Bath time!

"If you need anything, just ask, okay? I'll be in the kitchen, I have dishes to clean off." You slowly rose up, watching your overly cautious friend for a moment, before you stepped away to the kitchen, leaving her with the remainder of the morning snacks and some water, and peace and quiet. She looked around the room curiously, almost like she'd never seen a place like this. But you got the impression from earlier that the collie had definitely had an owner, but not a very loving one.

Midway through the dishes, you heard a shuffling and turned to look over by the table, where Tori stood, still having trouble making eye contact with you as she glanced around to whatever caught her eye. "I, um," she tried to say, "I thought about some things when you said cleaning. Tori gets clean usually too, can... can you... help clean me?"

You blinked and shut off the water, pondering the meaning of those words for a moment before a sweeping realization came over you--she was asking for a bath. "Uh, yeah. You don't want to do it in private, like Tori would?"

She shook her head back and forth, eyes closed, tail wagging slightly again as her words barely came out above a whisper. "I need your help, my arm still hurts so I can't get my clothes off easily, and I need help getting in and out of the water."

You thought this was an interesting development in particular! Tori's mind must be fighting hard to try and have a semblance of a normal routine with the collie in charge of her. While she didn't have a say in how her own body acted in these involuntary channelings, she could probably at least make one option seem appealing--as apparently Lucinda had found you to be, at first!

You led Tori to the bathroom, carefully as always to not go too fast. Sabel tried to follow but you shut the door right before the curious cat could slip in as well, much to her dismay. As she meowed, Tori jumped and turned around. "What's that?!"

"That's Sabel, she just wants attention, but don't worry about her. We'll just worry about you for now." As the bath filled up with hot water, you carefully helped Tori get out of her clothes, which presented challenges with the brace at first. With some careful negotiations, you were allowed to remove the brace and carefully slide the shirt and bra strap over the arm with the phantom pain. You could see that her arm didn't show any signs of trauma, but pain can be real without any identifiable source--you decided that the Tori side of her would assess when to take off the brace for good.

Eventually, Tori stood before you, naked and slightly red in the face over it, though her braced arm hid her chest while she held her matted tail over her hips, trying to appear modest. But as you held out your hand, she knew enough to take it with her free hand so you could help guide her into the water. She slowly sat down, and then when she was in the water all the way, she closed her eyes with a big, contented sigh.

"Feels good, right?" you asked with a bit of a smile.

Tori nodded. "I was never given a bath before." She stayed silent for a little longer, but when you expected her simple and quiet words to be the end of it as it seemed so far, she opened her eyes again, looking at you as she fumbled over her words, recalling some memories. "T-the people who kept me, they are not kind. They... always yell at me, saying I'm bad and doing bad things. I d-don't think I'm bad..! I try not to be, honest! I tried to be good, but... but things were scary or uncomfortable. Or they leave me outside in the rain. Or they forget to give me food..." Tori closed her eyes and sniffled a little as she recalled everything. "But they left the fence open today so I ran."

"Aww, I'm really sorry. I don't think you're bad, it sounds like they're the bad ones." You reached out and lightly pet the top of Tori's head even though her hair felt matted and dirty in the same way that the collie had looked earlier, and she froze all of a sudden, eyes widening as she looked at you.

"W-what are you doing..?" she asked, bewildered by your touch.

You blinked, but you didn't stop. "I'm petting you! You'd never been pet before?"

"N-no. ...I, um, like it." Tori shuddered a little, leaning towards you hand as you continued. You could barely see a little of her tail in the water began to wag lightly again. "I like your touch. Tori does too. ...oh no, don't tell her I told you..! What if she yells at me?"

You laughed. "Tori would never yell at you, she's really gentle. You know that already though. Can I wash your head now?" With a slight nod, you took the detachable shower head and turned it on, carefully introducing the water to her head to try and work on the matted sections. "You know, this reminds me kind of when I would give my dog Smelly Bean a bath when I was a kid."

Tori closed her eyes as the water ran over her head, and over her face. She shuddered as it felt so good, but yet the sensations seemed so foreign to her. "I... remember Bean. Um, Tori's memories are showing him to me. He looks really happy. You used to throw him frisbees and he would catch them." Tori suddenly opened her eyes. "I want to try a frisbee. I've never played a game like that. Can you throw one to me later?"

You kept chuckling, as the dog side of Tori was finally opening up, realizing from these memories that she was in far safer hands than wherever she'd been before. The quiet but curious variation on Tori's normal demeanor was awfully cute. "I'll have to look in the garage, but I'll see what I can do." Grabbing the shampoo, you lathered up Tori's hair, the longer black-and-white strands poofing out a bit in the suds. You massaged those canine ears as well, causing Tori to squirm in the tub but she never told you to stop. Another rinse, and Tori's hair was already looking so much cleaner.

You let her sit in the tub for a little longer, until she gave the indication she was ready to come out. You helped towel dry her at first, as she patiently let you pat all over her body, once again enjoying you pressing softly against her. You put her in a bathrobe, and found Tori's hairdryer in one of the boxes she'd left in the living room. Tori stood still, unsure at first of what you were doing but she was becoming more patient with you with each passing moment. Honestly, you didn't know much about how to style long hair, but the brush and the blow dryer seemed a winning combination. Tori's collie-inspired hair went from matted and messy to silky and smooth in no time. You even did the same to her tail, which had Tori red in the face, but again she didn't complain as that appendage became just as clean and nice!

The collie that commanded Tori's body made your friend stare in the mirror for the longest time, looking at the outcome. She looked quite beautiful, something that she must have realized with Tori's thoughts assisting her. As you led her back out to the living room, her lip quivered a little again, and her voice wavered as she tried to muster up the courage for a few things, trying to appear brave despite her being fairly soft-spoken thus far. "Peter, I would... like to ask you a couple things."

"What is it?"

"Give me a name." She said it like she was trying to be authoritative, possibly like how her former owners were with her, but when she said it in her soft voice, the impact was much different upon your heart. She gripped the fabric of her bathrobe tightly in anticipation.

You rubbed your chin in thought. "Well... I suppose let's keep it simple. You're a border collie, so... Ollie. Is that okay?"

Tori--Ollie--wagged her tail at the thought of having an identifier, betraying her more stoic facial expressions. "Ollie... I accept. They didn't ever call me anything except dog or just say 'hey' a lot and I don't like that. Ollie is nice."

Ollie turned away, gulping at the thought of asking the second question on her mind, almost shivering like she anticipated an undesirable answer from you. "And... I would like... I mean, if you are..." She shut her eyes tight before her next words came out so quickly. "Will you let me stay here, with you?"

You paused, mostly out of surprise than anything else, but you already knew your answer. "Of course, Ollie. Sabel might need some time to adjust, but--"

With no warning, Ollie jumped atop you, tail wagging heavily under the bathrobe as she peppered you with kisses all over your face! She pressed Tori's body tightly against you, as an excited puppy would after returning home from a long absence. This was such a sudden change in demeanor, in posture, in everything! She leaned back above you, hands on your shoulders as she looked down at you, the corner of her lips upturned in a slightly lopsided smile, the first time she'd done so this whole time. "T-thank you! That's what I... needed to hear. I want to, um. I want to thank you more, somehow."