stay behind. Eventually, with everything put away and Smolder even freeing herself from the trappings of her clothes, modesty being a non-issue for a society where clothes were optional at best, Gallus was ready to call it a night himself. The good conversation, good food, and not-at-all-bad-but-not-as-good-as-usual tea actually helped to distract him from all thoughts of Smolder and her painted lips. He might actually get a decent night of sleep tonight. Before Gallus could cross the threshold of Smolder and Ocellus’ dorm-room, he heard a voice call out behind him. “Hey, wait up.” Smolder said, locking Gallus in place. Gallus turned back and saw Smolder looking perfectly innocent, no trace of a wicked thought in her head. If anything, she looked downright chipper after yet another successful tea party with her friends. She was still wearing her pink lipstick. Glancing around, Gallus realized that Ocellus had absconded into their shared bathroom, no doubt washing up for the night. Meaning she wasn’t here to run interference on… whatever might happen. “So, did this help at all?” Smolder asked. Again, Gallus couldn’t sense any ulterior motive in the question. “Help?” Gallus repeated, not sure where she was going. “You said you were restless last night.” Smolder said, her smile dropping ever-so-slightly with concern. “Did this, all of us hanging out together, help you with whatever was buggin’ you?” Gallus deflated a little but, secretly, he was relieved. He really was just making a mountain out of a molehill. Here he was, mentally tearing himself apart over a silly little kiss, and here was Smolder worried about his feelings. She obviously didn’t think much about the kiss, since she apparently didn’t piece together that she was the cause of the stress that kept Gallus up last night. So what right did he have to pay that kiss any more mind than she did? “Yeah, this actually helped a lot.” Gallus said, giving an apologetic smile for making Smolder worry. “Thanks, Smolder.” “No prob, happy to help. You have a good night, G.” Smolder said, walking Gallus out the door. “You too.” Gallus said, happy to put this whole business of kisses and lipstick behind him. Then Smolder grabbed his head, puckered her lips, and planted a big smooch on his cheek. Once more giving a very audible ‘Mwah!’ “Night Gallus.” Smolder said, apparently not even realizing what she had just done as she left a paralyzed Gallus standing right outside as she closed the door. As Gallus shambled, zombie-like, back to his dorm-room, he didn't even need to check the mirror for the pink mark he knew was on his cheek. The stares and giggles of his schoolmates gave him all the confirmation he needed.
Chapter 3Gallus wondered if today was a lipstick day? He hadn’t seen Smolder yet that day, so he wasn’t sure. And he wasn’t sure how he’d react if it was. He couldn’t, for the life of him, get a read on what Smolder was trying to accomplish. Was she just screwing with him? Just trying to get a rise? Did kissing mean something completely different for dragons that he and his friends just never picked up on? Gallus normally didn’t particularly care for Chemistry as a subject, but right now, he was completely engulfed in his measurements and calculations in an attempt to distract himself from any more thoughts of the matter. He was so distracted, he didn’t notice Smolder walk up behind him. “Whatcha cookin’, Doc?” Smolder asked, poking her head out from behind him. “Gah!” Gallus exclaimed, very nearly accidentally dumping the contents of the phial in his hands into the beaker he had been mixing his compounds in. If he had done his calculations right, too much of this compound would have resulted in a much more volatile reaction. And Gallus had just about enough volatile reactions caused by Smolder. “S-Smolder! What are you doing here! You don’t have this class!” Gallus hissed, trying not to raise his voice too much over the ambient chatter of his classmates. Both so he wouldn’t cause someone else to make the same mistake he nearly did, and also to make sure not to draw too much attention to the two of the- Oh, Grover, now she’s wearing purple lipstick. Why did she look so good in purple lipstick!? Gallus thought. “I had a free period.” Smolder said, shrugging. “But I’m not staying, I just wanna grab Ocellus’ history notes from you. Remember, she let you borrow them? She needs them back and she sent me to grab ‘em.” Gallus sighed, happy that she wasn’t sticking around to do whatever horrible things she no doubt had planned with those striking purple lips. Did he just think the word striking when describing a pair of lips? What was this girl doing to him!? Putting the phial on a rack for now, he rummaged in his book bag for a bit before producing the particular set of notes she asked for. “Thanks, G. Catch ya later.” Smolder said, grabbing the papers and giving Gallus a two finger salute as she walked off. Letting out a sigh of relief he didn’t even realize he was holding in, Gallus picked the phial back up and tilted it