Truly, really hope this bunny does not die…

Disclaimer/Notes: See a previous chapter

Ash will be referred to as a boy despite his outward appearance, unless I feel like doing otherwise or there are special circumstances…

Chapter 4

“Well, he asked me how much I would charge for a night.”

“Huh?”

“In other words,” Lance said, “He asked me how much it would cost him to sleep with me.” Eyes sparkled from beneath red locks.

Ash’s jaw hit the floor with a most satisfying crunch. It did look out of place with his new features though.

“Watch that,” Lance consoled. “You’ll never pass for a girl if you do that.”

“He _wanted_?”

“What, you think I’m not attractive enough?”

“No, I never – I mean, I don’t think your attractive because usually I’m trying to kill you, but…”

“But?”

“If I were a girl and I wasn’t trying to kill you, I might think you were cute.” Ash said, as he helped himself to the cream pie Lance had made for dessert.

“Intriguing.”

“But how can you just kill him?”

“I owe no allegiance to any of the three kingdoms.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Oh yes, Astral will send the Ten after me soon enough…”

“You aren’t worried?”

“Why are you worried?” Lance queried. < Are you actually concerned about my health and well-being? >

“No!” Ash snapped. “I’d just rather you not die until I’m back to normal.”

< Ah… you are rather selfish. >

“So?”

< It’s kawaii. >

“… WHAT?”

< Just kidding. > Lance said, getting up with a rustle of black robes. < Well, your room is the one on the second floor with the pink door. You can’t miss it. >

< Thank you… I think. >

< I’ll extract payment sometime later; after all, I’ve got all of Eternity to do it. >

< If you don’t die. >

Lance chuckled. < And if I do, you don’t have to pay! >

“Sounds good to me, it’s a deal.”

Sleeping was something else he had to tackle.

“Okay… I can’t sleep on my stomach with these giant balloons…” Ash muttered, having changed into a nightdress he found laid out by some thoughtful servant.

Lance had servants? Well, they were awfully quiet…

He didn’t like sleeping on his back; it was like his throat could be slit at any moment. He wasn’t even sure it was safe to sleep.

What if Lance killed him sometime in the night?

He wouldn’t – would he?

I hope I didn’t make him that mad…

Lance had gotten the soul in either case. Sealed now.

He had a few glass-laced jars of them, ‘important people’ in his words.

Well… if Claire _was_ his cousin, then it would make sense… somewhat. There were a few others.

All had been dark magic users in life, but their levels had not been high enough to earn immortality.

Maybe he wanted apprentices? Nah…

Lance only cared about himself anyways.

Ash pulled the covers tightly until they covered even his face, before he fell into uneasy slumber.

He woke up the next morning to find pancakes, sunny-side up eggs and orange juice on a little tray next to his bed with a note.

Do not hurt the house; otherwise I will kill you when I get back. That means – don’t try to make anything in the kitchen. There’s spaghetti and Chinese meatballs in the fridge you can heat up if you want lunch. Use the microwave, not the stove. Enjoy breakfast. You are going to owe me so much for this favor.

Lance Dragyn, Dragon Master

“Couldn’t he just have told me?” Ash muttered, as he climbed out of bed, wincing at the crick in his neck.

He must have shifted positions sometime during the night… Ow…

But still, at least Lance hadn’t killed him… right?

At least not tonight, the more morbid part of his brain scolded. And how do you know that the food isn’t poisonous?

I… don’t?

But it did smell good and he _was_ hungry and he didn’t want to even try to eat his own cooking. Urk.

He didn’t know how many spells Lance had done to turn ruined carrot casserole and beef and mashed potatoes and the unidentifiable soup into the meal they had had last night, but he strongly suspected there had been no magic used at all and Lance had just made it himself.

Hm. He should be the girl.

But anyway, he had blushed and looked down when Anthony asked who had cooked… but not because he was shy.

He didn’t _like_ lying, he was a straightforward messenger but now it had to be done…

He just didn’t want to die!

Well, okay. Death was not the problem; he was a spirit. He didn’t want to vanish… he liked ‘life’, as it were.

But in any case, he ate the food.

And he didn’t die… and there were no weird tingles that happened whenever he accidentally ate poison or something he was allergic to…

It was all right.

Ash was halfway down the stairs, didn’t even trip this time, when she frowned.

Wait a minute…

Today, being stuck in a girl’s body via transformation didn’t feel _wrong_ per se, not right, but… doable. And he hadn’t had any balance problems, and he couldn’t even curse, nor did he have the urge to…

Wait…

“LANCE! I’m going to KILL YOU!””

End Chapter

Completed 7/21/04