There was actually a lot of work to be done in the house. It looked like most of Athan’s chores were going to be cleaning, but the Witch actually didn’t allow him to touch anything in the house, turns out the mess of papers and important-looking artifacts actually had some kind of pattern to them that only Ashe could understand. Athan didn’t expect the witch to be at home in chaotic environments, he didn’t seem the type. In the end they compromised, and Ashe agreed with the boy to at least let him take all of the stuff that was on the floor. Most of the work had to be done in the small garden. Athan carefully followed Ashe’s instructions with how to care for the delicate plants he used for various different creations, small potions and just for food. The boy wondered why he would need to make such things, the house was already full of unused bottles of all kinds of different suspicious liquids, but he felt that it was not his place to ask. It didn’t help that he was still embarrassed by what happened that night. He couldn’t look at Ashe in the face for too long, or it would make him feel shy again. Athan didn’t know how to deal with it because it was an unfamiliar emotion. 

“Have your ears gotten any smaller” The witch asked

“No, I don’t think so at least? to be honest I don’t pay much attention to them so I’m not sure if I would even notice”

“Hmm, alright then- is the work too much for you? I told you not to overexert yourself I’m used to doing all of this stuff alone”

“Hey don’t be like that” Athan replied with a smile “It’s actually not that hard, and if I’m going to be with you and be your familiar, or whatever you called it, I have to actually help out”

Ashe nodded, he didn’t know that Athan actually enjoyed the work because it helped him distract himself from his thoughts. His new familiar wasn’t just embarrassed, most of his worries were from his brother. He had no idea what happened to him and the creature that took the child away didn’t look very reliable either, he did however trust Ashe, so that put his mind at ease. While Athan was distracted and lost in thought, he felt someone touching his hair softly. He looked up, it was Ashe. Athan tried to keep himself calm and reply in a normal tone.

“Umm what are you doing?” He said quietly

“Oh don’t worry, I won’t hurt you or do anything, I’m just examining if there’s any issues with your transformation” Ashe said with his usual voice. He gently caressed the boy’s hair, feeling the shape of his head in his hands. To the witch it was nothing special,  he simply wanted to make sure that Athan would go back to normal soon- but Athan did not grow up in a usual family environment, he wasn’t used to being touched with care and it took him by surprise.

“Everything seems to be normal, although your temperature’s a bit high, you seem fine overall” Ashe removed his hand and looked at Athan one last time before going back to making something from various plants. Athan left the hut and decided to take a short walk to refresh himself and calm down the redness in his cheeks. He felt confused and a bit guilty at how much he enjoyed being touched. He couldn’t delve inside his thoughts further however, he heard a loud sound coming from the depths of the forest, it sounded like the wheels of a carriage. He was a bit confused, there’s no standard roads in that side of the woods, at least that he knows of. He quickly rushed back to Ashe and told him.

“It’s probably nothing don’t worry about, I’m pretty sure they won’t even come here, they’re probably just taking a shortcut to the village. There’s a reason why I let the rumors of me being an evil demonic witch spread, I don’t want any visitors”

Athan didn’t say much, he felt a bit guilty about intruding on Ashe’s life so suddenly, and he felt like he was taking advantage of Ashe’s kindness to live with him.

“It’s not as bad as I thought though, meeting you was pretty nice, and you’re helping me so much. I have more free time than I know what to do with” The witch turned around, grabbed something and returned to Athan with a bottle. "Also I made this earlier... Your temperature was a bit high and when I looked at you your cheeks were red, I'm not sure if maybe you caught a cold but this should soothe you" And Ashe handed the herbal bland to the boy.

The witch’s voice was as cold as ever, and his face didn’t show much emotion, but there was a certain warmth in those words, Athan could feel it- which made him smile and completely stop worrying about whatever he heard a few minutes earlier. He happily took the medicine, but didn't drink it because he wasn't actually sick. He put it on the small table next to his bed and looked at it for a moment as if it were some kind of valuable item before promptly returning to helping Ashe with whatever he needed help with.