“I can’t believe it really worked.” Troy muttered and shook his massive, horned head.
The horns were weird at first, but his eyes quickly adjusted to them and he found himself simply not noticing them in his field of vision.
“What did you do, Troy?” The massive Leonin he was apparently dating asked.
Yeah, that’s right. They were a couple now. He’d been summoned and the reality shifts had made it permanent. Troy could always send him back to his world when he wished, but the Leonin still seemed keen on exploring the modern world and their relationship.
“Whoa, attitude, big cat!” Troy guffawed, then blushed, weirded out by how..more robust and outgoing his personality had become.
“I caught you in the restroom with another man’s…” The furry paladin shook his head. “In the middle of a disgraceful and treacherous act, and you wish to correct my attitude?”
“Oh.” Troy sighed and hung his head. “Hormones from the change kicked in and I kinda let it carry me away. I’m sorry, Lancer.”
“Whore moans?” The Leonin blinked, “Are you joking?”
“No.” Troy spelled out the word for him.
“Ah. What change do you speak of?” Lancer asked.
“Ya don’t remember me havin’ ya plug yer ears at the park?”
“No.” Lancer shrugged.
“I broke reality.”
“Explain.” Lancer’s brows fell. “Carefully.”
Troy explained, in excruciating detail, exactly what happened.
The Leonin listened, eyes widening as the story turned to what happened afterwords, when the dirty clothes on Troy’s body shifted and became his. The big cat actually started to tremble.
“What’s wrong?” Troy asked.
“Troy, you can’t do that again.” Lancer spoke quietly. “Not ever. You have no idea how lucky you are to exist right now. And not just mentally.”
“I don’t understand.”
“The only reason you survived that much power was because you summoned me.” Lancer replied. “I kept you stable through it…at the cost of not being able to go back to my world.”
Troy trundled silently along besides him. It had become a familiar gait for him. His hand closed around the big lion-man’s paw. He would have absolutely hesitated any public displays of affection before the park incident, but now…now he just felt fine with doing whatever he wanted.
“What if I want to be something else? Or a human again?” The overgrown Rhox asked.
“You were human?” Lancer’s eyes widened. “Troy, you know how I feel about humans. Why wouldn’t you want to be soft yet rugged with smooth skin?”
“I…” Troy blinked. “I knew you had a preference but I never realized it was a fetish.”
Lancer’s tail flicked and he looked away.
“I can’t allow it, Troy.” Lancer looked back at him. “I don’t care what you are. I couldn’t bear losing you.”
Troy was glad that he had put the Game Store’s address in his GPS.
He’d been down this street a dozen times and he’d never seen a game shop there. It turned out, that was because it was literally a hole in the wall. There was only a small sign lining a railing that led into a basement floor shop.
The sign read:
Random Encounters Cards and Games
Beyond the tiny sign, there was no way to know a store even existed here. The stairway was wide enough that he could waddle down it without tripping. The door knob was bright gold, in stark contrast with drab concrete landing. Troy gripped it and pushed the door open. He had to duck so as not to catch his horn on the top of the door and turn sideways to pop himself through the small entrance, but once he was inside and got a proper bearing of his surroundings, he jaw dropped.
Despite the store’s rundown exterior, the interior was enormous-tall ceilings, tall enough that he didn’t have to duck. He could see the tables in the far back. The shopkeeper must own the entire subbasement of this apartment complex, he realized, because the floor space was mind boggling.
Display cases and comic racks lined the entranceway, a glass counter running next to the door had a cash register and tons of playing cards, both unwrapped and in the glass display case. Other cases held anime and DnD figures running upwards of $100. The entire store was fully loaded, even had old game cartridges.
In the back, he could see make-shift booths set up with walls that reached the ceiling and several tables with people playing card games. Another table was just as busy, two nerds playing BattleAnvil 50K.
Troy and Lancer walked through the aisles, careful not to knock over any displays or shelves.
The last thing they needed was to literally have to pay for any of this stuff. It was cool and all, but expensive. A couple of people were playing Majick and didn’t look up when the two overly-muscled myths walked past. One was a very thin shaggy-haired human and the other was a stocky dwarf with a short beard.
It delighted Troy to no end to no longer be considered human. His massive, powerful body had a few issues (like squeezing into any non-custom car or a room like the one they were about to walk into), but…like, so what? Everyone had problems, his were just more fun.
The booth they’d gotten was the largest-more like a conference room. It could easily accommodate a family of twelve, which was a good thing, because himself, Lancer, Greg and a familiar looking Great Dane each took up two spots. Dustin was trying to do the same, but his slimmer more athletic build couldn't quite compete with the broad shoulders of the other men.
