The day was bright, mistless, and breezy. Skid had slept through most of it. Nothing but a tingling feeling along the lines of impending doom woke him up in his room in the Dragon. A blind haze of cleaning and preening had him slipping out in clothing just a little nicer than he usually wore. Black, solid and un-shredded cloth covered everything he usually covered. Mask, pants, shirt, pouch, everything.

The only affordance he?d allowed was a single piece of white cloth to serve as patch over the left eye hole of the mask. Silver thread held the two opposing colors together, keeping them in line; in check. For some unknowable reason, Skid had *impress* seared into the forefront of his mind. And there it would remain.

He had two stops to make before he could begin sniffing out the source of his evening?s focus, and each and every one of them smelled as if it would be on the way. The first stop was a tiny little cart in a side-alley about one-fourth of the way there. The cart was packed with weird and rather venomous-looking plants and flowers, the apparent danger (and sheer volume of warning labels) increasing along with the attractiveness of the plant.

Skid shelled out a few platinum coins, and the Ratty anthro in the dirtied apron looked around for any signs of Watch members. When he was sure that there were none to be spotted, he scurried off into an even deeper nook in the alley and was gone for about twenty minutes.

When he?d returned, he was holding a single flower, petals twisting inwards in an intriguing spiral, drawing one forward. The coloration was another monument to confounding consideration, with petals of black tapering into a finely bright grey near their tips. Skid took it, and began to examine it as the Rat spoke. ?A?right. ?Dis hea? is whatche? lookin? fuh. Used by ?dem monks an? stuff. Yea?.? Beady little eyes darted back and forth, though it would?ve been useless for a Human to try and spot it in those tiny pits of darkness.

To Skid, however, it was blaringly ?raven in the snowdrift? obvious. ?How potent?? He sounded a little disappointed. ?Huh? Nah, natatall! Jus? like yeh lookin? fuh! Swea?z it!? His long, clawed, bony fingers spread wide, and his hands went up almost defensively. Skid held the thing out to the Rat, and grinned. ?Sniff it, then.? The Rat looked entirely put-off, but Skid was his best customer to-date. He had a taste for exotic things, and it was easy for the Rat to supply him and exploit his good tipping habits.

That all taken into account, he sniffed. Almost immediately, his eyelids drooped. After about five seconds, they refocused, but the Rat was markedly calmer and more relaxed than before. He also had a faint grin on his face that suggested he was enjoying everything that was happening right now. Maybe a little *too* much given the situation, but hey. Who?s judging? Not Skid.

?A little potent on you, but it?ll have to do proportionately, won?t it? Can?t well tell the beauty to wait while I scrounge around for a rare and potentially dangerous piece of flora, just because the florist went and screwed everything up.? The Rat giggled, which was utterly terrifying given it?s appearance, and moved to hug Skid. ?Aw you! Bein? all nice an? stuffs fer a lady! Gimme some ?fection hea?!? He never landed the hug, to be sure. From up above, Skid spoke. ?I do think I?ll be going now. You should take the rest of the day off before somebody who can?t get away from you decides to buy something sharp.? And with that, Skid was off to the next of his two stops.

Luckily, Mira didn?t have as sensitive a sense of smell as either he or the Rat, and the effects would be as he?d have intended them to be for her. As long as he warned her beforehand not to smell it all willy-nilly, there shouldn?t be any cause for worry. Right? Right.

The seamstress was next, and she was by-far the best seamstress in Skid?s mind because she was an Elf. But not your average Elf. An Elf so ancient, she ACTUALLY had crow?s feet. Just the beginnings of them, and no other wrinkles at all, and they *might?ve* just been from some weird magical side-effect of something or other? Regardless. In fact, she was strikingly beautiful with them as an addition. She may have had a mortal ancestor along the lines of a ninety-percent Elfblood ten or twelve generations back (by the Elfin generation count), but Skid just liked to think she was the absolute oldest Elf ever.

