She wasn't the only one here. Several of her charges--that is, the draconic children that she'd adopted and raised as her own--were wandering around. Phoenix and her charges were around here somewhere, too, but Dracothrope couldn't find them on a quick glance. While they didn't all live together, someone had suggested that living in Star City's cramped apartments just wasn't working. The suggestion had been made around one booth, back in the CP lounge that Dracothrope and the others favored so much. So. Being the outgoing and decisive people that they were, they'd taken to looking for more... sprawling type of accommodation.

Eventually, they'd come to the decision that Driolo--the city beneath the orbiting station--was the only place to go. There was virtually no end to the land, if you could put up with the harsh conditions and peculiar magic/tech ratio. Now they'd only had to decide where to set up 'home'. Someone had laughingly suggested 'The Ranch of Doom' as a name for their new home... and it had stuck, even though Dracothrope, nor Phe, (nor anyone else who would come to stay, for that matter!) was the least interested in ranching anything! They might seem a little immature at times, but the Star City natives were the last to treat their dragon charges as anything less then equals.

So the modified humans had taken to looking for land, and here they were. The place was nice--not nice enough to be quite lucrative to business, but certainly not overly poor! Dracothrope watched as Eoreon and Anistaid, a pair of her latest adopted dragons, played around in a bowl of dust. They seemed much more lively when Bkok, her chicken-like gryphon-dragonet, was away... she wondered about that.

She didn't have time to wonder, much. Oanaa'viayn (try to say that five times fast!) was approaching quickly from two o'clock, her fae-light wings whrring away like a natural fan. The hippogryph was nearly a full-grown adult by now, but for some reason she stayed with Dracothrope... that made the human happy, but ever mistified. Her second charge ever, Oanaa' was sometimes hard to decipher. Now, however, she seemed pleased enough. She landed with the typical grace of something not-quite flesh and blood, hardly making a noise as she trotted up to her friend. ~You look sad,~ the hippogryph said, her wings still whrring faintly behind her.

"Do I?" Dracothrope replied. She lifted her muzzle (altered just so to look more draconic) from her open palm, then raised her hands, shrugging. It was a wordless exchange--Oanaa' floofed her rainbow-bright head-crest and cocked her long, needle-sharp beak to one side--and then the humanoid pushed herself to her feet. "I dunno," she finally said, approaching the lithe creature. "I suppose I'm just nervous, is all. I don't know about setting up shop like this."

~Hah! Phe-Phe and Lofirr'litai are all gung-ho, Drayly-Wayly,~ Oanaa' hummed, singsonging and prancing in place. ~So are aaaallll of her friends and draggiewaggienetties! And Chuzeth and Vehemoth and I are all so happy to get out in the oooopen air, and if Bkok was here I think he'd agree, kinda! And maybe Axys and Shaaamusfamous Falsetto will visit if they knew they could fit somewhere!~ She paused, little tunes fluting out of her trumpet-long beak, as Dracothrope deciphered her words. ~Beeesides, it's not as if you don't have the fundiewundiecredits to pay for eet!~ She snorted, bowed her head, and (carefully, for her beak really was like a permanently attached rapier) nuzzled the humanoid.

Dracothrope sighed, leaning into the preferred nuzzle and running a hand through Oanaa's vibrantly purple feathers at the same time. "I don't know what's bugging me, then."

~Youuuur're just out of the loop, too busy preparing for the future instead of galloping off to find more dragonets. I'll bet, anyways!~ Oanaa' fluted into a fae-like chuckle. ~Let's go find some more indecisive or independent or self-absorbed hatchlings, tell you what!~

"Whaaat?" The humanoid pulled back, cackling and shaking her head. "I already have Vehemoth, and she's a handful! And Bkok and his little gang!"

Oanaa' shrugged--the gesture coming across as a toss of her tufted tail and a buzz of her prismatic wings. ~Vehemoth needs someone her ooown age, and besides, galloping off across space and time always seems to cheer you up!~

"What'll everyone else do when I'm gone?!"

~Oh, we can take care of ourselves,~ Oanaa' replied mischievously. It was a well known fact that, despite her slightly off-the-wall attitude, the hippogryph loved children... but she had the misfortunate attitude in which all of them deserved whatever they asked for. The last time that Dracothrope had left the fae in charge of her half-grown dragonets, she'd come back to find them literally vibrating with all of the sugar Oanaa' had fed them!

Then again, the hippogryph wasn't quite as mature as she was now... but Dracothrope still wasn't certain about leaving everyone in her care. "Tell you what... I'll go find Phoenix, and ask her how she feels, and if she doesn't mind, I'll nab some of her friends to help look after Vehemoth. Besides, I wouldn't be gone for long... I hope."

~That's the spirit!~ Oanaa' crowed, tossing her head and whrring to life. ~I'll go find PhePheweewee for you, I know where she is! Be back in seconds!~ And she was gone.

Dracothrope watched her shoot off into the azure afternoon, shaking her head and chortling the whole time.

Whatever the case, Dracothrope ended up--not in the back corner, brooding over some mug or plate--but at the bar itself, watching people come and go. Mostly, there were elves or elvish types (she couldn't be sure which), and many of them gave her a wide berth. After all, who would want to sit next to something that looked like the demented love child of a human, a goat and a dragon? She did manage to catch snatches of conversation, however, and was pleased with herself. Apparently a kind of flight had occurred-and quite a special one, at that... the place seemed fairly new to the Nexus, and there was enough talk of openings to new worlds that she managed to catch some of it.

Maybe she'd find a lonely, unsatisfied dragonet (Lesser Kynnese or not!) on the sands... and even if she didn't, she'd certainly have to tell Phoenix and the others. This place was just too... too nifty to pass by.

She settled over her drink, a content smile on her face... for now, anyways.