Chained By The Witch

Chapter six: The Morning After

 Choking. Someone's choking! Is it me? Am I drowning again? No. This sound is deeper, more masculine. I bolt upright and my eyes snap open, searching every nook and cranny of the bright room. The only thing I find is Xander sitting on his bed, holding a plate of mashed potatoes.

"Sorry, did I wake you?"

"What time is it?" I say, shading the light from my eyes with my hand.

"Uhh." He grabs his phone to check. "Ten in the morning."

"You're eating potatoes at ten o'clock in the morning?"

"Are you judging me or asking for some?"

"Where did you get them?"

"This is my house, I made them."

"Did you even eat breakfast yet?"

"No. None was made, that's why I'm eating potatoes." I sigh in frustration and rub my temples.

He tries to say something else but before he can I cut him off, "No. I don't want you to make me any."

"Mmm, see, I normally wouldn't care whether you ate or not, but I'm trying to keep my head attached to my neck so please just eat something."

"You act as if I magically know where to find food in your house." He huffs and eats the last bite of his meal.

"C'mon, let's go find you some food." Xander says exasperatedly. He carries the empty plate down the hall and into the kitchen, dropping it in the sink before turning to a wooden door. He opens it and behind it lies a long room filled with food-lined shelves.

"Woah. How am I supposed to pick when there's so much!"

"Well, what do you feel like eating?"

"I don't know. Back then I used to just eat what was given to me."

"Ugh. How about I just make you pasta, is that okay with you, your majesty?"

"Okay, I like pasta." He grabs a box and a jar off of one of the shelves, then he walks back to the kitchen and grabs a pot from a top cabinet, above the stove. He fills the pot with water then sets it on the stove and turns a dial, Xander then grabs a second pot and pours the sauce in, setting the jar aside to keep it.

I sit at the end of the long dining table and watch the water boil, it'll never boil, I know. But it's at least a little entertaining, more entertaining than most things I've seen thus far. Finally after waiting an eternity the water boils and the pasta noodles go in.

"Can't you use your magic to make it cook faster?"

"I could... but it's fun to watch you suffer."

"Jerk." He rolls his eyes and scrolls through his phone. I hear a ding and Xander pulls two bowls from another cabinet and silverware from a drawer. After he empties the contents of the two pots he drops them into the sink and swoops up the bowls of pasta.

"C'mon, we're going back to the fort."

"Hey! You already ate!"

"So? I made this, so I have the right to eat some. Plus, it's not like you were gonna eat that whole pot of spaghetti anyway."

"Maybe I was, you don't know." He shoots me a sideways glance and looks at my stomach then back to my face.

"You couldn't, trust me." I huff and cross my arms across my chest, Xander's right, there's no way I could eat all of that.

I sit on my side of the fort watching a movie, Xander told me what it was called but I forgot. I don't understand it but it's okay. The pasta is long gone from here now, eaten quickly. I honestly don't want the movie to end because after this I have lessons from both Xander and Ives. But alas, all good things must end. At least I don't have to go anywhere, for now at least.