“Thank you,” Lavender smiled as she accepted his hand down. “Bar stools are not really made for those of us with vertical limitations.” She grabbed her cloak and her purse, giving his hand a slight squeeze of thanks and holding it rather longer than necessary as they made their way to the free booth.

She felt her ears flush happily when he complimented her, and hoped that her hair hid it. “Thank you. You look rather nice yourself,” she added taking note of his hair, which was pleasantly tousled, his dragon skin jacket that stretched nicely around his broad shoulders… and decided that she should stop eyeing him like that.

“I haven’t, and I’m half starved; only I don’t have anyone else to blame it on…” she perused the menu for a moment, before looking back up at Charlie. “Well, since you’re such a connoisseur of the food here, what’s good?”

“How are things at the reserve? Aside from the cooking. Did you get those nests you were hoping for?” Lavender asked curiously.