The evening was just as awkward as Asher expected it to be. The beast had returned to his room after their conversation and the servant took the opportunity to do the rest of his chores as he initially had planned. Unfortunately he lost track of time, so by the time he finished cooking lunch it was pretty much dinner.
He fretted over the meager meal, knowing it wouldn't be to the Prince's usual pallet but hoping it would suffice. He was also beginning to feel a bit irritated as well with how overwhelming his duties were.
Every time he was reminded that he was the only one left to clean the castle, he felt more annoyed that he also had to tiptoe around the monster's mood swings. If he could just focus on trying to understand and comfort the guy, he'd be fine, but with an impossible list of tasks meant for twenty people, he was quickly losing his patience.
He did try to reason with himself since he hadn't been doing this for long, but then he'd recall how the Prince had treated him before, and that he had traveled through the blistering cold to find women to try and break his curse, none of which the man ever thanked him for. Instead he had just shoved them out the nearest door and demanded he try again.
Now Asher was also responsible for dressing the beast, cooking meals, lighting fires, doing laundry, caring for his horse, sweeping the halls, weather proofing the windows, and let's not forget how ridiculous it is for one mere servant to dust an entire castle!
Asher really did want to help Leon break his curse. The entire kingdom was in danger if that didn't happen, but after one day of trying to do everything himself, he realized he had taken on much more work than he was capable of.
Finishing up in the kitchen, he took a calming breath and decided that he was done for the day. He would take the food up to the beast, get him changed, then go to his own room and rest for the night.
With a bowl of soup and a few slices of bread, Asher greeted Leon in his room. The beast, still angry from earlier, ignored him completely. So, the servant silently went to place the food on the nearby table like he had that morning, but then Asher noticed that the Prince hadn't finished his eggs from earlier and even spotted a few bits on the floor.
Realizing that the stubborn Prince would rather starve than ask for the servant's help to feed himself, Asher's irritation spiked and he practically slammed the bowl down next to the creature's book, sloshing broth across the table and spattering the tattered pages that the Prince had been reading.
Startled, Leon tossed a look at the angry servant who just pointed at the bowl with a scowl. "Eat!" He demanded in a hard tone.
Everything he had put up with till now had been to help the Prince, so he certainly was not going to let the beast get away with refusing his care.
"Are you giving me another order?" The beast stood, towering over the servant intimidatingly, causing Asher to nearly step back and second guess his outburst. "I may be cursed, but I am still the master of this castle and I will eat when I damn well please!"
His snarl was drowned out by the sudden growl of his stomach as it disagreed with his sentiment. Asher attempted to keep a straight face as his mood was slightly lifted by the poor timing of the creature's hunger.
Sucking in an angry breath, the beast attempted to continue his glare, but a second rumble from his stomach had him giving up his intimidation tactics as he sat back down, tight lipped.
Asher continued to drill holes with his eyes as the Prince slumped, frowning at the bowl. In one last stubborn attempt to redeem his poise, he reached over and tried to slide the bowl closer to himself, only to tip it.
Quick on his feet, the servant caught it before it spilled too much and grabbed the spoon. "Just let me help, alright?"
"Why did you have to make soup again?" The Prince complained, still embarrassed by the occasional grumble of his belly.
Asher bit his bottom lip and wondered if it would be wise to admit that there weren't many savory dishes that he knew how to make outside of baked goods, but he couldn't stuff the Prince with nothing but bread and cakes, could he?
Then again, being a royal probably meant he was usually fed a large assortment of foods every day and never ate the same thing twice, yet here was Asher forcing him to eat vegetable soup for the second day in a row.
Boohoo. First world problems.
"If you don't want it, don't eat it." Asher snipped as he set the spoon back down and went to wipe up the spillage with a cloth.
The beast's claws slid around the edge of the bowl protectively. "I'll eat it."
"Good. Then do it."
"I will."
The servant had a feeling that the beast wouldn't like him to offer another round of hand feeding, what with him still being angry from earlier. So instead of taking the initiative, he sat back and watched as the beast eyed the dreadful liquid.
With his claws, it would be impossible to hold the spoon, and it would take quite a bit of effort to pick the bowl up without spilling it, but Leon seemed determined not to request assistance. He noticed how Asher was watching, and with a stubborn glare, tightened his grasp as he attempted to lift the bowl.
Carefully he brought it up to his face where he took a sip, then promptly yelped as the hot broth seared his tongue, causing him to lose his tumultuous grip and drop it down his front side.
