Thalia listened as Joffrey ate his stew with much enthusiasm, much to her amusement. She moved to eat her own dinner, a strange but companionable silence between them. It was as if he hadn’t had a decent meal in quite some time. When he sat back with a sigh and let out a belch, she couldn’t help but giggle.
“It’s been some time since a man enjoyed my food. Usually they run screaming from the room.” she smiled.
“I feel I should repay you for your kindness, Thalia. How can I be of help to you?”
Well that was a surprise to the young woman. She got to her feet, taking up his bowl and moving back to the pot to dish him up another bowl as she thought it over. She could hear the sincerety and gratitude in his voice, and she also sensed that he was relieved for some reason. Keeping her thoughts silent for the moment, she placed the refilled bowl in front of him and sat down again.
“I could use some help around the place.” she stated, folding her hands together. “My father died when I was young, and my mother vanished from my life some years ago. I had someone helping me, but he is getting on in years and is unable to help me as much as he used to. I can pay you a modest wage until you get back on your feet as it sounds as if you’ve had some bad luck. I can guarantee a warm place to sleep, clean clothes and meals. If you do not wish to, I understand.”
There was silence from him so she took that as a good sign. “I’m blind, but I’m not completely helpless as you’ve seen so I have no issues with protecting myself and I assure you if you’d meant me harm, I would have carved you like a pumpkin with that pitchfork. I’m not afraid of being around you if that’s what you’re thinking. Some of the village boys have learned not to try anything with me these past years.”
Joffrey actually released a raucous laugh at Thalia’s quip that men usually ran off screaming having eaten her food. The Demon Lord saw nothing wrong with her culinary skills, in fact she was a darn sight better than what some of the kitchen house staff used to serve up. He often wondered if they blew lugeys into the meals, or worse. As his laughter died back, he took up the second bowl of stew which Thalia had refilled. The warmth was generated through the pottery bowl, and he held it, cradled in his hands a moment, just enjoying the comfort that it brought. Watching the blind maiden take her seat opposite him, Joffrey marveled at how well she maneuvered herself around without bumping into anything at all. What an interesting woman, he thought to himself, as she came up with the tale on how she came to be alone on the farm. A story that was of tragedy and hardship, and yet here she sat years later, having accomplished a great deal more than some that had full sight. He had to admit that she impressed him. Thalia did need help however. She offered a modest wage, a place to sleep and clean clothes with meals. Considering Joffrey’s current predicament, it was the best offer he had heard, even though it meant getting used to being a simple farm hand. This was to be the turning point in his life. From that of a high Demon lord, to the man that worked the land just to live. His Father would die of laughter to see such a fall from grace, yet Joffrey felt that maybe this was the best way to learn, perhaps curb his ways.
Karma..always came calling.
Dipping his spoon into the stew, he smiled as he listened to how Thalia described that though she was blind, she could have carved him like a pumpkin or as easily if she felt she needed to protect himself. Taking a mouthful, Joffrey felt the urge to reply.
“I have no doubt of your skills, and I would be honored to serve as a farm hand, and help where I can. I admit, I am not that great at working with my hands, but…I shall endeavor to do my best.”
<3>
“I have no doubt of your skills, and I would be honored to serve as a farm hand, and help where I can. I admit, I am not that great at working with my hands, but…I shall endeavor to do my best.”
She heard the sincerity in his voice, the humbleness and it set her to wondering how he was brought to this point in his life. But she was of the mind that a person’s secrets were there own, to tell at their leisure.
Instead of saying anything she nodded.
“A fool’s hand is better than no hand at all.” she chuckled. “Eat your stew before it gets cold. I can set you up with a pallet in front of the fire tonight. And when the weather clears, hopefully in the morning, there’s a spare room I can set up for you in the barn. It’s not much, but it’s comfortable, dry and warm. And I’ll show you the basics of what goes on around here.”
