It wouldn't have been all bad to be accepted by Atropa's group, but she figured that with Digitalis on the prowl a threesome wouldn't get anywhere fast. They'd just be looked at as another clique. So never mind that scene. Datura went for a different crowd entirely. She liked to prowl around singles bars and techno clubs. Places where she could lose herself as much as find a victim- er, friend.

There were two such studs watching her, a pair of Mexicano showoffs with the shaved heads and low slung trousers that said they were still in a gang - but they were getting too old for that junk and had better things to do.

"You'd like to see me?" Datura asked, pushing her braided hair over her shoulder. Her mother had told her there was nothing wrong with flaunting her beauty - that was how she'd be able to get close enough to strike anyway.

Both the young bucks smiled widely, and eventually they left the club after dancing for hours. The shorter of the two, Jaime, had a good flush to his skin the whole time, and that was perfect. He was already well on his way to having a good strong hallucination in the club. Jorge on the other hand had put up a good show but Datura could see his eyes were dark and he could hardly hide his fluttery pulse.

"They call me the devil's trumpet," Datura said sweetly, as the pair of young men lay on the couch both of them slightly less than conscious. Jorge was breathing shallowly, muttering in his half-sleep. Jaime had long passed that and was pressing his hands together trying to focus.

"Who's they," Jaime said, "man - are my hands this long? Why can't I see my feet from here?"

Datura giggled, "my parents, dear, my parents knew me well." She left them to figure out what had happened. Maybe they would come back and see her. Maybe they would both wind up in the emergency room. She didn't much care.

Datura swung by Abri's inhabitants with a smile on her lips. as she made her way through the halls. Her room was satisfactory - any room mates she would have might either call it quits entirely or demand another room. Or, she hoped maybe one of them might want to stay and play with her...

"You have got to be kidding," said someone in the hall, "I am not going out there. Not even to train."

Such emotion in the statement, Datura turned her head to look. She saw a pale skinned white-haired, well, she was an albino! An angry one at that. Datura thought she looked to be just younger - visibly anyway - than herself. She walked up to the teenager and just lurked long enough to be noticed.

"Yes?" Asked the man the girl was arguing with. "Can we help you?"

"What's this 'we' stuff?" The girl asked. She looked at the dark skinned plant-virus girl and said with a level tone, "he wants me to go out in the sun and help gather herbs and berries for their little feasty thing. I've tried to explain to him that I can't do that."

"Obviously," Datura said. "She's an albino. She might as well be a vampire, I've seen a couple of them running around too. You're not going to ask them to gather berries, are you?" Datura smiled sweetly.

She let a small amount of her pheremone-floating hallucinogen sweep past the man. Just enough to make him dizzy and forget what he was doing. He wandered away shortly.

Tanith, the white-haired girl, stood watching him with a satisfied grin. She nodded a few times. "Yeah. Can you teach me how to do that?"

"Are you able to produce toxic juices with your spit?" Datura asked.

"Gawd I hope not. I like boys. When I trade spit with one of them I hope they're going to be okay with it." Tanith stuck her tongue out, then rapidly pulled it back in again hoping that there wasn't any more of Datura's little 'surprise' still lingering in the air.

Datura on the other hand laughed loudly, "girl, I like you. What's your name?"

"Tanith, what's yours?"

"Datura Stramonium," she said.

"The devil's trumpet? What a weird thing to... Ah, it's your genus?"

Surprised, Datura nodded. "Sort of. It's what my mother made me." Eventually they petitioned to have the same room. Datura was sure that Tanith could keep up with her, and Tanith was completely cool with having a half-plant virus clone girl as a roomie...

***

Unfortunately their stint together was short-lived. Abri had all but vanished around them, and dragon riders had taken Tanith off to Cy Dragonstake (where Datura hoped she'd have success, and they exchanged reality-notes so they could visit with one another later on). So Datura's brother took her off again, this time to ...

"But that's just the Healing Den, why am I here? They don't even have hatchings here any more." Datura was sullen, the air around her was threatening to fill with a stink-bulb smell of anger.

"No, no, it's not actually hatched there, but she's been waiting here for you, not long," said Vari. "I'm positive you two will get along. And I think dad will like her too."

They were in the parking lot, not even fully inside the Den's hallways, when a bit of red, blood red, flashed before the pair. It formed into a shadowy shape, the shape of a small dragon. Blood red paws, night-black body, red eyes... They reminded Datura of Tanith's eyes, not quite pink.

The dragoness was small, not even up to Datura's waist, and was a hatchling of some kind. But she'd clearly never be very big, perhaps one of those 'stunt sized' dragons that were just a titch bigger than a draught horse and ridden easily over their narrow shoulders.

Datura's scent went from mean and angry to sweet and night-jasmine full.

Oh I like that smell, the dragoness asserted mentally. She nuzzled into the dark-skinned plant girl's hand, then literally became shadow around her, showing up by Datura's other hip to nudge her other hand. Datura giggled, she was right, and Variola was right, this little dragon was superb!

My name is Karida, I would like to come home with you. Your brother has told me about you. Do you think we could make a good team?

"I do," Datura said, "I really do, Karida. Home it is. Then, we can go party..."

Karida's powers: Fire Breath, Shadow Manipulation, Fire Magic, Become Shadow, Fire Immunity, Healing (can close any wound on herself)

Gift from Molly in the Nexus Exchange (january)