Dinner in the City

"Are...are you sure about this? We couldn't just...forage? Or hunt?"

Roberta nods firmly. "Yes. We need to stock up on supplies for the rest of this trip - it's not going to be short."

You look up at the imposing walls of the city before you. They look so much bigger when you're up close to them. The shadows cast by the setting of the sun make them appear even more massive than they are.

You've only ever been to the city of Treien once, and it was when you were extremely young, so you remember basically nothing about it. But those walls... you could never forget them.

You're on a line leading into the city. Each horse-drawn cart or carriage is being processed and checked by the city guards. The line is slow-moving, as the process appears to be thorough.

You've been on the line for roughly a half hour now, and maybe only two carts have been processed so far. Due to the unnatural strength of the steed pulling the cart, it only took a single day to get here, so you're not really that upset about waiting.

"It's going to be fine - Demetra's disguise will work. Nightwing will be alright."

Your jaw clenches, and you keep your reservations to yourself.

Demetra had kicked you out of the carriage, and **** you to sit with Roberta, after your nervous fidgeting had started to distract her from making Nightwing's disguise. Apparently, it's going to be very high-tech.

Perched as you are in the driver's seat next to Roberta, you almost lose your balance as the cart lurches forward, and then quickly comes to a stop. Paired with the pit in your stomach from your complete lack of faith in Demetra's disguise, the shuddering movement is causing you to feel quite queasy.

"****, enter. Now."

"Be right back," you mutter to Roberta, before ducking into the cart. She nods, not fazed by the fact that Nightwing referred to your as a **** - the four of you had a brief conversation, and cleared everything up, earlier that day.

"What's up?" You stop dead, staring at the woman before you. Her disguise is...

"Are you joking?" You turn to Demetra, frowning in irritation.

"My sentiments exactly," Nightwing growls.

The dragon is wearing a cloak. That's it. That's her big disguise.

The fabric is very clearly disturbed by her wings, and her tail snakes out from underneath the garment. Additionally, you can very clearly see that her face and hands are covered in black scales rather than skin.

"Shut up," Demetra snaps at the poorly disguised dragon. You're stunned that Nightwing almost seems to listen to the elf. "I've explained this three times, and I'm sick of it. Peter - I'm going to explain it to you, and you explain it to her."

You nod, and listen attentively to her explanation. She speaks in jargon and overly-complicated terms. It's no wonder Nightwing didn't understand it - she's talking about shit like brain wave interference and psychological expectations, when it can really be boiled down to a very simple explanation.

"It alters how people perceive you, but only those that don't already know that you're a dragon," you summarize.

"You understood all of that?" Nightwing appears mystified, and somewhat impressed.

"Just enough to figure it out." You turn to Demetra with a cocked eyebrow. "You've really got to work on how you explain stuff. That was way too much information, all at once."

Demetra rolls her eyes, but doesn't say anything, returning to her notes in silence. Nightwing and yourself take a seat opposite her, ignoring her elitist behavior.

"I was hoping we'd have longer for this," you announce, turning to Nightwing, "but...whatever. Let's go over some behavioral stuff."

"Behavioral?"

"If people look at you and see a human, you're going to have to act like a human - at least somewhat."

"That is, indeed, a crux of this disguise," Demetra chimes in. "I'm impressed that you recognized it so quickly, Peter."

"So, what, if I didn't, you weren't going to mention it?"

"I built it. You're the ones that have to make it work - not me."

This time it's your turn to roll your eyes. "Maybe we should go over behavioral stuff with you, too, Demetra."

The elf purses her lips, but doesn't say anything. You wonder for a moment if maybe you went a bit far with that one, but that can wait - you have significantly more pressing matters at hand.

"Okay, so, let's say somebody says 'hello' to you. How do you respond?"

"I don't. Humans are beneath me."

"Says the dragon that wants to join human society."

Nightwing's cheeks flush gold. "I-it's a matter of convenience!"

"Sure. Well, matter of convenience or not, you're not going to be able to blend in unless you act at least somewhat human."

Nightwing rolls her eyes at you, but finally starts to be receptive to what you're teaching her.

At one point, you're fairly certain you can see Demetra perking up to listen. While you hope that you didn't hurt her earlier, the elf learning social skills would be beneficial to everyone.

After about two hours, it's finally time for your cart to enter the city.

In that time, you've managed to teach Nightwing the basics of interacting with humans. Of course, for her, the basics boil down to "shut the fuck up and don't cause an issue", but hey, it's a start.

From the way she's fidgeting, you can tell she's not thrilled at the prospect of having to alter her behavior for humans, but to be fair, she's the one that wanted to join society.

