the (wicked, though of course that hardly needed saying) queen had been ousted from the kingdom, and serenity was about to be crowned in her place. she had her friends by her side, and she felt like she could do anything.
“your highness, the choreographers are here.”
“claude,” she hissed, still fiddling with her hair. “i told you not to call me that!”
“because i can just call you by your name in front of the whole court and not have it be a huge scandal.” they rolled their eyes, hopping up on the vanity. “i’m practicing, you should be grateful.”
“i’d be grateful if you’d help me with my hair. there’s this one piece that just won’t stay put.” she tried to gesture at it without actually letting go. “and get off the furniture; you know we aren’t supposed to sit on it!”
“iknow that no one’s around to care besides you, and you only care because you can’t do it yourself.” nevertheless, they jumped off, plucking a bobby pin from the little container. “okay, here, bend back some — squat a little? yeah. annnnnnd there, is that good?”
serenity straightened, scrutinizing the mirror as she gingerly let go of her hair. “perfect, thanks. what’d you want to tell me again?”
“the choreographers are here,” claude repeated. “your highness.”
