Tyrallin sat with his friends in one of the small nooks at a table on the first floor of the Velvet Shadow. Atsayal sat in Jerrik's lap, an arm around the sire's shoulders.

"Come on, Tyra," Sally said over the dance music as she leaned across the table toward him. "It's just after midnight. We've been dancing for hours. Can't we just go home?"

"You giving up, Sally?" Tyra teased. However, in truth, he was getting tired, as well. He took another sip of his water bottle to rehydrate. "We haven't met Bowzer yet. We should give it a bit more time."

"How do you know they haven't left by now?" Sally demanded.

Tyra shrugged casually. "I was talking with some other fans. They went out back to see if they could wait and catch the band leaving. Some guy with the band shooed them away, saying the band was at a party upstairs, and nobody's allowed to wait in back for them. They said they went to check back again later, but some security was there."

"Boo," Sally muttered. "But I read in every magazine that the Bowzer boys always come out after a gig and give autographs to the fans. I can't imagine they're just staying with the elite guests, but obviously that's what's happening. Ah shoot." She grabbed her glass of soda and drank the rest down in one gulp.

"Maybe we should ask again?" Atsayal proposed. "One of those intimidating security guys should know. And if they tell us Bowzer's definitely not coming down again, we still can leave."

"Like security's going to tell us anything," said Tyra. "They probably don't even know. Dammit, and I promised Feadri an autograph. Auuggh, Forests, this suuuuucks!" Tyra leaned back his head on the backrest of his chair and shouted this last part.

Somehow, the shout felt really, really good to Tyra. Somehow, it turned into a howl.

Jerrik, of course, picked it right up and howled as well.

Then, amazingly, so did someone else at another one of the tables. Then someone on the dance floor began a howl.

The sounds of the howls were primitive, basic, and they felt wickedly good and throbbed in time with the dance music that pounded through the room.

Sally laughed uproariously. "Look at what you boys started! Oh, hell, ARRROOO!"

Tyra grinned. Suddenly he felt that his energy had been restored, and he got up to head back to the dance floor. "Come on, let's dance!"

The howling continued as they walked to the dance floor, growing louder with every moment. More people joined in until it seemed that everyone was howling their lungs out.

The friends were so deeply rapt that it took them a moment to realize that suddenly the shouting and howling grew shrill, excited. There was movement in the crowd, and several security men squeezed through.

"It's them! It's Bowzer!" Jerrik suddenly shouted, being able to get a brief look at the backstage entrance. Four familiar, multicolored heads showed up there.

Tyrallin stopped and fell silent as Jaydin took the stage and howled back at them. All the other dancers on the floor also quieted at the sound of Jaydin's howl.

The alpha dog had arrived.

Jaydin picked up a mic that was on the stage and turned it on. "Hey, I can't see where the DJ is located, but can we can get this techno crap shut off? I'd like to be able to talk to the people here. And can I get some full lights up here on the stage?"

There was a bit of a delay, but his requests were seen to in fairly short order. When the music stopped, Tyrallin felt the impact of the sudden hush like a jolt to his body.

"Okay now, folks," Jaydin continued. "I got some pictures here for you, and we're going to have a bit of unplanned signing fun." The crowd cheered wildly at that, which caused Jaydin to laugh delightedly and wave his hands at them. "All right, all right, shut up, I get it. Eager fuckers, aren't you?" Everybody laughed at this, including Jaydin and even the other band members. "Look, sorry I made you wait. Now, listen up, I'm screwing with security, so you all are gonna behave and play nice, right? The four of us are going to sit on the edge of the stage for signing things, and here's how I want you guys to do this." And Jaydin started explaining how he wanted them to line up, and the crowd followed his directions.

Tyra was impressed with Jaydin all over again. He was a consummate leader. And, thank the Forests, he was actually going to be able to get that autograph for Feadri.

"Hey, come on!" Sally tugged at his shirtsleeve. "We have to get in line if you want autographs from all the boys! I have no idea how many pics they have for signing, but I don't want to be the only one who doesn't get one!"

Tyra followed her and got in line, with Atsayal and Jerrik right behind them. The line was winding through the room already, but the waiting would be worth it.

Gradually, they made progress to the front of the line. At some point, some music started up again, but it was kept much softer than before to allow for easy conversation between fans and band members. It was also, Tyra noted, no longer techno dance music. Someone had switched the music genre to rock and alternative.