He retrieved exactly what he?d come for from her within three sentences and ten minutes of standing around, and he was off and out. The dress was perhaps just above knee length, and sparkled in a demure sort of silver that was extravagant and modest all at once. It looked and felt almost like water. This second task accomplished, there was only the remainder or locating and arriving. Time was good, not much more of it to waste, but it was good.

It was here that he had to put his nose to work, and sniff out where his date was more directly. He?d followed the vaguely ?most solidly fortified? trail of it going back and forth throughout most of the day, and after another half-hour, he was standing before some kind of place where he assumed people who got lonely without other people around lived. He knocked on the big ?ol front door, and when some lady he didn?t recognize answered, he just stared at her until she moved to close the door on him. A single finger kept it from moving, and he grinned. ?Sorry. Could you get Mira? I?m here to whisk her away for an enchanting night of grandeur and flattery.? The woman looked taken aback by Skid?s apparent boldness, but scurried off all the same.

Regardless of how long he?d had to wait, a finger was held up when Mira answered the door. ?Before anything, don?t smell the flower. It looks nice, it smells great, but the smell?s not just a smell. It?ll relax you. A lot. Something to smell after a stressful day at work, or if you?re feeling particularly unhappy, or if you?re feeling particularly happy. It?s a one-in-all, really. But not when we?ve got an evening like this to look forward to.? With that, he looked her over and smiled. ?You do look quite good. But I brought you something I thought you might like as well.? He held out the box and the flower, and waited for her to take them.

When he'd followed Mira up the stairs to her room, he'd been rather scrutinous of her clothing. It was very nice, and he'd never seen her in anything outside of her work uniform. He was especially fond of the way it swayed *just* a little bit. It spoke volumes to him, and not in the perverted way many would've immediately said Skid would've thought in. Of course, his scrutiny lasted all of half a minute, and once they'd arrived at her room, he was all smiles and charm.

Her reaction to the dress was easily three and one-eighth times as good as he'd expected it to be. He even snickered while she danced around and hugged him. He hadn't been expecting that part. It got a touch of a grin to cross his face. Of course, her choice to immediately don the dress had a smirk cracking and a great joke about covering his eye ready for deployment, but she caught him at the smirk and shoved him into the hallway. Curses were silently muttered, to be sure. The joke would've been gold!

He waited and listened to her marvel at it, grinning the whole time. It might've showed through in his words. Though, he might've always been grinning. "It should, it's Elvish." He stood around for another moment or two, and began to tap his foot on the floor. "You know, we could just spend the whole night standing in separate rooms, ch-" And then the door opened. He stared for a minute. A solid minute. And then he grinned.

"I have great taste."

"That you do!" Mira was tickled pink with his reaction. No one ever before had ever stared at her quite like that or for quite that long. Come to think of it, she'd never witnessed any of the gorgeous ladies at the clubs being looked at for quite that long either. Her cheeks felt rather warm. That didn't show, did it? She felt quite giddy, too, so much so that she just had to give Skid another hug.

"An elvish dress! Those elves must feel like it's a Holiday every day. Did I tell you thank you yet? This is the best present I ever got from anyone." She reached behind her to close the door to her room and then grinned up to Skid with a wink. "While dinner in separate rooms might be possible, though conversation should be rather awkward that way, dancing can't be done like that."

"No, it can't. And I'll have you nowhere but in my arms for that, Mira." He turned, and began to lead her back towards the street. After a mere few steps, he stopped and turned back, the white patch and its slight black markings across it in a curious message unknowable to any but a rare few staring back at her. Even though he couldn't see her, it looked like he was looking at her.

"By the way, you're blushing." He snickered, and waited for her to catch up. By the time they'd arrived at the roadside, a very angular, fluidic-looking black carriage drawn by bulls waited. Yes. Bulls. Very well-groomed bulls, if one could say so themselves. The door was opened by an *extremely* androgynous being in a black unitard covered by flowy pants and robes. The person's golden hair was long, and shone faintly in the evening's light.

