After expending all her mana reserves on placing in the tournament, Fia saw no harm in a quick break. She had most certainly earned it. Her tail twitched with an eagerness to try the citrus ice promised by Bagwis. Already, her keen eyes could spot the violet dragon waiting with Ori further down the street. It'll taste even better since he's paying for it, Fia thought, allowing her to suspend her constant monetary worries for now.

Viliant permitted himself no such luxury. His claws bit into the wooden planks where he stood. Unless citrus ice is a fancy way to say 'salted meat', Viliant snapped, we're too busy for that!

Like her stubborn friend, Fia also paused in the middle of the street—halfway between Viliant and Ori. It won't take that long. We'll buy meat for the trip right after!

Viliant remained unconvinced and refused to dignify Fia's persistent flippancy with a remark.

Diwa doubled back to him and paced around the glaring dragonet. Their telepathy excluded Fia, as the dragoness attempted to draw out Viliant's softer side.

Don't worry, Diwa told him. My parents will help get your rations together. You're still a dragonet. Let yourself enjoy simple things for once.

The lower half of Viliant's eyes pinched upward, pressing his eyes into a tighter angle. No. I'm not so simple-minded.

I never thought you'd say 'no' to food! Diwa gasped, bobbing her head up and down.

Viliant offered no reply. He suppressed the feeling of his insatiable hunger over telepathy, even if he could not stop his mouth from salivating.

Try as he might to conceal his desire for new food, Fia could see the evident and eager hunger in Viliant's eyes. Fia trotted back to his side and nudged the back of her dragon paws against his legs. "Join us! It'd be nice. That's how you got your job. Bagwis and Ori are super nice!"

A series of blinks blotted Fia from Viliant's view until he began to see the pink dragonette's disposition in a new light. While they stood stationary with Diwa nearby, the dragons and humans of the city parted around them. The strangers passed in chatter and laughter, going about their daily lives. Fia's boundless capacity to make friends had benefitted them here, where the rules of civilization barred the worst from happening.

I suppose… it would be nice, Viliant admitted. I'll go along with this, but only because we'll have our rations taken care of. The black dragonet shot his piercing gaze back to Diwa, expecting her to hold her word.

The green dragoness closed her eyes and nodded. Her tail could not curl into a happier smile.

Viliant was the only dragon in their company who still kept his tail lagged, straight and distrustful.

It's okay. Relax! Fia pranced and led the way over to Bagwis and Ori. The confidence in her mind sought to soothe Viliant, making him feel embarrassed which caused him to rescind their telepathic connection once again. Fia giggled and focused on her new friends. "Hi Ori!" Her attention shot up to Bagwis. "Thanks again for introducing us to your friend, Pako." With an elated roar, she announced, "Viliant got the job!"

Viliant stayed firmly behind Fia. He looked away from the raised wings of the dragons all around him, instead focusing on the distant ones that flew overhead.

Ori's pearly eyes grew wide. The gray dragonette capered in front of Fia and leaned into Viliant's line of sight. "You're shy," she stated as a simple observation. "Just like me! Don't be. We're gonna have citrus ice!" Ori skipped to lead them to one of the more colorful stalls on the street.

A tarp had a flowing pattern of orange, green, yellow, and some thin streaks of pink. Behind the flimsy, wooden counter, the human vendor managed a few buckets. The blue tinge of magic at his palm caused an ice block to shatter into pieces. With a soft smile on his lips, he continually cast a spell to grind the ice into a crunchy, whitish mash.

Next, the vendor mage levitated the icy snowball into the air. With a finger pointed downward, he dipped it into a bucket of a greenish, foggy juice. The chuck of ice came back out, dripping in the same color. The man floated the frozen treat over to a human child who eagerly bounced up and down. "Here you are: lime ice!" the vendor said with a broad smile.

"Thank you, mister!" The boy's mother paid for his candy. Then, they walked away together. The kid held his mother's fingers in one hand and clutched his lime-flavored citrus ice in the other.

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Are you sure we can eat that? Viliant asked, his nostrils wrinkled and flared. Humans will eat anything—even leaves.

It's mostly water, Diwa reassured him.

Fia dashed alongside Ori so that they could be the next children in line. The two dragonettes craned their necks to watch the creation of citrus ice all over again.

"What flavor?" the vendor asked, leaning his elbow on the counter so that he could get a better look at the dragonettes.

"Lime. Wait—no. Orange!" Ori flipped her head back to her father so she could ask him, "Can I have two?"

"Just one is plenty," Bagwis said.