Finally they neared their goal. The band had formed a receiving line at the front of the stage, and the first person everyone in line would meet would be Dean, followed by Kale, then Istaris, and finally Jaydin. Near the front of the receiving line, a man was handing out eight-by-ten-inch photographs. "One per person!" the man was saying over and over again.

Damn, Tyra thought. Guess I'm just getting Feadri's autograph. I'll get one for myself in the future, he promised himself.

Contrary to Sally's fears, they each got a print from the man. The band members were very efficient in signing, and although Kale and Dean just smiled briefly and didn't say anything to Tyra, Istaris gave him a dazzling smile as he took the photograph from Tyra.

"So, what should I write, cutie?" he asked.

Tyrallin was completely snared by Istaris's smile. The word cutie echoed in his pointed ears, and all higher brain functions ceased operation. An unintelligent "Uh," was all he could manage.

Atsayal came up behind Tyra and patted his shoulder sympathetically. "Istaris, would you please make it out to his little brother, Feadri, F-e-a-d-r-i?"

Tyra simply nodded in agreement, and both of the lifebearers had a good laugh at his expense.

"Aww, so you pass up on an autograph for your little bro's sake? That's very sweet of you," Istaris said, signing the photograph and handing it back to Tyra. "See you around, cutie. Next time you see us, you get your autograph, too."

Tyra nodded again, still unable to say anything. But he tried to get a grip on himself as he finally stood in front of Jaydin.

Jaydin was chatting casually with Sally, whose print he had already signed. As soon as Sally noticed Tyra approaching, she grabbed his arm and introduced him.

"And this is my best friend, Tyrallin," Sally said with a huge smile. "He's the one that got us all started listening to you almost six years ago."

Jaydin eyed Tyra speculatively. "Six years ago? Really?" He held out his hand for the photograph, and Tyra gave it to him. "We only really made a name for ourselves four years ago."

"Yeah, when the song 'Broken Real Lives' hit number one," Tyra said with a big grin. "But I caught a sample of your music on the Internet a few years before that. I told my friends you guys were going to be big."

Jaydin gave him a genuine smile. "That's great, man, that's really great. Hey, thanks for sticking with us. What's your name again?" He waved his sharpie over the photograph meaningfully.

"I'm Tyra, but hey, can you please make it out to my little brother, Feadri? He wanted to come tonight, but he's underage. It's F-e-a-d-r-i."

"Of course." Jaydin put his flourished signature on the photograph. "Hope you had fun tonight! We sure did."

"The concert was phenomenal!" Tyra took the photograph back and shook Jaydin's hand with an enthusiastic "thank you!" Then he and Sally both stepped to the side so Jerrik and Atsayal could meet Jaydin. When Jerrik and Atsayal joined them, the four of them headed for one of the available tables.

"Okay, so you completely fumbled it with Istaris, but you made a decent recovery at the end there," Sally said to Tyra.

"Oh, shut up," Tyrallin snapped peevishly. "He just...caught me off guard, that's all."

"What?" Jerrik asked. "Did I miss something good?"

Sally and Atsayal grinned. "Our Tyra got all flustered when Istaris called him a 'cutie'," Atsayal told Jerrik. "He couldn't get out one word! Totally smitten, I'd say. And here I thought your big idol was Jaydin?"

"Yeah, well, Jaydin doesn't have all that long, white hair and cute little rounded ears. And Jaydin didn't call me 'cutie' either." Tyrallin looked away and hoped he wasn't blushing too hard, but he could feel that the points of his ears were hot. To distract himself, he flagged down a waiter and ordered a glass of rum.

Sally and Atsayal, however, made sounds like a pair of drunken hyenas.

"Cute round ears?" Sally gasped. "Now that's something I didn't know about you!"

Jerrik, who sat right next to Tyra, threw an arm around his friend's shoulders and took on a fake mournful expression. "But alas, the object of his affections is a famous star and won't be available for poor Tyra to nibble on those cuuute ears. What to do?"

Tyrallin gave Jerrik a swift, playful punch in the side, causing his friend to yelp indignantly. "Come on, guys, would you leave me alone?"

They ignored him, of course.

"Weeell, what to do? We can't have our poor friend pine away the whole evening," Atsayal said. "I think it would be best he found another set of cute rounded ears for himself."

