True to her word, Fluttershy wasted no time in getting Dracon right to work on the chores, starting with waking him up at what was considered to be the crack of dawn on the heavenly plain. Of course, Dracon had grumbled and protested against this, wanting to continue his comfortable beauty sleep. Fluttershy on the other hand wouldn't hear any of it, and dragged him out of bed herself.
She had decided to start off Dracon with some simple enough work, since she wasn't sure if he'd be able to do anything too difficult or required heavy lifting without collapsing. So she placed him in the kitchen, where she had him do things like taking care of the dishes, chopping up vegetables, and peeling carrots and potatoes. Dracon of course scoffed at this, muttering to himself that such tasks were beneath him.
To which Fluttershy replied, "Well then, that just means they'll be even easier for you to do."
Dracon grumbled, and proceeded to peel the potatoes. It became rather quiet until Fluttershy decided to try and strike up a friendly conversation.
"So, Dracon, where are you from?" She asked.
"Oh you know, here, there, and everywhere." He replied vaguely.
"So you're a traveler?"
"Yes, I guess you can say that. I never like to stay in one place for very long, but one day or another I come back to it."
"What sort of things do you do as a mage?"
"A little of this a little of that, you know how it is."
"Uh-huh..." Fluttershy felt even more baffled by this stranger than before. He always seemed to be dodging her questions, and didn't really give her a straight answer.
"Are you a criminal?"
That question caused Dracon to become rigid and lose focus of what he was doing, in turn causing him to accidentally cut himself with the knife he was using.
"Gah!" He cried, the knife dropping to the floor. Dracon pulled his injured hand close to his body and ground his teeth in pain.
Fluttershy gasped. "Oh my goodness, are you alright?"
She reached out to him, but Dracon shrank away from her. "I'm fine." He said bitterly. "Besides, it's your fault for distracting me."
"I'm sorry, but please let me have a look at it." She pleaded.
With reluctance, Dracon showed her his hand. There was a medium sized gash, but it didn't appear to be too serious.
"I have a poultice that should be able to help." Fluttershy said.
Dracon frowned at her. "Haven't you already done enough?"
"I caused this, so it makes sense that I should be the one to fix it." She argued. "And besides, it won't do you any good if your wound gets infected."
He grumbled once more but gave her permission to treat his cut. From her pantry, Fluttershy got out a small jar containing her homemade poultice, along with a small rage and some bandages. In almost no time at all, Fluttershy managed to apply the mixture to the wound and have it all wrapped up nice and neatly.
"There, now how does that feel?" She asked.
Dracon carefully flexed his hand and answered, "I suppose it isn't too bad. Though one would think you'd simply use magic to heal it up in an instant."
Fluttershy glanced down and twiddled her fingers. "Yes, well, my powers aren't very strong during the winter season. I could heal you with my magic, but it would take more energy and concentration than it normally would." Then looked back up at him and smiled. "Besides, I don't like to be too dependent on my powers, so I try to use natural remedies whenever I can."
"How quaint." He said, rolling his eyes. "A goddess who doesn't like to use her powers because she think it's wasteful. Now I've seen it all."
"What do you mean by that?" Fluttershy asked defensively.
"Oh nothing." Dracon said nonchalantly. "Don't pay any mind to me."
He picked up the knife and returned to his work, though a bit slower this time to avoid any further cuts. Fluttershy sighed, still unsure of what to make of this man.
Confident that Dracon could behave himself on his own, Fluttershy went out into the garden to check on her animal friends. She let out a whistle and instantly the animals appeared. Fluttershy had many beasts residing at her palace, from the smallest mouse to the largest bear, from the humming bird to the vulture, they were her dear friends, and they often helped to keep her company during the quite, often lonely months of winter.
"Good day, everyone." She said cordially. "How are all of you?"
The animals chirped, growled, squeaked and squawked there response.
"I'm glad to hear it, but on a more serious note, I'd like to have a talk with all of you about our guest, Dracon." She said. At the mention of him, the animals flew into an uproar, it took a commanding look from Fluttershy to get them to settle back down. "I know you got to a bad start with him, but he is our guest, and while he's here I want you to be nice to him. I don't want to hear anymore of you attacking him, understood?"
The animals shifted and bemoaned, but eventually they agreed to her request.
"Good. Now, while Dracon is here, he'll be helping out with some of the chores. If he ends up misbehaving or doing anything funny, please let me know and I'll handle it."
Each critter exchanged an uneasy glance. They were glad that they're mistress was trying to put the man in his place, but they weren't so sure if she'd be able to stand up to him on her own.
"Don't worry, I'm sure I can handle it." She said, trying to quell their doubts, as well as her own. "Why, right now he's already been working in the kitchen, I'm sure he's doing a very good job."
The kitchen looked like a complete disaster. Dirty dishes filled the sink, used cooking utensils and pots were strewn upon the counter, and even some of the ingredients were left on the table. Fluttershy stood and gaped at the sight, all while Dracon was picking at his teeth with his finger nail.
"All that work was making me hungry, so I thought I'd whip a little something to nibble on." He said.
"Oh dear." She murmured to herself. This arrangment was going to be long and difficult.