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The sky deepened from a dusky blue to a rich purple as the streetlights began to flicker on.

An early-autumn breeze tousled the few leaves that had fallen on the pavement as a lone figure stood, half in the shadows. Zhane's tail brushed against the backs of his legs quietly as he stood waiting, now and again checking his watch for the time.

Two hours prior, they'd arranged to meet here, and he'd been standing patiently for the last thirty minutes or so, though Tinania still had nearly fifteen before she'd be considered late. He hoped it hadn't seemed odd, proposing another after-hours meeting when they'd had all day to do something, but she'd agreed to come, so he supposed she couldn't have been too bothered by it.

Shifting his weight, he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket and tilted his head skyward, watching the stars begin to wink into view.

His watch beeped twice shrilly, marking the top of the hour as he cast another look about himself, seeing no one at first.

Maybe she HAD decided it was weird. Maybe he'd come back home to a note on his computer screen telling him she'd needed to stay home...

...not that he could blame her, really, but he -had- been hoping to see her again if nothing else...

At the sound of fragmented voices in the distance, his earfins perked as he turned in the direction he thought they were coming from. They drew closer -- a woman's and a child's. ....a child's? An eyebrow quirked in puzzlement, even as Nani drew into view through the deepening evening.

He felt himself smile, and remained where he was for her to approach as he raised a hand in greeting to her.

"Nope, you're right on time." he told her, not seeming put-out in the least, his smile seeming to broaden as she drew closer. "I'm glad you could come." He'd had no particular plans for the evening as it was, so it was hard for them to be ruined by having one more than he'd expected along.

"And this must be the infamous Seiji - speaker of tongues with the keyboard." he added with a chuckle, hoping he was saying the name correctly as he bent a bit to bring himself to eye-level with the small boy. "Didn't wanna see your mom head out, huh?" he asked, not without good nature in his voice.

It had been awhile since he'd been around small children. Not since Phae was little, anyway.

He held still, allowing himself to be scrutinized by the toddler. He'd half-expected him to be like a typical child his age and immediately start grabbing for extremities and locks of hair and yanking on them, but it was nice to see that Nani seemed to have taught him to be gentle with other people.

"He's pretty cute." Zhane grinned, watching as Seiji seemed to regard Nani in a way that asked her "Who's THIS yutz?"

His attention returned to Nani, then. as he drew himself back to his full height once more and cleared his throat. "Where we're going is off in the woods a little way. Is he gonna be okay with that?" he questioned. "I mean....if he's not, my house isn't too far from here. We could just put in a movie to watch or something."

He realized he was babbling a bit and gave himself an inward kick.

"Oh! Uhm...sure! I can do that." he chuckled, reaching out to receive the small one who was already inviting himself over for a visit, it seemed. Helping care for his own younger sister, as well as hanging around Karma (who seemed to have no end of children coming into her house...) had long-ago helped him get over feeling awkward about being around little kids.

Grinning at Seiji as he switched hands, he hefted him a bit to sit more comfortably in the crook of his arm. "Hey, you." he said amiably. "Ready to go exploring?"

Zhane watched the little dragonboy become immediately soothed as the cup went into his mouth and then looked to Nani as she spoke, cocking his head a bit.

"I don't think she'd mind." he said, trying to envision the reaction. Yeande, he was fairly sure, would have no issue with it as long as she was a friend of Zhane's. She WAS the one always gently trying to urge him to go meet more people, after all.

Talon, on the other hand, probably wouldn't have much good to say about it....but at this point, Zhane was fairly sure that God himself could materialize in their living room and put his Ye Holy Blessing of Ultimate Awesomeness on Talon's head, and his dad would still find SOMETHING to b***h about.

Thankfully, Nani hadn't asked about his dad.

Looking briefly over his shoulder at the field, which gave way into the distant spindly onset of the woods, he looked back to Nani "Let's go." he told her with a smile, turning to head in its direction, his step careful with Seiji in his arms.

"Its not too far from here," he explained, holding aside a spindly tree branch to allow her to pass under it without snagging her hair. "We follow the woods til they start to thicken, and then head up a hill. You'll know it when you see it." he assures her, managing to tell her where they were going without telling her EXACTLY where they were going. If he told her everything about it, what would be the fun in letting her discover why it was special enough to warrent a nighttime trip out to see it?

The woods, thankfully for Seiji's shifting interest, had plenty to look at even in the waning light. The leaves were beginning to turn with the onset of autumn, painting the bushes and trees with fire, and occasionally a chipmunk or rabbit, disturbed by the trio's intrusion, would scamper across their path to seek a better hiding spot.

"Its alright." he told her quickly, trying to brush it off as no big deal, and hoping the own flush in his cheeks wasn't apparent. Don't start this again... he told himself. Since their last meeting he'd played over how awkwardly he'd behaved again and again in his head, and promised himself he wouldn't do it next time.

And yet here they were again, with him threatening to fall all over himself. She must have thought he was some sort of shut-in nerd who'd never seen a girl who's name didn't end in jpeg before...

As Seiji relaxed against his shoulder, he readjusted his hold on the baby to bring him a little further up on his shoulder where he could either see things better, or rest more comfortably - his call.