She gained her feet and started collecting the empty dishes, dumping them in the wash bucket to clean at her leisure. There was one other thing she needed to do and she wasn’t sure how receptive he would be. She turned to where she knew he was sitting, her blank stare a bit unsettling to those who were not used to it.
“I imagine my father’s clothing can’t be fitting very well. I can tell he was shorter then you were. If you would permit me, I would need to touch you to get a feel for your size so that I can make you some properly fitted clothing.”
She crossed her arms and waited for his reply.
It was fair to say that when Joffrey stood, the clothes which he wore courtesy of her father were a tad small for him. The legs of the trouser were half way up his calf, and the shirt failed to meet with the top of his pants. Joffrey had an awkward expression on his face, not really knowing what to do with himself, or how to stand correctly as the blind farm maiden proposed to help make him better fitting clothes if she was permitted to touch him to get a feel for his size. The Demon lord’s eyes bulged a bit, and he seemed to stutter as he replied.
“Touch…touch me?” This was unusual for normally the tailors did the measure with a tape or stick. Not every actually physical contact. “Uhm…okay..okay. Touch away.” He stood with his arms outstretched, much like would would imagine a scarecrow in the field. Joffrey was half wondering where she would touch him first.
<3>
She sensed he was nervous about having someone, her especially about touching him and she set to reassure him of her intentions.
“I’m not going to molest you, if that’s what is going through your mind. I can’t exactly see a measuring stick so I use my hands to judge size, weight and height. Things of that sort. Your virtue is safe with me, Joffery.” she smiled at him. There was something in her face that radiated calm reassurance, it was how she was able to work her farm animals so well.
But since she did have his permission, she moved carefully toward him, searching out his body heat with her skin. She raised a hand and placed it against his chest, directly over his heart. Now that she knew where his heart was, she could easily determine his size. She slid her hands to her left, counting the hand lengths from chest to wrist, circling his wrist with her fingers. Commiting those numbers to memory, she made her way back to his chest then upward over his shoulders and neck. She felt his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed, but she kept her facial expression calm and clinical. Again, committing the numbers to memory, she moved back down his chest, across his stomach (again he flinched nervously but she spoke not a word), stepping into his personal space to wrap her arms around his waist until her fingers touched behind his back. He was slightly muscular, but lean. Now came the difficult part, most likely for him. Again, her hands moved to his chest and slid downward. She did her best to keep her hands away from his bits, running her hands along the inside of his thighs then around the backs of them, continuing downward to his ankles.
Done with her measurements, she got back to her feet and took some steps away from him.
“All done. I’ll have something ready for you to wear by our mid-day meal. Now you must be tired. I’ll go make that pallet for you before the fire.” She turned and headed for the stairs. Pausing on the bottom step, she spoke once more before she disappeared from view. “I’m almost kind of glad you fell into my chicken coup. Sometimes I have odd moments of melancholy having myself for company. It’s nice to have someone else to talk to, even if it’s for a short time. So thank you, Joffery.”
Now the last time a woman tried to touch Joffrey, it was that horrid mermaid from the beach with no name. The Demon lord actually shuddered at the memory of the fishy vixen and was actually very glad to be so far away from her and that cat man. But here he was – standing like Jesus on the cross about to be hand measured by a blind farm girl, and all for clothes. If you had gone back a few years, you never would have pictured this occurring. Joffrey reigned in his pride and stood stoically, as the young farm maiden started by pressing her hand to his chest right where he is heart was. Was this normal practice for making clothes? If it was, he was glad his old tailor never did this. But the girl handled herself with a respectful air, not showing any hint of pleasure or fun from the way she touched, merely counting her hand movements as she went.
Funny too, Joffrey didn’t even feel one bit aroused by the touching, and for a demon that says a great deal. It was like both the farm girl and the demon had reached a mutual feeling of respect for the other. Joffy refrained from coughing when she started to pat down inside his thighs, and kept a stiff upper lip. He had to admit that the willingness of the girl to attend to him for clothes was a very kind and selfless action. He had no idea that people like Thalia actually existed.
