A Chance Encounter

The day was sunny. The birds were singing. And Deair Azuremist was in a foul mood. It had been weeks since his last job and he was becoming something that he despised........lazy

Deair was a private investigator, and he was damn good at his job. He was able to find out information that seemed impossible to get and provided results that seemed extraordinary. Of course, it didn't hurt that Deair was a dragon. And being a dragon, Deair possessed magic. A great deal of magic.

Dragons, and other magical beings, have been around for centuries. The reason that humans do not see them anymore is because the magical beings have adapted their looks to fit into modern society. They create illusions that fool ordinary humans, but not other magical creatures. However, there are occurrences where some humans are granted the gift of magic.

Deair was sitting in the park, listening to the birds singing and watching the people around him. His human guise showed no outward appearance of his agitation. When humans looked at Deair, they saw a 6'5", dark haired, well muscled individual who always wore dark sunglasses. No matter how much Deair worked on his illusion, he could never change his eyes.

Sierra giggled as she watched a couple of kids blowing bubbles and chasing them from her perch under the old oak tree in the park near her home. She came here sometimes to relax and unwind. Here she didn't have to be anyone or anything but Sierra.

She worked at a local daycare center, and though she loved the job and the children, she grew tired of the parents. Moms who were over protective and over worked. dads who hit on her rather than pay any attention to their kids. It got over whelming sometimes.

at 28 she still managed to look like she was several years younger. She loved that she was not what her mother called a "match stick" woman. No, she had curves that made most males who had reached puberty drool. The fact that she was only 5'3" simply accentuated those curves and she enjoyed showing them off for her own pleasure.

She watched through sharp green eyes as the children ran to their parents. a young couple who seemed so in love with both each other and their children that they hardly noticed anything around them. It made Sierra sigh. She wished that was her.

Unfortunately, men tended to run from Sierra once she let it slip that she could see and interact with things that others couldn't. She could see ghosts and tended to forget that others couldn't, so she ended up talking or arguing with thin air a lot. It wasn't exactly something most men found attractive.

Reaching up with one small delicate hand she unleashed her wealth of chestnut colored curls from their hair clip and let them fall down her back to brush gently just above her hips, before holding that same hand out to let a butterfly land and commune with her. It felt good to just people watch and be a part of the world, a part of Nature.

Deair watched as people walked by him, his eyes glancing around and taking everything in from behind his dark sunglasses. Unable to sit down any longer, Deair stood up and decided to do something that he hadn't done in a while. Deair was going to talk to a tree.

Being that dragons were creatures from Nature, Deair could communicate with Nature. Even though Deair was a dragon, and hence possessed a great deal of wisdom, he had found, over the years, that trees had a pragmatic outlook of the world that was quite unique.

Deair had been unable to communicate with Nature recently due to the various jobs he had been working. Now, however, he had the time. Deair walked over to a tall, majestic Elm tree and sat down at the base of its trunk, crossing his legs and leaning his back against the bark.

Deair talked to the Elm of seemingly insignificant topics, when the Elm happened to mention something about a human that could commune with Nature. Asking the Elm to repeat what it had said, Deair learned that there was a human girl that could commune with Nature sitting in the park. When he asked the Elm where this girl was, Deair was told that she was sitting under the large Oak on the other side of the park. Thanking to Elm, Deair got up and started walking towards the other end of the park.

A human with magic was not unheard of, but a human that could commune with Nature? That would require a great deal of sensitivity to magic. In his many, many years living as a human, Deair had only come across one or two humans that could commune with Nature.

As he got closer to the other end of the park, Deair paused and closed his eyes for a moment. All beings had an aura about them, but beings that possessed magic had a stronger aura than others. Deair shifted the lens in his eyes so that he could see this aura. When he opened his eyes, Deair was stunned to see a bright light the seemed to be coming from an oak tree a few yards away from him. Walking quietly, Deair slowly approached the glowing oak tree.

Sierra smiled as the butterfly imparted it's joy to her on this fabulous day. She loved that she always seemed to sense the feelings in natures most overlooked creations. It had gotten her in trouble a time or two when she had visited the tiger exhibit at the local zoo, though.

