(OK, do you want to start, or shall I?)

(I'll go)

{After their brief activity, Dianne got dressed and went to get her coat.}

Dianne: "So, what should we get for breakfast?"

Armin was looking at his phone as he got ready to head out.

'I don't mind. It's mostly for you and Esme, so I'll just take you wherever you want to go. That breakfast diner from before is pretty good if you don't know anywhere else.'

Dianne: "Hmm...the diner would be nice...more waffles."

{As she was just about ready, her phone chimed.}

Dianne: "Hmm? Oh, it's Ardens. he wants to meet for dinner with us tonight."

'Huh, that's nice. Did he mention a specific place he wants to meet at?'

//I wonder what Biceras thinks of this,// he mused to himself. //She seemed OK with it before, but who knows.//

Dianne: "A restaurant named Grond's. I know of this place, it's marketed specifically to dragons. He says to meet them at 8:00 pm."

{Typing a quick reply, she puts her phone away and scoops up Esme.}

Dianne: "Ready?"

Armin led the way, breathing in the cool, crisp morning air as he headed out to the car.

'How's a restaurant marketed specifically to dragons? What, does it sell raw deer or something?'

Dianne: "Among other things, yes. They have a section specifically for dragon form patrons and they offer whole animals."

'Hm. Well, it's going to be an interesting experience, I think.'

Armin hopped up into the car, tucking his phone into his pocket.

'Rex is OK, too. He complained about how some of the kids in his school are brats, and how he's still going to punch me when we get back, for not answering my phone. But he seems to be doing well. Job's probably keeping him occupied.'

{Dianne climbs into the car, buckling in.}

Dianne: "That's good to hear. Him doing well, not his plan to punch you. I'm glad he's got something to occupy his mind and time. Now, we just need to get him a girlfriend..."

Armin eyed her sideways as he started the car and headed off.

'Really? First you wanted to matchmake Jerry, now Rex? Are you starting to catch whatever disease Ivy has?'

Dianne: "Noooo..."

{She says, chuckling.}

Dianne: "I'm just looking out for my friends, that's all. To be honest, I'm just worried about Jerry. All this family drama, his dad trying to kill us. I think he just needs someone close to him, you know?"

'Yeah.... I'm concerned about how few people he seems to have close to him. Even if he doesn't have a relationship, he'll need friendly support with everything that's been happening lately. Maybe I should take him out for a drink or something. I don't want him stewing alone over his paperwork.'

Dianne: "I think he'd appreciate that. I can't imagine Ivy is very good company. But, let's not give him any ale. He'll get too drunk too fast."

'He had Akhetian Ale at the post-war party,' said Armin with a hint of fond memory. 'He looked like crap afterwards. Not as bad as us, though. He probably didn't have much. But yeah, I'll be careful. I just want him to do something other than work for once.'

Dianne: "Yeah, something fun. Something to take his mind off things. Remind him that we're here for him."

Armin parked up outside the breakfast diner a couple of minutes later. Jumping out of the truck, he made his way inside the warm, sweet-smelling interior of the diner. Coffee, syrup, eggs, and some other things he couldn't pick out.

{Dianne walked in after him, Esme in hand. Finding a nice table, she sits, waiting for the waitress.}

Dianne: "I want the pancakes again. They were good."

Armin took a moment to idly look through the menu.

'Maybe I'll just have the same thing... If you get Esme those, you might want to cut them into pieces for her.'

Dianne: "Definitely. We don't want her choking on them."

{Putting the menu down, Dianne looks over at Armin.}
Dianne: "So, what should we do today?"

'I'm a bit low on ideas,' said Armin. 'What is there left to do, that we haven't done yet? I'm not sure what else this place holds.'

Dianne: "Yeah, I think after today, we'll arrange our journey back home. But, if you don't have any ideas, there is something I'd like to do. This city has a large antique and artifact market on the edge of the old city. I'd very much like to go browse that before we leave."

'Antiques? I think we can go and take a look at that. If it ends up being too boring for me and Esme, I'll just take her somewhere else while you browse.' He eyed her. 'Are you hoping to find more treasures to hoard?'

Dianne: "I thought that was obvious."

{She states with a grin.}

Dianne: "And it's all going on display at your place."

Armin groaned. 'You'd better be careful...' he said warningly. 'I don't want my house turned into a museum.'

Dianne: "And what if I make it a museum anyway?"

