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Donnie sends a message to Sylvia at the end of the lunch bell.

Missed U. Tasty Dog Aft School?

Sylvia smiles at her phone and thumbs in a reply.

Sounds great.  See you then.

Donnie is lounging outside the Tasty Dog, ignoring the looks from a group of upperclassmen boys who seem to think the wall is their place to hang out and smoke cigarettes. His face lights up when he sees Sylvia striding across the parking lot in her normal  ground eating pace. Years of keeping up with Mitzi on her powerwalks, I guess.

Sylvia, still in her too-cute-for-fourteen yellow corduroy jumper and hand-knit accessories, wears a grim, lost expression walking up to the Tasty Dog, but when her gaze flicks up and takes Donnie in, she smiles.  Whatever weighty matter that had her down flees her head for a while.  "Hi.  You're not taking up with this crowd, are you?"  She gives the upperclassmen a covert glance.  "The surgeon general warns that hanging with juniors with facial hair can cause lung disease."

"Nah. I don't need to shave yet and can't stand cigarette smoke, so I don't qualify."  He grins and opens the door for her, scanning the crowd to locate an open booth or at least a couple seats at the counter next to each other. "I'm guessing you didn't lift that outfit from your sister's closet?"

"Mom's super power is making costumes.  This is my I'm-so-happy-I'm-a-freshman costume."  She twirls a finger in the air in vague celebration.  "That's a cute shirt with the--"  She waggles her fingers in front of her mouth.  "What is that, spaghetti?"

Donnie laughs as he leads them over to the counter where two seats had just opened up. He spins the seat on non-movable chair and bows graciously to her before taking hs own seat. "Cthulu. HP Lovecraft, an author whose startling dreams were a window to things beter left in the imagination. Wierd stuff, but cool as hell. He used the Miskatonic University as a local in one of his most famous stories, and it actually helped the colege gain more fame, since it had just recently opened whrn the story was first published."
He orders a couple milkshakes and takes in the room full of energetic high school students, giving Sylvia not-so-subtle sidelong glances along with a small smile on his face.

"Do you ever wonder if--well, I mean, your dragons came from somewhere, right?"  She has a ghost-story smile on her face.

"Originally they came from here. At one time, we were definately not at the top of the food chain. Now, they live the the Dragon Reaches. Somewhere else.  Someday I will visit there too. Dylan says I will be able to come and go, once I get settled into my power."  He says the last in a low voice, not wanting to wierd out the people sitting near them.

Real worry crimps her forehead.  "Wouldn't that make you the last hors d'oeuvre at the party?  You might as well carry a frilly toothpick and wrap yourself in bacon."

Donnie's smile grows broader. He says in a whispered voice. "Not if I were a dragon."

She takes a moment to process that to its fullest extension.  "You'd go?  How long?  When?"

Donnie shrugs, taking a sip of his milkshake. "I don't know. I know I will definately spend the summer after my senior year over there. Dylan says I will be ready then, and Uther has been teaching me draconic etiquitte. It's complicated as hell, and depends on one's social standing in relation to other dragons, also the different species consider themselves in a special place in comparison. Ugh. It's quite confusing. It might take me four years just to understand. Anyway, talk about the dragons is not why I wanted to see you. How was lunch today? I missed you there."

He says the last with a decidedly light tone of voice.

She tries to smile and doesn't quite succeed.  "I was hanging with Logan."  Her mouth rumples.  "That sounds weird, doesn't it?  He's not a bad guy, really.  And he's quiet.  I kind of needed that."  She forces herself to brighten.  "Did I miss anything exciting?"

"Not much, except for the blind girl, Breanna, the one Sammy rescued from fiery doom? She came and hung out at our table. Evidently she's going to the dance with Kel, but he never showed at the table. She chatted via cellphone with him." Donnie takes a long draw of his banana milkshake, looking at the menu above the head of the soda-jerk.

"Syl, I just wanted to let you know that I trust you, okay? I obviously have trust issues, and screwed things up in the past by getting overly jealous. I am trying to turn over a new leaf, and you have been honest with me, even if it might cause friction between us. If you don't show up at lunch with the Usual Suspects, I will assume you went to have lunch with Logan, and I will try not to worry and be insecure. I can't guarantee it, especially if you start spending most of your lunches with him, but as long as we are honest with each other and you still want to be with me and go to the dance and everything, I will do my damndest to keep my issues under control."  The last is said hurridly, as if he were trying to get it all out in one breath.

