Okay my lovely readers, here's the next chapter! I hope you all like it! Enjoy the chapter and don't forget to review!

Clothe Him

Does your neighbourhood have a I crazy pet owner infestation. Most places do. They say these pests thrive on the fact that their pets are more fashion forward than most of the people in town. I isn't it a little weird to dress up your pet on a regular basis? Or am I the only one who sees it

I woke up that morning in a warm bed. The sheets were curled around me like I was a swaddled baby. I understood, in that moment, how city dwellers could be so lazy. I had no desire to leave my cocoon of comfort. Yet, as someone accustomed to sleeping on the forest floor or in a tree I knew I should get up and get going. Like my mother used to say, 'the early bird catches the worm so he doesn't die of starvation.' Yeah, my mom had been intense.

An aroma of fresh food clouded my senses as I rose from the bed. I was drawn towards the fragrance of bacon and freshly baked croissants in the kitchen. It was a gorgeous looking meal and I didn't hesitate to gobble it up and lick the plate clean when I saw it. Amy was a very good cook.

Speaking of my little she-devil where was she? I looked over the house to find any sign of her. I found her humming gaily in the hall as she exited one of the rooms. When she saw me she looked down at herself and blushed madly.

She wore a thick piece of fabric I had seen somewhere before. It was used to dry things. She held it together around herself at her chest. I didn't quite understand why she was nervous about her attire. It covered everything didn't it?

"Why are you all wet?" I asked, noticing the drops of water dripping from her quills.

"Because I took a shower." She answered. I didn't know what these shower things were but I nodded anyways. Amy's expression changed from anxious and embarrassed to scrutinizing. She took a whiff of me as she got closer. "I think you might need a shower too."

I didn't like the sound of that. She was covered in water. I assumed a shower was something that got people wet. I hated water! I wouldn't say I was hydrophobic just...okay, I was a little teensy weensy bit hydrophobic.

She grabbed me by the wrist and tried to drag me into the room she had just left.

"Nuh-huh," I protested. "I don't even know what showers are!"

"They get you clean," Amy assured me, pulling against my resistance. "And it'll get rid of that God awful stench."

"That's just my man odour!" I argued.

It was useless. I kept forgetting how strong Amy was. How the Hell did she get so tough?

I was dragged into the room where a glass cube stood in the corner. Amy opened up a door on the cube and threw me inside.

"Stay there!" She hissed warningly. My instincts told me to run as Amy slipped from the room. My tiny little logical side tucked away in some dark, cobwebbed corner of my brain told me Amy would get me if I didn't comply. So I stayed. The cube, which I decided was a shower, had two glass walls side-by-side. The other two walls were made of clean white tiles. It smelled like roses. Synthetic roses, that is. There was something fake about it. It wasn't natural.

Amy re-entered the shower wearing two thin pieces of cloth. I think it was called a bikini. I had seen people wear them in the nearby public pool.

I started to think to myself. Amy didn't seem nervous at all in this attire. Yet the towel, which covered more skin, made her shy. City dwellers made no sense.

Amy ordered me to strip down before she turned a knob sticking out of one of the tile walls and cold water began to pour down on me. I whined and shivered at the freezing droplets.

"Don't be a baby," Amy grumbled. "It'll get warmer."

And indeed it did. As the water started to heat up I felt myself begin to resign to the calming warmth. Steam rose as the water hit the ground, making the air around us moist and hot. I leaned on the wall behind me. Okay, maybe showers weren't so bad after all. This would have to be the first time I had enjoyed something, other than drinking, that water had to offer.

I felt a gentle hand lay itself on my chest and I slapped it away.

"Ow," Amy squealed.

"What was that?"

"I have to clean you," she explained, rubbing her hand. She reached out for a bottle and tried to touch me again. I withdrew.

"Fine," she huffed. "Do it yourself."

I was handed the bottle and Amy stood there watching. I had no idea what to do with this. She grinned wickedly. "You see? Let me clean you."

