[Looking for trouble] Rogue X Spirit [But finding a fairytale?]

"Yes it is," she agreed, studying him out of the corner of her eye while she continued to look around carefully. She doubted he would not notice, but she did not care. Let him see then if he was paying that much attention. Where this sudden boldness was coming from she had no idea, but seeing as he had essentially rescued her not that long ago she found herself trusting him. Naturally that could change in an instant, but for the moment everything was all right. She could only hope it would stay that way.

Dawn raised an eyebrow at him, letting the sudden change of topic slide. It was not her place to question him and besides, any of these people around her could kill her in an instant if Lutis left her side. "Trust me, I am not going to tell anyone what you tell me. Well, I might my dragon, but she will not tell anyone. Of course, you do not have to if you do not want to," Dawn made herself quit speaking before she started to ramble, a faint pink tinge coloring her cheeks. "What is your favorite place?" she asked, tilting her head to one side slightly.

Lutis smiled at Dawn’s trust in him. “That’s good, I wouldn’t want you to go running off and telling some guard about all this. It’d put a right thorn in getting around this city.” He winked. “That and you might have a slight grudge held against you by some of these err... ‘lovely’ people.” Was that an extra light warning? Only if she wanted it to be!
“You’ve got a dragon?” Lutis was surprised by this new information, and it showed in his words. He had met dragonriders in the past- hell, he practically had a dragon himself, the way his friend Hone hung around him sometimes- but he didn’t expect to bump into one just on the off chance. The evening was turning into quite the surprise. “What sort of dragon do you have?” he asked as they started out into the tunnel properly again, and not pressed against the wall. He had some ideas where to go- there were some very interesting caverns that the tunnels opened up into in some parts of the city, and they had quite interesting architecture. The graffiti was even more interesting- but he wasn’t sure Dawn would want to see that too.

Dawn nodded shortly. "I try to be a very dependable person," she replied with a slight shrug, not able to take compliments easily. Not that he had really complimented her, but by bringing her to the den she figured that he had to trust her a little bit. Her eyes widened slightly at his words and she resisted the temptation to look around at the people moving by. That would only attract attention, which was not wanted down here. Blend in, Dawn reminded herself.

She smiled at his surprise, her focus returning to him and her nervousness settling down. "Taya is an Antler dragon," Dawn replied, pleased to have a topic that she could easily talk about. She loved her dragon and that was blatantly obvious by her tone. Following Lutis, staying close by his side, she continued. "Right now she is investigating the nearest cities trying to figure out where we should go next but hopefully she will come back in a day or two. We like to stay on the move. Unfortunately that does not give us much time to meet people and make friends but well..." Dawn shrugged, a little embarrassed. "I have a hard time talking to people usually."

“Huh, never seen an antler dragon before. Except from maybe in a book,” said Lutis, looking across at Dawn. They were pretty dragons, and in a way kind of seemed to suit her. It was obvious from her tone that she knew Taya very well- they must have been dragon and rider for many years, from the look of it. Either that, or the two had had an almost instantaneous relationship, which might also have been the case.

They took a couple of left turns, winding their way further through the tunnels towards nowhere in particular. Generally Lutis ended up somewhere relatively respectable, and, well, it was more fun letting their feet take them somewhere. Dawn didn’t seem to have much of a problem with mindless exploring, which was good. Or maybe she didn’t know Lutis didn’t really know where he was headed…

“I would have thought you’d meet more people, moving around all the time. Obviously not properly of course, but lots of friends and contacts all over the place- or at least that’s how I would have played it,” said Lutis. It was how he had done it in the past at least, when he had been on one of those mad phases of life where you really don’t want to stay in one place. Well, he concluded, not everyone was like him. And that was a bloody good thing!
As they made their way further down the tunnel, it narrowed down slightly, making it more cramped when they passed the odd person. it was lit by the standard “spooky flickering torches stuck to the walls”, lighting up some parts of the tunnel properly, and making it very dark in other places, especially where other tunnels branched off the one that they were walking along. Lutis made sure to pay proper attention to those people they were passing; unsavoury characters the lot of them, especially in a lesser used tunnel. Not good.

Sure enough, when they came to one of the thinner, darker parts of the tunnel, a little way from where it widened out into another main track, they were stopped by a couple of bigger men who stepped into their path. Lutis was immediately on his guard, and shot Dawn a warning look at their threatening presence before they made any move on them.

"Perhaps you will be able to meet her when she returns," Dawn suggested, knowing that the Antler would return sometime the next day. Of course, she was not entirely certain that Lutis would still be around then, though she certainly hoped so. It was not every day that she made a new friend, and she wanted him to stick around. Or at least have the knowledge that should she wind up in the city again and managed to find him he would greet her favorably.

