+1 Friend Request

+1 Friend Request is an archived RP by Vintage poseur and Aquamarinesandopals. It follows the first meeting of Dainty Kissington and Auliver Midas, including all of the awkward one-sided flirting that ensues.

Roleplay
Vin | Dainty

“And remember to always listen to your true hearts, fairytales! It can never lead you wrong!” And that was the closing line of C.A. Cupid’s MirrorCast for the day. After receiving a few calls from various students at Ever After High - including a rather shy troll who was crushing on a certain daughter of Snow White and a Prince Charming trying to come out to his family - Dainty would say that her friend did a very successful broadcast this afternoon. Today, she hadn’t been asked by the pink-haired girl to accompany her on her show, but she had still gone in to the MirrorCast broadcasting club anyways because she had nothing better to do. Well, technically, she could totally be working on some Crownculus homework but honestly, Dainty wasn’t interested right now. She already had perfect grades in that class anyways.

She was particularly fond of listening to her friend’s MirrorCast. For one thing, Dainty was a die-hard romantic, through and through. But one of her own hobbies included matchmaking. And who was better to listen to matchmaking than the adopted daughter of Eros himself? That’s why Dainty was sitting, graceful and lady-like as always, in the club’s room after school. Ginger Breadhouse’s Spell’s Kitchen was poised to broadcast next after Cupid’s, and Dainty didn’t mind sticking around to listen to that as well. It was still better than Crownculus. The thing was, though, that she was just a tad bit bored. She had thought about flirting a bit with Humphrey Dumpty, who was scuttling around with technology as usual, but he looked busy. And it was never a good idea to try and flirt with a busy person. Anyways, Dainty much preferred it if the attention was solely on her. After all, it wasn’t as if she got any attention at home…

With that in mind, she allowed her blue-green gaze to roam the room curiously. The broadcast club wasn’t as popular as one would think, and so there weren’t many options to choose from. There was Humphrey, Dexter Charming - but that boy was already in such a complicated “I-like-you-but-I-can’t-say-it” sort of relationship right now that even Dainty wasn’t going to try and touch on it - and… not much else. Now, wait just a spell… Who was that sitting near the corner? And how had Dainty’s “guy-dar” not have picked up on him sooner? Dainty narrowed her eyes just a tad bit to be sure, and saw that it was most definitely a guy. Which meant this girl was most definitely going in for the flirt. But first, she quickly smoothed down her hair and clothes, for fear that she didn’t look presentable after sitting for a whole of 30 minutes. Then, her eyes returned to the male, wondering just what sort of approach she should take to grab his attention...

Spades | Auliver

Auliver had decided that he prefered basking in the blue light of an LCD screen than most things in life, especially in comparison to the dull, sticky sunlight that shone into Mythology class, which is where he should of been right now. Having been spotted in the hallways by a particularly annoyed Headmaster Grimm (who surely had better things to do?), Auliver pretended to head to Mythology class before bee lining straight to the secluded room.

That was of course the extra bonus to the MirrorNet Broadcast Club; no teachers.

Whatever, this place had better WiFi anyway.

Slipping into the room as to not cause a distraction, Auliver sat cross legged on a desk towards the corner, folding out his laptop and unlocking his MirrorPhone. Though his laptop opened up to some Muse-ic notes, the prince had absolutely no intention of continuing his work. Instead, he picked up his phone and began swiping through all his missed notifications. A genuine smile appeared on his face. This was definitely better than Mythology class.

Vin | Dainty

The princess rose from her seat, adjusting the little tiara she had tucked within her dark rose-colored locks. She was like a predator hunting its prey - her aquamarine gaze never left the boy sitting by his lonesome. This was her favorite kind of boy because it usually meant that they were open for a nice little chat… filled with lots of flirting, of course. She just hoped this would be the case with this one in particular. Dainty plastered on her rehearsed, princessy smile. It showed off her plump, valentine red lips and pearly white teeth just the right amount. She had worked a lot on her smile because it was what other people saw when first meeting her. And if there was one thing Dainty knew for certain, it was that first impressions mattered.

Her heels clicked ever so slightly on the floor as she made her approach. She had decided on what she was going to say to him, and was reciting it in her head so that when she finally spoke it aloud, it would come out perfectly. Maybe that was a little eerie on her behalf for being so “perfect” all the time, but Apple White was the same way and everybody liked her… well, mostly everybody liked her. “Hey there, you look like you’re pretty good with phones,” Dainty finally spoke up once she was close enough to gesture to the device in his hands, “Could you help me with mine? There’s something wrong with it…” She couldn’t help it. Her perfect smile quivered just a tad bit to grow wider at the thought of her next words, “It doesn’t have your number in it.” Silently, she cursed herself. Her smile hadn’t been perfect! You’d think after saying those lines in your head for a good minute or so would make you numb to it, but cheesy pick-up lines were too funny to Dainty.

Spades | Auliver

His time with his followers and dear MirrorBlog were cut short, interrupted by a practically perfect princess with a penchant for pick up lines. Instinctively he drew his phone close, resting his elbow on one of his knees. His genuine smile disappeared and, after taking a moment to figure out how he was going to approach a reply, a facadal smirk appeared in it’s wake.

“That line was so tragic, it’d of made Oedipus cry. And that guy lost his damn eyes,” Auliver laughed a little at his joke before blowing some stray bits of hair out of his face.

“Unfortunately,” He continued, “If I gave my phone out to every fairytale who asked, my phone would be practically unusable.” The boy moved in a little closer to the princess stood beside him, “I’d be happy to give you my MirrorBlog handle though.”

Auliver leaned away once more and returned his attention back to his phone. His smirk falling as soon as he directed his attention away from the girl, settling on a neutral expression instead; he was so used to acting at this point that he might as well take Drama up as an elective.

“Besides,” Auliver perked up, still focused on his phone. “You haven’t even told me your name. Weren’t you warned about getting strangers phone numbers as a kid? I could be the next evil queen for all you know.” His brown eyes shifted to look at her.

Vin | Dainty

Honestly, she wasn’t sure if she should be offended or amused. Perhaps a little bit of both, she supposed. Sure, the pick-up line had been overly cheesy but she found it funny. It probably would have worked on Dainty - but only if a really cute prince had been the one saying it, of course. Still, she kept her poise throughout his comments, maintaining that pretty little smile of hers throughout it all. Over the years, she had learned how to keep quiet, smile, and look pretty. It was basically the only way she survived in her household. “Well now, I suppose a MirrorBlog will have to do for the mean time,” She bit back the semi-snarky words she oh-so-wished she could add onto that statement, but she was acting like a nice, sweet princess right now and nice, sweet princesses didn’t say stuff like ‘wouldn’t want that precious little phone of yours to be unusable, now would we?’. She hated acting sometimes.