As she grabbed the bottle and squeezed a white gel in her hand I flinched away. She frowned and came closer. I was backed into the corner of the shower. In any other situation I would have gotten aggressive from the feeling of being trapped. But Amy wore a kind gaze to replace her irritated one. She seemed serene and still. Stillness was the key to my trust. Carefully, Amy raised her gel covered hand to my head. She was so tiny she had to tip toe to do it. Her touch was soft and not threatening in the slightest. I allowed her to touch me. That in itself seemed like an accomplishment to her. She smiled and tried to massage the gel into my hair. It was obviously a difficult task for her.

I started to shift my weight and Amy froze, surprised at my sudden movement. Moving cautiously so I wouldn't slip on the wet floor, I kneeled down in front of Amy so she could continue her gel massage in my quills.

Amy continued to do her work but now she seemed more unsure. Her fingers moved lightly, as though they didn't understand exactly how to handle me.

Had I frightened her by not warning her I would move? I wondered. I didn't want her to be scared. Was she frightened that I'd do something? I thought about the men she'd encountered. That fox, what's-his-name, from the other day. The Sheriff, throwing her out on the street. Who knows what her father might have been like. No wonder she feared me. I shut my eyes, contemplating the moment. I felt her fingers dance on me, her eyes inspecting every twitch of my muscles as though she expected me to pounce.

I tried to think of a way to put her at ease. Before I could ponder a solution a embarrassing purr rose from my lips. It was soft and cat-like. One would have to strain their ears in order to hear it over the water. Yet Amy seemed to hear it perfectly fine.

She laughed in her more usual unreserved way of being. "Don't get too used to this kind of pampering!"

I blushed. To think I had unwillingly shown a soft, weak side to her was mortifying. But I also noticed she started to be more assertive in her behaviour. She was no longer afraid. I wasn't a big scary man she had to defend herself from. I was just...a friend. I smiled, remembering the night before.

"I'll be your friend," I had said. It was only starting to sink in, for both of us I think, that we were together now. We were their for each other.

After the shower Amy went off to run errands. I was free to walk about the town.

"But don't get your fur dirty!" She warned. "Or else I'll give you a bath in ice cubes!"

I didn't know what that meant but it sounded bad so I decided to avoid crawling ominously through bushes and just walk. Usually I would have drawn negative attention to myself this way. But now everyone thought I was tame. Immediately when I left the house an arctic vixen approached me. Her face was painted with those strange colours women wore now. I think it was called makeup. Anyways, she wore way too much of it. I remembered hearing some of the single men in town say she was 'hot.' Maybe she had a fever. She didn't look sick but the makeup probably covered her pale sickly skin. I didn't want to get sick, I would have to avoid her now. I walked past the girl but she followed me like a plague.

"Mama was right," she giggled. "You are cute!"

I kept walking.

"What's wrong? Do you not know English? I heard you could talk though." She shrugged. "Whatever. I shouldn't have believed Papa when he said that. Talking Wildlings, that's just crazy."

She came closer and I walked faster. Got to get away, got to get away.

"Come here, little guy. I just want to pet you."

A sick lady's trying to pet me! That spells out danger.

"Oh come on!" The girl whined.

"Please go away," I murmured, hoping words wouldn't encourage her.

"Wow, you can talk!" She squealed before getting confused. "Why should I go away?"

"Because you have a fever."

She raised on unnaturally thin eyebrow. "What makes you think that?"

"Some boys said you were 'hot.'"

The girl blushed at my answer and started to giggle more. "You think I'm hot?"

I had never said any such thing but she didn't listen to my corrections. Instead she continued to follow me and told every young girl we passed that I was the 'sweetest Wildling that ever did say a word.' It didn't take long for me to get caught up in a crowd of adoring women.

"Is he Amy's new pet?"

"OMG! He can talk!"

"If he weren't a Wildling I'd be all over this hunk a' man."

"Eeeeeewwwww!"

"What? I was just saying what you were all thinking."

I pushed through the crowd. God, this was almost worse than not being a fake pet.

"Where are you going?" The vixen, who originally started following me, asked.

"I have things to do."

