Days go by...

After Talanah and Helga met each other for the first time, Kazex's life fell into a comfortable lull of repetition. As Helga's manservant, the goblin dutifully saw to the tower's needs each day, making sure it stayed completely clean just before they both retired to their quarters to sleep.

Kazex also regaled the witch with his cooking, though they both took turns with that particular task just as she suggested. Surprisingly, Helga quite liked cooking and whenever it was her turn, Kazex could hear her happily hum a jaunty tune to herself as she prepared their meals. Compared to her cooking, Kazex's skills didn't make for the most appetizing sight exactly, but what his meals lacked in presentation, they more than made up for it with the nutrients they gave. If nothing else, living in a cave meant you quickly improved your skills in that area unless you wanted to starve or eat badly for the rest of your life.

However, he almost had to forcefully spoon-feed Helga once she saw the food he'd cooked for the first time. It wasn't his fault his dishes didn't look the best, they still were perfectly edible dammit!

Beyond that particular incident, he'd been surprised when she called him up to her laboratory one day and asked with a somewhat awkward demeanor if he'd like to help her with her own potions and charms sometimes. Of course, he'd jumped at the chance for a multitude of reasons... the slight smile of excitement she'd given him was only a plus. It was only simple things at the beginning so the witch could measure the Kazex's actual level of proficiency in alchemy and potion brewing, but he was confident Helga would be convinced enough to let him help her with more complex recipes before long.

Not only had he improved his standing with Helga in that time, he'd also made sure to interact a bit more with Talanah, who stayed true to her promise and visited the tower regularly to speak with Kazex and Helga. She still hadn't given an answer to their offer to stay with them and she revealed nothing of her thoughts on the matter whenever she stopped by, but Kazex was hopeful she'd relent sooner than later. He had reason to be confident; after all, she had agreed to give him lessons to improve his fighting skills (or outright create that which was almost non-existent beforehand, one could say).

Beyond being able to admire the supple and generous body of the elf, those sessions allowed him to improve himself. What was not to like? Granted, it wasn't like he'd go charging at someone screaming bloody **** anytime soon, but hey, it was the thought that counted, right?

Kazex also had the chance to play the role of intermediary for Helga with the folk from the nearby villages several times. Mariska, true to Helga's words, appeared again three more times before the redhead finished the fertility potion she'd commissioned. He suspected Helga had deliberately brewed it in the slowest fashion possible just to spite the woman's constant interruptions, but Kazex considered it to be an ill-thought act of petty **** because it only meant more visits from a woman that obviously annoyed her. Fortunately, Mariska wasn't the only one to visit Helga from the villages.

In the middle of all the activity, Kazex still had time to prepare and refine several of his special concoctions while making sure to brew plenty of harmless products in case Helga ever got curious and decided to snoop through his stuff. There were plenty of brews that he wanted to stock on; through trial and error he'd managed to discover quite a few combinations that had very interesting effects and he couldn't wait to see if an opportunity would present itself to slip Helga and Talanah some of them.

The possibilities were endless and the measure of own ingenuity was his only limit. Well, that and the fact some laws of the universe just couldn't be given the middle finger, no matter how hard he tried. And he definitely tried!

Resting under the shade the tower cast during one of many similar evenings, Kazex smiled as he recalled one of those moments...

Notes: I think I found a nice compromise between length and content. In instances such as this one, I can say all options happened while separating them into their own one-time off-branch before redirecting all option to the one that gets continued.

It's an elegant solution to avoid overly long chapters (because I doubt this is the site meant for chapters of 7k+ words or more). Anyway, I'm treating you guys to five chapters all at once, hope you enjoy them!

Also, I made this story reach and go over 150 chapters... Yay me, I guess?