The bakers at dawn

[araceae]

The way she walks and carries herself, as if she'd smile at everything and everyone around her even if they were hostile, it's something inspiring. Her shoulder length hair flowed covering her ears and embracing the early morning breeze. Maybe too breezy, for her headphones kept falling out of her ears; though that happens normally. Her long pointed ears were incompatible with most headphones so listening to music in solitude was often an activity enjoyed at home. Humans often stared at her because she was different, alien, she was an Elf living away from her family and clan. She walked into the local bakery, one of the few places where she was accepted and embraced. The bakery was her absolute favorite place to be despite the fact that she doesn't even enjoy coffee, their signature drink. Too bitter for her sensitive tongue. The employees all knew her name and order. Ara Fleur, medium chocolate milk not too hot, 2 steamy croissants. After exchanging money with the cashier, she sat down with her breakfast in the back, alone. Just how she liked it. Staring out the window at the sunrise and seagulls; this was her happy place. Someone walked in, someone she had never seen before. Entranced, she followed the woman's every move. This unfamiliar woman then proceeded to sit oh so gracefully right at her table. Locking eyes, we both smiled.

[hana.]

[align=center][div style="borderwidth=0px; width: 55%; text-align: justify;"]This land on the outskirts of vast cities and advanced civilizations, small settlements still breathing rustic culture - how Hana adored it. Of course she had a particular affinity for the bustle of the cities, surrounded by flashing signs as she pushed through sidewalks packed with bodies in the way veins were thick with blood cells. But in such tight spaces she could not stretch her wings, could not hear the sounds of wildlife aside from the calls of pigeons overhead and the scuttering nails of rats in the gutters. Thus, occasionally, Hana would just go. She would pack a duffel bag from her upper class family home, set out at midnight, and stop at the settlement she was nearest to at dawn to rest. Of course, she was never alone. Her companion, her second half, Miso. An albino dragon, glittering white scales with flashes of the pink flesh they protected. Burning red eyes, deeper in colour than the flames that poured from his jaws. Adults found him intimidating when she would travel to faraway towns, nestled in the wilds where dragons were scarce and when they did make an appearance were not more than terrors that destroyed livestock populations. Children were always the brave ones, the curious ones, asking to touch his scales and inquiring his name. Her own hand ran down the scales, shifting beneath her palm at the familiar touch. Her other hand was raised to comb through her long black hair, releasing a deep sigh that raised as a thin mist in the crisp morning air. This town was not nearly as far away as she usually traveled - it was safe to say she was somewhat of a regular to these cobbled roads. Yet aside from the taverns and the inn, Hana rarely visited other businesses.

Well manicured fingers parted from translucent scales, Miso answering with a deep sigh of his own as the dragon drew his wings close to his body. They had stopped in an alleyway in shadows to mind the albino's sensitivities to sunlight. "I'll get you something too," Hana hummed, running her hands over her clothes to pat off any dust as she slipped from the alley into morning sunlight. Hanging a right, Hana rounded the corner to slip into the door of the first shop she passed: a quaint bakery with the smell of fresh-baked sweets rolling from the door. A small bell sounded as she entered, lazily scanning her surroundings to take in the atmosphere of the mom-and-pop shop. Oh yes, Hana was a city folk, but it was hard not to love the charm a place like this had to offer. Making her way to the counter, Hana ordered a complicated coffee she really had no place asking of from such a simple shop, taking the steaming cup graciously and leaving a handsome tip before turning to look for a spot to sit. So early in the morning there weren't many occupants with her, but the one lady that sat in the corner of the room certainly caught Hana's attention. No way to eloquently put it - she was attractive. Her ears were particularly interesting- there weren't many elves that departed from their own strongholds to mingle with the other races. Hana had stopped at a few Elven strongholds in her travels, but had never felt particularly welcomed in any of them. This girl, however, drew Hana in in a way the elf's kin never had before.

The coffee burned her fingers from how tightly Hana gripped her coffee, yet this nervous tic did not show in the grin she displayed for Ara. Like water she wove between the tables, pulling a chair out for herself and sliding down to sit across directly from the elf at her own table. "Hello," Hana greeted smoothly, tilting her head to the side slightly to let her hair slide down her shoulders. "I don't believe we've met." Obviously, but Hana didn't have much more to work with while still wanting to carry a conversation with this girl. "I'm Hana." The dragonrider introduced herself, finally lowering her drink to the table with a smile as warm as her cpffee.