Lana groaned, running her hands through her dark, shoulder-length hair and pushing her round glasses up her face. She reached for her coffee mug, finding it empty for what was probably the third or fourth time that day, and still she was barely able to keep her eyes open. Being the only witch within easy reach of several decently-sized villages was rewarding, and she wouldn’t exchange it for anything else in the world, but it was also draining work. Over the past week, she’d had to deal with several broken limbs (human and animal), a missing child (fortunately she’d quickly located her, safe and unharmed aside from some minor scrapes), and a mysterious creature eating several farmers’ crops (or, alternatively, the task of rounding up the pair of rabbits which had escaped last year, along with their new kits). Everyone she helped had been grateful, of course, and she’d been paid far more than adequately, but those incidents all cropping up at the same time had left her horribly behind schedule on her more regular appointments. Yesterday, she’d had to travel around to all the local silos to re-cast the anti-mould and -rot spells she’d placed on them, this afternoon she would have to make medicine deliveries, and in between everything, she had to somehow prepare a report for tomorrow’s coven meeting. Which was what she was trying to do now, to what felt like little success.

Thank Hecate for Juniper, her doll. Lana had never really considered getting one, but circumstances had thrust it upon her, and now she wondered how she had ever managed without it. Right now it was preparing lunch downstairs, humming contentedly to itself. Lana smiled fondly as she listened to it, letting herself zone out for a while before dragging her focus back to her writing.

She was jolted from her work by Juniper’s voice, now from outside her window.

“Mistress! Lunch is ready!”

Lana sat back, brushing wayward curls of hair from her eyes. Looking over her desk, she realised that she’d actually made far more progress than she’d thought. Just a bit of tidying up, and she should be all good for tomorrow. Well, that was a relief.

Moving over to the window, she looked out to see Juniper at the outdoor table. Her doll was wearing a simple white-and-blue dress, bright red hair kept back in a loose ponytail tied with a large bow. As always, it looked adorable, and Lana sent thanks to Hecate once more.

“Coming, dearest,” she called back, and hurried out. Juniper held her chair out as she approached, giving her a soft kiss on the cheek as she collapsed into it.

“Since it’s such a nice day, this one took the liberty of setting up lunch outside. It hopes that is acceptable to you, ma’am.”

“It’s lovely, Juniper. Nice to get outside for a change.”

Some coven members said that Lana gave her doll too much liberty. Certainly, it was granted more than usual, but she didn’t see any reason to be stricter. Besides, it led to moments such as this, where she could be surprised by Juniper thinking of something she wouldn’t have considered. They made a good pairing, she thought - Lana’s high thinking and sometimes over-generous tendencies balanced out by Juniper’s groundedness.

As they tucked into the salad Juniper had prepared, accompanied by fresh rolls from the nearest bakery, Lana noticed her doll’s eyes on her. Its expressions were subtle, but she thought she could detect concern in its face.

“Are you worried about me, dearest?”

“Yes. This one thinks you are pushing yourself too much. Couldn’t you give yourself a break, at least for this afternoon?”

“I appreciate your concern, but I really don’t think I can. I’ve got all those deliveries to make still, remember? I know my limits - I’ll be fine.” She wasn’t entirely confident in that statement, and Juniper seemed to pick up on it, raising a sceptical eyebrow. Still, it let the matter drop, as they turned to lighter subjects.

Lana was rising, getting ready to return to her study, when Juniper cleared its throat.

“Pardon, ma’am, but… could this one at least give you a massage? You look awfully tense, and it shouldn’t take too long.”

Lana considered the offer. Actually… yeah, a massage did sound good right about now. She nodded.

“I think that’d hit the spot, actually. Where do you want me?”

“Back in your seat, it thinks. We can start on your shoulders and work down from there.”

She sat back down, pulling her hair away to expose her shoulders, bare in her yellow sundress, as Juniper moved around behind her. It placed its hands on her, adjusting them slightly to find her pressure points. It paused, waiting for her go-ahead.

“Enjoying the view, dearest?” Lana teased, getting rewarded with an embarrassed squeak as the doll realised it had been staring directly down her dress. She chuckled. “I’m good to go, if you are.”

Juniper began rubbing Lana’s shoulders, and she sighed as it managed to target all her stress. She hadn’t realised quite how much tension she’d been keeping in them. She told herself that she could relax for 5 minutes, then would need to return to her work. She realised Juniper had started talking to her.

“That’s right, ma’am, just letting all that tension drain away, letting yourself relax. Sinking into this one’s hands, into the warmth of the garden. It’s so peaceful, isn’t it?”

Now that it brought it up, Lana realised that the heat was rather soporific. She’d have to be careful not to doze off. Juniper kept talking.

“Very good; you could almost fall asleep like this, couldn’t you? But you won’t let yourself, no matter how hard you’ve been working. Won’t let those tired eyes close, won’t let that pretty head droop onto your chest. No matter how much you might want to, you want to stay awake.”

