He was in his apartment, sitting at the kitchen table and playing around on his phone while enjoying his breakfast. Work had been hell last night, and Alex was eager to enjoy his day off. He felt a pair of heavy footsteps thundering across the floor and turned in his chair to see Bo standing in the doorway, wearing his baggy pants and holding a plastic laundry basket on his hip.
“Babe, I’m doing the laundry. Any last calls?” He asked, holding up a pair of Alex’s more skimpy underwear with a devious smile.
Alex furrowed his brow in confusion but shook his head. “No, Bo. Go ahead.” Bo winked at him and left the room.
The moment he left Pascal sauntered into the kitchen, wearing nothing but his thick robe and making a bee-line for the coffee machine. He sat down at the table with a sigh, leaning back and resting a hand on his great hairy belly.
“Long night, last night, boy.” He said, sipping his coffee. “But you sure know how to work that ass for a man,” he grinned lasciviously, spreading his legs to reveal his thickening cock from under his robe. Alex’s attention was torn away from Pascal by the sound of the front door opening and a clip-clopping noise on the wood floor as Marsyas entered the kitchen.
“Sorry, babe. I know I said I’d be home last night for dinner but I had to pull an all nightery at the office.” Alex saw that Marsyas was neatly shaven, wearing a shirt, tie, and jacket above his hairy legs. He clomped over to Alex and gave him a kiss before wrinkling his nose at Pascal.
“Close your robe, old man.” He sauntered off out of the room.
Pascal turned back to Alex, “You excited to met your daddy?” he asked, leering at him from behind his coffee mug. Alex noticed the mug bore the words ‘World’s Best Wizard’ and it was at that moment he officially decided to call bullshit.
“What are you talking about, you old perv?” Alex retorted, standing up from his chair.
“Hey now, there’s no shame in my universe,” a male voice spoke. Alex jumped and looked around him for the source of the voice, but when he turned back to the table, Pascal was gone. The house sounded empty.
“A lot of handsome men you’ve found for yourself, in your short time here.” The voice said again, sounding wickedly cheerful. Alex continued to scan the room, trying to see where the voice was coming from.
“Behind you.” The voice said. The skin on the back of Alex’s neck began to crawl as he slowly turned around and yelped before clapping his hands over his mouth. It was himself! Or at least, his old body before he’d been transformed. The original looking Alex was leaning against the fridge, a strange look of mad amusement shining in his eyes. Alex took a step back from the doppelganger.
“Who the hell are you?” he asked threateningly. The doppelganger seemed unfazed by the hostility.
“Why, I’m Meljin, of course,” said the other Alex in that same wickedly cheerful tone. “I’ll forgive your ignorance as your are not of my world; your gods are so reclusive for some reason.”
“Wait, Meljin…you’re that lustful god Pascal and Marsyas told me about! Are you the one who brought me to this world?” he asked.
Meljin smiled. “Of course. And I can see you’ve been having a good time here.” He said, gesturing to Alex’s now naked and modified body. Alex looked down at himself and sighed.
“Why? Why did you bring me to this place? With no explanation, and no help?”
The alleged God gave Alex a look as if the answer was obvious. “Because I wanted to, and also, because I needed to. You see, I know all about the little spell those wizards are cooking up.”
“How?” asked Alex incredulously.
“Um, hello! I’m a god!” he said, adopting some of Alex’s parlance. “Listen, they have you thinking that this little séance of theirs is gonna make the world better. But really, this prudish Archmage of theirs is just trying to limit my power so as to supplant me with another deity.” Meljin stood up straight and began to approach Alex.
“What other deity’?” Alex didn’t bother stepping away from him.
“A being of prudish temperance and powerful shame. A being that hates lust, love, and sex.” Meljin spoke mysteriously.
“Wow, sounds like a real downer.” Said Alex sarcastically.
“He is,” Meljin agreed. “You see, this god is guilty of all the same sinful disgusting vices as any one of us. But he represses it; he wallows in the shame of his depravity, and his woe is such that it is its ultimate desire to snuff out all free sexual expression in the universes.”
“That actually does sound like a downer…But then, is that why I’m here? To stop them from completing the seal?” he asked as Meljin drew uncomfortably close.
“You may do as you will. Here’s my offer: find Endler’s Lense and keep it for yourself. Take it to the oracle, and he can use it to discover a spell that will permanently rid my world of this repressed shame-god.”
“I can’t; Marsyas told me I entered a binding contract with the wizard. I have to get the artifact and return it.” Alex told the god. But Meljin shook his head and placed his hand on Alex’s chest. He rubbed it affectionately and Alex was forced to endure the unsettling experience of looking into his own bodies eyes before he felt a sharp pain on his chest; it felt like Meljin had plucked out a chest hair.
