-1Seka looked at the glistening white room in utter confusion. A strange white bowl sat in one corner, a large tub at one side, and a rectangle with a glass window stood beside it.
"Michael?" She called out the room, her bare feet cold against the tiles of the floor. Which was the thing to bathe in? Surely not the small bowl, she could hardly fit her head in it. Michael stuck his head in the doorway and smiled in realization, pointing to the rectangle. He walked in and turned knobs on the shower, making water fall from a small spout above. Seka gasped in amazement and put her hand in, shocked when felt that the water was warm. She looked up in surprise when Michael cleared his throat and quickly walked out of the room, closing the door behind him so that only a crack was left open. Seka smiled wryly and shook her head. Never had she met anyone so shy about nudity. She was far more comfortable without clothing than with, but humans usually didn't approve of that. Shape shifters tended to disregard clothing, thinking it a very human trait. She looked down at her hands sadly. She had been wearing clothing constantly since she had lost her ability to change forms. She didn't know how she lost the ability, but somewhere along her journey she had found that no matter how hard she tried, she could not change into her spirit form, that of a large majestic timber wolf. She stepped into the shower and sighed in relief under the soothing warmth. What an amazing time, when you had running hot water, and nothing smelled bad. She finished her shower, scrubbing herself clean and shook herself out, much like a dog, and put her old clothes back on. She wrung her hands through her hair as she followed a strong sweet smell into the kitchen. She saw Michael spooning something from a pot to a bowl and looked up to see her, smiling as he took out a spoon and set it in the bowl, putting the bowl on a small table.

"Careful, it's still pretty hot." He mentioned as he washed the pan out. She sat down on the chair in front of the bowl and looked down at what was in it curiously.

"It's beef stew I cooked the other night, warmed up. Eat up." He said, and sat at the chair across the table from her. She looked down at the food with wide eyes and smiled brightly to Michael in thanks. He gave her beef! She hadn't had beef in nearly 2000 years, and it was her favorite meat. She took a spoonful of beef and ate it hungrily, savoring the taste with content before moving on to the next bite. Michael watched her eat with a smirk. She looked up at him between bites and raised an eyebrow in question, not wanting to stop eating. He chuckled and shook his head.
"I'm just glad you're enjoying the stew. How long as it been since you had something to eat?"
Seka stopped eating for a minute, looking up thoughtfully. "Usually my masters didn't feed me because that seemed too human. A lot of them thought I was some sort of devil or spirit for their whim, since I'm immortal I suppose that would be their only guess. I'd say about 1,500 years since my last meal. Even then it was a rabbit I grabbed. The price of immortality is that you can't starve to death." She said, and continued eating.
Michael stared at her in horror. "They never fed you? What about clothes?"
"Those are the same clothes I wore when I was trapped into the gem." She said, feeling amazingly at ease talking about her past with him. She knew now that he wouldn't hurt her, but part of her was still saying he would eventually command her, it was only a matter of time.
Michael shook his head in disgust. "Seka, I hope you know that not all people are like that."
Seka looked up at him for a minute, freezing in mid-bite. "I almost believe you. My life has been filled with so much strife and pain, I've seen too many people act cruel to still have that belief."
"Well then I'll just have to try and convince you otherwise." Michael said confidently, looking at her with a challenging smile. Seka snorted, and took the finishing bites of her meal.
"Ready to get you new clothes, then?" Michael said after she finished, taking her bowl and setting it in the sink for later. Seka nodded and stood. They walked out of the apartment, Seka amazed to find out that there were dozens of doors just like his lining up and down the hallways of the building. He guided her down several flights of stairs to the parking lot, the buildings around the apartment towering around them. They weren't in downtown New York, so the buildings weren't as tall as they would have been otherwise, but they were instead on one of the minor islands near the city. He brought her to his grey Taurus and smiled when she looked at it in confusion. He opened the door to the car and told her to sit, walking around to the driver's seat. He turned the engine on, making her jump in shock and looked around her with fearful eyes.
"Don't worry, it's like riding in a carriage with no horses." He smiled reassuringly to her. She nodded uneasily, looking around her as the metal hummed and growled all around her, making her think of an angry beast. She looked around her as he backed out of the parking spot and started driving down the streets toward the mall. She watched the world go by, watching with shock to see so many people around now. The car stopped and Seka looked at the towering buildings around her. Michael led her into one of the buildings, and she gasped at the amount of clothing all around her. Never had she seen so much cloth, even when she had been summoned in China! Michael laughed at her shocked expression and waved his hand toward the clothes.
"Have at it, and don't worry about the prices. I found an artifact a few months ago that'll let me live comfortable for at least a few years." He smiled wryly as Seka nodded and rushed forward, marveling at the colors and feel of the fabrics

She picked out tops and jeans, the tops different shades of browns and blues. They drove back to the hotel with several bags of clothes. Seka smiled brightly to Michael, making him stop for a minute as he opened the door to his apartment. He hadn't seen her smile like that before, but wished he had. It was a look of such happiness and joy that he couldn't help but feel happy himself. He put a hand up to the amulet to make sure it was still there and sure enough, the pale blue crystal still dangled by his chest. They set the bags down on the floor and Michael looked up in surprise as Seka froze in place, turning rigid. Time seemed to slow as she looked to Michael's right, where a dark man waited in the kitchen, pistol ready and aimed at his skull. Seka dove in front of him with a loud snarl of defiance, knocking Michael to the ground. Her body jerked as 6 loud shots rang out, her blue eyes wide as she looked down at him in a confused expression. Michael looked at her in horror and gently moved her off him, facing the assaulter, who had grabbed a large carving knife from the kitchen counter. Michael grabbed his own knife and they circled each other for a minute, testing each other. Michael finally got sick of waiting for the other guy to make a move and threw his knife into the man's shoulder. The man hunched over in pain, and ran for the door but not before sinking his knife into Seka's front as she say shaking from the bullet wounds. Michael yelled in horror and ran over to her, his face blanched when he saw her injuries.

