In his closet, Troy found an old dog collar and leash. It hadn't been used for years, but Troy figured it'd be bad to be walking around a dog without one. He held it up to Rosco. For a moment the dog hesitated. But he quickly leaned into it. "That's a good boy," Troy added. Rosco's tail started wagging as Troy put the leash on the collar. They headed outside and Rosco made sure to keep the leash slack as he walked in step with his master.
"I almost keep forgetting you're Dustin..." Troy said. "Do you like it when I tell you what to do?"
One bark.
A bit of a pit formed in Troy's stomach as he heard it. He didn't know what that control spell was. And he'd done it just before he'd passed out. But still, it felt more like it was sending something to Dustin's brain each time he did something 'good', making it near impossible for him to want to do anything that might upset him. "It's fine," Troy tried to make it go away as they walked down the street.
The coffee shop was a couple of miles away, but with the cool breeze and shade from the trees, it never felt too hot. And with Rosco walking with him, it almost felt enjoyable. The light amount of exercise was what he really needed and feeling the sun on his skin made it even better. He walked into the local coffee shop and headed up to the counter. Being close to 3pm and it being a small local shop, there weren't a ton of people around. He walked up to the counter with Rosco in tow.
"OH! Hello there cutie!" the woman behind the counter nearly squealed. A smile planted on her face as she looked down at the German Shepard. Troy looked at her nametag. It said Bethany. "Is he here for a puppicino?"
"Is that a thing??" Troy looked at her skeptically. "What is it?"
"Basically just whipped cream. But dogs absolutely love it. Have you been a good boy and deserve a treat? Hmm?" Bethany looked more interested in talking to the dog than Troy.
"Sure. He's been good today," Troy said. He watched as Rosco's tail wagged even faster. "But I'd just like a regular sized cup of coffee to have with my book."
"Oh? Whatcha reading?" Bethany asked.
'Shit!' Troy didn't mean to say that. Nor did he want to actually strike up a conversation. But no one else was in the store with him. "Oh. It's called the book of the beast."
"Sounds scary," Bethany smiled as she put the cup of whipped cream on the counter, then turned around to start pouring Troy's.
"Maybe a little," Troy laughed, trying not to allude too much suspicion to it. "It's about a guy who finds a book and turns into a werewolf. He's able to control it but like half the time he loses control." It was hard for him to figure out a way to push the word 'half' into the conversation, but he felt like it was pretty natural. He focused on her ears and eyes. Slowly they started to push their way to the of her head. They grew upwards into points. Then white fur covered the skin. The cat ears contrasted nicely with her long black hair.
Troy then watched as the whites of her eyes turned yellow and her pupils turned into more like slits. "Uhhh... Miss?" he tilted his head slightly as though he didn't understand what was going on.
"Hmmm?" Bethany questioned. Troy pointed to the top of his head. She followed. Her eyes went wide as she touched her new cat ears. That's when her hands drifted to the side of her face. Nothing. "Wh-what?" she uttered. Then walked to the closest reflective object. tears welled up in her eyes as she squeezed the object tighter. Then she erupted out in a scream.