VI. Shore things
VI. Shore things
As told by Milo
Now that he was no longer wearing a diaper, Kaeden seemed to be less tense. However, what he had left behind in puppy clothing, he made up for with childish tendency. He kept splashing me with his hands, but his small frame made it hard for me to hit him back. I did have a slight advantage, though.
Since Kaeden is smaller than me, a relatively larger part of him was in the water, slowing him down. As I came closer and closer, I tried to circle around him in such a way he'd be moving away from the shore. My plan worked, and eventually, he wasn't quick enough anymore to evade me.
I made a powerful leap, grabbing the Shepherd's shoulders as I hit his body, effectively pouncing him. Not only did I surprise him, my superior weight and size proved to be too much for his paws to retain their stability. We both fell over, creating a big splash.
"Finally, justice," I joked when we both stood up again.
"At least we're all wet now. The water isn't that cold anymore now that I'm used to it."
"I know," I said, playfully grabbing him again. "I got acquainted with the temperature well before you did."
"Oh, someone's feeling a bit competitive," he said, with a mischievous grin.
Suddenly, I felt Kaeden's paw apply pressure to one of my calves. Before I realized what he was doing, I toppled over ended up in the water with my back first. In no way did I expect someone his size to be strong enough to pull such a move. Apparently, Kaeden wasn't _all_shy and scared.
"Now we're even," he smirked.
"Oh, I don't think so. I've got a score to settle with you," I said with a playful grin.
"You'll have to catch me first!" Kaeden taunted, and he swam away.
"Game on, Sheppy!"
What followed was a wild race through the waves. However, my 'prey' eventually found out he might be stronger than me, but I could swim faster than him. Unfortunately, when I was almost close enough to grab his ankle, we were back in water shallow enough for him to walk.
I swung my arm, but missed his leg, giving the Shepherd a chance to get on his paws and run off. I chased him to the water line, and was suddenly reminded of what follows at the waterline. Whenever my cousins had visited me in the summer, we would chase each other just like I was hunting Kaeden.
However, once the prey gave up swimming, they'd go out of the water and the chase would turn into a mud ball fight. All in good fun, of course, but for an eight year old, few things are more fun than chugging wet sand at other people. Without getting scolded for it, of course.
Still swimming, I reached down and scooped up a hand full of sand from the bottom. The water was only a paw or two deep, so I could easily make it look like I was just swimming. Then, when I assumed Kaeden no longer expected me to do anything, I took my chances and flung the mud ball at him.
Unfortunately, I was too far away, so he could see it coming early enough to step aside. He did get the hint, however, and we soon got engaged in an old-fashioned mud ball fight. The goal is not to hit other people as hard as you can, but to cover as much of their body with sand.
It's hard to tell when you're in an advantage in a mud ball fight. Kaeden is smaller than me, which means it's harder to hit him, but there's also less surface to cover. Furthermore, a hit is much easier to see on my white fur than it is on Kaedens coat. Most of our throws were misses, however - either because each mud ball had a different size, or because some of them fell apart in mid-air.
Eventually, when I had given Kaeden a muddy makeover, he threw his arms up and surrendered. I ran towards him with a smile, and tightly hugged him. This seemed to have come as a surprise to the Sheppy, judging by his facial expression.
"What's wrong, Kaeden? You were holding up your arms, so I thought I'd take your offer."
"I, um... I didn't expect you to do that," he said, although his tail was wagging behind him - he'd clearly enjoyed the gesture.
"It didn't kill you, did it?" I joked as I let go.
Kaeden shook his head.
"Good," I smiled. "You scored quite some hits, by the way. I'm going to wash the sand out of my fur, are you coming with me?"
"No tricks?"
"Of course not, come on!"
I ran back into the sea, and when the water came up to my waist, I took a dive. When I submerged again, I saw Kaeden had followed me. We swam around for a little while longer, until we got tired. We returned to our girlfriends, but neither of us felt the need to race the other.
As told by Kaeden
I approached Lily and Nina, still a little out of breath after playing with Milo. I'd been a little nervous at first, but it didn't take long to get over. Milo seemed like a pretty fun dog, and I was actually looking forward to hanging out with the two dogs more - even if that likely included some embarrassing puppy time. I rationalized that it would only be embarrassing for a little bit, until I got used to it.