However, one good thing about acting was that she was more likely to pick up on others’ acting as well. Her observant blue-green eyes didn’t fail to catch the fact that the boy’s expression fell into a more neutral one once he had turned away from her. Aha… This was going to be an interesting conversation after all. Suddenly, she found herself not too intent on flirting, and instead just getting to know this boy a little bit better...

Oh who was she kidding? She was still going to flirt somehow.

“You, the next Evil Queen? With such a cute face like yours?” See? What did I say about the flirting? “I don’t buy it.” However, with his style of dress and posture, she couldn’t quite pick up on what his tale really was. For all she knew, he could be some kind of villain. But oh well. She had flirted with various villain kids before, and she wasn’t afraid to admit it. After all, you never knew where true love was hiding.

Clearing her throat gingerly, she then continued, “However, you’re right on the account that I should have introduced myself first. Wherever did my manners go?” She batted her eyelashes in the most innocent manner possible - which probably ended up making her statement seem a lot more sarcastic than intentional - and added, “My name is Dainty Kissington, daughter of the Princess from the Frog Prince. And may I know your name?”

Spades | Auliver

A blush began spreading on Auliver’s face.

‘Cute’...?

He froze, completely unsure of how to react. Auliver had been called many things in his time; ‘annoying’, ‘stupid’, ‘the Midas family disappointment’, but never cute. She had to be joking, right? He tried to laugh it off, pulling out his usual fake smirk in an a desperate attempt to cover his tracks. He was not gonna let this random princess blow his cool.

“Auliver. Auliver Midas,” With his family as famous and wealthy as they were, Auliver didn’t feel like he needed to introduce his story. Though some may say the Charming’s were the holders of the ‘most affluent and well known fairytale family’ title, the Midas family (or, at the very least, Auliver’s father Bronze) would protest. The Midas story was so old it was mythological. Their story is about making gold. The Charmings paled in comparison.

It was a big name to carry. Princesses weren’t the only ones who had perfection demanded of them.

As he spoke, Auliver went to shake the princess’s hand, as a good prince should, but found himself coming to an awkward stop, his fear of touching people overcoming him. He hated making contact with others, even with golden gloves protecting his hands. It was stupid, he knew, and Auliver was well aware that he needed to get over that anxiety. It was ‘unprincely’, as he’d been told many times before. It was a behaviour that’d definitely earn him a yelling from his father - thank the Gods he’d never find out.

In another attempt to play it cool, he reached out to grab a pen that was positioned near his laptop. “Want me to write the name of my MirrorBlog down for you then?” Usually he’d suggest that he text her the handle, but knowing that the girl wanted his number, that seemed like an unwise choice. She wasn’t going to get what she wanted that easily.

Vin | Dainty

He was blushing. Which meant she was doing something right. In order to make herself a bit more comfortable, she took to perching herself on the edge of a desk. She crossed her ankles as she sat, in the proper way a princess should cross her ankles. That had been one of the first things she had learned in her Princessology class - AKA, her “favorite” class. It was only her favorite because there had been a course on kissing frogs, and Dainty had been able to proudly tell her classmates, and even the teacher, that not ALL princess kisses had the necessary magic to transform a frog into a Prince Charming. Her kisses were just special, thank you very much. Although, she had noticed his hesitation at the compliment. Did he think she was just joking? Because she wasn’t. Sure, Dainty was a flirt and a huge liar, but she supposed this guy was pretty cute in his own kind of way. Not like a jock kind of cute, but like… a sit-in-the-corner-by-yourself-and-be-on-your-phone kind of cute.

At his introduction, Dainty didn’t need to act impressed. Midas? As in the Midas myth? As in tons of gold? Well, he certainly wasn’t a villain kid after all, now was he? The smile on her face grew just the tiniest bit, “Well, Auliver, I must say it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Her slight Southern Belle accent really stood out when she said stuff like that. She didn’t mean to, though, it just sort of happened… Like how she ended up flirting with practically everything she came into contact with.

She saw his hand extending towards her, and her own gloved hands reached out for a handshake. She was surprised when the boy stopped mid-way. Immediately, her mind went into panic mode. It had to be something she did. It didn’t even occur to her that Auvlier might have an issue with physical touching because of the whole “golden touch” thing. Instead, her own hand was frantically pulled back and subconsciously went back to smooth her already-perfect hair down some more. Dainty was terrified of looking anything less than perfect - of being anything less than perfect. She figured he had pinpointed some kind of flaw about her, and she simply couldn’t stand the thought of that. Was Apple White ever caught with a hair out of place? Nope, never. But Dainty? Well, she had a bad habit of always comparing herself to the daughter of Snow White, and she firmly believed that she never was up to the “Fairest in the Land’s” standards.

Needless to say, the princess was glad when Auliver found his own way to brush off the awkward situation. She didn’t even think to continue to pester him for his phone number - she was still so focused on thinking about what could be wrong with her - and instead replied in her sugar-sweet voice, “Ah yes, that would be just lovely, darling.” Dainty called a lot of people “darling”. And also “honey” and “sugar” and “sweetheart”. If she wasn’t so well-known for being Apple White #2, she would have been so well-known for her pet nicknames that nobody ever asked for.

Spades | Auliver

Between all these ‘cute’s and ‘darling’s, Auliver was unravelling. Take a guy to dinner first, Gods! He wasn’t used to affection like this at all. His family rarely called him by anything except name and had a clear disdain for his personality, habits, interests.. Everything. The first time he encountered compliments like this was Legacy Year, when he began attending Ever After High, and even then Auliver had switched on his deliberately annoying front so quickly that this was still new to him.

Auliver shifted a little to the side, allowing Dainty to have some more space on the table, being ever so careful not to knock his laptop onto the floor. He settled on closing the lid and placing his phone on top of it.

“Do you have something to write on, or am I just gonna be writing on you arm?” He twiddled the pen around between his fingers, looking around the room for any loose sheets of paper. Auliver supposed that he could type it into her MirrorPhone, but his gloves were rarely compatible with other people’s phones - his had a special screen on it. Trying to use her phone without his gloves probably wouldn’t end so well, especially considering the cure for his gold was water. If her affection was anything to go by, she’d taken a liking to him, and Auliver could do without ruining her MirrorPhone mere minutes into meeting her.

Vin | Dainty

This was one of her favorite parts about flirting - the reactions. In particular, this guy’s was quite adorable. As in, genuinely cute. Like a puppy or a tadpole (those were always cute in Dainty’s opinion). Although, she could tell that perhaps she should lay off the flirting just a tad. She wasn’t sure if that was possible with her, though. Kissing up to people was sort of her thing - both metaphorically and not.

Either way, she’d try and tone it down a bit if she could. She didn’t want to scare him away, after all.

