"All right so far. I have not yet had an opportunity to try to breathe fire in a safe environment. Do you know if I can breathe fire?"
"Hah, your guess is as good as mine. I know critter stuff, but up till France I thought dragons were as mythical as you did."
"Well, I was gonna say we should go to Avalon this weekend. But if you wanna try to set things on fire we could go north to the forest instead?"
"As your highly flammable friend, I approve this plan. Sooo! Saturday at one work for you?"
"Saturday at one works for me. How far am I traveling? Do I need to borrow Mom's car?"
"I do not actually know where you live, but it's downtown. Not far from the church on Church Street, if that helps?"
"I will just go ahead and borrow the car, it's simpler. Can I get an actual address?"
And Saturday at one, May is there, looking for parking in an elderly red station wagon.
Alli's hanging out as promised, chatting with a couple guys whom she shoos once she spots May. "Hey, you made it. Adventure time?"
"I mean, if you wanna bond with the harpies, tough luck. Most of it should be fine? If I forgot any stairs, I can just lift you over." She grins. "Super strength!"
"I mean, I might be able to bond with harpies, too," May points out, and she touches the side of the car for balance and goes around to get her chair out of the back. Out it comes. In it she goes. "Me and the chair should probably take separate trips if you have to haul us."
Alli leads the way in. There's a rather intimidating man at the entrance to what appears to be an abandoned school. Alli smiles at him and greets him by name, at which point he smiles and becomes distinctly less terrifying-looking. "Hey, kitten. Who's your friend?"
"This is May! She's a critter too but hasn't been to our Avalon before, so I'm showing her around," Alli tells him.
"That so, that so? Well, nice to meet you, Miss May. You stay out of trouble, all right, kitten?"
"I'll consider it," Alli deadpans.
"Scamp. See you around, kitten, have fun with your shopping. And try not to buy too much eyeliner, okay?"
"Eyeliner is good for the soul!" Alli yells over her shoulder as she heads in. As they're leaving earshot, she adds to May, "He's been friends with my mom for... merde, I don't know. Ever. Critters tend to know each other. Small world and all that."
"Is this more like belonging to an obscure religion or living in a small town that happens to hide in Toronto?"
"Book store's on the far side," Alli tells her, pointing to the relevant canopy. "First, though, we should stop in the bakery." She points again, this time at one of the patio-containing spots. "I mean, it's not France, but the croissants are still wicked delicious."
"Are you buying? I don't want to make any extraneous purchases until I've had a thorough look through the books."
Alli attempts to calculate in her head, but promptly gives up and pulls out her wallet. "Can do," she reports. "So, croissants?"
There's a familiar face on the patio, sitting at a table across from a centaur girl. Jenny waves. "Alli! May! Hiiii," she calls over. "What're you guys doing here?"