At any rate she trusted him to lead her, ignoring the sudden faint warning signal in the back of her mind that told her he was only trying to get her lost, and once she was far under the earth where no one would hear he would attack. No... he seemed far too nice to do that, and besides, it seemed as though he cared what happened to her, or he would not have helped her get away from the guards on the wall.

Well, that statement certainly drove right to the root of her problems didn't it? Taking a moment to consider how to reply Dawn finally said, "I do not get out all that much. And by that I mean out among people. And when I do, Taya is always there, which discourages a lot of people. Besides that I am really not that much of a social person..." She decided against admitting that he was the first person she had really talked to lately, not to mention spending any considerable amount if time with. And really... she quite liked it. I wish Taya could be here though, she thought, slipping her hand into Lutis'. The Antler always did know how to keep a conversation going.

When the men stepped out however, she really wished her dragon was there, simply for the additional protection. Granted she trusted Lutis to take care of her, but every little bit helped. Dawn's old fears kicked in again and she took a step back, hiding behind Lutis, releasing his hand, hers resting upon his arm as she looked up at the men warily, trying not to act as though they had frightened her, though she knew that her previous movement would destroy that. Easy there girl, she told herself, expression hardening and her back straightening as she regarded the men. Much as the thought frightened her she was willing to fight if need be. Under no circumstances was she going to let Lutis take them on by himself. If it came to that of course.

Ooh hello, holding hands, thought Lutis as Dawn slipped her fingers into his, squeezing gently. He tried to be as relaxed as possible, to put her at her ease too, but he wasn’t sure if it would work or not. These were dangerous places, especially for someone new, especially for a woman.
“Eh, you should try getting out more. Don’t be such a wallflower; you’re lovely.” He gave her a wink, hoping it would make her laugh. She was pretty when she smiled.

All his joviality faded at the sight of the men in front of them though, and he was glad Dawn had the sense to stay out of the way. Of course, that meant that he personally had to deal with these thugs, and that wasn’t a fun sounding situation for him- but he couldn’t very well chicken out now, could he?
“Gentlemen,” he said, trying to be as collected as he could in the face of this impending danger. “If you would..?” He looked past them, signalling that they wanted to get past. The men, however, didn’t move. It was obvious what they wanted.

“Give us your valuables,” one man rasped, his voice like the hiss of a snake. The other grinned, showing a mouth with a missing tooth on the bottom jaw.
“And the girl,” he added, the mirth in his voice clear. Lutis frowned, narrowing his eyes.
“Let us past,” he demanded, taking a step forwards, one hand creeping round to make sure Dawn was close. He didn’t want her getting separated. As it was, they didn’t get far anyway- the man in front put one hand out, blocking their path, then quicker than a man of his size should have been able to move, pinned Lutis against the wall with his other hand, blowing the air out of him with a huff.
“Can’t we be civil about this?” he asked, words strained for air.

((Feel free to do whatever you like with the men, they're just NDC's, so you can bash them or move them around as much as you like :3))

Dawn could not help smiling and blushing slightly, though the smile faded quickly when she examined the men before them and realized that they really meant business, and something very bad was going to happen soon. Oh please let us both get out of this in one piece, she begged mentally, wishing that Taya was with them, or at least close by. After all, she did not think many people were crazy enough to attack the rider of an Antler dragon when said dragon was nearby.

"I have a dragon," Dawn warned them. "She will be very displeased if you harm either of us." That was true, though Taya had never met Lutis before. Any friend of Dawn's was a friend of Taya's as well, unless they just absolutely did not get along for some reason, a rather rare thing. "Let go of him!" she yelled when the man attacked Lutis, backing up quickly as the other came after her, leering evilly, the expression sending tremors down her spine, fear filling her instantly. Though it would be easy for her to transform and use her smaller animal form to run and hide, she was loathe to abandon Lutis after all that he had done for her. And besides that she backed straight into a wall anyway, making it easy for the man to grab her.

"Let go of me!" Dawn screeched, bringing her knee up hard and fast, landing squarely in the one area men hate to be hit, causing him to release her with a gasp of pain. She shot around him, thinking rapidly, not entirely certain what to do. There was no way she could take them on in hand to hand combat, not even with her dagger, which she drew from its place on her belt, holding it warily as she watched both men, trying to figure out what to do.

Dawn’s mention of her dragon may have swung the stand-off between the two of them and the thugs either direction; Lutis couldn’t quite decide whether it had been a good decision or not. True, they may have backed off; but they were thieves, and Lutis and Dawn alone weren’t very threatening. However, they just took it the wrong way. The men laughed.
“You think your dragon’s gonna find us when she’s never even seen us?” the man who had Lutis pinned scorned, his upper lip curling in disgust. “Darlin’, wotcher on to think you’re even going to see your lizard again?”