She hummed lightly in response to his inquiry, although her eyes also went searching around the room for a loose leaf of paper. However, upon finding none, the princess pursed her lips in the slightest bit, reflecting her true feelings for just a brief moment. However, the flash of discontent was gone in a second, and her perfect smile was back in its regular place upon her lips. She didn’t like the idea of having anything written on her unblemished skin. It wouldn’t look… perfect. Plus, ink totally didn’t go with her spring green & pink color scheme in the slightest. Dainty, however, stayed composed, “I suppose that’s our only option here.” Her white gloves nearly went up to her elbows, so she’d be able to cover the writing up anyways.

With this thought in mind, she peeled off her left glove and presented her arm to him, “Write away, my dear.” Whoops. So much for laying off the sweet talk.

Spades | Auliver

“Hmm,” Auliver wasn’t hugely keen on the idea of writing on her arm either, but he didn’t protest.

Upon hearing another pet name, he froze momentarily again, eyes looking awkwardly up to her as she pulled her gloves off. Quickly, and probably looking too eager, he took the pen in his left hand and her arm gently, so, so gently, in his right hand and began writing away. Hopefully she hadn’t noticed his reaction and would divert her attention to her arm - she really didn’t need to see the flush that was yet to leave his face.

Auliver’s handwriting was big and rounded, slightly slanted in different directions with little care taken to keep it as neat as it should've been. It certainly didn’t help that he was left handed, writing fast, and writing on skin, all while trying to make as little contact with her as possible. Hopefully Dainty could make out the ‘@king_memedas’ scribbled onto her arm.

“There,” He smiled, gently removing his hands and placing the pen on the table. “It’d be a crime if you couldn’t find my blog, so I hope my writing is fine. I’d be surprised if you weren’t already following me though,” Auliver’s smile grew into a sly grin. “I’m kinda a big deal.”

Vin | Dainty

Her big blue-green eyes never left his pen as he scribbled away on her arm. She was glad he was so focused on his own writing, so that he didn’t notice the subtle twitching of her perfectly arched brows. This ink… did not go with her outfit at all. This was tragic. But casualties were to be expected when trying to get with a guy. She inwardly saluted her left arm for taking one for the team. She had to admit that his gentle touch was different than she had expected. Almost as if he was afraid or something to make contact with her. She vaguely wondered why, but didn’t have time to think on it too much, since the boy was already leaning backwards, his work finished.

Dainty immediately examined the loopy handwriting on her arm. Luckily, she didn’t have too much trouble deciphering it. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting his MirrorBlog handle to be - something uncreative or boring, to be honest. All of the people she regularly followed usually just used their names or cutesy nicknames, or even their legacy. Dainty’s own MirrorBlog was pretty cliche, but he’d find that out later. However, when she read the name, she instinctively snorted in laughter. She snorted. In laughter. Immediately, her hand shot up to her face to cover it, any hint of humor gone from her expression. She almost looked horrified, in fact. She hadn’t known what to expect, but @king_memedas surely wasn’t it. The princess quickly shook it off, though, and hoped with all her might he hadn’t noticed her faux pas.

“How clever,” Dainty immediately raced to smooth it over, acting as if she totally hadn’t laughed in the most ridiculous way a princess could, “Unfortunately, I can’t say I’m following you, but I’ll be sure to change that in just a moment.” She flashed him a dazzling smile - hoping to direct his attention to her smile once more - and pulled out her own MirrorPhone for good measure.

Spades | Auliver

Laughter of that nature was not usually the response people had to his handle. Most people groaned or seemed to get a surge of second hand embarrassment. Not Dainty though, oh no. Auliver could tell she had good taste.

Genuinely happy about her comment, Auliver couldn’t help but let out a little laugh. He had noticed Dainty’s snort and prayed that she didn’t think he was laughing at her, as he was just happy to have someone appreciate his, frankly amazing, choice of handle. ‘king_memedas’ was Auliver’s pride and joy, sad as that was. It was his way of sticking it to his parents. While all the confidence he could muster in reality was fake, online it was real. It was his way of saying ‘I’m my own Midas and I’ll do what I please’. Sure, he was 80% sure his parents had never and would never see the blog, but it didn’t matter. It counted to him. He might have a destiny and parents he resented, but at least he had a blog with hundreds upon hundreds of fans who loved his.. unique approach to the Midas mythos.

“If you think that's clever, you should see the things I post.” He picked up his phone, unlocking it with practised speed. “And, lucky you, you’ll get a follow back from the elusive king_memedas himself. That doesn’t happen too often, considering I’m basically a celebrity.” He moved his head back quickly in such a motion that flipped some of his loose hair back, revealing a very proud looking face now that the flush had cleared up.

Vin | Dainty

Oh, how she regretted that snort of hers. I mean, it wasn’t as bad as when she laughed really hard. That’s when the croaking began. Luckily, she had managed to teach herself how to repress it after all these years. She could remember all the taunting she had received in nursery rhyme school when she had laughed too hard at someone’s joke and she ended up sounding like a frog. It was the most humiliating moment of her entire life. And after that, she had never let it happen again. That’s why even her laughter was so rehearsed and controlled. She, of course, assumed that Auliver’s small bout of laughter was because of her, and she found an embarrassed rosy blush coming across her cheeks. Once more, she tried to vainly hide it with her white-gloved fingers but it didn’t really help. If anything, the pure snow white color contrasted even more so with the scarlet red of her face.

Fortunately for her, Auliver soon gave her a different reason to blush, and she was going to play off it as much as she could. His smooth hair flip and his change into a more confident prince allowed Dainty the room to say, “Why, that’s quite sweet of you to do so. And I must admit, you’ll be my cutest follower yet,” She even offered the boy a quick, flirty wink for good measure. And this time, she was being quite sincere, too.

For some reason or another, she felt compelled to add in, “But don’t judge my own handle too harshly, Mr. Celebrity,” Upon taking a quick glance at her MirrorBlog, she was suddenly acutely aware of how many selfies and hashtags there were. Not to mention the use of the lipstick kiss emoji, “The word ‘meme’ doesn’t quite fit so perfectly with a name like mine.” Besides, she kinda liked her own “@daintykisses” because it implied two things: 1) A shortened version of her surname and 2) How down she was for kisses. Because she was. Hers were magical, after all.

Spades | Auliver

Dainty need not worry about the content of her blog. Auliver too was quite keen on taking spellfies, though they seldom made it online. Infact, one of Auliver’s most popular posts was a spellfie taken during the Legacy Day rehearsals, in which he tried to snap a spellfie with Headmaster Grimm rather than practise his lines. The photo’s popularity was largely due to the very annoyed looking Grimm rather than Auliver’s face, but it was a spellfie all the same.

“‘Mr. Celebrity, eh?’ I could get used to that.” His smirk returned again, playing up the cocky aspect of his front, covering for the incoming embarrassment that was being called cute. Out loud. In what sounded like total seriousness. Again. He really didn’t know how to respond to these compliments - should he thank her? Disagree with her? Was she just being nice or did she genuinely think he was cute? His train of thought was quickly stopped, like a record scratch in one of those cartoons. Was.. was she coming onto him?

