Erin sucked in some air when the blue-haired girl walked in. Her eyes glanced at the dirty puddles her shoes left, and the thought of cleaning it up made her sigh inside. Rain often meant less customers. Good for her mood, less so for her mother, but the mud and dirt trails that dragged behind the soles of every customer was a pain to clean. She still held back any disgust upon her face though, looking down at the girl with a genial, graceful smile. The smile of a young man. Erin never looked like a girl, and she gave up on trying after transferring schools.

Erin's face did her with the ladies though, something her mother always seemed to be exasperated by. Still, no one could argue with the results. When Erin manned the counter, girls showed their interest in ways that helped balance the books.

Perhaps this blue-haired girl would be no different.

"How may I serve you?" greeted Erin, winking at Taiga. Winking usually meant something intimate, but the one thing Erin's mother told her was that the wallet was the most important part of a customer to be intimate with.

"N͡o̕,͝ w҉e're̶ ͝n͢ot fuc͘k͏in̢g͠ t̷a҉lking͘ ͡a҉b̷o̕ut a͏ ̸fuc͜k̴íng ̵r̨e̸b͟el͘li͞on͜! Get the͜ f҉ùck҉ o̢ut!"

Erin's attention immediately shot upstairs. The office where her mother did the accounts. Whoever was there, talking to her, got up there without Erin's notice. And understood the dragon language. She didn't understand it herself, but knew how it sounded like. From the corner of her eyes, she saw and remembered Taiga.

"Sorry!" She looked back at the girl. The sides of her face creased upwards in an uneasy smile. "It's... uh..."

A red haired man, perhaps in his thirties, stumbled down the stairs, his businessman-like clothing in a dishevelled mess. He rested himself with one hand on a nearby wall, then looked at the counter.

Or to Erin, he glared. With a gulp, she could sense the anger in him. The indignity of a dragon, stuck in a form of those they thought were weaker than them. He wanted power, and he was denied his birthright.

The glare stayed with Erin even as he looked away and exited the cafe. Fortunately, no one else saw it. No one but the blue-haired girl.

"Uh.... weird things happen. Can I have your number?" Erin quipped nervously. She never asked for numbers from girls and never gave hers out when asked. But the mere prospect of obtaining Erin's handphone number had an effect on girls she couldn't qualify.