All three's breathing came to a halt the moment the two came in contact. The Dragon's scales were soft instead of the solid hard Jonghyun had expected. They were warm instead of the cold scales reptiles would have. They were smooth beneath his fingers and Jonghyun dared himself to give the Dragon soft by just moving his fingers side to side. The Dragon felt so alive beneath him, it felt so… so human.

"I'm sorry," Jonghyun barely breathed out in a whisper. The Dragon dipped his head away from Jonghyun's touch, nudging Taemin lightly and letting out a small whine when it let out its breath.

"You did good, that's my good boy," Taemin soothed, patting the Dragon who was still tearing in the eyes. "You're safe with me. I'll keep you safe."

Onew let out a grunt in response, eyes opening just an inch to focus completely on Taemin's small figure. It's brown orbs were watered and the giant was quivering in the presence of mere humans. It gave a low whine, it's chin inching forward just a little but it soon proved to be too painful for him to move. Instead, Taemin moved forth so that he was pressed against the Dragon's nose. Onew slipped his eyes shut again then, as if satisfied by the lack of distance between the two.

"How do you do that?" Jonghyun barely whispered, but the Dragon shot eyes open in alarm immediately. It looked frightened and threatened for a moment, but with Taemin's soothing pats and Jonghyun's unmoving stature, it seemed to calm down a little.

"Do what?" Taemin asked, cocking his head to the side.

"That," Jonghyun gestured an arm at the both of them. "How do you communicate with the Dragon? How did you ease it up so easily?"

Taemin glanced back at the Dragon, having never thought about it before. It was true, the Dragon did not speak their language. The Dragon wasn't even technically speaking a language. Yet, he understood everything the Dragon was trying to tell him. Each soft whine, every cry and grunt, Taemin understood them all. In turn, the Dragon seemed to be starting to understand what Taemin was saying as well. He remembered the first day he met the Dragon - he was so sure the Dragon didn't understand him then, and neither could he decipher what the Dragon was telling him. Now, they understood each other with such ease that he didn't even realize that they were actually communicating.

"I… I'm not sure. I guess… I guess we spent some time together and started to understand each other in some way?" Taemin answered in clear uncertainty. "It… it just takes a little trust."

Jonghyun nodded in agreement. It was more than obvious that the Dragon trusted Taemin. The Dragon was almost like a sick child in the comfort of its parent's care.

"I'll need to clean up those wounds…" Taemin mumbled more to himself than to anyone else.

"I'm really sorry," Jonghyun apologized again guiltily, lowering his head and frowning in regret. Taemin just smiled gently.

"Thank you, Master," he said instead. Jonghyun raised his head just slightly so that he could look at Taemin through his lashes.

"Why?" Jonghyun asked, seeing no reason for him to receive thanks. If anything, he should be reprimanded for causing such harm to the Dragon.

"For giving him a chance; for worrying about me; and for coming here to avenge me. It may have ended like this, but I know Master had good intentions in coming. So, thank you. Thank you for everything," Taemin spoke slowly and gently.

"Thank you too," Jonghyun whispered. As a professional Master and Knight, it wasn't often he let out his inner emotions and that took Taemin by surprise. Before Taemin could ask, Jonghyun added in. "Thank you for being alive. Thank you for helping the Dragon and for opening my eyes to truth. I'm sorry about the Dragon, I really am. So, thank you for understanding."

"Master…" Taemin breathed I'm disbelief. It was unfair to compare, but Taemin couldn't help but think of his parents at home, refusing to listen to a word he spoke, refusing to give him even that doubt that he might be right. Without even having seen the Dragon with their eyes, they had shunned the beast and hated it with every pore of their body. And here, his Master, not bonded by blood nor name, yet he could understand and treat Taemin with respect.

There was so much that Taemin wanted to tell his Master, but Onew stole the chance by letting out a heavy breath through his nose. Taemin's attention immediately came back to the hurt Dragon, untreated wounds littering his huge body.

"Master, I need to treat his wounds. I… He…"

"You don't have to explain, I understand," Jonghyun placed a gentle hand on Taemin's shoulder with a small smile. "Just tell me what you need me to do. We'll help your Dragon. We'll fix him and then, we'll protect him. How does that sound?"

Taemin cracked a grateful smile, taking his hand off of Onew to hold his Master's wrists in gratitude. As two men, it was odd to show any signs of skinship between them. But just that moment, it was just him, his Master and his Dragon. So, he wrapped his arms around his Master's back and muttered another "Thank you," before swiftly letting go. Immediately, Taemin placed his hand back on Onew's nose and took a deep breath to compose himself.

"I prepared some food, could you pull it up?" Taemin asked his Master. He had tied the basket full of meat at the bottom of the cliff by a rope and in turn brought some scrap metal in order to set up a pulley system. They had learnt it as part of their training, the simple mechanics of physics. With the rope tied to his backpack, he climbed up the mountain without having to drag all the food up. "The equipments are in my backpack outside."

"You'll manage yourself here?" Jonghyun asked in concern. Only that this time Taemin could tell it was not because his Master was afraid that he could get hurt from the Dragon. It was almost like Jonghyun was more concerned if Taemin would be able to manage treating all the wounds on the giant bulky body of the majestic creature.

"I'll be fine. Plus… Onew…" Taemin looked at the Dragon sadly. "He still doesn't really trust you to touch him yet, Master," Taemin said truthfully.

"I wouldn't blame him," Jonghyun sighed, rubbing a palm against his forehead. "It was my fault after all. I'll just have to earn his trust slowly."

"You will. I know you will, Master," Taemin smiled encouragingly.

Hurrah! I am in Milan airport right now, on the way to Istanbul for a transit. I have pretty much finished the next chapter and will try to post it later when I transit. No Jongtae, more Ontae on the next chappie. I promise ;)