Probably not, he rationalised to himself. Why would she do that? He was hardly worth flirting with; he was the Midas family disappointment. Even the tabloids hated him. Perhaps that was it. Perhaps Dainty just wanted something, like the money that came with his family name.

His smirk fell back into its neutral position as he fell into his brain and zoned out, trying to think about what he should do. He was flattered, really, but unsure of what to do? Definitely.

His father would probably suggest flirting back to the princess, wooing her and treating her just like, well, a princess. But frankly, Auliver could think of a multitude of other things he was more comfortable with than flirting - he’d never even attempted it before. He elected to continue trying to play it cool, despite the girl unravelling him with relative ease. All things considered, he was sure he’d get like this with any girl or boy who tried to flirt at him, and Auliver decided he needed to work on keeping his cool in flirtatious situations. He had a front to keep up! How was he supposed to be obnoxious when a simple compliment turned him into a blushing mess?

The strange thing was, Auliver didn’t totally dislike it. Even if she was faking it to get to his money (which was a proposal Auliver hadn’t come to a conclusion on), it was still nice to be treated as something desirable - something he could definitely get used to. Despite his persona dripping away, a part of him really hoped she didn’t stop.

“W-well-,” His voice cracked a little, “Memes are good,” A nervous laugh followed. “It’s the thought that counts, right?”

Vin | Dainty

Auliver was an interesting case. Everybody Dainty flirted with all had reactions, of course, some similar to this and others not so much. However, the thing about everybody else was that they flirted back with her. For example: Daring Charming. Of course, he flirted all the time, much like Dainty herself, so maybe he wasn’t a good example. Example #2: Sparrow Hood. Dainty would never consider someone like Sparrow Hood to be her “one true love” - he was much too loud and egotistical for one thing - but she loved to flirt with him because his replies were always so… unique. Dainty definitely wasn’t the “Queen of Bad Pick-Up Lines”. Sparrow was.

Still, the fact that the prince wasn’t flirting back with her made her feel a tad bit nervous. Was she saying something wrong? Was she making him uncomfortable? Or maybe he just didn’t know how to flirt back with her? Whatever the case was, she supposed she should at least check with the boy to make sure. That’s what a proper, sweet princess would do, after all. Especially since he seemed a bit nervous now.

“Sorry, am I coming on too strongly?” Dainty inquired, posing a question she never thought she’d have to in her entire life, “You’ll have to excuse me. We Kissingtons are known for 2 main things: One being our magical kisses, of course, and two being our coquettish nature.” She decided not to add a bitter more, personal fact that “We can also be known for our awful mothers who blame us for every little thing that’s wrong and unholy in the world”. Yeah, no, she was not sharing that. To anyone. Ever.

A demure, and even somewhat sly, smirk appeared on her lips, “It’s just… whenever I see a cute prince I truly can’t help myself.” Oops. Another flirty statement.

Realizing this, the princess added quickly, “Sorry, sorry! That was flirty again, wasn’t it? I’m not very good at being… not flirty.” Maybe that was the reason she literally had no male friends. Because she always ended up flirting them into oblivion. Well, that, and they ended up dating her and breaking up with her because of her overly high standards. But that was a story for another time.

Spades | Auliver

So she was coming onto him! Auliver was equal parts relieved and confused. Him, of all people. Even if he was a prince, he was still the worst of the worst, aside from his family name.

Auliver sort of wished this conversation had never happened. At the very least, had this been online, he could've just deleted the embarrassing moments. Sure, it was likely that his many fans would have screenshotted it, but out of sight out of mind - it wouldn’t concern him anymore. It’s hard to push a conversation you’re currently having out of your mind.

“No! No, it’s fine. I’m just..” Really unused to attention in person, much less positive attention, so I’m overwhelmed and have no idea how to respond, resulting in crippling awkwardness? “I’ve never been flirted with before. That’s all. I was homeschooled before Legacy Day. I don’t really have a lot of experience with.. People.” He smiled a little, genuine and bashful, hoping to signal to Dainty that he really didn’t mind what she was doing.

But please don’t stop. Auliver wanted to continue. ''No one ever has anything positive to say about me. ''

<p style="text-align:center;">Vin | Dainty

Dainty stared at him with her blue-green eyes. For a moment, she was completely lost with what to say. Him? Never flirted with? Once more, her gaze studied him, this time a bit more closely. Had it really never crossed another princess’s mind to try and get with this guy? Sure, when Dainty first approached him he had been by himself, on his phone, but often times, that didn’t stop anyone. It certainly hadn’t stopped Little Miss Kissington, that’s for sure.

Well, if he was being honest, then she was going full-steam ahead with her flirting. Starting with, “Well, color me shocked to hear you’ve never been flirted with before. With such an attractive face likes yours, I would thought you’d be spoken for by now,” Especially considering his tale, and the gold, yeah, Dainty figured he had to have some kind of romance going on. Oh, but how lucky was she? She had just landed herself a cute little prince who had never had a girl’s attention on him before.

Oh hex yeah.

Of course, if Dainty had known that the reason Auliver liked the attention so much was because of his own self-image issues, she would have felt awful. After all, her own mother avoided giving her even just the time of day, and when she did, it was said with so much spite and anger that Dainty would rather be ignored. Thriving off another person’s insecurities really wasn’t Dainty’s thing. Sure, she was sort of a terrible person in reality - what with her constant lying, acting, and manipulation - but even she had her own set of morals.

<p style="text-align:center;">Spades | Auliver

Had Dainty not heard of him prior to this? He was surprised. Glad, but surprised. His family, given their social status, were in tabloids and papers all the time. With shallow intention they donated to charity to keep up appearances and it certainly didn’t go unnoticed. Nothing was more important to a Midas man than his reputation, even gold. It was part of the reason Auliver ended up in Ever After High. At a young age, his mother and father deemed him too embarrassing to go to school and kept him home where, aside from his six siblings, he only had 2 or 3 friends. Considering his entire home took up a small island, his friends lived far and his siblings, who still attended schools, seemed to rarely see him. It was a lonely, long time.

It got a to a point for King and Queen Midas that having an inept social recluse (Auliver prefered the term “internet hobo”) for a son was far more embarrassing than having him at school, so he was sent to Ever After on his sister’s recommendation.

Now at school, he strived to have his reputation come before him. Upon first appearing at Ever After High he was awkward and unsure, which had been a turnoff for various people, students and staff included. Auliver decided that if he was going to be hated here to, he’d be hated on his own terms, and started to act increasingly cocky and loud.

Needless to say, although not what he had intended, meeting someone who hadn’t heard of him and still liked him was refreshing. It fueled his confidence, something he needed. A clean slate.