ever-so-slightly, making sure not to put in a single drop more than the recommended amount. “Oh, hey! I almost forgot!” Smolder’s voice behind him caused him to turn around, only to turn directly into a pair of purple, puckered lips diving straight for his face. Smolder stood on her tip-toes as her lips pressed against the clear plastic of Gallus’ safety goggles, giving Gallus a very clear view of her lips staining the plastic as Smolder pulled away, leaving a perfect mark of her lips coloring half of Gallus’ vision purple. “Mwah!” With that, and a very self-satisfied grin on her face, Smolder turned and left without another word. Gallus could barely see her leave as the mark she left practically half-blinded him. He certainly didn’t see himself absent-mindedly dumping the entire phial in his hand into the beaker. He didn’t even see his beaker explode into a flood of pink goo and foam until the student sitting at the station next to him started screaming about her textbooks getting stained by Gallus’ project. “Mr. Gallus!” Professor Time Turner shouted, though Gallus barely registered his reprimand. “I am not so prudish as to be against public displays of affection, but please try to keep such frivolities on your own time!” Dodgeball. Dodgeball would give him the release he needed. Dodgeball was always a great stress relief for him. Active without being too taxing, and fun to boot. The school didn’t exactly have a professional dodgeball team, at least not in the sense that they played against other schools like their Buckball team, but he and his fellow players still had enough athletic pride to take their in-house games seriously enough to work up a good sweat. “So, before we get started with today’s game,” Coach Rainbow Dash said, gathering up the players, Gallus among them. “I got a special treat. Since we’re in a bit of a dry spell in the Buckball season, our Cheerleading squad is feeling a bit out of practice. So we’re gonna kill two birds with one stone today and have the squad come cheer you guys on while you play. Should get you nice and pumped up and be a good refresher course for their routine.” Well, that’s a nice idea, Gallus thought. How responsible of Coach Dash to try and further as much of their physical education regiment as much as she- Oh, Grover, Smolder’s on the cheerleading squad. Dread and woe creeping down his spine, Gallus turned to the gymnasium doors as they opened, the School of Friendship’s official cheerleading squad walking through, talking amicably among themselves. Gallus wasn’t all that familiar with the two ponies on the squad, but he of course recognized his friends Ocellus, Yona… And Smolder. And today was a lipstick day. Specifically, she decided to color coordinate her lipstick with her cheerleading uniform as it was the same seafoam green as the trim of her outfit. Smolder was discussing something or other with Ocellus as she walked through the doors, but she stopped as her eyes met Gallus from across the gymnasium. She smirked, shot Gallus a wink, then went right back to talking with Ocellus. Gallus gulped. So far, the game proceeded as it normally did. The cheers and chants from his friends (and those two ponies he didn’t know) actually did manage to give him a good rhythm to move his body to. He was, without bragging too much, crushing it. He idly wondered if Smolder was impressed? Shaking those thoughts out for now, Gallus took a headcount of both his team and the opponent’s. They were down 3-to-2, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t turn around. He managed to get one of his opponents out with a ball caught in midair, using his wings to flip to the side before landing on his hind paws. Yes, he was absolutely showing off. He was a show-off. He cocked his arm back, ready to return fire and bring his team back into the majority… when the corner of his eye caught Smolder again, swaying her pom-poms and swinging her hips. She puckered her seafoam lips and kissed the air once, twice, and thrice. A salvo of smooches aimed directly at him. Gallus whiffed the shot as the ball went flying directly into the air. He took an enemy shot directly to the head, bouncing off his cranium with a comical ‘Doink!’ which he barely reacted to as he fell to the ground. At least his teammate clinched the win since the opponent team was too busy laughing at him. Go team. Wanting to put his utter failure and humiliation behind him, Gallus had shed his gym clothes and was two steps from entering the boy’s locker room to hit the shower, when… “Gotcha!” A rush of orange and purple suddenly erupted from behind a laundry cart just outside the locker room, latching it’s scaly arms around Gallus’ neck. Before Gallus could even register what was happening, Smolder leaned her face in closer to his trembling beak. She was still in her cheerleading outfit which Gallus couldn’t help but admit to himself looked better up close. “Good game, G. Here’s your reward…” She said, and a sea of seafoam green puckered up and closed the distance. Gallus couldn’t even muster the