It's been awhile... (Ani)

Artemis eyes widen. "Humans explode." said Artemis with a mix of shock and awe. She wasn't one hundred percent sure what an explosion was. She licked her face clean once Salone mentioned it and looked at her confused when she mentioned the spoon.

"What's a spoon?" wondered Artemis out loud. But she did hold her bowl out for more stew. She got up and followed Salone to the dish washer. Salone rinsed her bowl out and stuck it in the strange metal box. Artemis felt a part of her heart drop as Salone washed the extra gravy and bits of meat down the sink. That was perfectly good food.

Salone let out a genuine laugh at the thought of 'exploding humans,' gently she corrected her earlier grammatical mistake.
"No, six months before the baby is due. We don't actually explode, it's just a figure of speech." Salone pressed the button that started the dishwasher. Then she pointed to the silver utensil sitting on the counter. "That is a spoon, you use it to scoop up food into your mouth."
She filled Artemis' bowl again, replacing it onto the counter. "Like this," Salone demonstrated with the spoon before handing it back to Artemis. "Eat the bowl of stew with just the spoon. No licking it out... I will give you a cupcake as a reward."
She bribed, cleaning off counters. "Then we will go set up a bedroom for you and do something fun."

"Oh..." Artemis sat back down on the bar and picked the spoon up. It felt awkward to hold and she didn't like it. She was about attempt to eat with it but then Salone turned the dishwasher on. Holy crap it's evil kill it with fire. Artemis bolted from her seat and hid behind the couch. She hid there for about 5 minutes before coming out. She returned to her bowl, staring evilly at the dishwasher and murmured about how evil it was. She ate with the spoon right up until Salone turned her head then she ate i all at once. She didn't like the spoon.

She followed Salone with a huge smile on her face like she had won a battle or something.

Salone turned around to see Artemis bolt off the chair and hide behind the couch.
"Artemis, It's not going to get you. It's just cleaning dishes, I promise its nothing like cars and boats. Come on." The poor woman had to coax Artemis out from behind the couch.
After this was done, Salone bent over to pick up a rogue utensil that had fallen on the floor. A slurping noise assaulted her ears and she squished her eyes shut.
Sighing she stood back up and glared at Artemis, it wasnt an mean glare, just a 'ohhh your so going to get it later' glare before waiting for Artemis to rinse her dishes and leading her back over to the bathroom.
The first item of attack was her hair. It was all knotted and kinked, it needed to go down.
"OKay, first plan of attack is the hair, we can either cut it all off or brush it out." Salone was wielding a bottle of detangler.

"I thought we were going to the bedroom first." asked Artemis. But regardless she followed Salone into the bathroom. Salone explained that she had two options, to get her hair or to comb it. Her hands shot up to her hair.

"What's wrong with my hair." said Artemis shocked. Why would she ever want to cut it? That would hurt like hell. She brought her concerns up to Salone. She didn't want her hair cut.

"Why are you humans so focused on causing pain to yourselves."

"Well take care of the room situation next, your head needs attention if we are going out anywhere. Cutting hair doesn't hurt. You don't even notice it, its like biting your nails... kinda."
Salone hesitantly began working a brush through thick Artemis hair. Praying scilently that Artemis wouldn't try and bite her. After about an hour and a half of working to tame the mane Salone made a breakthrough, she should successfully run the brush through her friend's hair and not hit any snags.

For some people hair brushing was like finding the perfect itch to rub on a dog. Salone wasn't so sure what it felt like to Artemis... but Salone loved the feeling herself. When stressed out Penny would sit and brush her long blonde hair, putting the Time Collector into a trance like state.

"R-Really? It doesn't hurt?" said Artemis meekly, she debated if she wanted her hair cut now but in the end decided against it.

"I think I'll keep it, if cutting hair does't hurt how bad could brushing it be?" Artemis had managed a weak smile, but she was still very nervous. But in the end she did trust Salone, so it shouldn't be to bad, right?

Well within a matter of moments she had regretted very single word she had said. She was holding her self back, doing her best not to shift and bite at her friend. Why did she do this! It hurt, the brush kept getting snagged in her hair and Salone instead of leaving it be pulled the brush through the knots. She did her best not to move to much but in the end she was squirming around a bit, pulling her small amount of animal skins and biting into them. This went on for who knows how long, but it felt like an eternity. By the time Salone was getting close to finish she let go of her shirt and calm down a bit. She imagined this would feel nice now but her head was so sore it just hurt.

"C-Can we stop now." said Artemis, trying to stay calm and not to bolt away from Salone. But on that aspect she failed. She flew out of he bathroom and into the nearest bedroom, shifting into a wolf and ducking under the covers.

