When Freddy and Michael looked up, they saw a young girl, probably around their age, running towards them.
“Hey guys!” the young girl yelled to them. “Are you my new neighbors?”
The young girl stopped gracefully before them and she was a sight to behold. A pretty, svelte Russian teenager with piercing blue eyes and a perfect complexion. Although Michael eyed her curiously, Freddy began feeling something he had never felt before…love, or was it lust? He had exclusively thought guys were attractive, ever since Kindergarten. Why was he suddenly developing a pit in his stomach type feeling towards a girl he’d never met before. Whatever was causing it, it couldn’t be good.
“So” the young girl said to interrupt Freddy’s staring. “Are you two my new neighbors?”
“Uh” Freddy said, feeling strangely googley eyed.
“Yes” Michael interjected, sensing something wrong with Freddy. “Well, sort of. I live a few blocks down that way…”
Michael pointed to the left and the young girl’s eyes followed it.
“…and he….”
Michael pointed to his boyfriend Freddy, who couldn’t help but stare at the young girl.
“….lives a few blocks down from my place.”
“Oh, that’s cool” the young girl replied. “Well, I’m happy to meet you two guys. I’m Sofya.”
Sofya extended her hand to Michael who grasped it to shake.
“Nice to meet you, Sofya. I’m Michael and this is my boyfriend, Freddy.”
Michael pointed to Freddy who still seemed to be in a state of shock and awe. Noticing this, Michael annoyedly nudged his boyfriend who snapped out of it and extended his hand to Sofya.
“Nice to meet you, Sofya” Freddy composed himself to say.
Sofya smiled at him as Freddy thought he could almost see a twinkle in her eye. He should probably remember to tell Michael about this when Sofya eventually parted, but he had a feeling that his boyfriend was going to do it for him based on his visibly poor reaction to his behavior.
“So” Michael said to snap the two of them out of their lustful staring. “How did you manage to get into that house and moved in so quickly?”
“It’s really a long story” Sofya replied. “I’d rather not go into all of the details right now, but basically my father got an assignment here and we needed to move as soon as possible. This house was on the market and so we decided to take it if they’d let us move in the next day. They seemed a bit desperate, so they agreed.”
“But like” Freddy replied. “The house doesn’t have any plumbing or heat or electricity. How are you going to take a shower? Or use the bathroom? Or stay warm on the cold nights?”
“Surprisingly” Sofya replied “the house already had all that work done when we checked it out last night, so that’s not a problem at all. It’s a bit creaky and old, but otherwise, it’ll do for now until we decide to renovate it.”
Michael gave Sofya an inquisitive look as she spoke.
“It’s not possible for those issues to have been resolved in one day” Michael thought to himself as Sofya continued to talk. “The issues were literally still there yesterday. The only logical explanation has to do with her father, who has to be the wizard. Well, we should be careful.”
Michael noticed that Sofya and Freddy were conversing without him.
“And what’s up with Freddy? I thought he said his lust only happened as a dog. Is this going to effect him as a human as well? I’m going to have to broach this with him later.”
As Sofya and Freddy continued to chat, Michael interrupted them.
“Well, it’s getting late and we should be getting back now to finish our homework.”
“Actually” Freddy interjected. “Maybe you’d like to study with us, Sofya.”
Michael looked at him quizzically.
“Can we come in and check your place out?” Freddy asked.
“Actually” Sofya replied “today is not a good day, with the moving in and all. It’s going to be very dusty and very busy. Won’t have time to study. I also won’t be enrolling in the school here until Thursday anyway.”
“Ah, ok.”
“But I’d be happy to have you guys over tomorrow to give you a tour if that’s alright with you.”
“That would be great” Freddy replied, almost too enthusiastically.
“Great, so I’ll see you guys tomorrow” Sofya responded.
“Bye Sofya!” Freddy replied.
“We’ll see you tomorrow” Michael added as she waved goodbye and walked into the house, with far less enthusiasm than Freddy had shown her.
As the two boys walked back to their homes, Michael took a moment to confront Freddy on his behavior.
“What was that all about?” Michael asked.
“What do you mean?” Freddy responded, pretending to be stupid, but knowing where this was going.
“What’s with the whole goo goo gaga act back there? I thought you said the attraction to girls only happened when you were in dog form?”
“I don’t know, Michael. Something came over me.”
“Well, you need to get it under control. It’s already bad enough that you cheated on me twice with dogs, female dogs at that. I don’t know how I’d handle myself if you cheated on me with a human girl as well.”
“Now that you bring this up, I wanted to talk to you about this earlier. Michael, I know I shouldn’t have mated with those dogs.”
“Was there a dispute about that?”
“But in fairness to me…”
Michael gave him a glaring stare, not liking where this was going.