frame of mind to struggle out of her grip, much less audibly protest as Smolder planted a wet one right on the edge of where his beak was attached to his face. “Mwah!” Dazed by the smooch, both this and compounded with all the ones that came before, Gallus barely resisted as Smolder gave him a hearty slap on the back, causing him to stumble into the locker room. Where every single student therein got a real close look at the seafoam green mark on his cheek. Gallus couldn’t tell what made him redder. The steam or the comments. It was strange. Gallus wasn’t sure what was happening today. He knew it was a good day. Scratch that, it was an important day. Possibly the most important day of Gallus’ life. But he didn’t really know why? He didn’t even remember how he got here. He was sure he was supposed to be up here, because all of his friends were up here with him. And they all looked so happy. So, clearly, whatever was happening was a good thing, right? There was someone else, standing right in front of Gallus. Someone wearing a white dress. One of the poofiest, frilliest white dresses Gallus had ever seen. Their face was obscured by a white, gossamer veil, so Gallus couldn’t tell who this was in front of him. This day was important. This person was important. Gallus had to see who it was, so he lifted the veil. Oh, it was Smolder. And she was wearing lipstick. Smolder was smiling, stepping forward towards Gallus. Gallus instinctively took a step back, but he didn’t seem to go anywhere. Smolder puckered her lips, red lipstick shining and glossy. She kissed the air in anticipation. “Mwah!” She took another step forward and the puckering lips only got closer and closer. “Mwah!” Until, finally, all Gallus could see was red lips, waiting for a kiss. “Mwah!” Gallus woke up in a cold sweat. He was too terrified of going back to sleep. The next day was a weekend, so Gallus didn’t have any classes. Which meant Gallus didn’t have to leave his dorm-room for the day. Which meant Gallus wasn’t going to leave his dorm-room for the day. Because if he left his dorm-room, he’d run into Smolder. And today would be a lipstick day. Sandbar, bless his soul, gave Gallus silent company as he curled up in his bunk, content to read his comic book in companionable taciturnity. Gallus merely gazed out their dorm-room’s window to the outside world, marveling at how nature continued on, completely unaware of the absolute insanity broiling in the depths of the young griffon’s mind. Sandbar turned the page of his comic. “So are you and Smolder, like, dating?” “I DON’T KNOW!!!!”
Chapter 4Much as Gallus wanted to, he couldn’t hide in his dorm-room forever. The weekend came and passed and Gallus couldn’t just play hooky until Smolder just gave up on her little hunt. Not without grabbing the faculty’s attention and starting a conversation that Gallus really did not want to have. He was more alert than usual, poking his head around every corner to see if he could spot any orange and purple before continuing on. He must have looked ridiculous, he realized, sneaking around like he was in a spy movie. Worse yet, he was trying to hide from one of his best friends. What exactly is the plan here? Gallus thought to himself. Avoid Smolder for the rest of my life because I can’t handle a little kiss? For Tartarus’ sake! They’re not even that bad! Gallus sobered a bit at thinking that. They really weren’t that bad. End of the day, all Smolder was doing was kissing him. Heck, it wouldn’t even be the first time one of his friends put their mouths on his face. Silverstream once kissed him on the cheek, though she had been in a real good mood that day and pretty much kissed all of their friends on the cheek. That was just Silverstream being Silverstream. Yona kissed him once for a dare. Ocellus and him got caught under a mistletoe once during a Hearth’s Warming party. Even Sandbar gave him a totally platonic kiss on the head once when he had to babysit Gallus who was coming down from a bad batch of catnip. He said it before, his friends have always been mushy and overly affectionate with each other and it still never went anywhere beyond platonic. So why was Smolder having such a profound effect on him? Gallus realized… It’s because he still had no idea why Smolder was even doing it! If any of his other friends kissed him, he could give a pretty good guess as to why. They were just being affectionate or they wanted to comfort him. But Smolder’s kisses deliberately took him out of his comfort zone, deliberately made him freeze up and mentally check-out. And given Smolder’s reaction every time, this was clearly the desired effect. The more Gallus thought about this, the more he realized that, eventually, he was gonna have to confront Smolder and ask her, straight up, what her deal was. But not without doing some research first. Ideally, Gallus would have wanted to ask another dragon about a dragon’s behaviour. But Smolder was, so far, the only dragon student at the school and Spike had recently moved back to Canterlot after Headmare