Aster was barely aware of anything as he lay on the bed, his chest rising and falling with his rapid breathing. Pitch was beside him, also panting, but in a more controlled manner.

"Seems…I wasn't far off when…I said you loved it." Pitch panted.

Aster flinched, but didn't reply. The tendrils restraining his arms vanished, and he was pulled into Pitch's chest. He weakly tried to pull away, but Pitch had a good grip on him.

"Now then, why don't you get cleaned up, and I might let you out of here to roam around a bit?"

Aster glowered at him, and Pitch met it with a smirk, before leaning forward. Aster shuddered as Pitch's tongue ran across his neck, including the fresh bite mark.

"Of course, I could always clean you myself…"

When the tongue started towards his face, Aster immediately shoved him away with as much strength as he could muster, and turned over to face away from him. As he did so, Aster noticed a new doorway off to the right that had formed in the black wall.

"You have half an hour; any longer, and I'll come in to help you…"

With that, Pitch vanished from the room.

It took a couple of minutes before Aster mustered up the energy to leave the bed and wander into the new doorway. He was met with a large bathroom; all the fixtures were black, of course, but were made from actual metal. There was a large black tub and shower head, with bottles of various scents.

Movement startled him, but he relaxed when he saw it was only a mirror. His appearance startled him next; his fur was dull, and matted in some areas, especially around his neck, and there were various gashes covering his chest. His eyes were red and puffy from many nights of tears shed and going without sleep.

After a few seconds, he snapped out of his daze, and shut and locked the door. He didn't know why he bothered, locked doors never stopped Pitch.

With a shaky breath, Aster started towards the tub.

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Aster had spent the better part of the half hour time limit given trying to scrub away the feeling of Pitch from everywhere. But he knew nothing would be enough to make it go away, even he bathed every day for a year. He got out after a couple more minutes, shook himself free of the water, and was now crouched in a corner of the room, glowering at the floor.

"Are you finished, Love?"

He glanced up to see Pitch leaning against the far wall, arms crossed and smirking arrogantly. Aster glowered, before hissing, "You said you'd let me out…"

"I know, Love, and I'm a Pooka of my word."

With a wave of his arm, a small patch of black sand fell away, revealing a doorway. Aster glared at him suspiciously, before slowly straightening to his full height and moving towards the door. His stomach clenched a little as he passed Pitch, but he attempted to keep his meager confidence showing.

"You do know you can't hide your fear from me, don't you?" Pitch asked as he followed close behind.

"Dunno wha' yer talkin' about…" Aster growled, and continued down the shadowy hall he'd entered.

He was pulled to a stop when Pitch wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him to his chest.

"You can't lie to me, Love…" the dark Pooka murmured, before nuzzling the side of Aster's neck.

"Ah, you smell heavenly…it's rather ironic that you smell like asters…"

Aster shuddered, before wrenching out of his grasp.

"Ya can keep yer bloody paws offa me ya sick freak…"

Pitch's smirk vanished off his face, replaced with a dark glare, before he vanished. Aster stumbled back, before he found himself once again trapped in Pitch's iron grip, with his arms restrained, and one arm wrapped around his neck and trapping him in a head lock.

"I may have let you out of your room, but there are stipulations," Pitch hissed, "If you fight me, I will hurt you; if you try to run from me, I will break every bone in your body, tie you down, and use you until you're torn apart."

Aster shuddered, a small whimper escaping him, before Pitch's grip tightened.

"Understand?"

He gave a quick nod, and gave a silent sigh of relief when he was released. Pitch kept one arm on his shoulders, and directed him down the hall. Wherever Pitch was taking him now had to be better than being locked in that small room and confined to the bed.

At least, he hoped…

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