“Y-yeah? You’d be surprised how annoying I come across, heh.” The prince’s hair had once again began falling in front of his face, though Auliver neglected to do anything about it favour of trying to hide the returning redness on his cheeks.

<p style="text-align:center;">Vin | Dainty

Dainty chuckled lightly. She hadn’t found him annoying yet. Although, to be fair, even if she did think him annoying, she’d never say it aloud. That would be counter-productive with what she was trying to accomplish here, which was… A relationship? A date? A small fling? Even Dainty wasn’t entirely sure at this point in time. “Darling, don’t you worry too much. I’m very hard to annoy,” That wasn’t true, “Anyways, I’m growing quite fond of you already. You’ll have to try really hard to get rid of me.” Another wink was sent the boy’s way, while a more feline-ish sort of smile overtook her signature smile.

Well, she was sort of being honest now. She was enjoying the company of Auliver. But the part about it being hard to get rid of her? That was a lie. Dainty was the sort of person to wait until the opportunity presented itself where she could cut negative ties off cleanly and neatly. She wasn’t the sort of princess who liked confrontation or conflict, especially when breaking up with others. Her last two relationships had ended not on a sour note like most break-ups did. Instead, she had waited until her little flame had grown weary of her and they mutually agreed to see other people. It had been quick, neat, and curt. And it left Dainty’s reputation as perfect as always.

The rose-haired girl decided to add in, for good measure, “Besides, I’ve been told my flirting can be a little annoying itself,” That was another lie. No one had the gall to say anything negative about Dainty, especially not to her perfect little face, “So please do feel free to say if it does get a little… out of hand.” She really hoped he wouldn’t, though. She loved these reactions of his. She was practically feeding off of them by now. I mean, just look at that red face - Simply adorable, in Dainty’s humble opinion.

<p style="text-align:center;">Spades | Auliver

Though still red from compliments Auliver tried to relax himself a little more. He shifted positions so he was no longer sat cross legged but so his legs hung off the side of the table. He placed one of his hands slightly behind him and leaned on it, using the other to sweep stray hairs out of his face, before having it mirror the other hand’s position. He looked Dainty up and down as he did so, deciding he quite liked her. Maybe she’d like to hang out sometime, if she had any interest in being friends outside of flirting. Can friends even flirt with one another, or did that make it something else? People usually flirt when they want to date, right? So did Dainty want a relationship? Auliver stopped thinking about it as quickly as he had started, pulled out of his mind by a wink sent his way and the word ‘fondness’, which seemed to echo around in his mind.

Oh Gods. What exactly had he got himself in for. He was not ready for any of this.

He listened carefully to what she had to say, confused when the idea of finding this too much cropped up. People saw this as annoying? How? Being complimented was hardly a bad thing. He had to be missing something here.

Though unsure of how Dainty could be so smooth and eloquent, he replied with as best he could. “Don’t worry, I’m like you, it takes a lot to annoy me. I’ll uh.. Keep you updated though?” An awkward laugh and an internal groan promptly followed. His people skills really needed work. In his defense, Auliver was ultimately unsure of what he should be saying. Would it be rude to move the conversation on? He didn’t want to seem like he was dismissing her, causing her to close up. Flirting back seemed like the most natural option, but Auliver didn’t a) know how or b) know her intentions. He was just enjoying the attention. Maybe he should ask about her..?

“So, what do you do for fun?”

Hopefully Dainty would take the lead, since Auliver clearly had no idea what he was doing.

<p style="text-align:center;">Vin | Dainty

Dainty could tell he hadn’t been lying when he had mentioned his lack of socializing with other people earlier. His little awkward chuckle had been kinda cute, though. Not to mention that she had flirted with recluses before. Not a lot, but some. Of course, none of those had gotten anywhere past a precarious friendship stage, so she hoped that wasn’t going to be the case here. Normally when Dainty willingly flirted, she did it for a reason. And other times, she flirted because she didn’t even realize she was doing. It was such a blessing and yet such a curse.

The princess was a little thrown off when he suddenly asked about her own interests. This didn’t really happen a lot in her conversations - with friends, yes, but with those she was flirting with? Guys usually didn’t have any real sort of interest in her beyond “getting some”. So this was definitely a change of pace. And she wasn’t sure if she liked it or not. In some ways, she did. A guy showing a sincere interest in her, but not in a flirty way? It was new, but also… validating. But at the same time, did this mean he wasn’t interested in her in that kind of way? Was it because she wasn’t pretty enough? Or funny enough?... It was stuff like that that sent the princess into panic mode. But honestly, she was just being paranoid about it. She had a tendency to overthink things and try and read into hidden meanings that weren’t even really there. Sometimes it allowed her to pick up on little details and subtext but other times, like now, it just gave her unnecessary stress.

“Uh, well…” Dainty had to genuinely think for a moment. What did she do for fun, besides flirting? It wasn’t as if she could tell him that. Nor about her secret collection of overly mushy romance novels and films. That was just too embarrassing to admit aloud. Instead, she settled on a rather vanilla response, deciding to play it safe, “Well, I love to shop and hang out with my friends. And I enjoy matchmaking, too. If you listen to Cupid’s MirrorCast, sometimes I guest star on there… Oh, and I enjoy volunteering down at the animal shelter on the weekends. The frogs there are just so cute!” She bit back the urge to add in, “Almost as cute as you!” but she had promised herself to try and cut back on the flirting.

A lock of her dark rose-colored hair was twirled idly around a finger as she continued, “What about you, Mr. Celebrity? Besides your MirrorBlog, what do you like to do?” This was weird. This felt weird not flirting, and just being civil… being nice. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could do it for.

<p style="text-align:center;">Spades | Auliver

He nodded along to what she said, listening closely. He tuned into the MirrorCasts when he could, an unsurprising fact considering how much time he spent online. Blondie’s show was who he tuned into the most though, so Auliver supposed he must have just missed all the times Dainty had been on Cupid’s show.

He agreed about frogs being cute as they were his favourite animal, part in thanks to a certain meme. Another one of his more popular posts involved Hopper’s face edited onto that meme, much to the dismay of Hopper himself. Dainty would be sure to see it, if she did check out his MirrorBlog, and Auliver hoped she didn’t take offense. Though he might seem completely unapologetic, it was merely a part of her persona. He really did care a lot.

‘Mr. Celebrity’ huh? He could get used to that. Nicknames were another thing he’d never really experienced. His oldest younger sister, Aulivia, usually called him Auly, but that was it. It barely counted, especially considering their currently strained realtionship.

“I don’t do that much. Nothing as cool as being on a MirrorCast show, like you. I run my blog, obviously, and I play a lotta video games.” What a way to highlight his own loner-ness. Nothing quite says ‘Flirt with me!’ like ‘I spend all my time on my own playing games and posting pictures of frogs online’. “I also do a lot of swimming, but that’s really it.”

