[PRP- Loyalty] It Takes Two [Adagio Act x Grimoire]

[BlueEyedMelloon]

"This is so not what I thought a Talent Show was going to be..."

Adagio Act slumped in her seat, next to a foal she didn't know, while everyone else in the class chittered and chattered about their acts. The teacher had announced the Talent Show, and Adagio Act immediately knew she wanted to be partnered with her brother. They even shared a "I got you." look across the classroom...

And then they were told they would be assigned by random number.

And guess who was stuck with some rando?

Her brown eyes slid over to the bedecked foal, and she sighed. "So, what are you good at?" Not even an introduction, just right to the point.

[cursedwanderer]

He'd hardly paid much attention to the announcement, he hadn't been planning on signing up anyway.  Such simple foals didn't need to see his fantastic feats, he had nothing to prove.  But, when the teacher had told the class that participation was mandatory and that they had to participate in pairs his had ears perked up and he'd let out an audible groan.

As pairs were assigned he waited, slowly being filled with dread as he imagined how his partners may slight him for his hobby.

The circus girl...  He didn't know much about her.  He flipped through the pages of his book as he wondered how he could integrate her into his magic act, which obviously would be main attraction of their performance.  There was a lot of possibilities... when she'd interrupted him mid-thought

Twinkling green eyes peered up from over his weathered looking tome.  Grimoire cocked an eyebrow and peered at his assigned partner as if she was asking the most obvious question in the world.

"Magic," he snorted.  Couldn't she tell?  Didn't everyone know?  "What about you?"  The white colt looked at her as he pondered her potential for his magic act.

[BlueEyedMelloon]

"Magic?" She said, with a hint of derision. This foal was no magician; he could barely be seen on the stage! Adagio thought back to the magicians at the circus, tall, imposing phonies who commanded the stage and brought wonder to phony eyes.

When he asked her what she was good at, she smirked a bit. "Partner balance." she said, thinking of her namesake. "I can balance on just about anything, even things that are moving!" She was embellishing a little: she was good, but far from perfect. This colt didn't need to know that though.

"Are you going to be able to keep up? How good is your balance?"

@cursedwanderer

[cursedwanderer]

"Balance?"  He scoffed.  "Why anyone can balance.  It's not like all of phonyland is stumbling around at all times.  Do you suffer from vertigo and that's what makes it particularly special?"  He huffed.  As if balancing was anywhere near as cool as the art of magic, such nonsense. 

"Keep up?  Why I could magic circles around you." He tossed his mane, having hoped it would look cool but ending up with a face full of hair in his eyes.

"How do you think balancing will impress the judges when I could make their scorecards vanish in thin air?"  He grumbled around a mouthful of hair as he worked to brush it out of his eyes with his hooves.  "Clearly it would be better for you to let me saw you in half on stage," he said and grinned just a little too widely with hopes it would unsettle her.  Let the scary guy get his way, right?

@BlueEyedMelloon

[BlueEyedMelloon]

Adagio's eyes narrowed as he belittled her talent. How dare he! She spent hours practicing her art.

She crossed her hooves, feeling anger bubble up in her chest. "Magic isn't going to impress anyone! Everyone says they can do magic. But balancing on a ball that's on top of another ball? That's impressive!" She smirked when his mane didn't cooperate. This foal wasn't even coordinated enough to toss his mane right!

"You are SO not sawing me in half!" she exclaimed, standing up. "What if you mess up and I'm stuck in half forever!?" Part of her was actually scared, but she wasn't going to reveal it to him. He wouldn't actually hurt her....right?

@cursedwanderer

[cursedwanderer]

Grimoire stared at her, incredulous.  Who wasn't impressed by magic?  Plebeians with no sense of wonder?  Even idiots could be fascinated by simple tricks.  How could anything be greater than making the impossible possible?

"Hmph, well I don't much think anyone will mind," he drawled.  "After all, with you cut in half wouldn't there just be more of you to love?"  He smirked.  "You could even have a new balancing act.  One where you have to balance one half on top of the other.  Now wouldn't that be a treat!" 

As offended as he was by her suggestion that magic was inferior to the simple act of balancing, he could picture in his mind's eye some way to incorporate balance into his tricks.  It wasn't inconceivable that he could come up with a purpose for her talent in his act. 

"And what did you expect me to do while you're balancing on a pair of balls?  Watch?"  He quirked an eyebrow and crossed his hooves.



@BlueEyedMelloon

[BlueEyedMelloon]

Adagio stomped her foot. He was teasing her about being sawed in half and she wasn't having it! "We clearly have very different ideas about this Talent Show." she said, eyes glittering with anger.

It was at this moment that their teacher found her way to their group. "How are things going?" she asked cheerfully, looking from Adagio Act to Grimoire.

Adagio snorted "humph.", dropping forcefully into her seat and crossing her hooves as well. The teacher's mouth turned down into a slight frown.

@cursedwanderer

[cursedwanderer]

Grimoire watched the filly with amusement.  It was sort of fun to see her pitch a fit, something about being a little wicked filled him with glee.  He certainly would not be against teasing her more. 

Not to mention he could think of several magicians who did have quite the talented assistant or two.  The gears began turning in his mind, plotting ways he could use her talent as a distraction for slight of hand.  He could just imagine the audience getting caught up in her balancing on a ball or some such all the while he used the distraction to make some choice items disappear.  There was a use to her and her abilities, he just had to plan it out.

"Well, it certainly would be going better if someone would just accept that magic is superior," he said with a sly grin to the teacher.  "I'm about ready to put her in a box and make her disappear," he turned to Adagio and waggled his eyebrows, interested to see her reaction.

@BlueEyedMelloon