The next few days passed with Troy falling into a routine that was new to him but normal for this reality. Troy soon discovered that he was a stay at home boyfriend to an anthropomorphic police K-9, which was a lot more boring than he otherwise expected – he mostly sat around watching TV, playing video games, and cooking while Rusty was out being a cop. Speaking of the cooking, while Troy had never been much of a cook before, he soon discovered new memories of attending cooking school and of a brief stint as a commercial chef before meeting Rusty and settling down with him.
The longer he stayed in this new reality, the more at ease he felt with it. Every night he thought about RK’s offer, but did he really want to get involved in a battle to become god? If what RK had told him was true, he didn’t have a choice, but he also had no reason to trust anything that RK had said. After all, if RK’s power was limited to limited divination, it would make sense that RK would want to trick him to take the book.
Every time Troy thought about calling RK, the thought kept worming its way into his head that this must be a trick to get close to him, to let him think that RK was his ally so that RK could steal his book. Honestly he wouldn’t mind that, he just wanted to be alone to live out his new anthro life. Hell, he practically wanted to give the book away so he wasn’t a target anymore. But he also couldn’t trust that RK wouldn’t turn him into a mouse the second that he got control of the Book of Beasts.
As they were getting ready for bed on the second night, Rusty turned to Troy and asked, “You didn’t call RK?”
“No,” Troy said, “I can’t trust him. And even if I did trust him, I still have a 50% chance to win tomorrow. I’ll take those odds.”
“You really think you can win?”
“Why not? We know he’s coming. If we just stay inside we’re at a distinct advantage, you watch out the front window and if you see anyone approaching the house let me know. I’ll turn them into a critter before they even know that anyone is watching.”
“That’s a good idea,” replied Rusty, “I’ll call out of work and get up bright and early. If nothing else, I can probably use my enhanced sense of smell to sniff them out long before I can see them.”
Troy and Rusty laid down next to each other and briefly cuddled. The feeling of Rusty’s soft, warm fur pressing into his own was bliss for Troy. With a final goodnight kiss, they rolled apart and went to sleep.