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Description
Armani wandered around the palace, sniffing around and about until he found himself in Rashid's room. Ras was humming while brushing her long dark hair, the pearls around her neck and the braces around her arms musing with her song. Bright streaks of sunlight darted around the room, warming the usually cold marble floor. He swiftly walked to the corner of the room where one of his own pillows was collecting dust for a while. He grabbed one of them between the yaws and shook it around, jumping on his hind legs and kicking it with his front paws.
'Morning to you too, Armi.' Rashid said, not in a particular tone. She was sometimes frustratingly cold and unreachable, though Armani wasn't much more outgoing either.
Armani mumbled something in return, both because he didn't want to give her the pleasure of a full response and because he still had the pillow in his mouth. He placed it on the ground in the brightest stroke of sunlight he could find and started to kneed it until it was perfect; a bit higher on the left, bit deeper in the middle, the folds just at the right place… Perfect!
'Just lay down already.' Rashid sighed. She stood up and placed her brush in the closed. Rashid had one closet alone full of things like brushes, make-up and metal adornments. She also had a second closet for her nightgowns, a third and fourth for her dresses and sashes and a single drawer dresser full of sandals. In the corner, next to the dusted pillows was the last drawer closet with handling tools and leather straps and metal plates. She hardly ever used them; she hardly ever handled her Stryxes or Armani himself. Armani didn't mind, but he always found it quite a shame, he knew how much the Stryxes liked Rashid's attention and how affectionate the birds were towards Rash. But after Rashid accidentally lost two of her fingers during one of the handling sessions she hardly ever reached out for the handling equipment - neither for her Stryxes which Armani found a tat bit unfair. However, she still had eyes for him, and he was too egocentric to care too much about how unfair it actually was. He easily shoved the tough aside and focussed on Rashid's daily routine instead.
Rash was a complicated person to be around. Not for Armani - no. They were quite the same in many ways. But he, however, found that not a lot of people or creatures wanted to be around the two of them. He smiled when thinking about what Rash once said. They don't have the balls to talk to us. Armani recognized many of his own traits in Rashid's behaviour. Rashid usually wanted to be alone, and when she wanted people around it had to be on her terms and only to pamper her. He understood that completely; of course it had to be on her (and his) terms! They were royal, and royal they must be treated. Usually, when she went out to greet the common (ugh, Armani hated common folk) she took Armani with her (again; ugh commons). Armani and Rash both stood out from the crowd like it should be, but that also meant they were always alone and surrounded by lesser beings. But at least they were alone together.
Armani swept his tail from side to side, the two golden rings around the base of his tail tapping against each other, starting a duet with Rashid's jewellery. He placed his head on his front paws and turned slowly to his side, so the sun could warm his pink belly.
He heard Rashid opening and closing closets, wandering around the room, circling around in front of the mirrors by her bedside. 'Mani, what do you think?'
Armani growled in protest but opened his eyes nonetheless to take a glance. 'What?'
She was wearing a white dress, making her beautiful dark skin pop out. She had a really nice skin colour - of course not as gorgeous as Armani's fur, but a close second. She held up two sets of sashes to wear over her dress. 'Do I have to go for pink or…' She switched the shining pink to a deep burgundy.' Dark red?'.
'Pink.'
'Ugh.'
' "Ugh" WHAT?'
'You will always choose pink.' She growled
Armani smashed his head down in the pillow. 'Then why do you even ask!?'
'Nevermind.'
'Fine.'
'Fine.' She threw the red dress in the closet and smashed the doors shut. The sound echoed around the room, emphasizing her protest.
The next time Armani opened his eyes, she was standing in front of the open jewellery closet, adorning herself with a tiara [aangezet] with pearls and seashells, matching the shine embedded in the pink fabric hanging over her shoulder and around her waist.
'Do you have a meeting?' Armani asked, trying not to sound too interested.
'Yes.'
Armani's head shot up. 'With who? Whats his name? Is he royal?'
Rashid snorted. 'Don't be jealous now, mera pyaar.' She walked up to him and set down next to him on the ground.
Armani flung his had away from her. 'I'm not jealous!' … 'Don't tell me it's a Vayron I swear I'll -'
'- Mani!' A hit on his snout followed. 'Shut it. It's a political meeting I have to attend with my mother. Nothing to worry about. Besides -' She took his face in her soft hands and pushed her nose against his. 'You're the man of the house here.'
'I know.' He mumbled. Apparently, he had hit a soft spot since she usually wasn't this affectionate with him. He took advantage of it and forced his head on her lap, pushing his snout under her elbow.
Rashid giggled, but soon she was patting his head, her face pressed into his fur between his ears. Soon his eyes were closed, and he was listening to Rashid's humming, concentrating on the circular strokes on his face and the smell of the red jasmine growing in the yard outside.
