Three days. Three absolutely amazing days. Terramintin was starting to think he'd be perfectly happy to move to Star City and live there the rest of his life (and that was a lot of time)! He'd been simply unable to get enough of the city. The sights, the sounds, the people! Though he of course spent plenty of time simply enjoying Anova's company, and had always been present to support her when she had to meet with either Deborah or her father, Minister Falken, he'd also kept his promise to himself to do plenty of exploration of the city.

Deborah had offered him and Anova some formal entertainments (most of which his sister had politely declined), but Mint enjoyed himself much more when left to his own devices...and besides, Deborah had far from exhausted her supply of her flirty little smiles, and he was not inclined to encourage her. He still found her as lovely as he had at first sight of her, but that little bit of improperness was enough to keep him from responding to her overtures. He was, after all, a gentleman, and though he was not the haughty sob that some nobles could be, he still had his own personal code of honour and protocol to adhere to.

So he merrily enjoyed himself on his own, picking up some of the local language through a kind of attentive, aural osmosis. He'd even taken on his chyrith form a few times, after learning that telepathy was the way most dragons spoke--when he donned his own dragon-like shape, people accepted it naturally when he spoke in telepathy, and in that way he learned enough of the common trade-tongue of Star City to hold friendly, if simple, conversations with the people he met wherever he went.

The greatest thing of all, however, had been the hatching: the same one Deborah had mentioned on the day he and Anova had arrived to the magnificent city, that of the dragoness Teset. His first decision had simply been to attend it as a spectator, since the timing was convenient, and see what this whole dragon-bonding business was about. Bonding was as familiar a subject in Star City as the chyriths were back home on Chytonia, and he would have been rather disappointed to leave the city without a chance to witness one and see what all really was about. It would've been like a tourist to Chytonia visiting the marvellous city of Eloguin, and completely bypassing the marvellous towers of the Four Sisters that were its most noted landmark.

Then he'd taken the decision a little bit further, and signed up as an actual candidate. His name had only been one in a list of many, and rather near the bottom since Teset's clutch was expected to hatch within days, and thus his signing up was rather last minute. Mint hadn't had any hopes or expectations that he'd actually be picked by a dragon, however, and thus hadn't mentioned a word to Anovadiell. He'd simply signed on because standing as a candidate would get him that much closer to the mother and her eggs, and make the novel experience that much more memorable, to be out in the midst of it.

He'd stood in the midst of a crowd of hopefuls, probably the only one of them who wouldn't be disappointed to walk home alone. Mint had simply been there to watch the eggs at a better viewpoint than sitting over in the stands did, and had been thrilled enough that he'd made it to the bay on time when the summons had gone out that late morning, announcing the beginning of the hatching.

The mother, Teset, had been miniscule compared to the majority of Star City's dragons--Mint was absolutely certain he would have been a good foot taller than she was, if he could have gotten close enough to stand beside the wyvern-like dragoness. The sight of her eggs alone had filled him with that pleasant glow he always felt for young life of any kind, and the hatchlings themselves had been absolutely adorable. They'd walked right among the crowd of candidates as they sought their future bonds, and so he'd had the best chance of getting a good look at them that he could possibly have had. Things couldn't possibly have gotten any better. But they had anyway.

One of the hatchlings, a little purple that didn't even come up to his knee, had made a very thorough investigation of the large group of potentials, pausing to examine each one as if giving them an honest consideration. The newborn had left plenty of disappointed faces in its wake, but Mint had simply smiled when the purple paused at his feet and looked up at him with bright orange eyes, thanking the Stag for the chance to see one of the babies so close-up, and waited for it to move on again.

Instead, the purple had cocked its head up at him and its jaws had gaped in the draconic version of a grin. ::You seem like a nice sort of guy...Mint? I like that name! I'm Sansu, very pleased to meet you!::

And that had been that. Completely without intention, Terramintin bonded a dragon that morning. Somehow he'd taken it all in stride, though it seemed at times he thought his grin would burst right off his face. Sansu's bond settled into his mind and his heart just like it belonged there, and Mint was honoured to have it.

He absolutely could not wait to see how Anova would react. Sansu, for all that he was a newborn, was impeccably polite and an absolutely perfect little gentleman. It was like having a little scaled version of himself around! Mint rather expected Anova to be quite iffy about it all at first, but he had no doubts that Sansu would endear himself to her with time.

Mint fed Sansu while they were still at the bay, from a supply of meat provided by the people that oversaw the hatching, and then took the tiny hatchling to a building that was a kind of a communal bathhouse for dragons. Sansu was a bit tacky from egg-fluid, and Mint wanted to make sure he was clean and presentable to meet Anova, who was tucked away in the nice little suite that had been provided for them during their stay. The hatchling had a wonderful time splashing about in a shallow water-pool, and was looking forward to meeting Anova as much as Mint looked forward to introducing him. Sansu telepathic talents seemed to give him rather open access to Mint's thoughts and memories, which was what had allowed the newborn to pick Mint out as best suited for him. As a result, Sansu had been extremely curious of the blonde-haired lady that made up so many of Terramintin's memories and was attached to so many pleasant emotions: love, admiration, loyalty. He'd asked plenty of questions about her, and couldn't wait to meet her.