<p style="text-align:center;">Vin | Dainty

That… was not surprising at all. A MirrorBlog and video games. She could have definitely guessed that herself. But what caught her attention was his next words - “I also do a lot of swimming.” How interesting. That’s something that Dainty wouldn’t have guessed just from looking at the boy. “Swimming?” She racked her brain, trying to figure out why. Did the King Midas story have something to do with swimming? Dainty knew that water was the cure for the “golden touch”, so maybe that was why? Should she asked though?

With all this Royal and Rebel drama still going on, she wasn’t sure asking about his story was the best choice. For all she knew, he could hate his tale, and if he did, that would end up ruining the conversation. Nothing killed a flirty vibe more than “Yeah so my story effin’ sucks, and here’s 50 shades of why”. She’d have to pose the question in a more safe manner. “If you don’t mind me asking, why do you like swimming?” There. Perfect. No mentionings of his destiny at all. A part of her wanted to insert a joke here about Hopper and his frog form, because Hopper as a frog loved swimming, but she decided against it.

Mentioning your destined Prince Charming when lowkey trying to get with someone wasn’t a classy idea. I mean, sure, Dainty obviously wasn’t dedicated to Hopper in that way. The boy was like her brother. A very awkward, non-flirty brother. If Hopper was related to her by blood, then Dainty obviously would have taken all the social grace and coquettishness. But no, Hopper was just awkward all by himself. Which is why Dainty was so protective over him. In a way, she could see flashes of Hopper in Auliver - both didn’t know how to flirt and neither had much people skills. And suddenly, Dainty wasn’t interested in dating Auliver too much, no matter if the prince was cute or not. She hoped this feeling would pass soon.

<p style="text-align:center;">Spades | Auliver

“Well, water cures the whole turning-things-into-gold thing, so it’s something I’ve always found comfort in.” He turned his head to look down at each of his hands in turn, making double sure his gloves were on right. Even speaking about his golden touch made him nervous; he could do without accidentally turning things into gold, though it wouldn’t be the first time. Auliver considered his gift more of a curse than a blessing - One too many accidents involving his siblings and pet back home had left him traumatized, to say the least. Just to be sure, he stopped leaning on his hands and readjusted his gloves. Better safe than sorry.

As he continue to spoke he kept his gaze on his hands, “My family’s home also takes up an entire island. It’s much more of a villa than a castle, really, and the island is pretty small,” A nostalgia filled smile grew on his face. “When I didn’t want to do work I’d hide from my tutors by going out to swim in the ocean,” He shifted his gaze to Dainty. “One of my few friends back home was a siren, too. I guess I just enjoy being around the water.”

“Plus, an internet hobo like me has to stay in shape somehow.”

<p style="text-align:center;">Vin | Dainty

Aha! So she had been right about the whole “golden touch” and water thing! Still, the way he talked about it, and the way he had looked down to his hands, Dainty didn’t feel too proudly about guessing correctly. She actually felt… bad. She supposed she could kind of relate to that. Her own kisses had their transformative magic, and so she could turn frogs into Prince Charmings, but also Prince Charmings into frogs if she wanted. Of course, those kisses also had healing powers, so that was cool too. But controlling it was the problem. Dainty’s mother had never even tried to teach her daughter the magic behind their kisses and so Dainty was sort of lost when it came to her own powers. So far, and perhaps she was just being lucky, she hadn’t turned a Prince Charming into a frog. Even if she could relate to that the slightest bit, she didn’t say anything on the matter. Admitting that she couldn’t control her own magical kisses would ruin her perfect reputation, after all.

She had found that her own blue-green gaze had been drawn to his gloved hands as he spoke. Her attention finally snapped back onto his face, and she offered him a soft smile, “You hid from your tutors?” Crap, that’s a good idea though, “By swimming?... You’re quite the interesting guy, Auliver… I like it.” Her words were supposed to be flirty but, it sounded a lot more sincere and friendly than she wanted it. It was probably because she was still comparing Auliver to Hopper, and that was really throwing off her game right now.

The princess chuckled lightly at his next statement - particular the words “internet hobo”. This time, her laughter didn’t amount to an embarrassing snort, and was instead as controlled and poised as everything else about her. She could definitely appreciate this boy’s sense of humor, but if it made her snort then she’d have to be very careful. She was dead-set on never croaking in front of anyone ever again.

<p style="text-align:center;">Spades | Auliver

“I mean, yeah. The ocean is massive so they never found me, though Poseidon often ratted me out to me dad. I just can’t believe you’re surprised - I’m bunking off from Mythology class right now.” He spoke with a little too much pride about his poor attendance, but Auliver didn’t care. He was practically glowing, between the ‘like’s’, ‘cute’s and now ‘interesting’s. Compliments do wonder for a crushed ego.

“I can’t say I’ve ever been called interesting either. Not with a positive tone, anyway,” Auliver’s expression turned relaxed; he liked that she liked him. “You’re not half bad yourself, Kissington.” He added, making eye contact with her. Despite hating being addressed by his family name, Auliver had a habit of calling other people by their surnames, like it or not. Hopefully Dainty didn’t hate it, old habits die hard.

<p style="text-align:center;">Vin | Dainty

Oh how she desperately wanted to take a page out of Auliver’s book and skip her classes. They were all so boring - like Kingdom Management and Princess Design and Crownculus. Ugh. But if she skived off from her classes, her grades would go down and she wouldn’t be that perfect princess everybody expected her to be. In fact, now that she thought about it, she couldn’t remember even missing one class in her entire school career - except for maybe charm school, and that was because she had been too sick to leave her bed. “Do you skip classes often?” She asked, a hint of amusement in her voice as she spoke. If so, this would be the first prince she’d ever met who wasn’t dedicated to his grades.

Dainty blinked at the boy’s compliment, mostly because the use of her surname threw her off a tad bit. She’d never been referred to by her last name, so she wasn’t entirely sure if she liked it or not. She supposed it was just like any other nickname, just not cutesy or anything like that. The princess decided she could live with it for now. “How kind of you to say,” It hadn’t been much of a compliment - not the kind she was used to, at the very least - but she’d take it, “I’m glad I made a good impression with you. I wouldn’t be able to stand the thought of such a cute guy not liking me.”

Finally she was getting back into the groove of flirting with Auliver. She had been able to push Hopper to the back of her mind, and instead focused on that gaze of his. ‘This isn’t Hopper. He’s not like Hopper. Stop comparing him.’

<p style="text-align:center;">Spades | Auliver

Auliver couldn’t help but feel entertained by the excitement in Dainty’s voice. Had she never skipped a class? The action was practically second nature to Auliver. “Yeah, all the time. You don’t?” He was honestly almost amused at the notion of someone not skipping a class. Auliver went to what classes he pleased and even when turning up, he rarely paid attention and never did thronework or other pieces of coursework. His grades were a mess, in stark contrast to his father who never received anything less than an A*. Watching Grimm try to work out how he came out so differently to Bronze was, frankly, hilarious. (Though his father certainly didn’t agree).

