#katul

Bruce waved at her, his curly hair kept in check with a cap. "Hey, Sylvia. But you know strawberries are for those who aren't eating people, right?"

Sylvia's wings drooped and she swept her tail around her in a draconic pout. "Aw, c'mon, how'd you even know?"

The human crossed his arms over his chest and smiled, holding up two fingers. "Simple," he explained, "one, better than even odds this time of year. Plenty of newbies around who've yet to learn Rule Number One. And two," Bruce's smile grew into a self-satisfied grin, "you just told me. Lucky guess turned into a certainty."

The little dragoness huffed, flapping her wings once and slapping her golden tail against the table. She had been betrayed by her own words! "I still want strawberries, though," she insisted.

"So just- hold on," Bruce said, setting out a sleeve of cookies to replace the one that just got cleared out, "so head into the bathroom or something, spit 'em out, and come back for your strawberries."

"Turning my punishment for them into a punishment for me?" Sylvia observed, "pure treachery. Unfettered evil. I really want those strawberries." She tilted her head as she looked at Bruce, smiled deviously, and licked her muzzle with a long, forked tongue. "And you, Bruce, are standing in my way..."

The man regarded her with skepticism, eyebrow quirked to match. "They'll be here when you get back, trust me. And if you're thinking what I think you're thinking, you better not be." He gestured with a hand to the people picking up cookies or cake as they spoke. "I mean, if I vanish, who will refill this? Then you've got a bunch of dessert-less dragonslayers with a pretty good idea that a dragon is responsible for their lack of sugary sweets, and possibly which one in particular. Imagine the carnage."

Sylvia squinted at him. "Bruce, I must say that your reasoning is exactly as strong as mine," she said slowly, "and, as you are still keeper of the strawberries I so crave, I will concede and presently return, devoid of humans." She stepped across the counter, picking her way carefully around desserts until she found a good space from which to take off. Just before spreading her wings, she turned her little head to face him again. "Can I eat you after lunch, then?"

"Sorry little lady, I have some very important not-being-eaten-by-a-dragoness to do around then. Fully booked."

"Alas, schedules," Sylvia conceded, then leapt up and flapped her golden wings. Some crumbs from a nearby cookie blew away from her wings' downdraft, but it was otherwise a very polite takeoff. She climbed, then dove and banked to speed off towards an unoccupied restroom. And by unoccupied, she meant the out of order one.

The small dragon pushed the door open with some effort, then slipped inside and perched on a sink. It was easy to see why there was a sign up on this one - two of the sinks were simply not there, as were a few stall doors. Either way, it made the perfect isolated space to disgorge a couple wet fools. And so she did.

The tiger katul quickly got his bearings, then noticed Sylvia and skipped back to keep his distance. The human was a bit slower, and, on seeing the dragoness, she shot the katul a cocky smile. "See? We're perfectly fine."

The feline nodded, not daring to take his eyes off of her. "I'm grateful," he said in a quiet voice.

"You're welcome!" chirped Sylvia. "This would've ended differently if you were, like, graduated members who should know better. I'm nice to the new guys."

"Sure you are," the human remarked. "You're surrounded by dragonslayers; there's no way we were ever in any danger."

Sylvia turned on the tap she was perched near and took a quick drink before addressing the woman. "Under three humans or katul a week, with low hoarding, and they can't even challenge me, let alone force me to accept. It's part of the enchantments around their swords and the duel circle things." She gave each of them a pointed look. "Small category dragon, green/yellow threshold. You'll have to learn it for... what is it, second year? Well before you get your real Slayer's Sword." She turned to the tiger and smiled. "But she's kind of right - I'm rarely lethal, just like to remind people of that first Rule. Know what that is, guy?"

The katul opened his mouth to answer, but the human cut in faster, "yeah, yeah, take all dragons seriously, even if they don't look like a threat. But you're clearly not a threat. You're like a scared-straight... thing." She snorted. "Hell, you're probably an herbivore or something, can't even process meat so you just do what you did to us."

A growl rose and died in Sylvia's throat, and she turned to face the woman, baring her sharp yet tiny teeth in a wide grin. "Care to bet your life on it?" she asked, forcing a sweet tone too much to be natural. "I'll eat you again, and if I'm really harmless, I'll have to let you out eventually."

"A... and if you're not?" the tiger asked.

"Then I won't have a human in my belly, I'll have a large chunk of meat and some shiny accessories I'll want to add to my hoard," Sylvia replied in a nonchalant tone. "You, however, aren't at risk here, just Little Miss Doubtful here." The dragoness leaned towards the human. "Scared? I don't bite."

