Birthday Bash 2023

Prompt 6

Beach Episode

Or

Your Wish is My Command Part Four

Baron had never faced this conundrum before. For the first time in his existence, he had a master that gave him plenty of time to do whatever he wished.

But all he could think about was wanting to spend that time with her. Alas, her school finals were keeping her so busy that she barely had time to sleep, let alone say much to him.

His eyes disobediently trailed to the picture frame he had set up next to his favorite high back chair. He was inside the dollhouse, but the frame next to him was acting more like a security camera on his lady.

Since she objected so strongly to 'mistress' and he had bad memories attached to 'master', it only seemed fitting to call her that. A wicked grin slid onto his lips at the memory of the first time he called her that to her face.

'I wonder how much worse she would have taken it if I let her actually see me,' he couldn't help wondering as he gave a passing glance to his reflection on a mirror hanging from the wall. If anyone thought to look at him in his natural state, they would think nothing was supernatural about him other than his beauty, as a few other slaves had noted sadly millennia before.

He hadn't been lying when he said he could make himself look different to an entire army at the same time. But he did intentionally neglect to mention to Haru that he had only ever clouded her eyes and Machida's.

True, he'd clouded Machida's eyes with a far worse cat monster than he presented to Haru, but now he was wondering how to bring up his normal form, or even if that was the better course of action. The last thing he wanted was for her to grow withdrawn and bashful around him. He'd initially let her see him as his own spin of a cat god just in case Tsuge hadn't known about some darker side of Haru and what she would do with a handsome slave the first chance she got, but now he felt foolish and guilty for ever thinking that Haru would do anything but blush and babble like an idiot.

He loved it when she babbled, but the emotional and literal space might be a bit much for him if he revealed his true face to her. His eyes returned to her as a serious frown returned to his features.

While she had no marks on her, schooling in this era had a little more in common with slave labor than he liked, right down to being told what to wear and what to do when not at their 'masters' beck and call. This wouldn't do; he remembered all too well how much easier working was after a good rest. His work was even easier now with a lady like this, but she'd already turned down his offer to make sure she got the best grades without any studying.

After he caught her nodding off, Baron lit up with an idea. "Since you won't let me interfere with your schoolwork directly, would you be open to a compromise?" he asked aloud, still getting a petty amount of joy that she shot up in her seat like she'd forgotten that her dollhouse had a living occupant now.

She relaxed once she realized it was him. "No, I'm not letting you experiment with my brain."

"Mh, interesting, but not what I had in mind," he assured her with a grin that was clearly heard in his voice. Getting up from his seat, he walked to one of the front-facing windows and opened it so they could talk face to face. "Please don't take this the wrong way, Haru, but you're exhausted. You're going to have trouble remembering or even picking up anything you're reading at the moment."

"Bedtime isn't all that far away," she yawned.

"Time is merely a suggestion to me," he reminded her before leaving the window so he could open his front door.

Once again, he couldn't fight back the mental image of living on a secluded cliff thanks to the strange view and his shortened stature. It still tickled him, that she could underestimate just what he could do since she rarely asked him for anything at all. "What if I told you I can arrange for you to take a long nap on an exclusive beach where you absolutely would not be disturbed without it costing more than the handful of seconds for me to escort you in and out of my abode?"

Haru blinked. She looked down at her open textbook and shook her head tiredly while closing it. "That feels like cheating since my classmates can't do it, but I don't think I have the willpower to say no. Would this beach be in the real world or a dimension you dream up?"

"The latter," he assured her with a wide grin. He held out his hand to her as she stood up and walked over to the dresser.

He loved watching her hand become small enough to fit in his own as soon as she extended it to him. Due to past experiments, he knew enough to gently drag her into his front room and brace her against himself so she could get her bearings thanks to suddenly becoming a fraction of her normal height.

"That's still cool," she gasped as she tried to steady her mind against the rapid adjustment.

