That's not to say, however, that there isn't any activity in Driolo. What activity that does go on in the industrial city, is, however, not exactly a tourist attraction. About the only thing that the desert-based city has going for it, in the eyes of outsiders, are the adventure tours: small guided groups that take the brave and the foolish out to see the planet, and hope to return again unscathed. This, then, is where everything begins.

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"Ooh, how about this, Dem'?" Mariette S'aller, adventurer extrordinaire, pointed at the old-fashioned touch-screen before her. The pair of them--human and human-formed dragon--were in Driolo again, looking for something daring, something risky... something entertaining to do. The Tours office was open, if dead slow, and the two of them were the only ones in the squat building.

Demulcei Jariane looked over from her own screen, having no luck with her search. She was an offworlder, hailing from a land where magic overruled this kind of technology anyday. She never had gotten the hang of computers of any kind, the compact human-made ones or the dragon-sized ones! "Water rafting?" She asked, skeptically. It had been done to death, in her opinion.

"With flesh-eating piranas! Come on, that's got to be a little scary." Mariette smiled her insane-death grin, the one that always meant she was about to sign up for or do something that Demulcei'd have to pull her out of.

"How 'bout... not." The Fire-Light crossbreed made a face, scrunching her sunburn-coloured nose and sticking her tongue out. "I'd rather keep my flesh on my own bones." She tapped Mariette's screen back to the main page before the human could protest. And then paused, as an idea struck her. "Mariette, what do they call those things... you know, like flights, only with a lot of dragons?"

"You mean an orgy?" the human suppressed a snrk, watching her bond go even brighter red then she already was.

Demulcei waved her hands, mildly embarrassed. "No! Well..." A darted innocent glance, "at least, that's not what they call them..."

It was Mariette's turn to wrinkle her nose. "You're hardly old enough to be thinking about stuff like that, Demy!"

"What?! I'm a healthy young woman, why shouldn't I?"

"You realize the point of those things is so that dragons can lay their eggs, right?"

"..." Demulcei paused, then crossed her arms. "So what if I do want a kid or two?"

"But you don't keep them, that's the point!" Mariette crossed her own arms, mirroring her lanky bond. "You go fly, meet a stranger and... you know, then lay your eggs somewhere for other people to take care of."

The human-formed Avengaean gave her bond a pointed look. "And you're worried about... what? That sounds like fun, to me." She paused while Mariette groaned, then explained, "I always go with you on your crazy adventures, and I think it's about time that you let me go on one of my own. In fact, I'll bet that if we convince your dad and Siche, I could even get something like this set up right here."

"But Demulcei..."

The dragoness moved her hands to her hips, stubborn now, "Think of it this way. We'll be doing the station and Driolo a big favor, drawing in new people. Advertisement, you know? And... besides..." She darted the dark skinned human a coy look, "you might meet someone you like..."

"I highly doubt it," Mariette pouted. "But you're right. I wonder why Siche never thought of this before?"

"Too busy? Or maybe we're just geniuses."

"Well, I never questioned that," Mariette said dryly, and the two young women shared a giggle.

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Despite the amount of negotiating that went on between Mariette and her father, not to mention with the rather overdrawn Siche Four, the young human and her dragon managed to prevail. Demulcei, of course, was a lot more adamant about setting things up then was her bond, and so she took most of the goings on under her own management. "Avengaeans, of course," she told Mariette, when the dark-skinned girl asked her who would be participating. "I miss my people. And those hairless dragons are so creepy..." she pointed out one of the mutts that had ambled by and shuddered.

"You can't just hold a flight for your own people, especially off world," Mariette had argued.

So, to compromise, Demulcei had widened her requirements. "Fine, then. So long as they've got a decent coat, or... well, feathers. Something," she ended, throwing up her hands with exasperation.

And so she sent out the word, knowing that it would travel. Anydragon willing to visit the desert planet Atu had only to pop by Star City and descend the long elevator, or to find teleportation coordinates over the dusty city itself. Just how many dragons of Demulcei's specifications would show up, only time would tell...