Jerrik nodded. "But there's the problem. He doesn't dare to approach anyone."

"Come on, be fair," Sally came to Tyra's defense. "Maybe he just hasn't found anyone here he likes? There are some very cheap floozies out there, if you noticed."

"Would you guys quit talking about me like I'm not even here?!" Tyra demanded. The waiter returned and set a glass of rum in front of him.

Jerrik grinned at him. "What, are we hitting too close to home? Come on, man, you had the whole evening to find yourself a nice, pretty lifebearer to dance with. And all you did was dance with Sally — as usual."

Tyra fidgeted with his glass of rum. "Sally's a good dance partner. And I could have hit on anyone I wanted to. I didn't see anyone that really sparked my interest." What he said was at least partly true. He'd seen several lifebearers who had been very appealing, but he hadn't felt compelled to try to strike up a conversation with any of them.

"Not interested, my ass! I say you're just too shy." Jerrik crossed his arms in front of his chest and glanced at his best friend with an open challenge in his eyes. "I've known you for ages, and you can't fool me."

"Come on, Jerrik. Let him be," Sally urged, but Atsayal put a hand on her shoulder. "Let the sires fight that one out alone, Sally-sugar."

Tyra rudely pointed directly at Jerrik's face. "I am not too shy. I'll make you eat those words. Besides, who was the one who came running to me when he couldn't figure out what to say to interest a certain lifebearer?" Tyrallin glanced pointedly at Atsayal.

"But I'm together with Atsayal now, aren't I?" Jerrik shot back. "You couldn't get a guy's number even if your life depended on it!"

Tyrallin narrowed his eyes. "The hell I couldn't. I could get any guy's number here if I wanted to, as long as he's got an interest in other guys."

"You want to bet on this?" Jerrik challenged. "I pick out a guy in this room, and you have to get his name and number. If a miracle happens and you manage it, you get the nifty new skateboard I just ordered. If not, you'll pay my concert ticket."

He knew the skateboard Jerrik was talking about. It was a sweet little piece of street surfing, and Tyra would love to call it his own. "One condition: If you pick a human male or sire and it turns out he doesn't like guys, I get to come back and you have to pick out somebody else. If you agree to that, you're on!"

"Done! But no cheating, man!" Jerrik and Tyra shook hands, then Jerrik stood up to scan the crowd. Atsayal did so, too, and even Sally, despite her open disgust about such macho behavior, started to look for an appropriate target.

But it was really difficult. There were a lot of good-looking guys there, but some wore very revealing clothes and danced in a decidedly slutty fashion. Others were clearly dancing with girls.

Suddenly Jerrik grinned and pointed out to the bar. "Tyra, you see the red-haired guy in the black suit? Go get him!"

Tyra stood up and peered in the direction that Jerrik pointed. At the bar, sitting alone, was the selected lashran. Tyra could see his profile clearly. He had soft-looking auburn hair that reached his chin. His pouty lips were turned down in a half frown, and his glasses perched upon a pert nose. His skin shone faintly in the way lashran skin always tended to do. His business suit was perfectly tailored.

Not an easy target. Of course, he hadn't expected Jerrik to make this easy for him.

"I see him," Tyra said. He took a quick gulp of his rum and started making his way to the bar.

When Tyra was out of earshot, Sally said to Jerrik, "Is that a lifebearer or a sire?"

Jerrik laughed with delight. "You got me there. I can't even tell!"

Tyrallin approached the other lashran at a slow but steady pace. He observed the lashran, took in the heavy mood that seemed to linger about him. A fierce wave of nerves suddenly swept over Tyra, but he forced it back. This was a challenge, so it was no longer just a personal matter.

He steeled himself and put on what he hoped was one of his more charming smiles. Then he went up and leaned against the bar next to the redhead.

"Hey there," he said casually. It wasn't much, but it got the lashran's attention. "You know, I was thinking I'd like to ask you to dance, but you don't seem to be dressed for it. Then I thought about asking if I could buy you a drink, but it looks like you're having water." Tyra gestured to the glass in front of the redhead. "So, I decided on a simpler question: What's your name?"

Elain gazed at the young sire who had approached him. He was tall and well-built, with blond, spiky hair, and a set of open hazel eyes in a handsome face. His stylish clubbing outfit betrayed a true fan of Bowzer, and his pleasant, unaccented voice told of a good education.

