Twin Sisters’ Drive-In frankly my dear, tomorrow is another beautiful friendship

outfit + thick wool coat

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The little tubs of popcorn were ridiculously pitiful. The size of a thimble, in her opinion. Too small for even a child to find satisfying. Still, refills seemed to be free, so at least if she really decided she wanted more, she could ask for it. Popcorn was super cheap to make, too! In her opinion there was no excuse to be handing out enough popcorn to offend a starling. But then... the pretty, well-maintained vintage cars were probably difficult to clean. It would be difficult to dig dropped kernels out from between the cushions. So... maybe she shouldn't have grabbed four of the little tubs to take with her to the car, a butter popcorn and a sweet popcorn each for herself and her date! Yeah, the point was to share but... it was popcorn.

Climbing into the car, she popped a piece from each of the tubs into her mouth at once, then rested the tubs on the dashboard. She wondered what her date was going to be like. If they sucked she could always gray rock them and hog the popcorn.

Outfitw/a long thick warm coat

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Yara was mildly annoyed at the size of what was given, sure it was free but really? Small? So that was where thick coats came into play and she would have some snacks tucked away in her coat as she would bring a dark chocolate cocoa with her. Pickles was annoyed, it was cool out still so why was she out? Because free snacks and a movie and maybe a cute date, that was why.

Once at the car, she would enter and look at her date and smile. How lovely! She was lovely but what was even more so was the scent of were that had the air of water around it.

"Ola, hello...lovely to meet you, " Yara told her, the woman already very at ease with her date now as Pickles tongue flicked out lazily to try and figure out this other lovely woman.

The door on the opposite side opened and she shivered a little, pulling her coat back around her shoulders. She should have brought blankets. Tartan blankets like her grandfather's, draped over the back seat of his Ford Fiesta. Gosh, that was a weird memory to have in the front of her mind, but a cosy one. Maybe that was a good sign about her date, who bundled into the car and thankfully closed the door. Now they were settled, she realised this was another were! And a type she wasn't familiar with! The crocodile opened her maw wide as if she could figure out what by chomping her from all he way across the car. Or maybe we could just ask her!

"You too! You look great!" she bubbled excitedly, then chomped another bit of popcorn to scratch the bite itch. Crocodiles. One track mind. "I'm Vanessa! Or Nessa, whichever you prefer!"

Yara would smile at her, sliding the thick coat off and onto her lap so that she could enjoy the warmth on her legs but she would also pull out a bag of chocolates and then some jerky. Setting those between them with a smile, Pickles tongue flicking out to just figure out this other gorgeous woman next to her. This was perfect, too perfect.

"Nessa, beautiful name and I love your dress. I'm Yara, it's lovely to meet you, " she told her warmly as she held a hand out to her to shake, "That dress though...it fits you like a glove, " she complimented. The black and white, the applicays on it and how it rested on it; it was stunning.

Yara! What a lovely name! Really rolled off the tongue; she could tell before she even echoed it herself. Unable to resist, she popped another piece of popcorn into her maw as she took the offered hand and gave it a firm shake, able to catch little teasing glimpses of the woman's inner animal. What was that? Smaller than her, she thought, but scaly! Cold blooded for sure! But what? Ooh, were they going to play a guessing game?

Before that though, her date complimented her dress and she turned her head demurely, deeply flattered, smiling from ear to ear! Such high praise! "Fits me like a glove? Darling, your dress literally fits you like a glove and it's perfect," she insisted, turning back to point to all of her companion, pointing out her fabulous dress sense and admittedly shapely form. Zero shame! "I love that we went the opposite way in shape but we're still colour coordinated! Must be fate!"

Yara caught the scales and size; well she could be faster than her possibly. She would smile still, another reptile though! A WOMAN reptile just made her heart sing with it as she would retrieve her hand back and rest it on her lap as Nessa snagged another piece of popcorn.

A smile rose even more on her lips at the compliment to her dress, she was rather proud of it and how it fit to her body, "Thank you and we did; seems we were meant to meet then hmm? " she told her rather happily. It was a funny irony that both women were sporting the same colors just different on their dresses.

"So I am painfully curious, if you don't mind that is, what is that lovely reptile you have, Nessa? " she asked her curiously. Yara was truly more eager than curious because another reptile and possibly someone to go shift with was always something she looked forward to!