You hear muffled voices as the city guards talk with Roberta. You don't know why, but you feel a bit nervous - almost as if you're a stowaway on a ship.

The flap at the back of the cart opens, and a guard callously waves you out. You and Nightwing stand to leave, the latter just barely hiding her irritation at being instructed by a human.

Notably, Demetra doesn't stand, instead rummaging through her papers to find something.

"You too, ma'am- have to do a full check of your inventory."

Demetra wordlessly hands a piece of paper to the guard. After checking it, he sighs and tucks it into a pocket. "Okay, you're good to go - just don't cause any problems."

Upon realizing that Demetra isn't going to answer, you step up and reach out to shake the guards hand. He accepts, somewhat befuddled.

"Thank you, sir. I promise, we'll be on our best behavior." You flash a cordial smile. "Have a good day. Or, uh, night."

"Uhh, yeah. You too."

The guard backs out, and waves you through, giving Roberta directions to an inn that will accommodate the cart. As the guards barring your entry move, you hear an exasperated cry from the cart behind you.

"What the fuck!? They can go through no problem, but everyone else has to be fuckin checked like a gods dammed criminal!?"

You frown, turning away as the guard that waved you through talks the merchant down. That's honestly a fair point.

"Why did they let us through? What was that note?"

"Writ of passage - I had all of my cargo pre-cleared by the national Elven ambassadors. It would be quite annoying if I had to explain all my equipment to some simple human every time I wanted to restock on supplies. It would be a true waste of time."

"You know, you could've made the cloak disguise Nightwing as an elf instead. People wouldn't be surprised if an elf treated humans like trash."

"Yes, but if she were seen by an elf, they would likely attempt to engage, and her true identity would be very quickly revealed."

"I notice that you didn't argue the part about Elves treating humans like trash."

"That's because they are," Demetra immediately responds. She quickly looks up from her notes at you. "Uhh...present company excluded."

Nightwing chimes in. "I must agree with the elf - most, if not all, humans appear to be worthless. You are the first exception to this rule that I have encountered."

"Aren't I the first human that you've ever actually interacted with?"

"I've observed enough to know-"

"Yeah, you've observed some hicks in a backwater shithole," you interrupt her. "Of course you have a low opinion of humans."

Nightwing glares at you, clearly irritated that you interrupted her. Before she has a chance to chastise you, however, the cart slowly enters a structure and comes to a stop. The sudden shift in environment distracts the dragon long enough for Roberta to open the back of the cart, shifting the focus to her.

"We're here! Let's get the rooms and some food - I'll pay for you guys' food tonight."

"You don't have to do that," you begin to protest.

"It's only right that a dragon and her **** should be treated appropriately," Nightwing cuts across you. You're about to protest again, but a sharp glare from her stops you.

The four of you file into the inn - it appears to be an inn dedicated to serving those that transport carts over long distances, as alongside the regular food, there are entire buckets of horse feed ready to go.

"I'll feed the horse, you guys order whatever you want."

"What about you?" You inquire as Roberta purchases a bucket of feed.

"Demetra knows what to get for me."

Demetra nods in confirmation, so you shrug and follow her lead as she picks up a menu and sits at a table.

Nightwing fidgets slightly in her seat, casting her nervous glance around the room. You gently place a hand on her knee under the table, giving her a small smile to reassure her.

After a few minutes, Roberta returns, revealing that she rented two rooms for the four of you. Shortly after, a waitress takes your orders.

You help Nightwing figure out what to get - she ends up deciding upon a medium rare steak, same as yourself. Roberta and Demetra both get a chicken dish.

Dinner passes mostly in silence. There really isn't much to talk about, and you're all on edge with regards to Nightwing's disguise. Even Demetra seems to be glancing around nervously, as if she expects someone to realize that there's a humanoid dragon in their midst.

Once dinner is done and paid for, the four of you rush to retire to your rooms. Not only are you tired, but you desperately want to get out of the public eye.

You make arrangements to meet in your room in the morning to go over the plan for the day. After brief "goodnight"s, and quick trips to the restroom, you split off into your rooms - yourself with Nightwing, and Demetra with Roberta.

You quickly lock the door behind you, sighing in relief now that there's no longer a risk of anyone seeing Nightwing for a dragon.

Turning your back to the door, you see Nightwing sitting on the edge of the single bed within the room, the tech-infused cloak discarded on the floor. She seems troubled.

You sit down next to the dragon, but you don't say anything. Instead, you gently take her hand in your own, and you wait.