Just an incredibly awkward moment

Opening the door you see Edin standing by the bed mostly undressed. He was facing away from you so he didn't see as the door opened.

You surprised yourself in how long you looked at him, or more accurately his ass. He was very slender yet remarkably fit, you wondered if he had any fat at all or if he was just perfectly slimmed down muscle. He wore clothes that were loose to hide how small he was, or just out of comfort you hadn't considered it before, so until now you'd never really noticed him. Now watching as he bent slightly to pull up his pants more of you was noticing him than you expected.

In your past life you had never considered yourself anything other than straight. You had no, at least had never met a man, who had inspired attraction in you. Feeling it now for Edin made you, not uncomfortable but unsure. It could just be that you were eighteen and the last two days of being relentless teased by Anastasia had pushing your hormonal mind a little too far. One quick masturbation and all the feeling towards Edin might resolve back to the purely platonic. But they might not and that was at the core of your disquiet.

Even more importantly this wasn't fair on Edin. You're confused feelings would probably make him uncomfortable and he had done all he could to make sure you were comfortable.

"Oh Christopher." Edin said as he pulled up his pants and turned to see you in the doorway.

"Sorry to barge in." You said still standing in the doorway worried he was going to make a comment about watching him change.

"N-no problem I wasn't doing anything." He rushed out as he reached down to smooth out the bed.

The two of you stood awkwardly before you both tried to speak. "I only just opened the door." You said, hoping he would accept the lie just to end the awkwardness.

"I need to wash before bed." He said walking sideways around the room with his hands behind his back. So he knew you were staring and it had made him uncomfortable.

"I didn't mean to..."

"N-no I should have waited– It's just after talking about it." He reached a basin and put his hands in. Washing them behind his back.

"I just didn't know you were changing." You were still standing in the doorway and, worried one of the sisters might come out to wonder at the noise took a step inside and closed it.

"Ch– you didn't see– I mean that, that's fine I don't mind at all. We're both guys right." He laughed awkwardly still washing his hand.

Feeling like the silence was just to awkward to take you looked away from him and around the room. Your eyes then landed on the only bed. You looked from it to Edin then back. "Guess we'll have to share." You laugh half-heartedly hoping the joke would defuse the tension.

Edin looked at the bed then at you and grin before quickly smothering it so the joke had worked a little. "I don't mind at all." He finished washing his hands and walked over to the bed. "You don't mind it I don't put on a top do you?"

You eyes looked down to view his slim remarkably hairless body looking body. "Not at all." You say enjoying the view of his smooth skin a little more than you should.

Edin stands there letting you look for a moment longer before lifting the beds covers and slipping inside. He looked at you expectantly.

Seeing him the bed waiting for you to join you with that slightly eager look on his face was getting a response you didn't think would be appropriate to openly display. "I'll just wash quickly." You very quickly walk around the bed until Edin won't have a view of you lower front.

"WAIT!" Edin shouted as you neared the basin. It was louder than you had ever heard him being and spun to look at him. "It-its just that the waters cold now!" He rushed out jumping out of the bed and running past you to the basin. He put his hand into the water and you saw it glow very brightly. "There nice and warm now."

He spun around and the two of stared into each others eyes. His quick dash had put him almost pressed against you. Looking down into his big eyes, blushed face and lips it made what was happening in your lower regions rather difficult stop.

Edin kept looking up at you not moving. It was almost like he was waiting for you do something. The smaller boy licked his lips and his eyes flirted down.

So far your relationship would probably recover from the awkward moments and you could both simply pretend that what had happened hadn't. But Edin looking down to see your reaction to him would do some damage. Consider your ages at best he would probably not want to alone with you anymore.

You reach out and put a hand on his shoulder to move him. When your hand ouched his shoulder you almost lost your grip and he dropped a little. You grabbed his other shoulder hoping you weren't going to make him faint. That would probably be an unrecoverable end to your relationship.

"Thank you. You know I can't do enchantments." You move him slightly out of the way and step the basin making sure that your lower-half is covered by the wooden table holding the basin.

"I oh right sure." He stayed beside you for a moment. "I-I would be happy to um, I mean if you want me to I can..." He trailed off as you pulled off your shirt and started to wipe a damp cloth against you.

"No it's fine." You say as you rub the rag against your skin. You really wish Edin hadn't warmed up the water. You could really use a cold shower.

Edin stands next to you for a while and you can feel his eyes on you. You didn't look at him, just kept wiping the day off your skin. After a few seconds Edin returned to the bed.

You finished washing your chest and back. You looked down at your still pant clad lower half. You didn't want to take them off since it might push Edin too far, you had made him uncomfortable enough over the last few minutes.Memories of Anastasia's head resting on your lap came to mind. Not cleaning yourself was going to make the carriage ride tomorrow unbearable.

You looked over to see Edin laying on the bed facing away from you. You quickly undid your pants and rapidly wiped yourself down. When done you pull up your underwear but kept your pants off. Picking up your shirt you hung the two items of clothing up.

When you were done you looked at the bed and hesitated. Actually sleeping in the bed would probably push Edin too far. You looked at your other options and that was the floor.