And her date agreed that they were fated to meet, so it was totally destiny and now they had to be best buddies forever! Or at the very least, acquaintances who kinda texted each other once every major life event and sometimes spent a night up chatting about that one meme an uncle posted on Facebook. And hey, best case scenario was this silly date night worked out for them; who could say? She wasn't a fortune teller, but she could tell that she was fortunate to have met Yara already!

And Yara was straight to the point, which Vanessa liked! "Nile crocodile," she said without skipping a beat, offering a hand in the hopes that maybe they could feel each other's beasts out better through touch. Hand holding wasn't unusual on a Valentine's date night! "Big beefy beast but not one for hard exercise. Yours?"

Yara was definitely going to be messing this lovely woman often, were friends were hard to find now a days and so she'd happily find those worth finding. Someone to chat with and go out with on occasion and maybe shift with was on the menu in her book; as well as plenty of texting or emails.

At the offer of her hand, Yara would rest her own in her's, trying to feel the magnificent beast she had, "Amazing! Truly so. Komodo dragon for myself, " she told her as Pickles flicked her tongue out at the crocodile, trying to get a feel of the other but mostly she got flashes of eyes and scales. "She thinks she's all that and likes to be a little pushy but happily would be a bump on a log, " Yara said with a little chuckle as Pickles hissed at her in irritation.

Glimpses of armour and claws were all Vanessa really got from their physical contact, but how glorious those flashes were! She'd never met a komodo dragon shifter before, and didn't even realise they could be a thing, so this was rather exciting! She knew a little bit about the beasts, mainly of their venom and they were from Indonesia where they were sometimes called 'land crocodiles'. They sort of were like crocodiles, she supposed, in their shape. But she didn't really know much else about them.

As for Yara's dragon soul, Vanessa related pretty hard with that described behaviour, and she cackled musically. "Yeah, yeah; my one's a bit like that," she said, not quite letting go of her new friend just yet, letting the lazy croc within try to get a feel for the dragon, mouth agape like she might be able to chomp her a bit, just to feel! "Happy to take it easy but wants everyone to know she's a feisty bitch."

Yara wouldn't pull from the contact, Pickles was still trying to taste the air around her, soft hisses leaving as she wanted to meet with the other badly. It was hard not having another she could wrestle and lay in the sun with at times so this female contact was a lovely reprieve.

"Oh I know that. She even instigates others just for her own amusement- all because she feels because she's bigger, she can shove her weight around, " Yara said with a laugh at that and a shake of her head, "Feed her though and suddenly she's like a scaly puppy dog, " yes, she was so spilling the beans on this reptile who snapped at her in response. It just had Yara smiling warmly at the creature.

"So my dear, if it is not too personal, how long have you had this lovely creature as a companion? "

If Yara would allow it, Vanessa would clasp her hand with interlaced fingers for a while, as if this were a proper date and they were relaxing together in the warm sunshine, instead of only having just met and it being freezing cold. Honestly, this event was a good idea in theory but awful in practice! No one wanted to sit outside to watch a movie in the snow. Right?

Right??

The dragon's behaviour reminded her of a few crocodiles she could name, but none she'd talk about here. It didn't seem too relevant to compare her to people she'd never even met, but she did laugh joyfully and with enthusiastic recognition at the antics of her new friend. "Oh, gosh; must be nearly twenty five years now, I reckon," she said, eyes squinting at nothing in particular as she tried to calculate it exactly. "What about you? How long have you been dragon-hearted?"

Oh wasn't she a dear? Yara would let her fingers intertwine into her hand as she would relax in the car with her. She would at least make sure that the heat was going and keeping them cozy warm since she was rather sure the owners didn't want to find to passed out women in a car and unable to wake them up; that would surely be embarrassing and Yara couldn't live with that really. She didn't want to have that unfortunate accident.

"Oh my, you've been at this for some time then, " she praised, her tone full of awe and some affection towards that revelation. It was incredible that she had been one for so long, truly it was amazing. "Almost eight years for me. I used to live down in Florida with my ex who turned me but I needed a fresh start, " she would tell her as she pulled out a bag of jerky and would then offer a thick strip to her companion.

Well, that sure made her feel old! But she wasn't going to hold it against the lovely dragon. She remembered her own absolute awe at her "family" and their long-lived crocodile souls, and the born weres who always seemed young at heart. So instead of being offended she just gave the dragon another appreciative squeeze as she checked that the heating actually functioned in this icebox.

Seemed to. She hoped it stayed that way!

