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  [colpse]Chapter One Hundred and Thirteen - And Also a Dragon

  Rhawrexdee did an admirable job avoiding all the roofs and s and buildings ireet as he stomped aloo Amaryllis. He only tore off the more intrusive clothes lines and such, but eight buildings out of ten were still mostly intact when he was done moving past.

  “So, princess Amaryllis,” Rhawrexdee said. I transted as soon as he paused, of course. I had the impression that our new dragon-y friend was actually a little nervous as he spoke. “How’s that virginity of yours keeping?”

  I choked. “You ’t ask that!” I said.

  “And why I not? I am a dragon. I ask what I want.”

  I huffed. “But that’s private.”

  “It’s hardly private at all. Ah a proper dragon’s nose could tell. It’s as clear as her priness,” he said.

  I crossed my arms. “Well it’s still rude, and I think she’d zap you for asking. There are some subjects that should be eased into, or ht avoided, I think. Stuff like politics, and religion, and the ey and, auff.”

  Rhawrexdee looked at me. “That doesn’t sound right at all. The characters in my books talk about all sorts of things like that.”

  “Ah,” Booksie butted in. She was walking on his other side. “But how often do the retionships e to a head because of those things in those stories? Did you ever read the collected pys of Violet-Blue Msong?”

  “Of course I have,” Rhawrexdee said. “It would be difficult not to, they’re exceptionally popur.”

  Booksie nodded. “How many of those love stories end in tragedy because of politics or such?”

  “Hrm,” Rhawrexdee said. “I suppose you might have a point. Very well then. Perhaps I shall try io pick Amaryllis up by wooing her with other things. That is the point of this part of the date, yes?”

  “Yup. This is the walk around and chat part,” I firmed.

  “Very well then. Ask the princess if she prefers a ive or positive charge with her magical attacks.”

  I didn’t see the point to the question, but I also didn’t know that much about magic, so I repeated what he said baaryllis.

  “I don’t see why it would matter,” Amaryllis said with a growing frown. “I think most magic-made electrical discharges are ive by default. I never saw a reason to ge any of that. It also helps turn the subject of a strike into a ground of sorts.”

  I trahat as quickly as I could.

  Rhawrexdee listetentively, then showed his teeth in a weird sort of smile. “Tell her that I’m a positive dragon, then remihat opposites attract.”

  I had a lot of questions, but I did as he asked only to see the fusion I felt mirror itself on Amaryllis' features. “Was that a pun?” she asked.

  “I think so,” I said. “Um. Mister Rhawrexdee, Amaryllis is w if that un.”

  “Oh, it was only the beginning of them, yes. I have prepared a small hoard of them to properly woo the Thundere.”

  “Ah, I see,” I said.

  “Tell her that I have my ion her ,” he said. “Oh, and that I think she is electrifying.”

  “While Broccoli transtes all that,” Booksie said. “Would you mind if I asked you about that... . Is it a dragon thing?”

  “Of course. It is how my father vinced my mother to be with him. She riddled him full of lightning from on high, aold her that they had a spark. She admired his electrifying personality, and soon they formed a circuit. It was very romantic.”

  Booksie took a step closer to Rhawrexdee. “Iing. We learn so little about dragon culture. I didn’t think that word py was so important to you.”

  “While some of us--like myself, of course--appreciate the literary arts, more barbaric dragons will do their own thing. It’s quite disappointing. I don’t think there have been many dragon authors in the past. A shame, I’m certain we’d be far better than most.”

  Booksie giggled and skipped a few steps. She seemed to be genuinely enjoying herself. “We should talk more on it ter. Maybe I write while you dictate a story?”

  “That...” Rhawrexdee looked the other way. “That sounds possible, yes.”

  “Brilliant, now I’ll leave you to your date, I wouldn’t want you to... book bad.” She grinned. “Did I do that correctly?”

  Rhawrexdee eyed Booksie for a long moment. “Yes, yes you did.” He cleared his throat. “Have we walked long enough for this segment of the date to be over with?”

  “I think so,” I said as I drew from my vast experiences hearing about irls who did go on dates. “I think we skip right over to the lunch part. There’s a cafe over there.” I poiowards the end of the street.

  The little restaurant wasn’t quite a cafe. In fact, I retty sure I hadn’t seen coffee anywhere since I’d e over to Dirt, so it couldn’t be a proper coffee shop. It did have some pastries, and little sandwiches hidden behind a gss-fronted ter, and there were tables by the front with chairs all around them.

  There was a young man standio one of the tables, his eyes very wide and his hands frozen i of being wiped on the edge of his apron. He had to be one of the waiters, or maybe the owner.

  I skipped ahead of my friends and Rhawrexdee, whose friendship was still uermined, and stopped before the waiter. “Hello! I’d like to make a reservation. Two tables. Oh only one chair. We o make a bit of room for our dragon friend.”

  “Th-the dragon?”

  “Yes,” I said before pointing to the dragon ing up behihat one. Don’t worry, we’ll pay for any food we buy. Um. I don’t know if we cover the dragon’s bill though.” The poor man looked so fused, so I tried to expin a little. “See, we’re on a sort of practice date.”