He wasn't aware of how long they sat like this, but one certain moment Rashid froze.
'Hmmm,' Armani mumbled 'are you not too late?'
'Open your eyes, gulaabee.' Her voice full of wonder.
Armani slowly opened his eyes, his eyelids heavy. He blinked, the sun was shining even brighter now then it did when he entered the room a while ago.
'Look, before it fades!' Rashid rushed, pushing up Armani head from her lap.
Armani shook his head and forced his eyes to open even wider. Slowly but surely he started to realise that the increase of light was not due to an increase of sunlight, it was due to… Magic?
'W-What?' He wondered, Looking around him in confusion. Golden light was flowing around in the air, circling around Armani and Rashid, dancing in the air like small rivers in the sky. They came together, forming lake like structures, and then parted again in branches of dancing gold. When he concentrated enough he started to see figures, figures yet unidentified. He started to feel weaker, his concentration seeping out of him. The light started to fade, the gold dissolved in the air and disappeared. Armani's head fell back to the ground, falling on the marble next to his pillow. And yes, that hurts.
'That was… What was it actually?' Rashid asked amazed, her full attention still to the space around her, her hands mid-air like she tried to hold too what was just seconds ago swirling all around them. 'It looked like magic.'
Armani couldn't believe what just happened. He couldn't accept the fact that magic was around them, around him. What if it were true? What if Armani was one of the unlucky Vayrons bound to the path of magicians? Magic was for the fools, for the weak, for the poor. Magic within the palace was only displayed for fun, as an act purely to comply with the pleasure of the royal family.
But on the other hand, he did feel weak... It felt like life force was drained out of him, and he knew far to well what that meant, even for a Vayron openly avoiding everything with magic.
Damned, what if he now had to STUDY?!
A knock on the door. Rashid stood up, still scanning the air around her, her hands up high, sifting for any traces of arcane energy. The door opened before she even arrived. Behind the door, Armani saw a number of guards, some of them protecting the entrance to the princesses' door and some to escort her to her "political meeting".
'Armani?' she asked before leaving.
Armani raised his head one more time from the floor, looking around towards his companion. 'yes?'
'Please do clean when you decide to leave, there is dust all over the floor.'
'Pffft.'
'Do it.'
'Don't tell me what to do you, privileged princess.'
'I'm your privileged princes, idiot.'
'Hm.'

And so, his magic awoke.

Description
Armani wandered around the palace, sniffing around and about until he found himself in Rashid's room. Ras was humming while brushing her long dark hair, the pearls around her neck and the braces around her arms musing with her song. Bright streaks of sunlight darted around the room, warming the usually cold marble floor. He swiftly walked to the corner of the room where one of his own pillows was collecting dust for a while. He grabbed one of them between the yaws and shook it around, jumping on his hind legs and kicking it with his front paws.
'Morning to you too, Armi.' Rashid said, not in a particular tone. She was sometimes frustratingly cold and unreachable, though Armani wasn't much more outgoing either.
Armani mumbled something in return, both because he didn't want to give her the pleasure of a full response and because he still had the pillow in his mouth. He placed it on the ground in the brightest stroke of sunlight he could find and started to kneed it until it was perfect; a bit higher on the left, bit deeper in the middle, the folds just at the right place… Perfect!
'Just lay down already.' Rashid sighed. She stood up and placed her brush in the closed. Rashid had one closet alone full of things like brushes, make-up and metal adornments. She also had a second closet for her nightgowns, a third and fourth for her dresses and sashes and a single drawer dresser full of sandals. In the corner, next to the dusted pillows was the last drawer closet with handling tools and leather straps and metal plates. She hardly ever used them; she hardly ever handled her Stryxes or Armani himself. Armani didn't mind, but he always found it quite a shame, he knew how much the Stryxes liked Rashid's attention and how affectionate the birds were towards Rash. But after Rashid accidentally lost two of her fingers during one of the handling sessions she hardly ever reached out for the handling equipment - neither for her Stryxes which Armani found a tat bit unfair. However, she still had eyes for him, and he was too egocentric to care too much about how unfair it actually was. He easily shoved the tough aside and focussed on Rashid's daily routine instead.
Rash was a complicated person to be around. Not for Armani - no. They were quite the same in many ways. But he, however, found that not a lot of people or creatures wanted to be around the two of them. He smiled when thinking about what Rash once said. They don't have the balls to talk to us. Armani recognized many of his own traits in Rashid's behaviour. Rashid usually wanted to be alone, and when she wanted people around it had to be on her terms and only to pamper her. He understood that completely; of course it had to be on her (and his) terms! They were royal, and royal they must be treated. Usually, when she went out to greet the common (ugh, Armani hated common folk) she took Armani with her (again; ugh commons). Armani and Rash both stood out from the crowd like it should be, but that also meant they were always alone and surrounded by lesser beings. But at least they were alone together.
