//------------------------------//
// Caught Red-Hoofed 
// Story: Crushing in College 
// by Freybli 
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After leaving his head on his desk for a good thirty minutes, Draco finally stood up.

“That was certainly unexpected. How could he forget about orientation?” Draco began pacing back and forth. “He could have at least asked me for help before running off into a school he knew nothing about. I wonder if he even thought to bring his belongings in…” Draco took a quick glance around the room. There were no boxes to be spoken of, nor any bags for that matter. The new professor didn’t seem to possess any of the items or knick-knacks or small pieces of furniture that many teachers kept in a classroom. 

“This is strange… Surely he brought something with him. Maybe he left it in the hall?” Draco trotted over to the door and pulled it open with his magic. As he checked outside in the hallway, he finally noticed two boxes that were labeled “Professor Q.” The boxes themselves were not very large; they could maybe hold a small filly or two. Draco surrounded them in his violet magic and levitated them into the classroom.

As he set the boxes down beside his desk, Draco noticed a shuffling sound from one of them. It was the kind of sound that only paper made, he noticed. He moved towards the box, his curiosity piqued. He took the lid of box in his magic magic and set it to the side, revealing the contents of the container. 

“Are these… his files?” Draco stared at the manila folder in puzzlement. What sort of teacher brought their files to the classroom with them? All of the teachers’ personal information was keep in the administration office. How did this new professor get the idea to keep them with him? They had no use in a classroom, save giving the students something to laugh at once they discovered an embarrassing secret, like a record of overdosing on cake. Then again, nopony had that problem but Celestia.

“Wait a minute… if these are his files, then his name must be in here somewhere!” Draco surrounded the folder in his magic and began rifling through its contents with renewed vigor. “Let’s see here… huh, it doesn’t seem like he has any sort of recorded age in here. Any recorded history, for that matter. Why would Celestia let this completely unknown dragon teach at her school?” Draco shrugged helplessly. “Makes no sense to me at all.”

Draco continued his search through his colleague’s files, finding all sorts of inconsequential information in the process, such as known allergies, height, weight (Draco thought he was a bit on the chubby side, and the files confirmed this), eye color, and more. There was even a sheet dedicated to miscellaneous information, such as his favorite food and drinks.

“Seriously? A page dedicated to some of the most trivial facts about him and no vital information? Where did Celestia even get this? This is absolutely ridiculous.” Draco brought the sheet up to his face for closer inspection. “Hm…” He scratched his chin absentmindedly with a hoof. “It says here that his favorite food is a fresh Caesar Salad. It also says he enjoys sweet tea with a wedge of lemon on the side. I suppose I could make him a pitcher of lemonade as a gift. He may be a dragon, but that doesn’t mean I have to be rude to him.” Draco suddenly stopped and shook his head.  “Wait, focus. You’re getting off topic, Draco. Name, I’m looking for his name… Ah! Here we are!" he proclaimed proudly. "It says here that his name is…”

“My name is Qibli, second Professor of Elemental Magic at the Canterlot School for Gifted Unicorns, at your service.” Draco jumped ten feet straight into the air at the sound of the unexpected voice. The dragon, or, Professor Qibli as Draco now knew him to be, raised a single scaly eyebrow at the pony. The dragon’s eyes went from Draco, to the manila folder lying on the ground, and then back to Draco. “Is there any particular reason as to why you were going through my files?”

“Uh, w- well, you see...” Draco stuttered uselessly. Being caught in the act did wonders for his inarticulation. He tried in vain to attempt to talk normally, but the shaky tone in voice refused to die down. “Um, I was just… organizing them! Yes, that is exactly what I was doing.” He glanced from side to side, anywhere but at Professor Qibli. “Yes, organizing them.” He nodded rapidly.

“...right. I see.” Professor Qibli strolled leisurely towards Draco, forcing him to back up in the process. Suddenly, his flank connected with the wall; he had no more room to retreat. Draco was visibly sweating. Who wouldn’t be? When a huge dragon had you cornered in an empty classroom, not many ponies would have the bravery to face it. Draco gulped as Professor Qibli brought his head level with his.

“You didn’t see anything… unbecoming of me in there, right?” The way he spoke, Draco thought, was reminiscent of the way somepony spoke when they had nothing to hide, yet they relished in the discomfort of others. It reminded him a bit of Discord. Regardless, Draco had to answer somehow.

