As it turned out, they did not pick the same time-- either that or Vyly was teasing him by making him wait. After a few more minutes of sunning, and a quick bath and grooming in the sun-spa's small-dragon-sized pool in the front room, he found himself with nothing better to do but find himself a seat at "that little lounge" Vyly had in mind, McCaffery's, a small, rather quiet dragon-sized coffee shop. At this hour, it was deserted, and he had no trouble choosing his his usual booth near the doorway. The waitress-- not a dragon, but a rather large alien of some sort-- took his order and brought him his drink, and he settled down to wait and people-watch through the glass window.

After at least two hours of waiting, during which time Aedelian had summoned a book from his hotel room-- no apartments for him, he didn't need all that much space, after all-- to keep him occupied, Vyly's mental presence approached. He almost didn't notice it, distracted by book, passing people, and the fact that she was making a concerted effort at keeping her thoughts quiet and inconspicuous. He thought to congratulate her-- most people who weren't powerful telepaths couldn't pull off stealth so well-- but since she was making such an effort to go unnoticed, he decided to humor her, at least for the moment. He turned a page in his book as she settled down in the booth beside his, though he didn't really read the words there. To speak or not to speak, that was the question.

The waitress answered it for him, though, as she approached Vyly's table with a smile on her fanged face and her notepad in hand. "What kin I get ye, hun?" she asked Vyly cheerily.

::Just coffee, please, black,:: he heard Vyly reply. The waitress nodded and backed away with another smile, heading to the kitchen to get a pot. While Vyly waited, trying to look inconspicuous and not doing a very good job-- she obviously wasn't used to not being invisible-- Aedelian was careful not to look at her, though he was certain she knew that he knew she was there. He also tried not to smile. It was a big game, really, to see who broke the silence first.

As it turned out, Vyly did. ::Interesting reading?:: she asked finally.

::Rather dry, actually,:: he replied amiably, as if they were in the middle of a conversation rather than at the start of one. He shut it, then, the stalemate broken, and looked up for his first look at her.

Vyly was green, the pale color of a spring leaf on the main with a few darker stripes among her spine and wings, delicate of build, and feathered in white barred with green on her wings, as a crest on her head, and at the tips of her long, drooping ears. Each paw only had two digits, long and powerful as she obviously stepped on the very ends of each when she moved. At each of her elbows sprouted a fringe of white fur, and the tip of her tail was plumed in white and green fur that curled slightly. Her pale blue eyes had no pupil, so it was hard to guess whether she was looking at him or not by sight alone-- but given where her attention was focused, Aedelian figured that she was. All in all, she was one of the most fascinating-looking dragons he'd ever met.

::And you thought I was interesting,:: he told her with amusement, trying to keep his admiration to himself for now, anyway. ::I've never seen a dragon quite like you before.::

Vyly snorted, her feathers on both wings and crown rustling and fluffing slightly. ::That's because there aren't any other dragons like me,:: she stated flatly, and even without the warning she gave after, Aedelian could tell this was a touchy subject and vowed not to broach it with her again. Not any time soon, anyway.

::But I'm not going to go into depth on that right now. So you said you started off here on research,:: she said, changing the subject briskly, ::What's keeping you here? ... Found someone interesting, or something?::

Aedelian had to put a damper on the tease that threatened to make it's way out, "now I have", with the reminder that she didn't take flirting well. She certainly felt jittery, and not just because he'd put his paw in his mouth about her species, but he couldn't put a claw on why else she might be. ::Not for lack of trying, but no,:: he answered instead, smiling. ::I actually seem to be considered "old and boring" by a goodly number of the populace.:: With at least one lady-dragon paying him attention, he could laugh about it. ::I guess I just like the bustle here, the massive amount of people to watch and talk to-- not even our capitol city, Sanctuary, is as large as this station, when it comes to population and variety.::

::I'll give it that much, yes,:: she agreed, but before she could say more, the waitress came bustling back with a dragon-sized, bowl-shaped mug and poured it full of the blackest coffee Aedelian had ever seen. Yuck. He made an effort not to make a face at the stuff, especially since the lady was giving him and Vyly such a friendly, even motherly smile. How amusing; Aedelian knew for a fact that he was at least a hundred and fifty years older than she was, and yet she was acting maternal. He could tell exactly what was on the woman's mind-- even Vyly ought to be able to pick that much up-- but since she didn't comment, he didn't, either.

"Anything to eat?" she asked them both at once, and when Vyly shook her head, turned her gaze fully on Aedelian, who just held out his own mug-- more mug-shaped than Vyly's, given he had opposable thumbs and lips fully capable of human or human-like speech, and thus, human-like drinking. He might as well stick to telepathy for now, though; no need to surprise Vyly with that little secret just yet. He could surprise her later. At least he knew she understood the station's universal common tongue, though.

