Twice Cursed [Goblin] [M]

[Juno]

In his rage of cleaning he had not noticed. Looking down at himself and how dust clung to the light sheen of sweat upon his body caused him to gag. A dunk in the river would have to be made sometime soon. "So I am," he called, unrelenting in his task. "Is that a problem?" he wondered, truly feeling no shame for his nakedness.

[GoblinFae]

"YES! HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE THAT," Yasmine screeched as a book went flying in his general direction. "Put some clothes on your idiot! I will not live in the same house as a pervert who would dare march around in naught but his skin when there is a unwed woman he is meant to protect in the house!"

[Juno]

He rolled his eyes for her fussing, the thrown book bouncing off his back painfully but he ignored her screaming and raving. "Nobody said you have to look. What's the point of getting dressed to clean when I'll be covered in filth at the end of it anyway?" he wondered aloud, almost finished with the room and thankful he could soon be out of her hair.

[GoblinFae]

"Is it even safe or sanitary to clean when your...your...DANGLY BITS are just dangling about? I certainly hope you didn't clean the kitchen like that!" Yasmine groaned and gagged at the idea of Conrey in the kitchen naked. "Go put clothes on like a normal person! THAT'S AN ORDER!"

[Juno]

"I require payment for orders, Miss Fairchild," he reminded her, rolling his eyes at the ridiculousness of a child telling him how to conduct himself anyway. He did not argue with her any further, though, rushing to finish his work and set his cleaning implements aside as he dragged what he considered to be dusty, broken junk outside to pile up in the otherwise beautiful yard.

Shivering with disgust at the grime caked upon him, Conrey fled the house in a whirl of fur as he shifted, bolting out across the grass to dive into the river.

[GoblinFae]

Yasmine huffed and slumped against the wall the moment he dashed out. "Heathen! I swear Duchess, I have entered the deepest circle of hell. I don't know what my parents were thinking when they hired him. A naked man with his-his-his THING just bobbing around. Wolves and their stupidity, someone save me! I swear when he comes back there will be words!"

[Juno]

Scrubbed clean and soaked from the water, Conrey returned on carefree paws. His mind at ease with the house clean he trotted about to survey his work as he carried the smell of wet fur through the house. Thinking nothing of it, he returned to the foyer to finish the task of getting their bags upstairs that he had left unfinished the previous night. Shifting back to his human form, he rummaged through his things and threw on clean clothes right there with the door open and not a care in the world as he set himself to work again. "Much better," he mumbled to himself.

[GoblinFae]

She missed his return home but she certainly did not miss the stench he left behind, using it to locate him in his room. With a hand covering her eyes, Yasmine used the other to knock on the door frame, determined not to burn her eyes with the sight of him naked twice in one day.

"Mister Shaw are you decent? We have some very important things to discuss I believe."

[Juno]

Not thinking of the permanence of the situation, Conrey had simply settled his bag beside his bed, fulling expecting to live out of it and never store any of his things in the house. Hearing her voice, he closed it up again and stood up to approach the door. "Yes, of course I am," he scoffed, as if he had never been running around naked at all. "What would you like to discuss?"

[GoblinFae]

Clearing her throat and opening her eyes, Yasmine pulled herself up to her full height which in comparison to his was really not much of a difference. "For the health and sanity of this household I feel that we must have a quote-on-quote family meeting. Putting aside our first impressions of yesterday and last night...and this morning," she added the last in an embarrassed whisper. "We really need to in my opinion discuss some ground rules for all three of us. Namely, you need to wear pants. At all times. Especially when doors are open," the teenager said haltingly, her gaze continuously flickering down to his now clothed legs. "Exceptions, in the privacy of your own quarters, the bathing chamber, and incidences when your condition requires it. Now, given that is the first rule of the house and I am open to listening and proposing compromise shall we proceed further, perhaps in a more neutral environment?"

[Juno]

Conrey listened, but as he realized what she was suggesting he simply rolled his eyes, though didn't interrupt. "That, little one, is out of the question. I am here to guard and protect. I will live my life as I please and I will get the job done. Now I am a decent man, don't get me wrong," he told her hurriedly, not wanting her to think he wanted to walk around naked at all times.