Mark sat at the end of the table and look flustered.
The source of his frustration was a short, chunky human with black hair and a greasy complexion, who was clearly teasing him. Actually, now that Troy had the chance to really take in the scene, most of the players at the table seemed annoyed with the chubby man.
Pizzas had arrived and everyone had a plate and soda. There was a large dice tower on the table next to a map. Dice were everywhere and everyone had miniatures. A large back sat on the floor next to the chubby man. He’d clearly enjoyed a pizza or two, as he was the only one who had started eating.
“Hey! You guys finally made it!” Mark got up from his seat, clearly relieved to not have to speak to Drew, and shook Lancer’s hand. “You’re Troy’s new boyfriend?”
Lancer nodded.
“I can see why he chose you…” Mark grinned and nudged Lancer’s abs conspiratorially.
“Fucking furfags…” The fat guy at the end of the table muttered under his breath.
Troy glared at the fat guy, who was shooting them furtive glances. He wanted to strangle the tall elf, but he wasn’t all that pleased with whoever his chunky friend was with either. Mark might mock furries, but the fat guy was strangely aggressive. Everyone at the table appeared to be doing their best to ignore him. Troy guessed he made snide remarks like that all the time, then.
“Oh, uh…” Mark smiled apologetically. “That’s Drew. He’s a veteran player. Don’t mind him, he can get abrasive.”
“If he makes people uncomfortable, why is he playing with you?” Lancer whispered.
“Store policy says you can’t turn down a player unless the max amount of players are already in the group. 6 players and one DM, so unless someone else comes along…” Mark shrugged. “Really sorry. Anyways, let’s introduce ourselves!”
Lancer cleared his throat. “Right. I’m Lance…just Lance.”
“Troy.” The rhino-man introduced himself.
"I'm Mark," Mark pointed to himself, then went around the table from left of him to right. "The big bad wolf dog is Dusty. The half-orc is Greg. And the Great Dane is Jeremiah. The human is Drew." Then pointed to Lancer and Troy, "This is Lance and Troy."
Jeremiah stood up to shake Lancer's hand then looked up at Troy.
"Sorry bout the other day. Halbrook can be a bit of an ass sometimes. Lucky for you, we didn't find anything wrong." Jeremiah paused. "Not that there was anything wrong. Just--" he stopped himself before putting his foot in his mouth. "Never mind," then sat back down next to Greg.
"Right..." Troy nodded and then took his seat next to Dustin, who gave him a couple of friendly punches to the arm. His tail was wagging like there was no tomorrow.
"He's handsome," Dustin complemented as he reached stood and reached his arm across Troy to give Lancer a proper greeting. Troy glared as he got an arm full of brown and black fur in the face. But Dustin was quick to change the subject back to the game. "So! How do we start?"
Mark pulled out a half dozen pieces of paper with all sorts of marking on them.
"These," he held them up then handed two pieces of paper to Lancer, Troy and Dustin, "are your character sheets. Don't lose them." He then pulled out two more and handed them to Greg. "I took the liberty of writing them all out so you don't have to. Just a simpler way to start the game instead of spending two hours describing each stat, background, racial traits, etc. Now we can just get started with the game and then you guys will have an idea of how the game is supposed to run and what each trait will mean. Also, I didn't want any of you misinterpreting anything and giving yourself a 25 AC with +10 to your initiative. It's more fun when you can actually follow the rules."
Mark continued to explain a quick rundown of all the rules and what would be expected from them as players. He really did have a surprising amount of confidence as he spoke.
Troy wasn't sure if it was because he was finally an elf, or if this was just a more natural environment for him. Either way, Mark quickly ran through what each of the of the stats meant, to ask for rolls and not just roll for them, what each of the dice were used for and a general idea of what to expect. Also, to understand that roleplaying would be a bit awkward at first but just try to roll with it as everyone was expected to be friends. And besides Greg and Mark and Drew, it was everyone's first time so don't be harsh.
“Don’t worry, if they fuck up I’ll let ‘em know.” Drew smirked.
“I’d rather you not.” Mark smiled back, trying to be pleasant.
“I’m not going to Command you to allow me.” Drew said.
Mark blinked rapidly. “Fine, do what you want.”
“I will.” Drew murmured.
“So,” Troy took one of his vegetarian pizzas. “When do we start?”
“When you finish eating.” Mark smiled. “Okay guys, dig in!”
They chowed down, eating and drinking, and everyone kinda relaxed, the tension easing out of the room.
