Festival of Love (February adventuring prompt): Innal's Question

The excitement in the air was palpable. The dragons of Innal’s cave were all getting ready for tonight’s celebration. The slate colored dragoness wasn’t normally one for big gatherings and get-togethers. She’d much rather have a quiet evening tending to her mushrooms. This evening was different, however. Tonight, the Dwellers were holding a festival to celebrate love. Any kind of love was to be commemorated; be it platonic, familial, or romantic. 

Innal would say she was in it for the dancing more than anything, but really, she was a hopeless romantic at heart. Of course, she would participate in the dancing. Any Dweller worth their gemstones was a good dancer. Innal wasn’t lacking skill in that department either. She loved to perform elaborate dances with her friends and family. They loved to make a game out of who could successfully complete a complex routine with minor faults. The winner could choose anything out of the competitor’s prized collection. 

 

Typically, Innal stayed off to the sides during the festivities. She took pleasure out of simply watching everyone else enjoying themselves. She’d join in a few dances here and there, though. This festival, however, was going to be different. The dragoness had her eyes set on a certain male. She’d harbored feelings for this dragon for a while now, and thought the celebration of love would be the perfect– if not a little cliche– occasion to ask him if she could court him. 

 

There wasn’t a strict pressure among Dwellers for males to ask females if they could court them. It was evenly distributed throughout either sex if the female or male asked the other out. Innal decided she was tired of waiting and wanted to shoot her shot with the brightly colored dragon. Usually, when a Dweller wanted to court another, a gift would be given to show their appreciation. Innal was planning on harvesting the choicest mushrooms from her personal garden. 

 

Innal’s mushrooms were highly regarded throughout her cave system. They fetched a high value at the markets, sometimes even rivaling the precious gems she sold. Suffice to say, being gifted one of her mushrooms would be considered an honor. Even still, she was a little worried about facing rejection. Presenting a generous gift didn’t guarantee an acceptance, of course, hence the anxiety. Innal seemed fairly confident it would go well though. 

 

The garnet colored male was called Ennis. He was an outgoing personality and loved lending a claw wherever it was needed. He was pretty funny, leaving Innal in a laughing fit on more than one occurrence. Ennis was good company in general. He was a pleasure to talk to and was mild-mannered. A perfect potential mate if you asked Innal. 

 

Before she could go pick her mushrooms, she heard a voice calling out for her. 

 

“Innaaaalllll!” The voice yelled, drawing out her name. 

 

“Where are you? I need your help cooking a dish for tonight.” 

 

“I’m in my cave!” The slate dragon yelled back. She turned her head to look over her shoulder, trying to see who was coming. 

 

A few seconds later, an icey blue dragoness came sauntering into her cave. It was her sister, Tulie. Tulie was known for her cooking skills and the other dragons always looked forward to eating her meals when festivals came around. 

 

“So, are you willing to help me? Or do I need to ask someone else?” Tulie asked once she entered the cave. 

 

“I can help. Only for a little while though, I have my own plans for tonight,” Innal responded, looking down at her reflection in a puddle of water. She should probably shine her horn before going out. 

 

“Ooooh, what kind of plans? Are you going to ask a certain someone out?” Tulie was immediately interested in her sister’s love life. The dragoness always was poking her nose into other dragon’s business. Innal didn’t mind though. 

 

“Well, yes, if you must know. I’m hoping to ask Ennis if he would allow me to court him,” Innal said, glancing back at her. 

 

“How exciting! Well, I won’t keep you long then. I just need an extra claw for chopping vegetables,” The dragoness mentioned, waving a claw for emphasis. 

 

The pair walked off to Tulie’s cave, where some vegetable stock was already starting to bubble for her stew. The blue dragon led her over to a pile of various vegetables that needed to be chopped. Innal’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. No wonder Tulie needed her help! There had to be at least thirty something bits of produce that had to be cut up. Innal grabbed an onion in her talons and got to work. 

 

An hour or so later, all the vegetables were prepared to Tulie’s specifications. Innal said goodbye to her sister and padded off back to her own cave. When she got back, she went to look at her reflection again. She decided it would be good to polish her horn and wash up a bit. If she was hoping to court Ennis, she had to at least look presentable. 

 

She held a clean cloth in one claw, dipped another in polish, and spread it over the cloth. Then, she rubbed the cloth all over her horn until it had a nice shine to it. With that done, she splashed some water over her scale ridges to wash off any dust or dirt that clung to them. Once she was freshened up, she went over to her side-cave where she grew her mushrooms. 

 

She harvested the plumpest ones, placing them in a basket. She picked the basket up between her teeth and made her way to the large communal cave. The communal cave was large enough to hold practically every dragon that lived in the cave system. Lots of dragons were already milling about, already communing with each other before the festivities really kicked off. 

 

Innal raised herself up on her hind legs, trying to see if she could spot Ennis in the throng of bodies. After a sweeping glance, she spotted the garnet colored dragon. She lowered herself back down and padded over to him, having to weave around dragons. 

 

The male saw her coming and his demeanor changed quickly. He seemed excited to see her. Her heartbeat quickened in her chest. Now was not the time to be nervous!

 

“Hello, Innal! How are you this evening?” Ennis inquired. His eyes fell to look at the basket she was carrying and he got a questioning look on his face. 

 

“I'm doing well, Ennis. How about you?” Innal replied after placing the basket down. 

 

“I'm great, thanks for asking. I can't help but wonder what those mushrooms are for,” he thought aloud. Ennis wasn't really known for his subtlety. Still, had Innal been that obvious in her affection for him? Well, she could ask him that later. 

 

“They’re for you, actually. I wanted to ask if I could court you. I thought tonight would be perfect for that,” she said, moving the basket towards him. 

 

“I would be honored to have you court me, Innal. I've been meaning to ask you myself, but it seems you've beaten me to it,” Ennis grinned, his fangs glinting in the firelight. 

 

The rest of the evening went off without a hitch. Innal and Ennis danced together for hours. It was certainly a night she would remember for years to come.