Chapter 5: Sebastian the Dragon and His Vampire Shapeshifter Tessa
Sebastian rummaged through the brown paper bag he was carrying to make sure he wasn't missing anything. Chocolate hazelnut candy wafers, sour fizz candies, 4 packs of popcorn, a butt load of gummy bears and a questionable amount of chocolate bars from his favorite Germania candy store. Excellent supplies for a movie binge day with his Tessa.
He grinned at the thought of her, actually happy this new semester was starting after his bland winter vacation. He hadn't done much. He couldn't go visit his home country of Germania since the Fae there were still having an ongoing war with his dad and the remaining silver dragons, making his family's home castle still very unsafe for him to visit. And though Patootie's Boarding School for Exceptional Monsters allowed students to stay on campus during vacations, there was only so much entertainment to be had. The same could be said for the town a short bus ride away, only so much could be done.
He could've used his mother given doorlord powers to hop around any part of the world he'd already visited, yes. But he'd always found more comfort in video games and movies than the outside world and always ended up feeling uncomfortable after a trip in the reality. So in his cozy dorm room he'd stayed, inviting the 2 people that could tolerate him to visit when they could and vice versa. Today he was mixing it up by going to his beloved frienemy's room to continue their movie marathon debate of who was more badass: flesh eating zombies or bloodthirsty vampires. Sebastian felt confident he was winning, both species were screwed after they ate all the living and they couldn't eat each other.
Since he had bothered to be a polite person and not barge into her room with his own dimensional door, it meant he was forced to stride down the halls of the female dorm, feeling like he was going to drown in all the perfumed scents despite his face mask. No one but Tessa smelled good to him, everyone else just smelled like...sweat. And dirt. And a massive mix of other scents to try to cover them all up. Another reason why he liked being alone instead of surrounded. He made sure to always smell like cinnamon and coffee so he didn't go insane.
He blinked in surprise when he reached the 3rd floor and saw his Tessa outside her door, raising an eyebrow seeing her outfit. Who dressed up that nicely on the day before going back to school….
She was busy smoothing out her mini skirt and didn't see him until she ran into his chest, raising those pretty blue eyes at him. Like looking at 7 different oceans at once. "Sebassy? Out in the real world before noon?? To what honor do the masses owe for this?"
"Movie marathon debate continuation from 2 nights ago. Where are YOU going so early in the day?"
She gave him an almost feral grin with her fangs showing, a fierce determination burning in her eyes. "Because it's the day before classes officially start and I am determined to make at least one new friend this year. The newbies don't know about my past exploits and the 'ruthless' stories that have been ruining my friend making efforts since 4th grade."
"...You seemed awfully awkward in 3rd grade when you turned into a half shark half giraffe to scare that one prick who cut in front you in the lunch line-"
"Shhhh, it's all in the past, newbies don't know that!" She started a fast walk down the hall, expecting him to follow. "You remember that podcast we saw a while back on the importance of having good, strong friendships to fall back on in case you're in a lot of trouble and need back up? We need to bring some people into our group, expand a bit. And I know it is just the right time now, I was talking to my fortune reader just before coming back to campus-you know the one. Give her a strawberry churro and she'll tell you the weather for the next week, chocolate churro and she'll find your soulmate, fruity pebbles churro and she'll read your future for the next month. She said there were some variables, and one of her future eyes is a bit wonky with what she thinks is glaucoma, but she said this year is the best time to make some lifelong relationships! It was more than legit for me."
She smacked his arm, practically feeling his grin past his face mask. "Who better to believe and follow a fortune from if not a churro loving, one-eyed fortune teller that likes to camp out in front of my favorite pet store once a month?"
"Well, when you put it that way I'd be as crazy as you not to agree." He glanced at that excited grin of hers, still looking rather feral. "You still go to the pet store to act all alpha in front of the helpless creatures?"
She flipped her long hair, her normal jet black color with some vibrant streaks of blue today, back with an unconcerned wave. "One of these days I'm going to release them for the animal army I need to overtake the person I finally decide deserves my wrath enough. I'm leaning towards that one guy from the theatre. Thinks he was too good to respond to my flirting? As if he can get away with insulting me by calling the mall cops for smacking him after he continued insulting my favorite character and thought that would be the end of it, pah."
That one made Sebastian snort a laugh, jostling his candy bag. He had missed his Tessa and her particular brand of straight up craziness. She was always easily distracted, given how much shiz she got into and saw, a conversation with her could easily last half a day with over 200 topics simply by asking her about the weather. She was also easily the pettiest being he was sure lived on this side of the dimension, and her temper was something that struck fear into anyone with sense. Personally, he thought it just made her funner to tease.
He blinked back into focus when he saw they made it to the main floor of the dorm's lobby and she had snapped her manicured claws in front of him, swiping one of the chocolate nutters bar from the top of his bag. "You really should keep your guard up more Sebassy, look around at all the potential there is this year! All following their hungry little tummies straight into my favorite hunting ground."
He glanced to their left where the masses were heading as she got distracted with her vaguely evil laugh. "Cafeteria. I believe is the word you were looking for. You crazy nut."
She gave him a warning point as she struggled with her candy wrapper, adding a glare. "Watch it, Scales, I'm trying to be on my best behavior. Doesn't mean I won't hesitate to smack claw you for being rude. Speaking of helpful claws," She gave up trying to open the wrapper and, instead of asking for help like a normal person, she lifted her other hand that quickly morphed into a furry, orange paw complete with big, squishy toe beans where her palm used to be and sharp black claws for her nails. Then she held the bar carefully with her other still normal hand while slowly, ridiculously, carving a slow line across the wrapper with her claw to slice it open until it was finally laying ready to bite into and her satisfied grin was too much to resist. He just had to mess with her.
