Return to the Gentle Giantess index


Tiny Totter Part 2




Tammy covered the bottom of the cage with her fluffiest towels. After a moment of thought she took one of them back out and put it beside the sink.

Totter splashed around in the water, playing. She watched for a moment. Quite a bit of the filth had come off in the water, but more was ground in.

"Ready for some soap?" she asked. He looked up at her. After a moment, he nodded.

"If that's what happens next," he said.

She nodded and pumped some liquid onto a washcloth. Then she had him turn around. She put one hand in front of him, letting him lean on her fingers while she scrubbed his back.

"Could…?" he started to ask. She paused and waited. When he looked up again, she opened her eyes wider, inviting him to speak. He looked at her expression, then down again.

She still didn't move. He pushed back against the cloth, rubbing his back up and down. She lifted her finger. "Uh, uh," she said. "No freebies. You want something, you say so."

After a few moments, he swallowed and asked, "Could you make it a little warmer?"

"Sure. All you had to do was ask." She turned the tap on and let a little hot water swirl through the tub.

He had the funniest look on his face. He was amazed and pleased and frightened, all at once. She tried hard not to laugh.

"Say when," she said. He looked up sharply. "Tell me when it's as warm as you like."

"Oh. Now, thanks. Um, when." She turned off the water and started to scrub again.

Scars started to show up as the grime was removed. They covered his arms, neck, back and lower legs. There were some scrapes from his… Nightmare? From thrashing around in the cage. But there was nothing major in the way of unhealed wounds.

Tammy was wondering how to ask Totter about the screaming when the cloth caught on something. It was the wire around his throat. She unhooked the wash cloth and fingered the twist of metal.

"Totter? Remember you never met a female…um, Lord?"

"Yes, Tammy?"

"Well, I have never been to a blood sport. I don't know if this wire is a good thing or a bad thing. I mean, I'd like to cut it off, if you don't need it. But what do you think?"

He grabbed the coil with both hands. It was hard to tell at the moment, but it looked like his knuckles were turning white.

"Is it important? What does it mean?" She lifted the entire container up to the counter and leaned over. He sloshed in the water for a second, then looked up at her.

"It means I'm a fighter," he said. "That I can hold my own."

"In a fight?" she asked.

"Yes. When… When fighters get weak? Or, uh, loose an arm or something? They get the wire taken away."

"Okay," she nodded. "And what happens to them, then?"

"They get put in the pens."

"Pens? What happens in the pens?" Heavens, it was like pulling teeth.

"They… They're toys." Just as she opened her mouth to ask what that meant, he started talking again. "Winning fighters get to do what they want with the toys. And some of the Lords play with the toys."

'Coin operated soldering pencil,' Esme said in Tammy's memory. What a world. He was still holding his fighting wire tight.

She thought it over. It wasn't too tight, he didn't have any sores from wearing it. "Okay," she finally said. "I don't really want to remind you of that life. But I know I can't just tell you to forget it. So you can keep it. Until you tell me you don't need it any more."

"Don't need it?" he asked.

"Well, you aren't fighting any more, Totter."

"What?!?!" He staggered back from her, plastering himself against the side of the tub.

His reaction was so unpredictable she stopped breathing for a second. She'd have thought he'd be happy, relieved to be completely out of the fights. Honestly, she'd expected him to start thanking her.

Then she remembered. In his world, you were fighter or you were prey.

"Okay, okay," she said, hands raised. "Okay. You're still a fighter. I'll figure something out. Just…you'll never be a toy, okay?"

He muttered something she didn't catch. She decided to let it go. "Okay, let's finish scrubbing, okay?"

She replaced the water twice, then rinsed him off and rolled him up in the fluffy towel. He twisted around a bit. Then suddenly he yawned once and went to sleep.

Tammy slide the whole cocoon into the cage and set him gently down.

She left the light on over the stove so he wouldn't be in total darkness, then finally went to bed.

-----

There were no more interruptions in the night. She woke the next morning when the alarm went off. Tammy had to leave the alarm on, even for days off. She kept forgetting to turn it back on for Mondays.

She started to hit the snooze when she felt a piece of paper. Some time in the night she'd written something.

"GOT IT," the paper said. "Totter BB me all win."

"What the hell?" she muttered. Obviously it had made perfect sense at two or three in the morning. Now…? Eh.

But it did remind her that she had a guest. She rose, grabbed a robe and stalked to the kitchen. Totter looked up from where he sat in the cage.

"Hello, Tammy," he said. "We're having breakfast and shopping, right?"

"Right, Totter. Breakfast and shopping. I do have to have a shower at some point, but… Well, I promised breakfast, I'll make breakfast."

