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Archan Tate sat in the waiting room, nervously tuning his violin. His patron, a tall, somewhat intimidating snakewun minor named Triss Sevens, stood next to him, watching as the other kids in his group took the stage and got rejected by the Elders. He slowed his breathing, trying to calm his nerves as the candidate before him walked off.
“You ready?” She asked. Arch swallowed, nodding, and stood up. Triss walked out ahead of him, introducing him as Archan Tate of Nevermoor, a violin player. He smiled nervously at the Elders, adjusting his instrument on his shoulder and began to play. He stayed on the stage for a few seconds, before stepping forward off the stage and into the crowd.
As he went, he picked up small, unnoticeable things as he went - jewellery, wallets, keys, etc. and occasionally grabbing something a little bigger. As he ascended the grandstand, he made eye contact with a boy. Arch remembered him, he was the dragonrider. He was really good, Arch had loved his performance. And he was cute. So. Damn. Cute. He grinned at Arch and went back to talking to the girl next to him.
Arch changed his path, walking past them and taking the dragonriding gloves right out of his pocket. The boy didn’t notice. Arch kept going, circling around the grandstand, never missing a note. As he made his way back onto the stage he reached up and quickly snatched Elder Quinn’s earring. He reached the center of the stage just as he finished the song. The Elders looked at him, not seeming that impressed, and went to reject him. Triss raised an eyebrow at him, and Arch turned to face the Elders.
“That’s not all.” He said. Elder Quinn looked at him inquisitively, and he walked over to their table. He started to take the things he stole out of his pockets, making a small pile. He blushed, grinning, as he handed Elder Quinn back her earring, as the Trolloseum exploded in applause. Arch went a bit redder. Elder Quinn leaned forward to speak to him, smiling.
“You can return these objects now.” Arch collected everything he’d taken and weaved his way back through the crowd. He held onto the cute boy’s dragonriding gloves, waiting to give them back last. When he did, he handed him his gloves back, trying not to look at his adorable face.
“That was really cool!” The boy said, grinning at Arch. Arch finally looked up to meet his eyes, blushing again and smiling back. Asksnjqlskajwkakkaksjsjs he’s so freaking pretty, holy shit.
“Thanks!” Arch replied. The boy winked at him, then turned back to his friend. Holy hell, I hope I’m in his unit. Arch let out a breath he did know he’d been holding, and walked back down to his patron. Triss beamed at him, pointing to the leaderboard’s newest addition: Archan Tate, in third place.