It was still almost nerve wracking to be in such close proximity to her roommate, beautiful woman as she was, but as they moved through the movements of the dance Alena felt her fluttering heart begin to calm into a more reasonable beat that no longer burst against her chest. It was not that Devi lacked any of her ability to leave Alena flat footed from her mere presence, but more that the redhead steeled herself further. She didn’t want to ruin her roommate’s time, and she [i]did[/i] promise the dance. Sure, Alena’s face remained aflame most of the time, especially across the bridge of her nose, but that was to be expected with her hand now almost tentatively brushing against the other woman’s back. It both helped and didn’t that she was trying to solely focus on her, voice still thick with magic rolling off her tongue but more focused – Alena was trying very hard to concentrate only on Devi after making that poor man land on his face.

“I am sorry, Devi,” Alena finally began as the song began to wind down and their movements slowed. “Where I am from it is very cold – I am not used to, well, touching,” That wasn’t entirely true. Yes, her hometown was frigid most of the time but that didn’t mean they were constantly bundled in a never ending fight against mother nature herself. It was a convenient excuse however, as she didn’t want her friend to feel slighted by her reaction. Part of Alena didn’t think she would be, but it was better to err on the side of caution – she would rather keep a strong friendship.

“Plus you are very beautiful! I have no doubt were I male, I would end up on my face just as that other man was,” The last part was more teasing, though Alena mentally apologized for the teasing prod to the stranger. It was her fault he ended up making acquintance with the floor, after all. A thought niggled at the back of her mind, thoughtful and almost exasperated – she might as well have ended up face planting with her own reaction. A small shake of her head got rid of the thought. Her reaction just meant she ... wasn’t prepared for the dance, that is all. Focusing on turning her mind away from the thoughts Alena caught a certain point in the song and the corners of her lips twitched upward, a small flash of teeth as she grinned to Devi. Changing the rhythmic pace of the dance, signalled by the slightest tightening of her arm around the other woman Alena shifted her weight at one point to lean forward, arm moving with her to let Devi fall back in a slight dip to the dance.

“Do not worry, I will not let you fall,” The demigoddess breathed quietly, reassuringly, even as red strands of hair fell forward to frame her face. It was true – Devi was practically a feather compared to her normal weight lifting routine. Carefully easing them back up straight Alena tossed her head to get her hair back out of her gaze for the most part, and flashed Devi one more grin as the dance wound down, finally stepping back from her to drop her arms.

“That was actually rather fun. Do you want to go see how Ebbo is fairing with the sun?”

[hr]

It was only recently that Colton got the ability to change, to be [i]normal[/i]. As normal as a creature like him could be, anyway. Of course that came with its own set of problems, because as ecstatic as he was about finally having legs, well, he had never used them before. It was hard to explain to someone because, no, it was not ‘just like using your arms’, and definitely stranger than slithering. It was honestly a bit pathetic to watch, hence the reason Colton showed up in the chair. He had a love-hate relationship with it. It was awkward, made him too low to the ground, and slow, but on the other hand when he could finally change for the first time as his more magical abilities manifested he could go out, see the town his family grew up in. He even finally got to meet some of the neighbors.

And of course, it allowed him to travel on the flight that took him to this school. He was sure Riverswell had ways of taking those in who needed the extra help, but Colton was always independent.

That wasn’t the reason he was one of the stragglers to arriving, however. Just a couple days before he was set to leave his younger brother had broken his leg getting bucked from Sunshine, Colton’s own horse. She seemed to sense something was wrong, changing. So had had rescheduled his flight – and holy hell, a fee to change the date he left? It was highway robbery! - to take over his brother’s duties until he was released with a new cast, and reassure Sunshine Smiles best he could. With all that it was only last night, or early morning depending on how you looked at it, that his plane had touched down and Colton finally got in. At first he struggled with his luggage and wheelchair before cursing and changing forms to carry everything with the help of his thick tail. It was one of the perks of going to this school, wasn’t it? He was quiet as could be getting into his dorm room and checking which room was his – striking gold with the first room he checked, to the left and down a small hallway. No one was in this room, even the door was open – which was good, since it was obviously specially designated for the naga. The very low bed, wider than a normal bed at that, was proof. Getting onto a normal bed with a tail was rather tiresome, after all.