Drew, of course, made his snide comments that everyone ignored. When Troy praised the dice tower, Drew preened, like a kid who came to school and showed off a cool present. When he complimented Drew’s dice, he got a smug look. Troy realized as he interacted with him that he was more like…a child, actually.
“So, have you noticed how weird shit is?” Drew leaned in conspiratorially. “Like, Mark is an Elf and you two are furries.”
Troy blinked.
How in the hell did Drew notice? Was he a Book owner? Tory struggled to come up with a response that kept things neutral.
“I was in the park,” Troy glanced around, as though checking to see if anyone noticed. “And, suddenly I started growing. I used to work with Mark, and now, apparently, I’m some brutish construction guy who looks like a rhino.”
“Wait, so you know you aren’t supposed to be…” Drew gestured. “That?”
Troy nodded solemnly. “Everyone keeps acting like I’ve always been this way. I started checking online, and there’s a few other people who remember what they were before.”
“Why furries?” Drew muttered to himself. “I don’t get it. Who’d wanna be a freak? Cause you know someone’s out there making his world a weird fetish fantasy.”
“Oh gosh, yeah, disgusting!” Troy turned his head to hide a smirk. “I mean, you’re a cute bear. Why ruin that handsome visage with fur?”
“Cute bear?” Drew turned red and looked away. “Um, well…I, uh…”
Other conversations were happening around them. The other guys looked relieved that Troy was the one who had drawn Drew’s attentions. Mark was eating a slice of pepperoni and going over his notes for the session. Jeremiah and Dustin were talking animatedly about his job as a police officer. Adam was texting, and Lancer was studying the Player’s handbook intently.
“You and Lancer have always been, uh, together. Before the change, I mean.” Drew was saying.
“Hmmph? No, this is pretty recent.” Troy leaned forward and whispered. “Reality shift.”
“Oh. Got it.” Drew whispered back. “I mean, you seem kinda normal.”
“Yeah, I mean, I’m not super gay or anything.” Troy had to work hard to stifle a laugh.
He might have been offended once upon a time, but he realized he was just socially reclusive and child-like. Once you figured out how Drew functioned, it was clear that he didn’t. He really was kinda cute like that.
“Oh, good.” Drew looked relieved and adjusted his glasses before whispering. “Me neither.”
There was a timid knock at the door. Everyone looked over at it, wondering who it might be.
“Come in.” Mark called.
It opened.
A portly young man walked in and looked around at the people at the table awkwardly, adjusting his glasses. He was wearing a business casual outfit, short sleeve button-up and slacks. On his wrist was a bracelet that looked rather expensive. He had a backpack hanging off one arm.
“Can I help you?” Mark asked politely, elven ears twitching in annoyance.
“Yeah, hi, uh, my name is Drake.” Drake twiddled with his bracelet nervously. “You guys are starting a DnD game, right?”
“We might have a spot open. Do you know how to play?” Mark replied.
“Boy do I!” Drake snorted. “I also make figurines for it. It’s just that I’ve never been able to find people to play it where I used to live.”
“Pull up a chair.” Mark smiled and pointed at an unused chair that sat against the wall beside him. “We have a couple minutes before we start.”
“Want some pizza?” Dustin asked, holding out a box. “Troy ordered some.”
“Troy?” Drake raised a brow.
They all quickly introduced themselves. Drake sat down next to Mark and started rolling up his stats. Mark worked very quickly to fill out his sheet for him.
“Race?” Mark asked.
“Kobold or Dragonborn Artificer.”
“Scaly.” Mark snorted.
“What?”
“I said there’s tons of races you can choose.” Mark covered his faux pas quickly.
Drew and Troy shared a knowing smile.
“Sure.” Drake replied.
“Let’s see…we’ll go with Kobold. You can use Pack Tactics with your Steel Defender.” Mark said, filling out the sheet.
“Cool!” Drake smiled happily. “What’s everyone playing? I’ve got some sweet pre-made figures on hand.”
“Oh, do you have a 3D Printer?” Mark asked with some interest. “I mean, I have my own minis for the game, but go ahead and bring them out. Oh, and your character is done.”
Mark handed Drake the sheet. Drake looked it over, a strange smile playing on his lips. He held out a hand for the other sheets and inspected them as well.
“What’s the setting?” Drake murmured.
“Desert city. Sort of a mix of Arabian and Egyptian style.” Mark replied. “Got anything for that?”
“You know, I actually do have something.” Drake grinned, digging into his backpack.
“Here we go!” Drake announced, holding up some figurines.
Troy’s jaw dropped.