Worry doubled its presence within Lutis, and he knew they had to get out of there, before the two men exacted their threats. He suddenly lashed out at the man who held him, whacking his arm away from his chest with the side of his own arm and trying to duck out of the way. He brought his other elbow back to try and catch the man in the side and disable for him long enough to grab Dawn and run for it, but somehow the thug caught it, twisting his arm away from his body and using his own momentum to throw him to the ground. He yelped, stumbling into the opposite wall and scraping his shoulder against the rough brick. There was a shout from Dawn and he worried she had been hurt for a moment, but when he saw the man who had been facing her doubled over, he knew she was fine. For the moment.

He didn’t have time to check (or help) further, as the man who had chosen to try and threaten him turned on him again, hooking him round the neck and dragging him to the floor in one breath-blowing move. He tried to fill his lungs again, but the man kicked him in the side, forcing all the air out of him a third time. Oh man…
As fast as he could, he kicked back at the man, landing a sharp blow in the shins; it would hurt, but probably wouldn’t hold the man long, especially as Lutis was now on the floor. He started to struggle to his feet, eyes searching for where Dawn was holding off the other man, hoarsely forcing out the word, “Run!”

Well that had not worked. Dawn was more than a little put off by their reaction, and quailed at the thought of never seeing her dragon again. Surely they would make it through this day/night/whatever it was? Hearing the noise coming from Lutis' fight with the other man, her attention was drawn in that direction, causing her to lose track of her own attacker for a moment. When she turned back to him he had straightened and was heading towards her slowly, gait strange due to his discomfort.

Run? How was she supposed to run? And where was she to go? Still, Dawn reacted instantly, turning and heading off down the hall before she shook her head and turned back, realizing that she had followed his orders without thinking about it. No, she had promised herself that she would not do that anymore. Besides, it did not feel right, leaving Lutis all by himself. "Not without you," she said, still keeping her distance. As unwilling as she was to run away, she was even more so to jump into things again. It would be far to easy for her to be hurt or even killed.

Seeing her hesitation the man advanced on her again, causing Dawn to take a frightened step back, raising the knife threateningly though the image was quite ruined by the whimper that escaped her. Hurry, she pleaded mentally, wanting to get out of the tunnels or at least away from the men.

No, Dawn though suddenly, stopping her backstepping and straightening her back, lifting her head. I will not run anymore. Taya keeps telling me that I need to learn how to defend myself and now is certainly a good time. So, instead of backing away, Dawn leaped forward, lashing out with the knife in an attempt to drive her attacker back.

Oh man, Dawn was a stubborn one, determined to stay back and help despite the fact the two of them were completely overwhelmed by the other men.
"I'm fine, I'm fine, just go," said Lutis, trying to sound less out of breath than he was, but it came out a bit like a spurt of small gasps; I'm... fine... I'm... fine... Way to make a good impression. He waited for another blow from behind to send him reeling again, but nothing came- apparently he had kicked the thug harder than he had thought. He weaved past the second one towards Dawn, who had produced a little knife from somewhere and was trying her best to hold off the man in front of her. He looked quickly from one to another, then as the man tried to grab at him (possibly trying to ward Dawn away by taking him hostage? Who knew, she wasn't that frighting) he ducked, ramming his shoulder into the man's side as hard as he could.

"Let's go!" he cried, running for the escape as the man doubled over, getting in the way of his comrade. He pushed Dawn in front of him, disregarding the little knife she held; as long as they didn't fall over and she accidentally stabbed either of them with it, then it was fine. She had tried to attack the thug in front of him- was she crazy?- but Lutis couldn't decide whether the sight was cute and silly, or frightening. Probably not the second...
"Let's go, let's go!" he repeated, pulling her around the first corner they came across and grinding to a halt. He looked her up and down quickly, then took the knife off her and made sure she wasn't going to do anything silly. "We need to get away from here. You're okay?" He looked her up and down carefully, hoping she hadn't gotten hurt.

Dawn hesitated at Lutis' order, not entirely certain whether she should listen to him or not. Part of her wanted to stay and try to help, but another part, the more dominant and the one that had been around for far longer, screamed for her to run. Thankfully Lutis quickly joined her and the girl started to back up as he again defended her, a little surprised that he was going through all the trouble. After all, it would be quite simple for him to run off and leave her to her fate. Honestly, can I trust people a little bit, Dawn thought, feeling guilty that she had even considered he would do that. Though it had been done before.