Pushing those thoughts out of my mind, I took in some new ones: I couldn't help but smile at my girlfriend, splayed out in the sun like she was. She was very beautiful, and once again I thanked the heavens for my luck.
"Hey Kaeden!" she said, as I drew near. "You looked like you were having a lot of fun, there."
I nodded. "We had a mudball fight! Milo was really good, and beat me, but I still had a lot of fun."
I couldn't help but excitedly wag my tail behind me, and give my playmate, who was over by Nina, a toothy grin.
"Well, I hope you're all cleaned up now," she said, lowering her shades to glance at my fur.
"Uh-huh," I affirmed, nodding my head. "We got all cleaned up in the ocean."
"Good puppy," she said, causing me to blush a little. I couldn't help but glance over furtively at our two new friends, but they didn't seem to mind at all.
"Um, anyway, you said to come back here when I was done swimming?" I asked her. I had a suspicion she was going to make me wear a diaper since I wasn't in the water anymore, and I wasn't wrong.
"Yup. Go over next to your changing pad, pup, I'll be there in a moment."
I whined a little, mostly out of reflex - I still wasn't used to anyone else hearing about... well, about the whole 'puppy' thing. Still, this was as safe a way as ever to get used to it. Milo and Nina were both like me.
Lily was there momentarily, and I couldn't help but let out a muffled yelp as she removed my swimming trunks, pulling a clean towel out of my diaper bag at the same time. She quickly dried me off, fluffing up my fur a little bit in the process. I'd like to be able to say that bothered me, but to be perfectly honest, I liked the way it made me look - much more puppyish.
She had me lay down on the changing pad, and while I still needed Ikici to comfort me, I didn't cover my eyes with my paws this time. She rummaged around in my diaper bag until she pulled out a bottle of apple juice. Lily handed the drink to me and I gladly nursed it, happy to have something else to distract me. I happened to glance over and was a bit surprised when she pulled my diaper out of the bag - normally when we were out and about, she put me in more medical-styled diapers.
The ones I wore at home and to bed, though, were quite different. This particular brand had letter block designs on the taping panel, arranged to spell 'PUPPY' in several spots. It had a wetness indicator, something you normally wouldn't find on a designer diaper like that, but rather than simply being a boring stripe, this one had stylized bones running down the center.
She liberally sprinkled my diaper area with powder, then brought the front up between my legs before taping me into it. I lifted my legs back up so she could run her fingertips around the leg guards, making sure my diaper wouldn't leak - but when my legs were pushed back down onto the changing pad, I looked at her questioningly. Normally she helped me back into my pants, or in this case, my swimming trunks. Instead, she helped me to my feet.
"Go on, puppy, time to have some more fun."
I dropped my nearly empty bottle and whined, my tail going between my legs. Was she being serious? All I had on was my diaper! Surely she didn't mean to make me go out and play wearing just that!
"What's the matter?" she asked, seeing my hesitation.
I felt my ears reflexively lay back against my skull, and I whimpered, my bottom jaw quivering a bit.
"I-I-I-I..." I stuttered, unable to talk.
Lily pulled me into a hug, which I gratefully accepted, although my tail stayed firmly tucked between my legs. I couldn't seem to will the appendage out no matter how hard I tried. I'd never had good control over my emotional body language, even considering the fact that I'm a dog. When was I was being treated like this, it was even worse.
"Settle down there, puppy," she said into my ear. "Now what's wrong?"
"Um...I'm j-just in a d-di-dia-d-diaper," I stammered.
"Well, yeah. I know we're outside, but I still wouldn't want you to leave puddles on the beach," she said with a grin. Evidently she thought this was just part of my puppy act, rather than genuine fear. To be fair to my girlfriend, it was hard to tell the difference.
"N-no, Lily, you know what I mean. P-please, I'm not playing. I'm...I don't wanna be seen like this."
"Kaeden, it's okay. Really. They already know you need diapers."
"We just told them it was at night, though..."
"Well, you were wearing one when we arrived. Besides, they know you're a puppy, right?"
"Yeah..." I said, blushing.
"And don't puppies need diapers?"
"Yeah..." I whimpered, not liking the direction this conversation was going. "Can't I just cover up with my swimming trunks though, please? Then a-at least-"
"No," she interrupted plainly. "And that's final. Trust me, okay? You'll be fine, honey. Really."
"I-I'm really not sure about this, Lily... c-can't we..."