Twilight’s coronation. Not that Spike might have any useful insight on dragon behaviour to begin with, Gallus admitted. So, the next best thing was to consult an expert on many different subjects and hope that draconic psychology was somewhere in there. Thus, Gallus made his way to the library where luck finally went his way for once as he spotted Ocellus reading a book in her favorite reading chair in the corner, as she is usually wont to do. Gallus quietly approached her, stepping lightly around the tables where many of his schoolmates were studying up on this or that, careful not to disturb them. “Hey, Ocellus.” Gallus whispered as he got closer, pulling Ocellus out of whatever reverie her book had her in. “Hmm? Oh, hey Gallus.” Ocellus whispered back, maintaining the sanctity of library silence. “What’s going on?” “Can I poke your brain for something? It’s… for a project.” Gallus lied, not really ready to discuss what was really going on with any of his friends. Ocellus smiled, holding up a hoof to her mouth in a shushing motion before pointing to a doorway off to the side of the library. Gallus knew the layout of the school well enough to know that those doors led to a balcony overlooking the school’s garden where students studying for hours on end could clear their heads in the fresh air. Catching her meaning, Gallus nodded as Ocellus hopped to her hooves, gently placing her book at an end table set aside for anycreature making use of that particular corner. The two made their way to the balcony and took in a quick breath before Ocellus spoke in a normal volume. “So, what seems to be the problem?” She asked. “So, uh… You wouldn’t happen to read up on… dragon courtship rituals or anything of the like, would you?” Gallus asked, mentally slapping himself for how sloppy of a cover that was. “Dragon… courtship?” Ocellus echoed dryly, raising an eyebrow. The slightest smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Now why in Equestria would you want to know about that, I wonder?” Gallus started to sweat. “Uhh… Y’know, it’s a… A biology project. Extra credit and stuff.” “Biology?” “Uh! I mean… Sociology! No, wait, anthropology?” “Gallus,” Ocellus interrupted, placing a gentle hoof on Gallus’ arm as she giggled. “Is this about what’s been going on with Smolder?” Gallus sighed, realizing there was no point putting it off. “You’ve heard about that, huh?” “Ponies like to gossip, and Smolder hasn’t exactly been subtle.” Ocellus said, rolling her eyes. “The rest of us haven’t said anything cause we figured this was something the two of you had to figure out between yourselves.” “Well, that’s kinda what I’m trying to do.” Gallus admitted. “Figure this out. The fact is… I have no idea why Smolder suddenly decided to friggin’ assault me with lipstick! Everytime I turn a corner, there’s Smolder ready to plant one on me.” Gallus leaned his arms against the railing of the balcony, looking out across the garden square. “This isn’t just… flirting. I could handle it if it was just flirting. Heck, I’d… I’d probably flirt back, if that’s what Smolder wanted. But I don’t know what she wants! It’s like it’s a game to her, except I don’t know what the rules are!” Ocellus sighed. “Look, I might have a theory, but I can’t say for certain.” Gallus raised an eyebrow but gestured for Ocellus to continue. “Smolder once told me about, when her brother was her age, how he started getting marked for the first time.” Ocellus explained. “Marked?” Gallus repeated. “Apparently, the way Smolder described it, when young dragons start getting an… interest in each other, they’ll burn little scorch marks on each other’s scales.” “Wait, hold up.” Gallus said, holding up his hands to pause Ocellus’ explanation. “You’re saying dragons set each other on fire when they like each other?” “They’re fireproof, Gallus. It’s not like it hurts.” “Oh, right…” “Anyway…” Ocellus resumed, somewhat annoyed at being interrupted. “These scorch marks are basically a show of claiming a dragon as yours, basically a message to any other dragons that this dragon belongs to you.” “Sheesh, and I thought dragons couldn’t get any scarier.” Gallus said, letting out a whistle. A moment passed before his face screwed in sudden apprehension. “Wait, what does that have to do with Smolder…?” “Well, you’re not exactly fireproof, Gallus. If Smolder wanted to mark any of us, she couldn’t exactly do it the usual way.” Ocellus explained. “My theory, and I have to specify that this is only a theory, is that Smolder’s little ‘lipstick attacks’ are her way of marking you without hurting you.” Gallus stared at Ocellus, gobsmacked. “W-Wait, so you're saying that when Smolder is planting a lipstick mark on me, she’s…” “Basically telling the whole school that you belong to her, yes.” Ocellus said. “Chances are, she may not even realize that that’s what she’s doing. She did say it was a lot like hoarding, more instinctive than conscious.” Ocellus, focused as she was on relaying this information, took a second to notice that Gallus had suddenly gone deathly