It hopped down and lowered a little two-step ladder. "After you, of course." Skid even made a big theatrical gesture out of it, hands pointing off to the sides and towards the carriage.

"I noticed. But there isn't anything I can do about that. At least silver and red go together." She chuckled a little embarrassed. Skids words about dancing and the way he said them were not designed to make her cheeks feel any cooler.

She had just pulled up enough courage to ask about the particularities of the eyes patch he wore - she'd never seen 'writing' run across it before - when they left the building and she saw the carriage, bulls and the golden haired being. The entirety of the unexpected details made her quite forget what she had been about to ask.

"Pretty." She said more to herself then to Skid.

"Thank you, Skid." She looked from the golden haired being and the well groomed bulls to Skid with a smile. "They're quite special. I guess you didn't use pumpkins and mice."

Then she went on ahead and climbed into the carriage and sat down.

"You're welcome. And of course I didn't use pumpkins or mice. Far too small!" He snickered, watched her climb up the ladder, and hopped up into it himself in a rather natural-looking motion. The little androgynous person closed up the carriage and hopped onto the front, and the bulls set off at a clomping pace towards their faraway destination.

From his seat beside Mira, Skid leaned almost across her to draw the curtains on either side of the carriage shut. When he noticed Mira's slightly confounded look, he winked and simply stated the truth. "You don't want to see how we're getting where we're going. Trust me." Indeed, after a few further minutes, the carriage stopped jostling altogether, and they were moving quite smoothly for a good ten minutes. Skid had left himself to the right of Mira, which had, unfortunately, kept his patch facing her. This did allow him to reposition himself and face her with one leg tucked up under himself. "So, is this living up to your usual expectations for a first date?"

"It is surpassing any expectation by far, it's even surpassing the wildest daydreams. I could have never thought up any of this." She was getting more excited rather than less, if that was possible. "Anyone can have pretty horses drawing a carriage. I'm not even sure how to describe it all to Prue. She might well accuse me of making it all up."

"You're using magic to get to the restaurant?" She turned in her seat too then, one leg angled and partially on the bench before her, and adjusted the dress accordingly. Skid was far more interesting to look at than the wall across, even with the curtains drawn or perhaps because.

Meanwhile she wondered if Skid was bored yet. While he was everything exciting and then some, she thought of herself as perfectly normal.

"What about your expectations? Certainly you must have some even though this can hardly be your first date, just your first date with me."

"Well, the bulls are just projects I've been working on. They're really far more marketable. Horse-drawn carriages get right out of the way when there's a pair of bulls staring them down." He snickered, and tilted his head to the side throughout her final question and its accompanying jots and whatnots.

"Actually, I stopped having expectations for *other* people on my dates a long time ago. I have expectations only for myself. And quite frankly, I have a hard time living up to them. I'm a very extravagant person, if you hadn't noticed." And he had no qualms with stating it obviously, apparently.

"I noticed, about the being extravagant. And just in case I didn't before, that flower and dress made that pretty obvious, I'd say." She meant to grin in a humerous sort of way, but the thoughtfulness behind each gift just now sunk in and touched her deeply. So what Skid got to look at instead was a soft and very warm smile.

"My rules and regulations are endless, and my regiments are strict and wild and crazy and out of control!" Not really. The last bit was overdone and made to sound like it was meant to be taken as a joke. Entirely.

The carriage, however, had other plans. It stopped, and the door was opened by that little androgynous being. It let out onto a street drenched in lamplight and aristocrats. As Skid showed Mira out and to the front of the restaurant they'd be eating at, he was smirking. The place appeared to be almost entirely outdoors and under great, white pavilions filled with floating lanterns that almost appeared to be alive.

Upon close inspection, they were explained to be Lanterns. "Tiny souls, floating and living outside of bodies in a purely energetic form. The pavilions are made of a material that causes them to reflect their light and appear tangible." To almost work as an example once they were seated, Skid swiped a hand slowly at one, it did not move away or cower, but simply passed through his hand as if it hadn't a care for his presence in the world.

