Upon learning that so many books could hold so much knowledge and stories, Amethyst was eager to hear more. Of course, having never read a word and only speaking the languages she had grown up surrounded by, she knew not where to start. Lots of the spines presented were different in Lilian's personal study. Some looked rather bland while others had fancy swirls. Some red, some blue, others brown. How was she to choose anything, much less how to read it?

The slightly confused look on the dragon's face must have alerted the feline to offer help. Her smaller stature strode up calmly as she tried to figure out where her new friend was looking. She was still amazed she had finally met THE dragon of legend and myth. So many questions ran through her mind but she knew she should be on her best behavior. Even dear 'mother' agreed by not swiping too many items off of shelves. Despite the random parchment littering areas and stacks of books and tomes to try and move around, the area itself was rather spacious. A small bit of pride rose up in the witch's chest as she admired her spellwork before focusing back onto her tall and scaly friend.

"What'cha looking for?" Lily asked finally, putting her arms behind her back and swaying back and forth on her heels.

"Hm," was all Amethyst responded with, almost looking a bit upset but not elaborating.

"Fairy tales? Spells? Some history?" the feline asked while her body refused to stay still. She was simply beaming with energy to be around such an amazing dragon at all.

There was silence for a while as the tall friend moved down one aisle to the next with the witch following behind and having her eyes scan each book nearby to try and help where she could. A few moments had Lily almost jump in excitement as the dragon would pull a book from the shelf and flip through the pages before looking annoyed and putting it back. Something was bothering her scaly friend but she didn't know what. They had even passed through several topics and genres as well as multiple themes yet nothing had interested the dragon at all. Even if some of it may have been mixed around, to which Lilian would tell you it's just an organized mess, most sections were fairly similar in theme.

"Is something wrong?" Lily asked, curious as to why they had paced around with no word.

"I...," started Amethyst, her golden eyes glancing down to her friend then away, "can't read."

"Oh! Is that all?" the witch asked and grabbed her friend's wrist without waiting for an answer. "Come!"

The two stumbled slightly before moving through the narrows shelving spaces as Lily reached out with an open palm and let a book fly into her hand. Amethyst was stunned by the casual nature in which she summoned the piece of literature, finding it rather interesting. The witch wasted no time in flipping through item quickly as her tail swayed from one side to the next, lightly nudging a protruding spine back into place on a shelf they passed.

"Sit~" said Lily softly, gesturing to the floor.

A small glance gave Amethyst a good idea where Lilian probably spent most of her time in this room. The piles of books and random scatterings of papers were all around an empty spot on the floor. Just big enough for one to sit and have everything at their disposal surrounding them. A quill and capped inkwell sat near some notes and other scribbles that were as foreign to the dragon as she was to nearly everything else. Still, the lighting from the lanterns and candles around the area were rather cozy. The small space itself didn't look to be able to have both of them sit but Amethyst sighed and knelt to the floor, letting her wings send out a small gust of air to blow some of the loose parchment away.

"So, Ammy," the cute witch said as she moved over and helped herself to sit upon the dragon's lap, "we're going to have you learn to read!"

"Kitten," Amethyst said without thinking, raising a brow at the sudden sparkle in those yellow eyes suddenly gazing at her. "Uh, I don't understand how to accomplish such a feat."

The little fang over Lily's bottom lip slowly moved away as she let herself focus. She hadn't been called anything cute since mother passed and possessed her tail! It was twice in a day now! Her hands held the book open for both of them to see as she lightly moved one end closer to her friend. Being told to accept the side of the book, 'Ammy' held it as she looked over her friend's should and head to see the confusing marks on the pages.

"Right. So, let's just start easy," Lilian declared and wiggled herself into a more comfortable position in the dragon's lap before pointing at the larger words at the top of the page. "This is the title. It's to help figure out what story it is you're going to read."

Amethyst's head craned down slightly, looking closer and trying her hardest to decipher the odd runes. A small mumble of acknowledgement sounded from her throat as she let her impromptu teacher continue.

They spent hours reading the story. From pronunciation of letters and words to helping understand the story itself, the two kept their snouts in the book while entirely enthralled. Those large wings cradled around them like a shield as she tried to learn how to read. Lilian's energy was almost contagious with how she spoke and showed various examples of this or that. A few times, the dragoness could feel that tail lightly thump her side but paid it no mind. Perhaps it was just a playful gesture. The hat, on the other hand, was a little different seeing as getting flapped in the face a few times from each turn to look at her had nearly made trying to read impossible before the feline settled down some.

As they read and Lily sat in her friend's lap, there was little she could think of. Her mind was so wrapped up in teaching and helping that she hardly knew how much time had passed. Though, there was one thing that kept popping up repeatedly in her head that made her giddy over and over.

She called me kitten!

Art by the amazing  haraya!
Amethyst and Lilian belong to me~