Watching Paint Dry

1"-And I want a ten page essay on my desk by the next meeting."
A collective groaning echoed across the dusty walls of the room, the sound spreading out from twenty or so disgruntled teenagers. One of the students, a visually sleepy golden SandWing slid off the smooth wooden surface of his desk, and just barely caught himself on his chair. As the reverberation of the noise faded from everyone's ears, Imbre shuffled in her seat and spoke out with the slightest ring of disappointment in her voice.
"Is that all?"
The old professor, Boaring was his name, sat up, his seat creaking as he did so. In a single tense moment, he glared right at the young SeaWing. If looks could kill, Imbre would be a mutilated corpse. And right as his paws tightened around his ruler, Boaring's gaze softened ever the slightest, with a thoughtful smile curving at the edges of his mouth.
"Alright Imbre, you may do an additional write-up on thermodynamic entropy."
As papers rustled and the sound of binders zipping cut into the silence, the SandWing who had almost hit the ground ran up to Imbre, almost bouncing on his paws. As Imbre grieved and mourned the end of yet another lesson, Jahn was bouncing with excitement, finally free from, as he put it "death by nerd-babble". As he jogged along next the SeaWing, her longer stride clearly giving him struggle, he had the nerve to ask his dorky companion the ever-present question.
"Could I copy off your notes?"
And Imbre's open paw collided, rather feebly, against his face.
"Ow."
As Imbre's pale brown eyes rolled in their sockets, and she sighed of exasperation, she retorted to the SandWing's blatant attempt to avoid doing any work.
"Why did you sign up anyways?"
Jahn tilted his head sarcastically.
"Physics club! Of course, how could I turn down the opportunity to suffocate myself in homework? I mean a club, that lets you write papers and study for free! I'm surprised not everyone in the school is clambering to get in! But seriously Imbre, I couldn't just leave my best friend in a room with Professor Boring over there."
"His name's Boaring."
"Whatever, but the point still stands, will you let me copy those beautifully written notes of yours. I mean, you already know all of this by heart. You shouldn't let all those numbers and words your poor paw scrawled down go to waste. Plus, if you don't, I'll spread a rumor all across the school that you have a crush on someone on the football team."
"You wouldn't."
"Try me."
Sighing in defeat, the SeaWing ran a talon down the zipper of her binder and slipped out several rubbed-banded sheets, her small and insubstiantial writing covering every inch of paper. With a spring in his step and a grin on his face, Jahn slipped the notes into his bag.
"Thanks Imbre, you're a life-saver."
The SeaWing responded by closing her eyes and counting to ten.
1
2
3
4
5-
A sudden force hit Imbre in the side, with scales and metal crashing painfully into her. As the SeaWing's eyes shot open, she looked to the side to see a pale dragon seated in a wheelchair. With a pen tucked behind her ears and spiraling flowers inscribed on her bone-mask, she stood out to Imbre. As Imbre stared shocked at the small DeathWing, the smaller dragoness whispered a small "Sorry!" and rolled off in a hurry.
Jahn decided to actually do something at this point rather than simply watch Imbre get hit by the wheelchair-bound death dragon.
"Imbre! Are you okay?"
"Yes Jahn, I'm.. I'm fine."
But Imbre couldn't shake the thought of the panicked DeathWing from her head.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Verity swerved around a corner of the labyrinth of blank hallways, broken up by the occasional green door. No matter how much she tried to get used to it, the clattering roll of her wheelchair always felt wrong. She would tell herself "Verity, deal with it.". And in phases she could. But then she would see the others, a soaring cloud of dragons of every colour, and wonder why she couldn't fly.
Or even walk for that matter.
Perhaps that was why she painted. With a brush in paw, she could make towering mountains, higher than any dragon could fly. With dabs of emerald and brown, she could bring forth a beautiful forest, more vast than any dragon could ever hope to walk through. With strokes of cerulean, Verity could bring the sky to herself.
As some crossroads came into view, she tilted the wheels of the steel apparatus she was forever cursed with. Metal screeched and groaned, and her forepaws, dancing across the wheel, started to shake.
The left wheel was jammed.
Oh sh-t.
Verity spun around in a hurricane of squeaking and scraping, with the horrible sound of laughter in the background. Don't get her wrong, Verity loved laughing. But not when everyone was laughing at her.
As she managed to right her movement, a flash of blue appeared in front of her. Verity had just a moment to process what she was seeing before they collided.
Verity was the first to recover, and for fear that this was one of the bullies Ralph was always warning her about, she hurridly let out a whisper of "Sorry!", before hastenedly wheeling off.
Within mere moments, the afternoon breeze, scented vaguely of grass and trees, drifted along her and alerted the small DeathWing to the outside, mere paw-steps away. Not that paw-steps mattered to her.
