Terramintin enjoyed the tour immensely. Though Deborah did not actually take them to the many popular restaurants and shops and other hotspots she named on the residential levels, she described them with incredible precision, and he had no doubts he'd be able to locate at least a few of them when he had a chance to do some nosing about on his own. Though his gaze rested on neon lights and crowds of laughing strangers with no little amount of longing, he settled for affixing their locations to memory and promising to come back later.

He also continued to notice that there were dragons everywhere. Most of them were rather simple, with smooth-scaled hides and no horns or other bodily decorations to speak of, but they appeared to come in all manner of colouration, and they all seemed quite happy to mingle with the city populace. Mint could hardly comprehend it--friendly dragons! Some of the places Deborah named were actually called 'dragon lounges', and after very little thought, they went to the highest spot in his mental list of places to check out later.

Deborah made an excellent tour guide, and was perfectly polite and considerate. She was to Anova, at least. To Mint, however, she was far too casual, and since she was supposed to be filling the role of a businesswoman in her father's absence, it made the noble-raised Terramintin a little uncomfortable. He was too busy gaping at the city sights to ever notice the superior little glances she kept tossing his way, but some of her comments were flirty enough to make him inwardly uncomfortable. If it had just been the two of them, perhaps after a chance meet-up in a nice little bar, he would have had a grand time returning the playful overtures, but the fact was that they weren't, and that he was only a tagalong to his sister's business meeting, and Deborah was being wholly inappropriate for the circumstances. He continued to be pleasant to her in return, but was very careful of doing or saying anything that could be taken as reciprocation.

The entire city was arranged in layers, and the only way to get from level to level, aside from some completely insane flights of stairs, was to take an elevator-lift like the one that had brought them up from the docks' level.

"We're heading down to the flight deck now," their guide explained as they stood in yet another one of these lifts and were carried downwards. "And then the hatching bays. Three of the five bays are full, now, too."

Mint frowned faintly as he tried to puzzle out what either of those two things could be, though one of them made him more curious than the other. "Hatching bays?"

This time he actually got to see Deborah's odd little smile, as she put one on in response to his question. "Yes, hatching bays. Certainly you've noticed, my lord, that a sizable portion of Star City's citizens are dragons. Though some choose to clutch and hatch their young themselves, in their own lairs on the decks of the station reserved just for their kind, many prefer to make use of the hatching bays. We have three clutches hardening in the bays just now, waiting for potential bonders."

He couldn't help but nod at her comment about the dragon populace. He had most definitely noticed them! A glance over at his sister revealed a very faintly confused look--a little cant of the brows, no more--but one he knew how to recognise on Anova's face. In this case, also one he wondered at the presence of. Had she not noticed all the dragons? He knew she had a firm dislike of people, but couldn't imagine she'd been distraught by the crowds they'd had to pass that much!

It seemed Mint wasn't the only one that could figure out his sister's faint expressions, for Deborah soon directed a sympathetic smile at her. "I know. Given what Chytonian dragons are like, I can understand that you must not be used to dragons being part of civilized company, much less actually linking mind-to-mind when they are young. It is very common here, however. My mother, in fact, is bonded to a very friendly dragon named Beod." With another smile, she added, "My father had me read up a little on Chytonia when he thought I might be meeting you."

Perhaps she had intended to clear up their confusion with that statement, but when it came to Terramintin, she failed. He stood in silence as the lift carried them downwards, his expression one of thoughtful concentration. Linking mind-to-mind? Like some kind of telepathy? Telepathy wasn't unknown to him...after all, he was half chyrith, and since chyriths were natural telepaths, he had a smattering of the talent himself. He didn't use it much, but he was capable of it.

So...Star City dragons established a telepathic link with a 'bonder' as youths? Strange. "Why do the dragons make these 'bonds'?" he asked curiously, and not at all self-consciously. Questions were made to be asked, after all. "What's the purpose in it?"

"A good question," Deborah answered, as the lift finally reached their destination. Its doors slid open, and their guide led them out into a long hallway.

"Many species of dragon require a psionic bond with another being," she explained, whether another dragon, a human, or something else entirely, in order for their minds to be fully stable. I'd offer a more detailed explanation, but I'm afraid that'snot something I've studied. I just know that many dragons, if they do not bond at birth, do not survive much beyond their first day out of the shell--if they even survive their first hour."

"A fascinating species," Anova murmured in response, while Mint again looked thoughtful. Requiring a psionic bond just to survive? How strange! He couldn't imagine how such a species could have come to thrive, at least not naturally. How odd and different these dragons were from the monstrosities of Chytonia!

"It certainly is interesting," Deborah agreed. "The clutches are fairly close to hatching--or, the Wyld lady Teset's is close. The others still have a month or so, I believe. Interested?"

Mint turned his head in surprise, wondering if he'd really looked that absorbed in thought, but found instead that their guide had directed the question at Anova, and was looking at his sister with a brow arched inquisitively.

"Ah, no, thank you," Anova responded. "I'm afraid someone like myself...well, it might not be wise, for me or for a hypothetical dragon."