"I'm thrilled you think so," he assured her, wishing that it wasn't problematic to intentionally stretch her dizzy spell so she could cling to him a bit longer. Naturally, it would be the one master that could keep her hands to herself that he'd have openly accepted more physical touch from. "Right this way," he directed, unable to keep himself from adjusting her hold to his arm so that he could escort her like his namesake used to do with his own lady.

She was blushing again, but smiling at how careful he was with her. With any luck, she'd never even notice another insect like Machida if he kept this up.

The thought irrationally made him want to put a skip to his step, but he was able to control himself until opening a new door he'd installed in the back of the dollhouse and bowing for her to enter first.

Ever since first becoming a djinn and having his awareness broadened, he'd wondered what having a private island would be like. It wasn't very big, but since it was only going to be him and Haru, he couldn't help irrationally being grateful that he hadn't gone through with his plan of luring the cat from the café home yet.

It was… important to him, that it was only him and Haru. Besides, that overfed feline had a sarcastic streak a mile wide, and he had a feeling that not only would Haru eventually ask to understand felines, that alley cat would have plenty to say about their unique friendship.

As Haru walked through the back door, her comfortable purple shirt , jeans and indoor slippers were replaced with a white one piece swimsuit that echoed Egyptian style without being close enough to trigger bad memories for him. Just as he thought, the look suited her beautifully.

Suddenly realizing that Haru would be more comfortable if he was in a swimsuit as well, he ran through what wouldn't be triggering for him before opting for a swimsuit that his namesake owned.

Haru took a second to blush over her own swimsuit, took one look at the blue and grey striped one-piece he was wearing, and was just able to hold back a laugh.

It was only then that he realized that the look was currently considered ludicrous and childish. He stood to his full height anyway, taking some comfort in the fact that she wasn't really seeing him in it. "Shall we then?" he asked, nodding toward a pair of beach chairs under a large umbrella that had appeared while Haru was looking at him instead.

Haru turned around, swallowed the last of her giggles, and nodded. "You know, I'd have thought that an island like this would have been warmer, but this is just pleasant," she stated instead of saying anything about his choice of swimwear before walking to the chairs.

"I can control the weather without anyone catching on while here," he informed her, reaching out to escort her out of habit before realizing he'd made a terrible mistake.

His lower arms weren't just bare of cloth. They were also bare of fur!

"Is something wrong?" Haru asked, turning to look at him when he didn't join her side as quickly as normal.

"I merely forgot a small detail," he admitted before increasing the sounds of the waves to cover his tracks. 'You nitwit. Next time, invite her to a picnic by a lake.' As little as he'd like it, he'd either have to avoid touching her while here or actually grow a fur coat, which he'd then have to modify the sand to keep him from feeling like he'd stumbled out of a litter box for a week.

Haru sighed happily while laying down in one of the reclining chairs. "I don't deserve you, Baron. I'm sorry I haven't really been spending the time I normally do with you."

"I've understood why," he assured her while laying down on the other chair. "Just rest. You won't so much as get a tan from my sun."

She gave him a sleepy, fond smile that made his insides do gymnastics. She turned a bit on her side so that she could drift off while facing him. "When I wake up, would you at all be interested in making a sandcastle with me?"

"I'll be delighted," he said with absolute sincerity. Baron didn't even care that he was a literal child the last time he made a sandcastle; now that he had his own private island, he could make sure that the castle would never be destroyed by older boys or Egyptian guards that simply couldn't stand slave children being happy for even a few minutes.

Haru was out cold by the time he finished his thought. He smiled, not caring a bit for the rolling waves in front of them or the lush jungle that was just behind them. The only thing he wanted to stare at, was the best thing that ever happened to him. Seeing the bracelet on her wrist, he couldn't resist the impulse to fade the words just a bit more until one could barely tell it was anything but smooth.

Not for the first time, he wished he hadn't refused her offer to be her cat. It had been very foolish to turn down the chance to be held by this angel every night instead of watching her from the dollhouse and wait for dawn to come.

"When did I become so greedy?" Baron chuckled to himself before modifying his body to what Haru believed it to be, changing the sand to stay out of his fur, and speeding Haru through ten hours of sleep so that he could talk to her again as soon as possible.