Nathan’s sleep was long and broken, dark dreams morphing into nightmares that threw him from the bed, hot and panting. The panic lingered, as he explored his new fur for a moment, as the memories of the day before crept back into his sleep-drunk mind. He would remember, struggle his way back to sleep, and in an hour’s time began the cycle again.
At last, at around six, Nathan woke up for the last time. His dream was fading and fading fast, leaving him with fractured visions of a pleading deer-girl, the feeling of soft flesh on his paws, and the smell and taste of blood.
“Fuck.” He said, inspecting the beans of his hands in the early morning light.
“Not yet.” Jake replied.
Nathan whipped the covers off and found his tiny companion less tiny, erect with the usual, though now-strange morning wood. The kitty was looking at something Nathan couldn’t see, waving his hands at it. He paused for a moment, looking for the blood they both just tasted.
“Hey.” Jake greeted with a laugh, shaking off the fantasies. Nathan laughed with him.
“Hey Jake,” Nathan said, “holy fuck. This body has given me some fucked up dreams.”
“I know,” Jake said flatly, “I’ve been seeing them too, and reading them through the Chronivac.” The blood drained from Nathan, his eyes on his own groin, searching through his little friend. His canine ears were more erect than his literal erection, terror bubbling in the pit of his stomach. “I know a lot,” Jake soon added, “at least a lot more than I did last night.”
Nathan’s eyes bounced onto the Chronivac. The usual information screen was replaced by a wall of large text.
‘Current owner: Jake Stevenson. Device set to sole owner operation.’
Nathan looked down at his friend again, shame plastered on his face. That distant look on Jake’s face, and anonymous hand reading finally made sense, just as it came to an end, and Jakle stared up at him with triumph in his eyes.
“Dude, look, I’m…”
“I know,” Jake said, waving his paw in the air. A holographic screen emerged for Nathan, filling his vision, showing a coded log of Nathan’s recent status changes.
‘Recently: Nathan’s arousal is decreasing rapidly, and their fear is increasing. Recently: Nathan’s current emotional state has collapsed after something [you] said. His shame is all consuming. Now: Nathan’s mood is shifting after something you showed him, his fear is rising again.’
Nathan began to think about the implications, but his fears and plots began to cascade into catastrophization, so he waved the screen away.
“Is there one of those screens for you?” He asked, rubbing his neck. “Because I kind of wanna know how fucked I am, and I have a feeling that is gonna be based on your mood.”
Jake sighed, flicking another holographic screen at him.