The Courtyard: Alex, Ashton, & OPEN
The dragon had played his part in the Hydra haunted house and now he was free for the remainder of the night. He hadn't been a very good sport about it, and he rarely was for such silliness, but it had been his punishment for misbehaving and there hadn't been an option of staying in his room and studying instead.
He was still resentful of the Head of Hydra for her words to him, but Ashton had come a long way in the short two years he'd been a student at the school. This month was his two year anniversary and also the season of his hatching. Ashton knew that made him one hundred and three years of age. It meant he had been living among humans for several years and one of the lessons he'd learned was that what they said was not always what they felt. Sometimes humans said things just to get a reaction, just to make someone think or consider something they wouldn't have otherwise thought of.
Ashton was pondering on this as he crossed the courtyard on his way into the castle. Barclay would be meeting him inside and they were to get dinner before returning to the festivities to have a look around. Ashton wasn't dressed as anything. His part in the haunted hospital had been more of what Fred had suggested: The dragon at the end of the haunted house. He'd frightened quite a few students in his true form, lurking in the dark. It brought some satisfaction to the dragon that he'd been allowed to intimidate them, and that he hadn't caused any harm while doing it. He'd rather been hoping Alex would have come through during his shift, just to see the look on his face again when faced by a fire breathing dragon.
Thoughts of Alex and considering what Ms. Hallowfen had said to him caused Ashton to frown. He knew he was quickly angered by things and it was why Alex was able to get under his skin. But the shaman boy deserved it! And therein lied both the problem and the solution.
Ashton looked up from his musings, scowl still firmly in place, and stopped walking as he spotted a creature from the other side of the courtyard coming towards him. Ashton's nostrils flared and he snorted in a brief moment of alarm at the sight.