Nothing weird here

Early sunlight shyly peered through the window. It ran down the floor, climbed up the bed and shone right into Collin's eye.

The blond man rolled onto his left side, trying to escape it and both his cheek and his forearm met skin.

Not fur. Not fluff. Skin. Human skin.

His green eyes shot open. He jerked backward, but his butt hit the edge of the bed and he tumbled onto his back with a loud thud. For a long second, he lay frozen, his heart jack hammering in his chest so hard, he'd almost thought it break his ribs.

There was a man in his bed. And he sure as hell didn't remember bringing anyone over.

He scrambled back up, clutching the blanket to his bare chest—he only wore his long, checkered pajama pants—and poked his head up to peek over the edge of the mattress.

Brown eyes stared back at him and the stranger's face seemed puzzled. At the top of his head perched a set of dog ears. Great. Not only has some rando crawled into his bed, but he was also a weirdo.

"How—Who—" he let out. His lips felt sandy and dry, so he licked them. "Who are you?" he finally squeezed out.

The man propped himself up onto his elbow, the movement sending Collin crawling closer to the wall. But when his back pressed against it, the blanket slipped from the stranger and dropped onto the floor.

"Oh god," Collin groaned, raising his hand to block his view. "Why are you naked?"

"I didn't have any clothes," the stranger answered, sitting up.

"You came here naked?!"

It was getting worse and worse by the second. Have any of his neighbors spotted this man entering his apartment in nothing but dog ears? But how did he get in? Collin was sure he locked the door. Before he went to bed. He fed the dog some meat. He set out a bowl of water for it. And then he locked the door. He locked the damn door!!!

"You brought me here," the stranger answered. He spoke calmly. There was no embarrassment in his voice, no urgency, not even a threat.

Collin's brow furrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"Last night," the man said. "You picked me up from the street and brought me here. Bandaged my leg." He lifted it up as if to show it. "But it fell off."

The frown on Collin's face couldn't get any deeper. The only being he brought and patched up last night was a dog. He wasn't high on anything to confuse a dog for a person. But when he peered from above his palm, still trying to cover any private areas that were out there on display, he saw the gash. It went from the knee to the ankle, the entire inner side of the right calf. Same place like on the dog.

It couldn't be. It just couldn't be. He couldn't have confused anything. Dogs couldn't turn into men. That wasn't a thing, right? Right?!

"Please, cover yourself," he requested.

The stranger glanced around before he picked up a pillow and covered his crotch with it.

"Oh god, not my pillow," Collin groaned. All of it would have to be thrown into the washing machine, if not the trash.

Still wrapped in the blanket, he got up. "Stay here," he said. Keeping an eye on the stranger the entire time, he slowly backed out of the room.

First he checked the kitchen. The small space with orange-ish wood drawers and the small counter space filled with various appliances (toaster, coffee maker, waffle maker, air fryer, blender—all in various shades of silver and black) was empty. So was the living-working room. No sign of the dog on his green mid-century couch. Not on his rustic, washed out rug. Not near his TV and his snake plant. Not even beside the book shelf and his work nook by the window.

The door was locked and the dog was gone.

"You're seriously telling me you're the dog?" he asked, once he crossed the threshold to his bedroom.

The stranger still sat on the mattress with the pillow covering his junk, just as he'd left him. He nodded.

Collin's eyes swept through the other. The ears did look like those of the dog he picked up yesterday, and they moved in a very natural manner. But that was not all. Behind him, half-hidden in the sheet, was something furry. A tail.

"Can I… touch your ear?" he asked. He had to feel them for himself—if they were fake, he'd know.

The man shrugged. "Sure."

Taking slow, careful steps, Collin approached the stranger. He extended a reluctant hand and grabbed the ear. Brown eyes watched him as he examined them. The ear felt so real. The fur was very soft, the material inside warm, flexible, even kind of bouncy, flopping around just as any dog ear would. He moved some of the hair aside. The ear grew out of the head; there was no hair band, clip or whatever else a cosplayer could come up with to attach these. But he still tugged it and the stranger winced, letting out a quiet 'ouch' sound.

Collin stumbled back, covering his mouth with his hand. This was… insane. He couldn't believe it was actually happening. He had to be hallucinating. Or he just snapped. Or it was carbon monoxide poisoning. Either way, not ideal.

"Can you turn back?" he asked weakly. "Into the dog?"

The stranger scrunched his brows, focused, expression constipated like he was actually trying, but nothing happened.

"I don't know how," he finally said.

"And you have nowhere to go?"

"I don't remember where I live," the man admitted. "I don't remember much in general."

"Your name?"

He hesitated. "Not sure."

"Okay," Collin said slowly. For a moment, he thought of a name they could use, before he finally settled on something common for both—humans and dogs. "Let's just call you Max then."

"And you?" the man asked.

"Collin," he introduced himself.

He turned to the wardrobe to pick up some boxers, socks, a loose t-shirt and some sweat pants. He threw them to Max.

"Put these on."

Then he picked up his own clothes and went to the bathroom to put them on. When he exited Max was already waiting in the hallway. Immediately, it hit him just how much taller and bigger he was. The plain white t-shirt was not loose on him at all. In fact it was very tight on his chest. The sweatpants were also a bit too snug and a bit too short.

"God, you look like you shopped in the kid's section," he commented. "We need to get you new clothes."

Back in the bedroom, he grabbed the largest hoodie he owned and the winter jacket he just recently considered getting rid off, and handed them to Max.

"Put these on," he said. "And hide your tail."

He found a beanie and pulled it over Max's head, tucking the ears inside. Although he was sure he could explain it away as some A grade costume accessory, he didn't want any attention drawn to them at all.

"Don't take these off," he said. He zipped up Max's jacket and grabbed his own coat. "Let's go."

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