"And I enjoy the comforts of clothing as any other, I'm sure. But I will not have you tell me what I can or cannot do. I simply won't. It's the principle of it, Miss Fairchild. I would not insist upon you wearing something particular at all times," he scoffed. "And I will not let you dictate my clothing or when I choose to wear it. Next rule?" he gestured for her to move along, that it was no longer up for discussion.

[GoblinFae]

"No!" she disagreed. "It is the rules of society that dictates this! What if my parents suddenly came and saw you prancing about in naught but your skin? You are meant to be my chaperone not the reason I need one! It is a valid rule. Remember who I am, a young impressionable lady who is without a suitor, unless your actions wish to indicate you are willing to fill that role too now! You certainly would not take to me running around naked like that now would you? Well? WOULD YOU?" Yasmine stamped her foot as she moved further into the room.

[Juno]

"Of course not," he scoffed, rolling his eyes at the very impropriety. "But I was doing you a service in cleaning this place, making it liveable! It is not my fault if you were impressed by what you witnessed," he defended, entirely misunderstanding her meaning. "Now please, carry on with your other points, it is a waste of time to fuss and holler over one little detail that is now irrelevant."

[GoblinFae]

Yasmine opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water. "Oh believe me there was nothing impressive about your," she waved her hand towards him, "things! As for other rules I wanted this to be a group household effort to come up with them. Not a case of me standing here dictating like a little tyrant and you shooting me down every chance you get because you underestimate me for something I'm not. Now for one I have a question. What are we doing about living arrangements? We can't simply keep piling stuff our on the front lawn and I do not think it wise we live so close together. You certainly seem to need your...space for...activities."

[Juno]

He found her floundering amusing, but tried to keep it to himself and put on a serious face as he listened to her explanation of what was wrong with their "living arrangements."
"Not at all," he protested with a shrug. "We live in the same house for now, so I'm not quite sure what you're suggesting. I picked my room," he gestured at the very floor they were standing upon. "And you are free to pick your own. Be as far from me as you'd like. Now I'm curious, Miss Fairchild. What activities do you think I need such space for?" he wondered, raising a brow at her with interest.

[GoblinFae]

She blushed darkly and waved a hand at him. "Well you know," Yasmine muttered, refusing to meet his eye. "Activities! Don't you have a lady friend or are you uh more uh gentlemanly inclined? Besides," she hastened to add, "you certainly don't need to be knowing every little thing I'm doing now do you?" Her mind reflected on her nightmares in particular and how she would hate for him to know how they plagued her every time she closed her eyes.

[Juno]

Conrey just blinked at her, not seeing how this was any of her business despite that they would be living together for the foreseeable future. "I separate my private life from my work, Miss Fairchild," he sighed, trying to assure her despite that he truly had no private life at the moment. In the past he most certainly had, but for the past couple of years he had spent his time fully engrossed in his work and leaving no time for courting or much fun with the ladies. Not that he ever assumed he had any real prospects with anyone but perhaps an unsavory daughter of some common merchant.

"I believe, though, that knowing your business is a very big part of my job. It would be a disservice to you and your parents to not know everything I can about you and your...habits," he explained, hoping she didn't take offense to it.

[GoblinFae]

"Well I don't think you need to know everything that goes on in my private chambers when I'm alone," she told him, sounding flustered and not even realizing what she had unintentionally alluded to. "Besides," Yasmine continued, "don't you have like super-hearing or something? Couldn't you hear well enough across the manor to know what I'm up to?"

[Juno]

"No," he answered bluntly. "And my point stands. Your business is my business, wherever that may be, no matter how private you may feel it is. That is my charge. I must protect you from anything and everything that threatens your peace, Yasmine. I mean that sincerely." Her resistance was a bit unsettling. He didn't want to have to fight her every step of the way in this process. He was quite certain it would be painful enough without all that.

[GoblinFae]

Defeated, Yasmine dropped her head and sighed sadly. "Very well then," she relented. "You're really taking this whole thing very seriously aren't you? You're not just going to...leave, are you?" While the words could be misconstrued as exasperation with being stuck with him, it was the voice of a scared and lonely little girl that had uttered them.