"Coming to bed?" Edin softly called. You hesitated again. "I want you too." It was barely audible. Yet to you it was music, an offer to repair the relationship to pretend nothing had happened and you could go back to the platonic friendship without the awkwardness. At least that is how you were taking it because you really didn't want to sleep on the floor.

You approached the bed and lifted the covers. Edin was curled up facing away from you and as you climbed in the bed you felt him moving back into you slightly. You took it as a way for him to playfully tease you. In a purely platonic friendship you might have teased back but your hormones were still very much active and you had a feeling any response from you in this state would have been too much because all that came to mind right now was wrapping an arm around Edin's small body and pulling him against you.

Instead you faced away from him and tried to fall asleep without doing anything else stupid.

During the night you must have moved in your sleep because when you wake up you were spooning with Edin. His back was pressed against your chest and one of your arms was wrapped around his stomach. Aside from the surprisingly firmness of his stomach that you couldn't resist stroking slight with your fingers, Edin was warm and his skin was silky. You breathed in and smelt the faint salt coming off Edin. He had always smelled a little of the sea, you thought it was a result of being in the capital but it must be a component of his aura.

You moved to pull your arm away and he stirred. You froze worried he would wake up and freak about the situation. Thankfully he stilled, though he did grab the hand you had tried to move and had moved it lower. You felt the softness of his underwear against your hand. Your hand was a thin piece of fabric away from doing something incredibly stupid.

Sadly for you, the sleep had not reduced your horniness and as Edin shifted your morning wood pressed against him. You worried fearing your hardness would wake him up. Happily for you it didn't, he just wiggled his ass, pressing you against him. You stifled a slight moan from the feeling and tried to think of a way out of this without waking up Edin.

He shifted again and you wondered how asleep he was. Less worried about how he might wake up, more about how what you could do before he did.

You pushed the thoughts down and let out a breath. Accidentally blowing on Edin's ear. He moaned softly and pushed his hips back and your hand down a little further.

You felt your hand brush something hard and decided that now getting out of this now is the only possible this ends well. If Edin wakes up now it seems kinda impossible for you to say this anything less than an ****.

Gently but firmly you pull your hand from Edin's grasp. He holds on you but you blow on his ear again and his grip loosens enough for you to slip out of his grasp.

Free from that you slowly peal yourself from his back making sure he was still asleep. You wrap the blanket around him, using it to replace your warmth.

Out of the bed and with Edin not waking up you sigh in relief. Your morning wood was much less relieved but you didn't exactly have somewhere you could do any relieving. So you just stuck with your morning routine. Putting on your clothes from yesterday you silently slipped out of the the room and down to the carriage. You went to your luggage and took out a sword. You had left a wooden practice one there but that wasn't the sword you found. You pulled out an actual metal sword. You grinned You dad knew you well enough to not make a big deal of it a family ring was better for you than a family sword. Flailing around something of importance in your barely competent hands would have made your routine at the academy far too embarrassing.

You take position with the carriage between you and the way-station and being your warm up. As you worked through your forms you increased your speed. You also focus on your surroundings. Keeping the area around you in your mind and stretching out your perception to feel it. You couldn't control your aura but that didn't mean you were unable to externalize your magic. It took a lot of focus and was slowly you down quite a bit. Since you had to be conscious of the area around you you couldn't focus on the magical threads that were running through your muscles. You could easily maintain the magic shell around your skin but focusing on just a shell would weaken you and get you in the habit of not using threads.

You put it down to just needing practice. The more you worked the better you'll get. That was always true of your other skills and while you may not master any, you could become average at them and that is what you should focus on. The issue that you didn't know what average was in this case didn't occur to you. It hadn't occurred to you for years.

You feel someone approaching the carriage. They weren't on the correct side to see you so you didn't slow. When you felt them close enough to see you you slowed more to see who they were.

The carriage driver stopped moving to watch you. He didn't say anything so you kept up with your forms. Having him present actually helped you. It let you get a feel for how a living being near you felt while you practiced. You sped back up trying to push towards the speed limit of the sword while maintaining your awareness.

It was remarkable difficult and you had to stop trying after a minute. It was tiring you out fast enough to let you know this is something you needed to focus on. Magic is like a muscle. Once you find a way to work it it wasn't used too you had to train it.

You reach the end of your forms and slow down. Once you finished you let out a breath and turned to the carriage driver. "Sorry if I disturbed you." You apologetically comment. You had hoped being here would put you out of the way.

"S-Sorry my Lord I shouldn't have stared." He bows to you and rushes out his own apology.

"Don't be I was the one in the way. Thank you for driving by the way. Without you it would be a very long walk." You joke.

He didn't laugh but smiles. At least he didn't feel obliged to humour you as a noble. You walk to the carriage and put your sword away.

"How did you move that fast?" He asked looking at you.

"Practice." You answer. Being a carriage driver you doubt he'd have seen all that much in the way of swordsmanship so he likely had no concept for how slow you were actually moving. "Do you need any help to prepare the carriage?" You ask it to be polite but as you said it the curiosity of new knowledge tickles your fancy.

