After breakfast the next day he had Legs, who was still sticking to him, help him with the stretches again for about an hour and then did a light jog with some tree climbing to help with the soreness a bit.  Once he felt like he could walk and move somewhat normally again, he decided that it was finally time to go visit the humans.

He briefly considered donning his human form and maybe some clothes but promptly dismissed the idea afterwards.  They needed to become comfortable with who he really was and clothes were a human affectation that was almost useless already for them and had no purpose for monsters.

As he stepped into their webbed off area just barely inside the territory, he glanced around to see how their living situation looked.  They had a multi-roomed little house built in a similar method to the rooms that had been built when he had first arrived and claimed the territory.  The area showed signs of being constantly tread upon over the last few months and he could even see the rubbed out remains of a tic tac toe game in a patch of dirt as he walked towards their dwelling.

Ainselth appeared from the entranceway as she chased one of the boys who was running out.  Upon seeing him with Legs behind him she suddenly called out sharply and told the little boy to go inside before she straightened her clothes as she walked forward to meet them.  He could see her looking a little nervous but also determined as they approached one another.

"Morning.  Sorry I haven't been able to visit too much while I was, you know, almost dead and all."

He smiled a little at his own dark little joke.  It might not help put her at ease too much right now but he was intending to be more of himself than to try and present a good image.

"Morning.  Um...did you not have any clothes...?"

"Hm?  I'm not actually sure.  I didn't check.  I could probably have Scratches make some up for you if you need more, though.  Shouldn't be too difficult or take too long."

"I was talking more about...you know...for you..."

"Ah.  I don't need them, though?  Actually, in a way, I'm glad this is one of the first subjects for us to talk about.  I've been meaning to ask about it.  Why are you wearing flimsy pieces of fabric like clothes all the time?  It doesn't do much to make you warmer.  It doesn't offer much, if any, protection.  It does hinder movements slightly, so I could see it used for training at times, but you humans wear clothes all the time."

"It's because it's the decent thing to do.  You may not understand decency as a monster but it's something humans place some importance in."

"I see.  Decency.  A kindness, of sorts.  Something that's enforced by what's considered acceptable by social norms and appropriately 'proper'.  In other words, you're saying that you wear clothes because others say you should."

"What?  No, we do it because it's the right thing to do.  I know you can't understand-"

"You're right.  As a former human and current monster I just can't understand.  Even when I was human I didn't understand."

"Wait, what?"

"I said that I could never understand why humans wear clothes, even when I was human."

"You...you were human?"

"Yes?  I'm not sure that's part of the current discussion, though.  You want me to wear clothes, even if you're too scared to just say it outright, and I want to know why anyone wears clothes.  If we're talking about societal standards, then you're currently in the middle of our society so it doesn't really apply to yourself.  If there's some other reason that actually makes sense then I actually want to know."

"Well...um...when you were a human were you just naked all the time?"

"All the time?  No.  I was in a society that deemed it inappropriate.  Public appearances required clothing.  Otherwise?  Yes.  Now I'm not either one of those.  Human or in such a society."

"Well...it's the...um...it's just wrong not to wear clothes."

"Okay.  Who's the one deciding that it's wrong here.  From what I can tell, not even all the gods wear clothes all the time, so it can't be them.  If it's just other humans, then that seems kind of arbitrary.  That's like someone saying "this should be like this because I want it to be and everyone else should be like that, too".  Seems like a not very good reason."

"It...it has to do with things that you're too young to know about yet."

"Oh?  What could I possible be too young to know about?  Death?  Pain?  Suffering?  Sex?  Love?  I know about all of these things, many of them I likely know even more than you.  It must be something else, then."

"No...it's...sex.  It has to do with sex, okay."

"Okay?  Not really.  That's an incorrect belief, anyways.  The closest to the truth that could be is that it makes it temporarily and marginally more difficult to engage in sexual acts.  Preventing rape by a matter of a few seconds could be considered a decent reason, I suppose, but somehow I don't think that's actually what you meant.

You're trying to say that clothes help prevent sexual and lustful thoughts.  There are some that could, but not any that you're wearing or likely to have ever worn.  In fact, the types of clothes you're used to wearing help promote more sexual thoughts than otherwise.  Because your society has gotten used to covering up slightly like that, then any mistake in the clothing that seems like you've become less clothed is seen by the opposite sex as an invitation to remove more because the only acceptable times to be naked were arbitrarily decided to be when having sex.

On the other side of that, if society had not decided such and ignored the creation and inclusion of clothing into its rules then nobody would become any more sexually excited by states of undress than the current society's people would by someone fully dressed because a lack of clothing would be considered the social norm and typically seen.  So...why are you wearing clothes?"

"..."

"Sorry.  Perhaps that was too much after seeing me for the first time in so long.  I think that you'll soon find that I'm much more intelligent and know much more than you suspected.  For now, though, why don't you try and tell me what's wrong with your lives here so far."

"...nothing.  Everything is fine."

"That's a lie even if you actually believe that.  I can see multiple things wrong just walking this far in and that's looking at it from your side of things.  If I were to take a look at things in a more general way and with the future in mind, there's just so much wrong here that I barely know where to start.

That said, I'm not looking for you to be some mindless minion that I'm holding captive.  I say that because I'm sure that's how you've been seeing yourself.  You are being held here for now, I'll admit, but not because we want to keep you as a captive or something.  In fact, I'm planning to make sure the children are well learned and everything so that they can go out into the world some day and be who they want to be."

"So the children can leave?  Right now?"

"...you're a much more cruel person than I gave you credit for, aren't you?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"You want to throw weak and mostly defenseless human children into a wild and dangerous forest full of creatures that individually could take one the entirety of the creatures that lived near your previous town and then let them fend for themselves?  Or were you wanting one of us monsters to accompany to a human settlement, cause mass panic and chaos, get hunted and killed or lead an army of humans to our home where they'll likely slaughter all of us, you included, before also killing the children for associating with us?"

"I..."

"Yes.  I know.  You didn't actually think about the future.  That seems to be your biggest failing.  One I plan to try and fix.  Learning comes first.  Right now you know so little and need to be properly educated."

"Huh?  I may not be the best, but I can read and write and am fairly well educated, you know."

"Yes, yes.  I can, too.  The reason I needed to learn from you wasn't that I couldn't, but just couldn't in your language.  So at this point if I learn to read and write in your language then I'll be able to do so in two languages as well as know more about almost every other subject.  Yes.  You need education, partly because I'm sure you aren't very happy about the idea of me being the one to teach the children, for now."

"Name one...no, two more things you know more about than me, then."

"Math, chemistry, physics, biology, therapy, psychology, technology.  Should I continue?  Do you even know what half of those are?  I'll give you a day to talk to the children and let them know about the changes that are starting tomorrow.  You'll be walking around with me and learning things every morning from now on.  The children will be given something to do as well."

"What are you going to make them do?"

"Simple chores, really.  We have a garden that could use a little help, learning early to dismantle creatures for you to cook is another good idea, helping with some of the lighter and easier parts of construction, learning which plants are safe or poisonous, and I'm sure there are even more things.  They will not be harmed or overworked. 

For the most part I really just want them to start getting used to being around us.  Having a prejudice that says being a monster means bad things doesn't seem conducive to a happy life here.  Not to mention that learning can often come faster when doing something over just hearing about doing it.  Anyways, I'll come back tomorrow morning."