“That takes care of that. Now you can do whatever you want. Which is the real reason I brought you here.” He said, stepping back and checking his nails.
“But I thought you said…”
“And it’s true; I do need you. But also, I could tell you seemed…unhappy with your life at the moment. I thought you could use a break.” He smiled cheerfully.
Alex considered that for a moment before remembering Pascals words.
“Wait, what did Pascal mean about a…daddy…coming home?” he asked. Hopefully it was just the old bastard being randy.
“More like ‘whom’.” Said a deep rumbling voice from the door way behind him. Alex turned around a caught a glimpse of a towering man too big to fit through the doorframe before her heard Melvin cackle again and snap is fingers and the room went dark and silent.
Alex awoke from the strange dream to a pounding headache, and the rest of his body was feeling quite sore as well. When he tried to move, he found he was still being clutched in Pascal’s strong embrace, the big hairy man holding Alex tight against his broad chest. Alex shut his eyes tight and scoot himself closer against the wizard’s chest, vaguely noticing that the man seemed to feel a lot hairier than he remembered. His nose itched, and Alex reached a hand up to scratch it. He was shocked when he felt sharp claws scraping against his long furry nose. He tried to scratch again, finding his fingers were stiff, his wrist locked in one position. Alex opened his eyes and was greeted with a long furry muzzle resting between his eyes, and a pair of furry forepaws. He immediately jolted up so fast he fell from the bed and onto his side. He yelped at the impact, the sound leaving his throat as a pained whine that reminded him of the sound of a wounded dog. Alex’s heart lurched; he scrambled to his feet, all four of them it seemed.
Standing on shaking legs, Alex cautiously examined himself, remembering the words of the wizard as he’d fucked the magic into him. He saw furry paws, a furry belly, a canine looking sheath and balls, and a furry tail held tightly between his hindlegs. The tail was bushy and pointed on the end. Was he a dog, or a wolf? Alex couldn’t tell yet; he paced around the room, whining whenever he tried to do something that required hands, like opening the door so that he could use the bathroom. His ears perked up and his head twisted in the direction of a deep, groaning yawn. Pascal sat up from the bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and frowning at the morning light.
“What in the gods’ name is all that noise? Its still the damned morning.” He complained, scanning the room before his sleepy eyes rested on Alex standing nervously by the door. He smiled. “Well, look who’s up. I see you really took to your new form.” He said, his hand absentmindedly scratching his broad belly.
Alex whined at him; it was definitely the biggest change he’d taken yet, and the inability to speak or use opposable thumbs was starting to hit Alex’s mind like a ton of bricks.
“Don’t worry, boy. You’re not a wolf forever,” he said. So, he was a wolf, Alex thought. The wizard continued. “It seems that the wolf’s blessing has had a lot of influence over your body; It’s a good form for your first. Fast, powerful, cunning, that form will help you in many ways moving forward.” He yawned again.
That’s great, Alex thought, but how do I change back? he wondered.
“Now as for changing back, you had a good night’s sleep,” The wizard said, stepping out of bed. Alex licked his lips as the man’s morning erection flopped down between his legs. “So, you should have the energy to change back.” he poured himself a glass of water from a pitcher by the bed. Alex sat on his haunches and cocked his head in confusion.
“Just concentrate, boy,” said Pascal. “Remember your former self, picture it in your head, and then feel your human self emerge.” Pascal planted himself back on the bed to watch.
Alex closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment, picturing his strong human body clearly in his mind. He felt an itching sensation as the fur receded into his skin. His fingers lengthened, his arms and legs adjusted and regained their primate flexibility, while his tail withdrew back into his body. Alex moaned and stretched his jaw as his face resettled into a human shape. The sensation of the transformation gripped him for another few seconds before finally his body relaxed. He was still on his hands and knees, breathing heavily and surprised at the exertion the effort had cost him. He heard Pascal lumber over to him and help him up.
“Yeah, the change takes a lot out of you. Make sure to keep lots of energy and not shift too much, or you may find yourself stuck somewhere in between until you can recuperate.” He slapped Alex on the back as the younger man cleared his throat.
“That was wild, man.” choked Alex, stretching as Pascal stepped back to let him stand on his own. “I can’t wait to show Marsyas. He…” but Alex trailed off when he noticed the big hairy wizard staring at him as he stretched.
“Now that’s a sight to wake up to in the morning.” He said, grabbing his stiffening cock. “Now c’mere boy. Its time for breakfast.” He said, patting his hand on the bed. Alex laughed and joined him, yelping as he was yanked onto the bed by the bigger man and pulled in for a deep kiss. Alex sucked two loads out of Pascal before they decided to head downstairs for breakfast. Despite his age, the old bear was insatiable, moaning and growling as Alex worked his mouth around Pascal’s almost impossibly large cock. But thanks to Pascal’s magic, Alex once again had no trouble taking in every inch.