Dashing after him, heart pounding in her chest, Dawn was quite startled when Lutis stopped, even more so when he took her knife. "I might need that," she protested faintly, not even sure he would hear her. Well, it would probably do him more good than it would her. "Yes, yes, I am fine," she replied, more than a little flustered however. "Just... yes, we should get out of here." Suddenly unwilling to admit that she was afraid Dawn changed what she had been about to say. "But what about you, are you all right?" she asked worriedly, eying him as well. He looked fine, however since she was not a doctor she did not know for certain. There could be something wrong internally or a hidden wound... But that could be figured out later, when they were not in imminent danger. "I can certainly see what you mean by this is a rough part of town though," Dawn added quietly, a faint smile playing at her lips.

Lutis gave Dawn a slightly incredulous look, but only in good humour. “You might need it, but I need you not to hurt yourself with it too. I think we know who’s got a little better of a reason.” Despite this though, he handed it back to her, hoping she would be sensible and put it right away, then checked behind them for whether the two were back on their trail again. With a humiliation like they had just been through, they probably weren’t going to just let them get away. He took Dawn’s hand, starting off down the tunnel again. It was better to keep moving, they didn’t have the time to just stand around and talk, even if it was to check that she was in one piece still.

“I’ll be fine. A little bruised, perhaps,” he said in answer to her question, gingerly feeling at his ribs. They throbbed, as did his back, but it wasn’t too bad, so there would just be bruises in the morning, no broken ribs. Thankfully. But it had been too close a call. “Thanks. I’m really sorry. I think we should just go; is there somewhere you’re staying for the night? I’ll take you home.” He didn’t want her walking through the city on her own now, especially not in the middle of the night. “And then, you should make sure your dragon’s close tomorrow. These sorts of people quite like revenge, I’m afraid, and it’ll probably take me a few hours to sort out some sort of payback to get them off our case.” A little work for someone with contacts for a few hours, and they would probably be appeased, even if Lutis was out of a few hours of his day. It was better than getting mugged in some dark tunnel when he wasn’t expecting it sometime in the future.

A faint smile flickered at the corners of Dawn's mouth as she accepted the weapon, returning it to its proper place at her belt. She never used the thing very often, considering Taya kept her safe for the most part, and so was not even certain if she would have been able to stand a chance against the men for even a second. No doubt they would have grabbed it and turned the weapon on her or something. So Dawn was very relieved when it seemed such attempts would not be necessary, as they would not be followed, and she was also thankful that Lutis was holding her hand, what little support it was. Not that she would admit it. Dawn could not even if she wanted too. It was too embarrassing.

"Good," she replied softly, glancing down the hallway again, giving up on that once she saw that it was still empty and decided that there was nothing to worry about. "Oh no worries, I was not hurt and you will live so everything should be fine," she added, trying to sound somewhat upbeat. It took her a long moment to remember where she was staying, what with all the excitement that had just happened. "Oh, one of the inns by the wall I believe," Dawn said, though she was not entirely certain they would have room for her for another night. "Except I believe they are pretty full and Taya was planning on coming back for me this afternoon so that we could leave." Obviously the dragon had not shown up, which interested Dawn greatly. The Antler was always so punctual that Dawn knew something had to have come up.

"I certainly will if she has returned," Dawn promised, though it seemed as though there would be a good chance she would not. With any luck as soon as Dawn walked out of wherever she was staying she would find her dragon curled up outside, as usual. But that was not completely certain yet.

A light smile flicked across Lutis’ face at Dawn’s words. “Yeah, I’ll live. Come on then, let’s get you home. We’ll make sure there’s a room for you, normally they hold back a couple spare for people on the night anyway.” He had no idea which way the wall was, having no directional sense underground apart from the fact that turning around was bad, but forwards seemed like the best bet, so he started off along the tunnel again, still holding onto Dawn’s hand. It was quiet for most of the way, until they came out into another of the main tunnels again, when Lutis recognised the way and they quickly made progress towards the wall. Soon they were out onto the main streets above ground, distinctly empty of people in comparison to the thieves’ tunnels underneath the city. The stars had come out in the time that they had been underground, sparkling high up above them, a half moon hanging in the air off to one side of the sky. If they were to come across anyone at this time of night, they were either going to be drunks wandering home, or avid astronomers; probably the second. It really was quite perfect out, not too cold without a wind, just a bit nippy from the lack of sun.

“Which inn was it?” Lutis asked as they headed into the outer edge of the city, hoping Dawn would remember. It wouldn’t do for them to be wandering around in the middle of the night for too long, even if the place was pretty much deserted. Lutis was conscious of the fact that the city guards may still be on the lookout for them- and he wanted to get home and go to bed, and check to see what colour his ribs were going. Possibly a nice purple or blue. Ooh, he just couldn’t wait to see.