"Michael, close the door." She whispered, her hair falling around her face so that he couldn't see her expression. Michael nodded and closed the door, swearing at himself for letting her get hurt. He heart metal hit the floor and turned around, watching with a mixture of relief and disgust as the other five bullets worked their way back out her skin and fell to the ground with a small 'ping'. He kneeled in front of her and she smiled reassuringly, and looked down at the knife sticking out of her chest.
"I can't pull this out on my own, you'll have to." She said, looking at him pleadingly, her body starting to sweat from the amount of pain. He nodded and looked at her uneasily for a minute, then put a hand on her stomach gently, and grabbed the handle of the knife, pulling it out with a sickening sucking sound and winced as Seka cried out in pain. He watched the would close before his very eyes, so that not a mark remained.
"Are you alright?" She asked him, her metal-blue eyes concerned. Michael chocked out a sarcastic laugh and grabbed her by the shoulders.
"yes, I'm alright, but you- you got stabbed, shot 6 times… I should have protected you better."
She looked at him in confusion. "Why would you protect me? I can't die."
Michael shook his head in dismay. "Seka, I just don't like seeing you hurt, whether you're immortal or not." He said, and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her and burying his face in her hair, his mind reeling with the fact that she was okay. He had been so terrified when he saw her get shot, he had never been so scared in his entire life. He smiled as he realized she smelled like a forest after rain, natural, and fresh. He felt her lean into him in her own embrace and smiled, holding her tighter against him protectively. He wouldn't let anything like that happen again. She leaned up and looked at him, her cheeks flushed pink.
"So what now?"
"Well…" Michael thought for a minute. "We should probably move to another apartment somewhere else. That way no one will attack us again."
"Yes… I'm sorry I've caused you so much trouble. Someone must be after you because they know you have my crystal."
Michael smiled gently and put his hand to her chin, lifting her face gently so that she looked up at him and not the ground.
"Don't worry. I have my own share of enemies, one more won't be so bad. Besides, it's a small price to pay to travel with you, Seka." he smirked, chucking as she blushed shyly. He stood and looked down at her, grabbing her hand to help her up as well. She looked down at her shirt, now with a new gaping hole in the front of it, revealing most of what lay underneath. Michael blushed crimson and chuckled uneasily.
"Good thing we got you new clothes. Maybe you should get changed."
Seka laughed at hi, sending his emotions even higher. She picked up a bag of clothes and walked into his bedroom to change. Michael picked the knife up, washing the blood from it and the counter thoughtfully. He waited for her to come out, eventually turning on the big screen television to the history channel. Seka came out and looked at the screen, seeing a re-make of a scene from medieval Europe during the bubonic plague. She blanched and looked away from the television, closing her eyes in pain. Michael saw her discomfort and turned off the TV, standing and looking at her in apology. She looked up at him, standing in front of him and realized for the first time that he was nearly a foot taller than her. He looked down at her in her new outfit, the slightly snug clothes showing her curves well. He smiled and poked her on the nose playfully.
"Looking good, Seka." He grinned. Seka squeaked in discomfort at his poke and rubbed her nose, snorting a few times to get rid of the tingling. He laughed and thought with amusement that she had the traits of a dog, from growling to snorting, but he thought it was interesting. Though from what he could tell her social self was crushed, unconfident and uncertain of anything. It only made sense after 3000 years of people using you for God knows what, and the thought of what those men must have put her through made his teeth grind, his temper flaring. Seka looked at him in concern, and he could only guess that his face had shown his anger. He smiled to her reassuringly and she calmed and tilted her head, asking him silently what had been wrong. He let out a long sigh.
"I was only thinking of how much I'll have to do to gain your complete trust. I want to get to know you better, but from all the past you have, I'm afraid that'll take a lifetime."
"I already trust you, Michael. You've done nothing to prove otherwise. I suppose I should try to trust you more. I'm just scared of the same events playing again." She said, and say on the couch, him sitting next to her.
"I would never even think of doing anything to harm you, Seka." He said softly. She nodded, believing him.
"I know, but there's still part of me that doesn't know how to react to this, you treating me as a woman rather than… a toy."

He nodded and cautiously reached up to run a hand through her hair gently. He noticed now that it was dry, the strands weren't just one shade of brown but many, and even a few grey, though he knew it wasn't because of old age. He wondered if it had anything to do with her other form.
"First things first, then. I want to know all of you, even your wild side."
Seka giggled and leaned against his shoulder. "I don't think you're ready for that yet, Michael."
"Why not?" he looked down at her in concern.
"Well you see… clothes are very human. You might blush again."
Michael's eyes widened when he realized what she was saying, and he did indeed blush. Seka laughed and rubbed her cheek against his shoulder, her eyes drooping sleepily. Michael smiled warmly to her and picked her up, carrying her into his bedroom and setting her on the bed gently.
"You sleep here, I'll sleep on the floor."
"But this is your bed." She protested.
"You need sleep more than I do. I'll be fine, I promise." He smiled, and walked over to the other side of the bed, grabbing an extra pillow from the closet and taking his shirt off as he laid on the floor, making sure the crystal wasn't damaged as he slept.