{She asks innocently, but mischievously.}

Armin met her gaze. He looked quite serious, though had the faintest suggestion of a smirk on his face.

'I'll think of something. Maybe I'll persuade Luxia to come over and turn them all into something else.'

{Dianne makes am exaggerated gasp.}

Dianne: "You wouldn't dare. Besides, while she's at it, I'd ask her to change your precious truck into something unnatural. Maybe a giant pram...."

Waitress: "Ahem...ready to order?"

Armin opened his mouth to argue, then faltered and turned to see the waitress standing there. 'Oh, yeah, sorry. I think we're having... three orders of pancakes, and I'll have a hot chocolate.'

Dianne: "A coffee for me, and a bowl of milk for the little one."

Waitress: "Ok, that'll be right out."

Armin watched the waitress leave, then turned back to Dianne.

'I'm serious, you know. You're not filling my house with treasure. Some stuff is alright, but you'd better watch it.'

{Dianne just laughs, shoving him playfully.}

Dianne: "Would you relax? I'll just fill the store room and basement, no problem. What's wrong with me having a hobby?"

'Nothing. I said it's fine, as long as you don't go overboard. Nobody uses the storeroom or basement, so you can put whatever you want in there.'

Dianne: "Define overboard."

{She asks innocently. However, her mischievous look remains.}

''Overboard', meaning, I don't want to wake up one morning to find twenty creepy statues staring at me from across the bedroom,' said Armin, in a mildly exasperated tone.

Dianne: "Alright, I think I can control myself."

{She leans forward, kissing his cheek.}

Dianne: "I'll just fill everywhere else with statues."

Armin's mouth twitched into a reluctant smirk and he settled back, waiting for their food.

'I've got to ask... what is the appeal of hoarding all these objects? I'm not criticising your hobby, but... as someone who's not a dragon, I don't quite get it. I'd understand if they were sentimental keepsakes, but if there's no meaning tied to them, then what's the point?'

Dianne: "It's instinctual. We seek to have the most beautiful and valuable of hoards. Of course, Different dragons have different preferences. Esme likes pebbles, Biceras likes weapons and armor."

'It does seem to vary a lot. Ryder apparently hoards /dice./ And I knew a dragon back in Shacklestone who kept a hoard of little model cars. I wonder if Ardens has anything.'

Dianne: "Ardens like gold, like me. We used to fight over spoils all the time. Oh, how it was worth the burns...Heheheh."

'You dragons...' Armin shook his head with a faint smile. 'Well, I guess we'll go check out this market later. If you see anything, you can get it. Just don't go crazy and spend /all/ your money on artifacts.'

Dianne: "I have so much money, I doubt that will happen. I'm secretly rich, remember? "

'Well, yes. I suppose it's not really a problem what we spend our money on. I'm just not used to having that much.'

Dianne: "Well, I'm not a wasteful spender, so we don't have to worry about that. I can't imagine Sargon let you all have much in the way of money. Boy, am I glad Ivy doesn't have access to my account..."

'Sargon didn't pay his minions much. There were too many of us. Most had other ways of making money, whether it was doing normal jobs, or... dealing in contraband, human trafficking, blood trafficking, assassination, stealing... I lived on practically nothing, but hey, at least I didn't need to buy food.'

Dianne: "Oh...Now I don't feel so bad for slaughtering them all...But now, you will want for nothing. Not that you had expensive tastes to begin with."

{Just then, the waitress arrives with their food.}

Armin murmured thanks and drank some of his hot chocolate.

'No, I usually prefer things simple. Even growing up, we weren't too rich, so I'm used to it. But I suppose it's nice to be able to buy whatever I want now.'

Dianne: "Just don't let the wealth get to your head. Seen that happen to a lot of people. They get a lot of money, then they start thinking they're better than everyone."

{Taking Esme's plate, Dianne begins to cut up her pancakes.}

Armin set his drink down and tried a bit of his pancakes.

'Has that happened to you yet?' he said mischievously.

{Dianne pushes the plate of cut pancakes to Esme, chuckling.}

Dianne: "Nooo...Wealth is but a resource. It has no measure of one's true nature."

{She then begins to eat her own pancakes.}

Esme snapped up pieces of pancake, in between gulps of milk to wash it down. Armin continued eating in companionable silence, not feeling a need to talk right at that moment. He was looking forward to their meeting with Ardens and Biceras later, wondering what would happen and what the dragon restaurant would be like.

