Can dragons fly?"The apparent change of subject didn't seem to startle the Mage. "No. Not at all. They do not have wings, ... "If you want a flying spell creature, you need a Roc.""A what?""A Roc. It is a giant bird," Alain explained. Mari shook her head. "A giant bird. I'm crazy to be listening to this, you know that?""I have thought…” He fumbled for words, for a moment looking just like any other seventeen-year-old young man. Was that actually embarrassment showing? “You might…be interested…someday….in flying…on a Roc. I mean…with me.”  “Are you asking me on a date?” Mari tried desperately not to laugh at his discomfort. “A date on a giant bird?” “Um…I do not know…just something to do…together. That is not dangerous,” Alain added hastily.  “Doing something together, that isn’t dangerous?” Mari asked. “That would be a change of pace for us, wouldn’t it? … "Have you ever gone…flying…with a girl before?”  Was he blushing? Just the faintest hint of it, but—stars above. She had made a Mage blush.  “No,” Alain said.
Jack Campbell, The Dragons of Dorcastle
akwardness, cute, humor