She moved the cage to the top of the microwave. He watched with interest as she made tea, toasted a bagel and opened a yogurt. She didn't bother to ask what he wanted or usually had. It was too early in the morning to get depressed.

With everything moved to the table they started breakfast. She took a tiny bit of yogurt on her spoon and let him try a bite.

She was unable to keep from laughing at his reaction. "It's okay, Totter, it's kind of an acquired taste. If you don't like it you can spit it out."

She started to reach for a paper towel he could spit into. He just turned to the side of the cage and let fly.

"Okay," she said. "First lesson of living with civilized people, we don't spit on the furniture."

"You said I could spit it out!" he protested.

"I know," she said. "And you're not in trouble. This time." She demonstrated how he should get rid of bad tasting food in the future. He watched her every move as if his life depended on it.

She didn't let herself think about that too much.

He liked the buttered crumbs of the bagel much more. The toasted one was less enjoyable than the untoasted fragment.

She let a spoonful of tea cool before offering him a sip. She made sure the paper towel was next to the cage before she let him try it.

His cheeks bunched up as he considered the flavor. Then he reached for a corner of the towel.

"Oh, what a fast learner!" she enthused. He smiled at the praise. She got him a fingerbowl of icewater. It looked like a trough. Comforts, such as cups and plates, moved up higher on her priority list.

After breakfast, she put him in the sink before the plates. She turned her back as he did his business. Cups, plates and an in-cage chemical toilet.

Then he was back in the cage to wait on her shower. She was halfway through her shampoo when she realized what the note meant.

She rinsed quickly, grabbed a towel and ran out into the kitchen.

"Battleship!" she said happily. "BB is the designation for a battleship!"

"Okay," he said quickly. "I believe you, Tammy. I'll try to remember that."

"No, silly!" she said. "I figured a way for you to fight and not risk your life." He stared, hope radiating from his face. "You fight me!"

The hope went out like a light. "Oh, don't be afraid," she said. "It'll be fine. You'll see."

-----

Just before going out the door, she realized that she couldn't carry Totter around in a Social Services cage. Too many questions would be asked. He grabbed the bars as the cage swung when she suddenly braked.

"Um… Hold on. Just a sec." She carried him back to her bedroom closet. There was a hard-sided purse in the back. "You'll need to ride in this," she told him.

"Yes, Tammy," he acknowledged. She threw in a towel and then lowered him gently down after it. He looked a little apprehensive.

"I'm going to close the lid, just to keep you safe, Totter. If you need me, you just shake the purse." He looked around desperately. She realized he didn't know what a purse even was.

She explained and they practiced. It was actually pretty easy for him to rock the purse violently enough for her to notice.

"Okay," she said. "I'm going to close this. And if you don't shake it, I'll open it in the store. Okay?"

"Yes, Tammy," he said.

"Okay. Thanks for trusting me, Totter."

"I have no choice," he said with a shrug. But he did say it. She told herself he was getting comfortable with her.

----

She had a list in mind when she entered the store. But it would be difficult taking him in and out of the purse for his opinion each time. He might get away or fall or who could tell what all.

Tammy went straight to the pet section and the carrier aisle. The selections marked 'sylph ready' were anywhere from about the size of two thick sandwiches to big enough to hold an adult cat.

She thought about her desk, her job, her car. The smallest were too small, it'd be cruel to keep him in those day and night. The biggest would hamper her in travel.

Finally she found one with several carrying options. A shoulder strap that doubled as a belt or a wall hanger, a stand that could be used on the bottom or the back. And a clamp that accommodated twenty three makes of automobile.

Tammy made sure that hers was on the list, then lifted the purse up to her face. "Totter? I'm going to open the purse and show you a carrier. If you like it, I'll buy it for you."

She eased open the latch and found him waiting patiently for her. She scooped him up and held him before the carrier.

"What do you think? Is it roomy enough?" To him it would be about the size of a backyard shed. There were windows, a skylight, a little sink, a bunk and a chair, both with safety straps for travel.

"For me and how many others?" he asked.

"Totter, it would be for you. Just you. You would own it. You could decorate it however you want."

"Decorate?" he asked. "What's that?"

"Probably need to call Annie for that one," she said softly. "Anyway, no, this would be yours. Just you."

"Is that a bed?" he asked. He started to twist a bit in her hand, looking inside. She was afraid of dropping him again (…the little, blooded figure twisting out of her hand…) and gripped him tighter.

He gasped and she reflexively loosened her grip to keep from hurting him. He slid for a little ways, grabbing at her thumb. That hit her tender spot from his bite. She just about squeezed him again, stopping just as his grip stopped his falling.