They came downstairs to find Marsyas sitting cross-legged in one of Pascals cushy armchairs, eating an apple and lightly skimming a large leather-bound tome. He looked up at the pair and smiled enviously at them. Alex noticed that they were all still naked.
“Good morning, you two.” He said in a teasing tone. “Glad you all had fun last night,” Marsyas closed the book and set it down on the table.
“Ha-ha, sorry my friend. Hope we weren’t too loud for you,” laughed Pascal before he left for the kitchen.
“Yeah, uh, what did you do last night, my friend?” Alex felt kind of awkward considering he had slept with Marsyas only the night before, but the faun seemed unfazed and cheerful as always.
“Well after you two stole away, I took myself down to the beast-man part of town and spent the night with some of my kinfolk.” He said, crossing his arms behind his head and staring up at the ceiling longingly. “Man, the beast-men of this town really know how to let loose. I almost felt like I was back home.” He looked to Alex. “Did you get your magic?”
“Yeah, I woke up with it this morning.” Alex replied in an exhausted tone.
“What did he give you? Tell me!” Marsyas sat up in his seat.
“Um…I can shapeshift now. I guess” Alex could still feel the ache in his muscles from the first shift. It was a good ache, like the soreness of a good work-out, but still he didn’t think he could muster another change before breakfast.
“A shapeshifter? What was your first form? Was it a goat?” he asked, wagging his bushy eyebrows.
Alex laughed him off. “No, you weirdo. I woke up as a wolf.”
“A wolf?”
“Yeah, I guess the werewolf’s blessing mixed with the magic to determine my first form. Or that’s what Pascal said.” Alex finished as the man himself returned with a tray of rashers, bacon, and warm bread.
“You may be disappointed to know that you cannot become a were-creature now that you are a shapeshifter.” Pascal said, handing Alex a plate.
“Is there a difference?” asked Alex innocently. Marsyas made a gesture as if Alex had said something ignorant.
“Of course!” Pascal said, shaking his head. “Were-creatures are beings who assume two forms, as opposed to beings like us or Marsyas, who only have one. Shapeshifters or Skinchangers are humans who wield magic to alter their form to one of their choice. You may be a shapeshifter, but your son would not possess this power. Were-creatures are their own species.” He said, tearing off a hunk of bread for each of them.
“Then there are beast-men like me, or minotaurs or moblins. Other lineages that, like humans, only have one form unless they use magic.” Supplied Marsyas.
“But its best you keep your abilities to yourself, with regards to the weres,” Pascal intoned, “They’re a proud race of peoples and some see human shapeshifting as a perversion of their natural gift.”
“Magical appropriation is a thing, my friend.” Barked Marsyas through a mouthful of rashers.
“I’m not going down that rabbit hole again with you, Marsyas. So, when will you boys be off?” asked the wizard. Alex had barely tucked into his breakfast.
“We’ll be leaving soon, you old bear, don’t get your balls in a knot.” Marsyas replied.
They finished their breakfast, making light conversation as they did so before trudging upstairs to dress and collect their things. As they stood in Pascals office and put on their clothes, Marsyas gave Alex a concerned look.
“Are you alright, my friend? You look like you have something heavy on your mind.” He said, buckling his pauldrons.
“I’ll tell you when we’re on the road,” Alex retorted, closing his pack.
Downstairs, Pascal was waiting for them in the main room of the store, wearing baggy trousers and holding a sheathed sword in his hands.
“My last gift for you, boy.” He said, handing Alex the sword. Feeling slightly ridiculous, he drew the sword and examined it. It was light-weight and slender, the blade maybe three feet long at the most. It was sharp on both sides; the handle was bound and carved but simple. “It won’t dull, but don’t lose it. These enchanted swords are expensive and hard to make.” Alex strapped the sword to his belt and shook the big man’s hand.
“Thanks, Pascal.”
“Yeah, thanks for the work, old bear.” Marsyas said.
“Yeah, yeah. You boys be careful, try not to die,” Pascal said cheerfully before he all but shoved them out the door and into the crisp new morning.
“He’s so weird,” Marsyas muttered.
“He’s a wizard. C’mon, lets get going.” The man and the faun stepped out onto the road and made for the east gate of the city. After the last few days, Alex was eager to get out of the city and back into the quieter countryside. Marsyas pulled a map from one of his voluminous pockets and examined it as they walked, while Alex idly tried to recall his strange dream from the night before.