FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

Daniel erased the same line on the drafting paper for the third time, and went about drawing the mechanical part all over again. Only to hear the displeasure groan of annoyance come from Timothy. The two of them were classmates and both in their second year of mechanical engineering.

“Dude, you gotta get over it man. I know you well enough to know she got in your fucking head. You've been drawing that same axel like six times now." Timothy said and Daniel sighed In frustration at his friend, setting down his pencil and leaning back in his chair.

“Fuck dude, I was with her for like three years, three whole years and she up and dumped me for some jock with an IQ of like ten." Daniel said, with a growl, his cheeks flushed red with anger and frustration. The girl Timothy had referred to was Daniel's now ex-girlfriend as of four days ago. Normally Daniel didn't let something like this get between him and school, or anything about his future, but the last few days have been filled with mistake after mistake. He knew if this pattern kept up, it would destroy his GPA and he'd lose his scholarships. Which was the only reason he was at such a prestigious school, he didn't come from wealth, he was just smart.

"Dude, just download a dating app and find a few girls to go on dates with. Get laid or something, but you really gotta get your head in the game. I don't want my grades fucked over by your emotional shit." Timothy said, to most people it would have sounded pretty harsh. But Daniel had been friends with Timothy since high-school, and before that. He knew his friend was right, but the most he gave his friend was a half hearted shrug of the shoulders.

Between them the shrug was as close to a 'Fine, I'll do what I can now stop harping on me'. As a single motion without any words could get.

Daniel kept his focus mostly on the classwork. This being his final class of the day, and it being a Friday most students were Looking between their work and the clock on the wall. The professor paying them no mind, as he wasn't the type to be a hard ass on Fridays. When the clock finally hit five, Daniel rolled up the design he had been working on and slid it into a cardboard tube for safe keeping. Timothy gave him a pat on the back, and muttered a goodbye before leaving Daniel. Daniel was torn between pulling the work back out now to keep working, he was tapping his finger on the tube while he stared at it. Deep in thought, until finally the squeak of the chair next to him got his attention.

He turned to find Professor Jocek, sitting next to him. The man's green eyes seemed piercing, but not angry. Like any sane student Daniel was immediately nervous about being placed in such a position. His mind racing to think of what he might have done or haven't done to earn such attention from the professor.

The professor was young compared to most of the other professors he had encountered. He was in his early thirties,with a wedding ring on his finger, he seemed to be already decently successful in life on multiple fronts. Though the scar that marred his jaw and the other that peaked up from under his collar told of a more interesting past than most people his age.

Despite whatever had happened to the man he must have impressed someone to get his position here at Valador University. Tucked into the Rockies in Colorado, it was one of the first major colleges to go out of its way to invite Dragons. Some of the best architects and mechanical minds among Dragons came from here and it was only an hour drive from Denver or a 30 minute flight for the average dragon. Though the college had grown its own community around it.

“Daniel, I don't know what's wrong. But you've been slipping this last month. It's small mistakes, but they're going to start to add up. Your other professors said the same thing, but unlike them I'd rather just give you a face to face talk about it." Jocek said and unfolded a few designs that Daniel immediately recognized as his own. His cheeks flushed as he saw basic design flaws, and measurement errors. He sighed, feeling disappointed in himself and tearing his eyes away from the sheets of mistakes.

“Hey, Daniel, look at me. I'm not mad. I'm also not too old to notice that you've been down. I don't think it's family issues or some life threatening issue. Whatever it is you need to get it fixed, find a way to solve it and move on. Okay?" Jocek spoke in a firm voice of someone mentoring a person they fundamentally carried about. Daniel smiled weakly and nodded his head as he looked into the professor's eyes. Not seeing anger at all just a mix of pity and a kind knowing.

“I'll work on it this weekend sir" Daniel said and got a rueful chuckle from Jocek.

