“It’s my fault, you know.” Watching the fresh cupcakes backing, Mylo didn’t have much to do but dwell and dwell. There was a dip to his expression as he moved to sit down, taking the drink Enis offered—water, thankfully. There was fortune to be found in Mylo’s lack of awareness of other drinking alternatives.

“Nonsense, you couldn’t have known that the one day you were busy, something would happen.” Slowly pulling over a second chair, Enis moved to sit on it backwards and rest her head upon its back.

“You need not console me, you know. I do appreciate the effort, but this was a clear moment of neglect. One out of many that have been piling up. And it cost them their lives.” A forced smile graced his features, as he still appreciated her words.

“Neglect? Look, you did your best. I doubt they’d want you to blame yourself for what happened. They were your friends right?” Reaching out, Enis placed a hand on his shoulder. She gave a sympathetic look as he merely laughed it away.

“‘Friends’ is a strong term. There isn’t really a term for what they were in your language. The best comparison is a mix between slave and pet. ‘Subservients or Surfdom’ comes close too, now I think of it.” Moving to sip his drink, Mylo paused to consider his words for a moment.

“Should a group decide, they may live near us. We provide protection from the more deadly threats, and they in turn provide items like food for us. A trade, protection for fealty. We’re not close, it’s a working relationship that they can leave at any time. While I cared deeply for them, and still do...” he paused for a moment to take a breath in, and then out. “Hmph, this human form is so distracting.” A brief burst of annoyance spilled from him before he moved to continue.

“I care for them, but in the way you’d care for a puppy you trained to play fetch. Or a creation of your own, that you made with your own hands.” Finishing off his drink, Mylo moved to glance over at the oven.

“That...sounds pretty…” Enis didn’t really know how to say it. Terrible? They were living beings and he was calling them pets? All her human instincts told her that this absolutely rubbed her the wrong way. It made her...angry.

“That’s...not the same. We don’t keep intelligent creatures as pets...You’re...Slavery is wrong, too.” That caught his attention. Their vastly different eyes met as Enis fell silent for a moment. A brief childish fear filled her as he slowly began to frown.

“You humans are so contradictory sometimes. You say one thing is wrong, then go around and damage the planet to win a fight. I already told you, the word doesn’t exist in your tongue for what they are. It’s completely willing. They choose to serve us.” Turning away, Mylo closed his eyes and moved to stand up.

The distance between them grew as he moved to check on the cupcakes, and an uncomfortable silence continued to fill the air, only broken by the steady tick of the timer before a cheerful brriing echoed out. Moving to open it, Mylo pulled the tray out with his bare hands as a cry escaped Enis.

“No! Don’t!” Jolting to her feet, she made a move to prepare for the serious burns only to pause. Mylo merely looked at her curiously as he continued to hold the steaming tray of freshly-baked cupcakes. Turning, he put them back in the oven as she’d bid him.

“No it’s—Sorry. I forgot you’re not—” human. The word hung in the air without being said. Idly, he pulled the tray out once more and set it on the counter as she moved to instruct him to do.

“Your kind really puzzle me sometimes. You fear us, yet you also leap in to protect us at times. A mess of contradictions. No Munst would fear for my safety like you just did, even if it was only for a moment.” A soft smile fell on his face at that. “It’s different, but not bad. One might call it ‘nice’ even.” With her careful guidance, Mylo began to ice the cupcakes as they finished off the batch.

“You never had anyone try to take care of you? Are all dragons like...independent like you are?” Once more, the chairs beckoned them over, and they both moved to sit, a curious fascination filling Enis as she considered all this.

“Not really, no. While we like to eat, we don’t need to. Or breathe either. We were the first creatures to be born on this planet. The Darkseekers, a close second.” A figure by the door overheard this answer, and their hand paused at the entrance.

“Born? How’d that happen anyway?” Her eyes sparkling with interest, Enis leaned forward in her seat. The figure escaped her notice, but not Mylo’s, though he chose to ignore it.

“Well. The sun blazed lines through our planet, searing into it. It created the first rune, the rune. Out of that rune, we rose—fully grown and filled with the magic to create the world. We first created races through trial and error, learning how to make things in our own image first. Kobolds, and the drakes, for example. After a certain point, we were able to use the dreams of those on the planet to create more races. Your arrival, humans that is, actually kickstarted a new wave of Munst. Inspired by your dreams.” Cupping his hands together, Mylo smiled brightly as a butterfly flew out of his hand.

“...Woah…” It dawned on Enis in that moment as she watched the butterfly land on her finger, identical to the ones she had seen in those old documentaries. Everything from Earth had followed them here. Because of dragons like the one sitting in front of her. The sheer weight of this broke her poor mind.

“I don’t….really know how to respond to that,” she admitted. A soft chuckle left him as they both heard the bell, cheerfully announcing the person entering the bakery.

“Speaking of response,” began Mary crossly. “We need to talk about what humans define as ‘property damage’.”