silent, staring out to the treeline of the woods beyond the border of the school. “Uh… Gallus? You okay, there?” Gallus took in a breath, held it, then slowly exhaled. “I need to talk to Smolder.” It didn’t take him too long to track Smolder down. Classes were just ending for the day, so it stood to reason that she would be making a beeline for her locker to put away her stuff before embracing freedom from academia. Lo and behold, there she was as Gallus rounded the corner to the hall of lockers, shuffling things around in what Gallus knew to be an absolute horror show of her locker’s interior. Taking another deep breath, Gallus steeled himself and approached, thankful that Smolder’s messy locker meant she had to stay behind for a few more minutes than her schoolmates that would have also been depositing their equipment. It was just the two of them. With a grunt, Smolder shoved her textbook into whatever wedge she could find before realizing that Gallus was standing only a few feet away. She wasn’t wearing any lipstick. “Well, hello there, Gallus~” Smolder said, lidding her eyes as she flashed another of her shark-smirks at him. “If you just wanna wait right there, I think I got a new tube of cherry red I wanna try. Think it’ll look good on ya…” Gallus just stood there, rubbing the back of his neck. He looked away from Smolder, not willing to meet her eye. “Er… You, uh… You gonna say anything? Do anything?” Smolder asked, raising an eyebrow. “I mean, you gotta give me somethin’ to work with here, Gal.” Gallus finally met her eyes, and Smolder was taken a bit aback when his gaze met her. “Smolder…” Gallus finally said. “What are these kisses to you?” Smolder was silent, stunned for a sec by the bluntness of Gallus’ question. As Gallus predicted, she went on the defensive, scoffing as she crossed her arms and leaned against the wall of lockers. “W-Well, what are they to you?” Gallus had to admit, it was a good question. Really, at any point, Gallus could have just straight up said to Smolder ‘Stop’ and she probably would have. She wasn’t a bully, she knew where the boundaries were. “I like them.” Gallus admitted, just as much to himself as he did to Smolder. “You… You like them?” Smolder repeated, as though she were unsure she heard him right. Gallus could swear that she was fighting to keep the corners of her mouth from pulling into a smile. “Yeah. They’re a bit more… wild than a normal kiss, but you’ve always been a wild kinda girl. They always throw me for a loop when you do it, but… it’s kinda thrilling not knowing when it’s gonna happen or what you're gonna do next.” Gallus explained, and he found himself meaning every word. “Plus, I’m just gonna be a ‘guy’ and say it: You do look really good in lipstick.” “I… I see.” Smolder said, turning her back to Gallus and stuffing her face into her locker. “W-Well, then I guess I won’t be doing it anymore! I-I mean, it’s no fun if you’re enjoying it, y’know? Kinda defeats the whole purpose!” “Smolder…” Gallus said softly, placing a claw on her shoulder. Smolder sighed, pulling herself out of her locker to face Gallus again. “I, uh… I might have taken things a little too far, haven’t I?” She said, rubbing her arm as she refused to meet Gallus’ eye. Gallus winced. “Maybe just a tad?” He said, holding his finger and his thumb within a hair’s breadth of each other. Smolder groaned, hitting the back of her head against the locker wall. “Argh! I’m sorry, okay! I was just… I was just having so much fun! The first time I did it was such a spur of the moment thing, and you just looked so ridiculous! Like a deer in a spotlight! I just… I loved that I had that kind of power over you! That I could get such a huge reaction out of a tube of lipstick.” Despite everything Smolder had put him through these last few days… Gallus had to chuckle. “Yeah, I guess it could be kinda funny on the other shoe.” Gallus gave a sideways glance to the young dragoness. “So… this was all just, like, a dragon dominance thing?” Smolder scoffed. “Of course it was a dragon dominance thing, who the heck are you kidding?” “Right…” Gallus said simply. “But… It’s done now.” Smolder said. “I think at this point, the joke has run its course. So you can rest easy of any more smooches in the future.” Smolder turned once more to her locker to finish the colossal task ahead of her of trying to jam her stubborn textbook in her locker. It… was over? Did Gallus want it to be over? Was that why he decided to talk to Smolder? “Ocellus told me… That you might have been trying to mark me.” Gallus said. Smolder’s book fell to the ground. “M-Mark you?” Smolder said, carefully choosing her words. “Gallus… You do understand what that means, right?” “I only know what you told Ocellus. And, well…” “Okay!” Smolder said, raising her voice a little. “And- And so you know that when a dragon marks someone, we give them a scorch mark! Right?! We don’t use lipstick! That’d be just silly! Dragon’s don’t do lipstick!” “You do.” Gallus said, simply. “I ain’t exactly a normal dragon, Gallus!” Smolder