{Dianne ate in silence as well. She was very much enjoying her meal, whilst thinking about what they were planning on doing that day.}

When Esme was finished, she tried to jump down and leave. Armin, who was also finished, grabbed her before she could run off.

'So, are we going to this market right now, or do you want to do anything else first?'

{Dianne just shrugs, leaning back and stretching.}

Dianne: "I had nothing in mind. Why, looking to do something before hand?"

'Well, I was just trying to think. I mean, we can't stay at that market from now until 8PM tonight.'

He contemplated briefly while holding Esme on his lap.

'I heard there's a golf course up north. I used to play, just for fun, a long time ago. You ever played golf?'

Dianne: "No. I always thought it sounded mind numbingly boring."

{Going through her purse, she collects the money to pay for their meal.}

Armin raised his eyebrows a little. 'Rude. Alright, I guess we'll just go to this mind-numbingly boring marketplace then.'

Dianne: "Hey now, I didn't mean it like that, no reason to get cranky. If you really want to, we can golf after the market."

{Standing, she leaves the money on the table and beckons Armin to follow her out.}

Armin let Esme down so she could walk by herself, then followed Dianne out to the car.

'You know, they also do fishing trips on the lake, where you rent a boat and sail out to catch fish...'

Dianne: "Oh, that could be fun. So long as I don't fall in..."

Armin unlocked the truck and climbed in.

'I'm just suggesting anything I can think of. If you're sure you're OK with that, then we'll go. But I don't want to take you out on the lake if it's going to scare you half to death.'

{Dianne climbed in as well, sitting Esme on her lap.}

Dianne: "No, no, I'll be ok. It'll be fun, using a fishing rod off the side of the boat. If I fall in, I'll just shift...no problem..."

{Despite her words, she seemed a little apprehensive.}

'You're not going to fall in. Unless you deliberately throw yourself over the side. And even if you do fall, you'll be fine,' said Armin reassuringly. 'If you couldn't swim in dragon form, there would be no way in hell I'd let you near deep water.'

Dianne: "Ok, well, let's do that. It's not like it's the ocean or anything...where there's no land for miles and you can't possibly fly to it, and you'll just tire and fall in to the nameless abyss...no, no, it just a small lake..."

Armin glanced at her out of the corner of his eye with a look of mild concern, then put his foot on the accelerator and headed off.

'Alright, just direct me to where this market is, then,' he said, once he was back on the road.

Dianne: "To the east, at the start of the old city. Look for brick buildings."

Armin followed her directions and headed towards the edge of the old city. It was a fairly long drive, which he remained quiet throughout. As they drew close to the old city, he saw the brick buildings and slowly headed in that direction, still unsure what he was looking for.

{Sure enough, large signs began appearing, reading "Antique Market turn right". Soon, a sea of booths appeared along the streets.}

Dianne: "Here we are. Find a place to park."

Navigating around the other parked cars, he found a spot big enough for their truck. Stopping there, he unbuckled himself and started to climb out, looking around curiously.

{Dianne hopped out and began walking for the booths. They were absolutely stuffed with old junk. Antique phones, jewelry, Knick-knacks, liscense plates, fine China, silverware, among other things.}

Dianne: "Hmm...this is all a bit too modern for my tastes...let's keep looking."

Armin trailed behind her, letting Esme walk by herself, but keeping one hand lightly on her wing to stop her from leaving his side.

'Yeah, I see old phones and licence plates. That's definitely modern by your standards... Can't wait to see what you consider old...'

{Dianne just smirks at him as she walks along. Eventually, they came across a booth that advertised "haunted and cursed items." The booth was run by a squirelly looking old man in a top hat and cane.}

Man: Step right up and browse with caution! Every item here is afflicted with the rage of the dam.ned! Welcome to Uncle Erasmus' Haunted Emporium!"

{Dianne crosses her arms, squinting at the booth.}

Esme looked up at the strange man curiously, sniffing the air. Everything around here smelled old and musty and she wasn't sure she liked it.

'Yeah, sure,' Armin muttered. 'I bet that's just a sales pitch and none of that junk is haunted.'

Dianne: "Actually, a fair bit of it is. And by some pretty nasty specters at that...Not quite as nasty as Barnabas, but still not the sorts you'd want to take home."

Erasmus: "Ah, I see you have a discerning eye regarding the supernatural, eh? Perhaps you'd be interested in this haunted set of surgical instruments?"

