"So, when did all this grow again?" asked Megan, stroking the black fur on Tony's back while he lay still on his belly, after Lucky left.
"Like I said, I don't know for sure. I think it was probably after I left with David this morning, but it had to be after last night. I'm sure you would have noticed while we were hanging out."
"Yeah, probably," she said. "It's pretty cool, though. This feels just like petting a real dog!"
"For me, it feels even better," said Tony. "Your hand on my fur is beyond amazing. So did David's. Be careful with those new claws of yours, though, I don't need my back sliced up for a moment of pleasure."
Megan held up another hand and looked at those claws in joy. "I'll try," she said, "but no promises!"
After a while, she asked him, "So how'd you manage to get Lucky hanging out with you anyways? I thought he was just gonna ignore us until moving in with his trainer after the change. I thought he hated both of us."
"I don't know. I just kind of invited him over to join my music instead of yelling about it, and he sort of opened up to me after a while. He's not really so bad, just kind of, I don't know, sort of skeptical of himself and other people's intentions after something that happened to him."
"No offense, Tony, I love your music, but I don't exactly think that gangland rap is the most obvious soundtrack for a touching heart-to-heart. And yeah, I heard him yelling at you over your radio almost as soon as he got back from whoever the fuck he trains with. So spill. How exactly did that turn into him chilling in your room and rocking to the beat?"
"Well, I might have let him get to know me a little better."
Megan smiled. "I think I probably know you a lot better than he does," she mused seductively. Tony actually thought for a second. "I'm not so sure actually," he commented with his hand on his chin. "There's still something I haven't done with you yet. Turn around."
"Uh, what are you talking about Tony? I didn't mean, I'm not sure I want ..."
"Trust me. I learned this up at the horse area today. I wanna see what it's like with you. Turn around."
Megan turned her back to Tony, but started having second thoughts when she heard him approaching her behind.
"Uh, Tony, I know we've been getting comfortable together and all, but I'm not sure our relationship is ready for--" her voice trailed off when he didn't do what she assumed he had in mind. She realized he was sniffing her butt! And then he was licking it!
"All right! That's enough of that, Tony!" she said, turning back to face him, both of them stumbling back to opposite sides of the bed.
"You smell really really good, Megan!" he said, licking his nostrils with a dumb grin.
"Uh, thanks?" she said awkwardly, not sure if she was relieved that Tony hadn't done a certain something else she thought he might have been implying, or disappointed that he hadn't.
"Hmph, when you're nose changes, I'm sure you'll appreciate it," he said, almost pretending to offended.
"Hey, you wanna pet my head?" she offered, changing the subject. "I'm sure pretty much all of my hair up there is fur now, and I but it would feel spectacular between this giant ears." She put her head on his shoulder and drifted off into bliss as Tony unthinkingly obliged.
Scratching between her ears, Tony found his mind drifting to the things he'd heard from Lucky.
"Hey, Megan?" he asked. "Do you really think we've made the right decision in all this?"
"Sure do," she answered. "Why do you ask? Anything you're worried about?"
"I don't know, Megan, it's just ... have you noticed that the ones who started changing before us don't seem too happy? Like Lucky and that frantic old woman you've told me about?"
"Eh, I wouldn't obsess about them, if I were you. If they didn't want to do this, why did they?"
"Is it that they didn't want to do this, or they thought they did, and started regretting it? Sometimes the transformation can get pretty weird. Maybe it gets to be too much for people?"
"Psssh," said Megan, "what is too much about becoming a dog? I can assure you they had way bigger problems as a human. Or at least I did. You did."
"I guess so. But, I don't know. I always thought I was gonna be a rapper. Lucky was an accountant and maybe someday a cop. A real, human cop. Maybe my idea was dumb, but still, I probably could have made something of myself if I really wanted to. When you were three years old, did you really think you were going to grow up and then turn yourself into an animal that sniffs butts to make friends?"
"Um, no, and I still haven't turned myself into that yet, by the way, that's all you for right now. Besides, who cares? We're still making something of ourselves, because police dogs are important. And again, it's like we would have even signed up for this if human dignity was still something we wanted to hold onto anyhow."
"I ate a dog's shit today, Megan," Tony said, wondering if this would be shocking to her enough to make his point. She did make eye contact and perk her ears at him.
"You ate what?"
"You heard me. I've been getting the urge to do it ever since my nose changed. I was playing with a real dog named Trusty up where they keep the horses, and we had as much fun as I've ever had with anyone. Then out behind one of the storage buildings somewhere, he stopped and took a dump, and didn't even care that I was there watching him. You don't understand how much I learned about him from sniffing it. I knew I wasn't any better than him now, and I kind of had to go, too, so I just did the same thing right beside him. He was as curious about mine as I was about his. And then I saw him eat part of it. And then I realized we're really just animals and it doesn't matter any more. And so I gave in and let myself actually taste what came out of this other dog. And I was actually proud that he wanted to know what mine tasted like."
"Okay, I'll admit that's pretty gross, but still--"
"Does your trainer clean up after you yet, Megan? You know, like a human would clean up after a dog."
"Uh, no not yet, I can still go in the bathrooms, and so--"
"Mine does. Yours will eventually. They're going to be doing everything an animal needs done for it, and we're going to be doing everything an animal actually does. For the rest of our lives. And those lives are going to be a whole lot shorter and more limited than theirs."
"I, um, I think I have to go," said Megan. "I'm gonna use, uh, uh, use the showers. I'll, um, come over a bit tomorrow, if you still want me, I, yeah, um, Igottago."