Troy chuffed, his long feline tongue licked air thick with the scent of his and Rusty’s musk. His ears flicked at the sound of the shower turning on in the bathroom. He could even hear Clint outside, flipping the extra steaks that had appeared with the shift in reality. If Troy could hear him from in here, it meant Clint probably heard everything they’d just down.
He blushed when he thought about Clint outside, flipping steaks, hearing Rusty clap his cream-furred bussy. As hot as that was, maybe they should invest in soundproofing. Or hey, maybe he was interested. Rusty had gotten him started on a horse dildo a while back…
Troy idly stroked himself, still hard, his hole still trickling cum from the vigorous fucking Rusty had given him. He manged to bring himself to another languid orgasm imagining himself carrying the load out in public to the party and letting everyone know who claimed him by the time the door opened. Rusty stood naked, his beautiful red cock already retreated into his sheathe. Troy rolled lazily onto his stomach.
“Hey babe.” Troy smiled.
Rusty grinned. “Hey kitty. Water’s ready. Let’s hurry, steaks will be done in a few minutes.” Rusty held up a towel. “Grab a quick change of clothes.”
“Clint heard everything, didn’t he?” Troy giggled.
Rusty grinned. “I hope so.”
“Dirty dog,” Troy mumbled and rolled himself out of bed, stretching his muscles.
The shower was nice-but quick. The water running through his fur felt nice and the specially formulated shampoo easily bubbled up with suds. Rusty and Troy took usually showered together and turns scrubbing each other, the memory of which had Troy’s cock slipping out of his sheath, but he shook it off. While it would be hot to go out half-chubbed and smelling of musk, Clint’s kids would be there. There were lines Troy wouldn’t cross.
To his surprise, when he finished the shower, next to their shower was a full-body hair dryer. His mind informed him this was normal, of course any anthro would have one of these in their bathrooms, but a tiny voice in the back of his mind insisted he could barely afford the apartment, let alone any fancy accoutrements like this. He shrugged it off, got dressed and he walked to the kitchen to get some potato salad out of the fridge, he noticed they owned a dishwasher as well. Another luxury he could never afford in his old reality. There was also the PS5 under his 50 inch flat-screen-he hadn’t even WANTED a PS5, he was a PC bro all the way…
But that couldn’t be right? He’d sucked Leonard off when that cute black bear had come over a few weeks ago and they were playing Halo Infinite. He really was a cutie, Troy was glad Rusty had brought him over. Breaking in the virgin cutie had been really hot. He’d left a bag of beef jerky and half-eaten trailmix on their counter.
“I bought that.” Rusty pointed at the PS5 as he brought some chips and plates out. “With my bonus from the big drug bust three months back.”
Troy shook his head. “What else have we changed?”
“Nothing anyone will ever notice.” Rusty leaned over and pinched Troy’s ass. Troy jumped and yowled. “Heh, pussy.”
“You’re supposed to be a good boy.” Troy growled and rubbed his backside.
“Boyfriend. Come on babe.” He walked out the door. Troy followed him, arms laden with dishes.
The couple sauntered out of their house onto their now lush, well-maintained yard to the barbecue area. Anthros of all varieties-though most not as exotic as Troy-waved at them and Clint gave them a thumbs up when they brought the dishes. When Troy set his dishes down, Clint, cleared his throat.
“Sup?” Troy asked, his gaze immediately drifting to the bulge in the muscled horseman’s jeans.
“You guys need to invest in soundproofing.” Clint kept his muzzle carefully blank. “My kids heard that.”
Troy flushed. “I am so sorry-”
Clint held up a hooflet. “Just get it done, alright? Deeds, not words.”
Troy nodded and glanced at Rusty.
He’d gotten entangled in a deep conversation with several neighbors and appeared to be extremely embarrassed, if his ears lowered against his head were any indication. With his newfound hearing, Troy heard basically the same conversation and chastising he’d gotten from Clint. The entire neighborhood had heard them. Troy could hear a few of the louder arguments.
“How could you not know your headboard was banging against the wall?” One angry doewoman protested. “And what the hell is a Tussy?”
“You call yourself a police officer with such a dirty mouth?”
His tail flicked in agitation. Why hadn’t reality added a soundproof bedroom while it was busy buying them hairdryers and dishwashers? It seemed like a basic thing to have. But…they’d only recently moved into the apartment. Until now, they’d never lived next to other anthros. Troy felt dizzy as the new memories washed over him.
“Surreal,” Troy whispered.
Like an uncanny valley effect, but with reality itself. It all made sense-it looked real-but something was off about it. Obviously if anthrotherapy was actually real there wouldn’t just be a small conclave of five hundred people, there’d be millions. With only five hundred people the full body hairdryer wouldn’t have been invented-the customer base would be too low. Reality was acting in a local area as though it were a global phenomenon.
“Penny for your thoughts?” A strong, soft voice asked at his shoulder.
Troy turned and stared. A young man with long white hair tied in a pony tail stared at him. His eyes were carnelian pink and his skin white as snow-an albino, Troy realized. He wore loose fitting Bohemian style shirts and shorts and a string of jade beads around his neck..
“Wow, someone shops at Dior,” Troy admired. “High end stuff. Very choice. Do you, like, model for them? Your skin is really-”
“Allow me to introduce myself.” The young man with really good skin cut him off, “I’m RK Palantine. You can call me RK. I’m the current master of the Book of Divination.”
