A gentle strum of a guitar rang through the room and into the apartment. Lilias listened to the soft rhythm as she pushed against the ground, bringing her vertical body up into the air, then back down, counting while her muscles quaked and sweat flowed backwards, moving down from her tied hair and splashing against the floor of the space.
'299,' She thought as she pushed up once more.
Though her 2 inheritance from her dragon blood was the mana and regenerative branch of her species, dragonians were still naturally more physically capable than any other race save for beastmen, even if one wasn't born with the strength path.
She pushed against the floor, counting a silent 300, then used the momentum to leap into the air, flipping herself until her bare feet touched the ground.
As she wiped her sweat riddled self with a towel, she sat down on her bed and stared at the girl across the room who was silently playing her guitar. Something she had been doing since Lilias began her workout.
"You've been playing since I began," Lilias said, raising a brow.
The strumming continued leisurely as Elsa answered her.
"I'm thinking," The girl said. Then elaborated. "I'm playing my damn nervousness away."
The slum-born girl paused. Took in a breath. And then her fingers touched the string once more.
"My sister taught me a lot of things and one of em was how to play this," Elsa hummed as she played the old instrument, her eyes closed with a smile upon her lips. "When I play, its like she's still here to hold my hand."
Lilias listened quietly to her as the girl continued speaking on her own accord.
"There's been times when I got lonely in the slums ever since my sister died, y'know?" Elsa muttered. Though she tried to keep it in, her voice shook. "Whenever I felt like that, I always took out my guitar and played while singing. At night, when I couldn't sleep, and I didn't feel like tinkering with machines, it was the best."
"When was the last time you played because of that?" Lilias asked.
"I don't remember." Elsa shook her head with a shrug. "I haven't done that since I met Rose, at least. It's been fun actually. Damn fun."
Lilias watched the girl's movements. Lightly dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, she continued playing softly, tangling with the strings as if tangling with her own thoughts and heart. The dragonian thought no one existed in a bubble. Before she had met her, Elsa had lived a life of her own onto herself.
She stared at the scrunched face of the girl whose eyes were closed.
"Are you planning on confessing to Rose today?" She asked.
The strumming of the guitar stopped as Elsa's eyes shot open.
"The hell? How the fuck did you know?"
"You are an open book." The dragonian lightly smiled. "For one example, every time we enter the dungeon, you make sure to pack Rose Tea just for Rose. Yet none for me and rarely any for yourself?"
Elsa coughed, a blush on her cheeks. Fidgeting, her hands touched the string of her instrument once more.
"Umm. . ." She strummed the guitar. "Sorry about that."
"I'm not blaming you." The dragonian waved her hand placidly, her tail wrapped around her waist.
Elsa nodded while the guitar continued its music.
"At first. . ." She said, "At first, she reminded me of myself. A thought she was a little kid alone in the slums. I wondered what the hell she was doing there with the S.O.S cause she looked lost as shit. Then I realized she had just been stuffing herself with mana orbs too, ya know? Like she didn't even know how to live a little. Even if you're a homunculus, you don't just eat that and only that."
She shook her head, smiling softly as she remembered those times. To this day, Rose still praised her cooking.
"At first, I just wanted to take care of her. Then the world kept hitting her over and over, and I just couldn't not get in her business, y'know? Man, when I saw her video calling me, blood and holes all over her, I was like 'what the fuck happened to you'. I was telling her to go take care of herself first, but you know what she said?" Elsa laughed then. "She said she just wanted to hear my voice! Come on, that's cheating! My heart fluttered, and it made me wanna sing a shitty song just for her."
She sighed, flicking her fingers with the string of the guitar.
"Then, before I knew it, I was watching her fighting to keep living, to get answers, and I thought that was awesome as shit," She muttered, "Before I knew it, I fell for her."
Lilias stared at the girl's expression once more. She could there was no longer any hesitation in the girl's thoughts.
"I shall wish you luck with your confession," She said.
Elsa nodded.
"Thank you."
Then the strumming stopped.
She hopped off of the bed.
"Alright," The girl said, psyching herself up as she stretched, "Amma go do it now."
"Oh? Right now?"
"Yup yup, right fucking now before I stop myself," Elsa spoke as she grinned, already exiting the room.
Lilias chuckled, rising from her seat and following after her.
Rose: "Does not compute."
The continuous releases have been a pleasant surprise