yelled, she was starting to get angry. “And I’m not exactly fireproof.” Gallus countered. “That’s-! I-I mean, you don’t-!” Smolder stammered, getting red in the face. “I’m sorry, when the heck did we turn this back around on me!? You’re the one who said you apparently like it when I plant a smacker on you!” “I do like it.” Gallus said. “Do you?” “I-!” Smolder stammered before finally exploding. “Yes! Okay!? I like putting my lips on you! I like rubbing my lipstick off on you! I like seeing my kiss on you! I like seeing proof that I’m the one that gets to kiss you! Because… Because I was marking you, okay!? I wanted everyone who saw that lipstick on your face to know that I was the one who put it there!” Smolder huffed and puffed, her heart on display as Gallus just stood there, shocked and absorbing it all. “Because…” Smolder continued, forcing herself to say it. “Because I like you.” The two stood there, staring at each other. Nothing else existed at this moment but the two of them. “I like you, too.” Gallus finally admitted. Smolder was silent as she took in his confession, stress, confusion, elation all flashed across her face at light-speed. “Can…?” Smolder began. “Can I kiss you?” Gallus placed a tentative, experimental claw on Smolder’s cheek before leaning in, brushing her lips with his beak. It was a great deal more gentle, more tender than any other kiss the two shared within the past several days. But it meant so much more. All things considered, nothing really changed all that much. Gallus and Smolder still went to classes as usual, still learned lessons about friendship and harmony as usual, still hung out with their friends as usual. But, at the same time, nothing was the same. It was difficult to put into words, but both Gallus and Smolder knew that there was a new dynamic, a new dimension, to each and every interaction, no matter how familiar. A lingering look, a hand brushing over the other. Even among their most affectionate friends, there was definitely a different boundary of affection just for the two of them. The group slowly, but surely, settled into a new normal where Gallus and Smolder were just a tad closer to each other than they were before. And, occasionally, more than a tad. Though moments like those were kept in private, just for each other. One such moment, while the group were walking together to the library, Smolder and Gallus brought up the rear when Smolder got her usual wicked grin. One that Gallus had come to look forward to every time he saw it. While Ocellus kept the other’s attention with talks over the upcoming group project they were all to work on together, Smolder hooked her arm around Gallus, giggling silently as she pulled him away from the group and into one of the school’s many supply closets. Another example of dragon dominance, Gallus thought. Keeping him all to herself. Gallus smiled at his girlfriend’s mischievousness, already giving her a gentle kiss as she closed the door, leaving the two in near darkness save for a grimy window bathing the two in a dull light. Smolder happily returned the kiss, wrapping her arms around Gallus’ neck. For a while, this gentle affection was enough… until Smolder pulled away… And pulled out a tube of red lipstick. “Seriously?” Gallus asked, feigning exasperation though he and Smolder both knew that he was going to enjoy what was coming. “Sorry, Gallus…” Smolder said with absolutely no apology in her voice. She puckered her lips, making an exaggerated show of applying the crimson red so that Gallus could see every stroke. She definitely knew how to tease the poor griff. “But everycreature should know who you belong to.” Gallus smiled nervously. Although they had both come to admit that this was equally enjoyable for both of them, a primal part of Gallus’ brain still reacted with fearful apprehension from, essentially, giving himself up to her, letting her win… Letting her claim him. Smolder suddenly grasped his arms as she pushed him against the wall of the closet, bringing her face close to his. “Pucker up, bird-boy…” “Mwah!” Several minutes later (almost seven, to be exact), the door to the supply closet opened as a very smug looking dragoness practically sauntered out, her lipstick almost completely worn off. Smolder turned back to the closet and the sole remaining denizen therein. “I’ll see ya at the library with the others. Y’know… Once you get a chance to clean up.” Blowing a kiss into the closet, Smolder turned and started to make her way to the library. “Love ya, Gal.” Gallus, weak in the knees, slumped against the wall of the closet as he fell to the floor. He looked down at his body and saw countless marks of red lips dotted haphazardly across his chest and arms. He knew there were at least six or seven identical marks on his face alone. Possibly more considering Smolder had to reapply her lipstick halfway through. As Gallus gave a hearty sigh, finally able to breathe after Smolder’s non-stop onslaught, a single thought broke through the haze of ecstasy. Everyday should be a lipstick day.
