[color=ed1c24]"He slept for a long time after I found him. His sister...twin...is with a friend of mine. Or, someone who [i]used[/i] to be my friend."[/color] The red dragonkin's face fell for a moment, her eye rolling thoughtfully towards Cinder, who turned to look into her face with an unhelpfully placid expression. But whatever troubling thing Drache was thinking about, she pushed it aside when Aussir continued talking.

[color=ed1c24]"I suppose it depends on your definition of trouble, Aussee,"[/color] she grinned, mispronouncing his name on purpose as a pet name. [color=ed1c24]"There haven't been any mages since before three hundred years, until now. I was [i]very[/i] excited to find that I could suddenly control my own firebreath."[/color] Something about the vehement intensity in her tone suggested that suddenly finding that she had magic at her disposal had given her a feeling of purpose. [color=ed1c24]"I don't try to hurt anyone else, of course, but I learned a long time ago that I have to look after myself. No one else is going to." [/color]

Drache let out a short growly purr when Aussir admitted to envying her, grinning at the compliment. She reached up to touch Cinder, which involved letting the flames flickering from what made up his body float through her fingers. There wasn't much physical contact except for when her claws brushed the orb that made up his head, but he seemed to appreciate the gesture and leaned into it. She was still learning how to read the strange creature. [color=ed1c24]"Oh, I'm not his Master,"[/color] she argued, for some reason finding that comparison uncomfortable. [color=ed1c24]"Cinder stays with me because he wants to, not because I own him. Calling myself Master makes it sound so much like slavery. Perhaps you could get a pet. The Merchant Square is always full of strange creatures brought in from all over the place. Or maybe,"[/color] she glanced at him with a teasing sort of smile, [color=ed1c24]"you could make some friends."[/color]

Falling quiet as the private details of Aussir's memory of his parents began to flow forth like water, the female watched his face with a certain amount of intensity, deciding then and there to make a sketch of his face in her journal as soon as she got a chance. [color=ed1c24]"I said we should support each other. Your sire was a dragon, and as dragons will undoubtedly never fail to remind us, we are not quite the same as them. If it's in your heart to hold him accountable for his absence, I won't blame you."[/color]

She let him take her hand, though she seemed less comfortable about the quickly-shrinking distance between their snouts than her earlier flirtations and insinuations might have implied. Her fingers clasped comfortingly around his, her flesh very warm. [color=ed1c24]"Don't envy my life too much, Aussir,"[/color] she murmured so quietly it might have been a whisper. [color=ed1c24]"Especially the last few weeks of it. But I'll take that as a compliment, even though I'd have been happier with a kiss."[/color] Her eyelashes fluttered hopefully at him, though somehow she suspected that her salacious insinuations would go un-realized.

[color=ed1c24]"I'm glad you were at least wise enough to consider what I had to say without dismissing it all out of claw. I'll remember your offer. Both of them. I should be here in the city for a little while but I may be traveling again soon with a friend of mine." [/color]

They were together on the bench again, and Drache reached for Aussir's hand, and provided that he didn't resist, she lifted it and tugged it back around her waist so that she could lean against the larger dragonkin.

Cinder had nodded at Aussir's question and then hopped down from Drache's shoulder to the bench and then the ground. His fiery feet left tiny steaming footprints in his wake, but the leaves he stepped on did not burn. He wandered around curiously, inspecting the fresh green buds of tropical plants. In another season this whole garden would be nearly overwhelming with the perfume of lurid flowers.