The green was now all-encompassing, lazily painted on to a azure sky. Leaves swayed, puppeted by the crisp air. Away from the hustle and bustle of everyone, for she had taken a lesser known exit. Here she could laugh and watch and smell the warm air. She could find inspiration for her art, skip stones in the river, and play and run-.
Scratch that.
But than in her Eden of emerald grass, there were twin streaks of blue and gold. The SeaWing and SandWing from earlier were here in a place Verity thought only she knew about. They hadn't noticed her yet. She could still leave before having to have a conversation. The DeathWing gracefully turned on her wheels and started to roll off. When suddenly-
"Hey! You."
The DeathWing froze in time.
"You're the DeathWing who hit me in the hallway."
Verity spluttered before answering, she wasn't good at talking to dragons she didn't know.
"Wha-wh-what? Do.. do y-you thi-think that all Dea-DeathWings in whe-wheelchairs look the sa-same?"
She knew it was hopeless, as she spun on her wheels. Her colourful flowery bone-mask was a dead giveaway. The SeaWing bit her lip, she clearly recognized it.
As Verity closed her eyes, ready for a beating, the SeaWing's pitched voice broke into her mind.
"I'm... I'm not angry. It's just.. I want to help. Is there a problem with your wheelchair?"
Verity was shocked to say the least. Not most of all at the SeaWing not beating her up, but at the social dorkiness that the DeathWing sensed behind the SeaWing's logical persona. Something about her, like a mirror of souls.
"Um.. Thank you?"
The SeaWing hung her head down low, examining the silvery axle.
"Ah..."
"What, did you find something?"
The SeaWing looked up, somewhat of a blush highlighting her face.
"Umm, I need some support, as I will need both front paws to fix the problem. You can't hold me up with your talons, as one paw would be dangerous to lean on."
As she said this, the SeaWing motioned to Verity's wheelchair.
"So... um, it would be easier for you to hold me up by my tail with yours."
Verity stared at the SeaWing in shock, a similar scarlet haze clouding around her cheeks.
"What?"
"Um."
Verity sighed. With how terrible and socializing both of them were, this would get nowhere. Swallowing up some courage, she whipped her tail around and wrapped it around the SeaWing's. The contact of their scales made both of them fiercly flush in the face. With her new leverage, the SeaWing slid under and did something to the axle of her wheelchair.
"Ah. There are several objects caught on the axle, and preventing the wheel from turning. I'll take them out."
As the SeaWing started to fumble and pick at what she could only assume were the obstructions, Verity suddenly realized that her tail was twined around another's.
Oh moons.
There was a definite chill coming off the SeaWing, and yet the miniscule contact of their scales made Verity want more.
And with evident haste, the SeaWing let out a loud "Finished!" and hurridly hopped away from her.
Their paws accidently brushed against each other as they made some distance, and familiar red streaks manifested once more on both of their cheeks.
When suddenly there was a loud click. Like a ratcheting axle, or....
A camera.
The SandWing was on his phone, and tapping his talons on the "take photo" button.
"You gals are so cute together."
There was an awkward few moments of stammering and spluttering between the two, and finally the small DeathWing had the nerve to ask the SeaWing a question.
"Wha-what is your name?"
"Im-Imbre."
Imbre...
It would do the DeathWing well to remember that name.
2
"She's really nice, Ralph."
The mechanic warmly gazed down at Verity, tucked beneath her sheets, with her wheelchair standing beside the bed.
"Really now?"
"She's the first dragon at school to help me rather than mock the lack of walking in my life."
"Ah. Good friends are hard to find Ver, make sure you keep them."
"I'm actually looking forward to school tomorrow."
A smile tugged at the edges of the adult SkyWing's mouth. He leaned down and quickly planted a kiss on Verity's forehead. She grinned back as her adoptive father made his way to her sisters and brothers.
A sudden coldness washed over her, prompting her to look to her left side. Verity's eyes were greeted by a tall IceWing. He had presumably sneaked past Ralph. Verity wouldn't put it past him. Careful to not alert Ralph, who had made his way into another room, the pale blue dragon spoke in a whispered hush.
"Hey Verity."
"Go to bed Khil."
"Cmon Veri, tell me about your girlfriend."
"Wha-what?"
"Listen Veri, it is kinda obvious..."
"We met once!"
"And with just that you'rer practically swooning. Young love indeed starts off small."
"Khil please. Why are you here."
"I just want to know about the girl my sister is fawning over. What is it about her? Is she hot? Does she have a nice personality? Is she smart?"
"No, kinda, and probably. She was hanging out in the physics room and her binder was roughly as thick as the Lord of The Rings trilogy combined. And no, I'm not fawning over her. I just think she.... is nice."