Dawn nodded slightly, thankful that he would be alright. The last thing she wanted was for him to be injured because of her. "Hopefully, otherwise I am not sure where I will stay," she said, a little nervously. If Taya was still in the city there would be no problem, but since the Antler was not there spending the night with her was not an option. Unless, of course, she happened to show up while they were walking to the hotel.

Attack aside, Dawn found it quite nice to spend time with Lutis and actually enjoyed the walk through the tunnels. However she did feel better once they were out in the open streets. Especially when she looked up and saw the stars. Dawn almost came to a dead stop as she stared up at them, remembering herself just in time that she did not think Lutis would notice. Even if he did she was determined to not be too embarrassed.

"This is going to sound bad but I will know it when I see it," the woman replied, hoping he would not think her a ditz or anything like that. She was simply horrible with names, and so Dawn found it simpler to remember what the building itself had looked like. As long as she knew that, and its general location, everything was fine. Though the idea might sound stupid to others, it had served her well for many years. And when it did not, Taya generally was able to remember the names. We do work well together, Dawn thought, starting to miss her dragon terribly. "Wait what about you?" she asked suddenly. "Do you have a place to stay too?"

And what are you going to do if he does not, a small mental voice asked. Honestly, she had no idea, but it seemed polite to ask.

“Okay, fair ‘nough…” said Lutis to Dawn’s vague answer, hoping they were heading in the right direction for the inn that she had been staying at. He didn’t particularly mind wandering around the city at night, in fact, it was quite nice and he decided to do it another night again, but it was a big place. They could be walking for hours if they weren’t careful of the direction they took. With any luck, Dawn would recognise the streets and it wouldn’t be too hard to find her night-stop.

“Me? Oh, I’ll probably drop by my wonderful friend’s house. Y’know, that one that got us into all this mess in the first place on the wall. If he’s not in, then bad luck for him, means I get free rein of raiding the kitchen.” He winked, not entirely joking. After all, he did owe them a bit of a favour now. He was a git for getting them into trouble in the first place- and things had been going so well up till then.
“It’s a bit of a walk from here I think, but that’s alrigh’, means I get to enjoy the night a bit more. Look at those stars!” He pointed towards the sky, where glittering points of light speckled all across in every direction.

They wandered on a bit further, the streets looking vaguely familiar to Lutis, but not so much that he would be able to tell exactly where to go next if someone asked for instructions. It wasn’t a bad part of town, quite the opposite, just quite boring; nothing much seemed to happen around here. Which was probably good for Dawn, especially if she had just left her dragon… sitting on a doorstop somewhere? The thought was slightly bizarre, but at least Taya wouldn’t be too bothered by any people wandering past.

Dawn nodded, feeling a little embarrassed still. Certainly the hotel had to be around there somewhere, and she had no doubt they would be able to find it. It just might take some time. Hopefully not that much, for Dawn really had no want to look like an idiot in front of Lutis. She knew, however, that they were at least pretty close to the hotel.

She could not quite help smiling at his comment, as she could only imagine the scene that would stem from that visit. "Well then I suppose I hope he is gone and has just gone shopping," she said softly, offering Lutis a wink in return before returning to scanning the building. Hopefully he would not hurt the man too badly, but he did deserve to be scared a little. More than a little all things considered.
"I know, they are so beautiful," she agreed, looking up at the sky again, the lights above momentarily reflected in her eyes. "That is one thing I always love about being out in the wilderness, at night the stars are so pretty." It might be snowing, or so windy she feared she would be blown away, but Dawn could always look up at the stars and find some measure of peace there.

It was because she was already looking up that Dawn saw a large form suddenly detach itself from the nearest rooftop and land in a rather oddly ungainly manner. Folding its wings back the Antler dragon lowered her head to study Dawn, glancing from the woman to Lutis almost suspiciously. "Taya!" Dawn cried delightedly, breaking away from Lutis to give her dragon a hug. Taya chuckled, nuzzling Dawn's shoulder before nodding politely at Lutis. "Oh, Lutis, this is Taya. Taya, he saved me today," Dawn explained, deciding not to mention that he had gotten her into the very trouble he had gotten her out of. She did not need to know that.

"Well I am glad someone has been keeping an eye on you," Taya replied, favoring Lutis with a toothy smile. "I found a nice little town I think you would like Dawn, but I expect you want to stay here tonight. And... maybe tomorrow too," she finished slowly, glancing at Lutis as she did so. She was not entirely certain what their connection was, but there had to be something since Dawn was not one to generally wander around with a male in the middle of the night. "I thank you for keeping an eye on my rider," Taya said softly.

