Contrary to Arkady, Drake's body had no markings whatsoever. Tattoos and piercings deteriorated way too fast due to the constant molting and regenerating process that came with his shapeshifting, so after a frustrating attempt at a tattoo decades earlier, he had given up on the idea.
"Yeah, it has. What was it, '70? '71?" Drake replied, nodding slightly and holding that unnerving gaze, cool and steady on the outside. Being in this position rankled his pride, but at this point there seemed like there was little enough of that left. He hoped to come out of this with as many of those remaining tatters of pride unscathed as he could, but the man's next words told him this was unlikely.
However, pride or not, Drake knew the question was fair. He had ever been impulsive and, like his father used to say, any dragon under 300 was always too damn reckless by far. By those standards, Drake was still a pup at merely 88 years of age. He'd certainly acted like one back in the sixties, his family and clan newly dead and him angry at the world and looking for any excuse to take that anger out on others. Drake had the decency to wince at the words, squinting one eye and grimacing with one side of his face.
He raised his hands as in surrender. "I deserve that. I haven't forgotten just how much of an ass I was the last time I was here." He nodded at Arkady some more. "I've changed too," he said simply. "But you know, don't take my word for it or nothing. Truth is, I need to get out of town, and I don't got the know how to fix them digital ID's no more." He shrugged. "I'm not asking for a headlining spot, man. Not even close. Hell, I got over thirty years experience behind the scenes now. I can help. And not only with technical stuff. Hell, if you want me to do security, or rigging, I'm there."
He made a thoughtful face and a tiny smirk came over his features. "Not that you couldn't use a true-blue genuine fire-breathing dragon on board. I'm thinking there aren't many of those lying around these days." Drake released the smirk and looked down at the ground for a moment before facing Arkady once again.
"Truth is, were it me in yer place, I probably wouldn't take me back. And I won't rightly blame you if you don't. There ain't nothing I can say that'll prove I'm not here to make trouble. But. You could give me a chance to prove it to ya." He paused, staring at Arkady evenly with an open face. To be fair, the very fact that he wasn't fuming and being prickly right now sort of proved his claim that he had changed, up to a point. Hopefully Arkady would take that into consideration. "Whaddaya say, Arkady? For old time's sake?"
And there it was. Drake's voice was never desperate, even if his situation was getting to be. If anything, it was his usual gravelly deadpan, but it was honest. This was the closest he was going to get to saying sorry, unless a formal apology was requested of him. He was a child of his generation, and even though he wouldn't like it, he'd give it. He could be very formal about the most random things, but he wouldn't volunteer them, either.