Michael figured that Tom wasn’t going to go home so quick. He didn’t know why he suspected this, since returning home with Buddy made the most logical sense, but he just had a feeling about it. Driving into the center of town, Michael’s suspicions were quickly confirmed, as he spotted Tom parking in front of a pawn shop.
“Uh oh” Michael thought to himself, as he turned down the next street. “I hope he’s not going to do what I think he’s about to do.”
Even though time was of the essence, Michael was still a perpetual cheapskate. Not wanting to pay for the meter, Michael drove into the free parking lot that was built behind the shops and parked Freddy’s car there. Running out of the car quickly, Michael went around the front and headed into the center of town.
As he approached the pawn shop, Michael could see Tom tying Buddy up to a meter post.
“I can’t bring dogs into the store with me” Tom said, as he secured the leash around the meter post. “I’ll only be a couple of minutes, boy. You won’t run off again, will you?”
Buddy wished he could say yes, but had no ability to speak. Instead, he whimpered, as he found that he was stuck to the post, no matter how hard he tried to tug himself free.
“Tom!” Michael yelled, as he approached him and Buddy.
Buddy looked up with a happy expression his face, panting and wagging his tail excitedly.
“Son of a bitch” Tom mumbled, before he got up and looked at Michael.
“Tom! That dog isn’t yours. You don’t understand…”
“Listen, asshole.”
Tom stuck his finger in Michael’s chest and pushed him back several feet.
“I have it on good authority to suspect that you stole my dog Buddy last time he went missing.”
“I didn’t take your dog, Tom. And even if I had taken it, it’s not your dog.”
“It most certainly is my dog Buddy, you fucker!”
“Tom, calm down.”
“No, you listen to me, you fucking stalker! I’ve had enough of you trying to harass me about the ring I have and insisting that my dog Buddy is not my dog. If you don’t get the fuck out of my face right now, I’m calling the cops.”
Michael stepped back, as Buddy began to growl at Tom.
“Easy boy” Tom said, as he went to scratch Buddy behind the ears.
Buddy continued to growl, as Tom looked back at Michael.
“I’m going inside to try to pawn this stupid ring once and for all” Tom continued.
“What?” Michael asked, with a surprised tone in his voice.
“Yes, I’m selling the ring. I need the money and no one came to claim it, so I’m pawning it.”
“Wait, Tom. Let’s talk this over.”
“No! Leave me alone!”
“I’ll give you whatever you want for it. Let me send you a payment, Tom. Please, just give me a price for it.”
“No! I’m not desperate enough to sell it to a crazy stalker like you. Now leave me alone!”
“You’re going into a pawn shop where they’ll give you maybe $50 for it. I’ll give you whatever you want for it, just please let me have the ring.”
“I doubt they are only going to offer me $50 for it. I’ve been shopping around town and already have been offered several hundred dollars for it at some of the other pawn shops.”
Tom’s lies were convincing to Michael, but they were bald faced in nature.
“So I don’t need you to give me your pity money for it, fucker” Tom continued. “And even if I couldn’t sell it to someone else, I’m certainly not giving it to you. Not after you stole my dog.”
“I didn’t steal your dog, for fucks sake” Michael replied, in an exasperated tone.
Buddy whined, as he laid down on the pavement of the sidewalk and looked up at his husband and Tom bickering back and forth with one another.
“Why can’t Tom be reasonable here?” Freddy thought to himself, as he watched the two of them argue loudly. “Just give Michael the ring and this can all be over with already.”
“I’m going inside with the ring now” Tom said, as he went to enter the pawn shop.
“Tom, please” Michael pleaded, as he tried to grab Tom’s arm.
“Don’t touch me!” Tom yelled, as he smacked Michael across the face.
“Ouch!” Michael exclaimed, as he rubbed his hand on his face.
Buddy stood up and began to bark loudly at Tom.
“If my dog goes missing by the time I come back out again, I’m calling the cops and having you arrested.”
Tom ignored Buddy’s persistent barking, as he entered the pawn shop.
“Calm down, Freddy” Michael said calmly, as he continued to rub his face.