It was time to order. They had everything.

"Oh!" Mira exclaimed even before she stood on the ground again. For long moments she was simply too busy with looking at everything to speak. The expression on her face was much like that of a child seeing the world powdered with snow for the first time. 'Extravagant' seemed way too mild a word to describe what she was seeing. She was still busy taking in everything as she 'floated' at Skid's side to the table.

"That is marvelous." She lifted a hand to try and move her fingers through one of those lights. "Do they like living like that? They look beautiful."

By the time Skid had placed the order, she had recovered a little from all the surprises and sights, enough at least to be looking and smiling to Skid again.

"So you are a bit of a super hero after all. I never heard of anyone named Anath, though. The history books must have forgotten to mention this." She grinned to Skid with a mix of joking and admiration. "I'll try to remember the name so I can remind you someday that you wanted to tell me more about him."

"So am I right in assuming this last century was not so interesting to you because you didn't have much adventure in it? I'm not sure if I like adventuring much. Those ruffians trying to rob me a few months ago were not at all fun." She discounted coming into town on her own or staying at Lord Veighn's castle as adventures along with everything else along those lines. "Where is this place of dancing that we're going to?"

"He would be in no books. He was nobody anyone but his followers and myself would've known." He yawned, and sat a little straighter up while she spoke. Such lazy positioning sapped his energy terribly.

"The club is very far from Rhydin, or even the city we just dined in. It's as close as I'll go to my homeland, and it's for this club alone that I'll even get this close." He thought he sounded like an old geography professor or something.

"I'm sorry you do not much care for your homeland. I won't even ask you anything about it, how's that?" She grinned to Skid. She didn't want to ask him anything he didn't like talking about, even if she was curious. "I can hardly wait to get to go home again. But I'll likely won't be able to until the Holidays. I've never been anywhere except home and in Rhydin before."

"What sort of music do they play at this club?" She hoped it be something she knew how to dance to, at least in theory. She was also getting excited about the dancing, and tried to picture what that would be like. The growing excitement showed in her eyes as well as in her features. It took some self-control not to ask 'are we here yet?'.

"They play all kinds of music, from ballroom to tangos, though they admittedly have an affinity for the electronica so many clubs are succumbing to these days." He gave a slight shrug, though the ghost of a grin grew along with the shrug's arc. He was reveling in the look on her face.

"What are electronica, or is that a new dance? I think I can manage most of the ball room dances, I'm not so sure about tango, though." That all sounded easy enough, didn't it? "Which dance do you like the most?"

"I like being close to someone, moving in perfect compliment to how they move. I like feeling the heat of another being's body against my own, shifting and moving in ways I have to mirror to keep the dance in motion." He just loved dancing. "I like everything about it. But mostly, I like that how for even a few minutes; both dancers place all their faith and trust into the other." He smiled, though it wasn't translated through the fabric, and retroactively addressed her questions. "Electronica is that fast-paced, thumping music they play some places. And tango probably won't be a factor tonight. That's a third-date dance, if there ever was one."

His description of dancing made her feel a bit warm and even more curious about it. That also made her more aware of just how much like water the dress she was wearing felt against her skin. That last comment made her laugh out softly, though. She winked merrily to Skid. "Good, I'll have some time to practice that then."

"I see how I'm putting my trust and faith into you by following your lead, but how is it that you should have to trust me or put faith into me?" Prue had told her about letting the man lead, so that part of trusting and faith made sense to her.

"For one, I have to trust you won?t step on my feet." He snickered lightly, and continued to look out across the carriage's interior. "Secondly, I need to trust that you won't shy away from me, or make any moves that could mess up the dance." He peeked through one of the curtains, just enough so he alone could see out, and then he opened the curtains. They appeared to be rumbling down the street of a massive city, where the walls were all as black as obsidian and glistening in the moonlight. "Look outside, Mira. We're almost there."