“I’m sure you’d of lived,” He spoke, flattered by her kind words, breaking eye contact out of embarrassment. Turns out it’s hard to look someone in the eye when they say nice things to you, and Dainty was just that. Nice. Too nice to him, in fact, in every sense of the word. What’d he do to deserve this? Well, according to her, just being in the same room and being ‘cute’ was enough to do it. Auliver made a mental note to check his reflection when he could; at this point he was worried blush was permanently plastered onto his cheeks. Though he was unaware of how red they were, he was absolutely aware of the dull heat that they had brought, which had barely left the entire conversation.

Honestly, he was just amazed she wasn’t blushing more. Auliver was sure that if he were flirting as shamelessly as her he’d be the colour of a tomato. Dainty must have been well practised.

<p style="text-align:center;">Vin | Dainty

Her blue-green eyes stared at him as soon as he posed his question. An eyebrow quirked as she replied, chuckling a tad bit, “Does it look like I’m the type to skip classes?” As she spoke, her gloved hands gestured to herself, all decked out in her perfect princessy glory. Clearly, this girl was not one to break - or even bend - rules in the slightest. But she’d be lying if she said skipping a class hadn’t crossed her mind. Because it had. A lot. She just never went through with it because of the whole “perfect image” thing. Otherwise, she’d probably be in the same exact boat as Auliver. However, she wouldn’t admit that so easily.

When he broke the eye contact, Dainty was slightly disappointed. It was hard to seem sincere to other people when they weren’t looking directly at you. And since Dainty was rarely ever sincere, she needed all the help she could get to make her words seem as true as possible. “Mmm, maybe. But you’d be so hard to get over,” Her dark rose locks spilled over as she leaned over a tad bit in order to transfer most of her body weight to her left side. She was propping herself up with her arm, while her other sat primly in her lap, in a position that usually wasn’t seen as “princess-like” but good Grimm, sitting like a porcelain doll wasn’t comfortable in the slightest. Anyways, this guy was pretty darn relaxed so she was pretty sure he wouldn’t mind.

<p style="text-align:center;">Spades | Auliver

Dainty really didn’t look like the kind to skip class, so it really had been a stupid question. Even though he skipped classes so much, he was one of the few who did so with as much pride and frequence as himself. Holding everyone else to that standard was, well, stupid. Then again, since Legacy Day most expectations had gone out the window at Ever After High. Nothing was certain and appearances could be deceiving. “Well, no, but you never know. Briar doesn’t look like the type to enjoy Hextreme Sports. I was being polite.”

And then came the puncher. ‘Hard to get over’.

“Pffffft! Excuse me..?!” His warm eyes immediately darted back to her’s, as if they demanding an answer. Had he had a drink in his mouth, he’d of done a spit take. Clearly Aphrodite had it in for him and he’d be willing to bet it Cupid’s doing. He’d be having words with her later.

Judging by the fact she’d moved into a more relaxed position, Dainty was clearly unphased by her ridiculous statement. Auliver was not. His reaction may have been extreme, but how else are you to react when a girl you’ve just met says you’d be hard to get over? He was, honestly, gobsmacked. Speechless. At a loss for words. An anomaly which didn’t occur to often with him. He made a mental note to congratulate her at a later date.

<p style="text-align:center;">Vin | Dainty

Auliver had a point. Appearances could be deceiving. Dainty was an example - She looked perfect but, oh, how far from it she truly was. “Hmm, I suppose you’re right on that account,” Dainty nodded her head in agreement, “But I can assure you I haven’t skipped even one class in my entire life.” She wasn’t too fond of talking about it. Talking about it made her want to do it, and that was dangerous territory. Until Apple White began to miss her classes, then Dainty was going to suck it up whether she liked it or not.

Then, at his dramatic reaction, the rose-haired princess looked at him curiously. What had she said to warrant such a response? Her blue-green eyes blinked in wonder at the boy, herself being rendered speechless for a moment as well. Obviously, Dainty was unaware at the implications of her own previous words. He certainly was a tough one to flirt with, that was for sure. Dainty wasn’t sure if she liked the challenge or not. After all, most guys just fell right in her lap - sometimes literally. But not Auliver.

“I-is something the matter?” Dainty asked, her breath catching on her words ever so slightly. As an almost nervous habit, she went to smooth down the skirt of her dress, along with her curls. For some reason, the princess seemed to heavily rely on her looks, and figured that maybe something was off because of her appearance.

<p style="text-align:center;">Spades | Auliver

Oh Gods, Auliver thought, hearing the slight change in her breathing. He’d swear if this wasn’t a kids show fandom. He’d upset her, hadn’t he? While everyday some of the more… intricate details of social interaction went over his head, he was no stranger to nervousness and discomfort. The breathing, the straightening of her dress, the weird look… he’d been guilty of them all himself.

He spoke quickly, without giving much thought to what he was actually saying, keen to stop any upset before it got worse. Pushing a new friend away was a grave mistake, especially one that had such nice things to say about him. It was selfish, he knew it, but even if that factor wasn’t there, Auliver assured himself that he’d still want to be her friend. She was lovely.

“N-no! You’re fine, it’s fine. It’s just, that’s something you say about someone you’ve dated..!” He smiled awkwardly, not out of discomfort, but out of a want to convey two things. The first, that Dainty had nothing to be upset about and, the second, he was flattered, if a little (read: very) confused. Calming himself down, he continued, “I’m surprised, that’s all.”

<p style="text-align:center;">Vin | Dainty

Goodness, she hadn’t been this shaken up since that awkward date with a very angry and hot-headed son of the Fairy King. What had his name been again…? She couldn’t remember. But rarely ever did others pick up on her subtle social changes. Barely anyone ever saw this girl nervous, because she had learned to conceal it so well. But, of course, habits like her smoothing down her skirt and hair could still be present. If she wasn’t so darn flustered, she would have been impressed that Auliver picked up on the cues. Well, impressed, and also annoyed with herself. The whole point of her acting perfect all the time was so that other people believed she truly was perfect. She’d have to work on it later.

“Oh!” As soon as those words came tumbling out of the prince’s mouth, Dainty relaxed, “You’ll have to excuse me then! Of course I didn’t mean in that way. We’ve only just met each other… I might be a flirt, but I’m not that much of a flirt.” The girl rushed to assure him, trying for a bit of humor at the end to help smooth over any awkwardness still left in the air.

