Dessert Goddess

New Arrival

Brent's POV

I watched as she departed. Her hips swayed delectably. Creast had done a wonderful job on her hair also. It shone brightly in the sunlight of day. Yet here I stayed. Never able to go with her. No matter how hard I trained or what my level was. She always chose him to go with her. I suppose he was more capable of protecting her. Those thoughts did nothing to ease my jealousy though. She had once more left me here. And this time I was to tend after yet another wayward stray. Mysty currently had his glasses perched on the end of his nose as he scrubbed mercilessly at the boys skin. Dirt had stained his skin in spots and Mysty was not considering the job done until they were gone. The boy was cowering, making himself as small as possible as Mysty groped him clean. He had gotten to the point of tears before we had even managed to wrangle him into the bath. I was trying to be delicate with him but it was not in my nature to be nice. I had to struggle just to be nice to my mistress and fellow harem members. I would continue this struggle for her though. My Charlene.

Ezra was getting older and I fully intended on petitioning Charlene to be my wife after he was gone. She was a bit old fashioned. She would only have one husband at a time. Most women were pleased as punch to have more than one husband. Of course I had fallen for the one who was different. However she was so beautiful I could not help myself. I wanted to suck up every last bit of affection she granted me. So I would muddle my way through this task. She cared so much about the lives of the people here. When this was not even her home planet. I should probably work on gaining this boys trust. I needed to give my Charlene a name after all. I shook myself out of my head and focused on the boy, shaking in the tub. His knees brought up to his chest. His eyes remained downcast no matter what happened to him. His mistress must have been very aggressive with him. I had seen the kick to his side in the dining room. A bright, brilliant baby blue bruise was forming on his right rib cage as a result.

“Mysty. Have you finished?” the inquiry was answered by a look over his glasses at me. His long pastel purple hair fell over one eye. His thin fingers worked expertly on the boys hair as he glared.

“What timing you have, idiot.” There was that condescending tone everyone knew and loved. Mysty presented himself much differently in front of Charlene. I often wondered if he talked to Ezra this way.

“Berating me for asking a question is the last thing you want to do, you overly flamboyant bird.” I remarked. I watched as he stretched one long leg out beside the tub and dipped the boy below the water to wash his hair out.

“At least I can get my belly off the ground.” This remark cut fairly deep. The slur was used to insinuate I was a bottom dweller, not worthy of anything. He lifted the boy back out of the water, brushing water from his face.

“Watch yourself you big purple parrot.” Mysty was a good foot taller than me. But as a Flamingo, he was lean and thin. I contained much more muscle, and a grip that could kill. “Once I have you in my grasp, you will not get out alive.” I growled. It was so intense the floor under me vibrated slightly. Mysty snorted a laugh as he coaxed the boy into a standing position. I walked over with a towel as Mysty moved to the sink/vanity combo. This bathroom was much less luxurious than the masters. But it contained everything Charlene’s harem needed. It had multiple showers, a normal bathing tub, an ice tub, two sinks with a large counter in between. I left the flamingo to make busy while I wrapped the boy up.

“Do you feel a bit better now?” I asked him softly. He only nodded in response but that was fine with me. I supported him while he stepped out of the tub. Once he had his feet on the ground, I walked him over to the chair Mysty had set in front of the sink. Mysty set to work, starting from the feet and working his way up. I busied myself towel drying his hair. I felt something pull on the towel. Pulling the towel back, I lifted up his crudely cut hair to find a line of white feathers. He slapped a hand over his neck the moment he figured out where I was headed.

“No!” He screamed. I bounced back in shock a moment. He gripped his neck for dear life.

“What did you do now you dinosaur?” Mysty asked looking up at me over his glasses once again. He had the boys leg in his hand. He was picking at what looked like invisible imperfections. He had some cream blobbed up in the palm of his left hand. He set himself back to work before I could even respond.

“I am not aware I have done anything to be honest, bird brain.” This purple smudge always tested my patience. This conversation was very similar to other ones we have had. Mysty moved up to the boys knees. He had placed himself directly between the boys legs. The farther up Mysty got, the bigger the struggle the boy seemed to have. He looked like he wasn’t sure if he should cover his groin or his neck. He looked like a cornered rat.

“Well obviously you have done something.” Mysty murmured. He rubbed lotion on the boys knees and patched a bandaid over a cut before moving up the thighs. One hand jerked down to his junk, while one remained on his neck.