Buddy whined, which prompted Michael to bend down to look him in the eyes. Buddy licked at Michael’s face, which caused him to squirm in place.
“Buddy, stop it” Michael insisted.
Buddy whined again and stopped licking Michael’s face.
“I can’t do much to help you now, since I can’t get that ring back. You’re going to need to stay with Tom for a while, until you can change back or I can come rescue you later.”
Buddy whimpered, as Michael scratched him behind his ears.
“There, there boy.”
Buddy quietly growled at being referred to as ‘boy’.
“Sorry about that, Freddy.”
Michael stop scratching Buddy’s ears, which made Buddy growl again.
“Sorry again Freddy.”
Buddy began to pant, while Michael continued to scratch him behind his ears.
“You like that, don’t you?”
Buddy nodded his head, while Michael continued his scratching.
“I don’t have any other choice here, Freddy. I can’t take you now because Tom will call the cops and have me arrested. The best thing we can do is let him have you for a while and hope that, if you turn back again at his house, you can take the ring from him and run off with it to our house.”
Buddy whimpered yet again, not happy with Michael’s plan.
“We don’t have another choice, Freddy. Not unless you can pleasure yourself back to humanity right now, but I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”
Freddy thought for a moment and realized that Michael was right. Becoming human now, totally buck naked in public, would be as bad as turning into a dog in front of the political leaders of their town. The only safe place to change back for the foreseeable future would be at Tom’s house, where he at least had a chance to avoid being detected by anyone else.
Buddy reluctantly nodded in agreement, while Michael got up to head back to Freddy’s car.
“I have your clothes in the car, Freddy. I’ll drop your suit off at the laundromat while I’m here and then head back home. You be good, ok? Don’t bite Tom’s head off, even though he deserves it.”
Buddy barked a happy bark, as Michael smiled and went back to the car.
“Be good” Michael said, as he walked away.
Buddy stared at Michael, feeling incredibly sad that his husband was leaving him along with Tom. This was not what Freddy had in mind for how his day would turn out. What started out as a potential game changer in the race for mayor quickly turned into a disaster before his very eyes. He turned into a dog in front of dozens of people, got taken into Tom’s care and now didn’t know when he’d change back again. Unfortunately for Freddy, it wouldn’t be too much longer.
Inside the pawn shop, Tom approached the shop keeper who was talking to a duo of guys.
“So you say this gun is worth about $100” one of the men said.
“That’s all I can pay for it” the shop keeper responded. “I have to be able to turn a profit. It might require paying for a license from the state of California to hold on to it and then it might sit on the shelf behind me for a while. After factoring in rent, that’s what will allow me to turn a slight profit. It’s the best I can do.”
“Such a rip off” the other man said. “I read online that this gun was worth over $1000 at auction.”
“That’s not factoring in the commission the auction house takes, any repairs they will make you pay for and the reality that they don’t usually sell items from guys like you.”
“What do you mean ‘guys like us’?” the first man asked angrily.
“Yeah, what’s this about ‘guys like us’?” the second man asked angrily as well.
“Good old fashioned, harding working folks like yourself” the shop keeper replied calmly, having dealt with irate customers for many years now. “Those auction houses are very, how do I put it…elitist and only work with a certain clientele.”
“Why should it matter who we are?” the first man asked. “The item is the item, whether it’s owned by me or some fancy, schmancy billionaire.”
“They engage in class discrimination, guys. It’s not fair, but that’s the way it is. Considering the condition and the costs to keep it until I can resell it, $100 is a fair offer.”
“Most certainly not” the second man said, as he took the gun and began to leave the store. “I can get a better offer on this elsewhere. Come on, let’s go.”
The second man passed Tom by, but the first man briefly stopped to talk to him.
“Don’t waste your time here” the first man said to Tom. “This man will rip you off.”
Tom ignored this comment, as the two men walked out of the pawn shop. When they left, Tom went up to the counter to talk to the shop keeper.
“Ignore them” the shop keeper said. “They’re a bunch of regular old yahoos. How can I can help you today? Buying or pawning?”
