Eventful Morning (FUNNY ASF chapter… I hope??? Please comment and let me know! ENJOY! )

I woke up before the sun had fully committed to the day.

The pale, soft light filtered through the balcony curtains. It felt like it was going to be a beautiful day. Even my body felt different. I definitely felt the most rested I’d ever been since arriving in Meu. No bad dreams, no alarms, no kids screaming. Just naturally waking up. It was bliss.

I shifted and found Mede still curled near my legs, his eyes barely slits.

‘Is this why I haven’t had nightmares? Because you stay each night?’ I whispered.

He bobbed his head once sleepily. My chest warmed. Mede yawned and a small fire came out of his little beak. I leaned down, meaning to kiss the crown of his head.

But the door burst open before I could.

‘Ina.’

I yelped and straightened just as Riye strode in like the concept of privacy and I didn’t belong together.

‘You must knock! I could be naked!’ I protested.

His steps stuttered for a second as he surveyed the scene. I watched the realization hit him in real time.

He wasn’t a fire bird, but the heat rolling off him might as well have been flame. His jaw tightened. His eyes flicked to Mede. Then back to me. Something dark and dangerous sparked there.

In three strides, he crossed the room.

I reacted on instinct, grabbing the nearest pillow and hurling it at his chest.

‘Out!’ I shouted.

Mede chose that moment to take advantage of the chaos and launched himself through the balcony doors. His wings flared triumphantly as he escaped.

Traitor!

Riye caught the pillow without breaking stride, tossed it aside, and exhaled sharply like he was counting to ten and failing at keeping calm.

‘Are you hurt?’ he demanded.

I rubbed my eyes. ‘What?’

Is this his awkward way of asking if I slept well? Any bad dreams?

His whole face scrunched up. Just say it Riye. You want to check on me. Ask me properly.

‘Do you need anything?’ he asked.

Good enough.

‘What do I need? Nothing really. I just need to take a shower to—’

Oh. Right.

I glanced toward the bathing alcove and winced. ‘I may have been losing a battle with the shower.’

His brow furrowed. ‘It hasn’t been working? Again?’

‘It never worked.’

His nose did a thing as he looked at me.

‘He… HEY! I STILL WASH UP!’

He tried to hide a smile as he turned his back and marched off to inspect the washroom.

Bully…

‘The shower hates me,’ I complained, pointing helplessly at the polished stone panel as I followed behind him.

Riye frowned. ‘It’s automatic.’

‘Automatic… how?’

He waved his hand in front of a smooth, glassy surface set into the wall. Nothing happened. I stepped into the bath to join him and tried the same thing. Still nothing.

‘It never worked for me.’

‘It worked for Raiona,’ he muttered.

‘Well, Raiona isn’t here right now, is she?’ I snapped.

‘Sorry, Ina.’

‘Sorry, Riye. That came out mean…’

‘Sorry,’ he added.

‘I am Raiona. Everything else reacts to me. Except this one.’

He exhaled, reached past me, and pressed one of the raised metal studs embedded along the edge.

The world answered violently.

A sudden, overwhelming surge blasted. The shower detonated. Water poured down in a roaring sheet, thick with heat and magic. The air instantly filled with steam.

‘Ina!’ Riye barked.

He swore and lunged for me. I stumbled backward, but the space in the bath behind me ended too quickly. The only way out was through him. Through the explosion of heat and water.

He turned his body and shielded me with his own just as the worst of it hit. The water slammed into him full force, hissing as it struck. Magic reacted violently with his aura. The steam was so thick I couldn’t see anything clearly for a few seconds.

Riye stopped moving after turning the water off. He had been mid-thought. Anger and calculation warred across his face.

‘Was this sabotage? An accident? A threat?’

‘It’s probably just old—’

One second I was upright. The next, my feet slid out from under me as the magically overheated water slicked the stone I was standing on.

HR! I’ve been in a workplace accident!

Riye turned and rushed to check on me.

‘I’m fine. My ass hurts, but that’s it,’ I said as I held my palm out to stop him from picking me up.

I had to look down and avoided his gaze to hide the real pain. It wasn’t my bum. It was my shattered dignity. For slipping ridiculously. Even after he saved me already.

What are these cloth bits in the water?

I followed the source and it was Riye. When I looked up, the steam thinned just enough. Water streamed down his body. Heat rolled off him in waves. His clothes had not survived. The magical explosive water melted them off. What remained had surrendered completely, leaving nothing to the imagination except my own rapidly failing self-control.

Oh. Wow. No. No no. I mean oh no… noooo… no no no no…

‘Ina?’

Riye didn’t move any closer, as I had asked him not to. He kept calling out to me. It somehow felt so far away. His body was there, but his voice was lightyears away.

‘Ina! Did you hit your head? Look at me! Let me pick you up.’

I am looking, alright.

But I was not looking at his eyes. I couldn’t. After utterly burning the memory of each of his muscles into my mind, my gaze settled onto one thing in front of my face.

I am a lady of healthcare. I have seen bodies. Thousands of bodies. This is… this is… this…

I sucked in a sharp breath and immediately wished I hadn’t. My face burned hotter than the water. Fear tangled with something far more dangerous and far less appropriate.

This is not the time, Ina. This is absolutely not the time.

Riye followed my line of sight. For a second, he just stared down at himself. Then at me, who was still staring.

‘Ina—’ he huffed incredulously as he turned sideways.

‘OH, PARDON ME…’ I blurted automatically, but my eyes still followed.

‘Of all the moments,’ he muttered.

