I have two dresses to my name, and the dress I wore in the dream is not one of them. Oh well, it is a special occasion. A friend is stopping by for coffee at the cafe. I suppose I could wear a dress this time, if for no other reason than to turn heads.
Snake came along with me. But not hidden under my clothes as a tattoo, and not draped over my shoulders. The folk of the City are quite proud of their city, and are speciesist with the general attitude of Humans or GTFO. Snake didn’t want to cause trouble (this time), so he accompanied me in his human form.
His choice of clothing didn’t shock anyone. If anything, he became quite the ladies’ man as we walked down the street. After all, a deep green suit, with hints of iridescence in the threads, long straight bronze toned hair, and green feather dangling earrings do catch the eye. I told him if he introduces himself as Quetzalcoatl, I’ll beat him senseless myself. He only laughed.
At the cafe, I asked the server for a table out back. I was expecting an invited guest to join me. And once he arrived, I was expecting the day to become… interesting. She caught the undercurrent of my words and nodded. Snake just smiled and nodded. She stared at him in a “OMG You’re so cute!” way for a few seconds then turned to get a table for us. The usually graceful woman managed to run into another server, and almost into a door after that!
I asked Snake what he did to her. He said she saw a different appearance, one that reflects a myth of her kind. “Oh, when he gets here, she’s going to fangirl over him so hard.” Snake agreed.
Roger came out back to join me. I didn’t tell him welcome, I didn’t tell him to leave. I just smiled. He sat down and eyed Snake for a moment. “He’s not…” I smiled and nodded. “But how?” The server brought our coffees. Snake lifted his mug, and pointed out to me a symbol had been drawn in the foam. He winked and slurped the foam off in one lick of a very long forked tongue. Roger paled and shifted a bit.
We sat quietly for a while. A sudden commotion at the front of the cafe caught everyone’s attention. “Dear Weaver, I do believe your other guest has arrived.” It was all I could do to keep from giggling out loud. The stunned silence that followed the commotion was like candy to me.
The server arrived at the table. “Miss? Your… guest.” Snake and I stood to greet him. Roger sat in fear for a second then scrambled to his feet. Roger said his Hellos, then excused himself and left quickly.
“Well, we’ll get only ten more minutes of peace and quiet before the party crashers come.” I agreed with Snake. The three of us settled down. The server now had two gents to squee over, and she struggled to keep her professional decorum.
The Envoy was the first to intrude. I wrinkled my nose at the sudden blanketing of politics, but a point had to be made. Good thing I’m just a spectator here. Smoke curled around the table and I wished I had the foresight to bring my pipes. This would be perfect churchwarden time, packed with a bowl of Virginia flakes.
Other People of Import came and joined us at the table. I tried to keep up with the conversation, but it was beyond me. I was glad to be with my friends, and content with that. A sudden exhaustion leaned me into Snake. He put an arm around me. “Go ahead, get some sleep. You’re safe here. We can take care of ourselves, and the server is a delightful host.” I mumbled something about not fathering children and he laughed a little too hearty in response. “Not this time.” I accepted that and went to sleep.
I woke up once. Most of the party crashers had left, but a few had remained to have ‘discussions’ with my guest. I guess some chess games are verbal in nature. I noted I had a hat on my head. A tall ‘witch hat’. I glared at Snake who laughed. “A gift.” I’m suspicious of gifts lately. “You’re fine. Nod and say ‘Thank you.’.” But, to who? Snake wouldn’t tell me. I mumbled some thanks and fell back to deeper sleep.
Poor host that I am, I did not know when all had left, or when Snake took me back to the lair. Only that the night ended without incident, and the server has a new coffee recipe.