" - do you think so? Uh, I mean, I guess - if you want to then you should, because it's good to study things that you like, I bet."

(Serafin has been trying to articulate why he likes ballet so much ever since the elephant asked, and he thinks Duck's answer sounds... oddly complementary to his, but he can't figure out how to put the insight into words. It's not that ballet lets him express how he feels, exactly; it's more like ballet... is feeling things? But that sounds stupid and incomprehensible.)

"You could go try it right now, if you want!" he says instead. "I'd help! I'm all right at teaching, I think, I've helped Duck out a few times."

"It's true! Serafin's really good at teaching people!"

The elephant looks somewhat conflicted, which is sort of impressive, given that he's an elephant.

"All right," he says, after a moment. "Let's try it."

"Great, let's go!"

Anyone who is surprised that Serafin knows exactly where to find the nearest practice studio has clearly not been paying any attention.

Duck can help be moral support! Moral support is very important when you're just starting out, and being bad at something makes you uniquely qualified to be moral support.

The elephant is, in fact, not very good at dancing. He does try, though he quickly gets frustrated with his inability to move the way Serafin does.

Serafin is helpful and patient and encouraging, just like he was with Duck. He cheerfully admits that he wasn't all that much better when he started, and most of the difference is practice.

"How long did you have to practice for?"

"I honestly practice an unreasonable amount even for a ballet dancer. But I dunno, a while?"

"What about you?"

"Me? Well, uh, I guess I've been at the academy for - I don't know, months? I'm still not even very good, though."

"So it's possible to practice for months and months and still be terrible at this. That sounds so.... tiring."

"I guess so," says Serafin.

"I don't think I could stand it," says the elephant, making a wringing motion with his front feet. He doesn't actually wring anything, since his feet don't have any ability to grasp one another.

"I'm sorry," he says, after a moment, before turning and walking off.

Duck's pendant glows again.

"I... guess I should follow him?"

"Looks like it," he agrees.

So she does. She follows him all the way back to the painting room in the art building, where he sits down in the middle of the room and sighs.

"Well, now, this is quite an unusual challenge for you, isn't it? Truth be told, I don't even remember this character being here, but I am ever so excited to see how you handle his predicament, Princess Tutu."

"What lovely paintings."

"Who are you?"

"I am Princess Tutu."

".......oh. They're not lovely, I don't think. Most of them aren't even finished. I was never any good, but I used to be able to finish paintings, and now I can't even do that."

"I see. That sounds very difficult. I don't know what I would do if I could no longer dance."

"I'm sure I'll never be able to. It would take me so long."