‘I’m sorry… I slipped and then I looked and then I kept looking—’

My foot slipped again as I scrambled to back off. I went down once more, landing squarely on my back. I slid another inch, boxed in by stone, steam, and him.

I squeezed my eyes shut and hoped for a meteor to come hit us all.

‘Don’t come any closer, Riye.’ I whispered. It was my last thread of sanity.

I am going to combust soon. Can I go home to Earth now?

My face burned. My entire body burned. The warm water lapped around my ankles and backside.

‘Ina! Stand up now!’ he said as he stepped closer.

No! You’re naked and you excite me. No. Don’t touch me.

‘YOU HAVE TO STAND UP NOW!’ He said as he took another step.

I yelped and scrambled. I crawled away from him backwards. I managed to lock eyes with him finally.

‘No. Don’t come any closer.’

‘Ina, you must stand up. Please.’ He looked down. I followed his gaze. He was looking at the water around me. Bits of fabric floated past my hands.

I glanced back just in time to see the edge of my clothes slowly dissolving where the water touched. All thinning, melting, drifting away like traitorous petals.

‘RIYE, SOMETHING IS VERY WRONG WITH MY CLOTHES!’ I shrieked.

A disbelieving huff of concern escaped him despite the anger still written all over his face. ‘I told you to stand up!’

He took another step towards me with his arms hovering close, clearly intending to grab me and haul me out of the water. I panicked and turned over. I realized too late the damage was already massive.

I was on all fours. My back was exposed to cool air. My position was undignified. And Riye was suddenly behind me, helping me get up as I sobbed. His warm presence behind me and his big, warm hands on my shoulders were sending my mind into areas it had never been to before.

‘My… clothes all gone?’

‘…Mmm.’

‘…’

‘KYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA DON’T LOOK DON’T TOUCH DON’T BREATHE—’ I screamed a full, mortified, soul-leaving-my-body scream.

THIS WAS WHAT MALE CHEATERS TALK ABOUT BACK ON EARTH. SOME OF THEM APPARENTLY MAGICALLY SLIPPED AND FELL INTO THEIR MISTRESSES. I AM ABOUT TO BE THAT GIRL!

The door burst open.

‘What.in.the.seven.hells—’

Pan froze in the doorway. His eyes flicked between the destroyed shower, the steamy room, me bent over on the bath floor in a state of absolute disgrace, and Riye looming behind me like he’d been framed for a crime he absolutely did not commit.

Pan made a strangled sound and immediately averted his eyes.

‘Riye, I swear on every healing oath I’ve ever taken, if you are forcing yourself on her—’

‘I AM NOT,’ Riye snarled at the exact same time I yelled, ‘HE IS NOT.’

Pan raised his hands. ‘I’m just saying. This is not a good look.’

Riye clicked his tongue sharply and caught a towel from Pan. He passed it to me without looking. Another towel followed, aimed directly at Riye’s face.

‘Cover it. Both of you. Immediately,’ Pan said briskly as he stepped out and told some guards who followed me in that it was all under control.

After I managed to loosely cover myself, Pan stepped in, scooped me up like I weighed nothing, and turned away from the scene.

‘Pan!’ I wailed.

‘Shh. You’re safe. You’re covered. Try not to die of embarrassment. I’ll handle the rest.’

He set me down in a cushioned chair near the window, wrapped the towel more securely around me, and crouched briefly to meet my eyes.

‘You okay?’ he asked softly.

I nodded, still dazed, still warm in entirely inappropriate ways.

Pan patted my head, straightened, and finally risked a glance back at Riye, who had the towel wrapped low and tight.

Pan sighed. ‘Stop swinging that thing around.’

‘I am not swinging anything,’ Riye growled.

‘I can see it peeking from here,’ Pan shot back.

Me too…

‘Do you want a sword fight? Because mine is bigger,’ Pan added.

My soul left my body.

‘PAN,’ I hissed.

He glanced at me. ‘Also, stop looking. What Riye has is nothing. Haven’t you ever heard? Horses have the longest ones.’

Riye’s head snapped toward him.

‘You’re a unicorn. You should be pure. Don’t talk like that,’ Riye said with utter disgust.

Pan shrugged. ‘What would you like me to say when I walk in and see you two in the most suspicious positioning imaginable?’

I pulled the towel over my face to stop my breathing.

This was it. It was nice knowing you, Mother and Father. Time to isekai to Earth now.

‘Pan,’ Riye spat.

‘I’m serious. One second I was next door, holding the queen, the next I dumped her in the arms of the king to run in here. What am I ever going to tell them when I go back?’ Pan complained continuously.

Shit.

‘You said it wasn’t working at first. Then it explodes,’ Riye said as he looked at me. I blushed. He decided to ignore Pan entirely.

Pan went on board quickly. ‘That does sound bad.’

He saw my red face and decided I had seen enough Riye. He stepped in to block my view, and quickly realized it wasn’t enough, so he turned me away.

‘It could have hurt her.’ Riye said.

‘I noticed,’ Pan said as he walked closer to inspect the area himself.

‘Though, it seemed like you did more damage to her than any explosion could ever had…’ Pan hissed as he stood side by side with Riye. 

The steam continued to dissipate, leaving the damage behind in clear view. The explosion area was wider than my first impression.

Riye exhaled slowly. ‘This wasn’t normal.’

Pan nodded once. ‘I’ll have someone check it quietly.’

Their eyes met. Something unspoken passed between them. I pulled the towel tighter around myself and stared very intently at the floor.

My heart was still racing. My skin still tingled where the warmth of Riye’s huge hands lingered. And the image burned far too vividly behind my closed eyes.

This was going to be a problem.

A very big one.