Andrew woke up in a pool of sweat, still tucked up tightly against Elias. The small beams of light coming through the window told him that they had slept until the middle of the day and that there would no doubt be someone coming in soon to feed them lunch.

He groaned and tried to wiggle away from the prince, only for him to squeeze him harder. “H-hey, you’re a lot stronger than I am, you’re going to crush me! Let me up, I need a shower. Or bath I guess, then some new clothes.”

Elias mumbled something and then turned away, finally releasing Andrew from his hold.

The second he was free, Andrew sat up and grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling on it to use it as a fan for a moment. His head ached from getting too much sleep and lack of water, and despite knowing it would make him feel worse, Andrew just wanted to lay down and sleep so that he didn’t have to deal with it.

A knock on the door made him flinch, the sound grating on his already frayed nerves.

“Your majesty? Your mother made you and Sir Andrew lunch.” One of the staff came into the room with a cart filled with plates of all sorts of meats, bread, and some pastries. Their mixed smells filled the room immediately, causing both Andrew and Elias to sit up. “She asks that you two find some time to see her once you’re done. If you’re feeling well enough to walk around, that is, your majesty.”

Elias nodded while he yawned. “Yes, I will go and see her. Thank you.”

After making sure the cart was close enough to the bed for them to reach, the staff member bowed and then took their leave.

The prince stretched out, nearly smacking his wing right into Andrew’s face. “Sorry, sorry, I’m just not feeling myself.”

Andrew snorted. “I could tell that those painkillers really did a number on you. Have they at least helped, though?”

“A little,” Elias shrugged. “Most of my body is just stiff right now. It will help to go for a walk.”

Andrew hummed in response and pulled the cart closer. Without thinking too much about it, he began to make Elias a plate of food first, grabbing a little of everything and then handing it over to the prince. “You know, I’m surprised this food tastes like I expect it to,” he said, starting to make a plate of his own. “Like, this place is a whole other world, why does the food taste and look like stuff I’ve eaten before?”

Elias shrugged, swallowing the mouthful of food he had already managed to eat. “It seems here is similar to your world in a lot of ways. Similar enough that you believed you were still in your world for a while, anyway. With how thin the veil between our worlds appears to be, it’s possible that there’s going to be a lot of overlap.”

“Yeah, true, I guess. I’m just surprised there aren’t more things like the door handle that I’m allergic to or can’t handle.” Andrew tore a piece of the roll he grabbed off and then shoved it in his mouth. The way it melted told him that they definitely had butter there, though, thinking about it, he didn’t remember seeing any animals other than the few horses in front of carriages. They had to have cows as well, or an animal like them, to get the meat and butter.

“To be honest, I only ever saw Sebastian have a reaction to the metal. It’s called Louminde, and we don’t use it in many places because it’s a weak metal. If someone handed me a bar of it, I could bend it in half quite easily.”

“Of course you could, you’re built like the house the wolf couldn’t blow down,” Andrew mumbled against his bread. “Anyway, so, what you’re saying is, is that you don’t know if there are any more things that might hurt me. That’s… Not comforting.”

The prince didn’t seem to register Andrew’s first comment, focused mostly on his food. “No, I don’t, but it’s something we’ll be vigilant about.”

They ate in silence for a little while, though once his stomach started to protest how much Andrew had shoveled into his face, he slowed his eating to a stop so that he could strike up another conversation with Elias.

“You said at one point that Sebastian had magic explained to him. Like, your dad and the mages told him how it works. Does that mean you know enough about it to tell me why it’s not working for me? Or if I’m just doing something wrong with it?” Andrew set his plate in his lap, not wanting to hold it up if he wasn’t going to be eating the last few slices of meat and bread on it.

“It’s not working for you? How odd,” Elias hummed, confirming to Andrew that the painkillers had made him too loopy to remember seeing him that morning. “Unfortunately, we know far more about how it works for us, and little is known about how you and Sebastian can use it. I do know, though, that when you call upon it, it uses your imagination to make what you’re willing of it to come into being. So, for instance, if I wanted to be taller, the magic would reach into my mind and find what my idea of being taller meant. Which I think would just be a pair of very tall boots.”

They shared a laugh at the idea of Elias in tall boots, though Andrew didn’t laugh for long because he thought back to the few times he had used the magic.

“Wait, you’re telling me… I did that entire magical transformation because the magic saw the one time I watched some weird cartoon, and that my idea of becoming strong enough to help people is from some magical girl anime?!” Andrew groaned and covered his face with his hands. “This place is too much, I don’t think I’ll be able to cope with the amount of cheesy shit happening.”

Gently, Elias grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand away from his face. “I’m sorry, Andrew. I know you’re still going through a lot while adjusting to my home, and I know I’m not of much help right now. Whatever I can do to make this easier for you, I will.”

Andrew couldn’t help but laugh a little. “There’s nothing you can do about the way this place works. If that’s how the magic is, then that’s how it is. I guess I just have to get used to the movie-like life I’ll be living while I’m here. Honestly, I’ve always hated that kind of thing in shows and movies, so it’s not going to be super easy for me. But… You being around is enough to at least help me navigate through it all.” The large, soft smile on Elias’ face made Andrew look away from the other. “If you’re done with your food, we should get ready to see your mom. I don’t want to mess with a lady that big.”

“You’re correct for not wanting to mess with her. If she’s made food for us that has meat as one of the dishes, that means she hunted for it herself. And I can assure you, reshean meat is tasty, but it’s far from easy to get.” Elias pulled himself out of bed, bringing his empty plate over to the cart. “You might already know that, if you have them in your world, though.”

“I have never heard that word in my life,” Andrew shrugged. “But knowing your mom hunts and kills things makes me really glad that I didn’t turn out like Sebastian.”

Elias chuckled and grabbed Andrew’s plate as well, putting it away for him. “I’m glad, too. If you’d like to change and clean yourself before meeting with her, I will wait for you in here.”

Andrew nodded, forcing his sluggish body out of the bed. “Yeah, I think I’ll have to do that. I wouldn’t want to offend her with the smell of sweat. You’re comfortable to lay with, but holy shit you’re hot.” He paused, fixing his wrinkled shirt. “I-I mean, you know, you run hot. Your body is hot. Or, wait, no. Like, sleeping by you made me sweat a lot.” He smacked his forehead and rushed over to the door. “Whatever, I’ll be back in a minute in new clothes.”

He could hear Elias laughing as he rushed out of the prince’s room over to his own.

Hopefully, when he came back, the prince would forget about what he said, and they could go and see the queen without any awkward air between them. Elias had been good about letting any awkwardness go so far, so Andrew hoped that trend would continue. He did not have the mental energy to deal with stumbling over his words that hard again.