Once gain, Asher found himself in a predicament.

After dressing the beast, the servant became a bit distracted as his thoughts kept returning to what he had done with the Prince the other night.

The nightshirt that he had picked out was long, but not long enough to fully cover the creature's waist and Asher's eyes would occasionally wander too far south before darting away. He very much wanted to blame it on curiosity, but he had gotten more than a proper look last time, so that theory was out the window.

In the end, as soon as the beast was ready for bed, Asher scurried out of there at the speed of light, leaving a bewildered Leon behind.

Back in his guest room, he closed his eyes shut and crossed his legs, hoping to ignore the strange ache that had begun to pester him.

Maybe he was just a late bloomer?

When Asher was younger, he knew that the other boys had taken interest in sex much earlier than he had and while he continued to play in the woods and go on imaginary adventures, the other teens would focus on dating. Thus far, Asher himself had never even considered experimenting because he had not been interested. As a matter of fact, he had even considered it gross. Giving the Prince a hand job was probably the first sexual act of his entire life...Er...Aside from the occasional 'morning wood' that is.

It was odd that his body was suddenly reacting unpredictably. Maybe the extensive amount of hands-on work from washing the Prince was what triggered it? Either way, he wasn't sure if his poker face had been convincing enough and stressed the night away, fearing that Leon might have noticed his strange behavior before he had left.

The next morning he woke up extra early to relight the fires and start breakfast. Since baking was his specialty, he opted for making some fresh bread with butter and jam, along with a glass of mild wine. Orange juice would have been preferred, but it was out of season and he couldn't magically conjure up fruit like the castle did.

This time he didn't make it all the way to the room before running into the Prince. He was wandering the halls near the kitchen when they bumped into each other.

"Up already?" Asher asked, tray in hand as he stepped alongside the monster.

The Prince shrugged. "Couldn't sleep actually."

"Oh...Why not?"

The creature didn't face him, but rather stepped carefully while keeping his eyes to the ground. "It's been three days. She's sure to return any time now..."

Asher had almost forgotten about that. After all this time, her absence was getting a little unsettling. The longer they waited, the more likely she would appear, and the jumpier the Prince would be until then.

"Are you okay?" He asked cautiously.

"No. But that won't change anything, will it?" The beast grunted.

Once more the servant struggled to think of a way to brighten up the Prince's mood. Unfortunately nothing came to mind.

Asher startled when the beast suddenly speared one of the bread slices with his claw and began to nibble on it. "Give a guy a warning, will ya?" He squawked.

"Why did you run off last night?" Leon asked after finishing his bite. "I wanted to talk more."

The servant immediately turned towards the wall to his right so that the beast wouldn't notice the embarrassed blush that graced his face. "I uh...I was just tired. But if you want, we can talk now?"

"Which village are you from?" The beast asked instantly.

"Glenpoint. It's about half a day's journey to the south."

"If I recall, that's one of the smaller villages around here."

"It's practically still a settlement. It hasn't been around too long and it's really poor. It was even kind of difficult to break that gold coin you gave me the other day." Asher paused. "Speaking of which, I forgot to give you the change back."

"Keep it."

"You sure?"

"I have more than enough of my own money."

"Fair enough." Asher grinned. The leftover change was more than he'd ever been paid before, so he was more than happy to accept.

"If you don't mind helping me get some pants on, I'd like to continue this conversation a bit more comfortably." The Prince muttered, and Asher realized that the creature's lower bits were currently half exposed due to his untailored night shirt.

"Right, of course, sorry!"

"Why are you sorry? It's still morning and I'm the one who got up without dressing."

Asher snapped his mouth shut and merely nodded, feeling even more embarrassed.

They made it to the Prince's room where he set down the food so that Leon could eat while he dug out a proper outfit. He then waited awkwardly in the corner as Leon finished, then stood obediently so that Asher could get to work.

He checked the bandages he had replaced last night to make sure they weren't coming undone, then slid the nightshirt off and began putting on the beast's clothes. The Prince jolted when Asher's palm brushed his stomach and he froze.

"Your hands are cold."

Letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding, the servant chuckled nervously. "I'll try to keep them warmer."

The beast didn't like the servant's cautious reaction and asked, "Were you afraid I'd hurt you just now?"

"No. I just...Well maybe a little."

"I won't." Leon declared. "So don't be so scared."

"Says the guy who dragged two women around like ragdolls." He rebuffed.

The beast grimaced. "I didn't mean..." He thought hard about it, but dropped the subject.

That felt like a better reaction since there was no excuse to treat anyone the way he had Theo and Becky. If anything, it would have made him look worse for trying to defend it.

