CH7 Bathe The Devine

Continuation of Laurence's POV:

Silas picked Toru out of my arms as we walked towards his study and held him close as Toru slept softly. "Alright... he should be waiting for us... and we need to tell him about the auction anyways," he told me and smiled. "We'll clean him up afterwards." Inside his study, Lyle had managed to get together the butler he was talking about as well as Charles and Pierre. Silas smiled as he lead me inside then shut the door. "Lyle," he purred happily and walked up to him then sat Toru's little form down on his desk. "Thank you for helping me out."

"No problem.... So is that a fox?" Lyle asked and stood up, walking over and looked his frame over. "He looks like Inari's yokai," he mumbled.

"Yeah, he's Inari's kitsune specifically," Silas told him softly. "He was being sold on a black market auction tonight, but Laurence and I busted it up and released all the missing werewolves and arrested the ones participating. We found him in the back where they had hid him and chained him up inside a cage to keep him there."

"Oh yeah, I bet you Rei Suoh would know." Lyle told us. "Where to find his garden and shrine. Suoh should be very familiar with the gods of his lands. I already gave him a call that you was visiting and he said he would set up a place for you to stay in safety." Silas nodded.

"Thanks for that," he purred then looked at Toru. "He's going to be happy to know that he's going home. I don't think he's been outside his god's shrine before," he told Lyle softly. "He's taken a liking to Laurence rather quickly though, staying close to him and whatnot. It's a shame that something like him was chained up. He's gotten into a bad shape... and his bones were broken when we got him, but Laurence healed him." Silas smiled and looked at me. "He's really been responsible with him since we found him. I'm proud of him. He even made the decision to take Toru home sooner instead of trying to keep him longer like I was going to let him do. He's so mature for only being a few days old. He'll make a great vampire," he purred then looked at Lyle. "I might get him a pet when we get home though since how he's been so good with Toru. What do you think?"

"Quit bragging about Laurence, I've done stuff too you should be proud of! I've found my soul mate. How's that? Ha. Eat that Laurence!" Charles growled with jealousy. I held in a laugh. Silas looked towards Charles and laughed.

"I'm proud of you too Charles," he said happily. "I'm taking you and Pierre with me instead of leaving you at home this time, aren't I? I'd be so much prouder of you too if you quit fighting Laurence's presence here." He walked over to Charles and kissed his cheek. "You'll love going to Japan. It'll be a great vacation for you and Pierre, and I'll let you two run off and go on dates and whatnot with an allowance to spend how you like while I get the little fox yokai home." Toru stirred on the desk then opened his eyes sleepily, picking his head up then perked his ears up as he saw everyone and yelped, sitting up rather quickly as he brought his tail close to him. He looked around and then spotted me before he let out a whine, looking shy. I smiled and walked up, scooping him up into my arms.

"I want a pet if he gets one," Charles whispered to Silas. Silas nodded.

"Alright, you can have a pet too if you stop whining and getting so jealous of him." He smiled at Charles then rubbed his cheek. Toru whined and then moved closer to me, curling up in my arms.

"Where are we?" He whispered to me, sounding a little scared.

"We're in my maker's castle. You ready for your bath?" I teased sweetly.

"I want a tiger," Charles told him firmly. "White, a white tiger with black stripes. I want it to be female so it can bare children and I'll get it a mate that'll have orange and black stripes. Then I want a comb for it so I comb it's hair and train it with meat to eat Laurence." Silas frowned a little.

"We'll... see," he whispered. "You're not training it to eat Laurence though," he told him firmly then pulled away from Charles. Toru watched them then growled at Charles protectively, laying his ears back flat against his head. I rubbed Toru's head and laughed.

"We're taking you home," I whispered sweetly to Toru.

"Home?" Toru tensed up then looked at me, his ears perked up again. He started to wag his tail a little before he licked my cheek happily. "I get to see Inari!" He laughed happily. "Thank you so much!" He licked my neck and snuggled up to me. "Inari~ Inari~" He whispered sweetly under his breath. "My loving master~ I'm coming home~"

"It might take a few days," I warned.

