{lisa}
The arena was buzzing with excitent as lisa made her way through the crowd, the final rounds of the tournant already underway.
She spotted Armia in the stands, the darian girl's usually proud posture slumped and defeated.
lisa's heart ached a bit for her.
She knew how much the tournant had ant to Armia, how hard she had worked to prove herself on this stage.
But, Armia had lost.
She slid into the seat beside Armia, offering a gentle smile as the darian girl looked up in surprise.
"Hey," lisa said softly, laying a hand on Armia's shoulder.
Armia looked away, her golden eyes shimring with unshed tears.
"I lost," she said, as if lisa didn't know that, her voice rough and raw. "I gave it everything I had, but magic alone wasn't enough. I failed."
"You still did so well, though! You made it all the way to the semi-finals!"
"That wasn't enough," Armia shook her head. "I needed to win."
"Armia," she said firmly, squeezing the girl's shoulder. "Don't be so hard on yourself. Let ask you, three months ago, do you think you would have made it that far?"
Armia remained silent, her draconic tail curling in on itself a little.
"No, right? So, cheer up! You've improved so much."
Armia looked up, a flicker of gratitude in her eyes. But the sadness remained, a heavy weight on her broad shoulders.
lisa glanced around, suddenly realizing that another familiar face was missing from the crowd.
"Where's Isabella?" she asked, frowning. "I thought she'd be here for the finals."
Armia shook her head, a wry smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.
"She dropped out," she said.
"What?"
Armia shrugged.
"As soon as she heard you weren't going to be in the tournant, she withdrew. Like, on the spot."
lisa felt a flush of warmth at her cousin's dramatic gesture.
[Oh, Isabella. What am I going to do with you?]
She made a ntal note to find the kitsune girl later and ask what exactly went through that impulsive, sex-and-magic-driven mind of hers.
As the tournant concluded, the crowd erupting into cheers for the victors, Armia seed to shrink even further into herself. lisa couldn't stand it any longer.
She pulled Armia into a tight, almost motherly hug. The darian girl stiffened for a mont, caught off guard by the sudden display of affection.
But then, slowly, she relaxed into the embrace, her strong arms coming up to encircle lisa's waist. A strange purr, deeper, more guttural (befitting a dragon, in lisa's mind) ca out of Armia.
"It's going to be alright," lisa murmured, her cheek pressed against Armia's shoulder. "You'll get plenty of other chances to show off. Trust ."
Armia pulled back slightly, her golden eyes searching lisa's face with an intensity that made the nim girl's heart skip a beat.
[... Um...]
For a long mont, Armia just stared at her.
lisa wasn't quite sure what to make of it.
But then Armia blinked and looked away.
"Thank you, lisa," she said, her voice soft and sincere. "I think... I think I need to go back ho for a while. To rest and recharge."
lisa nodded.
"Take all the ti you need," she said, giving Armia's hand a final, reassuring squeeze.
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Armia smiled, a real smile this ti, warm and grateful. And then she was gone, her tall form disappearing into the dispersing crowd.
lisa watched her go, a bittersweet ache in her chest. But there was no ti to dwell on it, not now.
She had an errant kitsune to track down.
---
lisa found Isabella exactly where she expected, brooding on a balcony overlooking the arena.
The kitsune girl turned as lisa approached, her green eyes glinting as they found her.
"Hey, you," lisa said, coming to stand beside her cousin at the railing. "I heard you dropped out of the tournant. What's that about?"
Isabella shrugged, a coy smile playing at the corners of her mouth.
"It just didn't seem important anymore," she said, her voice light and airy. "Not with this new invention I'm working on. Fighting in the tournant would have been... unnecessary."
lisa raised an eyebrow, intrigued by the hint of excitent in Isabella's tone.
"Made any progress?" she asked, bumping her shoulder playfully against Isabella's.
The kitsune girl grinned, her tail swishing behind her in a gesture of smug satisfaction.
"A little. All in good ti, my dear cousin," she purred, her eyes sparkling with secrets. "But first, tell ... how is your dear Raven doing? I heard she had quite the night."
lisa sobered slightly.
[Right. Lots of students saw that fight. Thankfully, they were all half-asleep, but still. Rumors have already started spreading.]
"She's alright," she said, choosing her words carefully. "Recovering."
Isabella nodded. Then, in a move that caught lisa entirely off guard, she turned and pulled the nim girl into a tight hug.
"I'm glad you're safe," she whispered, her face buried in the crook of lisa's neck. "When I heard what happened, I was rather irritated. I had half a mind to track down Raven myself. I'm glad you ca out unscathed."
She trailed off, her arms tightening around lisa's waist. lisa returned the embrace.
"Yeah... I'm fine."
[I'm more worried about Raven than anything.]
Isabella pulled back, her eyes shining with sothing deeper.
"We should still celebrate," she said, her voice low. "Even if neither of us fought in the tournant, we still have so much to be thankful for, no? So much to... enjoy."
lisa felt a shiver run down her spine at the implication in Isabella's tone.
She knew exactly what her cousin was suggesting.
And god help her, she wanted it. Wanted it, and needed it, to help get her mind off everything that happened.
[Plus, I'm all out of Essence, too.]
"What did you have in mind?" she asked, her own voice barely above a whisper.
Isabella grinned, a wicked, promising thing.
"Co ho with tonight," she said, her hand sliding down to rest on the curve of lisa's hip. "Let show you how much I... appreciate you."
lisa swallowed hard, her heart pounding in her chest.
This was it.
[... All of it's led up to this, huh?]
She felt more nervous now than she ever did thinking about the tournant.
And yet, she answered:
"Okay," she breathed. "Whenever you're ready."
Isabella grinned.
"et at the gates at night. It's far too early for what I have in mind."
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