Candice sat at her dining table, reading her Chemistry textbook. It would have been common to see a lot of people turning away from their books and would very much rather be outside, but not for Candice. She had spent the night out already, exploring the city at night as Sailor TianGuan. It was tiring, but she tried to do that a few times a week as well as stay ahead in her classes. Sometimes it felt like it was too much, but Candice always reassured herself that she was doing the right things and in the end, it would pay off.

Her eyes skimmed the pages over and over again. Candice didn’t notice that Cotton was running around and had managed to get a hold of her Henshin pen. It wasn’t until the now-growing-larger dog let out a bark in between her teeth. The bark was a bit muffled, so Candice turned her head and looked down at Cotton, making sure she wasn’t getting herself into any trouble.

“That’s not a toy, Cotton,” Candice said with a somewhat stern voice. It wasn’t mean, but Cotton understood and sat down, wagging her tail. The white dog bent her head down and dropped the pen at Candice’s feet, causing Candice to laugh. “You know me too well, little one!”

Cotton let out a bark in response, standing up on her hind legs and putting her front paws on Candice’s lap. Candice laughed and gave the dog a hug and a kiss on the nose, getting a kiss on the cheek in response. Bending down, Candice picked up the Henshin pen and removed it from the dog’s reach. After that, she moved away her books and then picked up the dog. Candice gave Cotton a large snug, feeling her fur against her face. Cotton licked Candice’s face again. Putting her down again, Candice laughed.

“Do you want a bath,” Candice asked Cotton. The dog stopped wagging her tail and looked at Candice rather stern. Cotton cocked her head to the side, as if asking her ‘do I really need a bath?’ with her eyes. “Come on… You need a bath once in a while!”

Cotton laid her head down and looked up at Cotton with large puppy eyes. Candice laughed again. “Don’t give me that look!” Instantly, Candice picked up Cotton and headed for the bath tub. Cotton was still in Candice’s arms now, but it was more so because the dog had refused many times before and had somewhat learned that resistance was futile. Closing the bathroom door behind her, Candice put Cotton down. “Sit… Now stay,” Candice told Cotton before turning on the water, making sure that the water wasn’t too hot or too cold.

It didn’t take long before the water temperate was ready. Candice looked over at Cotton and then pointed at the tub. “In yah go!” Hesitant, Cotton made her way into the tub and sat there, looking at Candice, really not wanting a bath. The moments when Candice just stared at Cotton’s cute-ness always made her feel so happy. In her hectic and somewhat lonely life, Candice felt that she only had Cotton as a main support of her daily life, the one thing tying her down to the ‘real’ world when it came to school and now her ‘second life’. Despite her young age, Cotton was always there for her, like when she was sick with the flu and such. Sure, Millie and Jett had come over, but they were only quick visits and not often at all.

Candice took the shower head with her right hand and used her left to guide the water into Cotton’s fur. With Cotton’s face, Candice cupped her hands and shielded Cotton’s eyes from the water when she poured the water onto his head. She couldn’t help but laugh at her a little bit. On a most-days basis, the dog looked a lot bigger because of all her fluff, but thanks to the water, Cotton looked tiny.

Quickly, Candice soaped up Cotton and then washed her down again. Eventually, the dog was ‘clean’. Cotton might not understand why she needed to be cleaned, but because of the white coat, Candice would be bugged of the dog got too dirty. Candice grabbed a towel from her closet and wiped down Cotton. The dog, like most dogs, liked to shake herself dry, so Candice tried to at least get most of the moisture out so Cotton didn’t shake everywhere wet. Once Candice felt like she did enough, she dropped the towel on the floor and let the dog go at it.

Cotton first shook out her fur and then dug her face in the towel. Once the dog was satisfied, she walked over to Candice, whom was ready with a brush in hand. Both of them went over to Candice’s bed and Cotton knew what was coming up… A nice brushing!

The two spent time together happily; Cotton’s front paws and head rested on Candice’s lap as Candice continued to brush the dog all over. It took a while, but Candice enjoyed it and she knew that Cotton enjoyed it as well. Since before the bath, it had been well over an hour, but Candice didn’t care. When she spent time with Cotton, it made her forget about everything she had to do in life.