"Why would I shy away from you?" That made no sense whatsoever. "I hope I won't step on your feet or mess up the steps, though. I did mention that I never actually went out dancing anywhere, didn't I?"

Then she peered out the window, once again awed by what she saw. Even though it was quite dark now, there was a lot to see. Towers, office buildings, and high rises pierced the sky any which way one looked, and mild displays of magically-powered transports zipped or puttered past the carriage. The bulls seemed not to take heed of anything else.

"Modesty can claim the best of dancers at times, Mira. It's really something you have to be able to set aside to allow the passion of the music to come alive through the motions." He snickered, and opened the carriage's door. It was still moving.

"What is this place called?" She leaned over in an attempt to see more of what they were passing as the carriage rumbled down the street.

"Tarast, the black city. Would you like to see it from the top of the carriage? There's a ladder and a bench up there." He appeared to grab on to something, then he leaned out the doorway and into the night. The top half of his body was outside the carriage for a moment, and then it was back.

He looked intently at Mira, waiting for any answer that would come with a grin.

"Of course I would love to see Tarast." She smiled, excited at the prospect, and then looked to see how they would get up there, all the while pondering his advice on dancing. He made it sound so very easy - and maybe it was. It was certainly worth a try. Quite obviously he knew far more about the subject than Prue did.

He just sort of looked at Mira. "Well, aren't you going up the ladder? I'm not going up there first to give you a chance to fall without a safety net." A snicker and a ridiculous shake of the head followed.

"Oh." Then she chuckled softly and got to her feet and squeezed past him to get to that ladder. "I can go first now that you put it that way."

That such undertaking could be dangerous had not even occurred to her until he made mention of it. She reached up with her hands and put a foot on the bottom rung of the ladder, and then quickly as possible climbed up.

With one hand, Skid gripped the top of the carriage and swung himself around and up. The act might've seemed impossible to most, but Skid wasn't most. The carriage's door swung shut as he gained his footing up above, and he took himself a seat on the upholstered bench atop the carriage.

Mira was already busy taking in the sights. Wide eyes reflected the lights and her enjoyment. When Skid sat down next to her she turned a wide and excited smile to him.

The city was a blackened gem in the night, surfaces at different distances reflecting light from one to the other in a near-dizzying display. Very few lamps were needed to light the city at night, as it were. The pale moonlight was reflected and intensified to give the entire place an ethereal feel, and the few lamps strewn throughout the city were fueled with a strange kind of aether, reproducing the moon's glow.

After a few more minutes, they pulled up the club. It was gigantic, and quite possibly the only thing not made of obsidian. It was a solid amethyst structure. Skid snickered.

"I know it's going to sound tacky, but welcome to Amethyst." He leapt down, and held out a hand for when Mira reached the appropriate height on the ladder for assistance.

"Tarast is absolutely enchanting, even more so than the restaurant was, and that was positively magical. You could have warned me." She gave a giddy little chuckle and tried very hard not to gape at the jewel of a building, when she first espied it. "Thank you."

If he could leap all the way down, she could leap from half way down the ladder. That was what she thought when she saw his hand. She turned part way around and jumped.

He snickered, and when she let herself fall he acted rather quickly; instinctually even. One hand moved up to catch her back, while the other wrapped around her thighs and nearly cradled her against his body. He dipped her in time with the fall, so as to minimize the abruptness of the stop, and then stared at her for a moment. Until he realized the implications.

Then he simply began to laugh. "Mira, you're too much fun." He resettled her, and pointed towards the door where a large Chameleon-anthro was allowing people in based on what they were, and who they were. An arm was extended to Mira, and he began to trek towards them.

"So are you. That was a great catch, too." She chuckled and winked to him as she laced her arm through his, like she knew anything about catching besides hearing of it in stories. "And you did say something about trust and about not stepping on your feet."