“Don't call me sir, I work for my money. But also not everything can be fixed in a day, let alone a year." The man said with a smile, as he gathered up the old papers and left Daniel sitting at the drafting table.

Daniel tucked the cardboard tube into his messenger bag. Then hoisted it onto his shoulder and left the now empty classroom. Save for professor Jocek who was sitting at his deck feet propped up on the corner of it, and inspecting his wedding band with a soft smile on his scared face. The light glinted off the blue gemstone, and Daniel not wanting to linger in the presence of authority, slipped away through the door.

He made his way back to the dorms and slipped into his small apartment that consisted of a living room and kitchenette. He dropped his bag on the couch and then dropped himself on the couch. He sighed with frustration as his brain wandered back to his ex-girlfriend.

Daniel just staring at the blank TV mounted on the wall, half his brain wanting to turn it on while the other rebellious half wanting to text Sarah. Thankfully, the rebellious half lost the argument as the logical part of his mind reminded him that it was a massive mistake to even attempt such a dumb thing.

Then came Timothy's suggestion, the suggestion that could only seem appealing to someone in Daniel's state of mind. The person at the rock bottom, but he didn't stop himself as he pulled out his phone. Downloading a dating app and slowly filling out the information as truthfully as he could. Because what use could there be in lying to someone when they'd just find it all out when they met you?

He spent the next hour or so flipping through the profiles ignoring the obviously fake profiles. Until he got a response from a girl who's profile was called SilverScale. He thought it was an interesting name, but the picture showed a human girl with pale skin like the snow and bleach blonde hair. Which seemed to explain away the name pretty well, her profile seemed pretty well made.

It described her as a needy type, who did robotics programming and was currently in college near Denver. She was a gamer, and an artist. Daniel flipped to the response, and read it.

“thanks for the like, you're one of the first non-jocks I've seen in this area." Silver scale wrote, and Daniel smiled at the last but. He wasn't unfit or skinny, he was just average and not jacked like the sports team guys.

“You're welcome, yea I'm just a college student working on a mechanical engineering track." -D

“Oh that's awesome, we do joint projects at our school with the engineering class! They're normally interesting people." -S

“Yea well I try to be, though I haven't worked on any joint projects they sound fun though." -D

“Hehe so what brings a smart guy like you to this site?" -S

Daniel read those words, and the memory of the break up came back. He swallowed before just relenting to being honest. Bravado wasn't really in his character, he also wasn't a liar.

“well… just a pretty rough break, with a girl I was with since I was in my early years of high-school." -D

Daniel saw the double check marks, and then nothing for a solid few minutes And he sighed and set the phone on the coffee table. “Dumbass now you just look desperate and needy…. and fucking weak"

He lay back on the couch, and sighed before turning on the TV to resign himself to the slow brain rot of broadcast television. He was pulled from the sound of the it by his phone dinging.

With guilty speed, he snatched the phone up and opened it, to see a response from SilverScale.

“Well a hello and see you soon is always the best cure for a terrible goodbye." -S

“Is that your way of saying you want to go on a date?" -D

“Maaaybe… hehe whatcha doing tomorrow?" -S

“Not much just some school work and then I'll be free in the afternoon" -D

“Good, I'll send you my phone number, and a pin drop to a nice steak place." -S

Daniel was surprised that his slightly smart ass comment had ended up landing him a date tomorrow. He never saw himself as a social butterfly or a pick up artist. When his phone dinged again he saw a phone number and texted it. “Hey this is Dan."

Immediately he got a pin drop message and then a text response Of “And this silver! Hehe".

He opened the pin drop and saw It was a pretty nice steak house, and one he had seen ads for since it opened not that long ago. Sporting a rooftop eating area and a traditional one inside with both of the areas setup for dragon and/or human customers alike.

He figured he'd wear his normal nice motorcycle flannel and press his motorcycle jeans so they wouldn't look so wrinkled.