When she was done, she advised that she would have the garments ready by midday the following day, and that she felt he was tired.
“I am a bit.” Joffrey replied, which was true. The flight and now a full belly, the demon lord was ready for a sleep to help regenerate his strength.
The farm maiden spoke of how she was glad he had landed on her farm, and now had someone to converse with. Joffrey bowed as he watched the lady go upstairs, and then let out a sigh as he shuffled over to the pallet by the fire. So this was to be home. Could he get used to the quiet life? Or would his old life catch up with him?
He laid down before the fire, with grunt trying to get comfortable, before finally closing his eyes.
<3>
Thalia awoke well before the sun to begin her morning chores. Mindful of the man sleeping in front of the low fire, she remained light on her feet as he slept away his exhaustion. As one used to living in darkness, she hadn’t needed any light to being sewing Joffrey some clothing. By the time the sun was peaking over the horizon, she had a shirt done and was partway through a pair of breeches for him to wear.
She went outside, closing the door to her home lightly behind her before heading out to feed the animals their morning meal. Done, she gathered some eggs and milked her cow so that they could have fresh milk for breakfast. She set the items on the bench outside her front door before moving into the barn to get a rasher of bacon from the storage box.
As the bacon and eggs set to cooking, she took the moment she had to finish the pants before he woke, setting them with the shirt in the chair near to where he was sleeping.
The bacon was sizzling on the hot plate and she’d just dished up some scrambled eggs when she sensed movement from the other side of the room. She pulled the bacon off the fire and onto a plate before setting it on the table.
“If you’re awake, I managed to make a shirt and pants for you. You can use the well out back to wash and change. Let me know if they fit okay. Breakfast is nearly done and I’m sure you are still trying to regain your strength.” she stated in the quiet. “Then I can show you some of the easy and basic things I do so you can get a feel for it.
The night was filled with the dreams that had Joffrey toss and turn, almost setting his ass on fire at one point, for sticking it too close to the hot coals. Soon enough he settled, and then drifted off into a deep sleep, that went well till past the rising of the morning sun. Curled up by the fire, his nose twitched as the wondrous smell of cooking bacon did reach him. One eyelid opened, then another. The dawning of realization of where he was now hitting him, as he sat up and looked down at what he was wearing. The old farmer’s clothes. Smacking his lips, Joffrey stretched only to hear a tearing in the backside of his pants. Uh oh. That wasn’t the kind of thing you wanted to hear first thing. A fart maybe, but not your pants giving way.
Joffrey got up and then peeked around to see a gaping hole and a bit of a rude bottom protruding from the back, which he tried to cover with his hands as the farm maid announced that she had made him pants and a shirt. All done before breakfast? This woman was amazing and her timing impeccable. She asked him to go wash and change, and he gladly took the newly fashioned clothes and hot footed it out to the well.
Outside, he could now see for the first time, the farm in which he was now living. Rolling green hills dotted with cows, sheep, horses…even a goat. It really was Hicksville. No signs of a village, nor a castle, this was as remote as it got. He wondered if this was a bad thing, as he took off his torn pants and brought up a bucket of water from the well to bathe with. His shirt flew off, and for the first time, Joffrey experienced a cold was in the morning. Needless to say, his balls near did shoot back up inside of him. Shaking off the remaining droplets of water, he dressed in the new clothes Thalia had made, which were a perfect fit, even if he did look like Farmer brown. Taking up the worn clothes, he ambled back to the farm house, where a sumptuous breakfast awaited. He sat down like he had not seen such fare in his life before and tucked into the bacon with gusto.
He smacked his lips, chomping away, ready for the next course. Swallowing, Joffrey said to the farm maid. “The clothes are such a wonderful fit, but I fear your father’s pants might need to be darned. They are very airy now.”
