We're back at the apartment, and Sierra is already stripping out of her clothes the moment the door closes behind her.

It still feels weird to me, but after a moment, I do too.

The room feels just a little colder than when we left it, and I tilt my head slightly. Maybe it's just because of the temperature difference outside, but I'm usually pretty good at telling these things. I guess it's not immediately important, but if it gets much colder, I'll need to tell Sierra.

We carry the bags over to the kitchen, and I press a box of cereal into her hands, and she furrows her eyebrows a little, confused. Ah, I guess I'm not helping. Malcolm liked when I did it, or just put it away on my own, but it's not actually useful to her.

After a moment, though, Sierra puts it up on the fridge.

She reaches towards my hands, and blinks as she finds my hand, holding onto it. It feels kinda nice. "You were just getting that one box for me?"

"Well... I thought I was getting in the way."

"It's not what I'm used to, but I'm happy for you to help." She smiles her beautiful smile. "It'll mean I get to pet you sooner."

I continue to hand her things out of the bags as she does to help a little, as I start trying to memorize where everything goes-- cereal on top of the refrigerator, and vegetables in the lower refrigerator drawer... there's clearly a pattern for the other foods, like all the liquids go in one place on the top drawer of the fridge, but a lot of it is beyond my comprehension. "Once I learn, I can put it away for you!"

Sierra shakes her head firmly. "No, I need to put it away myself, so I know exactly where everything is."

Usually this is a purely intellectual exercise, but this time I realize that Sierra might feed me some of these things, and my tail starts wagging a little, thumping against the fridge.  A lot of it is probably way too much for me, but some of it is probably delicious!

She smiles at me, and reaches over to rub the top of my head. "You're so cute, Dust." Her voice is low and soft. It feels nice.

Once she pulls her hand away, I hand her another box of cereal.

There's another hesitation with the box of kibble she got for me -- Petulant, my favorite brand, she even asked -- but she puts that on top of the fridge too.

Is it a cereal? Maybe it is.

Soon enough, the bags are almost empty, but there's one small thing left-- a chocolate bar she bought as we left the store. I hand it to her, and her eyes widen, and she quickly pulls it away from me.

I find myself pouting a little. "Sierra, I've been trained not to eat human food."

"This is chocolate. It's not good for dog girls, but I usually get myself some, and... well, it's a very strong flavor anyways, you wouldn't like it. I guess I should stop getting it."

"I know what chocolate is," I inform her, "And I'm well-trained, I don't eat people food. Well," I amend, "Not unless you tell me to. There's plenty of other things I shouldn't eat in the average house, and I know not to eat them, either. You can get it if you want it, I'm here to help you, not get in your way."

She walks over and puts the chocolate bar in one of the highest cupboards, then returns to me, and rubs my cheeks. "You're such a good girl."

I smile at her. It's good to feel appreciated. Malcolm never praised me this much over just knowing something.

"I'm cold. Let's get into bed, and then I can pet you all I want, right?"

"Okay!" I like pets, and I like warmth, and I like cuddling, so I rush over to climb up onto her bed, tail wagging.

Sierra follows more slowly, with a deliberate pace and a slight sway of her hips, and reaches out to feel where I am, stroking my shoulder a little even before climbing on the bed with me.

Ah. I should probably tell her. "I think it has gotten colder in here than it was when we left."

She smiles. "Yes, I know-- don't worry about it."

I tilt my head a bit to one side, but it's not like it's a dangerous temperature, so I decide not to worry about it unless it gets worse.

She pulls the covers over us, and starts petting the top of my head, and I fall still, enjoying the feel of her touch as she runs her fingers through my hair, and her fingernails gently scritch at my scalp.

I let out a soft hum of contentment, and she smiles.

Her warm hands wander down my back, stroking slowly, her hands almost feather-light. The way she's touching me is different from any masseuse or petting I've had before, but still very nice.

Equally gently, she starts to pet and rub my butt.

I tense just a little.

Malcolm never pet me there, and used to reprimand me when I asked to be petted there, but the masseuse massaged me there sometimes, so there's nothing particularly wrong with being touched there that I can remember?

Ah, she's starting to massage there too, and I start letting go of some tension I didn't even know I was carrying there. I just press against her warm body softly, feeling nice and relaxed.

She takes hold of my hip and gently presses me onto my back, which of course I don't resist, then straddles me and starts massaging my shoulders, slowly and gently at first, and then a little more insistently, and I let out a soft sigh as they relax under her touch too.

Her hands stroke down along my sides, rubbing them a little more energetically, and my tail tries to wag but is caught beneath me.

I look up at her. Even if I can't see her eyes behind the sunglasses, her face looks so relaxed other than a little smile, and I can tell she's enjoying this.

She then starts gently rubbing my belly, and I let out a soft puff of breath, tensing for just a moment before relaxing again. It's a sensitive area, but I trust her.

I blink as she starts rubbing the center of my chest-- no one's ever done that for me before, but it's kind of nice. She starts massaging my breasts next, though, and I tense up a little, and then her fingers circle around my nipples, and it feels intense, and I'm not supposed to let anyone do that.

I put up my hands to cover myself up, but she takes hold of my wrists and presses them down on either side of me-- not too roughly.

I guess she's not touching anything bad, so it's okay, but I tilt my head a bit to one side. Am I doing something wrong?

No, my training can't be wrong on this, Malcolm was very emphatic.

"Sierra, you aren't supposed to touch me there," I explain gently. She's very new to this, after all.

She leans in close, her face next to mine, and I sniff at her-- there's a smell coming off of her that I don't usually smell on her, that I don't recognize.

"What's wrong with petting you? You're mine, aren't you?" She leans down and gives my lips a soft kiss, which is also unusual-- I wouldn't be worried that no one else ever kissed me there if it wasn't for my chest and butt.

"Maybe you need to learn how to pet me properly," I suggest. "There are places you aren't supposed to do so."

She lets go of me and rolls off me onto her back, letting out a big sigh. "They really have you brainwashed, huh?" She sounds disappointed.

I blink a few times. "I don't understand what you mean."

What am I doing wrong?

I let out a soft whine and move closer to her, sniffing at her face again. Am I doing something wrong? Is there something I'm not understanding?

She strokes the top of my head gently, and smiles up at me reassuringly. "It's not your fault, Dust. I'll just need to retrain you on some things."

"...oh. Okay." This makes me relax a little. Being retrained is a normal part of learning with a new owner, after all.

She scritches my head and massages the back of my neck softly as I nestle into her.

She's not upset with me, and she'll train me, so everything should be okay, right?

But... the certain parts other people should not be touching was one part of training that Malcolm was really insistent on.

I try to convince myself it's okay, but that Sierra is petting me -- properly, once again -- is making everything seem more right.

It's okay... I need to teach Sierra about some things too, right?

Maybe I can tell her to ask Malcolm if she can't figure it out.