I sit in a plush chair and wait.

  Ah, heck. Do I always forget the spikes?

  I look down; the chair's fine.

  Hreh, just kidding! My spikes pass through the chair; my scaly butt doesn't.

  Excellent. It works as I'd intended.

  ...

  Maybe it's only safe because this isn't a sofa?

  Hra. Sofas. I strongly dislike sofas. I have no idea why.

  "Missus President, Chronovoid is here. He asks to meet with you."

  "The dragon, right?"

  "Yes, Missus President."

  "Bring him in."

  I should follow customs or something, rh? I'll not barge in.

  The man walks out, then nods at me.

  "The President of the United States welcomes you to the Oval Office. Please, do enter."

  "Thanks."

  I get up and walk toward the Oval Office. The man gawks at me as I walk past him.

  Reah, I know I'm awesome. Admire me!

  The President looks at me as I walk in, but more critically than anyone else. Ever. How interesting.

  I sit down on the chair. My tail passes through the back, so it looks like I'm noclipping in a video game. That is, sticking part of myself through a supposedly solid object.

  Which, I am! Rawh.

  "Greetings, Chronovoid. What business have you on such short notice?"

  "Thanks for meeting with me."

  "Not an issue. It's... Intriguing that one of my country's people became a dragon. I don't mind seeing it for myself."

  Her face says she's annoyed, not intrigued.

  Yes, what business could a godly dragon possibly have with The President? You must have many more important things to do besides meeting myself.

  I am... Mildly insulted.

  I lean forward.

  "You know, Missus Viv... Leaders generally prioritize their agenda based on the benefit they may achieve by meeting with other leaders. Whether they be business leaders, thought leaders, or you."

  She looks taken aback.

  "That's a salient distillation of the purpose of meetings, Chronovoid. However, may I ask why you state this?"

  I tilt my dragon head.

  "How much power do you think I hold?"

  She squints and creases her forehead.

  "Hm. I do not know. I heard you claim to be a deity? This isn't something I can simply accept at face value, especially not second-hand."

  I lean back.

  "You don't need to accept anything so vague. You've annoyed me by being dismissive. So, I'll tell it to you straight. I could eat your sun."

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  Her expression changes a few times, then she smirks a bit.

  "Eat our sun? Is that a dragon thing?"

  That does it.

  "No, you're being obnoxious. So, as we dragons do, I'm threatening you by showing off my power. Not much of it either, since your sun is puny. I've already eaten all of this universe's black holes. I'm literally a reality-eating monster."

  I lean in again.

  "Want to keep pushing my buttons? See what happens?"

  This time she doesn't seem as sure as before. My threat appears coherent, and she doesn't know my actual strength. If it's a bluff, it's a laughable bluff, but it's so absurdly laughable she's forced to consider whether I'm joking.

  I'm not.

  I lean back once more.

  I show my teeth a bit and pick at them with my claw.

  Not like I could have anything stuck in there anyway. It's just an implied threat.

  "If I may ask, Chronovoid, doesn't that mean our galaxy would fall apart?"

  Testing me, rah?

  "I used gravity magic to hold it together. I was merely a bit hungry; I'm not a mass murderer."

  She looks a bit put off by the lack of clarity.

  "Then, why talk about your military power?"

  I didn't specify 'military' earlier.

  She wants to see if I'll mistakenly lay down my unknown cards. If I'll expose whether I was bluffing.

  Sorry, lady. I've no need to bluff.

  I stop picking my teeth and slowly shake my head.

  "Roh, no, Missus President. My military IS powerful. But you've got the head honcho sitting in front of you. I had to stop myself from eating the whole universe, you know? I was talking about my personal power."

  She turns her head a bit, clearly in disbelief.

  "Your... Personal power, then."

  I wave my clawed hand dismissively.

  "You've treated me as a circus show rather than as a dragon possessing intellect. Understand?"

  Her eyes widen a bit.

  Reah, you screwed up. Imagine if you acted like this toward a human leader.

  She clasps her hands together in a bridge pose on the desk and sits forward, looking right at me.

  "I sincerely apologize for my rude behavior."

  Rakay, I can't even slightly tell what that means. I'm having fun not reading her mind, though, so...

  "I understand. My brother-in-law thought he needed to see a psychiatrist when he first met me. However, I expected better from someone with your status and experience."

  She dons a tougher look.

  "We're not exactly familiar with dragons or magic, Chronovoid. It's hard not to reject it on some level. Even if we believe what we see."

  Rugh. Dismissive again? Hrem. Maybe it's a test of my emotional state.

  "No. Many of you are, but from your fiction. I'm very real, so I'd like to be treated accordingly."

  She looks down for a split second.

  "Then, Chronovoid. What would you like to discuss?"

  Better.

  "I'm here to ask you to submit to my rule."

  Her face changes abruptly, then goes back to a firm, uncompromising expression. Admirable. I'll continue.

  "I've sent my dragons to every other nation's capital globally, plus some autonomous zones, military outposts, rebel groups, et cetera. My newest dragon, Geritel, is also a former human from the United States. He's the one leading the bulk of this operation. I only came here myself because this country is my former birthplace; I wanted to conquer it personally. Right now, every other world leader is either having this polite discussion, that is, being politely asked to submit or else. Another a large fraction. Rah. They are unfortunately dead."

  She jerks back in her chair reflexively.

  Her eyes seem to be processing what I said.

  "Are you saying you'll kill me if I refuse?"

  "I'm not a mass murderer, Missus President."

  She stares blankly at me for a moment.

  "Then, how many have you killed?"

  FUCK!

  Why did I make that claim twice?!

  So much for my famous meetings.

  I drop my head. She reflexively moves away from my horns as I do. I raise my head while feeling annoyed at the symbolism I've inadvertently invoked by showing my horns to her.

  "A hundred and eighty-one billion."

  Her eyes go wide with terror and her mouth falls open. Still, I continue my explanation.

  "It was an accident during a recent war. My enemy is dead, now, but far too many civilians got caught in the crossfire."

  She's shaking, slightly.

  "Do you, mean... Thousand? Million?"

  I shake my dragon head.

  "No, Missus President. I'm ashamed to admit that many more people died because of the actions of my enemy. I don't know the full death toll— too many galaxies were wiped out by their crazy actions. I, unfortunately, was not spared from inadvertently adding to their carnage."

  Now she's really shaking.

  "We have— nine billion. So..."

  Trying to do the math to calm herself.

  "Twenty Earths, roughly. Considering how much worse it could've been, I'm glad it was only that much. Those crazy fools never should've had such a weapon. Worse, they stole it from me. If I'd never lost control of the thing, perhaps all those people wouldn't have died."

  She looks up at me; firmer than I'd expect, but still scared.

  "Can, I. Have some time to— think about your proposal? Chronovoid?"

  I nod.

  "Absolutely. Just so you know, you're the first person to poke a hole in my statements during one of these meetings. You beat a dragon, even if it was only in wordplay. Be proud."

  I give her a salute, since she's the commander-in-chief. I then get up and walk out.

  Clearly, something is eating me.

  I don't think it'll ever stop. Still, I need to get through it, so I don't keep making the same mistakes over and over. She didn't deserve that from me, and I—

  I shouldn't have led her to it.