A moment alone...?

There was no breeze on that cloudless, starry night, leaving the lake as clear and smooth as glass. Reflected in its surface was the figure of a short, pale, blonde boy, whose skin and hair took on an almost luminous quality in the moonlight. He had been pacing back and forth for a few moments before, in apparent frustration, he plopped down to the grass, with his legs pulled up to his chest, his arms crossed tightly over them. He looked down at his bare feet, and began ripping up small clumps of grass, tossing them off to either side.

Emory hated nights like this. Nights when he was alone, and he couldn’t get himself to sleep. Nights when his butler Sebastien was away, unable to provide comfort or cure for his insomnia. The demon would, of course, be at his side more often if the child would only stop giving him so much to do every single day- but still, Emory thought, he could at least try to get his chores done faster!

He let out a long, dramatic sigh, pulling his legs in closer to him, and attempted to blow the pale blonde locks out of his eyes. He really should have Sebastien cut them soon… He shrugged off the thought of his absent butler, and closed his eyes, hoping that something, anything, would keep him from remaining alone for the rest of the night.

Emory didn’t flinch as he heard the loud noise from behind him. In fact, his lips curled up into a devilish little smirk, invisible with his back turned to the goblins. Finally, he thought to himself, stretching his legs out in front of him and wiggling his toes in delight. This could be very entertaining.

“Indeed, he will hear you!” he called back, reaffirming Cheeto’s statement to her sister, and at the same time confirming her own worst fear. “And of course, we wouldn’t want that, would we?”

He finally turned around, searching the darkness for the little spies, the mischievous smirk still playing on his lips. “Now, won’t you at least come out and let me see you?” he said playfully. “I promise I don’t bite.” A lie, of course, but no one really needed to know that yet…

Emory smirked as he bent down to look at the little goblin girl. Oh how he loved, nay, relished in the feeling of being this much taller than someone. Yes, coming out here was a good decision, a very good decision, indeed, if only to give him that most glorious satisfaction. He’d have to tell Sebastien all about it later—but come now, let’s not rush things, he thought to himself. The fun’s only just begun.

He examined every facet of the girl’s expression, from the embarrassment, to the fear, to the inkling of curiosity. All desirable reactions, in his book—but he noticed a bit of insecurity in her stance, as if she were currently battling her fight-or-flight responses.

In order to ease her trepidation, he gave her his most dazzling smile, leaning down closer to her and taking her hand to slowly help her up. With his eyes still shining down into hers in the moonlight, he made his voice as gentle and inviting as possible as he replied softly, simply:

“Hi.”

He then looked back behind her, at Dorito, still over by the rock. He took a moment to compare the two sisters, now that he had a significantly better view of the both of them. He quirked an eyebrow over at Dorito, very much intrigued by the sass with which she acknowledged her sister. She was a feisty one, he could tell. Amusing, to say the least.

“And just who might you ladies be?” he said, addressing them both.

Emory smirked at the two of them, keeping Dorito in his peripheral vision as she circled around him. While this sister seemed rather intriguing in her own right, Emory had a strong feeling that she’d be very difficult to control—perhaps instead, he could attempt to secure her trust and gain her as an ally in his eternal quest for mischief…

Now, Cheeto, on the other hand…

It had taken only a smile and a soft word for her to fall completely under his spell. That dreamy, far off look on her face when her eyes met his…She was practically putty in his hands. He hardly thought that winning her over would be that easy: he assumed it take maybe an hour before she had fully succumbed to his charm. However, in this case, it took only mere seconds- a personal best for him, as if he needed anything else to boost his ego.

Emory laughed at Dorito’s comment, tossing a stray strand of hair out of his eyes. If she had already been admiring him from afar for so long, it was no wonder why she had been so easily entranced by him. Yet another piece of information he could use to his advantage.

“Have you, now?” he chuckled, addressing the mortified Cheeto. He took another small step closer to her, brushing her cheek with his finger. “That is so sweet…”

With his calm and charismatic façade working full blast, Emory’s mind was racing. He had to think up a suitable task, just to see how far his control over the little goblin could go…

With that, he suddenly winced, reaching behind him to rub a portion of his lower back. “Sorry about that,” he said, clenching his teeth. “There’s a knot back there that just won’t seem to go away.” He feigned the ache of a tense muscle, stretching long and back so that his (few) abdominal muscles were pressed up against his tight shirt.

“I don’t suppose you might be able to help me with that, would you, my dear?” he said, eyes wide in innocence. This was the moment of truth…

With his backed turned to Cheeto, Emory smirked to himself, letting her dig her fingers into his shoulders and back. Her immediate rush to his aid was clear evidence that his control was nearly absolute. He sighed in pleasure; to Cheeto, it might’ve been the pleasure of her nimble fingers soothing his tensed muscles, but in truth, it was a sigh of a triumphant king reveling in a successful conquest.

He allowed his thoughts to stir about in his mine as he leisurely pondered his next move. One of them in particular came to prominence:

Well, now I know I can get her to do what I want, but just what can I do with her? She can touch me wherever I want, but can I touch her wherever I want…

Emory mused over the prospect with himself for a little bit. A notion worth testing, he ultimately decided, but he was still rather curious on the nature of the proposal itself. It didn’t quite feel like desire to him- he had never truly felt that sort of thing before, it really wasn’t in his nature. But it was a desire, of some sort. A desire for dominance, he concluded. Yes, his oh-so-characteristic lust for power, but in a form completely unexplored to him. Well, isn’t this going to be exciting, he thought, letting a brief moment pass for him to imagine what he was going to tell his butler about this…

He let out a small moan of pain, disguised as enjoyment, as Cheeto’s long, thin fingers pressed hard into the center of his back. He wasn’t really listening to what she was saying- he was so wrapped up in his own thoughts- but he could’ve sworn she had asked him to take his shirt off? Well, now, is that really necessary? But before he could jolt up and ruin his experiment, he settled himself. Think of the big picture, he rationalized. You don’t want to spoil the fun…

He chuckled, playing off her comments as a joke. “Oh? Would that make it easier for you?”

He reached behind her and took one of her hands, gently making circles with his thumb. That’s what they did in romance novels, right? At any rate, the hand seemed like the right place to start…Inwardly he groaned, wishing for once that he had a greater capacity for human emotion, just to successfully accomplish this little bit of mischief…

He looked up at her, his eyes glistening bright in the moonlight. “You’re such a funny girl, Cheeto…” he added, squeezing her hand, but not letting it go.