Each and every one of their characters had been painstakingly recreated in miniature form. The details were, in a word, perfect. The paintjobs both splendid and immaculate. They even wore proper desert garb. Their faces even looked a bit like the players themselves.
“Will this do?” Drake asked coyly. “They’re voice activated and will act according to the wishes of the person registered to them?”
Mark blinked. “Yes. Mother of Gods, yes. How the hell did you make them?”
“You could say I’m a bit of an artificer myself in real life.” Drake chuckled.
Mark shot a look at Troy. Troy shot a look at Drew. Then Drew shot a look at Drake.
“Do you see that?” Drew hissed to Troy.
Troy groaned and nodded. Drake had to be a Book owner.
“You know, they are great, but we aren’t really set up for seven players, not enough room at the table…” Mark trailed off, seeing the pained expression on Drake’s face.
“Don’t worry, I can make it work.” Drake swallowed and turned away, facing the corner of the cramped room. Troy thought he heard him muttering something.
The space of the room suddenly grew. It was the strangest thing Troy had ever experienced. One moment the room was cramped, the next it was more than roomy.
Drake turned and pointed at the table, muttering again.
The table warped and altered. It grew and become thicker. Little hidden compartments appeared, drink holders and book stands. Troy quickly realized Drake was transforming it into a high-end gaming table.
There was another shift, and the middle of the table sunk, a miniature landscape rising up inside it. Knobs and buttons appeared on the end of the table where Mark sat. He fiddled with it, clearly not noticing the change, and the landscape zoomed in and shifted to the inside of a walled caravanserai.
Reality began to shift on its own. The chair beneath Troy’s massive rump suddenly grew softer and more cushioned, fitting his humongous frame perfectly. Everyone else’s seats adjusted. The room stopped looking makeshift and became clearly high-tech.
Drew stared at Drake with a look of pure envy. Troy got up and pulled Drew aside.
“How’s he doing that?” Troy asked Drew quietly.
“Magic.” Drew replied, eyes never leaving Drake. “Same kind that changed you. Sort of.”
:What do we do?” I asked.
“Nothing. Let me worry about it. Just play DND and I’ll deal with it afterwards.”
“You’re so cool.” I whispered, trying not to smirk.
Drew smiled and puffed out his chest. “Heh, I know.”
Troy rolled his eyes and turned around and went back to his seat. The game went…smoothly, surprisingly. The tabletop was cool, there was all kinds of special effects going on. Kind of crazy. Drew was sometimes obnoxious, but he always deferred to Troy, asking him what he wanted to do. Troy thought it was cringey and sweet at the same time.
Five hours later, they finished. It had been an exhilarating experience, honestly. Everyone, Lancer included, had their fun and were pretty worn out when the session ended with their first combat. Troy gathered his books and dice and character sheet and walked out.
Drew caught me and Lancer just outside the door. I waved Lancer on and he looked at Drew then back at me and nodded. Drew waited until Drake had left the store before he turned and looked at me.
“Hey.” Drew smiled.
“Hey.” I smiled back.
“So, uh, is this Lancer thing…”
“I’m in an open relationship. I’ve got something going on with my boss at work too, apparently.”
“Oh.” Drew blinked and rubbed his neck sheepishly. “I, uh, don’t know how I feel about that.”
“Does it help if I tell you that you’re the first guy I’ve actually had a choice to like and not because reality shifted and made me like them?” I said.
Drew blushed. “Yeah, um, kinda.”
“Look, I’ve got a lot to adapt to. I have a new apartment and apparently I’m a construction worker too.”
“Those guys working out on the street beyond the park?” Drew asked.
I nodded.
“Weird.” Drew whispered.
“I know.” I glanced around and huddled next to Drew. “Look, I’m happy I’ve found someone else who’s noticed something, but maybe we should act like everything is normal. Just in case.”
“I was just about to suggest that.” Drew smirked.
“We could get locked up in a funny farm or something, especially since everyone seems to think this is normal.”
Drew nodded. “Yeah. Maybe I should tone down my furry thing. It might actually be a hate crime now.”
“I didn’t have a choice about being a freak, Drew.” I replied.
“I know, I know.” Drew rolled his eyes and patted my shoulder. “Be careful, big guy.”
“You too.” I replied and set off.
Lancer was waiting for me outside. He raised a brow.
“Talking to Drew. Let’s go to my apartment.”
Lancer nodded. “That sounds prudent. I am tired, now. It was quite fun.”
“I knew you’d love it!”
“Somewhat unrealistic, of course. For example…” Lancer started babbling as we walked to my new apartment.