<3>
“The clothes are such a wonderful fit, but I fear your father’s pants might need to be darned. They are very airy now.”
This was the greeting she received upon Joffrey returning from his morning ablutions. She couldn’t help the chuckled that teased past her lips as she cut up some bread for their morning meal.
“I’ve darned those pants more times then I can count. Probably not even fit for the rag bin now. You can toss those old clothes in the chair. I’ll take care of them. Come and eat.” she urged. “After breakfast, I’ll take you to the barn and show you how to milk a cow.”
She could imagine the look on his face when she told them that and bit her lip to keep from laughing.
The Barn
Carrying her milk bucket, Thalia lead Joffrey into the barn where there were two cows and a mean looking black bull penned into their stalls. She pointed to the bull, making sure Joffrey took notice of the horns.
“That’s Bron. If I’m not around, don’t go near him. He loathes strangers. He tolerates me because I get him the girls. Horny bull.” she chuckled. Bron snorted in response as she lead the way to the other side.
There was a brown cow with doe eyes chewing lazily on her own cud. “That’s Edna. She’s pretty gentle. I milked her first today so she’s not ready to be milked again.”
Moving to the last stall, she opened the gate and stepped in. There was a beautiful white cow with large brown spots dotting her coat.
“And this is Hilde. She’s my most prized cow. Raised her since she was a calf. Edna over there is her momma.” She pulled up a small stool and took Joffrey by the hand, pushing him onto it.
“Milking a cow is easy. Just grab a tit and pull on it, like so.” She knelt beside him and took one of Hilde’s tits and squeezed gently as she pulled, a stream of cow’s milk shooting into the empty bucket. She patted Joffrey on the knee.
“Now you try.”
Breakfast that morning was probably the best that Joffrey had ever eaten. He even used a morsel of bread to soak up all the egg and tomato, before popping it in his mouth and chewing heartily. If this was the regular fare in the mornings, Joffrey could certainly get used to it. Standing up to take his utensils and plate to the wash bucket, he was cleaning up after himself – another first, when Thalia mentioned that after breakfast was done, Joffrey was going to learn how to milk a cow. Now, Joffrey had never been so much as in the same yard as a cow, let alone actually have to touch one. But milking it? He wasn’t even sure how that was done. As he followed Thalia out of the farm house he asked innocently. “Do you pump their tail up and down to get the milk out?” The young farm maiden might have been gobsmacked to hear that one.
Passing the gated areas where the cows were kept, the first one introduced to our would be farmer, was Bron the bull. A very muscular and angry looking beast, with great big horns, that gave Joff a bit of a scare. Thalia explained that he allowed her near since she provided the females. “Oh so you’re like a cow pimp.” He said this without thinking and nearly tripped over himself as he passed the bull named Bron. “Don’t worry mate, I don’t fancy your girls.” Not that the bull would have understood, but the sentiment was there.
Led into the barn, Joffrey was shown to where the cows or girls were kept. Joffrey pointed and waved to each they passed with a cheery hello, and a smile, till they reached Hilde. This was the cow to be milked. Joffrey held back a moment, as Thalia demonstrated how to milk a cow. She pushed Joffrey onto the stool and then squeezed the teats, in a bid to show him how easy it was to milk the cow.
Thalia patted his knee when it was his turn, and he grimaced as he really didn’t like the idea of touching the cow’s teats. “I won’t hurt her will I?” He peeked at Hilde’s face as the cow turned to look at the demon Lord. “I shall blow on my hands first, so you don’t cop my cold fingers.” Blowing on his hands, he rubbed them together and then took a teat in each hand. And…
~pull pull pull pull pull pull pull~
He went at it slowly at first, amazed that he actually got some sprayed into the bucket. “I did it! I did it!” He squealed, nearly falling off the stool when Hilde got a shock from his voice and kicked out. Joffrey righted himself, and patted the cow’s side.“Right..no more noise from me.” and he resumed milking the cow, humming to himself as he did so.
<3>
