"Well, let's see... there's myself and my two brothers, there's our "aunt Rose" that isn't really our aunt but we still call her that. There's one or two other older dragons then the rest are students, maybe three students that I know of. A young green dragon named Verdy, very friendly and essentially harmless... heh, guess that's not exactly the nicest way to describe someone but it's also not exactly intended to be mean. Then one or two other students, I think one's a white dragon girl, don't know too much about her so that probably means she's not too bad. And not really sure on the others. Hehe, don't worry, even if there were a few bad eggs my brothers can make sure they don't stay that way." The dragoness paused, smiling down to the younger girl. She'd been wondering, maybe just being nosy but she still wondered. "Just a random question, you don't have to answer if you don't want to, but are there any other species that you generally don't get along well with, maybe one that spooks you a little?"

As Crimson named off all the dragons in the area, Tess started to get this image of all of them flying around the castle or sitting near the top like gargoyles. It was eerie yet cool at the same time. "Are there any other species that you generally don't get along well with, maybe one that spooks you a little?"

She made eye contact with Crimson and pondered on the question. Generally, she didn't interact with most people to have any conflict. So far, she had kept to herself. Tess had come from a community of strictly beaver folk, and she couldn't say that the town full of basically every creature didn't slightly intimidate her.

"Well, anything with sharp teeth and claws," she laughed nervously. "I'm trying my best to give everyone a chance and to not be biased. But there always was this rumor or folk lore, I guess you could say, about wolves snatching away my old town's beaver pups. I think it's one of those things that parents say to keep their kids out of trouble, but I could never go outside at night because of it." She hadn't seen too many wolves around yet, and she could honestly say that she was quite happy about that.

"Hehe, well in my case I get to look at some of them and think they're just big fluffy cuddly puppy dogs. Guess that doesn't work for everyone though, but all of the wolves I know in town and at the school are really nice. They might try to act tough but really they wouldn't even hurt a fly." Crimson looked around and laughed softly. "And we're still the only ones in this hallway, guess everyone else is busy with something or they're in the spas or in town?" She wondered if the girl would get to like the school more, there were so many things you could do here but sometimes that just intimidated people, too many options and not enough time or not enough friends to go and do them with.

Tess nodded at Crimson's reassurance, but she knew in the back of her mind she'd still always be wary. At her next comment, Tess looked up and down the corridor and gave a "mhmm" of agreement. Truthfully, Crimson was the first person she'd actually seen on school grounds. Maybe she just came snooping around at random times.

"I've been meaning to look at the library around here," she shared. This was probably the thing that excited her the most. She had read basically every book at her old library, and whatever money she could gather she'd go to the local bookstore and buy something new. This strange, new, fascinating place could have books the exact same.

"The library huh? I know where it is if you want me to show you. It's a great place, and huge, the headmaster put a lot of money into it so he'd have the best collection in the area. Sadly I haven't seen too many people just hanging out there too often, guess it's not as popular as the spa or the juice bar or anything. Or maybe I just keep stopping by at all the wrong times, hehe." It was one of her favorite places to go when she wanted to come up with a new recipie or to make something a little more authentic to a different area.

Tess couldn't describe the feeling she was having. In basic terms, she was just happy. Happy that someone actually wanted to take the time to do something she was interested in. It just swelled up inside her until finally she gave the biggest grin, and she could feel the twinkle in her eyes. "Oh, thank you! I really would appreciate that!"

Crimson smiled, offering a hand if the girl wanted to walk hand in hand or if she just wanted to shake, either way was fine by her. "Gladly, I might pick up another cook book if they have any new ones since my last trip down there. Follow me, once you get there it's pretty easy to find any time you want to come back." Considering it was sort of set apart on its own, and somewhat close to the ball room. She never quite understood that, putting a library near a ball room meant for parties and dances, which was just a little way off from a theater... so many noisy distractions and yet the library was still such a peaceful and relaxing place to visit.

Tess didn't think twice about it and took Crimson's hand. She remembered all the times she would grab her friend's hand only to have her pull away after two minutes. Long enough to let Tess have what she wanted and still kept some sort of invisible boundary. Tess never understood it.

And here was Crimson, ready to lead her to the library by hand. The entire way. She didn't even notice the cold scales or the sharp claws resting on her delicate, soft fur. All she could think was how happy she was that she made a friend. Not someone who would hang out and tolerate her but a friend.

