Oscar jostles and turns as he wakes on the dusty ground of the makeshift campsite. No trace of a bad dream or physical oddities, but something isn’t agreeing with him. He rolls onto his back and sits up patting off the sediment and dirt he’d collected.
	His hands wander to his face and index fingers hook inward to prod and rub at the nubs of his growing tusks. They seem to poke just a bit further from his skin since his last visit. He continues his inspection to his surroundings. His eyes dart, transfixed on a red splotch near him. Pupils adjust and he realizes the sight is nothing more than max and his trademark head decoration. His friend sleeps peacefully, head propped against a log with support from a plain white pillow and the bill of his hat. Since his observation began some enigmatic feeling was growing that urged he further his analysis. Something about the downy jet black hair and perky ears separated by baseball hat edges him forward.
	Oscar kneels behind the log and looks down at the slumbering boy. He pushes the bat’s head forward allowing the bill to lift from its strained position, then lays him back onto the pillow, the hat now poking into the log. The elephant grips the bill and as he tugs the red cap gently upward he feels a sensation in his bones, a light tingle on his skin, but he ignores it. There is a bit of resistance and an awkward shimmy is given to loosen the hat from its rightful place. The stiff hairs release their grip and the billed fabric dome floats lightly in Oscar’s hand. His trunk twitches as the exposed black curls waft a hearty boyish scent and mammalian body heat into his nostrils causing his heart’s pace to increase by a half-beat. It reminds him of the feeling and essence that radiates off of his own body after a long jog or hard-fought sports match.
	His senses ease back and the elephant’s unsure excitement grow to a pang. He whips his focus off his target and onto the land around him. Hedgehog is still asleep on her side, blinded to his actions, and the sky is empty with no sign of sun coming out just yet. His paranoia sated he returns to the blue hoodied boy.
	Oscar quickly places the hat on the earth and uses his lifted trunk to brush and prod at his friend’s head, the aroma sending more sensations throughout his body, including but not limited to, rolling shivers, lightheaded bliss, and an intense blush. Oscar lifts his hands and places them on the tips of the pointy skyward ears. He rubs lovingly with thumb and forefinger, eliciting twitches from the slumbering lengths. His head drifts ever closer, cheeks and chin now tickled by black tufts. Eyes closed and senses overridden in indulgence the elephant’s shock is multiplied when he hears his name.