Things went downhill really fast from there as the beast shot up to try and wipe the hot liquid off, only to accidentally cut himself on his claws and rip his shirt and trousers. Realizing his efforts were useless, the creature just flapped his arms in frustration as he danced around until the heat cooled down.
Asher had mixed feelings over the entire display. It was quite an amusing spectacle, but he also knew the poor man was in pain and couldn't do anything about it, leaving him both amused, and ashamed.
To make up for practically causing the scene to happen, the servant picked up the wash cloth and approached the struggling creature. "Hold still!" He ordered, but the beast was still flapping at the air with the bandages on his arm coming loose from the movement.
"SIT! NOW!" Asher bellowed, finally drawing the beast's attention and for the second time, shocking him. Now with the creature standing still enough, he went to work to wipe the broth from his chest and clothes. He quickly patted down around his lap, not wanting to linger there too long, and then guided the beast over to the nearest chair so he could manage his bandages.
"Why do you have to be so stubborn?" Asher mumbled out loud, not caring how the beast would react to his attitude.
"Why did you have to make soup?"
"Why didn't you ask me to help feed you like before?"
"Why didn't you offer?"
"Why do you think?"
At that, the creature fell quiet and after a moment's thought, looked away and held out his injured arm for Asher to clean.
Removing the bandages, he found that the broth didn't just stain his clothes, but his fur as well. Unfortunately that wouldn't be as easy to wipe off with a towel and change of clothes.
He was going to need a bath...
With a roll of his eyes, he removed the remainder of the Prince's bandage, applied some ointment, then retrieved what was left of the bowl. He was no longer in the mood for tiptoeing around Leon. If he did every little thing that the man pretended to want, then he might as well have stayed back in the village.
"Open." He ordered, earning another grimace from the ruffled beast, but he took no heed and shoved the spoon into the monster's mouth, causing him to gag on the potatoes.
"Why did you-!?"
"Open." Asher repeated, quickly scooping another spoonful and shoving it into this mouth before the beast held up a claw, stopping him from doing it a third time.
After properly chewing, the beast's irritated scowl turned into a cautious one as he refused to lower his claw for fear of the servant assaulting him with more soup. "Enough! Why are you behaving like this?"
Asher plopped the spoon back into the bowl, splashing the remaining broth on himself. "Let's get one thing straight. I may be your servant, but I don't have to be. If you want help, ask for help! But do not think I will stay here much longer if you continue to refuse my assistance." He paused to allow that part to sink in. "I'm sorry I said something insensitive earlier, I didn't know better. But in my defense I know next to nothing about you other than the fact that you are rich and every woman in my village claims you're some sort of 'Adonis'. So I'm asking that you have some leniency with me, and in exchange, I will with you. Okay?"
Leon seemed stunned by the servant's attitude. One would think it was defiance, but really it was Asher's attempt at standing up for himself, and the poor servant was doing his best to hide his shaking hands under the bowl as he forced himself to appear confident in what he just said.
He had gotten irritated with the Prince and knew lashing out at him wasn't going to make much progress, but with the creature's attitude problem, Asher had to make sure the guy was aware that he couldn't keep pushing the servant around either.
He could easily just go around cleaning up as best he could, avoiding the beast and dropping off food in hopes that he'll figure out how to eat it with his elongated claws, but that in itself seemed callous and cruel too. The beast needed company more than a servant it seemed, but company deserves some level of respect.
Asher had expected a bit of retaliation, or to be yelled at, or...something. Instead, the beast suddenly seemed hesitant as his yellowed eyes darted around the room, glancing anywhere but at the servant as he lowered his head meekly. "Okay."
That was it? Did he really get his point across that easily?
Hoping that was the case, he continued. "Your cloths are torn, your bandages need replacing, and you're covered in soup. I'm going to help you finish your dinner so you don't go hungry, and afterwards I'll fill up a bath so you can get properly cleaned. Got it?"
"Yes."
The reply came so fast that he was surprised the Prince hadn't said 'yes sir', and Asher couldn't help picturing a scolded child before him.
Oddly enough, Asher felt bad about the situation as he resumed feeding what was left of the dinner to the beast, then worked on heating up some water and carrying the buckets towards the tub, which was yet another tiresome task. Hopefully the Prince wouldn't expect him to do this every day, because Asher couldn't handle any other chores now.
Once it was full, he recalled how the bath he had taken was scented, and thus dumped a bit of perfumed soap into it to make it smell nice. Then he called the beast over so he could help him get in.
By this time the beast had regained his poise and no longer looked like a kicked puppy. Asher waited until the creature gave the okay for him to proceed, then he went and undressed him as quickly as possible.
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