Once the beast was properly dressed, the pair once more wandered the castle as the servant performed his duties. Only this time, instead of the beast watching silently, he'd offer what little help he could.

Whenever something was too high to reach, the beast would use his extended claws to pull it down. When something was too heavy, Leon would assist in moving it, though he did leave a few gouges in the wood on one of the shelves that Asher was trying to dust.

They found a small nest of mice that had to be chased out to the stables so they wouldn't get into the kitchens. Then Leon once more helped with cutting the vegetables.

It was nice receiving help for the overwhelming chores. Today, Asher didn't feel like throwing his hands in the air and giving up on everything. Then the beast brought up a rather sensitive topic.

"About the other night..." He began.

Asher was kneading a roll of dough as he prepared a batch of cinnamon rolls for later. He paused momentarily, hoping the beast wasn't referring to what he thought he was referring to.

"Which night?" The servant played ignorant and continued with an air of disinterest.

"The night that you helped me."

"That's every night."

"You know which night."

Asher's hands finally stopped working and he turned. "What about it?"

"Do you do that often?"

The servant was taken aback by the assumption. "No. Of course not!"

"Not even with your lovers?"

This time Asher rolled his eyes with an annoyed sigh. "No. And even if I did, it wouldn't be something I'd talk about with other people. It's impolite."

"It is?"

"Yes!"

Leon seemed dumbfounded as he crossed, then quickly uncrossed his arms before accidentally slicing himself. "So I can't ask you about it?"

"You want to know what I do with my lovers?"

"Yes."

The blunt remark was yet another in a series of unthinkable replies as the bold Prince eyed him earnestly. Asher just shook his head. "I suppose the same thing you did with yours."

The odd silence that followed had the servant glancing back towards the creature who was now frowning at him. "I...I never had a lover before."

Will this creature cease to be so unpredictable?

Asher lost all interest in his baking as his curiosity was peaked. "What do you mean? Everyone knows you're the most handsome man in the kingdom. What's more, you're wealthy. Surely you had women knocking down your door every night?"

"I couldn't." Was the simple reply. "She wouldn't let me."

Asher tilted his head. "Did...Did you ever....With her?" 

"Never!" The Prince snapped defiantly. "I never let her get that far!"

"Oh." Asher felt somewhat relieved to know that she hadn't gotten away with that much. Her treatment and manipulation of him were still awful though. "So what you're saying is that you're a virgin?"

It was hard to tell, but it seemed like the creature was blushing as he turned away. "So what if I am?"

Asher did a double take at the confirmation. "It's not a bad thing. I'm just surprised."

The beast kept his eyes averted, and after a moment the servant tried to return to his baking before getting drawn away by yet another ludicrous statement.

"Would you do it again?"

"Excuse me?"

The beast side-stepped a bit closer. "What you did that night. Would you do it again?"

"I don't know, uh..." Asher's mind was racing as he tried to answer the strange question, though admittedly he wasn't completely opposed to the suggestion. "Maybe? If you ordered me I wouldn't-"

"No. Not as an order." The Prince quickly corrected him. "If we did that again, I'd rather it be because you're willing and not obligated."

Now it was embarrassment that had Asher fumbling for words. "Er...I um...I wouldn't be opposed but...That's not usually something someone just does."

"It's not?"

"No. I mean, maybe?" Honestly, he'd caught a few people fooling around in the village before, some of which had different partners every time, so he could very well be wrong.

Sex and romance were not normally topics of interest for Asher.

"What if I did it for you in return?" The beast then suggested, and the servant immediately dropped a horror filled gaze at the creature's claws as he considered the possibilities.

"I'd rather you didn't."

Catching on quickly, the beast pulled his claws away and started approaching Asher. The servant leaned back against the counter, eyes wide and curious on what the beast would do next.

"I have more than just my hands to work with." The creature indicated, and Asher felt something long and warm slither up his leg. Glancing down, he spotted the Prince's serpentine tail as it climbed higher, reaching his inner thigh and flicking across his groin.

Asher gulped at the insinuation as the beast towered over him, his arms now leaning against the counter on either side, pinning him in place. "If you're interested, I think there's more we can do than just chores."

The servant knew what this was now. The Prince wanted to experiment since he'd never had the opportunity to do so before, and Asher had already volunteered.

Unfortunately Asher realized that his own body had decided it was also curious, because as the beast's tail flicked across his pants, he felt himself growing hot from the prospect. Yet before he could say anything, there was a sudden sigh throughout the castle.

The fire he had put out in the oven suddenly burst to life, along with all the sconces down the hall.

The flour he had left on the counter seemed to vanish, leaving it well polished and spotless.

And a familiar murmur echoed from the walls.

The witch had returned. 

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