Chapter Text
“See ya tomorrow, Strel!” Sora called out as he closed the door behind him and hopped out onto the sidewalk. He barely heard his friend’s goodbye before the door clanged shut and a breeze whipped up to drown her out.
The air was icy cold when he walked outside, signifying autumn was in full swing and threatening to dip into winter at any chance. Bundling up tighter in his jacket, Sora pulled out his phone and checked the time.
10:32 PM
He had only worked an hour past what he should have. It was better than most nights when he sometimes had to stay until the store’s actual closing time at midnight.
Bringing his other hand up, he dug the heel of his palm into his eye and tried wiping away the bone-deep exhaustion that seemed to tug at him constantly lately.
He was such a fucking pushover and it was starting to wear.
Sighing, Sora knew he was being taken advantage of at work, but he didn’t want to chop the waters. It was easier to just say yes to overtime almost every night instead of the guilt trip his boss would try and push onto him to make him stay.
Shoving his phone back in his pocket he also shoved his hands into his pockets as well before he started the long trek back to his apartment.
The few people still out at this hour were quickly making their way up and down the sidewalk, calling taxis, or in the case of two lovers: sloppily and loudly making out while pressed into a dark corner.
Ah, young love , Sora thought with a snort as he passed the pair who were trying to shush one another through their laughter before deciding better and going back to kissing.
Rolling his eyes, Sora passed them quickly, kicking his walk into a jog as he tried to catch the crosswalk before the light allowed cars to go again.
He didn’t make it.
The signal alerting pedestrians that they could safely pass switched to red just as he was about to step off the curb, but the red car that honked at him before blurring past him more than alerted him that he would be in great danger if he tried to take another step.
Sucking in air through his teeth, he hopped from one foot to the other, thumbs wiggling out of his pockets and in the cold air as he impatiently waited for cars to finish their nightly commute before he could safely make it home.
As the light turned green he heard a soft clamor from the alleyway just a few feet back behind him and a soft whine.
Closing his eyes he tried his best to ignore it.
S’gotta be those two lovebirds from earlier , he thought as he walked onto the crosswalk. Just ignore them and go home, Sora.
But a niggling little scrap of doubt was what stopped him midway from his destination to cross the road and urged him to turn around and investigate.
Groaning in annoyance, he turned on his heel and jogged back to the alley to check out what the noise was. A few turned-over trash cans were scattered about, trash strewn all around the small lane, and in the middle of the mess was a big fucking dog. Like, huge.
Inching closer to the whimpering dog, Sora started making soft clicking noises with his tongue and whistling lowly to alert the canine to his presence as he made his way closer to it.
The dog raised its huge head and Sora was startled enough to freeze as he saw that blood coated the dog’s muzzle. The blood dripped from its panting mouth, and a soft growl of warning started to rumble from its chest as it tried to stand, only to fall back down in the filth it had claimed as its bed for the night.
“Hey, buddy,” Sora whispered as he resumed moving closer. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna hurt you. I just want to see if you’re alright.”
The dog’s growls tapered off, and its big burly head lowered in submission as the canine’s tail thumped lethargically behind it when Sora finally got close enough.
“Aw, good boy,” Sora crooned as he petted the dog between the ears. He was pleased to see the dog’s tail wagging faster at the attention and figured it meant the dog would be okay with giving it a lookover.
“Sorry, I’ll try and be quick, bud,” Sora said as he ran his hands over the dog’s dirty fur. When he checked its belly he hissed in sympathy at the deluge of wounds covering its stomach and chest.
Obvious teeth and claw marks covered the poor creature. Blood had started to seep out onto the concrete below and when looking around Sora could spot an obvious blood trail that led to the dog.
The dog had white fur from what he could make out in the dim light that bled in from outside the alley, but while lying in the trash, the pretty white fur had turned a dingy gray, and splotches of blood covered the areas where Sora had found the fresh and still bleeding wounds.
“Oh, you’ve been in a fight .”
He was surprised the creature was still alive after all the trauma taken and figured it must have been a failed fighting dog tossed aside.
His heart sank at that.
“Will you bite me if I try to pick you up?”
He really needed to get this dog to a vet, but not owning any pets himself, he didn’t know offhand any veterinary offices open this late.
If he could get the dog to his apartment, maybe he could bandage it well enough that it could stave off death for the night. He would definitely take the poor thing to a vet first thing in the morning.
The dog blinked at him and wagged its tail.
“Alright. Be a good boy, now.”
Sora crouched and scooped up the dog, nearly dropping the canine as he was hit with how heavy the dog truly was once it was settled in his arms. He didn’t know any real dog breeds, but this dog was definitely on the bigger side of breeds. He struggled to heft the dog into his arms, but when he did, the dog immediately went stock still, seeming to know that if it wriggled at all Sora might drop it.
Laughing a little, he shifted until he had a firm grip on the pooch, then resumed his walk home. He was thankful the dog just seemed content to look around while he carried it, at least it wasn’t trying to bite him.
As he carried the wounded dog, he noticed the dog didn’t have a collar on, but with its healthy weight and the fact its long fur wasn’t matted all to hell meant someone must have cared for this animal.
He must have a home somewhere.
Several people stopped and stared as the human-canine-duo made their way to Sora’s apartment, and when questioned, Sora just said that he saw the dog get hit by a car and was looking for a veterinary clinic open to take care of it.
One concerned person told Sora about a place nearby that would take the dog first thing in the morning, but she didn’t know of any late-night vet clinics.
Sora had thanked the woman for the information and once he made it to the apartment complex, he quickly jogged up the stairs and to his front door.
“Stay right here, buddy,” Sora said as he carefully placed the dog down so he could fish out his keys to let the both of them in. “Don’t move. Just wait.”