"No my Lord it would be beneath you." He started to look over the front of the carriage. You can't blame him for the rejection. You'd likely be in the way and this is royal carriage. But you watch him, hoping to learn a bit of the craft. After some time he sigh and looks at you. "Sorry my Lord of course you can help."

He must have thought you were hovering to pressure him. You feel bad but still want to learn so walk closer.

"I am checking all of the joints to see if there is any ware or other damage. A loose join could result in the carriage falling apart." He points to one of the joins between the wood. "See this here." You look closer and see a tiny gap between the two pieces. "It's nothing now but a full days travel and that gap grows." He points along the length of the wood to the next join. "With that loose this falls apart." He runs along another piece of wood. "This fails."

You follow the joins ahead of him and point to the axle. "And the axle fails."

He looks at you for a moment then nods. "Yes and we all go flying off the road as the horses run off." He reaches back to the original gap and you see a thread of magic slip around the wood. "It will hold until we reach the capital then I'll have it replaced." He stood back up and looked at you. "The others will be waking soon, you should go and meet them for breakfast."

You take the hint and back away. The magic is nothing you hadn't seen before but though you hadn't seen it applied like that before. "Thank you for indulging me, sorry for delaying you."

"Don't mention it my Lord." He smiled at you then climbed back under the carriage.

Walking inside the way-station you saw the portly man and waved at him. "Good morning young man. I hope it will be easy cleaning the sheets." He laughs at you and you feel very awkward.

Remembering what happened last night and nearly did this morning you rushed out."No, I mean yes easy clean." You feel your cheeks colouring slightly.

The man keeps looking at you before waving his hands dismissively. "Ah to be young and oblivious." He laughed and walked towards the kitchen. "I'll get some breakfast ready, nothing like some warm bread to make up for a disappointing night." He laugh again leaving you thoroughly confused as to what was going on.

You were left alone to wonder for some time before you felt someone coming from upstairs to join you. Turning you waved good morning to Isabelle. Keeping some geniality between the two of you seemed safer than not. She was wearing clothing similar to what she wore yesterday. Though unlike yours it was a new outfit.

"Breakfast is being made, fresh bread." You say as she takes a seat opposite you. She stares at you for a moment and it seemed you were only one trying for genial relations.

"Anything happen between you last night?" She was staring at you and you were worried she was somehow aware of all the awkwardness.

"Just a good nights sleep." You respond looking towards the kitchen hoping for food to save you.

Isabelle lets out a derisive laugh. "And Anastasia gives _you _her attention." She is glaring at you and you mentally beg for food to arrive.

The man must have heard your silent plea as the door opened and he came out with a platter of food. The smell of fresh bread made your mouth water. As soon is it was on the table you tore a section free. "Smells divine." You say as the now open bread released a lovely scent into the room.

"Try it with the honey and gravy." The man suggested gesturing to the two cups next to the bread.

You follow his advice reaching for the gravy and pouring a small amount of the bread. Taking a bite you let out a very satisfied moan. "You have more than one pot." You say with a grin. He smiles knowingly back.

"A good chef leaves his customers guessing." He laughs and walks off leaving you and Isabelle alone again.

Rather than even attempt to engage with her you just keep eating the bread. Pouring the gravy over it. It tasted like the stew from last night but there was a distinctive nutty hint to it. You had no idea what sort of nut it was but it was very well with the bread.

Isabelle just kept glaring at you before the smell of the bread got to her. She tore off a much smaller portion and only touched the honey. You had a feeling that was because she wanted a little similar to you as possible rather than personal taste.

When you had finished your portion you felt Edin and Anastasia coming down to join the two of you. You internally let out a relieved sigh and turned to watch them descend. You turned a little before they were visible in your eagerness to not be alone with Isabelle anymore.

Edin was wearing the same thing as he had been yesterday and like Isabelle Anastasia wore something similar but new. Edin looking bashfully away from you so he wasn't totally over what you'd done to him last night. You guess it is a little to much to ask for him to just pretend it hadn't happened.

Anastasia looked from you to the bread then her sister. You felt Isabelle bristle at being the third thing that caught her sisters attention. You should avoid spending as much time with her as possible. You intended that all along but were just reiterating your intentions.

Edin and Anastasia joined you at the table with Edin taking the seat beside you. The two got into tearing the bread apart. Edin like Isabelle only touched the honey while Anastasia used both. Once all the bread was gone you sat is surprisingly comfortably silence.

After some time to digest the carriage driver entered the room. "The carriage is ready Mistress. If we leave now we will reach the capital before dark."

"We will be out shortly." Anastasia dismissed him. She took in a breath and stood. "Christopher–"

She was interrupted by Isabelle. "Actually I was hoping to travel with Christopher this time."

Anastasia looked unsure. "I need to speak with him about some things."

"Come on sis. You'll have ages to talk to him once we get to the capital while I will barely get another chance to talk to him. Please." Isabelle pleaded. "For me?" She looked as innocently at her sister as she could manage.

You looked at Anastasia silently pleading for her to not let her psychotic sister spend any time with you at all.

Anastasia looked from you to her sister and from how her expression soften each time her Isabelle came into view you already knew how this was going to end.