“Looks awesome what time" -D he texted back and he got a response In a few minutes.

“7 o'clock sharp, don't be late! 0w0" -S

Daniel chuckled at the cute text face and sent a thumbs up emoji, and set his phone down. He got his clothes for tomorrow and went ahead and ironed them, setting them aside. Both looked like normal jeans and flannel but instead of being pure cotton they had a Kevlar backer to protect against a fall and slide on a motorcycle.

Daniel had gone from down and depressed to light and happy. Thinking maybe the dating apps had a bright side for people in his position.

It was no surprise that the next day that same happiness was still evident though with some nervousness too he had only dated one other girl before Sarah. That was years ago now and to say the least Daniel hadn't been on a date in a long while. He double checked the GPS and made sure it was still only saying 30 minutes away.

When the clock finally hit 6:10 he left his dorm room and made his way down to his bike slipping on riding gloves and his. Once out in the parking lot he searched out the coyote brown color of his painted KLR 650, standing tall and proud for a motorcycle. Being on the shorter side standing at 5'6, the KLR was a bit tall for him but he always managed. He slipped on his ADV helmet that looked like a cross between a dirt bike helmet and something more street worthy.

With a flick of a switch the motorcycle came to life with a throaty purr, nothing like a cruiser bike or Harley. Just a steady even rumble, and he flicked his left toe down into first and rolled his wrist back taking off.

The upside to being a motorbike rider in a college that was nestled into the mountains, was that you got the best roads to ride on. Daniel had a blast on the ride down the mountain toward Denver. Taking switchback roads at a slightly above legal speed, while tucked down and leaned over. Though nowhere close to having his knee touch the ground.

The world passed by in a blur until he was out of the mountains and on more straight and gently winding road. His GPS chirping at him that he was only 10 minutes from the restaurant. The fancy steak house, or by his standards it was fancy. The steak house was halfway to the city, still in the foothills, and had a commanding view over the city. At least that's what the reviews and website said about it, and he looked forward to it. Something to take his mind off Sarah and let him forget about the past. With howl, and the force of deceleration pressing on him he downshifted several times. Bringing himself into the parking lot cramped with cars and people. Dragons were flying in to roost on the rooftop, he saw them fold their wings and slip into the rooftop dining area above.

Daniel kicked the foot stand down and flipped the ignition switch off on the handlebar. The engine silenced itself as he pulled off his helmet and swung his leg over the seat and stretched his back. He set his helmet to hanging from the chin strap from the handlebars so it could air out from the sweat of an exciting ride.

With so many people around him, the more introverted side of him wanted to shy away, but he steeled himself and pressed on. Making his way to the front entrance and waited his turn, while waiting his phone chirped in his pocket. He quickly fished it out and tapped the screen seeing the message “Table R5".

Daniel slipped his phone back into his pocket before anyone could accuse him of rudeness since he was now only second in line. As waiter lead away a large part of people in front of him. He was greeted with a grand view of the main floor. The farside of the room a continuous window that overlooked Denver. The sun having already started to descend and the twinkle of city lights forming their own constellations on the ground. The sky starting to lose its last hints of reds and pinks as the sun fell away.

Daniel almost jumped as the waiter before him spoke, it had not been the first time the man had tried to ask him something. “Oh sorry sir, umm table R5."

The smartly dressed young man, with short red hair smiled knowingly, and guided Daniel through the restaurant to a large spiral staircase made for the larger Draconian customers in mind. For which two abreast could easily move up and down it. One dragon with emerald green scales passed by him descending down into the main part of the restaurant.

He soon emerged onto a rooftop covered by a large pavilion that extended up above the primary roof. Just to his right was a large bar with a mixture of cushions for dragons and bar stools for humans. With both human and dragon bartenders behind them smiling as they mixed drinks and talked with their customers.

The waiter gently touched his arm to guide him, and Daniel smiled apologetically as yet again he had let himself become so distracted that he was causing trouble. He was never the type to want to be overtly rude to anyone, let alone someone who wasn't being rude.