Armani swept his tail from side to side, the two golden rings around the base of his tail tapping against each other, starting a duet with Rashid's jewellery. He placed his head on his front paws and turned slowly to his side, so the sun could warm his pink belly.
He heard Rashid opening and closing closets, wandering around the room, circling around in front of the mirrors by her bedside. 'Mani, what do you think?'
Armani growled in protest but opened his eyes nonetheless to take a glance. 'What?'
She was wearing a white dress, making her beautiful dark skin pop out. She had a really nice skin colour - of course not as gorgeous as Armani's fur, but a close second. She held up two sets of sashes to wear over her dress. 'Do I have to go for pink or…' She switched the shining pink to a deep burgundy.' Dark red?'.
'Pink.'
'Ugh.'
' "Ugh" WHAT?'
'You will always choose pink.' She growled
Armani smashed his head down in the pillow. 'Then why do you even ask!?'
'Nevermind.'
'Fine.'
'Fine.' She threw the red dress in the closet and smashed the doors shut. The sound echoed around the room, emphasizing her protest.
The next time Armani opened his eyes, she was standing in front of the open jewellery closet, adorning herself with a tiara [aangezet] with pearls and seashells, matching the shine embedded in the pink fabric hanging over her shoulder and around her waist.
'Do you have a meeting?' Armani asked, trying not to sound too interested.
'Yes.'
Armani's head shot up. 'With who? Whats his name? Is he royal?'
Rashid snorted. 'Don't be jealous now, mera pyaar.' She walked up to him and set down next to him on the ground.
Armani flung his had away from her. 'I'm not jealous!' … 'Don't tell me it's a Vayron I swear I'll -'
'- Mani!' A hit on his snout followed. 'Shut it. It's a political meeting I have to attend with my mother. Nothing to worry about. Besides -' She took his face in her soft hands and pushed her nose against his. 'You're the man of the house here.'
'I know.' He mumbled. Apparently, he had hit a soft spot since she usually wasn't this affectionate with him. He took advantage of it and forced his head on her lap, pushing his snout under her elbow.
Rashid giggled, but soon she was patting his head, her face pressed into his fur between his ears. Soon his eyes were closed, and he was listening to Rashid's humming, concentrating on the circular strokes on his face and the smell of the red jasmine growing in the yard outside.
He wasn't aware of how long they sat like this, but one certain moment Rashid froze.
'Hmmm,' Armani mumbled 'are you not too late?'
'Open your eyes, gulaabee.' Her voice full of wonder.
Armani slowly opened his eyes, his eyelids heavy. He blinked, the sun was shining even brighter now then it did when he entered the room a while ago.
'Look, before it fades!' Rashid rushed, pushing up Armani head from her lap.
Armani shook his head and forced his eyes to open even wider. Slowly but surely he started to realise that the increase of light was not due to an increase of sunlight, it was due to… Magic?
'W-What?' He wondered, Looking around him in confusion. Golden light was flowing around in the air, circling around Armani and Rashid, dancing in the air like small rivers in the sky. They came together, forming lake like structures, and then parted again in branches of dancing gold. When he concentrated enough he started to see figures, figures yet unidentified. He started to feel weaker, his concentration seeping out of him. The light started to fade, the gold dissolved in the air and disappeared. Armani's head fell back to the ground, falling on the marble next to his pillow. And yes, that hurts.
'That was… What was it actually?' Rashid asked amazed, her full attention still to the space around her, her hands mid-air like she tried to hold too what was just seconds ago swirling all around them. 'It looked like magic.'
Armani couldn't believe what just happened. He couldn't accept the fact that magic was around them, around him. What if it were true? What if Armani was one of the unlucky Vayrons bound to the path of magicians? Magic was for the fools, for the weak, for the poor. Magic within the palace was only displayed for fun, as an act purely to comply with the pleasure of the royal family.
But on the other hand, he did feel weak... It felt like life force was drained out of him, and he knew far to well what that meant, even for a Vayron openly avoiding everything with magic.
Damned, what if he now had to STUDY?!
A knock on the door. Rashid stood up, still scanning the air around her, her hands up high, sifting for any traces of arcane energy. The door opened before she even arrived. Behind the door, Armani saw a number of guards, some of them protecting the entrance to the princesses' door and some to escort her to her "political meeting".
'Armani?' she asked before leaving.
Armani raised his head one more time from the floor, looking around towards his companion. 'yes?'
'Please do clean when you decide to leave, there is dust all over the floor.'
'Pffft.'
'Do it.'
'Don't tell me what to do you, privileged princess.'
'I'm your privileged princes, idiot.'
'Hm.'

And so, his magic awoke.