She was so lost in this exchange that she didn't notice he man walking towards her. She simply continued with her quiet conversation until at last the tiny frail beauty was ready to continue it's journey. With a smile and a softly spoken "blessed be" she lifted her hand back into the air and allowed the creature to fly away.

As he got closer to the tree, Deair saw that the glow was not coming from the tree, but from the other side of it. Deair changed the angle at which he approached the tree and got his first glimpse at the source of the glow.

That's not a girl! Deair thought to himself as he saw a woman leaning against the oak tree. She looked as if she was deep in thought, but with his extra sensory perception, Deair knew that she was communing with Nature. But what would she be talking to?

Deair's question was quickly answered when a butterfly lifted up from the woman's palm and fluttered away. The woman than sat for a moment with her eyes closed. Deair looked at the woman and contemplated the best way to approach her.

Sierra sat back against the tree and closed her eyes as a soft breeze blew across her face. It was a beautiful day and even the old oak tree was pleased to have someone resting beneath it's shady bows. Suddenly Sierra was aware that someone was watching her.

She opened her eyes and looked around. Everyone was lost in their own activities except for one man. One very tall man who seemed to be in technicolor compared to the rest of the park. She couldn't see his eyes, but she was sure that he was watching her. It just made no sense for him to look like a ghost to her. He was real and alive, she was sure of it.

Deciding that sitting here would get her no where, she got up and walked over to him."Can I help you with something, Sir?" she asked as she got closer.

Deair was taken slightly aback when he Sensed that the woman had Noticed him. He could tell that her power was untrained, the way it flared and ebbed. This woman needs training.

As he was the first one to recognize her talent, it fell to Deair to train her. Deair smiled ruefully at this sudden change in his life. Well I was getting lazy.

Then the woman got up and began walking towards him. Deair stood still and watched as she approached him. Deair preferred the direct approach, so when she asked him her question, he replied,"I just was wondering what the butterfly said to you."

Sierra was shocked,"How do you know Iwasn't just enjoying having such a beautiful creature in the palm of my hand?" she wasn't about to openly admit she could communicate with nature in any fashion. Besides, it wasn't quite like talking... it was more of an exchange of feeling than an actual conversation.

Deair smiled at the woman's attempt to deny that she had just been communing with a butterfly. He slowly looked down in the woman's eyes, scanning and assessing her power as he did.

Deair leisurely lifted a hand to his glasses, noting the woman's eyes flickering towards his hand and then back to his face, and casually lowered them a bit so the woman could just make out his eyes, "I know you were communing with that butterfly the same way you know that there is something that isn't quite normal with me."

Sierra's breath caught in her throat. "What are you?" she whispered taking a step back. She knew now that he was supernatural. not normally an alarming thought, but given the he was over a foot taller than her and hadn't so much as cracked a smile at her, she was seriously considering whether or not she should run.

"People call me Dean, and I'm what you might call a magician." Deair wasn't going to tell this woman his true name just yet, he needed to know more about her first. Deair knew that the woman was on the verge of running, so he had to say something that would keep her from doing so.

Gently smiling, Deair asked the woman, "Have you ever felt like there was something else around you? Besides the people and trees and animals. A sort of heaviness that surrounded everything?"

Without thinking Sierra let her dearest secret slip. "I see dead people. I don't have a chioce but to know there is more around me than i can usually see or touch." His smile was captivating and served to calm her just a bit. Not enough to move any closer, just enough to give him her name. "I'm Sierra, Sorry about that. I don't normally admit that to people right off the bat."

Deair allowed some warmth to show in his smile. "They aren't ghosts Sierra. They are magical beings that have learned to hide from humanity. The fact that you can see them means that you are a magician, like me."

Deair hoped that he wasn't scaring her. He needed to her to trust him in order for him to teach her how to control her magic. Gesturing for her to follow him, Deair walked over to an empty park bench and sat down. After Sierra sat down, he asked her, "What do the ghosts look like?"

Sierra doubted seriously that what she had seen her whole life were magical beings, but she let the man talk as they walked towards a bench and sat down. He didn't scare her, which made her wonder about herself, but she sensed that there was a wealth of things he held back from the world.