"I still get to go home! I didn't think I would ever see my garden again!" He told me and looked up at me, his eyes full of admiration and love for me. "You've made it possible... and you rescued me!" He started to lick my cheek quickly, his tail wagging.

"Now let's go give you a bath," I suggested and carried him upstairs and towards my bedroom to give him a bath in my bathroom. When I reached the bedroom I took him into the bathroom and sat him down on a rug. I started to run the water, keeping it mild for him and made sure to add bubbles in the water. He watched me eagerly and snuck up to the bathtub, standing up on his hind legs and rested his front paws on the edge as he looked down into it. He quickly jumped in before it was full and sat down in the water, dunking his head under it then came back up and sneezed. He looked up towards me then got under the faucet and watched as the water ran over his fur, starting to get some of the dirt out of his fur. He looked pleased as his fur started to become starlight white where the water was touching it, and I could faintly start seeing gold markings on his fur that had been covered up by the dirt. I started to help rub the dirt out of his fur, using soap to help out. He seemed to like it and leaned his small body into my hand, closing his eyes in pleasure till he led me to his ears, flicking them a little as he rubbed into my hand, his fur starting to feel soft like a cloud and addictive to the touch rather than gritty. I smiled and changed out the water a few times before we got his fur cleaned off. "I bet you want a bath in your other form," I suggested. "I can let you borrow some of my clothes, straight through that closet door. I'll wait in my bedroom for you." He watched me and nodded, waiting till I let the room. I heard the shower start to run after a few minutes, taking me up on my offer.

He came out rather fast and had on a loose shirt and a pair of sweats. He smiled at me as he rubbed his white fox ears still transformed and then played with his starlight looking hair as he walked up. "Thank you for this," he told me and then looked around my room curiously. "I hope I'm not a bother," he mumbled and looked back to me, his golden eyes focusing on mine.

"Would you like to sleep now in your room?" I asked. He gave me a considering look, looking like he wanted to tell me no, but he nodded.

"Yes," he said softly then looked away from me. "That'd be nice."

"Or would you like to stay in here if that's where you feel safest at?" I asked and smiled. "You have to let me sleep through the day though." He blushed and laid his ears back in slight embarrassment.

"Y-you wouldn't mind?"

"No, of course not. If you stay in here I'll be protected from the demon throughout the day as well." I purred. He blushed and nodded, crawling into the bed carefully and then up to a pillow. He laid down and curled up, his tail curling around his body slightly as he looked towards me.

"Then I'll stay in here," he told me softly, keeping his ears back against his head.

"Thanks for that by the way. I'm really happy you chased him away."

"He's evil," he growled under his breath. "I couldn't let him touch you. I could smell the murderous rage all over him. He wants your death... and he's going to do it himself."

"He'll never kill me if I can see it coming or if I have someone as good as you to scare him away," I mumbled. He nodded and then rubbed his head against the pillow.

"Yes, but... I'm not going to be with you much longer," he mumbled to me. "I won't be here to chase him away after I'm back in the shrine with my master. You'll be fending for yourself."

"I thought about visiting you ever so often if your master lets me." I told him.

"He shouldn't mind. He likes it when people visit the shrine," he told me and smiled. "He'd let you see him though because of this kind favor you're doing for him of returning me. He doesn't reveal himself to most people, but he'll favor you and talk with you when you come by the shrine. He'd let you see me."

"That's great. I wouldn't want to never see you again," I purred. He smiled at me.

"That's not going to happen. He'd let you see me when you want... but he would mind if you took me out of the shrine. He doesn't like it unless he's approved it, and it's usually for us to go give messages to people or bestow blessings. I'm one of the younger ones in his shrine. There are some in there that are thousands of years old," he told me and laughed. "His favorite is his oldest- his very first kitsune that joined him. It's really pretty in the shrine too... and we're honored very highly by him. He's like a father to me, but he's more my master than my father." He smiled and hugged the pillow.

"Well you'll see him soon," I promised sweetly. He nodded.

"Mhmm... I bet he's looking for me," he mumbled under his breath. "Inari wouldn't let me go missing like this for too long. He loves us." He yawned softly and then gave me a tired smile before he closed his eyes and started to fall asleep.