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kiruamon · 2 years

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Part 7

Damien listened. Oz had left him on his bed and disappeared into the bathroom next door a few minutes ago, from where Damien could hear some clattering and rushing water from now and then. Meanwhile he found it a little easier to relax in this still rather unfamiliar place. One way or another, he would probably have to seek shelter here as long as he had to. Whenever he thought about the fact that the stupid mirror had disappeared, his tail started to pound angrily on the soft surface of the blanket. His brilliant plan had turned out to be a total failure, and so far he hadn't come up with anything new to try tomorrow! Damien gave a deep sigh just as Oz reappeared in the room, which the little nerd shared with the zombie guy. The slender monster settled on the floor in front of him so that they could meet more or less face to face.

"How are you?", Oz asked the little hedgehog, even though he knew he couldn't talk. "That was quite an adventure today," he was still glad that the little animal hadn't hurt himself during his outdoor trip. He certainly would never have forgiven himself otherwise. After all, he was responsible for the little one at the moment. "Well… I was just preparing something for you," Oz began, regardless of the fact that he was talking to an animal, to continue his explanation. "Because… well, I thought after that little excursion today, maybe it wouldn't be to bad if we cleaned you a bit." As if the hedgehog understood him, its spines suddenly straightened and it gave an annoyed growl. Even the little tail whipped angrily through the air. How strange. Or had the animal simply sensed by the pitch of his voice that something supposedly unpleasant was coming his way? "I-I promise you that I will be very careful. Besides, I'm going to make sure that your food tastes super good today," Oz tried to persuade the little guy. And to his surprise, the little hedgehog slowly calmed down.

That was … urgh! He certainly didn't need a bath! At least Damien would have liked to say that aloud, but damn it, between his feet still stuck here and there uncomfortable little chunks of earth. Apart from that… he really didn't feel like washing himself with his own tongue like some dumb animal! He shuddered at the very thought. Of the two options he had right now, accepting the help of the little dork in front of him actually seemed to be the better one. Besides, the food-part didn't sound so bad either. "Whatever. But you better feel honored that you get to take care of me. Normally, I wouldn't allow just anyone to do that." As a sign of his goodwill, he tapped a little toward the pitch-black monster in front of him, whose expression immediately brightened with joy. The things some people got so excited about, he would never understand. Damien allowed Oz to gently slide his hands under him to pick him up and carry him from his previous spot into the bathroom.

The prince of hell was astounded by the bathroom, which he saw from the inside for the first time today. It was even more cramped here than in the bedrooms! How could the four of them possibly endure this? Scattered all over the place were various shampoos, conditioners, a variety of body creme, four different colored cups with matching toothbrushes - which made it easy to guess which one belonged to whom - as well as two large laundry baskets, one of them almost overflowing, and a lot of other stuff was wildly scattered around. Next to the bathtub, which Damien also found way too small, even if it could have served him as a swimming pool at the moment, Oz had cleared an area on the floor, as it looked like. A plastic wash bowl stood there. Curious, Damien tilted his head a little and realized that there was a bit of water in it. "I put warm water in it, but don't worry it's not hot," Oz spoke reassuringly to him. "Pfffh, seriously? There is no such thing as too hot," hopefully the water wasn't just lukewarm, after all, he had never been too much of a fan of cold showers.

Oz carefully sat down with him in front of the bowl, next to which a small towel, a hair dryer - probably the one the crazy Frankenstein monster-girl had wrecked this morning and repaired by now -, a bottle of shampoo and… a toothbrush? Only with half an ear - or head? - Damien listened as the little dork just told him that he was going to put him in the water now.

The water was warm as promised - but could have been warmer for his taste - and covered his paws, but it didn't reach up to his belly as long as he stood upright. Admittedly, Damien was quite glad that the monster in front of him hadn't overdone it with the amount of water, because he had no idea how well he could swim with this body and didn't plan to find out anytime soon. "Looks like it's okay so far, right?", Oz gently looked down at him from above as Damien stood in his oversized foot bath. Granted as a hedgehog, the bowl was almost the same size and depth as the Jacuzzi from his bathroom at home. Whereas this was certainly anything but comparable with the lack of any functions. "I guess it will do," Damien muttered to himself, looking up at Oz, who was smearing a tiny blob of shampoo on his hand and rubbing it between his thin fingertips. "May I?" "What- ?" before he could ask what Oz meant, the well-familiar hand of the friendly monster was already reaching out and lifting one of his front paws with utmost carefulness.