"All these people are dressed so very well." She leaned close to Skid and whispered, now even more appreciative of the silvery dress he had gotten for her to wear this evening. There were quite a few people, mostly arriving. Then she smiled to the person at the door. He reminded her a little of the lizard man that she saw every now and then at the inn or at the Outback.

"'Ey'ey'ey, if it isn't Skid. 'Ow you's doin', ya little punk?" The massive, nine foot, muscle-bound Chameleon flickered the nub of his thick, sticky tongue out of his hard-lipped mouth, and Skid responded in-kind with a flicker of his own forked, serpentine tongue and a snicker.

"Well enough, Bas. Let us in, won't you?" Skid gave the Chameleon a pining look, and he let out a deep, booming Brooklyn laugh.

"Yeah, yeah, sure sure. Jus' don't let anyone be seein' ya's givin' me the eye, eh? Makes 'em t'ink t'ings." He snorted, and allowed them passage.

"That was Basalith. He's very reliable for getting me in free." Skid snickered, and led them to a sprawling dance floor on the first level. Fine, somewhat popular, slow songs were playing. "Floor one? There are nine more to choose from, so if you'd rather not hold me close and sway," Another snicker. "We could try another."

"You're the one with all the experience, you pick. I already know you will not choose the one with the loud and booming techno music." She smiled from him to the large dance floor, watching the couples already dancing. They were a mix of races much like the population in Rhydin, or so it appeared to Mira, and all of them appeared to be enjoying themselves. More to the point, what they were dancing looked very easy and Mira was confident she could manage that, even though those weren't any of the steps Prue had shown her. "This looks like fun."

"Oh, wow, would you look at that!" She tilted her head back a little to glance up at the ceiling over the dance floor. There in the dark amethyst ceiling where tiny lights. As the walked closer to the dance floor some of them seemed to disappear while others seemed to become visible, giving the impression of moving underneath a star lit night sky as busy with glittering stars as one usually only saw far away from any town or settlement.

"It's fun because you don't even have to take more than half a step every ten seconds. The rest is how close you can hold your partner. How warm you can make them. How, alive you make the music with it." He snickered, and directed her towards the dance floor. He glanced up, knowing what was there, and grinned. "That's all the floors above us, with people and lights moving in and out of focus."

"It looks marvelous." Mira took her gaze of the ceiling and turned it to Skid instead, already feeling comfortably warm. Even her steps were already in concert with the music as they walked, a little faster though than Skid described.

He picked them a way through the crowd when the song stopped, and once they reached their spot on the dance floor he turned her to face him. He smiled, and his hands moved from her arms around and down to her sides, where they slid liquidly to her hips and around to the small of her back. "Place your arms wherever it feels most natural." There was a glint to his eye that was only around on the dance floor. A good glint.

She smiled up to him at his instructions. Where his hands moved down, making her all the more aware of just how much like water the dress felt, hers moved up his arms to come to rest upon his shoulders. While only one of his eyes was visible, she had the impression that he could 'see' with the rather handsome white patch, too. In this light it even seemed like that glint was in the patch as well as in his eye. There was no need for her to ask if her current placement of hands was what he had in mind.

With a momentary grin and a wink, the music started up. The beat was heavy and slow; a ballad of some lover for another, or some such nonsense as one would hear at most DJ'd functions. Skid began to sway them slowly, with a miniscule shift in footing here or there, but little movement came in general. His hands remained relatively in-place, though on occasion they'd move a little closer together, higher, or lower in sync with the demands of the music's flow. A four song set before another break in the music would pass, though Skid would be grinning the whole time.

Mira was smiling back the entire time. She indeed felt the beat as much as she heard it, perhaps even more so. It was almost difficult to stop the swaying movement of body and steps when they music came to a break again. She did manage though, but her hands remained just where they were.

"I'm glad. Would you care for something to drink? You look a little... Flushed." A hand rose, the back of fingers running just a tiny trek across Mira's cheek. Skid was smirking.

