Sanctuary II
Afternoon Tea

The sound of a wooden chair being dragged across the pavement echoed along the street outside the labs. Roisin was sat behind the doors of the laboratory, with the dragonet on her shoulder, she fed it a treat as she watched Varla approaching, followed by her servant Bartholme, who was dragging a chair behind him.

Varla stopped in front of the door and waited for Bartholme to put the chair behind her before sitting down.

"How very noble of you, barf boy" Roisin smirked, as she fed the dragonet another treat.

"Lady Roisin" Bartholme bowed. Roisin detested being referred to by a title by the Empire, and Bartholme knew.

"How did we get into this situation of meeting every day, Roisin?" Varla smiled as Bartholme handed her a bottle of water.

"Let's see, you turned up here one day, and sat outside, so to annoy you, I decided I'd start sitting out here every time you paid a visit. But for some reason you seem to like that" Roisin shrugged

"I cherish these chats we have, my friend" Varla smiled.

"I'm not your friend" Roisin said, as she pet the dragonet's small head.

"Your friend is getting larger by the day" Varla commented, nodding toward the dragonet. Roisin remained silent but scowled at Varla. "You know, we once saw a dragon, near Aranei..." Varla began.

"Don't care" Roisin interrupted.

"It was the same one that laid waste to Rivenlake. We captured it. I helped" Varla smiled, her blood-red lips curved up like an evil clown's smile. Roisin furrowed her brow as soon as she heard 'Rivenlake', the dragonet too breathed a small plume of fire in Varla's direction.

"Yep, we captured the thing, and used some of that fancy Crystech nanomachine stuff to rewire it. You should have seen Crown Prince Rory's face" Varla continued prodding.

"One day you will regret this" Roisin uttered.

"You talk big, girl, but at the end of the day, you are the one hiding behind an energy shield" Varla said, with a tinge of venom in her voice. Roisin laughed.

"You'll have to try harder than that to coax me out, Plastic Empress" Roisin chuckled, as the dragonet crawled down her arm and into her hand. "Tell me, have you even been in combat? Or did you spend all your days in the Imperial Academy?" Roisin asked, with a grin.

"You are very astute, Roisin. I hadn't been in combat, until I slew the bridge crew of the Valkyrie and took control of the remainder of the failed Empire. From there I began the new Empire, a better one" Varla explained.

"I didn't ask for a sales pitch" Roisin shrugged. "You're in way over your head, girl, and you don't even know it. I could stay in here for another year and the result would be the same as if I opened this door right now. You've already lost, and honestly, it's quite sad that you don't see it" Roisin smirked.

"Who is telling you to say all this? That failed Empress you have up in your labs? You are the one who is out of your depth" Varla retorted.

"Is that why you want in here so bad?" Roisin asked.

"No" Varla simply replied.

"You're a bad liar, Varla" Roisin laughed.

"I think we're done here for today" Varla said as she stood up. Bartholme grabbed hold of the chair and began dragging it away.

"One thing before you leave" Roisin said, still sat, she smirked then looked Varla in the eyes. "Does he wipe your arse too?" She chuckled.

Varla frowned and turned to walk away.

"Same time tomorrow then?" Roisin called, as she laughed, the little dragonet seemed to mimick Roisin, as it laughed too. Roisin looked at the dragonet and smiled.

"Hello Ruby, who is a good dragon, you are" She cooed as she snuggled up to the small dragonet, who seemed to smile as it hugged Roisin back. The two stood up and headed back into the lab, leaving the chair by the door. The street once more falling into silence.