Juniper pushed Lana forward slightly, giving it access to her back and, at the same time, making her slump slightly, into a more comfortable position. She sighed happily, Juniper working in silence for a while before speaking up again.

“This one doesn’t know why you do this to yourself, ma’am. Even just taking a break for this afternoon would be good for you. You could always delegate more work to this one. But no, you’re too stubborn for your own good. Have to keep working, have to keep pushing through. No matter how tired you are, how relaxed you are right now, you have to keep going, right?”

Lana tried to tell Juniper off, tell it that she didn’t like its tone, but all that escaped her lips was a sleepy murmur. This became another contented sigh as the doll moved her around again, propping her over the table and beginning to work on her thighs. She wasn’t usually one for being bundled around like this, but Juniper knew what it was doing, and complaints eluded Lana for now.

“Or maybe,” Juniper whispered after some more time; Lana had lost track by this point; “you could take a break. Let yourself doze off in the heat, guided by this one’s words and hands into sleep. Wouldn’t that be nice? This one can take over any tasks you need doing.”

Before she could object, she was returned to her seat, slumping backwards. Juniper moved as if to start caressing her front, then paused.
“Ah - you haven’t quite finished your tea. Allow this one to take care of you.”

Before she could say that she was quite fine, thank you, and should really get back to work, and why are you being so weird about this, the doll was lifting the teacup to her lips.

“Go on, ma’am. Drink up.”

Almost involuntarily, she swallowed, and was hit with another wave of weariness. A slight frown caressed her brows as she considered the flavour, but it was washed away as Juniper began to minister to her breasts, stroking them lightly through her dress.

“There we are, ma’am, you’re doing so well,” it cooed, and Lana felt happiness blooming at the reward despite herself. She forced one last burst of focus.

“J’niperrrr… what’re you doin’?” Lana slurred. “Did you put s’mth’n’ in…”

“It’s for your own good, ma’am. This one knew you wouldn’t take a break without it forcing you to. Let it be the one to take care of you for a change. Let yourself just drift away, in five… four… three… two… one. Go to sleep, ma’am.”

The combination of the heat, the hypnosis, the massage, and the slumber essence was too much for Lana to withstand, and she dropped into trance. Vaguely, she was aware of Juniper picking her up, carrying her in its arms to the bedroom. Vaguely, she felt herself being put down, felt the blankets being pulled over her, her glasses being removed, and the doll planting a kiss on her forehead. Vaguely, she heard Juniper whisper, “sleep well, ma’am,” and shut the door. And then she was gone.

She awoke several hours later, judging by the colour of the light streaming through the gap in the curtains. Downstairs, she could hear and smell Juniper cooking dinner. For the first time that week - or even that month, really - Lana felt refreshed.

Soon, she heard the timer spell being set, followed by Juniper padding up the stairs and knocking lightly on her door.

“Come in,” she called, moving round to sit on the edge of the bed. Juniper’s head timidly peeked around the door, then, seeing that its witch wasn’t (too) mad, entered the room more fully. Lana raised an eyebrow.

“So… we need to have a chat about that stunt you just pulled.”

“Before you say anything, ma’am, this one wants to tell you that it made all your deliveries for you. You don’t have to rush out, it promises.”

“It all went smoothly? You weren’t caught or anything?”

“This one can pass for human, ma’am. No, it doesn’t think anyone noticed anything unusual. It passed itself off as your apprentice; it hopes that’s alright.”

“We can make that work… but that’s the biggest thing you’re worried about? Not the whole knocking me out without my permission?”

To its credit, Juniper met Lana’s eyes unflinchingly. “You were burning yourself out, ma’am. You needed this; don’t deny it. And this one judged the only way it could persuade you to take a break was to force it. Better than your body collapsing halfway through the next missing person case.”

Lana was about to scold the doll, but the strength in its voice gave her pause. She took a moment to think, and realised that she couldn’t really stay mad with it. It knew what it was doing.

“Well, let’s hope we don’t have another emergency for a long while yet… but, as much as it pains me to admit it, you were right. That nap did me a world of good. C’mere.” She patted her lap, and the doll eagerly wriggled into it, leaning in for a kiss.

“So… you’re not going to punish this one, ma’am?”

“I mean, now that you’ve said it, dearest… We’ll figure it out later. For now, I think you need to keep helping me relax. I do still have coven notes to go over this evening, so I’ll need all the motivation I can get.”

Juniper blushed, sensing her meaning as she pulled it in for another kiss, moving to feel it up at the same time. Lana smiled at the reaction she got from it. Maybe she would punish it later, but she knew she couldn’t be too harsh. It was often said that a doll knew its witch better than she knew herself, and it certainly felt that way now. Juniper was a blessing, that was for sure. Life was good.