Lutis didn’t notice the antler dragon jump from a rooftop until she landed in front of them, making him jump back warily. Anything big should be treated with caution until it either decided to attack (in which case, running fast in the opposite direction was the best course of action), or if it was friendly, then possibly taken advantage of. But in this case, it was the fabled Taya, so probably not someone to be afraid of.
“Oh… hi,” he said awkwardly, sticking his hands in his pockets. Well, there was their alone time over. He tried not to look moody though, because it was bound to happen sooner or later- he just thought there’d be a little more warning!

“Well, I’ve been trying to keep an eye on her at least, but Dawn seems to like getting into trouble,” he grinned at the woman, obviously teasing. That was a good thing though, otherwise he would have been in a helluva lot of trouble again, and he didn’t really appreciate an angry dragon. “But it was no problem, we had erm… fun?” Was that the right way to describe their evening? It had certainly been different.

Before things got awkward, Lutis decided it was probably time to get going. “Well, time for me to head out,” he said. “If you were around and wanted to meet up… that’d be nice.”

((Sorry, bit short :/))

Taya chuckled quietly at the reaction she got from Dawn's companion, not having meant to startle him but still finding it funny. "Sorry to startle you," she added, nudging Dawn's shoulder and lifting her head, studying the man as her rider made her way back to him, raising an eyebrow interestedly when the woman wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder. Obviously something was going on between the pair. And how long was I gone again, she thought, trying to count the time. It could not have been more than a day, and yet... well, who was she to judge, or to intrude.

"She does manage it pretty well," Taya murmured, causing Dawn to smile slightly. Unfolding her wings Taya crouched slightly, preparing to jump back onto the roof. "No, no, no, carry on. I did not mean to intrude. Oh and Dawn honey, our Inn is called the Dancing Crane, since I know you forgot." Lifting her head Dawn glared at her dragon, only eliciting another laugh from Taya as the dragon leaped up onto the nearest building, fluttering her wings to keep from falling off the other side once she had managed to get there. "I'll be staying outside the gates. This city was not built for a dragon my size." As if to emphasize her point the roof groaned loudly and Taya looked at it warily before taking off.

"Sorry about that," Dawn said quietly as soon as her dragon had gone. "She tends to be a little protective. I think you surprised her." That was probably putting it mildly. Taya knew how often Dawn spent time around human males, which was almost never. Especially when she was on her own. "Do you really have to go?" Dawn asked softly, not entirely sure what she was going for. She was not /that/ kind of girl after all, but she didn't want him to leave quite yet either way. "Of course we could always meet tomorrow morning or something," she added suddenly, then realized she was beginning to babble and forcing herself to fall silent.

Lutis grinned as Dawn wrapped her arms around his middle, putting his own arms around her too and pulling her closer. He had been hesitant to do so in front of Taya (who knew what dragons thought like, some of them were bonkers), but as Dawn had made the first move, well… hopefully he wouldn’t get a barrage off nastiness off the dragon for doing the same. He smirked as Taya reminded Dawn where she had been staying overnight- the dragon did have rather a sense of humour, how nice.

“Nice ta meetcha Taya!” he said as the dragon jumped up onto a nearby building, hoping the house wouldn’t collapse inwards under her weight- those groaning noises the rafters were making really weren’t the best noise. She seemed to have it under control though, whizzing quickly off into the night like a massive white shooting star. He looked back down at Dawn as the antler dragon disappeared over the rooftops, ruffling her hair affectionately.

“I surprised her?” he asked incredulously, with a snort. “She gave me a bit of a shock too, didn’t expect a dragon to suddenly come outta nowhere!” He shook his head, but it was humorously done so. “Well, she definitely seems like a good match f’you. And she remembered where you’re supposed to be going.” He grinned cheekily, then started walking again, pulling her forwards with him and matching their steps. “So it’s probably be good if I come with you t’make sure you don’t get lost on the way, hm? Can’t have you wandering around the city in the middle o’ the night all alone now, can we?”

She certainly seemed to want him to stick around for a little longer, which was a good thing. Because Lutis didn’t want to go quite yet either. “Aren’t I a lucky man, getting to walk a pretty girl home one night, then meetin’ the same gal the next morning too?” He couldn’t keep the grin off his face. “That’s a definite yes, if y’didn’t get my meaning.”

I am never going to hear the end of this one Dawn thought, watching Taya heading off into the night. The fact that the dragon was willing to leave her with Lutis certainly meant something about his character, for the Antler would not have done it unless she trusted the man. Hopefully she'll turn out to be correct, Dawn thought, not really all that worried about it. After all it would have been easy for him to get her lost in the underground or let those thugs have her, which would have been even worse than the first all things considered. Taya would have burned the whole town down trying to find him, and that was assuming Dawn had even gotten out alive.