Sylvia was conflicted, herself; on one paw, it would be nice for the woman to learn her lesson and back down, but on the other, eating her would be so cathartic... Fortunately for Sylvia, it wasn't her decision to make. The human stepped forward and held out her hands, then smirked towards the tiger. "I'll see you in a few hours," she said, confident in her decision. Sylvia took the offered hands, easily gulping the much larger human down without so much as a bulge in her neck or belly. And then, it was just her and the tiger.

He took a cautious step forward, watching her. "Where did she..." he trailed off, bewilderment overtaking his newfound fear of the golden dragoness.

"Oh, right, you wouldn't have seen since I ate you first!" Sylvia swished her tail, reared up on her haunches, and flared her wings proudly. "Neat trick, huh? Hammerspace dragon. We're pretty awesome."

The katul glanced at the door. "Y-yeah... may I please leave, ma'am?"

"Yeah, of course, the door's right-" Sylvia paused as his phrasing sank in. "Oh, you're terrified of me. Whoops. Um, right, so I'll go ahead and leave so I'm not trapping you in here." She took to the air again and flapped over to the door again. She struggled to open it, but with just a crack open, the smell of strawberries reinvigorated her. "Ooh, right, strawberries! Gotta go and pester Bruce some more!" she chirped, then slipped back out and swiftly flew straight back to the desserts area.

"Such a hurry," Bruce remarked as she slowed, the tiny breeze from her wings blowing against his face as she rapidly decelerated, "I told you I wasn't gonna run out of them."

"And I told you," she replied, folding her wings, "that I really want them. Give the dragon her delicious strawberries, please!"

"Belly free of people?" he asked, watching her closely. It was simple enough that he didn't expect her to lie, but just in case...

"No humans, no katul!" she chirped.

"No dragons?"

Sylvia recoiled. "What sicko would eat a dragon?! Yes, of course no dragons!"

Bruce chuckled, turned around, and returned with a pound of strawberries in a small, cardboard container. He set it down in front of the small dragoness, whose mouth fell open in a broad smile and whose pupils expanded at the sight of her favorite fruit. As she placed her forepaws on the edge and leaned in, Sylvia said in awe, "so this is what a religious experience feels like..." before leaning in and slowly taking a bite from one of the fruits, moaning softly as the juicy, tart flesh filled her mouth.

"Sylvia, member of the Dragonslayers Guild Strawnagogue, and her holy book The Frageriah," the human said as he watched her lovingly devour one of the fruits. Anyone familiar with her could tell when she really liked a food, because she'd bite into it rather than swallowing it whole, and strawberries were by far her most beloved food. He glanced up and saw an unfamiliar tiger katul, damp fur only somewhat groomed down, walking up. "Hey there," he called when the katul drew near, "new here?"

"Yeah, it's been... rough. Is getting eaten normal for dragonslayers?" He picked up a slice of strawberry cake.

"Well, it's one of the more common ways to die trying to slay a dragon," Bruce said, "but it sounds like you're the one Sylvia swallowed earlier. She just about threw a fit since I wouldn't give her strawberries with someone in her stomach."

"I did not! Fits are unjustified and excessive; what I did was perfectly reasonable!" Sylvia retorted, poking her juice-soaked head out of the strawberries. The katul screamed and leapt back half a dozen feet, eyes wide on seeing her. "What's his prob-" she looked down at her paw, then licked her muzzle experimentally, discovering the red juices on her muzzle. "Oh. Wow, he's been really unlucky with me." She blinked, then ducked back down into her strawberry heaven, slowly working through the treat, bite by tiny bite.

The tiger pointed a shaky, striped finger at the little dragoness. "Stay away from her! She killed a woman in front of me, like it was just another Thursday for her!"

Sylvia froze. Bruce froze. "Sylvia..." the human said in a warning tone, "care to explain? Because I asked you about this before giving you those strawberries."

The golden dragoness took another bite. Bruce gently picked her up, pinning her wings with one hand and holding her neck in the other. She dropped the strawberry. "I... do not consider what is in my stomach to be a human?" she pled.

Bruce was not very convinced. He walked around the counter, keeping her a reasonable distance away from the frightened newbie, and marched towards the cafeteria exit. "No murder in the cafeteria," he scolded, "naughty dragons do not get strawberries. Try another day."

The little dragon wiggled in his hands, but could not free herself. "This is cruel and unusual punishment, it violates the Geneva Conventions!" she argued, "I simply made sure to eat a meal before my strawberry dessert. How dare you mistreat a responsible, mature dragoness like th- woah!" She quickly righted herself when he tossed her into the hallway, then left her there as he went back to his post.