Dianne: "No thank you, I've quite enough ghosts at home as it is. And the one haunting those seems distraught that their life was cut short on the operating table...from the looks of it, they were a soldier from the warring period..."

Erasmus: "Ah, are you an Oracle?"

Armin grimaced slightly as he listened. //Soldier who died during an operation? How nice...//

He glanced at Esme to see if she was at all disturbed by this talk, but the dragon didn't really understand it and was just gazing around at the booths.

Dianne: "Not exactly..."

Erasmus: "But you can hear them?"

Dianne: "Hear them, see them, unbind them from their items..."

Erasmus: "Then you must be quite powerful. I can only hear them, myself."

Dianne: "Be grateful for that, they aren't pleasant to look at."

{She walks into the booth, approaching a wardrobe.}

Dianne: "Yeah, there's something really bad in there. A revenant, I think. And people buy this stuff, knowing the terrible stowaways inside?"

Erasmus: "Yes, there's quite a following. They think it's a fascinating oddity. However, the return rate of these items is incredibly high."

'I think you need a better job...' Armin muttered, though too low for Erasmus to hear it. He looked up at the wardrobe with trepidation. 'Wait, so a /wardrobe/ is capable of containing a really bad spectral monster?'

(Are you continuing that?)

(Yeah, I accidentally pressed post. XD)

Dianne: "I sure hope they know what they're getting into...Nasty stuff, it is."

Erasmus: "Well, I give them the warning, they still buy it."

{Dianne walks out of the booth, taking one last look at the items.}

Dianne: "Well, I'm going to keep browsing. It was nice to meet you, Erasmus. As for the rest of you, try to follow me, and I'll stuff you all into Oblivion."

{That last part was directed at the items on display.}

Armin didn't hesitate in following her, glancing back warily at the haunted artifacts booth on the way out. Esme slunk along beside him.

'Well, that wasn't creepy at all... They're not following us, are they?'

Dianne: "No. They could tell I was an acolyte, so they know not to screw with me."

{Walking briskly, she heads to another booth, stopping to look at a marble statue. It looked like a buff werewolf with a bow and arrow and a pack of dogs at his feet. It was clearly carved to make the werewolf look as majestic as possible.}

Dianne: "...Kynigos...as seen by his werewolf acolytes....turn of the 18th century...not bad, but I know how you feel about werewolves..."

Armin viewed the statue neutrally.

'It's not so bad. It's not creepy, at least. I'd prefer not to have a werewolf statue in my house... but I'd rather have ten of these than one of those cursed objects...'

Dianne: "Don't worry, if I buy any cursed objects, I'll just de-curse them. But, I'm not into Kynigos related objects anyway."

{Walking a little further along, she stops to observe a booth of old armors.}

Dianne: Hmm...I recognise some of these..."

'You probably recognise a lot of old armour,' Armin observed, 'given that you've lived through several time periods.'

Dianne: "Yes...People in this armor have tried to kill me. That's ancient Vallian. That's Gorlian. That's modern Sovereign, how'd that get here?"

{She then walks over to the weapons. They had swords, pikes, maces war hammers, all sorts of things.}

Dianne: "Cool. Reckon any are enchanted?"

'Not sure.' Armin reached over to run a finger along the edge of the nearest sword. 'They're quite cool. But since this is antiques, I bet they're too old and worn to be of any actual use.'

Dianne: "Not necessarily. It depends on the material and how well it was taken care of."

Shopkeeper: "Ah, have an interest in fine weapons, do you?"

{They were approached by a hunchback old woman, the one who owned all the arms and armor.}

Shopkeep: "If it's enchanted weapons you want, I have a few of those. Here, here..."

{She beckons for them to follow.}

Armin started to follow, curiously but with a hint of caution, making sure Esme was staying nearby.

'Depends what kind of enchantment they have.'

{She led them into a covered tent, which had display cases. There were quite a few weapons, some glowed, others hummed.}

Shopkeep: "Here. Be careful, some of these are quite deadly. Quite deadly indeed."

{Dianne began to look at all the cases. She then approaches one with a green glow to it.}

Dianne: "What does this one do?"

Shopkeep: "That one's a Fang of the Great Serpent. Only a few hundred were made, to be the weapons of an ancient cult. They have an inexhaustible supply of venom, making them quite dangerous."

(posting new room)