Feather Mint [11 Thory 4262]

I sat on a decorative cornice in the corridor, at about head-height on a Herethroy.

Me:"Well, the question is, are you willing to be seen in public with me?"

Mynthë:"We're in public now, right?" Which we were, since we were standing in the corridor of Formerly Medicine Hall.

Me:"True. But some people would have been pretty uncomfortable being seen with me even this much."

Mynthë:"Am I missing something? Are you really a Khtsoyis in disguise?"

Me:"No..."

Mynthë:"Oh, it's Dustweed, isn't it? I don't really want to be seen in public with Dustweed myself very much, but associating with one of her friends isn't a matter for great scandal. If little Yarwain can handle it, I certainly can!"

Me:"I mean, not that kind of seeing."

Mynthë:"What other kinds of seeing are there? Scrying?"

Me:"I mean, can I invite you out on a date to a public place?"

Mynthë:"If that were to somehow occur, I would -- with very high probability! -- make a most determined effort to conceal, or perhaps even surpress, my righteous and civic-minded fury! Unless it were to a meat restaurant. Then I would require a bound Cloak of Another God as a bribe."

Me:"Well, I don't have the palate for a Cani restaurant myself, and I think any other restaurant can serve Herethroy. What we're actually low on is restaurants that can serve Zi Ri a meal that's smaller than the Zi Ri zirself."

Mynthë:"I'd never thought of that Is it a problem? Can't you just get an appetizer as a main dish?"

Me:"Yes, but if I do that, I don't get an appetizer!"

Zie touched zir antennae together while zie thought about that. "I suppose you could order two appetizers and not eat much of one."

Me:"Or just order Far, Far Too Much Food and offer it 'round, which is what I usually do. The real question is, though, is it tolerable to be seen in public with me, looking like we're on a date? Everyone knows I'm traff. Everyone would think you were too. My ex-boyfriend and my ex-girlfriend were both pretty unhappy to be seen with me in public."

Mynthë:[Tail twitching a bit]"Oh, I see what you mean. I don't think we should be pawing each other or deep-kissing in the middle of the street. I don't really like when cissies do that either."

Me:"How about in private?" Which is awfully forward of me. I'm kind of awkward about the flirting.

Mynthë:"Let's find out about that sometime when we're in private!" That's not an outright refusal. Zie was waving zir antennae around in little spirals, but I don't know what that means exactly.

Me:"OK!" I couldn't think of any more flirts.

Mynthë:"Experimental evidence is the most persuasive kind, to a natural scientist!" Zie was grinning a bit.

Me:"Not like my ex-boyfriend. He preferred doing literature reviews." I still have his collection of Zi Ri pornography, actually.

Mynthë:"Literature? Where do you even find that kind of, um, literature?"

Me:"I suppose you need to be brave about what kind of bookstores you go in, and brave about what you ask for. Or be a count's son and send a servant to be brave for you."

Mynthë:"I wouldn't do that! My parents would hear about it straightaway."

Me:"His parents heard about it straightaway. It was rather unpleasant for him. That's a lot of why he didn't like to be seen in public with me: it could get him in more of the same kind of trouble that he'd been punished for the first time."

Mynthë:"My parents found out about me pretty early on ... before I did, they said. They're sort of resigned to me being a Minor Stain on the Family Honor, though I am politely requested not to be a Major Stain if I can help it. So no snogging in the street."

Me:"Well ... how about with a good invisibility spell?"

Mynthë:"Getting stepped on and thusly discovered doesn't sound like either good snogging or good Not Being A Major Stain. Add a levitation spell to the invisibility spell though and I'm your snogger!"

So I slithered off the cornice and levitated in front of zir. Wriggling happily, I'm sure!

Me:"Well, would you like to go to the Neo-Zornic exhibition at Yastrou Art Museum this afternoon, and then, oh, Kio-Koila?"

Mynthë:"That sounds pleasant and sophisticated. I haven't been to either one."

Me:"I haven't been to that museum since I was a tiny little lizard, myself. It'll be some of a surprise to me too."