Salone stopped as soon as Artemis asked, feeling bad about the entire situation. Her hair however was now long and glossy as well as a beautiful color. Then the shapeshifter darted away, diving into the closest bedroom which happened to be the guest room, where Jake had stayed while he had lived here. Salone's throat tightened as she followed Artemis in, sitting on the edge of the bed hesitantly.

"Sorry," Salone murmured, attempting to coax her out from under the sheets. "I wasn't thinking."

Carefully she pulled the blankets back and stroked her friend's fur with gentle fingers.
"I've got some cupcakes if you want them," Salone tried bribing again. "You want to see this?"

She inquired, standing with some minor difficulty before leaving the room. The woman closed her eyes to defend herself from the sudden wave of nausea that hit her. But as soon as it showed up the sensation vanished. Salone sucked in some air before making her way back to the kitchen, pulling out the platter of cupcakes. Grabbing one for herself and sitting the tray on the counter.

Salone had began to stroke her fur, and it felt sore. Artemis' ears dropped as she was petted. But her head perked up when she heard the work cupcake. Her tail slowly began to wag and she followed Salone. She shifted once she hit the ground and walked up to the other side of the up cake platter, picking one up and eating it slowly.

"Why must I do all these things, they hurt and not fun. I don't like them. Why can't I just stay the same?"

Salone provided another distraction cupcake when Artemis finished the first one.
"When living in the human world it is important for them to blend in as a group. Not to appear strange. You know how when a wolf is different from all the other wolves, like they are sick or they stand out because they lack the proper coloring? The pack tries to drive them away... I don't want the humans to drive you away Artemis... But remind me if I ever go too far in trying to help you. If I remember correctly, pregnant women are crazy."
Salone offered another cupcake before getting up and running a hand through her own long blonde hair, considering cutting it all off. She entertained that thought for a few seconds and then dismissed it.

Artemis snacked on the cupcake as she heard Salone's explanation. She wasn't a big fan of the answer but whatever. She yet out a yawn. She was feeling kinda tired and she was having trouble stay awake all of a sudden.

"I think I am going to take a nap, I spend all last night hunting." said Artemis. She walked off to the room she was in earlier. She shifted into a wolf and fell asleep on the bed rather quickly.

Artemis had no idea how long she was a sleep but it was dark when she woke up. She got up walked down the hall in wolf form. Her fur was mess up and when she walked into the living room Penny had returned. Penny and Salone where talking on the couch about something, she had no idea what though. She shifted into human form. Her once brushed hair was now wild again, and she wasn't wearing any clothes. She yawned again and looked at the two, unphased by their looks. She looked at Salone and noticed something she didn't notice before. She waked over and poked Salone repeatedly in the chest.

"These look bigger... why and how?"

Putting the last of the cupcakes away Salone nodded to show she had heard Artemis and her decision about napping. The rest of the day went by relatively quickly with Salone filling out paperwork. Penny brought home two pizzas for dinner and she popped them in the oven to keep them warm. After eating a slice Salone pulled out her sketch book and began working on a project. That was roughly the point when Artemis woke up and strolled into the room buck naked.

“Artemis,” Salone said looking unsurprised as the british woman choked on her tea next to her on the couch. “You seem to be lacking in the clothing department-HEY!”

She grabbed both of Artemis’ wrists. “No. Not okay, hands to ourselves and no fondling people with or without clothes on. Go get dressed and then we will discuss it.”

The pregnant woman felt violated. She sighed mentally and could only imagine Jake’s reaction to this entire situation. He would probably explode or die of laughter. Salone massaged her temple and felt like she was raising another child. Penny on the other hand looked slightly shocked before she dissolved into laughter. But she stopped as Salone gave her a dirty look.

Artemis was to tired to put up much of a fight so she turned around and walked back to the room, sloppily threw her clothes and walked back out into the living area. She sat down on the floor next to the couch and looked up at Salone.

"Happy?" asked a groggy Artemis, her hair still all over the place. She looked at Penny. She yawned a hi at her then turned her attention back to Salone. She didn't understand what the big deal was.

Salone relax and folded her sketch book shut, the picture was hidden from view.

“Thank you Artemis,” She stated simply and stretched. Her small belly becoming slightly exposed before she tugged her shirt back down. Penny watched the two for a moment before standing up and going up stairs to her room. Salone patted the seat beside her and waited for Artemis to sit down before she reached and pulled her into a hug.

“Thanks for trying,” She mumbled before letting go of Artemis. Her friend’s hair was a sleepy mess and Salone carefully ran her fingers through her hair as not to cause as much pain.

Artemis yawned as Salone stroke her hair. Artemis was starting to hungry though. She stood back up and began to stretch like she was about to go on a run.

"I'm going to go hunting, don't wait up." said Artemis. And with that she bolted out the backdoor.