Chapter Text
Besides the physical differences, a factor that sets the umamusume apart from the human is her keen sense of smell. Though it doesn’t change their day-to-day by any substantial means, it allows the girls some advantages; for instance, sensing a fellow umamusume before they turn around the corner, or identifying the owner of a lost bag.
But for items that don’t have strong(or any) scents attached to them, Tracen’s student council room acts as a makeshift lost-and-found. It’s an added convenience–most inquiries for lost items are sent through the student council anyways.
Pencils and folders and books find their owners relatively quickly. But one item hasn’t found its owner for more than a month; a small stick of lipbalm, and Symboli Rudolf is sitting at her desk contemplating what she should do with it.
She didn’t think much of it at the time. One day, after class, all those weeks ago, she had seen the unlabeled tube tucked against the wall of the classroom and haphazardly decided to pick it up. She had then stored it in her sidedrawer without much thought, and only was reminded of its existence after some mindless desk reorganization. It was tucked behind pencils and hadn’t seen sunlight in weeks.
There was no discernable scent on the tube, the color of a slightly tinted balm bleeding through its translucent cream-colored container. Rudolf had curiously removed the cap, and almost instantly, a small puff of lip product plus a familiar scent had entered her olfactory.
Symboli Rudolf never forgets a face, and never forgets a scent. And she especially would never forget the scent of an unrequited childhood friend.
It’s quite the predicament.
It would be best to return a lost object to its original owner. At the same time, Rudolf knows this drugstore lip balm is easily replaceable, and will probably never know its owner again–given the trip to tracen’s lost-and-found is probably the last thing the owner would risk lip balm over.
No wonder it’s been stuck here for so long, she thinks.
…Rudolf realizes she’d been touching her own lips unconsciously when she clicks the cap back onto the tube, and shakes off the thought of keeping the balm to herself. Sighing, she dials up the announcement speaker.
—
“Could I invite you for a cup of tea? I just bought a bag of ruhuna for myself a few days prior.” Rudolf is already standing by the tea kettle when Sirius Symboli enters the room. Sirius leans by the door, staying as far away from Rudolf as possible.
“You’re abusing your authority to have a playdate?” Sirius sounds and looks more exasperated than angry.
“I had no one to share it with.” Rudolf smiles sheepishly. “Teio doesn’t like how bitter it tastes, Tsuyoshi is barred from caffeine, and Air Groove isn’t here to keep company this week.”
Sirius scoffs. "They're not your royal subjects, they're people." She walks over and throws herself down to the sofa, crossing her legs in indignance.
"And we're not kids anymore," she adds with a mutter.
Despite the harsh words, she gently picks up the cup Rudolf hands her. She cools it with her mouth before taking a sip. There’s a slight sheen on Sirius’ bottom lip against the porcelain, and Rudolf almost misses her seat when she sits across from her.
Rudolf quickly takes a sip of her own tea to cover up her blunder. It wasn’t noticed, thankfully, and the two take moments in silence to drink and test the quality of the tea. Any conversation would be pointless fodder.
Rudolf empties her cup first. “Think of it as complimentary. The normal girl wouldn’t come all the way to the student council room to retrieve a stick of lip balm,” she says, rolling the tube across the table so Sirius can catch it.
When Sirius processes it as her own, the corners of her mouth turn up into a lovely smirk.
She teases. “So did you taste my lips for yourself?”
“I wouldn’t know, Sirius. We’ve never kissed.” Rudolf feels the corners of her mouth rising too.
They’ve both grown accustomed to the back-and-forth after settling their differences earlier in the year, but seeing Sirius’ tail frizz up, she can’t help but grin at her small victory.
She leans forward to clean up the empty cups on the table in silence. Suddenly, a hand is pressing at her left wrist, then travels up her arm sleeve to cup her chin.
Before she can react, Sirius applies the balm stick along Rudolf’s top lip with even pressure. Her thumb grounds Rudolf in position. She then tilts the balm slightly downward to cover the area of her bottom lip, before using her free finger to rub off the excess product from the ridges of her mouth.
The heat travels up Rudolf’s face instantly, and she can't look away from the fiery crimson gaze on her lips. It’s calculated and meticulous, and the slight fruity scent of the balm can hardly mask the floral scent of orris on Sirius’ lips, despite never directly tasting them herself. Or is it her fingertips, or the fact that her own hands are clenched against the table just to douse herself in the scent.
She presses her lips together to spread the balm evenly on her mouth, crushing the substance to taste it, and as a final means of resistance. A part of her wants to drown out the smell. Or maybe to override it, or maybe to keep it ingrained within herself. Sirius’ eyes narrow into a grin, which irritates her into smiling back.
“Savor it, Emperor. Burn this scent onto your tongue,” she whispers.
“...I’m afraid I might get addicted.”
They could keep doing this forever. But Sirius draws back, huffing in satisfaction. She closes the tube before putting it in her skirt pocket, and walks towards the exit. She doesn’t speak, merely waves her hand before letting the large door close shut behind her.
Rudolf stays silent, contemplative as she traces the ridge of Sirius’ teacup with her finger. But her heart is beating rapidly, and she can feel the excitement pulsing through her veins. She then touches her own lips, this time with determination.
I won’t be returning this to you, she thinks.