“Pawning” Tom replied, as he pulled the Ruggeri ring out of his pocket. “I want to get rid of this ring. I have no idea where it came from, what it’s made with or what it’s worth, but I want to get rid of this soon as possible.”
The shop keeper took the ring and began to look it over.
“Strange little bug on this thing” the shop keeper noted “Where’d you get it?”
“I found it on the street” Tom replied. “I went to the police to try to find its owner and they couldn’t find one, so they told me it was mine. I want it gone. How much are you willing to offer to pay for it?”
The shop keeper looked at the details of the ring closely. The materials seemed real, in his estimation. He wouldn’t know for sure unless he called a jewelry expert that he knew to check this thing out. If it was made with real gold and real diamonds, then the shop keeper suspected he could make thousands of dollars on the materials alone; more if this ring had any backstory to it.
Wanting to play it safe in case this was just costume jewelry, the shop keeper was going to lowball this guy. Before he was ready to make an offer, however, he saw the inscription on the back.
“Hmm” the shop keeper said, as he looked it over. “What’s this inscription? “L'uomo al cane, leggi l'iscrizione, camminare su quattro zampe.”
The ring began to glow, which the shop keeper did not notice.
“I don’t really know that much Italian, but Cane is dog. This seems to read like some sort of magic spell. Perhaps it’s a prop from some movie or television show. I don’t know. I can give you an offer now if you just want to get rid of it, but if you want more money for this, I’m going to have to call in both a jewelry and television expert.”
“What can you offer for it now?” Tom asked impatiently.
“About $50.”
“$50?!”
Tom snatched the ring back and put it in his pocket.
“That’s an outrage!" Tom yelled. "There’s no way I’m taking $50 for it. That’s an incredibly low ball offer.”
“Hey listen, dude…what’s your name, again?”
“Tom. but not that it matters because I’m—“
“Let me talk to some people I know and see if I can get more information on it. Without having much to go off of, this thing could be a total dud. I’m taking a gamble even offering you $50 considering it may only be worth $5 or $10.”
“How long is it going to take for you to talk to someone?”
“A few days, maybe a week at most.”
“Ugh, fine.”
“Let me snap a few photos of the ring and then get down your contact information. If I can offer you more than $50, then I’ll call you back. Otherwise, assume that my offer stands as is.”
Tom huffed, as he placed the ring down for the shop keeper to snap some photos of on his communication device. When he was done, the shop keeper received Tom’s contact information and agreed to call him if he could give him a better offer. Taking the ring, Tom left the pawn shop, in less of a pissy mood than he’d thought he’d be in. His more neutral mood did not last by the time he left the store.
Outside of the pawn shop, Buddy sat by the parking meter, resigned to being Tom’s dog for a while. At least, this was what Freddy thought, before he began to change back. Taking in the sights and sounds of the town with his enhanced senses, Freddy could hear birds chirping in the sky and smell food from nearby restaurants.
“This is one of the advantages of being a dog” Freddy thought, as Buddy’s senses processed more information than his human ones could. “Being able to smell and hear things I could never as a human.”
Just as he began to appreciate his canine instincts, Freddy’s sense of hearing began to weaken.
“What’s going on? Freddy thought, as he felt his ears shrink. “Uh oh. Not now.”
When his ears returned to normal, Buddy could see his muzzle retreat back into Freddy’s mouth.
“Shit” Freddy thought to himself, as fur began to recede from his face. “I can’t change back now. I can’t let anyone see me like this.”
Despite hoping to stop the changes, Buddy was turning back into Freddy again. All of his canine fur receded back into Freddy’s skin, as his arms and legs re-shifted and his paws turned back into hands and feet. Freddy felt his tail sink back into his butt, as his penis shifted back into his human one. Before he knew it, he was his human self again; lying naked on a public street, tied up to a parking meter.
Freddy began to panic, as he took his hands and worked to undo the collar.
“I have to get out of here before Tom comes back out again” Freddy thought to himself, as he managed to let himself loose. “I can’t let him, or anyone else, see me like this. I’ll never recover from it professionally or publicly.”