“O- of course not!" Draco said as he shook his head. "School records do not contain any sort of... ‘unbecoming’ information at all. Here at the School, we take all teacher applications very seriously. If an applicant possessed anything of the sort, they wouldn’t be accepted.” Draco smiled nervously, hoping that his answer would be sufficient.To the pony’s dismay, instead of backing away, Professor Qibli brought his face even closer.

“That’s good.” Professor Qibli closed his eyes for a moment, giving Draco a brief respite from his piercing gaze. It was almost as the dragon could see right through him, despite Draco’s evident attempts at a cover-up. No matter how hard he tried, Draco couldn’t help but feel nervous as he waited for Professor Qibli to reopen his eyes.

“Well, as they say, ‘no harm, no foul.’ As long as you didn’t see anything you weren’t supposed to, I’m fine with a bit of snooping around.” The dragon turned around and began to walk away from Draco, giving him a chance to catch the breath he had been holding. “Although… next time, could you just wait until I come back before taking such drastic measures?”

“Of course,” Draco confirmed. “I just didn’t want to have to stand around and wait for you to come back without even knowing your name. It seemed sort of… wrong to me.”

Professor Qibli shot Draco a sly smile. “More wrong than going through my personal records, huh?” Draco's face reddened slightly at the playful accusation, the emerging blush showing clearly against his gray coat. Qibli saw the rose-cheeked pony and smiled even wider. “Aw, am I making you blush? I didn’t know I had that effect on ponies,” he teased.

“I am NOT blushing,” Draco retorted. “It’s just… awfully hot in here. Yes, that’s it. The temperature in the room is causing this, and most certainly not you.” Draco fervently hoped that dragons couldn’t see through lies. It would do him no good to let the dragon see that he was getting the best of him.

“Sure you aren’t.” Qibli rolled his eyes. “It’s okay, Professor Draco. I understand how hard it must be being stuck in a classroom with such a droll, boring dragon such as myself.” Draco watched silently as Professor Qibli waxed melodramatic. He brought a scaly claw up to rest against his against his forehead, leaning backwards in fake pain. “Oh! Woe is me, to be so dreadfully boring! How could I allow myself to be upstaged by a thermostat? To think that it, not me, was the cause of this cute pony’s blushing… Heaven forfend!”

Did… did he just call me ‘cute?’ Draco shook his head in disbelief. Celestia really knows how the pick the weird ones out of the bunch. This is almost as bad as that time when she… no, never mind. Nothing could ever be as bad as that.

“I suppose it can’t be helped,” sighed Qibli as he returned to his normal posture, acting as is his dramatic monologue had never happened. “Not many dragons I know could stand up against the might of a thermostat.” The dragon paused as the sound of his belly grumbling brought his attention to his current predicament: lunch. “Oh, would you look at that. It would seem that my performance has brought on quite the appetite.” Qibli turned to look at Draco, who was still recovering from being called cute by a complete stranger. “Would you care for lunch, Professor Draco?”

Draco’s eyes went as wide as dinner plates.

There’s no way… he didn’t just… did he just ask me out for lunch? Draco didn’t know what to think. First this weird dragon called him cute, then he asked him if he wanted lunch? Draco’s day just seemed to keep getting stranger and stranger by the minute. Well, if you want to get to know someone better, a good start is to have lunch with them, right? That applies to dragons too... I think. 

“Uh… Professor Draco? Are you coming?” Draco blinked as the dragon’s voice brought him out of his thoughts. Qibli turned from his task of making sure the room was prepared for their exit to look at Draco. “I’ve already started locking the doors. Cut off the lights on your way out, would you? I’ll be waiting in the hallway.” After checking the doors, Professor Qibli started his trek down the dimly lit hallways of the closing school.

Draco sighed. “I’m coming, Professor Qibli! Just give me a minute,” he shouted down the hallway. His black overcoat lit up in his violet magic as he lifted it from its position on the coat rack and brought it rest on his back. He double checked the locks on the doors and used his magic to retrieve the pouch of bits he kept in his desk. “I doubt he has any Equestrian currency,” Draco said as he made his way to the door. He walked out into the hallway and closed the door behind him. “Hopefully, this will work out for the best…” Draco set off at a brisk pace to catch up to his hasty colleague as they both made their way out of the School.