The girls swirled around me frantically. "We could help!" They insisted. "We'll help, then you can stay!"

A flurry of agreements went up. They were decided on it and I was not one to reject an opportunity to take advantage of people's dim witted-ness. The stupidity of others had, after all, been my greatest tool for survival.

"What do you need?" One of the younger ones asked.

I thought. What would I need now that winter was approaching? Something to keep me warm. But what? There were certain kinds of clothing that weren't off limits to Wildlings. Like my shoes, socks and gloves. Maybe they could get me some of that.

"I need a scarf and hat."

The ladies muttered around.

"Do you have something that might suit him," one asked.

"Suzy's papa has a red hat right?"

"It would go perfectly with Darla's scarf!"

They chattered before a couple ran off to get the things for me. As a reward for they're obedience I let the girls fawn over me. Their hands moved through my quills, patted my fur and stroked me. I couldn't help but compare them to Amy's touch. They were still gentle but there was something missing. They lacked any genuine feeling or desire to be near me. They were just curious.

The girls who went to get me some clothes arrived. They slipped the scarf around my neck and placed the hat snugly on my head. They were good quality attire, I noticed. And red to match my shoes.

"Do you like them?" They asked enthusiastically.

I simply nodded.

Squeals of joy were heard from the girls and one-by-one they hugged me. I stood there a while until each had their turn before turning around and walking away. I had what I needed. There was no advantage in entertaining them further.

"Where are you going?" One yelled after me.

"Home!" I called back. Their protests fell on deaf ears as I continued on my way.

I entered the house.

"Ames! You here?"

From the foyer I heard scrambling in the living room. "Yeah, uh, yeah! I'm here!"

I joined Amy to find her sitting a little too innocently in a cushioned rocking chair with a woven basket at her feet.

"What are you up to?" I inquired.

She laughed nervously and waved her hand, as though to whip away my suspicions. "Nothing! Absolutely nothing! What makes you think I'm up to something?"

I decided what ever lunacy she was involved with could wait. I felt my survival mode switch off and realized what was really important. Showing off my new stuff!

I pulled on the scarf and pointed to the hat on my head. "Lookie what I got!" I gloated. "A bunch of girls gave them to me for being so cute!"

She frowned. "Did they?"

I nodded, oblivious to her new found sadness. "In exchange they got to pet me, of course."

"Don't you hate people petting you?"

"Not when I get something out of it, like these awesome clothes!"

Amy snorted bitterly and kicked the basket under the rocking chair. "Whatever."

I was confused over her sudden anger. What had I done?

"What did you do today?" I asked, trying to draw her out of the funk she was in.

"Nothing important."

There was silence. It was an awkward one. Not as comfortable as the serenity we had in the shower. It felt like a whack to the heart.

"What's in the basket?" I tried again.

Amy blushed and closed her eyes tightly, kicking the basket lightly out from under the chair. She flinched as she heard the rustle the material made as I picked a hat and scarf out from a bundle of wool. It was newly knitted and not nearly the quality of the ones I currently wore. Instead of red there were various rainbow colours woven together at random. There was no refinement. They wouldn't be as warm in the crisp winter air. I tried it on anyways. Removing the scarf and hat I slipped on the new ones. It wasn't as refined but it was fuller. Just like the girls' touches in comparison to Amy's. These new things were filled with a genuine desire to be near me. It didn't warm my body but my insides felt...kinda gooey. Gross, I think I was catching koodies from hanging around Amy too long.

"They're crappy in comparison, I know. You should wear the other ones. They'll keep you warmer."

"No!" I pouted. "I like these better!"

Her ears perked up. "Why?"

"Because, they're filled with love and koodies."

She looked at me completely and utterly lost for words and thought. I had puzzled her with my words. My actions defied all logic and rules of survival. Yet it felt right. Somehow, she made my very existence feel right. After all, if she could care enough to take the trouble to make me something I had to be doing something right.

Alright guys. That is the end of the latest chapter. Please, feel free to leave your thoughts on the story so far in a review and also critiques are welcome. Thanks for reading! :)