Once Freddy was freed of his collar, he stood up and quickly took in the layout of the town.
“The coast is clear” Freddy thought to himself. “No one is around, as far as I can tell. I have to find a place to get some clothes, before someone spots me like this.”
Freddy thought to cross the street, but then changed this mind. Peering down an alleyway, Freddy spotted the free parking lot behind the shops in town.
“Michael is a big cheapskate and said he was going to drop off my laundry” Freddy thought to himself, as he headed in the direction of the alleyway. “I wonder if Michael is still around. Maybe he can get me back in my car and take me home.”
Running down the alleyway, Freddy was out of sight by the time Tom left the pawn shop. When he looked at the parking meter, he could see Buddy's collar was undone.
"What?!?!" Tom screamed at the top of his lungs, as he rain over to the empty collar tied to the meter post. "Son of a bitch! That asshole Michael stole Buddy again!!!"
Pulling out his communication device, Tom contacted the police precinct.
"Hello police. I need to report a stolen dog."
"Is this Tom, the guy with the german shepherd?" the officer responded on the other end.
"It is. I---"
"Yes, we know your dog is missing. We haven't---"
"No, you don't understand. I saw someone steal my dog just now."
"Can you give us a---"
"Michael Scavolini, my neighbor, stole my dog. He was trying to steal this ring of mine, but couldn't because I went inside the pawn shop. I saw him undoing my dog Buddy's collar and taking him away with him."
"We'll file a report, sir, and have some officers go down and pay him a visit, ok?"
"Thank you."
Tom hung up and yelled out into the empty streets.
"Buddy!!!! Come back!!!!!!"
At the end of the alleyway, Freddy stopped for a moment to peer out to the parking lot. After scanning the sea of cars, Freddy spotted Michael heading back to his car.
“Michael!” Freddy yelled, as he sprinted towards his husband.
“Freddy?” Michael asked, as he jumped up in surprise. “What happened to you? This was the worst time to change back.”
Freddy grabbed Michael and ran with him to his car.
“Get me in the car now” Freddy insisted as they ran. “We’ll talk about it on the way back home.”
“This isn’t good, Freddy. Someone could have spotted you like this.”
“I said we’ll talk about it later, Michael. Just get me in the car right now.”
Michael unlocked Freddy’s car so that Freddy could open the door and dash into the passenger seat. Quickly getting into the drivers side, Michael buckled up and looked at Freddy fastening his seat belt.
“Get in the back of the car” Michael demanded. “We’re less likely to get pulled over if they don’t see a naked man in the window.”
“It’s not safe, Michael” Freddy replied. “What if you get into an accident? Or you get pulled over and the cop sees me back here? That’s way worse.”
“Just trust me on this, Freddy.”
Freddy sighed, as he unfastened his seatbelt.
“Don’t go out again” Michael said. “Just hop over the middle and lie on the floor in the back.”
Freddy climbed his way to the back of the car, accidentally kicking Michael in the process.
“Ow” Michael said. “That’s the side of my face Tom smacked me on.”
“Sorry Michael” Freddy apologized sincerely. “Couldn’t help it. Besides, at least you got a nice show out of it.”
Freddy chucked, as he laid down on the floor of the back of the car. Michael groaned, as he started up the car and backed out of the parking lot. Michael looked both ways to make sure the coast was clear and then drove out into the center of town.
What Freddy and Michael didn’t know was that someone was watching them from a distance. A mysterious man, not the mayor’s advisor, had been following Michael since he went into the laundromat. As Michael made his way back to the car, he noticed a naked man running towards him.
Upon closer look, the mysterious man could tell that the naked man was Freddy.
“Amazing” the mysterious man said quietly, as he got out an old camera and began to snap photos. “This is going to make my boss very, very happy.”
Shot after shot of Freddy’s naked self was taken in rapid sequence. By the time the car sped away, the mysterious man pulled out his communication device and dialed a mysterious number.
“Boss” the mysterious man said “you’re not going to believe what I just shot.”
The next day…..