"Well, the best way i can describe it is that they look the same as everyone else, only they are in High def. Like you. And you never answered my question fully. What are you?"

Deair blinked in surprise when Sierra told him what kind of beings she saw. She can see elementals?

Deair looked at Sierra's aura again, trying to gauge just how strong she was. Not quite sure if Sierra could handle the news that he was a dragon, Deair decided to give her a generic answer.

"I'm a magical being. The ghosts that you see are kindred spirits of mine. I guess you could say that they created me."

That was as close of an answer Deair would give Sierra without knowing her better. Noticing the darkness of evening approaching, Deair asked Sierra, "Will you meet me here tomorrow so we can continue this conversation? You need training and we need to come up with a schedule that you can handle."

Sierra blinked at the man. Training? Schedule? What was he talking about? She had only met him moments ago. She wasn't going to just jump into some situation because he thought she should. Was he crazy? Besides, she couldn't tomorrow.

"I can't. Today was my only day off. I have to work tomorrow." She looked around and noticed that most of the people who had filled the park had gone home. The only people left were couples, out for twilight walks and holding hands. It made her just the tiniest bit sad to think of such things.

Dean made her just a little uncomfortable, but she could see that he was excited about something. Maybe he wasn't a psycho. Nature did not reward the crazies, in her experience. She could give him a chance. "Do you know where Cafe Lit is? I could meet you there after I get off. I usually eat dinner there and read a book until I can force myself to go home to my empty apartment. Company could be a nice change." And would make the meddling, but lovable owner happy for a little bit.

"That's the little cafe on the corner of Roxseel and Paulaly, isn't it?" Deair asked. He saw that Sierra was cautious. That was a good thing, being reckless was always a bad thing, especially when it involved magic.

Deair looked into Sierra's eyes through his glasses and realized, with a start, that this attractive woman was lonely. Sympathizing with her, Deair smiled warmly and asked, "What time would you like me to meet you there?"

Sierra nodded in response to his question of where the cafe was. "I get off work at seven, so meet me there at say seven thirty? Just tell the little old woman at the counter that you have a date with Ms. Lonely Hearts. She'll treat you like a king. She's the owner. lovable, but having been married happily for forty three years, she is always trying to meddle in her regular's lovelives. I happen to be the flavor of the year."

Sierra offered him a friendly smile trying to down play the fact that a complete stranger meddled in her life and wondering why she had said all that to begin with. She really needed to get out more. He probably thought she was completely nuts now.

Letting out a hearty laugh, Deair's smile became even larger. "It never ceases to amaze me how happily married older women seem to think it is their duty to make sure that all of the young unmarried people they know must get married straight away."

Deair had known a few acquaintances that were exactly like the woman Sierra had described, and not all of them were human.

"I understand exactly where you're coming from," Deair said, realizing that he had quite a bit in common with Sierra besides magic. "I'll see you at seven-thirty tomorrow evening then," he said.

Sierra watched him for a moment, the look on his face showed no hint of mockery. Maybe he did understand what it was like. Although, she had a hard time imagining it was difficult for him to find someone to warm his sheets. "It's a date then." She grinned.

after a brief goodbye, Sierra went home and read a book, trying to forget about the handsome and strange man she had met. It didn't quite work that way. He was still in her mind as she rode to work the next day. Even in the midst of screaming children and a maze of toys, She wondered what he could possibly be after with her.

As the children left one by one, She found herself actually looking forward to their 'date' and finding out more about him. It had really been far too long since a man had paid her any attention, she thought to herself as she began to straighten the nursery.

Deair left the park and went back to his home. It was a modest house, but it was also where he did his business. He catered to both humans and magical beings, so he had to have a place to accommodate both.

Deair went into his basement to check that everything was in order before heading upstairs to bed. Most magicians had workspaces that they used to conduct experiments or cast magic. Deair used his entire basement as his workshop, he never knew how much space a project could take up.

As Deair shed his illusion and climbed into his nest, he couldn't stop thinking of Sierra and their "date" tomorrow. As the sun climbed into his room, Deair stretched himself and went to take a shower. Being a dragon did not mean that Deair was 18 feet long and had huge wings. In the centuries that dragons have been around, they have evovled. Now days, dragons stood on two legs and had wings that folded in behind them. They still had tails, but they were more flexible whiplike now than that of their ancestors.