This was her second faux pas in one conversation. And it had been with the same guy, too. Dainty glanced at Auliver, studying him a bit more closely. Was it because of her, or him? Of course, everybody was unique and liked flirting differently, so perhaps she just wasn’t hitting the right notes with him. Dainty considered herself an expert when it came to flirting. So far, it had never failed her. But this son of King Midas was certainly throwing her for a loop. And she still couldn’t tell if she enjoyed it or not… Maybe she lowkey was, or otherwise she would have given up a while ago.

<p style="text-align:center;">Spades | Auliver

Oh Dainty, no need to worry. It was definitely a problem with Auliver, not her. He could tell that he was being hard to talk to but, once again, wasn’t sure what to do to remedy it. The compulsive need to produce an apology was growing in his mind, but his upbringing wouldn’t allow it. ‘Men don’t say sorry, Auliver. Least of all a Midas Prince. Don’t apologise, just do better.’ He wanted to sigh. Being flirted with is harder than it looks, especially when you’re this awkward.

He relaxed himself again, sweeping a gloved hand through his brown hair. Once again he leaned back on one the other hand, mirroring Dainty, before bringing up his legs and crossing them, like he had originally been sat. All the while, he laughed slightly at Dainty’s comments about flirting. Auliver should probably trust her more - she knew he was new to all this, and she had said he could tell her to stop if he wanted. She wasn’t going to do anything extreme, though, Auliver had to admit to himself, he had no idea what ‘extreme flirting’ would be - kissing, perhaps? Then again, considering she was the Frog Princess, that might not be a wise idea. He certainly wouldn’t go around kissing princes if that was his title.

“It’s okay,” He settled on, smiling at her.

Remain cool. He repeated to himself. ''Remain cool. ''

“Say,” Auliver followed up, looking around. “What time does this club end? Do you think we’ll be kicked out or something soon? I only really come here for the MirrorNet,” Having made a sweep of the room with his eyes, they settled back on Dainty’s.

<p style="text-align:center;">Vin | Dainty

He said it was “okay” but was he being honest? Dainty said a lot of things were “okay”, or that she loved a lot of things, when reality it was pretty much the opposite. For example, the princess pretended she liked Starbooks coffee because all the other princesses did. But honestly, Dainty wasn’t much of a bitter tasting kind of person, and no matter how much cream or sugar she added in, she picked up on the underlaying bitterness anyways. Still, she decided to take his word for it, although she was still a bit uncertain now. She’d have to be a tad more careful about her choice of words around this one.

His question was enough to pull Dainty out of her thoughts. With a little “Oh!” she quickly checked the time on her MirrorPhone. Goodness! They had been talking for nearly a half hour, and yet it had seemed so much shorter than that. And since the club only lasted an hour during school, it was going to end quite soon. “Hmm, we’ve got about three minutes left before the club ends. And then I have to go to Princessology,” It was her last class of the day before she could finally go back to her dorm, flop on her bed, and study Princessology. Because one simply couldn’t get enough of it.

A glimmer suddenly sparked in her blue-green eyes as she smiled as sweetly as possible towards the boy, “But since this means we’ll be parting ways soon enough, don’t you suppose I could have that MirrorPhone number of yours now?” She was really hoping he’d say yes this time. Yeah, a MirrorBlog was all fine and dandy and all, but being able to text Auliver would be so much easier for the girl. Then again, if he was so keen on social media, perhaps he’d be more willing to respond on it?... She supposed she’d find out eventually. Because even if he wasn’t going to so easily give her his number right now, she was going to get it somehow, someway, someday.

<p style="text-align:center;">Spades | Auliver

Wow, how long had it been? Auliver picked up his MirrorPhone and checked the time. Half an hour had passed already. He had a free period for the next hour anyway, so it didn’t really bother him.

Rather than part ways, he wanted to suggest that they could go hang out back in his room. He had plenty of video games they could play together, like Legend of Spellda or some Dragon Ronpa, but he figured they weren’t really up Dainty’s ally. Plus, the girl was clearly a dedicated academic. The offer would be in vain.

Still, Dainty clearly wanted to keep speaking as she was still set on getting his number, which he chuckled at. She was dedicated, Auliver would give her that. He looked between her and her phone before opening unlocking his phone and opening his contacts app. Unless she wanted to have him write on her arm again, this would have to do. They had nothing to write with and his gloves would cause problems with her phone. “Here, you can put your number and name in my phone,” Auliver said, cautiously handing her his phone; he wasn’t used to parting with it. “I’ll text you later.”

<p style="text-align:center;">Vin | Dainty 

Dainty actually felt… sad that this was goodbye for now. She had been quite enjoying this conversation. Despite the fact that the prince insisted he was “awkward” and “bad with people”, Dainty had nonetheless found him entertaining and even funny. After all, he’d been able to make her literally snort within minutes of meeting her, a feat which no one else in Ever After could boast about. Secretly, she was kind of hoping he’d invite her to ditch class - not that she’d do it, of course, but the invitation would have been all she needed.

However, getting his phone number was definitely considered to be a victory for this princess. Her own gloved hands reached out to delicately take the device from Auliver’s hold. With a quick few taps here and there, her contact information had been successfully transplanted into the phone and she was handing it back to him. If Dainty had felt free enough to be herself, right about now would have been where she high-fived herself. “I look forward to it,” For good measure, she added in another wink, if only to see that cute reaction of his once more. Grimm knows she’d need all the entertainment she could get before heading off to Princessology.

Just then, the bell chimed, signifying the end of the period. Ugh. Gross.

Dainty flashed Auliver a smile, “Well, I better head off. Wouldn’t want to be late, now would I?” With that in mind, she hopped off from her seated position on the desk, re-adjusted her tiara, straightened out her skirt, and ran her fingers through her rosy curls, so that when she went flouncing out into the hallway, she’d look neat, princessy, and presentable.

<p style="text-align:center;">Spades | Auliver

He blushed, looking down at his phone as he took it back from her. Auliver was surprised she didn’t put the kissing lips emoji or something in her name - Dainty probably considered herself more princess-y than that though, come to think about it. Still, he felt confident in the fact he’d gained a new friend, who thought he was so.. cute, and interesting, and likeable.. It didn’t happen often and it felt awesome.

Auliver looked back up just in time to catch her winking at him. He grinned like an idiot, a facial expression that suited him almost as much as his usual smirk, fake as it may be. With rosey cheeks he replied, “Yeah, course not,” watching her as she sorted her appearance and left the room.

“See ya.”

He groaned to himself, picking his laptop off the desk before getting ready to make his way out the room. Sure, maybe it didn’t come from the most selfless of places, but Dainty had been a fun person to spend the past 30 minutes with. Hopefully she’d want to talk to him again.'' Well, she better after trying to get my MirrorPhone number so bad. ''

After quickly checking his appearance in his phone camera and trying to decide if he could work looking so flushed, Auliver put his smirk back on and walked out the room, opening up his phone to the Messaging app. He sighed a small sigh of relief - this was definitely more his style of communication. Now was his time to shine.