The waiter sat him down at a large table, with no chair across from him. Though a vase in the center held an assortment of flowers, and the table was made for two. The waiter left with his drink order and he soon found himself being served a glass of water with cucumber. He was in the middle of drinking and looking around, observing the commotion, and comings and goings. A flash of silver scales caught his eye brushing past him and he turned. Then looked forward across the table only to freeze. A set of crimson, cat like eyes were fixed upon him.

Daniel swallowed the flavored water, along with a small spike of fear. The eyes were outlined with pink fading to a silver shine, and Draconian cheeks that were adorned with a frill. Which now stood half erect framing the unmistakably female dragon's face with a circle of silver. Like two half moons almost meeting and circling her angular and fair head.

Daniel finally finding his voice while under the inquisitive gaze, spoke a little clumsily and stammered out,“H-hello miss, I am expecting a friend her name is-" his words were cut off by a soft sweet voice saying.

“SilverScale." she spoke in her gentle voice and Daniel stiffened, realizing he had been had. The name had not been one that belonged to a beautiful bleach blonde girl, but instead to a silver scaled dragoness. He drained his glass, and smiled politely, trying to hide any nervousness that might betray his intentions.

“I do apologize I need to go wash my hands to be proper. I'll be back in a minute." he spoke as the waiter set down a glass and started pouring a crimson wine for the dragoness. She nodded politely in return and he rose and turned to make his retreat to the restrooms behind the bar. In his haste he missed one face he should not have, eyes glaring at him with venom. Though his mind focused onthe singular goal of retreat so he could get a moment to think.

—

Silveea, frowned as the man slipped away. The poorly masked fear, surprise, and worry she saw on his face were all too evident. She knew from experience that he would quickly flee and never be heard from again. While it was true she had been a deceiver, and had put that image of her close human friend on her page so that she could reach someone more interesting then some big lug of a drake.

The dragoness was small by dragon standards, she would have been just a little above eye level to the retreating man. More like a fleeing boy, she had thought and sipped on the wine that had been poured.

Though what she did not expect was the stunning bombshell of a blonde college girl slipping into the seat across from her, with a self entitled grin on her face.

“So Daniel has given up being around 'Real women' already? He gets one girl in his life and his heart broken forever by it. Pffttt…. what a freaking loser, chasing animal tail." the young woman said, smiling at her like a person watching the greatest comedy they had seen.

Silveea set the wine glass down, and cocked her head. “I'm sorry, do I know you?"

She spoke in a cold tone, that was meant more as a jab to make the pest of a girl go away.

The girl snorted dismissively and gave a flick of her long golden locks. “As if I'd talk to a whore like you."

Those served only to fan the flames of anger in the small dragoness' chest as the harpy of a human smirked at her. The sound of the restaurant muffling her barely suppressed growl so that girl couldn't hear it. Or if she did, she ignored it with a cocky smile.

“Oh? You are one aren't you? That's all a weak man deserves.. all nerdy, and so easily bent to my will." she laughed in a sound that was as haunting as it was melodic.

–

Daniel exited the bathrooms, his face wet from where he had splashed it with water from the sink. He ran a damp hand through his medium length black hair causing it to slick back and shine.

Making a beeline to the stairs he stole one final glance back to the table where the silvery dragoness sat and froze. His eyes glued to the woman sitting in the seat he had sat in. “Oh… fuck…"

He walked bristly back to the table cursing himself, his luck, and his life. He heard Sarah's laugh, and then heard her call the ness a whore. Telling her that she should be with her own kind, but also asking what it was like to prey on weak and socially stupid humans. If she liked them because of how desperate they were for the touch of any woman.