::I hope she likes me,:: Sansu sent, looking up at Mint with bright eyes as the half-calyon carried the hatchling into the VIP-only hotel where the two Tanzanites had been lodged.

Mint smiled down at the little taupe-striped dragon, which clung to his shirt with the thumb-like digits present on each of his wings. Sansu was only the size of a small dog, and to Mint, he was practically weightless. He'd been afraid of the little thing getting trod upon out in the crowded streets...and Sansu clearly enjoyed being carried, anyway.

"It might take her a while," Mint admitted as he showed his pass to the man behind the hotel desk and was allowed onwards, "but she'll end up adoring you, I'm sure of it." He grinned. "You're just too much like me for anything else!"

Sansu made a quiet, rumbling noise somewhat like a purr, and Mint chuckled as he scratched the hatchling behind a little black nub that would one day be a horn. A brief stand in an elevator brought them to the floor where the Tanzanites had their rooms, and Mint sent Sansu a little thought to stay quiet as he opened the front door, peeked around, and walked in. There was no sign of Anova in the front room, so that meant she was in the back somewhere, either working or relaxing.

"Anova, I'm back!" he called merrily.

"Welcome back!" he heard her call in return, and after a moment she drifted out of the suite's office in her little chair, smiling in welcome. As expected, however, her smile faded into an expression of surprise when she saw Sansu in his arms. The little hatchling was looking back over his shoulder at Anova, and he canted his head and gaped his tiny jaws in a smile for her, but stayed quiet, as Mint had requested.

"What is--I mean, who is that?" she asked, sounding both astounded and critical in small amounts--as expected, so Sansu wasn't offended.

Mint wasn't either, and he couldn't help his shameless grin. He shifted his hold on Sansu to free one hand, which he tucked behind his head as if embarrassed. He was really far from it, though. Terramintin just liked to play a bit.

"Seems I got myself in a little bind this morning," he replied with a chuckle, delaying the answer she sought. "A hatching started this morning, you see, and I signed up for it so I could get a really close look at things. Wanted to make a memory to take home and such, since these hatchings are such an important event to the locals."

He looked down at Sansu, then back towards Anova, putting on a face like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar--except such children didn't have to fight back such proud smiles as the one Mint really wanted to wear. "Seems I'll be taking home a lot more than a memory, though."

::Okay, say 'hi' now,:: he sent to his new bond.

Sansu bowed his head as much as his twisted position allowed him to do, and graciously took his turn at speaking. His telepathic 'voice' was young and gentle, sliding carefully into the open portions of the minds he spoke to with absolute courtesy, so one would know he was 'there' before he began to speak and not be startled by a sudden intrusion.

::It is a pleasure to finally meet you, miss Anovadiell. I am Sansu, bonded of your brother Terramintin.::

They expected to be chastised. They expected to hear something along the lines of 'Oh for Stag's sake, Mint, what did you go and do that for?' Maybe they both even hoped, just a little, that she'd be happy for them. They did not expect what they got.

Anova looked on the verge of...something that wasn't a lecture, nor congratulations. "I...hello..." she murmured, and Mint's heart plummeted right into his boots as she forced a feeble little smile. "Hello, Sansu."

"Oh, Stag, Anova..." Gone was the grin, the cheer, the attempt at play. Mint suddenly felt like an absolute boor. It hadn't occurred to him, not even in the slightest, and that made him feel all the worse. He always tried to be so considerate, always tried not to hurt, and now look what he'd gone and done...

He put Sansu on floor and the tiny hatchling shuffled out of the way as Mint hurried over to his sister and dropped to his knees beside her chair. His expression was almost pained as he took up one of Anova's hands and enfolded it in his own, his eyes gone dark with shame.

"Stag, Anova, I'm sorry, I didn't mean..." His struggle to find the words was all but written on his face--he couldn't remember the last time he'd had to apologize to his beloved little sister. She meant the world to him. And here she was, eyes brimming with held-back tears as she lifted his hand and rested her cheek against it--tears that were in her eyes because of him, and that made him want to cry himself.

He wasn't supposed to make her cry. He was supposed to make her smile. But here he'd gone and added one more thing to that terrible list of the things that big, strong Mint could do that sickly little Anova couldn't, and paraded it in her face.

He fought to find the words to tell her what he meant, pleading with his eyes for her to understand. "Honest, I didn't mean to, or I would've asked you along, I swear...I didn't think, it was spur of the moment, I never thought...good Stag, Anova, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you..."

