While supper finished in the oven, Patience removed the drip pan from the top cupboard of the icebox. She dumped the water into the reservoir barrel in the corner before filling a kettle. For a moment, Patience considered the ice water diluted into the larger pool, some of it soon to be reborn as tea. This was the first block of ice they purchased from a company that made their own in a factory. She wondered if that would affect the taste at all.

“It’s amazing how a machine can produce ice now.”

“World’s changing every day,” Schuler drawled from his bottle.

“Humans are relentless.” Anax snuffed. “They work to make the world suit them.”

At the stove, Patience’s eyes traveled to the stuffed robin high on the wall. The little kitchen guardian regarded her with frozen disinterest. “We’re simply making advanced nests. It’s not all that different than how a mole moves earth or beavers build dams.”

Anax grunted, seeing her point.

“You like our machinations, Anax,” said Schuler. “You thoroughly enjoyed watching Ned Wells crank his ice cream maker and sampling the product in the summer.”

“True.” His orb turned toward the window. “Though nearly everywhere I go with you two I am surrounded by humans and their society. I’ve been transplanted from the wild and primal.”

“Feeling homesick is quite natural,” Patience said.

“This is my home now. I must adapt.”

Schuler stretched his arms. “Don’t guilt yourself. Considering the sea change you experienced, no one expects you to adjust so quickly.”

Anax grunted again, withdrawing his eye from the view of the outside.

Over the course of supper, Schuler continued to supply the many wonders mankind invented that he knew Anax to enjoy. Books, cooking, culture, the very meat they ate produced from centuries of selective breeding. Anax admitted that despite the stifling presence of humans some days, he did find them to be fascinating overall.

“You two are particularly intriguing,” said the skull. He twisted a pair of tendrils to nudge the donor beneath him and the other to his left.

Patience shrunk into the coil at her neck, grazing the mist with her cheek. Her lips twitched into a soft smile. “I’m wholly unremarkable.”

Schuler paused in his assault of his portion of pork. “I beg to differ! Women these days are too preoccupied with their own prudery. It’s fine for some men … not me. I wanted someone to enjoy life with.” He reached a hand to grasp her fingers. “And I got one.”

“I can’t say if I agree, as I’ve not known any other female human for long,” said Anax. “But you do not bore me, Patience.”

The young woman chuckled. “Well, that is a great reassurance.”

While depleting their plates, they continued to chat about the numerous things that piqued Anax’s interest over the past several months. Anax restricted his ardor through measured words, though Patience and Schuler were quite familiar with his raw enthusiasm. The tremble of his eye, the quiver of his mist, the rasp of his voice. Each instance disclosed the passion in his heart. Dogs had tails to wag, the skull had more subtle, eloquent means of imparting his emotions.