"Kaeden," she said sternly, her expression growing harsh, evidently frustrated by my hesitation. "Do you want me to pull down your diaper and give you a spanking in front of our new friends? I told you to go play. I wasn't asking you."
I bit my lip, faced with a hard decision. Although we'd agreed that Lily would always have the final say in any decisions, it wasn't easy to accept this. I'd only met the two other dogs once, and had been playing with Milo for about an hour or so, and was not at all comfortable being seen in a diaper around them just yet. But, I'd also never told Lily no, and her decisions had always worked in my favor before.
I thought back to my rehabilitation, and what Ashleigh might have had to say about all this. She had always been careful to preserve my dignity whenever she took me out in public, whereas Lily seemed to enjoy skirting the lines of discretion. But Ashleigh had also pushed me to do things outside of my comfort zone. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was an issue of trust: how much did I trust Milo and Nina to not make fun of me?
They were puppies, too - surely they would understand? I hadn't seen either of them... like this, though. I thought back to what Ashleigh taught me when I was having a panic attack over a situation like this. Breathe deep, and just focus on the facts. To think about what was real, not what my mind was spinning up.
I finally realized that there was no good reason to be afraid of this. I couldn't help my nerves, or how I felt about going back to play wearing nothing but a diaper - the emotions would still be there. However, I knew Lily and I were good for each other because we constantly pushed each other to continual improvement after graduating. Pushing me into this situation would be good for me.
Maybe she was going a little too far - but intellectually I knew that nothing bad was going to come of this, regardless. Plus, it wasn't really the first time I'd been seen like this - and none of the other puppies I'd met had made fun of me. Alex, the first puppy I'd met during my treatment, hadn't even made fun of me for being dressed like a girl the first time he'd met me. Of course, neither Milo or Nina were dressed like a pup at the moment, but it really wasn't all that different a situation.
It took a moment to stop myself from thinking in rapid circles, but eventually, my brain slowed itself down. My doubtful mood improved slightly when I realized that although I still needed Lily to push me into this, I'd decided to go along with it all on my own. I was able to rationalize it myself, and stop panic from setting in.
With a deep breath, I tried to prepare myself. I hadn't expected to be seen as a 'puppy' - or at least not so visibly - until sometime later, perhaps in the safety of a hotel room or an apartment or something. Of course, I was still worried about getting a spanking, and the idea of telling my girlfriend 'no' made me a little scared... but I had eased my fears enough to go through with it.
"Okay," I said quietly.
She smiled, and did one last check on my diaper to make sure it was on right, before taking my paw. Or rather, perhaps I should say that I took her paw. I needed some sort of lifeline for what I was about to do, didn't I? I still couldn't get my tail back out from between my legs, and it wasn't even doing a very good job of hiding my diaper. I left Ikici on top of the diaper bag so he wouldn't get sand in his fur, and then allowed Lily to lead me back over to where Nina and Milo awaited.
"Sorry about that, Nina, Milo," she apologized for me. I wanted to nod my agreement, but I felt frozen in place. I gripped my girlfriend's paw tighter, clinging to her for support. "Puppy here was a bit worried about what you might think of him," I heard her say gently.
"I-it's n-not like that," I stammered, not wanting them to think I thought poorly of them. "I-I... I just have bad nerves, and, um, um, yeah." I grit my teeth. "I, um..." I trailed off, unable to complete my sentence... and unable to let go of my girlfriend's paw.
"Go on, Kaeden," Lily said, pulling me out from behind her and patting the seat of my diaper, pushing me forward. I nervously glanced up and down, awaiting their judgment. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew how ridiculous I was being - but at least I wasn't nearly as paranoid about it as I could have been.
Once again, Milo surprised me with a hug. It wasn't as much of a 'puppy pounce' like the first time, but I still found myself in a tight embrace. Come to think of it, getting hugged by Milo like that felt comforting.
"Relax, puppy. We're not going to eat you. If we were planning to laugh at you, we would've done so way earlier. I know you're nervous, though, so take your time, okay?"
I nodded.
"Now how about we build ourselves a sand castle?" Milo asked after he let go. "Would you like that?"
I let out a broken up laugh, realizing I'd been holding my breath the entire time. I rubbed my shoulder with my paw nervously, before allowing myself to look up. My prior worry seemed so silly now.
"That'd be awesome!"