“What’s your previous experience with romantic relationships?” I read the note out loud before eying Aria curiously.
“Cute, but also clever.” I sighed as Aria leaned in with a sly grin. She was trying to make me answer while having questions she could wave away. Outplayed, at my own game!
“Well, this is my first date, so I pass it to you.” She was already emptying the entirety of the pork roast now. I hoped that their kitchen was well stocked.
“Fine.” I rolled my eyes. “I dated a few guys before, but none of us clicked. Sometimes I got a crush on them, only to find out that we didn’t work together. Other times I felt like they were dating me because they’d get the family inn, especially after my brother left for Mithil.”
I gave a nervous chuckle as Aria looked up at me in enraptured silence.
“Ya, I know, low stakes,” I noted as Aria blinked, trying to figure out what to say next.
“So how was dating a boy?” she blurted out in between the food. Right, she’d likely want to know from me, even if I wasn’t the best example.
“It was fine? There wasn’t anything wrong, they were always…disappointing? Like trying to one-up me or show how much capable they were, because I could kind of do everything by myself and didn’t need their help. I also dated this shy guy too, but that didn’t work either. He didn’t like getting dragged around by me much, and I didn’t like dragging him around either.” I scratched my head a little.
“What about you? You must’ve gotten suitors and love letters constantly.”
Aria tore off a lump of meat before nodding. “Ya, but when you can sense people’s emotions, and they get all nervous because you’re a Pact Mage, or start being…possessive. That, and there were hundreds. That’s too many for me to meet, and I wasn’t going to stick around for long anyways…” She looked sad, like she missed out on something. Past was depressing, duly noted.
“Okay, next slip of paper then!” I announced as I pulled another out. Aria was only too excited to not need to explain herself.
“If you couldn’t be the thing you were now, what would you be?”
“Well?” It was one of my questions, and for the first time today, Aria didn’t even need a moment to think
“I would be a singer.” She gave a happy grin. “I’ve always loved how songs made everyone around me happy. I know it’s not something glamorous, but if I wasn’t a Pact Mage, nor a noble, that’s who I’d try to be.” Her infectious smile spread to me, as she even put down food for the sake of voicing her love of singing as best as she could.
“I think that’s really sweet. Uuh…My old answer used to be noble, but I’m going say that’s a wash. How about a hunter? I’d get a lot more use out of my good old bow, or gun, and I’d be able to take a big chunk of time off if I go after bears and stuff. It’s a lot better then what I did before. A lot more exciting.” I gave a cheeky grin as Aria looked a little concerned.
“I don’t know. It worries me a little that we’re so different,” she fidgeted nervously as I brushed it off.
“Then can you imagine falling in love with a girl who was also a singer?” I chuckled. “Cute idea, but you’d get so possessive of them so quickly,” I pointed out as Aria sunk in her chair, giving me a cute pout.
“You’re not wrong, but I want to give you head pats too.” I leaned forward a little bit. She giggled, before reaching over and petting my head.
“Uuh, on reflection maybe this was a bad idea,” I added as I saw the hair on my head beginning to fall onto our food. Woops.
We finished up each round with a round of laughs after that. Aria talked about her name, how she had picked it for herself after her travels. She even delved a little bit into her travels, hinting that she was definitely going to make a claim for the throne once she got to Mithil.
I happily shared stuff about my family, how my grandfather won the inn off some nerve-wracking bets. Soon enough our lovely grandmother passed a bottle of wine to the both of us, and some wine glasses. I got to find out that Aria was a drinker that day, or rather, a reckless one. As soon as she was gone Aria chugged down the contents of the wine bottle, to my absolute horror.
I quickly realized that drunk Aria was quite the different beast from regular Aria, as she quickly changed the conversation to whatever she wanted to complain about. I’d never seen someone go from sober to drunk so quickly, or with such a personality shift. After half-coherently chewing out Clover and her parents for what seemed like several tense hours, I managed to get her back on track. Maybe alcohol was processed differently in dragons than in humans. I really hoped so.
“See, and then he had the audacity to go ‘Oh Aria. How lovely of you to grace me’ like he owned the entire show. I’ve never wanted to punch anyone’s teeth in so bad, let me tell you that.” Aria continued to ramble as I looked at the time. By the Trinity, it only had been ten minutes.
I gave a worried chuckle as I watched her guzzle more wine straight from the bottle. I was pretty sure even our loving temporary grandmother was regretting her choice now.
“I mean, that sounds pretty crappy. Guess none of them worked out?” I pressed the subject before pointing to the bottle she had monopolized. I didn’t actually care much for it, but I did want her to stop drinking.
“And you’ve been drinking quite a bit. Do you want to pass the wine?”
Aria raised her eyebrows as she glanced at the bottle in her hand, as if she was unaware of its existence.
“Huh,” she noted before handing the bottle over. “There you go Charlotte! Drinks for my favorite person!” She gave a stupid grin as she shoved the mostly empty wine bottle at my face.
I chose to pour it into a glass. I wasn’t a barbarian…or a dragon.
“But the point is, that I’m absolutely sick of finding out what shitty things people are thinking.” She was so dramatic while drunk, waving her little hands in front of her face as her eyes glittered, fragmenting all the light into little rainbows.
“She’s a trophy that, she should get a boyfriend this, she should marry my son. Holy crap, have I figured out some absolutely hilarious ideas. You think, that because you have money that I’ll let you woo me? I have fucking magic! Haa!”
I sat there, watching her and nodding along. I’m glad she was having a good time. I stole a glance to the back, only to see that there were three heads hiding from the drunk Aria.
“Point is, fuck that dude, because I’m so done taking people’s opinions seriously. Except yours. You’re my best human and I like when you say stuff.”
Nod and smile. Just nod and smile Charlotte.
“It’s good to hear that I matter, but I’m not going to lie. It’s really strange seeing you so open. Or happy, for that matter.” I tried to avoid the word drunk as Aria burst out laughing. Not the normally soft chuckle but a joyous roar of laughter.
“That’s why I figured that I might as well get a bit drunk! I mean, sure. You’re not supposed to chug the entire bottle, but fuck the rules! I make the rules! Haha!” Aria gave me a cheeky grin before suddenly raising her hand, palm open, and slowly moving it towards me. I was confused for a moment, before I felt her palm land right on my face, squishing my nose.
“Ow! Why!” I protested as I felt her hand on my face, feeling around before finally settling on my hair.
“You have really pretty curls, you know that? I like the fluff.”
I was enjoying the food just moments ago, but my tiny dragon girlfriend has decided to embarrass me instead. I felt the blood rush to my cheeks as she petted my hair.
“Give me a warning before you abruptly switch like that!” Great. This is how it feels to be in Aria’s place. Then I watched as she lifted the other arm up, as my eyes went wide. As she tried to reach for me, she slammed face first into the table, her arms crashing into empty plates before sliding off the table in a thump. I winced as I heard her hit the floor.