As soon as the door swung open, the dog hobbled inside, one leg dragged pitifully behind it as it made its way into Sora’s space. It seemed to like the fluffy white rug in front of his television and flopped heavily onto it, chest heaving from the exertion of dragging its damaged body that small amount.
Sora sighed once he saw where the dog decided to lay. That rug had been a gift from his childhood friend, Kairi, when she last stopped by for a visit. He would hate to explain that he let a stray dog bleed all over it the next time she came over.
Well, she’d probably know how to get the stains out. He’d give her a call about it tomorrow before the blood really set in.
“Go ahead and make yourself at home.”
Sora pushed the door shut with his foot while shrugging out of his jacket and hanging it up.
The dog didn’t seem like it would be moving any time soon, so he decided to take the chance of quickly going to his bathroom to get his first-aid kit.
Mentally thanking his landlady for giving this to him when he first moved in over a year ago, Sora ripped the plastic packaging open and began dumping items out to figure what would be best to take care of the dog with.
Taking stock, he was glad to see a decent length of gauze, some bandages, and some antiseptic cream among other things. He didn’t think the alcohol would be a good idea and would likely get him bitten, so he passed over that for the gauze, cream, and some bath towels to help clean up some of the blood on the dog.
His arms laden with medical supplies, Sora rushed back into the living room, greatly relieved to see the dog hadn’t decided to wander and was instead licking at its wounds on the rug.
“Hey, I know it hurts, but you shouldn’t lick at it.”
The dog made a soft huff, but stopped licking at its wounds.
Dropping his supplies on the floor next to the dog, Sora began fussing over the creature, pleasantly surprised to find that the dog was calmer than expected when he began to prod at its wounds; cleaning and bandaging as he went along.
He lost track of how long he spent tending to the dog, but by the time he was done, the canine’s big burly head was resting on his lap and gentle snores were emanating from it as it slept while Sora stroked the dog’s ruff.
Back against the couch, Sora lost track of time as he stroked the dog’s silky soft fur.
Eventually, he fell asleep curled up around the dog.
When Sora awoke he was confused as to why he was on the floor, but the smell of something burning was a much more pressing matter.
Stumbling to his feet, he used the couch to help him stand, only to freeze halfway between kneeling and standing as he saw a man he’d never seen before standing in his favorite pajama pants and shirtless in front of his stove in the kitchen.
A fine flush coated Sora’s face as his eyes were drawn to a finely chiseled torso first of all, then up to the prettiest green-blue eyes he’d ever seen before framed by long silver hair.
“Oh, you’re awake!” the stranger said conversationally with a closed-mouth smile. “I didn’t know how you liked your eggs, so I hope scrambled is okay.”
Sora watched, open-mouthed with confusion (and maybe a tiny bit of fear), as the man scraped some burnt eggs from a skillet and onto a plate. Another plate was beside it, sloppily fried eggs on that along with toast.
“Who are you?” Sora managed to force out as he finally fully stood and took a few steps back to get closer to the door. His hand waved in the air as he groped for the doorknob, ready to make a run at the first chance. “How did you get in my house?”
“You let me in,” the man said with a shrug as he placed the dirtied dishes into the dishwasher. “ You brought me here.”
“Why would I let you in!?” Sora said, panic now starting to rise as he continued to grope at empty air. “I don’t know who you are, man!”
“Calm down, it’s not that big of a deal,” the silver-haired man said as he grabbed a fork out of the silverware drawer and dug into his food. “Your eggs are out of date, by the way. They should feel… fluffier if they were still good.”
“Forget the fucking eggs!” Sora shouted as he finally grabbed the door and flung it open. “Get out or I’m calling someone.”
“Wow, you really are rude with your guests,” the man said as he placed the fork down and placed his face into his hands, elbows on the counter as he leaned over and looked at Sora. “Aren’t you curious where the ‘dog’ you picked up is?”
Sora’s eyes darted around. The gauze, now bloodied from use, was wrapped up and placed in a neat pile next to the other medical supplies. The dog, however, was gone.
“So the dog got out when you broke in. Obviously, it was a shitty guard dog.”
The man barked out a laugh and Sora saw his oddly long canines when his mouth opened with the action.
“Let me show you something. I’m going to change your world, for good or for worse is for you to decide.”
The door was open, he could leave, but something kept him tethered to that spot. Sora’s heart was pounding in his chest and he was trembling like a cornered rabbit.
Fear .
Fearfearfearfear .
“What are you doing!?” Sora screeched as the man moved from behind the counter and came a little closer, only to dig his thumbs into the waistband of the borrowed sleep pants and slip them off.
He was now completely nude in his living room and Sora turned his gaze away.
Shutting his eyes tightly, Sora could feel the blush burn his cheeks, the hot sensation almost scalding its way permanently into his skin as he tried to ignore the fact a… a streaker, or something equivalent, had broken into his house and wouldn’t leave.
“Those were your pants, I didn’t want to ruin them when I transformed.”
“When you what ?”
That singular word caused Sora’s eyes to snap open and return his gaze back to the man.
The man smiled, seemingly full of pride for Sora looking at him again before he dropped to the floor. Sickening sounds of bones crunching, shifting, and muffled noises of pure agony escaped the man as he writhed on the floor. With utter horror, Sora watched as the bones moved beneath the man’s skin-- fleshing splitting, and being replaced by long silver fur as the ‘transformation’ took place.
Within minutes, the man was gone, and replaced by it was the dog from last night.
The canine struggled to its feet, seemingly tired from the shift, panting from the exertion it had taken.
Sora bumped into the wall and slid to the floor as he tried to absorb what he just witnessed.
The dog padded over and sat near him, an arm’s length away, and wagged its tail.
That didn’t just happen.
Right?
“ Woof .”