Mint sensed, more than saw, Sansu come up beside his knee, head bowed ashamedly. Through their new-formed bond, Mint knew the little hatchling was aching just as much as he was, and not simply because the bond reflected their emotions at one another. Sansu really had wanted Anovadiell to like him, and was horribly embarrassed to have brought her to tears instead.

"It's...all right," she sniffed to her brother, putting on another smile even though it seemed the tears would spill from her at any moment. "You didn't do anything wrong...you were just--being yourself, and that got someone else to--to love you, too, that's all."

Hearing her say that only made Mint ache even worse on the inside, and he didn't know what to say. It wasn't like he could take Sansu back, or go out and get another dragon for her so she wouldn't have to be jealous of him...

There was a little motion at his side as Sansu leaned onto his hind legs, putting his single-digit 'hands' out on Mint's bent knee for balance as he shyly peeked his head over the arm-rest of Anova's chair.

The newborn gently extended a private line of thought to her, while Mint slowly looked between the two and wondered. ::I would love you too, if you would have me,:: Sansu told her sincerely. ::You are too much a part of my bonded's heart for me to not love you as well...::

Anova laughed weakly, to a confused look from Mint and a tilt of the head from the hatchling. "That's a very sweet thought, Sansu, but I'm not going to try to share 'Mint with you; he's yours, you picked him, and you make him happy. He's just--stuck with me."

Terramintin looked almost like he'd been poleaxed, and even Sansu skewed his ears unsurely at the bitterness in her words. Share me? Mint thought in bewilderment. Share me?

"That's--not how it works, anyway, is it?" Anova was still saying. "One dragon for one person."

::I don't have to be your bond to want be your friend, miss Anovadiell,:: Sansu replied promptly, and for both the half-calyons' mental ears. And on the heels of that:

"Stuck with you?" Mint gaped, surprised half out of his shame and sounding hurt, like he couldn't believe what he'd just heard. "Stuck with--blessed Stag, Anova, is that how you think? You're my sister, Anova, I go where you go because I want to. Sansu's my friend, but you're my family."

The young Tanzanite found a little smile of his own as he pulled Anova's hand back near him, folding it between both of his own and placing a kiss on the backs of her fingers. "If anything, you're stuck with me. It'd take a lot more than one little dragon to drag me off."

::As if I would try.::

As if triggered, the tears in Anova's eyes finally spilled over, and she hurried to wipe them away with her free hand. "You really--feel like that? But I'm--" she broke off, swallowing some tears, and Mint gave her hand a little squeeze, still smiling. Anova didn't cry much at all, but when she did, she fought it, lest she go red and blotchy. Mint found it terribly cute, but of course he never told her so. That was one thing she definitely wouldn't appreciate. It was bad enough she could run the risk of triggering an asthma attack. But it was the moments like these, uncommon as they were, that were reminders that Anova wasn't all steel and ice on the inside. "Thank you," she said softly.

Sansu made a soft, rumbling noise in his throat, and Terramintin grinned a bit. "Anova, you're my sister whom I adore, no less. You're not supposed to thank me for this kind of thing," he chuckled, giving her hand one last squeeze before letting it go, and standing up again. Sansu dropped away as well, thoughtfully watching his bond and his bond's sister, eyeing the latter more than the former. Truly, he hoped Anovadiell would come to like him. He saw so much of her in Mint's heart that the little hatchling knew he already loved her himself.

"So how about we order up some lunch, eh?" Mint smiled, giving the dragon at his feet a properly chagrined little glance. "I think this little guy's all the proof I need that I've been leaving you alone too much while I go romp around the city. I am supposed to be here to keep you company, after all." He gave Anova a little grin in attempt to be playful again--he wanted to see her smiling again, after all. "Don't suppose you're gonna hold it against me, are you?"

" 'Mint, I can't hold anything against you!" she exclaimed in a sniffly response, after wiping her cheeks dry. "I thought you'd know that by now."

"Just making sure," he winked, chuckling.

Anova gave him a smile in turn. "I guess lunch might be good...I haven't eaten."

"Nor have I," Mint seconded, giving his sister's shoulder a little squeeze as he passed her chair to get at the little table at the back of the little living room, and the 'intercom' upon it. Mint didn't know exactly what that meant it was, but he'd figured out how to use it, so hey, it was good enough for him! "So what's your pleasure?"

::Would you get something for me too, please?:: Sansu asked politely.

Mint looked back over his shoulder with a laugh, giving the hatchling a look one part incredulous and three parts amused. "You just ate, Sansu!"

The little purple dragon cocked his head with a puppy-eyed expression. ::That was at least an hour ago...and my sisters were so hungry I...probably didn't eat as much as I should have. So, please? Just a little something?::

Terramintin shook his head, though he was grinning as he did so, and he was happy to hear Anova release a soft giggle. "You're too generous for your own good," he told the hatchling, perfectly aware he was calling the kettle black.

"Sounds like someone else we know," Anova observed, smiling.

Mint chuckled, guilty as charged.