The bartender, a particularly flamboyant Flamingo, greeted the pair as they approached. "Ch'ello, luff behrdes! Hchwat can Eshteban getchu dis eveneen'?" Skid just gave the Flamingo a wink, and his feathers ruffled. He looked to Mira then, a smile on the eyes, since he had a beak and no lips.

"Thank you, I could really go for a cola." Mira smiled up to Skid. The smile was still on her lips when the bar tender greeted them. It took her a while to translate and understand what the flamboyant Flamingo had said, but when she did the color in her cheeks darkened a little.

"You heard the lady, Esteban." Skid snickered, and gave the Flamingo another blatant and teasing wink.

Feathers ruffled again, Esteban began to preen a touch as he went about getting the cola and a very tall glass of water just barely above freezing. He set them on the bar top and gave Mira a wink. "Dh'ere we are. You enchoy dat now, Princessa. Ah? An' don't let Skeed's charm fool jou! Hche's a real ladiees men!" A squawk-like laugh escaped the parted beak, and the Flamingo moved on to the rest of his customers.

A clawed hand settled around the base of the big glass of water as Skid grinned in Mira's direction. "Esteban and I enjoy pushing one another's buttons, as you've seen." A snicker left him, and a deep sip of water followed.

"I think I like him. He's not first one to push that ladies' man button." Mira grinned to Skid as she took up the cola. "Kairee said something along those lines, too."

Then she took a few sips from her glass. Her eyes remained on Skid, though. He was awfully charming; they certainly had that part right. She should probably heed those warnings... right after Skid brought her home again would be soon enough for that, right? Right.

"For some impossible reason, I'm found to be attractive." He snickered, and settled his eye on Mira. Red and gold carved a lazy path across the surface of it, split with the black, slitted pupil. His water was -unbelievably enough- drained in its entirety.

"What's your take on it?" An eye ridge quirked, only a little bit.

"You certainly look interesting in a pleasing sort of way." Mira tilted her head slightly to the side, looking Skid over with a critical eye. His features, and those mostly hidden by the mask he wore even though the mask seemed to reveal some of them rather than to hide them, where definitely engaging. One would think scales and claws to be off-putting, but oddly with him they were not. Then she gave him a wink. "The attractiveness has to be the personality and charm, though. Mostly, anyway, and just maybe those cute liripipes." She chuckled and shook her head.

"You've character and you're cute, that's definitely an attractive combination." Then she quickly brought up her glass again to finish off the cola.

"I'm glad to see you think as much." He snickered, and rose from the bar, leaving a smattering of coins atop it. "I think it's about time we got out of here, don't you think?"

Mira settled the now empty glass on the counter next to the coins and nodded to Skid.

"It probably is." While she would absolutely love more dancing, if she was honest with herself, she was getting tired. Wonderful new experiences and impressions, exhilarating exercise, and all in the perfect company still could only cover that for so long.

"Wouldn't want you to pass out from all the excitement, after all." The lift had arrived while they walked and stood waiting at its entrance. Droves of people exited into the hall, and the only remaining beings upon it were the two Crocodiles operating the thing, Skid, and Mira. A strange assortment of sounds drifted into the place, and skid smiled faintly as the lift began its slow descent.

"Mira, one last dance?" His hand was held out, offering proximity and feeling through the menagerie of sounds around them.

"There's no chance of me passing out from excitement." Mira placed her hand into his offered one and, curling her fingers around his, squeezed his fingers gently as she smiled up to him. "I would love a last dance."

"Good." She was pulled close, and held her swaying there as the music shifted and warped into one song above the rest around them. This was about as close as music could get to defining Skid.

The lift lowered all the way to the first level, not stopping once on its way down, and once it had Skid slowly broke apart from Mira. He stood there, looked her over, and grinned.

"You're actually a very good dancer, Mira. And very sensual through it, though I think that might be by accident." He gave her a wink, and offered his arm to lead her out.