"Yes she does have a tendency to do that," Dawn replied with a slight laugh, tossing her head slightly so that her hair fell out of her eyes again. It was still a little messed, but she did not care. "Yes she is not used to finding me hanging out with other people," Dawn explained. "But I am pretty sure she liked you." There was no way to know for sure until she could ask her of course but Dawn knew Taya had to like him at least a little.

"Oh ha ha," Dawn said, grinning as well, not at all offended. "You are so funny. But yes we do get along rather well. I am not sure how well I would manage without her actually, especially since we have been together for so long." Falling easily into step beside him Dawn smiled and nodded slightly. "That is probably a very good idea considering how... interesting this day has been so far. The last thing I need is for something to happen when no one else is around." They might never find me, she thought, shivering slightly at the idea. "I would imagine Taya would not be very happy about it either," she joked, only able to imagine how her dragon would react if she ever found out Dawn had been walking around town by herself at night. No, it would not be pretty for any and all involved. "So yes we simply cannot have that."

"Well I'd say we're both pretty lucky, if I may be so bold," Dawn added, glancing briefly at him before looking away, studying the buildings around them with perhaps more intensity that was strictly necessary. "Wonderful! I shall certainly be looking forward to it," she said softly, seeing her inn coming into view. She did not really want the evening to end, but since she would be able to see him in the morning that certainly made things easier. "When should I expect you?"

“Well, as long as her liking-me isn’t expressed as her chewing my shoulder or singeing my hair or something like that,” conceded Lutis, hoping that antler dragons weren’t too far from humans that they behaved like horses, or another animal. He knew well enough that dragons could be strange though- hell, he knew Hone, and she had enough strangeness in her for two! They could definitely be said to have “cultural differences”. The sparkle in Lutis’ eyes dimmed a little from his jesting however- the way Dawn and Taya got along, it was like they were sisters. Family.

And the last thing he wanted was an angry Taya after him, wondering where Dawn had disappeared off to in the morning, if he didn’t accompany her and she somehow (Lutis just couldn’t fathom it though) managed to get herself lost. They walked until they arrived at Dawn’s stop- there it was, sign painted onto the front, The Dancing Crane- then Lutis lingered outside, not really wanting to go, but that would have been… against the rules. He figured there had been enough rule-breaking for one night already.
“I’ll see you tomorrow in the main square, by the fountain,” he said, giving her a quick hug. “At about… eleven, I think. Otherwise neither of us is gonna get any sleep at all.” He smiled, then left her to go to bed.

Come eleven the next day, Lutis was actually awake and on time to be at the main square, sitting on the stone lip of the fountain that stopped water from spilling everywhere. He hadn’t got much sleep, and couldn’t help his yawns as a weak sunshine warmed him from between clouds. At least their quarrel from the night before had been sorted now- that was why he’d been up for so long, having to go and seek out help from a friend and sorting out all the mess that’d gone down the night before. Things were still a little hazy round the edges, but those would be worked out soon enough. Thankfully his friend had taken pity on him.

The marketplace was busy with people, it being quite late in the day. Plenty of interesting people were around to watch as he waited for Dawn (and possibly Taya, he didn’t know if they were going to have a rendezvous as well). He wasn't going wanting for entertainment.

"She has never done that to me so I think you are safe," Dawn replied with a smile, amused by Lutis' apparent worry. Perhaps he had not spent that much time around dragons. Or those dragons he had spent time around were rather odd with humans. Perhaps some dragons did like to chew on people, even if they meant it in jest. Dawn made a mental note to ask Taya about it, not knowing herself. Considering how different humans could be, Dawn had no problem believing that there was one out there that would do that.

She looked up at the sign, remembering it and the inn suddenly, but still thankful to Taya for remembering. It would have been bad if she had ended up wandering around all night. Well, it would have looked bad. Taya had a feeling she was prettymuch safe as long as Lutis was around. Him or Taya. "Okay," she replied softly, returning his hug and watching him leave for a moment before heading inside, humming some song quietly to herself.

~x~

"Come on Taya, I don't want to be late," Dawn said, clinging onto the Antler's mane as she looked down at the city apprehensively. It was rather small considering they were flying rather high above it, and heights was one thing Dawn did not do all that well with. Which made flying difficult at times, but that was okay. They had worked things out between them and so it did not matter. Though Taya found it fun to mess with her rider at times, like now, when she was lazily circling the town to kill time and basically drive her rider crazy.