“That'll be enough Sarah." Daniel spoke in a low, and dangerous voice filled with anger. The blonde haired woman stood up, turning with her own wine glass half full and smiled. The girl walked past him letting a self satisfied smirk twist her lips, and dumped the remaining wine down his front as she walked by. When he turned he was face to face with the college football quarterback, a man who had at least 5 inches in height on him.

“You better leave her alone and not talk to her in that manner or tone you fucking manlet animal fucker." he said with a smirk as he saw Daniel step back.

Daniel ground his teeth, the shy meeker side of him giving way to part that was willing to be angry on the part of another.

“Maybe she shouldn't speak to my date that way." Daniel shit back before he could think better and as the large man was turning to leave he turned back. Fist slamming into Daniel's face, and knocking him stumbling back, blood leaking from his nose. Daniels head swimming from the impact as the man and his ex left. Daniel thought he heard a deep growl from the dragoness nearby, but could not be sure with the room still spinning slightly.

Having caused very much a scene, Daniel cursed himself and chose to just return to his seat, privately cursing himself. He was surprised to find the silver 'ness on her feet standing over the cushion much like someone who would have stood from their seat when a fight broke out. But everything had happened too fast for the silver dragon to involve herself. Daniel watched as she slowly sat back down, her eyes watching him intently as he dabbed at the blood leaking from his nose with a napkin. His eyes averted as he felt foolish and stupid, not thinking she needed him to stand up for her, though he saw the anger in those red eyes soften after a few moments.

"You reckon yourself a knight hmm..?" she asked, which if it wasn't for the small smile tugging at the corner of her jaws, the words would have come across more harshly. But with the forced smile on her face, it wasn't so bad.

“I would be the shittiest knight after that," he said laughing softly, the cloth napkin thoroughly ruined, and even though he hadn't been trying to impress the 'ness, he still felt like he looked embarrassing to be around.

“Well, you did well to defend my honor as best you could heh." She let out a musical giggle after she spoke. The sound was not all that unpleasant to hear. Daniel's cheeks burned a little from what she said.

“Heh… well my name Is Daniel." He said as he wiped a hand clean and reached it across the table. The dragoness reached out with her own five taloned paw and took his hand gingerly.

"Silveea" she said in response to him offering his name, and Silveea released his hand after a moment. The paw was surprisingly more soft than he had expected, and she seemed to have almost human levels of dexterity.

Though instead of the waiter returning, it was a well dressed man. Most likely the manager, the man's face was creased by a deep frown. Though he remained more focused on Silveea instead of the bloody Daniel.

Silveea on her part only seemed to give the man a friendly smile. “Oh, hello Frank"

She spoke casually in a manner that betrayed years of friendship, and the man's frown tipped up at the corner of his mouth when she spoke. The slight smile sneaking past the frown before he spoke.

"Silveea, when you said you had brought a date I didn't expect him to be putting on a show for the rest of the customers." Frank said while giving Daniel the side eye, looking him up and down. While Daniel had the sense to look abashed as finally got his face cleaned up. Just sporting an ugly bruise purpling, though the collar and front of his shirt were not easily wiped clean.

“Silveea's crimson eyes flicked over Daniel before she spoke. “Well, he does have some surprises, that's for sure."

"Sorry, Frank, I don't normally make scenes. If people complained I'll leave" Daniel said while sliding his chair back only for Frank's hand to stop the chair, leaving Daniel halfway out of his chair. He sat back down looking up at Frank who snorted with a broad smile on his face now.

“No, you didn't do anything wrong. Those two tried to say you started it, but the cameras showed a wildly different story. I would suggest ducking or stepping back next time." Frank said and a waiter came up to refill their drinks, leaving Daniel feeling rather stupid but also glad that he didn't get himself kicked out of a restaurant due to Sarah's temper.

“For now I hope the two of you will enjoy the rest of your dinner, and your waiter mister Perkins will wait to give you some time to get settled again." Frank spoke before nodding to Silveea and slipping away back into the crowd. Perkins left after the glasses were filled, leaving a promise to return in a few minutes to get the pair's orders.

