This wasn't the first bath Royce ever had. He was proud to say that as a child, he had taken many baths. Most kids (Rosemary, especially) had a problem with being cleaned, in their human or wolf forms, and would make quite the fuss with their parents or elders about it. His parents? They had trouble getting him out of the tub. He liked playing in the water. When he grew out of the tub, he started taking showers and those just weren't the same. Something about a bath had been fun and relaxing and enjoyable.
This, however, wasn't starting out as any of those things.
Royce was sure the girl meant well. This was her job and he was positive that she was good at it. He could smell the other dogs and they all seemed pretty damn happy about how clean and fresh they were. They liked this human, the one that gave them loving scratches behind the ear and had treats for them to take. Royce did find it particularly pleasurable when she had her fingers around his neck.
When the water was drenched all over him, he kept twitching. The desire to shake himself of the heavy water was insane. But he had to behave. He doubted the girl wanted to get just as wet as he could. Because of all of his extra fur, downy included, his body could retain a whole lot of water and when he shook himself? It was like a shower straight out of the bathroom.
Her hands were everywhere. That was probably what made him feel uncomfortable. And he did mean everywhere. Shit, this was embarrassing. If he was in his human form, this would definitely count as 'molesting'. It wasn't that he didn't like it because he did enjoy the feeling of her fingers working through his fur and down to the skin underneath but ... this was an intimacy he hadn't on sharing with anyone.
Royce turned his head, big gold eyes blinking casually. Wild creature? Alright, so at least she wasn't saying that he was some cute fluffball. Her best patient though? Had the other dogs given her that much trouble? Well, now he felt proud of himself. If wolves could smile ... and maybe they could. Although, if one were paying attention to those golden eyes, they would swear that they were being smug.
Her laugh made him want to laugh too. The most he could manage was a slight huff and a toss of his head. When he planned to come back, he would definitely find some other -- wait, why wasn't there an 'if' there in that sentence? When? He was already planning in coming back?
While she was scrubbing him down, he thought of trying something. Tilting his head low, he bumped her arm and nudged it with his nose. Yes, he knew that was the international sign of pet me but hey, he was feeling risky.