Wooing Monsters Under The Bed

Chapter 1

(Gratt's POV)

Being seen by a human was my biggest fear, but despite this, I had an even bigger fear of living on the streets so I took refuge in a human's home. The winter that I 'moved in' was colder than I could stand and I had no other choice but to take advantage of an unlocked door and use the opportunity to get out of the cold. Just imagining what the humans would do if they found me gave me chills so I never let myself think about.

I took long deep breaths in the small space underneath the humans bed and turned over onto my side, trying to get comfortable. The room was dark and the human was quiet. Hardly any light was coming through the window and the human was asleep, so I figured that was a good time to stretch my legs. I used my stomach like a penguin and slid out from under the bed. After I escaped my hovel, I stretched the cramps out of my body and sighed with the relief of loose muscles.

The room was cool and dark, lit only by stray beams of moonlight. It was a calm and beautiful night with no clouds to block the few stars that could be seen from the city.

Standing up felt so relaxing and refreshing that it made me temporarily forget the situation of my housing. I let out a small breathe of content and closed my eyes with a smile still on my face.

After I was satisfied, I sat down next to the human's bed and started to slide back under it. The human moved around in sleep as I laid on my side. My muscles tensed and my breath hitched in my throat. I could feel myself start to sweat and I sharply inhaled a few quick breaths. After the moving stopped, I managed to calm down enough to sleep but not before a few very wakeful hours.

~Next morning~

*Beep* *beep* *beep* *be-*
The human tapped the screen of their phone to turn off their alarm and hung their arm lazily over the side of the bed. I stared expectantly at their hand and felt tempted to reach out to touch it. I quickly stopped myself but didn't retract my hand. Instead, I held my hand next to the human's and compared the two appendages. They weren't very different. A deep yearning tugged at my heart and lodged in my throat. I felt my chest tighten as my desire to live amongst humans as an equal grew deeper and deeper.

The human slowly emerged from their bed and I retreated my hand. My housemate dragged their feet tiredly to the bathroom and closed the door behind them. Every noise they made was the same as every other day. I heard the shower spurt to life so I knew they would be in there for a while.

I slid out from under the bed and carefully walked to the kitchen. The kitchen was small and open with no walls separating it from the livingroom. I took a piece of string cheese from the grimy fridge along with a few strawberries and with the food in hand, I made my way back to the bedroom as quietly as possible.

I crawled under the bed again and I sighed. I then ate my sad and meager meal. Even thouh it wasn't very much, it was enough to tie me over until my next chance to eat which was likely the next morning. The young human would sometimes wonder about where the food went and it made me feel bad, but I knew that I had to do it in order to sustain myself.

I quickly finished the string cheese and bright red strawberries and stuffed the garbage into my pocket so I could throw it away later.

The human walked back into the room and dropped their clothes into a small hamper next to the door.

A yawn escaped the human before they walked back out of the room and into the kitchen. I took a few deep breathes and fought against the low frame of the bed to roll onto my side.

The human came back into the room for the last time before grabbing their backpack and leaving through the front door.

As silence fell over the house my mind began to wonder. I wondered about what the human looked like. I realized I had never actually been able to look at their face and I was only ever able to catch short glimpses. I didn't even know their gender.

'Maybe someday I'll work up the courage to talk to them and try to become friends' I thought but quickly swatted it away. I supposed that it would be creepy and scary to find out that a stranger had been living in your house without your knowledge. It would be especially creepy since I was a mutant. If I talked to them and they reported me to the authorities I wouldn't know what to do.

The silence was now becoming unbearable and I wanted to fill it. I wanted to finally get to use my voice again since it had been so long. I tried convincing myself it would be ok and I opened my mouth to say something but then stopped. My mouth suddenly went dry and my throat felt scratchy.

Thoughts about talking to the human and even just myself made me nervous.  I swalled what little spit I could muster and opened my mouth again. "Hello" I tried to whisper, but it came out choked and gravely. Even with the raspiness, chills from the excitement ran up and down my spine. "Hello?" I whispered a bit louder. Holding in my excitement became so difficult that I squealed. I quickly covered my mouth but smiled gidilly after a moment of silence.

I wiggled out from under the bed and jumped up onto my feet. I paid attention to every feeling and sensation. Every smell and sight. The floor was cold on my feet and the house smelled like body spray mixed with soap.

I walked through a few of the rooms in the apartment. The surfaces of different objects made my nerves go crazy. Sitting on the couch was a luxury that I had never known but now that I had the opportunity it was easy to see why humans did it so much. I ran my fingers along the television and found several buttons on the side.

I looked at the small potted plant in a window sill next to the front door. There were spikes on it going up and down its sides. The spikes made me nervous to touch it, but I slowly I brought my finger up to one of the spikes and gently touched it. I jumped back when it pricked me.

I felt a lump in my pocket and suddenly remembered the garbage from earlier. I went back into the humans bedroom and reached my arm under the bed. I went to the kitchen and threw it away, making sure to bury it under other trash so that it wouldn't be seen. I continued to softly whisper greetings and different sentences to myself.

I didn't know what to do for the rest of the day so I sat down on the humans bed. It was soft and much more comfortable than the floor. I hesitantly laid down and the tight muscles in my back immediately started to unravel themselves and relax. My eyes rolled into my skull and I flipped onto my stomach, feeling even more muscles loosen from their normally taught and compressed position. Without even realizing it, I soon drifted off into a peaceful and undisturbed sleep.

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I hope you enjoyed this chapter! See you in the next one!