Troy reached for the messenger bag at his side instinctively, but his claws snagged on the fabric. RK held up a hand.
“Good reflex but I mean you no harm. I’m here seeking an alliance.”
“Alliance?” Troy narrowed his eyes. “Why?”
“The Book of Divination gives me mild prophetic abilities. I used Guiding Path to find out what the best solution to win the game was. Allying with you leads to the best possible outcomes.”
Troy noticed Rusty glancing at him, clearly hoping Troy would bail him out of the angry crowd. He pulled RK to the side, out of Rusty’s sight. Sometimes Good Boyfriends were a bit much. He had been getting a bit full of himself lately. This latest stunt was now impacting Troy’s social status with the neighbors, which he now cared about.
“Look, RK was it? I don’t care about this…game? War? I just want to-”
“Be a complete degenerate and indulge in your fetish?”
“When you put it that way…yes.” Troy nodded. “I am an unabashed furry and I loved getting railed by my new boyfriend. I don’t want to put that happiness in danger by going into a fight over some books where I could die.”
“Worse than die, depending on the spell.” RK nodded. “But you can’t hide from it. Eventually, one of them will seek you out.”
“One of the owners of the six books, right? I suppose someone would simp for that chick in white.” Troy nodded to himself, eyes narrowing. “I dunno, I didn’t buy her story. To damsel-in-distress.”
“It’s 13 books, actually, and you’re rather astute. That was simply another master, probably one that has power over dreams. There’s quite a few books with some crossover spells.”
“It might not even be a woman.” Troy muttered to himself.
“Oh, no doubt, probably a lie too. Damsel in distress. Wants books for free. Easy win.” RK nodded. “I see why the divination guided me to you. You’re rather astute-when it isn’t anything having to do with your fetish.”
“So what happens when you get all the books?”
“The more books you have, the farther your influence spreads, until it encompasses the world. In effect, you become ‘god’. If you had all the books, anthrotherapy would be a worldwide phenomenon.”
“So I was right, each time I altered reality-” Troy grinned, showing off his pearly white fangs.
“A very small piece of local reality changed to fit. But it isn’t perfect. If one of your neighbors ends up in international news, or is a Tiktok star…”
Troy swallowed, “The reality warping can be seen through…”
RK nodded, “You’re safe for now. Haven’t seen anything about monsters in the area. Yet. But that won’t last long, I need an answer soon.”
Rusty shouted Troy’s name.
Troy’s ear flicked in annoyance. “Look, I ain’t gonna agree to this immediately. You know that, right?”
“Literally saw it coming. You’ll come to a junction in three days. I’ll come by then. You need to choose or you lose and I move on to the last candidate that isn’t evil and has good odds.”
“I’ll lose?”
“You get attacked by another book user. You have a 50% chance of winning the fight. If you lose, the Master of Transmutation takes your book and turns you into a taxidermy. Three days, Troy.”
Troy did a double take, “Did I tell you my name?”
“In another timeline.” RK turned and left. “I’m fine with a world of anthros if I become god. I like goats myself.”
“Duly noted.”
Troy watched RK leave. Three days from now, he’d need to make a decision. Someone attacked him, and according to RK, he lost. That was bad, and would definitely make him agree. But could he really take everything a guy who could see the future said at face value, especially if that guy had a horse in the race?
He’d said Troy had a 50% chance of winning. From RK’s perspective as a guy looking to take all the books, Troy winning another book would make him a rival and not worth his time. Keeping Troy limited while RK got all the books ensured Troy would remain loyal.
Or, RK was a good person who actually wanted to win to save the world or something. Everything he said was true and he truly meant Troy good will.
Or, RK was more mercenary than Troy expected and was mostly telling the truth-except he needed Troy to make a sacrifice play later. What a conundrum. Rusty’s voice cut through his thoughts.
“Troy?” Rusty stood at the corner of the apartment. “All good?”
“Yeah. Just met someone who gave me a lot to think about.”
“...Let’s get back to the cook-out and you can tell me about it tonight.” Rusty grinned. “And then we can look into buying soundproofing.”
“Oh, no sexy times?”
Rusty’s grin fell. “Absolutely not. Someone filed a noise complaint.”
“Neighbors.” Troy huffed.
“Neighbors.” Rusty nodded. “Oh, and Leonard’s coming over tomorrow, so I’ll be working on the soundproofing all day.”
Troy frowned and took Rusty’s hand. They walked back out to the barbecue.
“Do you mind Leonard?” Troy asked a few minutes later, as they ate their steaks.
“Hmm, well, I’m not into fat guys like you.” Rusty shrugged.
“I’m not into fat guys,” Troy’s tail lashed against the table. “He’s just…you know different. If he were human it might be gross, but fat literal bearmen are kinda normal. Shouldn’t be too hard for you to convince him to start weightlifting.”
Rusty grinned, “Ah, so you do know me.”
“You’re kinda predictable,” Troy shook his head, “You have him using dildos and buttplugs on the job, right?”
Rusty shrugged, “Guilty as charged. I want you to top him.”
Troy almost argued with him but-there was something to the idea. “Oh, he’s mine, then?”
“He’s a newbie. Last thing I want to do is blow out his sphincter and send him to the hospital. You’re dick is…”
“Small?”
“Oh god no, Leonard’s dick is small. Yours is…less generous,” Rusty said evenly.
“Ah.” Troy finished his plate.
The couple spent the rest of the night smoothing things over and Troy spent it mulling over the offer and what the best choice he could make was.