Although Elain was in no mood for a decent conversation anymore, this approach was refreshing in its natural boldness. And more, the young sire seemed to have no idea who Elain was. Obviously his effort to stay anonymous was paying off among the guests who where not VIPs. And frankly he'd had enough of those VIPs for the evening.

"For such an observant person, it would only be appropriate to introduce yourself first, don't you think?" Elain answered, sipping on his water.

Tyra smiled widely. He hadn't been told to get lost! In fact, he'd been invited to talk more. So far so good. He took a seat on the bar stool next to the other lashran.

"I'm Tyrallin Alwick. My friends call me Tyra. I'm..." for the barest second, he almost said his age, but decided against it, "well, I'm a big Bowzer fan. I started listening to them before they became popular. This is the first time I've been to the Velvet Shadow. Let's see, what else? I like to read. A lot. And I own an ugly car. There now, does that count for an introduction?" He smiled warmly at the other lashran.

Come on, pretty thing, Tyra silently begged. Tell me your name.

Although Elain was indeed a bit mollified by that introduction, some facts this Tyrallin had just told him only confirmed what Elain had already thought. Now for the most important question: Why had he approached Elain? If he really didn't know who Elain was, then it was mostly just for good fun — something Elain really didn't have the patience for. Although the young sire's smile seemed genuinely friendly, Elain had been in the club business far too long to trust it.

"Well, Mr. Tyrallin Alwick, what can I do for you?" he asked right away, looking the young sire straight in the eye. "I can't imagine giving you my name will stop you from whatever you're intending to."

Tyra's smile faltered slightly. Had he done something to make this lashran suspicious of his motives? Forests, he hoped this guy couldn't read auras the way Atsayal could — Tyra was sure his aura would be roiling with nerves and guilt right now.

"Intending to do? I'm intending to talk to you. You know? That ancient clubbing ritual of going up to a guy, chatting with him, flirting shamelessly. Hey, at least we have it better than our forefathers. They had to go clubbing in caves, and the acoustics were terrible."

This elicited a slight smile from Elain. "I can't argue with that. So, I guess it's my turn now, and since you've been so honest, it's only fair. My name's Elain Silvestri."

Truth be told, Elain had no idea why he was still talking to Tyrallin. The young sire was obviously on the hunt, and Elain wasn't exactly the ideal person to charm. Nevertheless, it was somehow... cute, the straightforward way Tyrallin admitted his intentions.

Cute? Forests, Elain thought. I must be really tired to have strange thoughts like that.

Tyra perked up considerably. Hmm, he thought. What's it going to take to get a full smile out of him, I wonder? "Elain, huh? It's very nice to meet you, Elain." During the brief, awkward silence that followed, Tyra contemplated possible conversation approaches. He decided to keep it casual for now. "So, were you here for the concert earlier? I wouldn't peg you for a Bowzer fan, but the crowd was really a weirdly mixed group, so I could be wrong."

"No, I'm not here for the concert," Elain replied. "The concert was nice, but I prefer something different; not so, well, loud." He took another sip from his mineral water and glanced at the stage where Bowzer was still handing out autographs. So far everything had been going smoothly.

"So if you're not here for the concert, what brings you here this evening?" A rather irritating thought suddenly occurred to Tyra. "Wait, you're not meeting someone here, are you?" Tyra craned his neck around, checking to see whether anyone was heading their way.

"And what if I was? You'd give up?" Elain asked with a bit of derision in his voice.

"I guess that depends on how attached you are to this other guy," Tyrallin said with a thoughtful shrug. "I don't normally like to give up, but if you love him, I'll back off. But I don't see any bangles on your wrists, so you don't appear to be bonded. Plus, if you are meeting someone, he's not really a great date, because here you are talking with me. So, hmm, I think in this case, I won't have to give up." He gave Elain a sly smile. "So, are you? Single?"

This time Elain was smiling for real. "Yes, I'm single," he confirmed. "And you are one of the most brazen sires I've ever met."

Tyra was momentarily stunned by the smile. Okay, that had been worth the effort. Maybe he could get another?

"Why thank you!" Tyrallin straightened up tall in his seat. "I do my best. Besides, shy never got me anywhere. Say, can I buy you anything to drink? Even another water or a soda?"