"Thank you." Smiling and blushing a little, ever so happy with his compliment, she laced her arm through his again and touched the side of her face to his shoulder for a moment. Then she chuckled giddily. "I think I'm in love with dancing now."

"Dancing is very easy to fall for. But be careful, dancing loves everyone it gets the chance to." He snickered, "It's even worse than what people say about me!" The carriage was back in the exact same spot it had been earlier, and the same little androgynous being jumped down and out of it to allow them entry.

"After you, of course." He even bowed a little.

"Thank you." Mira returned the bow with a little giggle and then climbed up into the carriage and sat down, still giggeling at Skid's comment. It was odd to her to think of dancing as something that could return any feeling toward it.

"But you are a person and not something people do." Mira grinned to Skid when he sat down next to her.

"Dance is a living, thinking force." He said it almost dreamily, and the carriage began to roll. The bulls snorted and clomped along, black hair glistening in the reflected lights of the city.

As they passed through the gates, Skid redrew the curtains and settled up alongside Mira. A hand rested against the side of her thigh, fingers drumming along a sliver of pooled fabric. His head tilted ever so slightly towards hers, and he snickered. "I'm actually a little tired. Impressive."

"Does that make dancing your second and true love?" Mira glanced down to his hand for a second before she smiled up to him again. "The dress still feels wonderfully liquid, refreshing even. How is you feeling tired impressive?"

"I wouldn't go that far, but dancing is very near and dear to my heart." He grinned, and continued as the carriage moved on whatever kind of path took it so quickly from one place to another. Soon, the curtains were opened again, and the familiar outskirts of Rhydin were passing them by.

"The dress was made especially for you, by an Elven seamstress I happen to know from a while back. As for my being tired, it doesn't happen often and is therefore impressive." To make an example, he fought back a slight yawn.

"So long as you're not yawning just because you're bored." Mira winked to Skid and regarded him with a very warm smile. The thought that he had the dress made especially for her and just how much thought he had put into the present so that it pleased her rather than him warmed her throughout. "I can't tell you thank you enough for the dress. I absolutely love it." She stretched a little and placed a quick kiss to his cheek.

Skid was eyeing the outside through the window as she spoke, so the kiss came as a surprise. He blinked, and then snickered before turning to face her.

"You're welcome." The carriage pulled to a halt, and Skid's hand brushed softly across Mira's thigh as he moved to open the door. Once out, he waited for her.

Mira stood up to follow Skid from the carriage. When he had turned around to face her she leaned over and, reaching for his shoulders, she jumped from the carriage. He caught her around the waist, and held her up for a moment against him. His eye was locked onto hers with a heart-melting intensity, and then he set her down. They'd reached the door. He was still grinning.

Mira was grinning, too, when she turned to face him again. The key to the door was already in her hand.

"Thank you very much for everything, Skid. This evening, every minute of it, was the best ever." Her eyes shone and her grin turned into a warm and appreciative smile. She could not only not remember ever having enjoyed herself that much, but was absolutely certain that she never before had enjoyed anything this much.

"You're welcome. Very welcome. And thank you, for allowing me to take you out for such an evening." He leaned forward, turned his head slightly, and though his mask had been very much on when he'd originally moved past her line of site, a very unobstructed pair of lips pressed against Mira's cheek. Despite Skid's hard appearance, they were relatively soft. When he pulled back, the mask had nearly finished restitching itself. The ghost of a grin was still visible, though.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, and I hope you save the dress for an occasion equally as special to you as this one." He snickered, and waited for her to take her leave.

"I will do that." She unlocked and opened the door and slipped inside. She turned around again, smiling to Skid. "Have a good night and sleep well." Then she softly closed the door behind her. There she leaned against the door for a moment and touched fingertips to the spot on her cheek Skid had kissed. That had not felt like the cloth mask at all. But he had not taken the mask off, had he? When she heard the carriage move away she pushed off from the door and headed upstairs.