"Please?" Ori asked in a long, whiny tone.

Fia had planned to ask which flavor Ori recommended since she never had any citrus ice before. However, this kerfuffle made her choice easy. "I want lime!" she told the human vendor. Fia's tail flicked into a smile and tapped Ori's side. "Let's share. That way, we can have both lime and orange!"

The slitted pupils in Ori's pearly eyes dilated. She nodded her chin fervently. "Yes! You're not only strong but also smart, Fia!"

As the man soaked their freshly shaved ice in the appropriate bins, his attention lifted to Viliant who lagged behind the two dragonettes. The smile never left his lips, and he tilted his head to the side. "Will there be any for the black dragonet?"

Viliant stepped forward, his eyes unblinking at the human. A single word was spat from his maw, too low for any of them to hear: "Blood."

"Sorry," the human vendor said, leaning closer. "What was that?"

"Blood. Do you have a blood one?" He struggled over his words to make the question seem innocuous.

"We ran out."

That figures. Viliant stared at his claws, unhappy that he would be forced to try an unfamiliar flavor that was unnatural to a carnivore like him. He glared at the human, knowing that the man had plenty of blood in his veins.

"You could have blood orange," Ori suggested. "It doesn't taste anything like blood, but orange is my favorite!"

Viliant stared at the buckets of colorful liquid. "Then pink," he said instead. "I want pink." He had no idea what the pink-colored juice would taste like, but it was his next favorite color after the red of blood. Viliant's eyes flicked to the rosy scales of his best friend.

"Grapefruit for the dragonet!" The vendor set to making a third ball of ice for Viliant. Once done, he floated all three orders in front of the respective dragonets at the same time. His smile grew just as broad as when he had looked at the human kid. "Enjoy!"

Each of the dragonets took their dessert. Fia and Viliant carefully balanced it in their claws. Ori chomped off half the ice ball, then took the remainder in her paw. "Mm!" A noise squeaked through her clenched fangs as she sucked out the flavors of the ice.

While Bagwis paid the vendor, the dragonets walked to the side where they could divvy their portions. Ori extended her other half to Fia, but before the pink dragonette accepted it, she glanced to Viliant.

His tail drooped all the lower, curled against the wooden planks of the street. Viliant stared intensely at the curious ball of pink ice. Are you sure that human doesn't put poison in the stuff that's given to dragons?

Diwa came over with a larger serving of citrus ice that she had bought for herself. She snuffled her nose in the center and looked at Viliant with some slushy droplets stuck to her snout. Yep! I grew up on this stuff. I'm positive it's fine.

Since Viliant's skepticism was not serious, Fia tried to invite him to also exchange flavors. "Do you want to trade with Ori too?"

Viliant gaped at Fia as though she were insane. No. I'll only trade with you.

"Great!" Fia said. She gave Viliant a quarter of her lime ice and half of the remaining orange ice. In turn, she received half of his grapefruit ice ball. Her claws then cut the pink ice in two and passed some to Ori.

"Ooh! Thank you." Ori gobbled up the lime and grapefruit ice, one after the other.

Viliant stared at the gluttonous dragonette, flabbergasted. That wasn't for her! That was for you, Fia— A cold sensation in his claws quelled his thoughts.

Fia pressed both a quarter of lime and orange ice into Viliant's claws. You did trade with me.

Though Viliant squinted at both of their portions, unable to help feeling that Fia had given Ori too much. Even so , he let it slide. "Thanks," he mumbled.

Fia ate each kind of ice, savoring the unique flavors. First, she sampled the tart lime that she had ordered for herself. Next, she licked the tangy orange juice off the roof of her mouth. Lastly, she suckled the sweetness from the grapefruit ice. The acerbic, citrus aftertastes melded in her mouth.

With his flighty eyes constantly observing Fia, Viliant tasted his ice in the same order. His tongue flicked out to test the zesty lime first, then hastily chomped it down when he saw Fia had already moved on to the next. Just as hesitant to try the orange ball, Viliant gnashed his teeth through it after Fia had finished savoring it. Some crumbs of ice tumbled from his jaws. By the time that he tried the grapefruit ice last, he nibbled at the pink, melty snowball.

"Those were wonderful!" Fia gushed, her curiosity sated as she swallowed the chilled water. "You were right, Ori. I really like citrus ice too!"

It was pretty good, Viliant admitted, especially appreciative of the bitterness which lingered on his tongue. Since the dragonets had finished their celebratory treat, his mind drifted back to their preparations.