Muffin

Muffin wakes slowly, bleary eyes slowly focusing on his hoarded room. Like other days, he slowly sits up, stretches, wipes the sleepiness from his eyes, and looks around. Other days he may have something planned- an expedition, perhaps. But his entire schedule for the day was cleared, and as he looked around, he was slowly thinking of what he could do today.

“Well,” he thought out loud to himself. “I could certainly do something about all… of this.” He looks around the room, mounds of treasures from his adventures littering the floors, covering his only table, even crowding him while he slept. Not quite uncomfortable yet, but as the days went on and he brought more and more stuff back to his den, the more crowded it became.

“I guess now is as good a time as any other.” He finally decides. He puts on his various clothes, baubles, and other items he had grown quite fond of wearing. Everything either passed down to him, made by himself, or found on one expedition or another.

He starts with gathering all of the things he decides he no longer wants to have anymore. Some things just aren’t as interesting as he may have originally thought they were, or just don’t fit in with everything else. Among these things there are a few stuffed animals that didn’t fit in with his collection, some baubles, some very overused dog toys, and a couple apparel pieces he didn’t see replacing his current ones. Some of these were thrown into a box labeled “Auction,” knowing he could possibly get a couple treasure or gems each from them. Some went into the trash- things he either didn’t want to bother trying to sell or were broken.

“What’s up Muffin?” Asks a small, curious voice, peaking into his den. The small yellow face brings Muffin joy, especially since he finally just knew where to give something away to.

“Not too much, Poppy.” Muffin replies. “Just a little organizing before I go on with my day.” A thought suddenly pops into Muffin’s head. “Say… You wouldn’t happen to be, perhaps, looking for a new toy, would you?”

The question puts an almost giddy look on the smaller dragon’s face. “I dunno, maybe.” She says with a big grin, “What is it?”

Muffin grabs the stuffed animal he hadn’t been sure about keeping, selling, or letting the dogs have for a new toy. It arguably looks a little worn, the color slightly off. The Vulpine plushie is missing a couple toes, has a couple flowers somehow impossibly poking through the fabric, and the color has faded from what he presumed used to be a leaf green, into a more pastel color.

Nonetheless, Poppy doesn’t seem to mind. They carefully take the doll from his outstretched paws and give it a gentle squeeze. It warms his heart that the worn doll would be appreciated by someone. “Thanks so much!” She finally says, smelling one of the small flowers poking out of the fabric. She seems to be having a hard time holding in her energy, being very excited over her new toy.

“You want to go play with it?” He asks.

“I do I do!” She says quickly, taking off out of his den, every few feet hovering just slightly.

--

He finished up the rest of his organizing, throwing stuff into various boxes to be sold, thrown away, given to another in the lair, or putting it on a shelf. Afterwards, it looks much better than when he started. It’s not 100% clean, and he suspects that it may never get there, but it’s a lot more roomy, without feeling like he got rid of anything important to him.

His dogs, who had patiently been lazily lying just outside his den to bask in the sunlight, trot inside to check out how much had changed. He bends down to scruff the chin of one, while sliding his hand down the other’s back. They both give happy barks and pants in return. He grabs one of the leftover dog toys that wasn’t in the trash box, and throws it out the door as hard as he can, and the dogs very happily chase after it, searching for a while before bringing it back. This happens a few more times, before he sighs happily, thinking of what he should do for the rest of the day.