“If you don’t want me to mess with your feathers, I wont. But Mysty here is going to have to cut your hair once he gets up this high, so you might want to try and get comfortable with someone around them.” My advice seemed to fall on deaf ears until his hand began to move. With slow, jerky movements, I watched as he removed his hand from his neck, placing it with his other one.

“Ohhh…” Mysty mocked. “The big bad gator has a soft side.” His tone was light and song-sing. He was definitely making fun of me.

“Must you!” I snapped. Mysty couldn’t spare a glance my way as he wrestled the boys hands away.

“I must check you for leaches and ticks and such!” He grunted as he fought with the boys skeleton arms. They swung this way and that. The boy always making sure Mysty couldn’t get near his twig and berries. “Brent!” Mysty huffed. He was out of breath and looking at me. His long smooth hair was starting to fray and stick out in places, mussed by his attempts to groom the boys features.

“What?” I asked looking down at him.

“What do you mean what? Why are you even here then?” He was losing his temper. I smiled at him, releasing an amused chuckle.

“Perhaps I like watching you struggle. It gives me a glimmer of happiness in what could have been a very dampening experience.” I told him. He looked resignedly at me and I finally took pitty on him. I grabbed each one of the boys wrists and brought them down to his sides. “We have to get you cleaned up for the Lady of the house. Do well not to struggle.” My voice was kept light as I brought my face to his ear. “It will be over soon enough and you will not have to go through it again.” My speech was interrupted suddenly by a surprised shriek from Mysty.

“You are circumcised!” He wailed. “Why would you choose that! You were so impressionable; I suppose you were misled. I am so sorry my boy.” He prattled on. There was nothing wrong with being circumcised. I had chosen it as well. Almost every part of our physical human form is chosen. This youngster didn’t need to be chastised for it.

“Come off it, big bird. He has been through enough. Just because you don’t agree with his choice doesn’t mean he made a bad one.” I jumped to the boys rescue.

“You say that only because you made the same mistake.” This attitude of his was grinding my nerves. I needed him to be done so I could get the boy, and myself, far away from him. He grunted at me before his head disappeared between the kids legs. I heard the clippers fire up and knew it was pruning time. I held his wrists to his hips as he struggled in his seat. It was like he had never seen a pair before. Despite the moving target, Mysty did a good job of getting him trimmed up. He rubbed a salve over the skin to sooth any clipper burns.

“What appears to be a mistake to you is not a mistake to another. You have your views but that does not make them right for everyone. You need to learn when to shut your mouth. This hatchling lived through horror you only read about in the news. He does not need you planting seeds of doubt about himself in his fragile state. You are bordering just as cruel as his prior mistress.” I couldn’t hold my tongue anymore. It all just came spewing out. Mysty drew himself up to a standing position as he moved up to the boys hips and butt.

“I don’t need an old goat like you telling me what to do. Im not in your harem. You have no tenure over me.” Mysty once again hid behind Ezra’s name.

“Do you not think that my mistress wouldn’t be able to expel you from her husbands harem?”

“I think you wouldn’t dare try.” The boy was looking between us as we fought. I guess he deemed us more dangerous to each other than to him. I looked down at him and released his hands. He used them once again to cover up his now almost bare package.

“Don’t test me, feather brain.” I grumbled. Mysty took his exit and focused back on the boy, tending every wound and removing any hair along the way. I moved out of the way and Mysty made his way behind the boy and to his hair.

“Is there a reason you don’t want me to touch your feathers?” Mysty asked as he once again guarded his neck. He violently shook his head. I moved in front of him and bent down. The red leather of my pants audibly arguing with my choice.

“No matter how often I tell you that you are okay here, it wont make getting used to it any easier. However, we need you to tell us a few things so that we may make you feel more comfortable. We know not to mess with your feathers. And if you don’t want to tell us you don’t have to. However picking someone to open up to might do you good.” Consoling others was not my strong point. But he was terrified and Mysty was not any help. “It would be really wonderful if you could tell us your name. I refuse to call you Number 6. You are an individual and will be treated as such here.” His eyes wiggled up to meet mine for the first time. His eyes were a light brown, with lengthy lashes spilling in every direction. I wasn’t sure if he was sweating under the pressure or if the water running along his hairline was from his bath. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. Finally he briefly made eye contact with me once more. He dropped his gaze to his hands before answering.