"I might not leave," Tess joked slightly laughing.

Crimson smiled and gently held the soft furry hand of Tess. The dragoness was probably the only one in her family that didn't really file down her claws but she was extra careful with them to compensate. She took a few slow steps, measuring out the proper pace that wouldn't rush her new friend and wouldn't seem obnoxiously slow either. "Hehe, nothing wrong with that as long as you order take out a few times and have them deliver to the library. Oh, there's one teacher that does like to hang out there, you might see him once in a while especially since he's one of the writing teachers I think. His name is Regulus Rook, most just call him Rook, a slightly older wolverine, well, kind of a bit of a hybrid but like ninety percent wolverine. He seems a little gruff from a distance but if he saw you with your nose in a book he'd warm up to you in an instant, just doesn't get out of his room or class too often. Really a sweet guy though. And the librarian's nice, unless there's a new one since I last stopped by, the old fella was considering a retirement plan soon." Maybe she was talking too much again but she was having a nice time walking with the girl and holding hands.

As they walked, Tess started getting more and more comfortable. In no time, there was a certain pep in her walk, which could have been considered a skip by now. She tried to picture of old wolverine that Crimson described, and she wasn't sure if she really wanted to run into this Rook.

Either way, she liked the sound of Crimson's voice, and she thought it would be appropriate to find out more about her new friend. "Do you have a family, ma'me? Like children and a husband, I mean." She hoped that it wasn't too personal of a question.

"Oh, well I do have five children, they're all still pretty young but because of their dragon side they tend to grow up and mature pretty quick. One or two even help me at the restaurant. Their father, he passed away soon after they were born actually, so I'm single." Maybe it would be a bit too much information to say that at the moment she was looking for a relationship with either gender, as long as the person felt like a good match for her. But she did love talking about her kids, especially her "favorite" of the bunch. "Scarlet, she even likes waiting on tables. Very smart for her age, and so cute. She knows people give nice tips to the cute little kid waiting tables and acting really sweet."

Tess listened intently, giving a a sympathetic "Oh" upon hearing about Crimson's other half. She couldn't imagine losing someone that close to you. She'd never had a boyfriend, but she could feel the tinge of hurt when thinking about it. Five children. Tess' thought her brother was too much to handle.

As Crimson talked about her daughter, Tess pictured a mini-me of the dragon. Fire red scales and a kind, talkative personality. "She sounds absolutely precious," Tess sincerely commented. "And the other four?"

"Oh she is. The other four are precious in their own ways, Scarlet's the only one that actually goes out of her way to look cute for others and tries to be the sweet cuddly little girl that has everyone smiling. Now the two boys, they're surprisingly laid back for boys. One of them, he just loves sitting in his room with about five different books and he'll start reading for hours and hours, once in a while he'll almost miss a meal and I have to bring it in to him along with plenty of napkins or a towel so he won't get the pages dirty. Then the other two girls, well, they like mischief a little more. And one of those two girls, Black, she sometimes picks on the others or teases them but it's never so bad that I have to break it up or anything, most the time she's just kidding anyway." There were more things she could say about all of them but she didn't want to seem too obsessed with her own kids. Besides the little ones wanted to have a little independance or they'd have all come with her to the school. And she was having a nice time holding the girl's hand walking at a good pace toward the library.

Tess listened intently, trying to picture each child in her mind. She wondered if she'd ever meet them since it was a small town. Was it a town where everyone knew each other and all of his or her business? She was sure that it wouldn't ever reach the extent her town got to. Another thought was what would Tess' children look like? Would she even have any?

With her thoughts beginning to wonder, Tess shook her head slightly. She peeked down at her hand realizing how long their fingers stayed entwined. "Well," she began, "that's good...By the way, it might sound like a weird question, but does this school have a bad rep? My dad never really told me about it."

"Well in my experience that always depends on who you ask, but overall this school has a pretty solid reputation. The headmaster even brings in trouble students from other school sometimes and he sets them straight, gets them on the right path, totally turns things around. So I'd say it's a good school, good students, a nice place to be. I might be a bit biased in my opinion though when my family works here, hehe." Crimson hadn't really noticed how long they'd been holding hands but it didn't seem odd to her at all. She was glad to have some company and something to do around here, someone to hang out with.