Elain was very sure nobody had ever tried to buy him a drink in his own club, and the whole situation became more bizarre by the minute. But it was a nice kind of bizarre. When was the last time Elain had just casually chatted with anyone? There was Marithia, of course, but aside from that... he really couldn't remember. And he hadn't missed it until now.

"No, thank you. But can I get you anything? I'm a regular, so to speak."

A regular, huh? Tyrallin thought, and he filed that little tidbit away.

"No, no, but thank you. I'm good." Tyra fiddled somewhat nervously with one of his bracelets. "I don't think I got an answer to one of my earlier questions: What brings you here tonight, Elain?" For some reason, Tyrallin really enjoyed saying the other lashran's name. It was an unusual name, and he liked the sound of it.

"Since you're not giving up, I'm here on business, not for fun."

Elain felt safe saying that since Tyra still had no idea who Elain really was. And he intended to leave it that way. If the young sire knew with whom he was speaking, he would have asked for a backstage pass or a membership card or an interview for the tabloids. It was always the same.

"Really?" Tyra asked. "I sure wouldn't mind getting to go to a concert as part of a business evening."

At that moment, the background music that had been playing came to an abrupt halt. Up on the stage, Dean and Kale had finished up with their autograph signing, and they were taking up their instruments, unplugged this time, so the sound was much less overwhelming. They started playing some casual jam music on their respective instruments, not really playing any song in particular. They even started bantering back and forth to each other as they played.

Tyrallin turned on his bar stool to look at the stage. "Hey, would you look at that? Man, Bowzer's just spectacular. There they are, after a long, hard concert, after all that autograph signing, and they're back at it."

Absently, Tyra noticed that Jerrik was pulling Atsayal out on the floor for a slow dance, and Sally was grooving with a human male. It looked like Tyra still had some time to keep talking to Elain.

Elain also looked up to the stage. Jaydin and Istaris were still signing and talking to the fans, but judging from the look on the lead singer's face, Jaydin had calmed down. Elain was very grateful for that and started to relax a bit. The security was vigilant as always, and the general mood of the crowd was mellow and happy.

Maybe this evening wasn't a complete disaster after all.

"You know what? I guarantee you they made some new life-long fans tonight," Tyra said. "I thought the concert earlier was great, but this is something else entirely. I heard some people talking, and it sounds like Bowzer left some ritzy VIP party to come down here with us. And look at them! They're happy about it. They're my heroes, I tell you. They'd rather spend time hanging with the schmucks who had to scrimp and save and scramble to find hard-to-get tickets than the glitzy glamour folks who ran out of here the second the concert ended." Tyrallin blinked and suddenly realized how he'd been going on. He felt a blush threatening to form. "Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ramble."

Elain couldn't help but smile again, noticing the faint color on Tyrallin's cheeks. Seeing a grown man blush was something rare indeed.

"It's alright. You really are a fan, and Bowzer is here for their fans. There's nothing wrong with saying what you think."

Tyrallin once again found himself helpless when faced with Elain's smile. A little shiver or pleasure tickled his spine.

"I suppose. I guess I just can't help myself," he said and gave a self-mocking half laugh. "They really are brilliant. I don't know if you've ever just looked at their lyrics, but it's actually beautiful poetry. And there's this one lyric, my favorite, 'All the world is for the dogs.' Did you know they include that lyric on every one of their albums?"

"Now I know."

So that was the line Jaydin had mentioned earlier when he made his little speech in the VIP lounge. It was indeed somehow fitting.

Elain vowed to himself to come down here more often. The VIP members brought in the big money, but it seemed that the disco floor held a good deal more truth. Somehow Elain could understand Marithia and her love for the guests of the first floor better now.

Tyrallin gave his companion a half smile. "Yep, now you know. Well, surely you don't want to hear any more about my love of Bowzer. Won't you tell me a bit more about yourself? What do you like to do with your free time?" Come on, honey, he thought. Give me some more openings. I want to keep those smiles coming.

"There's not much to tell," Elain admitted truthfully. "I read, work out, and sleep in on Sundays."

What the heck am I saying? he chided himself. Did the bartender give me giggle juice instead of water? Why am I telling this stranger anything about me?

"And what do you do aside from listening to Bowzer's music?" He tried to divert the attention back to Tyrallin.

Well, shit, Tyrallin thought. I don't think it would go over well that I like to spend my time arguing with my high school teachers and skateboarding with Jerrik.