Making an effort to be quiet Colton merely set his things down, folded the wheelchair against the wall, and shut the door. Resolving to unpack later, he passed right out to a dreamless sleep.

Between the late hour and jet lag it wasn’t until late afternoon that Colton awoke, groaning and tired and rolling sore muscles. A bleary look at a provided clock revealed it was quite close to the ‘Ball’ going on tonight. He knew it, because it was the reason his mother insisted he finally leave rather than holding off even longer. He briefly contemplated not even going and catching up on his sleep, but finally sighed and started untangling his coils from the sheets. No need to ruin his sleep schedule even more, and he hadn’t even met his roommates yet.

Colton soon discovered even the shower was larger than usual to fit his expanse of tail, almost a miniature pond. He had to admit Riverswell wasn’t overrated in how they catered to the needs of their students. He supposed it made sense, considering who a good portion of those people’s parents were. With his facial hair freshly trimmed down and groomed, and scales scrubbed until they shone, Colton was now going through his luggage until he pulled out the carefully folded and pressed suit he bought before leaving Texas. Laying it out on his bed the naga ran his fingers against the scales under his eyes, which flicked between the suit to his wheelchair as he contemplated which form to go in. Not many people saw his naga form considering how unusual it was, not to mention he didn’t like the prospect of it being stepped on by some clumsy feet. The wheelchair was probably a better option...

Of course, then he’d have to struggle to put on underwear, shoes, and worst of all – pants.

Colton [i]hated[/i] putting on pants.

Decision made the naga grabbed the white shirt to pull on, expertly tied the grey tie and did his black jacket up over it. The pants and shiny black shoes stayed on his bed to be put away later. The smooth material slid against the scales on his upper body nicely, not like scratchy wool. A quick brush of his hair and Colton was exiting his bedroom, confirming his roommates were already gone before locking the dorm behind him and dropping the key in his jacket.

He took up most of the hall as he slithered toward the ballroom, but it seemed he would be fashionably late once more since there were not many people he met along the way. The most amazing part, however, was that these were all strangers – yet they only gave him passing glances! Tinged with curiosity but not fearful, not thinking him [i]abnormal[/i]. It was... exhilarating. How strange, to be normal!

Upon entering the ballroom Colton’s gaze was drawn upward, seeing the stars in the sky. No, that wasn’t quite right – it [i]was[/i] the sky, but not the real sky. Magic against the ceiling, if he guessed. Then again maybe he was all wrong and these crazy demi gods actually tore the roof off a ballroom and the heating bills were enormous.

Dropping his gaze the naga was even more pleased seeing that no one was even giving him a second glance. It could’ve very well been that they had already looked while he was distracted, but that was fine with him. Slithering along the wall to avoid his tail being stepped on by those distracted with their partner or the social event. It was no surprise he didn’t have a date considering he hadn’t been there long, but that was fine, too. He reached a table against the wall with refreshments, and with a little shrug moved to pour himself a drink. It was likely he was going to be a wall flower, might as well have something to do with his hands.

“This punch is probably laced with something.” Colton paused hearing a male voice, eyes flicking over to another young man at the table. Taking the drink he had just poured to his nose Colton took in a deep whiff and immediately a hiss exited his lips, accompanied by a low, distinctive rattling as the very end of his thick blue tail shook in displeasure.

“It’s hardly been half an hour, ain’t it? They work fast here,” The naga muttered to the other man, putting the cup back down and rising up on his tail a half foot more, as though positioning himself away from the punch. It made him a few inches taller than those around him. His brown eyes, slit in his natural form, darted around picking up the minuscule movements of those around him, but whoever had done it was long gone. Damn. Trying to operate a tail while drunk was never pleasant.

“Don’t suppose ya know if this place is too fancy for a vending machine?”