"Oh, God," she muttered. She rolled her hand so he lay across her palm rather than dangled from her thumb. "I'm going to lower you into the purse, Totter."

"That would be nice, Tammy," he said.

"We'll get better at this, I swear," she said. He didn't say anything as she put him on the towel. Once he was safely out of her grip, he smiled up at her.

Tammy smiled back and gently closed the purse.

She bought the carrier and went out to her car. She put it down on the passenger seat and let Totter explore the space inside. She fished the instructions out and looked them over.

"Okay, the bars are semi-permanently mounted," she noted.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that it's possible to take the bars off the windows bit it'll take a while."

"That's okay," he said. "I like the bars."

"Thought you might," she said absently. "Now, each window, you can have the plastic panel up or down, and the curtain open or shut."

The 'curtains' were just painted on opaque squares of plastic that slotted in behind the clear windows at each opening.

He figured out the controls for the two panels on his own, sliding them in and out for a bit.

"Oh, look," she noticed. "There are controls on the outside, too."

"So I can't hide from you," he said, nodding.

"Well… I'd want to give you privacy," she said. "When we go back in the store, you can open or shut the curtains however you want. If the crowds get too much for you, you don't even have to ask, okay?"

"Okay…"

"But when I want your opinion on something, I'll open the window just long enough for you to see it, then shut it."

"Why do you want my opinion?" he asked with a confused look.

"Well, duh!" she said. He looked even more confused at that. But not frightened. He wasn't associating ignorance with punishment, at least not at the moment. She felt a thrill of pride in Totter even as she felt shame in using slang he couldn't apprehend.

"What I mean is, well." She held her hand next to him. He looked at it, then her, then finally sat carefully on her palm. She closed her little finger over his lap as a restraint, then held him up to her face.

"Totter, what we're getting today is for you. Stuff you're going to use. You're going to own it. If there's a choice, I want you to make it."

Now he looked a little stressed. She lifted her other hand to stroke his back gently with a fingertip. "But no pressure, okay? If you really don't care, you can tell me that. It's not going to be a problem.

"But if you see something you like, you can tell me. I may not get it for you this trip, but I want to know, okay?"

"Ok-" He covered his mouth with a fist. She waited patiently while he swallowed. "Okay, Tammy. Thank you."

"Right. Let's get you some clothes and a cup and… Oh, let's see what they have, huh?"

She made sure the receipt for the carrier was in her pocket and Totter was in the carrier.

It took a bit to get him into the seat belt until she realized it was set up the same as her car's were. She just set him on the dashboard and showed him.

He was as fast as study as ever, and seemed really pleased when they were both strapped in at the same time.

She smiled and eased the door shut. Then she set the outside lock and got out of the car.

Just after they passed the greeter, there was a knot of kids, all circling around one woman, waving shopping lists and shouting for attention.

Tammy didn't hear Totter shut the windows and curtains, but she felt the carrier shake as each one slid into place. She smiled and moved around the kids.

WalMart's main advantage over the sylph goods in pet stores was quality. The clothes weren't scratchy, Ray had said, although the fashion wasn't up to boutique standards.

When he said, 'sufficient for your needs right now' the background squeaking had actually gone away. He said that Annie agreed, Totter needed clothes more than he needed a suit.

She got two jumpsuits about his size, a pair of canvas boots, a basic set of cups, bowls and plates (the 'safety' set, with no forks or knives), and the toilet.

Totter picked the red jumpsuits over the orange or green ones, but mostly just stared at everything else.

There was a sort of sylph-run, a folding set of mesh walls that made a secure area for the sylph. She imagined that she could set the carrier inside there. He'd have more room to move around, but still be kept out of trouble.

Tammy was a little afraid that he'd try to run away, and very afraid that he'd just be in the wrong place when she wasn't looking.

There was also an activity set. Something of a cross between Tinker Toys and a jungle gym. She put that in the cart for the bigger cage.

Ray had warned her away from the convenient food packets. He said if it was a choice between starvation and those pellets, Annie would eat drywall.

Totter probably didn't have as discriminating a palate, but there was no reason he couldn't learn to appreciate actual food.

She passed the leashes without a second glance. She only locked Totter up for his safety, not to control him.

In the toy department, she slid a game of Battleship into the cart. She used to play her father at the game. After the divorce, the loser had to do the dishes. You never knew what cuthroat was until Daddy's cooked-in grease was on the line.

Then she went by stationary. She got a few sheets of stickers, mostly at random, just to show Totter what decorating was.

Then they went home. Totter stood in the doorway of his carrier as she laid everything out on the kitchen table.






Tiny Totter Part 1

Tiny Totter Part 3

Return to the Gentle Giantess index