“You were the one who got us into this mess in the first place” Freddy continued. “I was being a good boyfriend by going into the magic shop with you even though I never wanted to step into that place and I acted like a good boyfriend when taking the ring and letting you keep it even though the old man specifically said I should be the one to possess it. And I have been trying to resist mating with dogs, but Ellie forced herself on me…”
“And what about yesterday?” Michael interrupted, with a rising sense of anger in his tone.
“If I hadn’t mated with that dog, yesterday, I could still be on all fours right now.”
“You could have gotten yourself off on your own, you know. You have a tongue that is flexible enough to take care of that yourself.”
“In hindsight, yes, I could have and in the future, I promise I will. But it allowed me to confirm that cumming was what caused me to turn back.”
“I highly doubt that that had anything to do with you fucking that bitch yesterday in the park. And even if that were so, what if it wasn’t me who spotted you naked in the woods? What if it was your father and your brother, Freddy? Or your mother? Or worse, the police? You know, if some officer spotted you lying on top of a dog in the park butt naked, he would have arrested you on the spot and you could have been spending years in prison on bestiality charges. You know there has been a police crackdown around there. You were really tempting fate by giving into your urges like that.”
Freddy awkwardly looked down to the pavement below, internally realizing that Michael had a point, but not wanting to admit it aloud.
“So, yes” Michael continued. “I admit that I kind of got you into this mess by going into the store and insisting on you taking the ring, even though you didn’t want to, but the rest of this mess is entirely your fault and the result of your own lack of self control.”
“The old man said you wouldn’t have done any better!” Freddy snapped at Michael. “You heard him.”
“The old man isn’t right all the time, Freddy. Unlike you, I wouldn’t have read the inscription aloud which caused these transformations in the first place.”
“You know I love you, Michael, don’t you?”
Unsure of how to respond to such an oddly timed question, Michael briefly hesitated as Freddy came in for a smooch on the lips. They briefly made out in the street before Michael pushed him back.
“We shouldn’t be doing this here, Freddy. What if you change again?”
“You can take me back to my place and jerk me off. Please Michael, I have to kiss you.”
“No!”
Freddy recoiled at Michael’s unexpected yelling. Noticing the shock in Freddy's face, Michael softened his features and went in to give Freddy a hug.
“I’m sorry I snapped at you” Michael responded while patting him on the back. “It hasn’t been easy for me dealing with this.”
“You’re telling me” Freddy mumbled under his breath.
Michael pulled back to give him a sharp look, to which Freddy frowned, before Michael resumed embracing him.
“On top of the issues I’m dealing with at home, your part time K9 act and the fact that you fucked someone else other than me is really messing with my head. But despite how I feel, I’m still on your side, Freddy, because I own up to my part in this, no matter how small it actually was, and my sense of obligation in helping you break this curse is all that matters.”
Michael pulled Freddy back to look him in the eyes.
“It’s going to take a while for me to work out my feelings on all of this” Michael continued. “I’m still going to be mad that you fucked those dogs, but I believe that I’ll find a way to forgive you when this is all said and done.”
Michael took Freddy by the hand.
“Come on, Freddy. Let’s go home, it’s getting late.”
“OK.”
The two boys passed by Michael’s house, but they continued on to Freddy’s so he could get there without worrying about dogging out on the journey back home. As they approached his doorstep, Freddy leaned in for a kiss, which Michael accepted. It was brief before Michael gently pushed Freddy away from him.
“That’s enough” Michael said.
Freddy looked sad, but accepted this.
“Good night Freddy.”
“Good night Michael.”
Michael nodded as he turned away to walk home.
“I love you” Freddy said under his breath, as a tear fell down his cheek. “I’ll make this up to you. I promise.”
Feeling a bit dejected, Freddy walked in the door to find his parents and brother at the kitchen table.
“Aren’t you hungry?” Freddy’s mother asked. “Dinner is ready.”
“No thanks, Mom” he replied. “I’m not feeling so great.”
“Hey” Josh said to his mother. “Shouldn’t Freddy have been in bed all day.”
“He just went for a brief walk to get some fresh air” his father responded. “It does a man good when they are sick.”
Not totally accepting this answer, but knowing his father wasn’t going to elaborate further and he was in no mood for an argument, Josh quietly nodded as he ate his dinner.
Upstairs, Freddy took off his clothes and briefly looked out into the yard. The new fence was up, but there was some support around it to set it in place. Hopefully, Ellie wouldn’t find a way to break it down before it was firmly set in place. Freddy then got ready for bed and went to sleep early.
As he began to fade for the night, he was happy that he was in his own bed for a second night in a row and that he and Michael were beginning to piece this mystery together. Despite their issues, hopefully curing the curse would ease the strain on their relationship. He didn’t know how much longer he could take Michael being mad at him. He loved him too much to see this get all fucked up.
The next morning….