The loud alarm from Troy's phone woke him up. He let out a big yawn as his large burly body slowly lifted up from his sleep. It took Troy a second before he realized just how deep it was. Or how his tongue stretched far out of his muzzle, then back in to feel the sharp teeth lining the sides of his mouth. 'Bear! I'm a bear!' he excited woke up from his slumber and looked down at his massive paws. They were easily 2 or 3 times larger than his normal hands with massive black claws sticking out of each finger. Not to mention the paw pads that lined his palms.
He tried to stand up but felt the his weight shift back forward. He did his best to land as softly as he could on all fours. A loud thud still echoed off his walls as he landed back on all fours. 'Still! I'm a bear!' he smiled as he strutted to the bathroom. His big, burly bear body could barely fit through the doors. When he got into the bathroom, he plopped down onto his butt and looked over his cute face. He looked down at his claws and played with his ears. 'All I wanna do is run out into the forest and be free...'
That's when Troy's second alarm went out. 'Damn it!' he let out a loud bearish groan as he listened to the loud ringtone. 'Shape,' he thought as he held onto the book. All the fur on his body started to retract. His muzzle pulled closer and closer to his face. The black wet nose started to point downwards into a more human one. Each part of him slowly retracted back into his human form. Big black nails back into human fingers. The big round ears dropping back down to the sides of his head. His massive size going back to his normal human dimensions.
"Guess I have to go to work..." Troy groaned as he trudged back to his phone to shut it off. And with that same amount of energy, he slowly got ready for the morning and headed off to work.
-------------
Dustin seemed to be waiting for Troy as he pulled up into the parking garage. Even before he parked, Dustin started running over to his car. "Excited this morning?" Troy asked as he stepped out of his car. Dustin might as well have pounced on him and started licking his face.
"Uh-huh! I was a good boy! Amy's not mad anymore," Dustin said. His tail was wagging wildly.
"Really?" Troy tilted his head slightly. "All in one night?"
"Uh-huh!" Dustin's tail only picked up speed. "We played the peanut butter game nearly all night! I did such a good job!"
"The--" Troy stopped himself before inquiring any more. He'd heard of it online before, but only figured it was done by disgusting perverts who were clearly and unequivocally abusing their pets. But with Dustin still being human, he wondered if that actual ability to consent made it any better. This would make it a fun game both parties understand what they're doing and fully agree to, rather than an abusive one in which one party has no idea what is going on while the other derives sexual pleasure from. Regardless, Troy didn't want any of the details. "Okay. Good boy," Troy said.
Dustin leaned his head down for Troy to pet. Troy found his hand sliding along the fur and then scratching behind Dustin's German Shepard shaped ear. Dustin's tail only seemed to wag more as he leaned more of his weight against Troy's body. "Now you can turn me more! Because I was a good boy."
"Ummm... Right," Troy said. "But remember, you can't hear it."
"I know," Dustin's head rubbed up against Troy's shoulder. "Just a few more changes. Pllleeeezzee."
Troy shook his head as he stepped away. "Half," he whispered in the opposite direction. Being in a large multi level garage made hearing nearly impossible. The constant sounds of cars parking, doors slamming and people walking echoed over any sound that he made. He instantly started thinking about a German Shepard's face and fur. Instantly Dustin's face started to change. His nose turned black and started to shift away from his face. A large muzzle pushed out alongside it. His brown and black fur dropped down from just the top of his head and covered his entire face. It kept going, underneath his shirt and pants.
"Are you going to do it?" his tail was still wagging in anticipation.
"I did," Troy told him.
Dustin's tail dropped. "Really?" He looked over himself. A full anthropomorphic German Shepard. "I don't feel any different..."
"You are," Troy shook his head.
"Okay!" Dustin said as he pulled Troy in for a hug and started licking him.
"HEY! HEY! HEY!" Troy pushed back. He could only hope that Dustin had used some kind of mouth wash from the night prior. Other people passed, adding little chuckles as they headed towards the elevators. But not a single passerby seemed to think of it as weird.
Troy did his best to act natural as they rode up the elevator. He was just happy that Dustin wasn't asking for even more. With how he had been acting the night prior, anything less than being fully Rosco seemed off the table. But maybe this would have been enough for him. He seemed content enough. At least judging by his tail.
They arrived to the lobby. Then walked through security. "Hey Ben," Dustin said. But Troy nearly jumped back into the elevator. Sitting behind the security desk was a massive minotaur. He had to be nearly 10 feet tall with a massive battle ax swung behind his back. His shoulders looked to be as wide as the desk and muscles built from generations of hard work. Each one bulged with an excessive amount of power. But with his size, there was absolutely no way that their company could find a uniform that could fit him. They settled on just a badge that attached to his battle axe strap.
"Hey Rosco," Ben said normally waving with one of his three fingered hands to Dustin. However, paused when noticing Troy. "Troy?" concern in his voice. His bull head twisted ever so slightly, the horns atop nearly hit the ceiling. "Is something wrong?"
"N-N-No," Troy stammered out. On a conscious level, he knew this was wrong. But subconsciously, his mind was telling him to relax. Subtle memories about a minotaur being a perfect security guard were surfacing. He's big so no one would want to mess with him. He's strong so if we needed his help moving anything he could easily do it. He easily memorized the location of every hallway and can identify where people are in the building without much difficulty. Troy could even the only dissonance being about the marble floors in the lobby being messed up. With his massive weight and hooves, Ben might break some of the tiles. The rest of HR agreed but said it was a chance they were willing to take. 'But minotaurs aren't real!' his conscious brain told him. "I just realized I forgot something. DaMn-It-AlL."
Each word came out awkwardly as he rushed past security. Dustin was quick to follow. "What the heck was that about?"
"Ben's--Ben's--Ben's--" Troy panted, "Ben's a minotaur!"
"Yeah? So?"
The surprise seemed completely lost on Dustin. "He's a minotaur! Ben's a minotaur!" Dustin still didn't respond the way Troy thought he should. "Minotaurs aren't real Dustin!"
"Sure they are. Look at Ben," Dustin said without any hesitation. "Are you feeling alright?"
A sudden realization washed over him. "The Book of Myth. Shit! Shit! Shit!" Troy rushed down the hall past a naga, two half elves, some fairies and a centaur. Dustin chased after him until Troy slammed a door on him. Then pointed at Dustin though the small window. "Sh-shape," he forced out, forcing Dustin back into his human form. A deep breath escaped him as he sat down on a step ladder. He was in the copy room surrounded by paper.
"What the hell man!" Dustin shouted as he barged into the small room. "First you promise to let me have ears and a tail if I make Amy happy. WHICH YOU DIDN'T DO! Might I add. And then you freak out when you see Ben? What's gotten into you!"
"It's the Book of Myth. Someone in the office has the Book of Myth," Troy panted.
Dustin still doesn't look happy. He's clearly more upset about the ears and tail thing. But his interest is still a bit piqued. "What's that mean?"
"It means someone in the 'tournament' is around. In case you didn't notice the centaur, it means someone has the book of myth and is currently changing people into mythical creatures," Troy said.
"You mean Becky?" Dustin asked. "She's always been a centaur."
Troy's head fell into his hands, shaking. "I guess that's another one of those rules... Book owners can tell when someone else uses a spell. Damn it all!" He turned back to Dustin with a serious face. "Look, just for right now, you can't be Rosco. At all. It'll give them too much leverage, knowing that another book is around. But if you help me find the Book of Myth, I'll be able to turn you back into him. Okay?"
A bit of a smile cracked through his furrowed brow. "Okay. But I get to be Rosco for a long time."
"Deal," Troy held out his hand and shook Dustin's.