Accepting the strip of jerky with a demure whisper of thanks, she popped the whole strip into her mouth and chomped it less than ladylike.

"Eight years is a good while, though!" she mused out loud, covering her mouth with her hand as she ate. She could at least manage that much! "Florida seems like a good place for a dragon but I get why you would move." She didn't want to pry but it sounded like things had not ended so well. What was with shitty dudes turning women like that? She heard this story all the time! Ooh, don't get her started!

Yara would smile as she chomped the jerky, not at all judging as she would tear into her own and munch it. It was good, a little spicy but mostly just good since it was dried meat. It made her dragon rather happy since she always wanted to eat dead things and this was a compromise to it.

Nodding, "I can't complain, I was irritated at first but now...I can't see my life without her, " she said with a smile as she took another bite and enjoyed it for a moment before nodding. "New starts...I do hope to find others though; have you been able to find any other lovely crocodiles?" she inquired curiously. If not, she might have to point her in the direction of one she had met before.

"That's the weird thing!" Nessa chirped through crunched up jerky, a hand lifted gracefully to her mouth a thigh she was merely subtly scratching beneath her nose instead of covering her meat filled maw. "I haven't seen a single other croc since I came here! There were tons in London!" Where crocodiles weren't even native! She'd honestly expected to find more in the States, maybe an established group, or with any luck, a bunch of weres who wanted to start a group. Less need for conflict that way, right?

That was surprising and made her frown for her. She would then squeeze her hand, "Well, we are at least not alone now hm? " she would ask, a sweet smile on her face as she would relax more with her lovely companion here, "Oh! You should come with me to Camp Baron. There is a place called The Sanctuary and they have a special area for were like us to shift safely. It's incredibly lovely and there is fresh and salt water options there, " she told her, a little nod leaving her at it. She loved that place and even though her basement worked, she liked being able to stretch out to her fullest.

As much as she'd love to deny it, Vanessa certainly did find herself feeling lonely, pining for the company of other reptiles, but especially of crocodiles and their ilk. She was never really alone in her business, she didn't want for company in general. But it was curious that she hadn't met a single reptile until now. But what a lucky coincidence!

She only brightened up further at the mention of the Sanctuary.

"That sounds perfect!" she trilled after gulping down the jerky she'd been chewing her way through. "I've got a nice set up at my place but that Sanctuary sounds way more high tech!"

Yara would just smile at that and nod, "I do as well but it really is lovely. I met another crocodile as well, he runs the marina where I keep my boat for summer fun, " she told her with a little bit of a smile as she took another bite of her own snack and chewed and swallowed.

"I do love my own set up as well but they have a lot more space and more options to explore and enjoy yourself; day or night, it's perfectly warm, " she said with a soft sighing groan in her voice. How she loved that place, she reserved it as often as she was able to since it felt safe and nice and cozy there.

Another crocodile! Well, this woman had achieved something exciting that Vanessa hadn't in her time here. Finding other crocodiles had been a fruitless endeavour, and she'd started to believe that maybe there just weren't any other crocs in the whole state. Of course she was still pleased to have met the lovely dragon for her charming company, but the idea of maybe meeting other crocodiles was like siren song.

"You know, I must be looking for other crocs in the wrong bloody places!" she laughed, shaking her head in disbelief. "You're gonna have to take me to this place and this croc, my lovely."

A light laugh left Yara as she would then reach to her phone and pulled out the business card of Daniel that had the address of his marina on it and would hold it out to her.

"Of course, he's rather charming I think you'll like him, " she said with a bit of a smile at that. She would relax some, "Now if you come across a komodo, I would love to hear about it please...I've only ever known the one that bit me, " she said with a bit of an eye roll at that. Picking up her drink, she would take a sip from it, enjoying her lovely companion's company right now and happy to have helped her find someone like her.

Well, now she was getting somewhere with the search for other crocs, at least! And she'd made a new reptilian friend for it, too! Grinning, she stuffed the business card into a pocket and made extra sure it was snug and safe. Ah, but such bitterness over the loneliness of being a komodo dragon, possibly turned in a not so nice fashion. Vanessa's heart bled for the woman "I'll keep on lookout for you, lovely," she promised, giving her arm a gentle squeeze.

Covering her hand with her own and bowing her head a little, "You're a gem. Thank you very much. Let's enjoy this film now as the best dressed here, " she told her with a confident smile now. There was still hope that maybe another komodo would come out from the woodworks but the chances were slim. At least though her new friend wouldn't be alone.