  “All... four of you?” he asked.

  “Well, yeah,” I said. “But it’s okay because it’s not a real date.”

  “I’ll.” He paused to swallow. “I’ll see what I do,” he said.

  Soon enough Booksie and I were moving one of the tables so that it was in the tre of the little room so that Rhawrexdee could stick his head in through the door (he hardly broke it at all!) and Amaryllis could sit, if a little stiffly, across from him.

  We, of course, took our ows just a little ways away.

  I eyed the menu and decided on some tea. Nothing too filling since I’d had my breakfast just an hour or so back.

  “You, with the ears,” Rhawrexdee said.

  Booksie and I looked at each other.

  “The eloquent one, with the books,” the dragon added.

  “Yes?” Booksie asked.

  “Assist me in telling Princess Amaryllis that I look forward to her carving into whatever unsuspeg beast they pce before her here.”

  I felt my blood go cold. “Um. Rhawrexdee, do you know what a cafe is?”

  “Of course I do!” he said. I heard ptes and such cttering to the floor i and suspected that Rhawrexdee had just given someone quite the fright. “They are a very romantic p many stories.” He looked around. “Is this one of those? I expected it to smell less like mud and more like meat and other proper foods.”

  I go Booksie whed. “Well,” I said. “This is a bistro of sorts, just like in your stories.”

  “Fasating,” he said. “I suppose we must hold hands across this little table and share stories of our childhoods?”

  Booksie grinned. “That sounds like something out of a Decy story.”

  Rhawexdee recoiled, then flinched when his head banged into the ceiling. Fortunately, his head was harder than the wood above and his horns passed through with just a bit of g. I really hoped that the floor above wasn’t the shopkeeper’s house. “I would never read such filth,” he said.

  “Oh? I ehem. Though the way the sed novel ended...”

  Rhawrexdee shook his head. “How could the protagonist fo a harem in favour of marrying his childhood best friend? It’s unnatural.”

  “But the irls in the harem had no chemistry,” Booksie said.

  “I thought they were enjoyable,” Rhawrexdee said.

  “I thought you didn’t read such filth?” I wondered.

  “Oh, no one reads those books,” Booksie said. “They were best-sellers that no oh an ounce of dignity would admit to reading. Especially the fifth book in the series.”

  “There’s a fifth book?” Rhawrexdee asked. “Truly?”

  “Oh yes. I think I say at the local book store.”

  “That is where we will go ,” he decred.

  “Certainly,” Booksie said. “Out of curiosity, what were your favourite novels as a child?”

  Rhawrexdee hummed. “I suppose the Tales of Knight Princess Dragonia.”

  “Really?” Booksie asked.

  “Do not judge me, I am a dragon, I am above your petty judgements,” Rhawrexdee said.

  Booksie waved her hands in the air in denial. “No no, I wasn’t judging. It’s just that I had the e as a little bun. I loved them! I wao be just like the princess’s librarian squire when I grew up.”

  “Really? I ehat character. Though it is the main character that inspired my early love for princesses. As is only proper in a young dragon.”

  “Of course.”

  I looked over to Amaryllis. I think we knew each other well enough to unicate just how weird we felt, even without words. Booksie was enjoying herself though, smilio ear as she talked to a very attentive Rhawrexdee about the differen each edition of their favourite book series.

  “Fasating. I will have to raid a capital one day to obtain a new set of the books.”

  Booksie shook her head. “Nonsense. I... ah, I had a copy of the earlier edition in my store. I suppose it was left behind when I came here.”

  Their versation was cut short wherembling waiter came to take our orders. I had to repeat mine a few times since he was more focused on the dragon tearing a wider and wider hole irao pay attention.

  Amaryllis ordered some pastry and Rhawrexdee ordered meat. All of the store’s meat.

  “So, do you have any suggestions for reading material?” Rhawrexdee asked.

  “I owned a bookstore, reending books was my job,” Booksie said.

  “Hrm. Perhaps it is you I should kidnap, not the princess.”

  Booksie grinned. “I doubt I’m worth the effort, but thank you. As for reendations, that would depeirely on what sort of reading material you’re looking for. I think you have a pent for more cssical romance.”

  “I suppose, though I wouldn’t mind brang out a little,” the dragon said casually.

  “Oh, there are a lot of enres with roman them, they just don’t feature it as promily. Ah, I wish I still had my store, I had so many books you would enjoy.”

  “Perhaps when my date is over we visit your shop.”

  Booksie’s smile grew a little fixed, and she looked down and away. “Maybe,” she said.

  I reached out and patted her hand. “We’ll get your shop back,” I said.

  Rhawrexdee’s eyes narrowed. “What happeo her hoard?” he asked.

  “Ah, it’s nothing to yourself over, mister dragon,” Booksie said.

  “Well, if you say so, I suppose,” he said.

  The waiter chose that moment to walk into the room, carrying a rge ptter covered in still-smokihat he eased onto Rhawrexdee’s end of the table before scurrying off. There had to be enough meat there to feed a family of four for a month.

  “The books were right, the portions in pces like these are awful,” Rhawrexdee said.