The words escaped Darren's mouth faster than his brain could process what he was asking. Part of him, perhaps the more human rational side, thought he was crazy for asking if his animal companion wanted to stay blended together. But, the question was genuine. Darren wanted to stay, to explore, this new half-merged form with Axel, but he did not want to force his friend into the decision. His rational side reasoned that this perspective must have been caused by the merge. This magic, or whatever it was, shifted his mindset to finding it reasonable, normal to be a half human-husky with Axel.
Axel seemed to ponder the question for a few moments, before the edges of his lips curled upwards. He licked Darren's nose. "Yes. I wish we would stay by each other's side... like this. We are a pack of two. We are brothers. Brothers always stay together." Axel spoke, in a voice shockingly similar to Darren's, though it was a hint rougher.
Darren could not help but smile in return. He was surprised by the kinship, the bond, he felt with Axel. He felt it; their friendship had deepened. Perhaps this was due to whatever changes occurred in their minds from the partial merge, but Darren did look at Axel like a brother now. His heart had always yearned for a sibling, but unfortunately, his parents were lucky to have just given birth to him. But now, he had 'built-in' brother in Axel. "Yes brother. I don't think much can get between us." Darren answered aloud. He felt a peculiar movement by his rear end, a swish back and forth movement.
Darren reached behind them and clutched the fabric of the blanket. With a quick pull, he removed it from their body and set it beside him. At his rear, he noticed a tail brushing the carpet back and forth. His and Axel's shared tail. Further back, he saw their two feet-paws. Their legs were stretched behind them, flat on the carpet. However, Darren could only flex the muscles of their right leg. He lacked any sense or control over their left half, his brother's half. "Axel... we..."
"Yes..." Axel interrupted, almost like he read Darren's mind. "We have to move together as one, even though we are two."
The statement was simple, but poetic in a way. Darren's smiled. "Yeah, exactly brother. Shall we... get started?"
Awkward and slow, Darren and Axel moved to standing on all four limbs. However, moving in this form with Axel felt vaguely familiar, like an old memory or a dream. Darren's rational side reasoned that the changes to their minds must have included the areas needed for movement. He of course could not feel Axel's half of their body, but a gesture, grunt, statement was all either of them needed to understand what the other wanted to do. Soon, the two of them were bolting from one side of the cabin to the other. They were Walking and running in tandem. Soon afterwards, they could stand on their two feet-paws. It was slightly more clumsy at first, but they were able to walk, run, and even tip-toe with relative ease.
The process of re-learning this movement took a few hours of the day. The sun now hung lower in the horizon; it was late afternoon. All the while, Darren was only able to catch glimpses of their reflection. Finally, his curiosity needed to be sated. Darren lead them to the upstairs room containing a full-length mirror. As they rounded the corner into the room, both Darren and Axel breathed in sharply. Slowly, they approached their reflection. "We look like twins. We are twins..." Darren said aloud.
Reflected in the mirror was, much like he expected, a human-husky hybrid with two heads; however, the heads were nearly identical. The most notable difference was their colored eyes, which were the opposite of each other's. Each of their faces was covered in thin white fur with a few black lines running down to their noses. The sides of their faces had thicker, black fur, and the tops of their heads had matching mess of brown hair, more human than husky. Their stomach was mostly covered in the white fur, though thicker than on their faces. As Darren and Axel turned around to see themselves from the different angle, their back was mostly black fur. Their tail wagged back and forth, both pleased with their appearance.
The soft knock of something hitting the window, drew both of their attentions. Darren and Axel approached and quickly spotted a squirrel in the low hanging tree. The nuisance, as Darren now saw them as, must have thrown something at the house. On the ground, several of the critter's family scurried around. "Brother... Can we?" Darren and Axel turned towards the other and asked, their faces a matching set of eagerness. Their tail was now pointed, indicating their shared readiness for action. They answered each other in unison, "Yes!" They bolted for the front door, excitedly bounding down the stairs.