::Oh, you don't know that,:: a voice cut through Mint's thoughts, laced with amusement. Though he was no stranger to telepathy, the sudden intrusion quite startled him. He turned about, and discovered that an absolutely titanic yellow dragon was approaching the three of them. His hackles went up at the sight of the beast's bared teeth (or they would have if he'd been in chy shape), and he'd actually interposed himself between the dragon and his sister before he recognised that it was smiling.

"Oh, hello," he heard Deborah say. "Lady Anovadiell, lord Terramintin, this is Aedelian Landwerlen. He's one of the visiting dragons from another world."

Mint blinked, and nonchalantly slipped back to his self-appointed place at Anova's elbow, giving the dragon another one of his perfectly-measured bows, never mind that he'd initially taken the dragon's smile for a threatening gesture and had been completely ready to take on the colossal beast. He might've been admiring the local dragons at a distance and thinking it would be fun to meet one or two, but if he thought one was a threat to Anova, well...he'd face off with it no matter how big it was.

The dragon's mouth opened a bit, and a loud rumble filled their portion of the hallway--it was laughing. Terramintin puffed up a bit on the inside, not knowing the cause of the dragon's mirth, but quite prepared to be offended if it was laughing at his chair-ridden sibling. It--he--Aedelian could laugh at Mint if he wanted to, if his mistaken moment of defensiveness was amusing, but if this dragon was one of those insufferably callous, boorish types that sniggered at invalids...

A sending of ::Oh, I like you!:: slid into his thoughts, again surprising, and also completely deflating him. ::Titanic, am I? Oh dear, but you should see an Earth dragon. Or some of those...oh, what are they--Pern dragons. They're much bigger.::

Mint blinked in bewilderment, his eyes going wide in his handsome face.

"Aedelian," Deborah explained with a wry smile, "has a rather nasty habit of peeking into other people's heads. Sometimes even through mind-shields, unless they're particularly powerful."

Mint huffed to himself, trying to make up his mind whether to be soothed that Aedelian wasn't laughing at Anova, or to instead be insulted that the Air was poking around in his thoughts in an utmost breach of courtesy...

::It is not nasty,:: the dragon protested, sounding like he didn't have an ounce of shame in his entire massive body. ::People never say what they mean; it's only fair that someone get to see what is really going on. By the way, that was a sweet thought, young man, to protect the young lady from me, but I promise, I wouldn't hurt a flit, much less someone who could talk back.::

This dragon was just grating against him in all the wrong ways. A glance at Anova revealed an out-of-place flush on her cheeks, and that only vexed Terramintin all the more, that his sister should be embarrassed as well. He squared his shoulders and prepared to give Aedelian a word or two-

And once again, had his focus completely cut off. ::That really is a noble thought, lad, and a rare one. Looking after your sister like that. It's nice to see someone honourable around. Keep it up.:: Aedelian sounded a bit like a father praising a child, yet at the same time sounded respectful.

But even while the dichotomy sent Mint back to being befuddled, the dragon was still talking. ::My, my, what a polite bow! Deserves something special, in return, I'd expect. I can't quite manage a bow, but...::

With that, Aedelian folded an armoured paw to his chest and fanned his silver-spanned wings as he dropped his forequarters almost to the deck floor. Mint was absurdly reminded of the bow he'd taught his ulgren mount to perform, though it was quite unfair to compare the dragon's unexpected grace to a well-trained horse.

It was a pity he didn't have the manners to match it.

When the dragon rose again, carefully tucking his wings back to his sides, Mint's mind rang with cheer. ::Well, I do believe I've done quite enough damage to dragonic reputation for one day. I'll make myself scarce so Deb can repair it. Besides, I think I need a bath...::

And thus Aedelian walked off, past them, humming and jauntily waving his tail. Both Mint and Anova watched him go with mixed perplexity, while Deborah chuckled softly. "I promise, not all dragons are as...ah...rude, as he is. I should have you meet Beod, he's a perfect gentleman, for all he swears he's just a simple soul."

It took some amount of effort to take his gaze off of the dragon's retreating form, and Mint turned back towards their guide with a bemused shake of the head. Aedelian had come and gone so quickly it was almost hard to believe he'd swept in and muddled their thoughts so thoroughly. Yet even so, Mint felt Aedelian had left him with a slightly positive opinion of the dragon. Rude, perhaps, but friendly, and Mint found himself figuring that Aedelian didn't have a single ounce of maliciousness in him anywhere.

"I'm afraid we might have to save that honour for another time," he heard his sister say, and turned his head to see Anova putting a hand to her temple. "If there is a room prepared, I believe I should seek it...The travel was wearying...."

Terramintin frowned softly and laid a concerned hand on Anova's shoulder. The tour hadn't been that strenuous, though he knew she despised crowds, and their travel had been absolutely plush, so if she was feeling strained already...perhaps Aedelian's sweep-in and sweep-out had been a bit too much for her. Maybe she was simply ready to make a quiet withdrawal, but the yellow dragon had certainly troubled him enough with its antics.

Deborah immediately looked apologetic. "Oh, I'm sorry. You should have said something earlier. Of course there are rooms ready. Come this way, I'll take you to them."