Silveea's eyes fixed back on Daniel and he returned her gaze, his nervousness from being on a date with a dragoness had almost entirely faded. He took a sip of his drink to hide his face still for a moment, before he asked.

"So what do you do for work?" He asked, wanting to head off any questions about Sarah and her boyfriend. The question drew a hum from the dragoness, a musical note before she spoke.

"I'm in college, Robotics and machine programming." She said which made Daniel brighten a bit, and he smiled for the first time that night as he leaned forward, talking happily with the silver dragoness.

“Oh that's pretty neat, I'm studying for Mechanical Engineering myself." He said. It was always nice to meet a girl who was in the same field as him. Which was almost entirely dominated by men, and dragons seemed even rarer in either field. Dragons typically didn't come from wealth, being on average still lower on the economic ladder. He was pleasantly surprised to see a smile form on Silveea's face matching his own.

“Ohhhh, that's awesome, it's you guys that build all the cool stuff we get to program. Some days I wonder how you come up with it all." She said with a chuckle and sipped from her large wine glass, and before he could respond the waiter came by to take their orders.

Daniel ordered a small steak with potato wedges and grilled asparagus, While Silveea ordered boneless short ribs and 'dragon wedges'. The waiter nodded his head as he wrote the orders down, and then turned to leave and submit them to the kitchen.

“Where was I.. oh yes! haha we don't really 'come up' with the ideas. Most of the time we are given rough designs and then fill in the blanks. We ensure that everything will work properly, or stand up to the abuse someone will put the end product under. I'm more impressed with robotics people for figuring out how to program the stuff we make." He spoke honestly, he didn't see his study focus as anything wildly hard, it was just mostly math and remembering material sciences, which is what he enjoyed the most.

It wasn't long before Daniel found himself in a deep conversation about their respective studies and how they linked together. The dragoness and him both had smiles on their faces, and as they spoke he found himself wondering why he had been so reluctant in the first place. The dragoness was smart and friendly, but she also had a sort of regal beauty that Sarah never had. There was an unexpected softness in her crimson eyes as they spoke, the pure silvery scales seemed well taken care of and were polished to a shine. Which once again made him feel underdressed, even without the blood that stained his collar.

He was sure he made an interesting sight indeed, though the looks he got were more out of curiosity than anything judgmental. He caught a few drakes staring at Silveea, and he noticed that she seemed used to ignoring them.

When their food arrived, conversation didn't slip away into an awkward silence, it continued politely between bites.

“So who was she?" Silveea asked and Daniel let out a deep sigh, and smiled weakly.

“That was my ex-girlfriend, the first girl I ever dated in high-school. She used me, and led me along so I'd help her with her grades. Then once we got to college she flipped like a switch. Dumped me for the biggest joke she could find, the human football player you saw is my school's quarterback." He said as he used a fork to chase a steak in a circle around his plate. Looking down at it as he spoke, he looked up when heard Silveea snort.

“Well she's pretty stupid, what's the likelihood that a block head will ever become anything? Pretty low if you ask me, and she's definitely a bitch if I ever saw one." Silveea spoke before munching down on a large potato wedge that was essentially made from the full length of a potato with the skin still on.

“Oh yea she's pretty good at acting all sweet and nice, then her true face comes out." He said matter of factly, the tone of a man who had experienced this degree of manipulation.

“I know it's rude to pry about one's past relationships. I'm really sorry Daniel." Silveea said with a soft tone, and Daniel shook his head with a sad chuckle at her words.

“I would agree, if said past relationship didn't appear and insult you for the pure malice of kicking me down a few more rungs in our social circles. Plus it'll be all over school tomorrow that I'm some tail-chaser, because I'm fucked in the head or something. I'm sure you know how gossip works…." his voice wandered off at the end, and he gave the best false smile he could trying to be reassuring for a dragoness he barely knew, realizing as he said it that the next few weeks would be a living hell.