She blinks, zeroing in on the one thing that matters more than issues of trust, jealousy, and honesty.  "You're asking me to go to homecoming?  Again?"  She looks worried, but they're not the grave anxieties of Sylvia, superhero.  They're the grave anxieties of--  "I told Ginny she could wear my dress.  Mom's already altered it."

Donnie has the grace to look embarrassed. "Um, yeah, well... The Suspects were talking about the dance at lunch today, and they asked if we were still going. Since I had left the tickets on the table after we had our, uh, spat, I thought I was SOL. John had been holding my tickets all along. I'm sorry I didn't ask you sooner. I can help pay for a new dress, if that'll help?"

"It's not the cost.  It's the dress.  I mean, you have to find the perfect--"  She stops herself, blinks, and smiles, getting past the initial hit of prom-dress tizzy.  "You know what?  It's not important.  I'd love to go with you.  I'll figure something out, and it'll be great."  She seems happier, as ra-ra giddy as a freshman cheerleader should be.  "Is Dave performing courtesy pick-ups with the hooptie van?  We could carpool with Ginny and Greg.  Or. . . . "   A coy pause ensues.  She seems to want to suggest something without coming right out and saying it.

Donnie is giddy with glee. "Or what?"

Sylvia blinks and blinks again.  It's almost a flutter of eyelashes as she makes a vague attempt to ask for what she shouldn't be asking for.  "Maybe Althea might like to see where you're going?"

Donnie laughs, head back. "Oh wouldn't that be awesome! Arriving to the dance on dragonback. I think it would be hard to hide our identities if we did that. Althea will love the idea. She already thinks you are the bee's knees for your purple hair."

He taps his closed lips thoughtfully. "Still, we could always arrive outside the normal area and walk the rest of the way."

He leans over and sneaks a quick kiss, smiling broadly. "You're wonderful."

She smiles, content in the moment.  "So now that--"  She raps on the faux wood trim of the counter.  "--no one's trying to kill us, I guess we're back to the routine?  You're training with Jack?  Every day?"

Donnie leans back, happiness evident in his relaxed posture. "Not every day. I gotta do homework some time. I still practice swordsmanship and go to the self defense classes, but I have slacked a bit since the bwitch thing blew up in our faces. How about you? Patrolling with Kel at all, or mind-work with you know who?"

"I haven't been out with Kel in weeks.  He's got his own thing going on, and to tell the truth, sometimes I think I'm not cool enough to hang with him."  She shrugs a little and plucks at her yellow corduroy to illustrate the gulf.  "I've mostly been trying to get back to normal, I guess--whatever that is."

"I can't say I understand Kel too well. You'd be the best candidate, growing up next door."

"I've only known him since this past summer."  But she hazards an observation.  "You ever notice how bored he seems most of the time?  He does some wild stuff to shake himself out of it."

"Sometimes it's hard to be around him. I know he means well, but his boredom sometimes comes across as arrogance to me. Maybe just my perception, but it's as if our group discussions or meetings are totally unnecessary or uncool to him, as if he is above them." Donnie shrugs, slurping up the last of his shake contently. "I gotta tell ya, Salamander is wicked cool. I'll have to introduce you to him. He looks scary as hell, but the flaming mane doesn't burn. I also think I have another dragon hovering at the edge of my perception, waiting his or her turn, but I haven't been able to make the link yet."

Sylvia uses the dragon talk as an excuse to lean in.  "What's he like?  I thought I saw another dragon, but I was kind of tuned out that night."

"Well, he's quite feral and pretty mistrusting, but he will let you touch him if one of the other dragons or I are near. He's what they call a fire drake, and his coloration indicates he is actually an albino. Generally they are red or orange in coloration and he is bright yellow-green. Startling. He can't talk since he doesn't have the vocal cords for it, but when he hisses you can hear it from quite far away."

"But he's smart, like Pip?"

"I don't think so. Pip and Uther are pretty intelligent for big lizards. I think Salamander is as smart as Althea, if that give you any indication."

"Althea's not too bad.  She follows directions, and she knows her colors."  Sylvia feels an irrational urge to defend the big girl-dragon from the slings and arrows of an unkind world.

Donnie purses his lips in a suprised smile. "You are defending her! That's sweet. I am not insulting her believe me. I would never make fun of someone who will risk their lives to protect me at a moment's notice. All I was saying is that despite Salamander's inability to speak, he is as smart as Althea."