After his shower, Deair cast his illusion and put on clothes. Having a breakfast of eggs and bacon, Deair walked down into his workshop and spent the day cleaning and preparing the space in anticipation of a new student. He knew that Sierra may not believe him and that it would take time to convince her of what she had, but there was always the chance that she may accept everything. After the meeting yesterday, however, Deair wasn't hopeful of Sierra's immediate acceptance.

Looking at the clock and seeing that it was time for him to get ready, Deair went upstairs and changed into a pair of black slacks and a black turtleneck, pairing the outfit with black square toed shoes and black sunglasses.

Deair arrived at the Cafe at a little past seven-thirty and was greeted by an elderly woman. He smiled at her and asked,"I was told to tell you that I have a date with Ms. Lonely Hearts?"

The old woman behind the counter practically fluttered into action at the mention of her favorite regular. "Oh, my! It's about time Sierra found herself a man, and what a prime one she managed to catch too!" She said giving him an unabashed once over as she ushered him towards the cafe area, "You can call me, Ona and you just let me know if you need anything. Everything is on the house for you."

Once they reached the counter Ona spoke to the clerk informing her that Deair was a special guest of hers and could have anything he asked for. "Now," She turned back to him with a grin, "You don't plan on hurting my girl, do you? No, you look like the sticking type. Believe you me, Sierra is the kind of woman a man ought to stick to. She'd make a wonderful mother and..."

That was the moment The woman in question walked into the store. SHe was still dressed in the soft blue tank top and tight denim jeans she habitually wore to work. She had left the sweater and let her hair down though so she didn't look so much like a work worn nanny. Immediately she began to blush and rushed to save Dean from the lecture he was in the midst of recieving. "Thank you for keeping my date company, Ona. I think I can handle him from here." SHe gave the older woman a meaningful look.

Deair smiled as Ona took charge of him after he announced himself. He followed her as she lead him to the counter and told the clerk there that everything was on the house. Deair knew better than to protest when faced with a formidable woman like Ona. However, he was dumbfounded when Ona started going into a lecture on the many virtues of "staying" with Sierra. He was getting slightly uncomfortable when Sierra showed up and saved him.

After hooking her arm into his and leading him to an empty table, Deair looked into her eyes and said with a smile, "My hero. I don't know how you can stand up to such an overwhelming person as Ona."

Deair looked across the table at Sierra and felt something stir inside him. Pushing aside the sensation, for the moment, Deair noticed the slight nervousness that was coming from across the table. Keeping an air of calm and tranquil, Deair picked up the menu and asked Sierra, "How was your day today?"

"It's not so hard to handle Ona when you realize that she means well,"Sierra chuckled at the lecture he had been about to recieve, "I am sorry that I set you up like that. I had to be sure about you, and Ona would have told me if you were the shady type."

Sierra was very aware of the man this time. she blamed it on the lack of area in the cafe. He seemed to take up every possible inch of space in her vision. "Work was fine, screaming babies and laughing children as always. How was your day?" she asked trying to continue the line of polite conversation when she really wanted to ask him why on earth he was here with her.

Ever woman in the place was looking at him as if he was a prime steak ready to be eaten. it was making Sierra feel out of place and she had to remind herself this wasn't a date, not in the romantic sense. Dean had just wanted to talk to her. It would be perfectl fine if he left with one of these women. She wasn't even that interested in men right now. yeah, sure, right.

"My day went well. Cleaned up my workshop and worked on a few cases." Deair realized that Sierra knew nothing about him. Which was fine for now, but if she became his student, she would need to know his routine and schedule. Deair went back to perusing the menu, but was acutely aware of the other patrons, mainly the women, staring at him.

Deair's illusion was based upon his actual looks. So the rugged, slightly dangerous looking, face that most people saw was what he looked like underneath, except for the tiny golden hide that made up his skin. Disregarding the stares of the other women, Deair decided on his selection, closed his menu, and set it on the table. Looking across at Sierra he asked, "Would you like a glass of wine? You seem like you could use some."