::A little more chavin would be lovely,:: he answered, and with a smile and arched brow, presumably for the silent speech, she took the mug and padded off with it for a refill.

Once they were alone again, Vyly continued on the same train of thought they'd been on before. ::I don't know how old you are, but you certainly are not boring. At least, not from what I've seen of you.:: Given that her thoughts were surprised that anyone might think that, Aedelian took that as a compliment.

::Compared to the much younger and more wild fellows I was being compared to, I am,:: he chuckled. ::But thank you, I'm glad that I'm not universally considered boring. Ah, thank you.:: The waitress returned with his own mug, full to the brim again with chocolate-colored chavin. He took an appreciative whiff, then a sip, as the alien woman departed again. ::Now this is why I like this particular establishment,:: he commented contentedly. ::Most excellent drinks.::

To Aedelian's surprise and pleasure, and Vyly's obvious embarrassment, the dragoness let slip a laugh, her jaw gaping with the soft sound. She hurriedly stopped, though, and busied herself with her own drink again. Aedelian swallowed a laugh of his own at her expression, what he could see of it, and the emotions warming her thoughts. Sensing embarrassment always made him want to giggle, but that had the unfortunate side-effect of often upsetting whoever he was giggling at.

::Nothing to complain about, at least,:: she mind-muttered after a moment, putting her thoughts away from her embarrassment and back to Aedelian's last flight. He was mildly surprised; he hadn't realized she'd seen any of that. Either he was too preoccupied at the time to notice her, or she was better at hiding than he gave her credit for. Or both, he supposed. ::There's a difference between being fun, and being over the top,:: she mused, as if to herself, as she remembered the Wylds who had won out in his last attempt at a flight, but she was carefully not looking at him. Her tail tapped a slow rhythm on the booth's seat at her side, the fur tuft now visible as it flipped up, now hidden by the booth's back as it fell again.

Then she glanced at him again, changing the subject once more. ::You like the quiet places out here, but this can't be all you do. Sun yourself and drink chavin, I mean.:: She tilted her head, feathered ears swaying and perking slightly, and gave him a positively wicked little smirk. ::Do you like to dance?::

::Do I like to dance,:: he repeated with playful indignance, lifting his chin at her. ::My dear lady, I am only in the quiet places for lack of company. Of course I like to dance-- who doesn't?::

::Oh, I know my fair share,:: Vyly answered airily, coming with the thought the image of a reclining, blue, serpentine dragon. Aedelian didn't have a clue who he was, and of course, now he was quite curious-- he could find out later, though. Vyly was getting excited now, quite probably at the prospect of being able to dance with someone, for with a speculative look at him, she continued, ::But you do! Perfect. Let me take you out. Dancing, I mean.::

For a moment, Aedelian thought she might be embarrassed again, but instead she made a face at a memory. Rather glad that he could pick up on those memories, so as not to be left in the dark all the time, Aedelian again caught her thinking of that snake-like blue dragon. What she was thinking about him not only startled him, it made him feel like he was blushing under his fur. Vyly, you're stalking this guy, that dragon had said. Obviously you like him. Make your move already or I'll have to do something about it.

Goddess. Does she really. Well! Yes, he was definitely blushing, and quite glad for the darkness of his fur to hide it.

::Well-- and maybe for something to eat afterwards?:: she continued, with the feeling that she was going out on a limb, again embarrassed.

::I think we can manage that,:: he answered, smiling. ::At your leisure, Vyly. I have absolutely nothing in my schedule.::

There was something of relief in the green dragoness' response. ::Really. Well, then... perfect!:: She smiled, dropping her jaw lightly and tail's tapping picking up in tempo. Apparently he'd pleased her with his response, though her next words weren't what he'd expected: ::How about I find you, then. Um-- but I've got to go, now.:: She rummaged under a wing into a nondescript purse, left a few coins on the table, and backed out of the booth, grinning madly. ::I'll see you later, all right?:: she exclaimed, mind-voice full of a giggle she couldn't voice.

::Of course,:: he answered, feeling a bit bewildered by her sudden ending of the conversation. Though, now that he thought about it, she'd done the same thing earlier-- left suddenly. Perhaps it was just the way she was.... ::I'll look forward to it!:: he sent after her as she all but pranced from the shop.

Which was when he realized he didn't know any of the dances from this particular place. Goddess, I'd better find Deborah and see what she knows about dragon-dances, he thought, gulping down the rest of his chavin, leaving behind his own fare, and promptly vanishing.

Chapter Three

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