The last piece of steak Daniel had been chasing around his plate was finally stabbed and eaten. He leaned back in his chair, and looked the dragoness over as she finished up her potatoes. The small nagging voice is the back of his head that admired her more regal and stately beauty was becoming less of a whisper. Trending more toward a yell, and he realized with a mounting horror that he might be a tail chasing bastard and never knew it.

Unbeknownst to Silveea, Daniel was having his own little mental crisis. The part of him that was raised by a religious family that offered up arguments from the texts and teachings of Sunday school. The fact he would never pass on his genes and carry the family name in a sense to the next generation. His parents would see their only son as a heathen he assumed.

While the other side of his mind merely pointed out that she had just witnessed the skeletons in his closet in full force and was still sitting before him. She hadn't run or fled like most girls would have, she had wanted to talk to him and get to know him. She showed genuine compassion and caring, the only thing she had done wrong was trick him into thinking she was human to get him on a date.

She dabbed a napkin at her snout before opening her mouth to speak, starting to say “I really lik-" just as Daniel blurted out “I would like to take you on another date, I'm sorry about tonight." his said quickly and closed his eyes like he was about to receive a punch… again.

“I would love it too! heh-heh." he heard the answer he least expected, his eyes opening to see red eyes twinkling as she smiled at him. Head cocked to the side in a charming cute manner, and she with that one answer, and that cute smile made everything that happened worth it.

Daniel flushed and looked away from her shyly only to see a large tablet-like phone slid across the table toward him. The add a new contact screen was active so, he hurriedly fished his own phone out and reciprocated the gesture for Silveea. He slid his phone across to her, which she quickly seized and held the smaller device gently in one paw. Tapping at it with a claw tip, in a steady and methodical manner.

Looking down at Silveea's phone he decided to try a small bit of self-deprecating humor that he so greatly enjoyed. Under the name field he put “Daniel, The nerdy human". Then he added his phone number and his email just in case, before he slid her phone back across the table. His phone shortly followed, the dragoness slower than him with the smaller device.

Silveea giggled cutely as she looked at her phone, “I love it, very funny"

Daniel had found that she had been more of the simplistic poet, hers only read 'Wings Of Silver'

“Same, very nice indeed." he said with a smile before pocketing his phone, and the waiter passed by to drop off the check. Daniel reached out for it only for a flash of silver to snatch it away. Silveea smiling at him playfully, the tips of her fangs showing and her ruff stood up some.

“That's mine thank you!" Daniel said, looking between her and the check, only for her to playfully poke her pink tongue out at him.

“Don't tell me you're too uncomfortable to let a girl pay for your meal, yet you'll still ask out a dragoness?" she teased as she set her phone to a payment app and set it on the little serving platter the check came on.

“There's some things that a man should do, you know, be a gentleman and all that." Daniel said, trying to defend his thwarted attempt for which Silveea snorted at with amusement and kept her smile.

“I guess you'll have to get the next date then." she said with a toothy smile, and then tilted her head to the side giving him an almost predatory side eye which made him swallow reflexively.

The waiter came by and tapped a white square to the phone which flashed green and let out a positive chime. With that chime it was time for them to part ways, Daniel making his way down stairs. While Silveea left via the landing/take off area on the far side of the roof marked in yellow hazard stripes.

Daniel found his bike in the parking lot tipped on its side, and what appeared to be a full bottle's worth of water dumped in the helmet. Thankfully there appeared to be no permanent damage to the bike apart from some minor scratches.

With much frustration, and muttering under his breath he hauled the bike back onto its tires and let it sit for a bit so oil would resettle where it belonged in the engine.

While using his shirt to mop up most of the water before he pulled out the velcro pads, wringing them out before putting them back in. The whole process let the bike sit for about five minutes.