"I read manuals." Okay, that was safe ground. "For fun. My brother says I'm a freak of nature. You know, I think I'm going to go home tonight and look up a book on mixing drinks. I've been watching our bartenders," he leaned over and pointed to one of them who was mixing a martini for another customer, "and I've decided it's a really neat thing to do. That way, maybe you could tell me your favorite drink someday, and I'll be ready to mix it up right then."

Inwardly, Tyrallin groaned at himself. He'd never flirted so shamelessly before in his life. Had he really just said that to this lashran he barely knew?

For the first time in years, decades even, Elain felt the urge to burst out laughing. This Tyrallin was absolutely priceless in his harmless blunders. It somehow reminded Elain of a clumsy little animal. His cat Velvet had behaved that way too, back when she had been only a few weeks old. The little kitty had stumbled over everything, knocked over half a dozen expensive vases, and then had given Elain the most innocent look ever.

"It happens I know a thing or two about mixing drinks. If you're really interested, I'll show you how to mix a cocktail," he offered. "But you have to tell me what you like. I never drink anything besides water."

Tyrallin turned his eyes quickly to his companion's face. "Really? Does that mean you'd be willing to meet up with me again sometime?" He could feel himself grinning foolishly, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

Oh damn. I did say that, didn't I? Now what? Tell him no, as always? Elain wasn't happy in the least with himself. He despised people who led others on, and he had done just the same for the past half hour!

"Let's just say that I'm here at the club very often," he backpedaled. "If you come back on a slower evening, we might get the bartender to loan us some stuff."

Tyrallin nodded, although his smile faded a bit. He could accept that. He'd been tempted to ask if he could take the other lashran out to dinner, but now he was glad he'd held back.

"I'll see if I can't get my hands on a drink manual in the meantime, though." He put an elbow on the bar and leaned his chin on his fist, gazing at Elain. "So, you can mix drinks, huh? How'd you pick up that little skill?"

Since it was no secret, Elain told him. "I worked as a bartender when I first came to Valkyrie Falls. It wasn't something I had intended to, but I liked it most of the time. It's been a while now."

"Well, everybody has to start out somewhere," Tyra said. "And look at you now! If your suit is anything to go by, you've come a long, long way. I'm sure you worked very hard. Has it be worth the effort?"

Elain caught himself smiling again at the young sire. This was not the usual superficial flattery he despised, but somehow more honest.

"Yes, I think so. Anyone can get as far as he wants if he's willing to work for it. And as a lashran, everyone gets hundreds of years with countless chances, if he's willing make the necessary sacrifices."

Tyra rubbed a hand against his forehead. "That's the blessing and the curse of the lashran lifespan, isn't it? Gods willing, we've got a lot of time to make our lives what we want them to be, but we've also got to work a lot harder for a lot longer than humans do."

"Well, it would be unfair if we didn't need more time than humans do. But I guess their life is much more intense than ours, because they have always so little left and need to use it to the fullest."

Elain had encountered a lot of lashran who just wasted their time, thinking they didn't miss anything since they had hundreds or even thousands of years ahead of them. But this mentality turned some of them into very lazy people. Elain had always despised this, using every hour of his own life wisely.

"Yes, but with their short lives, they also have less room to screw up as badly as we can," Tyrallin said. "We have the ability to start on a path in life and follow it and follow it for centuries, but then we can also realize centuries too late that the path isn't really what we wanted, or maybe even that it turned out to be a very bad path. We have to be a lot more careful about our choices than they do."

As he spoke, Tyrallin thought of the university acceptance letters that sat on his desk in his room at home. He hadn't crystallized his thoughts about why he was so reluctant to make a decision until just this moment.

Elain regarded Tyra's face carefully. "Are you about to make such a choice?" he asked.

Tyra frowned and came close to grumbling. "Perceptive, aren't you? Yes, I am, and it's been driving me crazy for months. But I'll have to make the decision soon, and I just hope it's the right one."

"Nobody can ever be truly sure that it's the best decision. But if it seems and, well, feels right at the time the choice has to be made, then, in my experience, it's the right one," Elain said. "And I don't mean that in a patronizing way."

As Elain noticed the general noise in the room growing louder, he took a swift look around. Jaydin and Istaris had finally managed to escape their fans and joined their colleagues on the stage, playing around as if they hadn't a care in the world. Obviously Jaydin's mood had improved a lot.