But was Verity in love with Imbre? Now that she thought about it, she couldn't deny all those little......emotions fluttering through her mind. She had been beaten, she had her dreams and hopes at friendship crushed by those people in the world who just didn't care. And Verity happens to ram right into the one dragon at school who did. It was completely natural for her to feel some attraction towards the SeaWing.
Right?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Imbre sat in her large office chair, curled up rather rigidly with her tail draped over the back of it and her wings folded in a sort of blanket around her. Despite her being the only one in the apartment; her ambassador parents were never home, opting to send a check once in a while to pay for her living expenses, Imbre's posture was upright and formal, as if in the front row of a scientific meeting. Today, however, a bit less so than usual. Her paws danced along the keyboard with unnatural speed, weaving theorem after theorem onto the screen. She had already done the ten pages that Boaring had asked for, and had done another nine out of sheer boredom. Thermo-dynamic entropy was a lot more interesting, but alas, Imbre had already completed it.
In size fifty font right at the top, bold and crisp, the words were typed.
WHAT IS LOVE?
And under it, equation after equation, trying in vain to assign mathematical principles and concepts to the draconic emotion of love. Her efforts to blame love on a series of ones and zeroes was doomed to fail, and deep down Imbre knew it.
"No..no it isn't."
"It's just a simple neurological impulse, conquer it Imbre."
"Verity...Verity....Verity.... darn."
She was in love.
Dangit.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Hey."
Verity and Khil froze in their tracks, as Ralph flicked the lights on. The two adoptive siblings were working on another painting, a commission in order to squeeze in a bit more money. With his arms crossed and his face hidden in shadow, the IceWing and the DeathWing were absolutely terrified.
"Kids, what are you doing?"
Verity and Khil ran/rolled as fast as they could. Their father was known for being.... overprotective. Verity suspected that Khil was even more afraid than she was, but didn't have time to dwell on it as she screeched through the small four room complex where the family lived.
Unfortunately for her, she was soon backed up against a corner, with Ralph looming over her. His paws were on his hips, and he had a disapproving look on his face.
Oh sh-
"Ver-"
A dangerous edge was now present in his usually carefree voice.
"Didn't I tell you to go to bed?"
Verity was trembling in her seat.
"Ye-ye-yes."
"Why aren't you in bed?"
"I just.. I just.. I just-"
Ralph's gaze relaxed.
"Don't worry Ver, I know how much you love to paint."
"Really?" The words tumbled out of her mouth as Verity's paws shuffled nervously.
"Its just that I care about you a lot. I care about you so much Abi-"
Ralph quietly trailed off, having mispoke. His arms trembled and faltered ever so slightly in the darkness of the night, and the glint of tears was illuminated by the almost unnoticeable streams of light flooding in. Verity had heard of Abigail before, mostly in hushed rumors and the like. Abigail was Ralph's first dragonet. His real dragonet. Some of the older dragons in the garage/house had even met her. Abigail had died to cancer roughly seven years before Verity was adopted by Ralph.
Awkwardly, Verity rolled forward, with the matted floor catching on her wheels.
Her thin, frail arms wrapped around her father, embracing him in a tight hug.
"Abigail would want you to be happy."
And Ralph hugged her back.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Phew."
It was a long day for Imbre, but what day wasn't? The sun was long gone, leaving only the fleeting lights of the street lights that managed to make their way to her window. Hundreds, possibly thousands of papers were stacked neatly in piles around the SeaWing, who sat in the middle of the room. Her eyes were getting droopy, and her limbs felt numb. It was time to go to sleep.
Or not.
Why, she had almost forgot.
A small, white box of folded cardstock sat, looking lonely. It seemed out of place, with a few scratchs lining it. Normally Imbre's taskmaster-esque demeanor prevented anything like it from getting in. But again, this box certainly wasn't normal.
The SeaWing grabbed it before jumping into her bed.
Her azure paws gently lifted the lid off, revealing all sorts of memorabilia and bits inside. A few dusty photos, a toy soldier, and a notebooke among them. Nothing out of the ordinary, but Imbre spent a eternity cherishing every single one before placing it back into the box.
And then she reached the bottom.
There was a picture; just like any other in the box, but so much more important.
Imbre's paws almost slipped while holding it, but she managed. The cargo she held was far too precious.
It was oak in frame, the photograph faded and dulled, yet it still radiated comfort.
A child's voice appeared in her head; young, wholesome, his voice ringing with a hopeful tone, echoing through her ears.
"Hey sis, did you do well today? Is school difficult?"
"Aww, thats too bad. You never hang out with me anymore sis."
"Your day was bad? Don't worry sis, theres always tomorrow."
Tomorrow..
Tomorrow...
Imbre gently lowered her head, resting it on the old photograph. Her eyes closed, the fatigue pulling her to her sleep.
Tomorrow...
Tomorrow...
And the SeaWing started to cry.
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Category:Genre (Romance)
Category:Content (Soi-ke)
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)