"Do you have any idea what they do with themselves when they're not here?"

"They have their own lives over there."  He waves his hand back and forth, as if waving to thr Dragon Reaches. "Most are the sons and daughters of previous generations of dragons who have served the BorderLords ever since they were established. They are young (Though mostly older than me) and commit themselves to a lifetime of friendship. All are volunteers. I still don't have a grasp on the politics ver there, or I could tell you more."

"Pip came first.  Is he someone special?  Chief of police or something?"

"I think he was the one I needed the most. My secret wish was to have him a reality.. and he was."

"Does Salamander talk to you?  In your head?"  Sylvia's been reading too much Anne McCaffrey, perhaps.

"No, but I feel his emotions and urges. He does say things in one word sentances, but I just get the impression that learning my language was just not important to him. I don't speak draconic yet, and maybe when I do I will be able to hold a conversation with him."

"Can you teach me some?"  How much harder can it be than French?

"I only know a few words so far. Umm. First word: hvlkyr." Donnie speaks it casually, but it sounds like he is speaking around a mouthful of marbles. "Means 'help', one of the most often words my friends hear from me."

He says it slower: "Hiv-ILL-keerll. Roll the tongue as one would in spanish."

She does her best to repeat.  She's no linguistic genius, but French with Madame Rousseau [or whatever her name was] has taught her to ignore the first impulse of her American ear.  The milkshake that frogs her throat probably helps.  "That's a good word, an important word.  I guess Althea would talk in draconic more if I asked her?"

"Yes, but don't be surprised if she begins acting all motherly to you. Learning the language is for little dragons, and I think Althea is going to use me as a surrogate child until I learn the language."

"How old is she?"

"About seventeen, I think. I am not sure how long the seasons in the Reaches last in comparison to ours. I just assume a 1:1 ratio until I find out any different. I keep meaning to ask Dylan."

"Is Dylan the age he looks?"  Sylvia's full of questions, but it's been a while since she's been able to spend quality time with Donnie.  The questions have been queuing up in her brain.

"I think he's older than he looks, but he's not telling. He is s junior here, but I think he has been a dragon far longer."

"He does seem kind of polished for someone our age, but I thought it was just something that came with the Fenwick blazer.  Why is he here, anyway?"

"It's the benefit of being named the successor to the draconic borderLord: he can be born as a human to experience life here. Just like someday when I am a little less stupid I can visit the Reaches as a dragon. Dragon's can't understand the myriad emotions humans have. Things are very primal for them; their emotions fuel their magic. Dylan seems so cool and relaxed because if he wasn't he would be spitting magic left and right."

"Premature evocation?  I've heard boys have a problem with that."

"Haha. Very funny." He bounces a wadded up napkin off of her nose. "Sooooo where do you want to go to dinner before Homecoming? Did you want to go with others or just the two of us?" His choice is obviously leaning towards the latter.

"By ourselves would be great.  Have you ever noticed how, when we're all together and coupled up, there's like this schmoopie contest going on?  I always feel a little weird about it."

"Define 'schmoopie'.."

"Well, like Colin and Sarah are always passing little notes and calling each other pet names, so Megan and John have to be a totally together couple--like, put a leash on him, and you could take him to a dog show.  And if Megan and John are being Mr. and Mrs. America, then Elrod has to be Sammy's portable La-Z-Boy.  It's creepy.  I mean, maybe it's all in my head, but I feel really weird about being with you with all that going on, like I need to up the ante or something."  She's still not sure where they stand with one another--together one week, broken up the next, best buds the week afterward, and then homecoming dates--but she knows what she wants.  "I like you.  A lot.  Just because you're you.  It doesn't have anything to do with anybody but you.  You know what I mean?"

Donnie was grinning madly. "Yeah, I know. Let's just the two of us go out then. Let the other schmoopies have their thing together. Can I choose where we eat out? I have a few ideas of places I went with my family for fancy-schmancy dinners."

"That'd be great."  She cups his cheek in her hand and give him a little kiss, shy about schmooping in public but feeling the irrepressible urge nonetheless.

Donnie leans forward and gives her another kiss, unsatisfied with the hesitant one she bestowed upon him. He pulls out his wallet and pays for the shakes before offering her his hand to leave the Tasty Dog. "I've got training today with Jack. Do you have practice or do you want to come along?"

"I'll come along."  She curls her hand around his and smiles as they head away from the restaurant.

ooc: okay to archive?

[Sure thing.]