"You won't be," she replied simply, folding her wings shut and diving for the distant rooftops at breakneck speed. Dawn screamed in terror and Taya laughed, snapping her wings open not a moment too soon. The force of the air breaking their fall pushed her wings back to their limit, her muscles screaming at the tension until she touched down with a dull thud, raising a small cloud of dust that she quickly dissipated with her wings. "See? Right on time," the Antler dragon replied, nodding a greeting to Lutis who she spotted sitting on the fountain.

"So I am," Dawn replied a little weakly, slipping off her dragon and straightening her outfit which had gotten rumpled by the quick descent. "And thank you." Taya chuckled and spread her wings, taking off again and winging over the city. She would meet Lutis properly if he ended up sticking around, but for now she had better things to do than try to make her way through crowded city streets that were not built for dragons to start with and got even worse with people on them. "Hello there," Dawn said to Lutis as she approached the fountain, pausing before him with a gentle smile. "And how are you on this lovely day?"

Lutis stifled another huge yawn as he waited by the fountain, trying to quash the thought that he really would have liked a few more hours in bed. He looked up as a little flight of swifts passed overhead, shrieking at one another like they always did, danger or not- this time, because of the big dragon that suddenly shot down out of the air, landing with a thump that he swore he could feel underfoot. Needless to say, they attracted a bit of attention, with such a landing. Lutis himself was surprised! He waved to Taya as she spotted him, keeping well out of the well as she took off again. He didn’t want to get batted round the face with one of those wings (from experience, dragons were clumsy. At least, Hone was, but she was a bit of an anomaly. He hoped Taya was a little more grounded than the lash dragon).
“Good morning to you too! That was quite the entrance,” he said, glancing off towards where the antler dragon had flown off. “Does she always do that? Because I really couldn’t used to that sort of thing, if she did…” Their decent had looked a tad too…vertical for his liking. Although, if Dawn was used to it, then he gave her grant for that.

“I am…tired,” he said after a pause, but then continued hurriedly, “But it’s okay, ‘cos I sorted out our dispute from last night. Everything is back to being all good again.” He grinned. “So, you ready for another adventure, full of danger and mystery and excitement?” His wink said he was joking, but the way he went around sometimes, it was a full possibility. Oh, some of the hijinks he had gotten caught up in, they were quite impressive. Although, today, maybe something a little less life-threatening was in order. After all, not every day could push you to the edge, you’d go mad! There were plenty of fun places to go in the city however.
“So, we could go to the edge of the mountains, or the museum (I’ve heard they’ve got dragon bones all hanging from the ceiling), or maybe just explore somewhere. But I supposed you’d much rather go shopping?” He couldn’t keep the cheeky smile off his face.

Taya wiggled a wing in a sort of greeting before taking off, more focused on finding breakfast for herself than anything else but feeling it would be rude to ignore him even if she had already acknowledged him. She was curious about the man and hoped she might be able to meet him soon, as in hold an actual conversation with him, but she was only taking up space in the marketplace, which she knew was a bad thing. At any rate, she was hungry, and highly doubted she was going to find a place in the city that would provide her with food. Seemed like the sort of thing that would empty their larders, which she did not want to do. Which meant she had to go hunting. Never a dull moment during that, not at all...

"Ah well thank you," Dawn said to Lutis, looking back at the direction Dawn had gone as well. "Sometimes she does, because she knows I don't like it and she finds it funny to scare me." Admitting that she was not completely comfortable in the skies did not seem like a good idea. After all she was a dragon rider, the whole point of that was flying around. Then again, he seemed just as put off by the idea, so she did not feel so bad about it. Maybe it's not just me, she thought hopefully. "I'm used to it though, in so much as I expect her to do it most of the time. Hopefully eventually I'll think it's as much fun as she does, but I don't know."

"I am too, but I can manage," she replied with a smile. She had gotten up early to spend some time with her dragon before meeting Lutis and after their busy night before it had left her a little tired. No more so than she was used to though, and nothing a good walk and better company couldn't fix. Fortunately she seemed to have found one and was about to set off on another. "Well good, I'm glad we won't have any more guards running after us, though that was entertaining," Dawn added. She was not sure if she could take that kind of excitement again so soon, but it would be amazing if the day went by without anything potentially dangerous happening. "Adventure! Yes, right. Well..." Dawn thought about his offer for a moment, looking up at the sky a little absently as she did so.

"Shopping, no, I'm good," Dawn said hastily with a laugh, amused by his tone. "Thank you for the offer though. Well if we go out to the mountains Taya will probably join us at some point, I don't know if you want to meet her or not, and the museum does sound rather interesting, so either one is fine with me." She really did have all day, it did not matter to her what they did. No doubt whatever they chose it would be fun and more than likely filled with adventure just like he had said. It seemed to be a bit of a routine with them at the moment.

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