“M-m-mistress used to pull them out whenever she pleased. I can only grow so many. She has pulled so many out already I’m not sure how many I have left. If something were to happen to them, I might not get anymore!” He started off small and scared and was screaming at me by the time he finished.

“I see why you were worried.” My words however were talked over.

“You are a big baby to worry.” Mysty voiced at the same time. Stupid bird. I huffed my displeasure as Mysty started work on the top of his head, cutting and chopping expertly as I spoke.

“Shut it.” I aimed at Mysty. “You will not have to worry about losing a single feather here. I imagine Mistress would aptly punish whomever decided to do as such.” I casually told the boy. I tried my best not to make aggressive eye contact. His confidence was slowly growing. I knew my Charlene would be happy. “Are you ready to tell me your name?” I raised an eyebrow as I looked over his face, picking up as many minute tells as I could. He shook his head no.

“Hey, keep still unless you want to walk out of here bald.” Mysty quipped. The boy dropped his head down again. He played his thumbs together nervously. The room was completely quiet, sans the sound of Mysty’s scissors and our mingling breaths.

“My parents sold me into the slave house.” He started as he chanced a look back up at me. I tried to make my face as soft as possible as I listened. “Mistress bought me shortly after that. I have been with her for 3 long years.” He looked ready to cry again. Noticing his breathing increase, I held out my hand to him. He looked at it a moment before placing his hand softly in mine. “Mistress told me from the start that I was not worthy of a name. Any name my parents had given me, was dead. She named me Number 6 so I would always know my place.” His voice was still small but he was relaxing.

“Well that is a bit ridiculous. Such a bitter old woman. She let the power go to her head. One reason I love my Mistress so much is because she wants no one to suffer. That includes you.” He smiled at my remark. Yes! Another step. “Now, if you want, you don’t have to use the name your shotty parents gave you. You don’t have to use a name anyone gave you. Why not just make up your own? This is all new to you anyway. Might as well give yourself a name you can be proud of.” I sat up straighter. I would have been one hundred percent okay with choosing my own name. But that wasn’t in my storyline. This boy had the chance. Whatever name I gave my Charlene would be his name forevermore.

“I wouldn’t know where to start.” He admitted to me. My mouth crinkled to the side as I thought.

“Well did you ever have a chance to hear a story or read a book?”

“Not many. Sorry.”

“But one?” I insisted.

“Yeah.”

“Perfect. What was it about?”

“A prince rescuing a princess.” He was keeping his answers short, but at least I was getting some. I took my hand from his and laid it on his knee as I sat more comfortably.

“Was there a character in this story that you ever imagined you would like to be?” My answer came in the form of a small nod. Mysty stepped back in a huff.

“I told you to quit moving, hatchling.” His black eyes searched the boys head, trying to find where he left off. Snipping filled the air once more as I looked back at the boy.

“As we were.” I said shooting a death glare at Mysty. “What character did you like the most?”

“Icarus.” Interesting. I think I actually know what story he is talking about. It’s a bedtime story for kids. His only stories were from before he got his human form? Had this woman kept him under a rock?

“Icarus. I remember that story. What about that name?” I looked up at him from my seat on the floor below him.

“Its a babies story.” Mysty voiced lowly.

“It does not matter, Mysty. Stuff a cork in it. If he got any inspiration from him at all then it was worth it. Besides it is not like it’s a bad name. If he wants it and it serves him well then whom are you to judge?” Mysty and his bad attitude once again had my attention.

“Why do you argue with me?” Mysty asked as he finished up and checked the boys hair. “I am done. Wash him off before you dress him.” He said as he turned away to gather all of his things. “You two can pick out baby names after I leave.” I got to my feet and pulled the boy up with me. Still completely naked, I escorted him to the shower.

“Awe, does the purple long neck not want to dabble in anything romantic?” I dripped my voice in cuteness, going up an octave.

“You insufferable reptile!” I had succeeded in goading him once more. “I can not wait to never see you again.” He spoke exasperatedly as he rushed out of the bathroom, leaving me and the boy alone.

“Unfortunately, there are nasty people wherever you go, young one. It’s a reality to everyone. But you cant let people like that get to you. I will do what I can to help you out if you need it.” Soothing him as I went, I rinsed all the hair off him. I grabbed a new towel and began drying him off once more as he stood, still shaking slightly, in the tub. “So, can you answer my question now? What is your name?” I looked down so he didn’t feel intimidated. He waited a long moment before his voice broke the silence.