Tyra slowly turned around on his bar stool and leaned back against the bar so he could watch the events on the stage. What Elain said rang true, even though it didn't make his decision any easier. "No, that's not patronizing at all. Trust me, I know patronizing when I hear it. I guess I just haven't found the decision that feels right to me yet. I'll have to step it up and look harder."

Tyrallin glanced at Elain out of the corner of his eye. He noticed the way the soft auburn hair was framing the other lashran's face. He wished he could reach up and trace that line of soft hair against his cheek, but Elain's body language and manner told him it would be a very bad idea.

On the stage, the band was ending the general jam session and starting to play a slow rock ballad.

"They're going to play 'Century of Steel.' One of my favorites," Tyra told Elain. Then, hesitantly, even though he was sure he'd get a "no," he asked, "Could I convince you to dance with me after all?"

For a moment, a very brief moment, Elain was tempted to say "yes." But then his senses came back to him, reminding him that he couldn't risk it. There were too many people who could recognize him out there on the dance floor.

"I'm afraid not. As you noticed yourself, I'm not dressed to dance, and it's been a very long time since I last tried. But you should go and dance since it's your favorite song," Elain suggested.

"One of my favorites," Tyra emphasized with a gentle smile. He looked back at the stage, where Jaydin was pulling the mic from its stand. "And I can't see anybody else I really want to dance with right now, so I'd rather listen to the song with you."

On the stage, Jaydin began to sing in a gentle, haunting voice.

Lost in this time
Lost in this world
We stumble our paths
Hoping to find
The end of the rainbow

Elain had to admit that the song was really beautiful with its sweet, soft melody. He listened carefully to the next part.

But the sun dried
Away all rain
Leaving no more gold
Just this cold thing
This Century of Steel

They were indeed very sad, disenchanted lyrics, like most of Bowzer's songs — sad and very true.

Without thinking, Elain moved a bit closer to Tyrallin, feeling a strange pull toward the young sire at this moment, a pull he could neither explain nor wanted to. It was a like a silent bond, sitting there and listening together to the song.

Tyra half closed his eyes and just let the music wash over him. As the song continued, he tried to listen to it with new ears, as if he hadn't heard it dozens of times already. He wondered what Elain thought of it. Stealthily, he stole a fleeting glance at the other lashran — Elain seemed more relaxed and mellow now than he had all night. The corners of Tyra's lips twitched as he repressed a foolish grin. He'd finally put Elain at ease with him, though he wasn't quite sure how he'd done it.

As the last chords of the song began to gently fade away, Jaydin's voice came over the mic, "Thank you very much, and the dogs are saying goodnight."

The crowd cheered and howled for the band as they departed. Tyra applauded and gave a brief cheer but decided to contain his howl to avoid breaking his companion's softened mood. Before the cheering completely died down, though, he felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out and found he had a text message from Sally.

"Do you mind if I check this?" he asked Elain.

"Of course not." Elain took up his glass of mineral water again and continued to watch Bowzer vanish into the backstage area.

Tyra accessed the message and read, "Hello loverboy, successful yet? It's getting late, and we're tired. Let's call it a night?"

Tyra shut his cell phone and hesitated a moment, just looking at it. He'd completely forgotten about the bet. Somewhere along the way, he'd been thinking that his only challenge was getting Elain to smile for him, to relax for him.

Okay, okay, get it together, he told himself.

"My friends," he finally said. "They want to head home, and we all rode together in the same car, so... I need to go. But I really want to see you again. Can I? We could meet here or somewhere else, whatever you like." Tyra was pretty sure that if he looked down at his sleeve, he'd see his heart sitting right there.

Fuck the bet, Tyra thought. Just say yes and give me another smile before I go.

Elain turned his head to look at Tyra again, his hair brushing his cheek in just the manner Tyra had wanted to do with his fingertips moments ago.

"As I said, I'm here very often," Elain said, still not knowing why on Wyndrah he was talking like this. Maybe because the young sire was looking at him like a little kitten again?

Tyra felt some of his tension ease, and he smiled as he got up from his bar stool. "Okay then. I'll see you later, Elain. It was a pleasure to meet you." He felt an incredibly strong urge to lean over and give Elain a quick kiss, but he held that impulse in check and settled for an awkward little wave goodbye.

