"Was that some kind of test?" asked Mira.

"Yes, and both you and Preston passed," replied the dragon.

"Preston?" she asked, tilting her head.

"Yes. I may have heavily implied that he should get you tested for sapience when I was last here," he explained.  "Looks like he took the hint."

"Oh, he did better than that," she said proudly, "He had everyone tested."

"Everyone?" he asked in surprise.

"Everyone," she repeated, "including those in storage.  Anyone who ranked Class IV were given their binders and freedom to do as they wished, like you did with me.  Any that rated below Class III were sold back into other service trades.  The remaining Class III are still here, and are now on an annual retesting schedule."

"So everyone working here now, decided to stay with Preston?" he asked.

"No, Preston retired, the others flocked to me as though my few extra days of freedom made me an expert or something," said the tigress.  "Ultimately we all decided to stay together as a sort of family group."

"Retired?" said Dro, almost in a whisper to himself, shaking his head slowly in disbelief.

"Yes.  He never reopened after you released me," she clarified.  "You must have shook him up pretty badly."

The dragon had no words.  This was a complete surprise.  He had expected the Raccan to resume operations the moment the shock had worn off, not close up shop and retire.  Perhaps the veiled threat to expose Preston's recordings had instilled far more fear than he realized.  Maybe there was more on those recordings than just potential blackmail material.  Dro filed those thoughts away for later perusal.

"We convinced him to let us reopen the parlor, but with some obvious changes."

"So I've noticed.  Its massage now?" he said with a questioning look.

"And more," she replied smiling, as she began unbuckling the straps holding one of his boots together.

"Umm... what are you doing?" he asked suspiciously.

"Giving you a foot massage," she replied, "Or does that violate some rule while you are on duty?"

"Did I say I was on duty?" he asked, raising an eye ridge.

"The uniform did give that impression," she replied.

"Good," he said, but made no further moves to stop her.

"Forgive me if I am a little rusty at this," she said as she continued working the buckles and straps. "I haven't had much hands-on time with clients since the reopening."

Releasing the 5th buckle finally rendered the boot loose enough to be removed.  As his foot was exposed, she was met with four slightly webbed forward facing toes, each ending in a non retractable claw, and on either side of the foot, a rear facing toe with a curved talon.

"I also have no experience with your anatomy," she added while tipping her head side to side, fascinated by the truly alien physiology.

"Yes, dragon feet have driven many shoe makers into mental institutions," he said as he flexed the toes in sequence.  "But internally all of the muscles and tendons are where you would expect, though sometimes there are more of them.  At least mine are symmetrical."

"My hands might be a little small, maybe I should have Rook do this?" she joked as she took his foot in both hands and began rubbing her thumbs up the arch.

"mmMMmmm...  It was nice to see Rook passed as well," said the dragon, his eyes slowly closing as his brain focused on the messages his foot was sending in.

"Oh, he wasn't tested.  He's carbon," she said with a smile.

The dragon's eyes popped open in surprise. "Rook is biologic?  ALL of him?"

"Yes, all of him," she giggled, moving her attention to the webbing between his toes.

"So what is he doing here?"

"He's still the bouncer," she said, still giggling, "or as he calls it, the 'deep tissue massage specialist'."

"No, I mean, if he is carbon, why is he working here?  And before, while wearing a collar under Preston?"

Mira ceased rubbing as her eyes lost their smile, and in sober tones she said, "It may seem strange coming from me, but I think of Rook as a brother.  Usually he is the over-protective older brother, always there to save his little sister, but there are times when he is vulnerable, like a little child who needs my protection."

Dro blinked.  "I'm sorry if that was too personal."

"No need to apologize, you could not have known," said the tigress as she resumed rubbing his foot. "I will only say, I think that is a question you need to ask him yourself."   

"So, tell me more about the changes you have made here," said the dragon, eager to change the subject.

"Oh yes, where was I?" she said, her mood brightening as she worked the rearward toes, being careful to avoid the talons.  "We reopened, focusing on simpler forms of physical pleasure.  Massage, bathing, sauna, manicure, depilatory.. Essentially catering to customers who wanted to be pampered and fussed over.  That is not to say that 'more' doesn't happen, it just isn't the primary goal."

The dragon's eyes crossed slightly as she pressed her thumbs hard along the bottom of his foot, causing his talons to flex wide.

"I think Preston thought we were all insane and doomed to failure, but went along with it just to make me happy," she confessed, "Then the shock came at the end of the first month.  We broke even!"

"By the the third month, we were bringing in more money than Preston ever had, and we were doing it with fewer people, and a better class of clientele," she smiled proudly.  "I don't think Rook has had to throw anyone out in over a week."

She finished by rubbing some scented oil over the surface of his scaly foot, all the way up to his ankle, then made to begin unstrapping his other boot.

"Mira, just a moment," said Dro, placing a hand on his bootstraps.  Turning his head toward the door, he flared his ears and listened intently.  A faint beeping sound could be heard, somewhere near the door.  His ears pinpointed it immediately as coming from his bag.  "Dammit," he whispered, and made to get up, but Mira beat him to it.  Uncovering the bag, she dragged it over to where he was sitting, the beeping quite obvious now.  "Thank you, Mira."

He could see the red bar flashing on the screen of both data pads, even before he got one out of the bag.  With only a cursory glance, he picked out the words 'Official Inquiry' and 'Report Immediately'.  He briefly considered ignoring it, until he saw the time stamp and grumbled a few more syllables in old draconian.  

"I didn't understand that either, but it sounded bad," said Mira in a concerned voice.

"It is.  Bureaucracy is always bad," said the dragon, tossing the pad back into his bag and reaching for his boot. "I'm sorry Mira, I am going to have to cut this visit short."

---

As they exited the sauna room, the dragon was still adjusting his coat so his wings were not obstructed.  Preston had not wandered far from the door, and immediately rushed to Mira's side as she exited.

"Thank you, Mira," said Dro, bouncing on his right foot. "I might have trouble walking straight after that."

"A common complaint around here," Mira chuckled, "Next time you are here, perhaps I will have time to finish you properly."

Preston gaped in shocked disbelief.  Mira hugged the Raccan to her side and the dragon patted him on the back.

As they passed through the parlor on the way out, the dragon paused for another look at the statue in the fountain.

"You like her?" asked Preston. "I had her commissioned special to go with the motif." he said proudly.

"She is... unique," replied the dragon.

"So, did she fool you at all?  With all of the living statues walking around, did you think she might be real, even for a little bit?"

"She might have," replied the dragon, "If not for two major errors which ruined the illusion immediately."

"Oh?" said Preston, sounding disappointed. "What were they?"

"Female dragons don't have breasts," said the dragon flatly.

Preston looked at the statue again, as a wistful smile crossed his face.  "Artistic license," he said dismissively, waiving off the criticism.