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Fischl opened the lid of her violet record player decorated with an abundance of bubble stickers.
"You're quite affluent when it comes to stickers, Fischl." Noelle commented, a bit taken aback.
"Yes, I suppose. However not so much so in mora. In my own kingdom, as the sole member of the royal court I withhold a large sum of money."
Fischl stated as she flipped through a black box placed on her lap filled with vinyls.
"Not to say that my people are impoverished!" She added quickly. "We follow a doctrine similar to socialism, although under a laissez-faire monarch."
"You speak French?" Noelle inquired.
"Non, pas très bien." Fischl continued to leaf through the records before finally deciding on one. It had an image of some yellowed piano keys with the words in the left corner, "HiLo" which Noelle assumed was the album's title.
"Wow!" Noelle beamed. She had no idea what that meant but it sounds good to her.
"Here." Fischl spun the vinyl on her finger and attempted to balance it but ended up toppling off her finger tips.
Fortunately, Noelle was able to catch it in time, then carefully handed the vinyl back to her. Fischl nodded in thanks to her then placed the vinyl into the record player. The first song began. "We can make it fun, out the blood."
"So what shall we do next?" Fischl turned to Noelle.
"Uhm, I could brush your hair if you like? I mean it's getting remarkably late already." She glanced down at her wristwatch; the silver hand had just struck down to 11:09.
"Alright then, but I advise you to avoid brushing my bangs out of my face. I may have an eyepatch on, but that's no reason to not proceed without retaining caution." She handed Noelle a plain onyx paddle brush with bits of her fair daffodil-hued hair tangled in between the bristles.
Noelle settled herself on her knees behind Fischl and parted her hair into a straighter line. "So what do you call your kingdom's unique political doctrine?"
The first song of the album faded away into the next. "I love what I can't see. What's expected of you? What's expected of me?"
"It could be categorized under a variety of names. So many labels are appropriate so why only use one?" Fischl shrugged indifferently. "Our politics aren't what makes my kingdom special, it's how unique it is!" She turned her head suddenly towards Noelle, startling her a bit.
Noelle nodded and edged her to continue as she brushed her hair.
Once Fischl's hair was tangle-free and cascaded across her shoulders, her friend straightened it out in her hand, parting it into three different sections forming a simple braid falling down her back.
"Alright, I'm done!" Noelle cut Fischl off as the first syllable of her sentence fell out of her mouth with the unchanging flair and assertiveness she exhibited whenever talking to anyone.
Noelle passed a compact mirror to Fischl.
"Wow."
"Hm?"
"Thank you so much!" Fischl wrapped her arms around Noelle. She seemed to be so impressed that her facade seemed to fade for a moment.
Noelle's voice cracked. "It was just a simple braid!" She could feel her face had grown warmer as Fischl embraced her like this.
On the vinyl Fischl had played the song had reached its chorus.
"The sky is coming down blue, and I'm holding onto you."
She quickly looked back into the small mirror looking at the braid cascaded down her back. Noelle let out a small awkward laugh.
Enough time Oz had come pecking at Fischl's bedroom door telling her that they ought to go to sleep as she would be busy the next morning with the Adventurer's Guild.
The vinyl had stopped spinning, leaving the room silent, with the exception of crickets and fireflies buzzing around Monstadt. Noelle's brain seemed to buzz along with the insects.
Her fluttering heart refusing to stay still were the percussion of Barbara's words accusing Noelle of having a crush on her friend and the lyrics, "The sky is coming down blue, and I'm holding onto you."
Noelle laid opposite of Fischl on her bed. She peered at Fischl's face for a brief moment before hearing her ask, "Are you sleeping?"
"No."
She was silent for a brief moment.
"I'm really glad you came over. I thought you wouldn't come. I know a lot of people think I'm weird, but it comforts me you're not one of them."
Noelle smiled.
"In fact, I would consider one of the highest duchesses that Prinzessin der Verurteilung holds dear- well my only duchess but I don't need any others when I have you."
"Thank you, Fischl."
"Goodnight, Duchess Noelle."