"Goodnight, Tyrallin."

Elain granted the young sire a last smile. Too late, he caught himself doing it again and felt silly.

Tyra hurried off to find Jerrik, Atsayal, and Sally. It took some searching, but he located them at another one of the little red tables. They were standing around it waiting for him.

"Hey, guys, just let me close out my tab, and we can go," he said as he approached. He spotted a waiter nearby and flagged him down.

"Well? How was your luck tonight?" Jerrik demanded. "Don't leave me hanging here."

Tyra shrugged as he handed his credit card to the waiter. "Can you close my tab, please?" After the waiter walked off, he turned back to Jerrik and shook his head. "I got his name, but no number. This round goes to you, man."

Jerrik grinned victoriously, but Sally butted in. "But you talked so long to him! Didn't you get an address or a second date? That counts as much as a number."

"I agree," Atsayal said, earning a betrayed look from his boyfriend. "But come on, spill! What happened?"

Tyra frowned and shifted uncomfortably. "Not much to tell. We talked. He was really reluctant at first, and I had a hard time getting him to warm up to me. The only contact info I have is that he's a regular here. I'm going to try to meet up with him here again, but I don't really have any sort of date planned with him. He's not the kind of guy that would date just anyone. Hell, I might not even be able to find him again." To Tyra's ears, that last part came out sounding more disgruntled than he'd intended it to.

"Oh, that sounds a bit smitten," Atsayal teased, grinning. "Seems like Jerrik picked out the right guy after all. And there we couldn't even decide from the distance if your target was a lifebearer or a sire. Care to unveil the mystery?"

Tyra completely froze, and he felt his jaw go slack. Lifebearer or sire? He blinked rapidly, trying to recall Elain's ears... but those had been covered by the fall of red hair. Tyra actually wasn't even sure how tall Elain was — he'd been sitting on the bar stool the entire time. The eyes, then. His eyes had been... but he'd been wearing glasses, and in the dim light with so many shadows...

As his hesitation dragged on just a bit too long, Jerrik started laughing hysterically. "Oh my gods, you don't even know! You don't know whether—" Jerrik clutched his side and leaned against the table for support as he laughed.

"Dammit, no, I don't know, and would you stop laughing, you ass?" Tyra said.

"No, it's hilarious! There you talk to the guy until his ears bleed, and then you don't even take a look if they're round or pointed! Forests, Tyra, you're priceless!" Jerrik gasped, trying to get his wind back.

Sally crossed her arms. "So, what of it? If the guy's really nice, what's the difference?"

Atsayal wasn't experiencing the same spastic fits of laughter that Jerrik was, but he was giggling anyway. "You know, Sally-sweetie, we lashran may look like we're the same gender for the most part, but we are different. It is kind of funny if you think about it. Don't worry, Tyra, I'm sure it happens all the time." But Atsayal couldn't keep a straight face, and he started giggling again.

"Thanks for the support, guys," Tyra snapped. The waiter came back with Tyra's credit card, receipt, and a pen, and he snatched them from the waiter and quickly scrawled his signature on the receipt. "Can we go now, or do you want to get a few more laughs in?"

"Nah, let's go. We can make more fun of you in the car!" Jerrik slapped Tyra on the back. "Come on, man, no hard feelings! But you must admit it's pretty silly yourself."

The four friends squeezed through to the exit, enjoying the cool night air after long hours indoors.

Sally linked arms with Tyra. "So, you really wanna see this guy again?" she asked.

Tyra took a slow, deep breath of the chilly, fresh air and let it out equally slowly.

"Yeah, I do. I just hope I can find him."

Sally huddled closer to him for warmth on the brisk, early spring night. "Even if you find out he's actually a sire?" she asked.

"Yeah, even then," he admitted. They walked along in silence for a few moments, following behind Jerrik and Atsayal, who were singing Bowzer songs off key together. "I need to make him smile some more. I don't think he smiles very often. But when he does...it's nice," he finished lamely.

"I don't think I ever heard you talk like that before," Sally said in a slightly melancholy tone.

"No? Hmm, I guess I haven't," he replied, but his attention was already drifting away from the conversation. He had other things on his mind...

...like the image of that sweet, somewhat wistful smile that Elain Silvestri had given him as he'd said goodnight, as well as all the possible ways he could meet up with Elain again.

To be continued...