He took a good breath, then lowered his mask from face and, right as she was bringing her victory bar to her mouth, bent down so he could reach her face, stuck his forked tongue out to give the sweet chocolate bar a looong unnecessary lick that ended inches away from her waiting mouth. He then grinned very sweetly at the shocked, then slowly darkening with rage face of his Tessa as she let his ruinous action sink in, squishing the poor forgotten chocolate bar into a mush tightly in her hand. "Now, that doesn't look like the face of a good hearted, generous soul on her best behavior at all. Don't tell me you're giving in so easily at this, are you Tess?"
'You punkass, stick figured snake, think I'm going to let this betrayal go unpunished?! BEST BELIEVE I WILL TAKE PLEASURE IN MY REVENGE!!' Is what she really wanted to say, it was so easy to read her glower at his face that he had to laugh out loud. For sure she would make sure to get back at him for this, such a simple little act that she was probably already thinking about cursing his grandchildren with a penance before she was satisfied. He would take the revenge she thought felt fit for this, and would eagerly do something in response to her anger yet again just to see what she would do next to continue the cycle of vengeance until one of them got bored. In all the fights they've had, ridiculous or serious, never could he recall them ending in one of them admitting outright defeat.
She must have really meant what she said though, about being on her best behavior to attract unsuspecting suckers to be friends. Because despite that glare of fury that was making her eye twitch and her claws clench, she blew out a good long breath to steady herself and look to the ceiling. How rare, she was actually willing to try and curb her anger.
"....No. I suppose it's not." He perked up seeing her fangs had started to poke out too when she growled that out, about ready to push her further to snap and come play with him in a fight, but she beat him with districtaction before he could. "Damn sure she still isn't mature enough to do nothing about it though." With that, she smacked her chocolate covered hand to his mask-one he JUST washed too!- and used her tiger paw to smack his delicate bag of snacks down helplessly to the ground making him gasp in offense. Then while his growl was slowly rising out his throat, she flipped him off with said meaty paw, gave him that stupid "Ha!" smirk he loved, then ran off to the cafeteria with a loud "Don't think that was the last of my revenge either, Sebassy! Death before forgiveness when it comes to chocolate!"
He glared after her through the crowd that had parted for her for a long while, trying to decide just how angry he was. For sure the annoyed and amused bit, he could tell. He looked sadly down at his precious wrapped candy and made the decision to get her back later along with whoever made such flimsy environmentally safe bags, then got over it. He wasn't nearly as fun to argue with alone.
He rustled his pocket keyring until he found the dimensional key coded for his candy den, ignored the whispering and looks around him as he crouched down to trace a large rectangle on the hard ground that had all his candy inside it, then focused as he closed the shape and turned his key to the left, making a bright flash of silver light came from the rectangle that opened the space to his candy den. He watched his candy fall through the light and land safely with the rest of his horde, sighed in remorse, then turned his key to the right to lock it back safely and seal the rectangle he made with one more flash of light.
Again ignoring the awed gasps, he hopped back up, put his key back where it belonged, replaced his chocolate vengeance smeared mask with his backup one from his back pocket just as the scents were starting to come back to his too sensitive nostrils, flipped his hood back on over his curly black hair and turned on his heel in the direction his Tessa had went. Right into the den of migraines.
Unsurprisingly, he was not a people person. Hadn't grown up exposed to a lot of them, hadn't met a lot he thought were worth the annoyance they brought with their existence, and just wasn't used to them. They were fun to listen to when they weren't focused on him, so much delicious drama was something he never got tired of. But having their attention focused solely on him had literally sometimes made him sick with anxiety. One of his favorite things about Tessa was that she had (forcibly) gotten him into the habit of at least being able to handle their presence as a mass around him instead of panicking and going back to his hoarde. He could now handle ignoring them looking at him and was able to walk into large masses of people for a certain amount of time before the sweating started. He counted that as progress.
His silver dragon eyes scanned the large room, getting distracted for a quick moment at the decorations and activity. Since it was a beginning year for some freshman, banners and tables and places had been set up festively to add the welcoming feel to get the little ones excited enough to explore. Something he was used to seeing for years, he'd been a student living at Patootie's Gifted School for Monsters since he first managed to make it to the country of Kookiness with his first ally back when they were children. He hadn't liked the efforts back then either.
He flinched when someone feathery brushed by him, quickly scooching away and remembering his purpose. As much as he loved teasing her, he would admit to himself he really did need Tessa to feel like the outside world wasn't trying to kill him with sensations and people. He didn't understand why, the crazy chick was the polar opposite from him and forced him into social activities in the first place in her idea of…"proper exposure therapy", to shock him into realizing they weren't as terrifying as he thought they were. Nor did he understand why it was kind of working as the years went by. He was worried if he actually read professionally about it, he would be forced to accept he was more mentally unbalanced than he wanted to admit.
He huffed at his mind, again blaming Tessa for his habit of getting so easily distracted, then gave up on scanning the busy dining hall for her. He would find a place to hunker down and people watch where they wouldn't feel compelled to come up to him until he could find his Tessa or wait for her to come stomping over to him proud and haughty over something she remembered. Or, Spitfire forbid, her 'good behavior' actually working and bringing a new friend to show him victoriously. He smiled at the thought, deciding on a quiet corner by one of the large, maple framed windows and sat on the little ledge it offered with a nice view of the lush green courts outside. He then rummaged in his hip pack for his PGP game system and switched it on, quickly getting lost in the game from where he last left off as an evil rebellion lord slowly making his way to the Capital to finally succeed in his revenge against the crown that had wronged him.