Once done he grimaced and slid the still damp helmet on and thumbed the bike to start with a flick of the red ignition switch. The bike roared to life and dropped into a steady throaty purr. Daniel twisted the throttle and made his way back up the twisting mountain roads.

Normally he would have been fully engrossed in the excitement of riding up the mountain. But instead his mind had wandering to a silver dragoness. This made the ride a leisurely and subdued pace compared to earlier.

—

Monday came quickly, marking the beginning of a robotics and engineering joint project. This was going to be Daniel's first one, and he was excited. Seeing as last year's had been a cargo drone that had to go through trials. There had been plenty of rumors of what it could be, but apparently the staff had kept a pretty close guard of the secret.

Daniel was in the drafting room, when the classroom door opened and the sophomore Robotics students came filing in. A flash of silver caught his eye causing him to look up from his work, he only saw a bunch of new human faces and a few dragons.

Professor Jocek, the material sciences and fabrication Professor, walked Into the center of the room. He banged a milled aluminum block on a table hard but not overly hard. Just enough to generate the noise necessary to get everyone's attention.

A hush fell over the room, and Jocek spoke loud and deep. “This year's joint engineering and Robotics project will be three person teams building fighting robots. It'll be one engineer to two Robotics students. You will form groups amongst yourselves"

Daniel was sitting by himself, Timothy having gotten wind of the rumors that Sarah spread. Daniel was too much of a controversial person to be around when it came to people who orbited social spheres. So he remained seated, not moving around or jostling to get in a group like other people.

There he sat as most of the room had split into their groups, he was already pulling the drafting arm down to start some rough sketches. Thinking of how the chassis under its armor might work, wheels or treads. He was lost in sketching rough designs; he almost didn't recognize the silvery scaled head slipping next to his cheeks, just barely touching the side of his own. The spines of Silveea's ruff tickling his cheek, and almost vibrating against his skin as the ruff quivered and flexed.

“That axel needs more room to flex, and we need spacers for more wires. It's gonna take a lot of wiring to bring it alive." She said matter a factly as he pulled his head to the side in surprise and he looked at her.

“W-what are you Doing here? How come you didn't tell me what school you went too?" He spoke softly in a hiss of a whisper. Which only drew a smile from Silveea, as she chuckled softly.

“You didn't ask."

He froze, his mind trying to recall the date, and he didn't remember at any point where they shared what school they went to. However, he was distracted from his mental recall by a timid voice from behind him.

“I-Is this him… S-Silveea?" the voice stuttered in a richly accented tone, something close to an arabic accent. When he turned, Daniel found himself nose to snout with another dragoness, who's golden eyes were looking into his own. The new dragoness's face was dappled in tans and browns, down her side were repeating patterns like a snake would have. The new female had a more sunken stomach, much like a greyhound, where silveea was closer to avenge in body conformity..

“Hello Danie.l" her voice had a slight lisp to it, like a person with braces might.

“Oh hello. Sorry um, pleasure to meet you… um miss?" he stumbled a little since he hadn't been given her name.

“I-its Amina" the dragoness said in her exotic slightly lisped accent.

“Well, that's a pretty name" he said to her before returning his gaze to the table. He only wanted to be polite, he didn't want to stress the shy Amina out for no reason. Soon he found himself sandwiched between two dragonesses who were both making comments on design so their jobs might be easier. Any time he glanced up he'd see someone staring at him, whispering between each other. Some with a look of disgust, though when he caught professor Jocek's eye. He didn't see disappointment… something more like knowing amusement. The man had a slight smirk and slightly inclined his head toward Daniel before returning to his work.

Daniel couldn't tell why the Professor would find his position so amusing, he was already an accused tail chaser. Now people would have proof and more insults and even more outlandish rumours would be flug about. The gossip would be wild now, and he was sure people would start to reach wild conclusions.

He sighed internally and started working on new rough designs taking more recommendations from his two teammates.