Normally, it should have felt unpleasant to him. His new paw, so weak and vulnerable at the moment, were stuck like a thin twig between the fingers of a giant. An extremely friendly and so gentle giant that Damien felt he didn't have to worry about Oz taking advantage of his situation. Overly cautious, the shampoo was rubbed between his clawed paws, then washed out, and then it started all over again until Damien felt that even the last crumb of dirt had been removed from his fur. To his surprise, he also found out the purpose of the toothbrush, which he had previously considered irrelevant. It served as an oversized brush to get the dirt out from between his spikes as well. Oz first spread warm water from the bowl over his back before stroking the toothbrush through his lowered spikes with smooth and steady motions. The procedure felt as pleasant as the little foot massage Damien had received earlier, which was why he unintentionally let out a delighted little noise. "This is something I could almost get used to."

So relaxed, the prince even allowed himself to be turned onto his back by the other, with Oz supporting him from behind with one hand. This time the warm water poured over his belly, which was also covered with a small layer of soil. But instead of the brush as expected, his Oz's thumb stroked across the wet, soft fur of his belly in tender, circular motions. Oooooh fuck! That felt pretty good. Why had no one ever told him how great it felt to have his belly rubbed like this until now? Alright, alright, Scott had probably said that a dozen times. But Scott also liked chewing on rubber animals, sniffing other people's butts, or getting his head patted! Damien closed his eyes and didn't notice his tail swaying back and forth through the water.

"Well, I think that should do it," Oz almost whispered his words, as the little animal in his hand lay there as relaxed as if it could fall asleep at any moment. Cute. Who could have guessed that the small creature would enjoy the bath so much? A smile formed in his eyes as he gently lifted the little critter out of the water and placed it on the towel, where it slowly opened its golden eyes again. Fondly, Oz stroked the little guy's tiny cheek, happy that he didn't flinch or gave him any other sign that he didn't wanted the contact. "I'd like to dry you off properly so we can be sure you don't catch a cold. I'm sure the hair dryer will be a little loud, but it won't hurt you, I promise… " The creature looked up at him and then at the hair dryer before sitting down and staring at him in anticipation. Almost as if he was waiting for him to get started. W-well… in that case… it seemed to be okay?

In fact, the little hedgehog hadn't even batted an eye when Oz turned on the device and blew the little animal dry. It was a bit surprising and made him wonder if their little guest might not have been a wild animal at all, but a pet. In any case, that would explain some of the more unusual behaviors he had noticed so far. Perhaps he would talk about this with his friends later. But for now, he brought the little hedgehog back to his room, so that the tiny fellow could rest a bit until dinner was served later.

What else is there to say?

Damien is not just slowly settling in to his new temporary home, he is also warming up to Oz.

He made it a habit of following his helper around the apartment, keeping a closer eye on his timid classmate.

He still doesn't care too much for the rest of the Loser Gang.

Recently, when Oz tries to pick him up, Damien makes sure to flatten his spikes.

However, he still fights back with all his strength when one of Oz's friends tries to do the same.

Since Damien still refuses to eat worms and other nasty stuff, he gets pretty much the same food as the rest of the WG residents by now.

Oz suspects it might be okay, since their little guest doesn't seem to be a regular hedgehog, but still keeps an eye out for any signs of food intolerance. So far, thankfully, that hasn't been the case.

Besides that:

Since Damien has been acting very tame lately and even walked by himself towards Oz, Oz once took the opportunity to give him a nose-to-nose kiss.

Damien was completely taken by surprise by this move and - after he had overcome the first shock - shortly afterwards curled up in a ball and stared sulky at Oz.

Because how could the little nerd dare to just start cuddling with him! After all, he is the most dangerous and badass guy far and wide! And those guys certainly didn't just cuddle around with weak little nerds like this! Oz was just lucky that Damien owed him something for his rescue. And that his food didn't taste that bad…. Or that he kind of liked it when the little bookworm started scratching him under the chin. Or how Oz smiled at him when…. … … Oh Fuck.

To be continued.;)

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