This was it! Master was finally going to get him out of his dog costume! Spot sat up straight… and then his ears splayed out all bashfully.
“Uh- Are you going to keep your robe on sir?” Spot asked.
John stopped and looked down at himself, “I think so? I was planning on trying to read some of those magic books.”
Spot started to wag, “Well… if you’re not changing back yet, maybe I should stay like this too?”
“Really?” His owner ruffled his hair, “Good boy.”
That was all Spot needed to hear. The two spent the next few hours curled up on the sofa reading some of Uncle Jack’s old spell books. Well, John read them. Spot couldn’t make heads or tails of them. It was nice getting to keep him company though, and he finally got to experience what it was like being a dog curled up on the end of the sofa.
Eventually both their stomachs started grumbling. John slid a bookmark into his current chapter and got up, “Alright, something tells me that you don’t want kibble for dinner tonight. Up boy, let me get a look at your zipper.”
“Arf! Yessir!” Spot casually shifted back into that odd dog-morph posture.
“I have no idea what this is going to feel like. Hold still,” Master slowly started to pull the zipper down his chest.
The fur parted easily. Spot’s human torso looked a little odd poking out of the dog-sized figure standing in the living room. Things were starting to feel smaller as Spot felt the costume loosen around him. John pulled the mask on his head back and finally gave him some fresh air.
“Thank you sir!” Spot said excitedly. He blinked, “I mean… Master?”
“Whoops, collar’s still on,” John reached around Scott’s neck and gently undid Spot’s collar. “How’s that?”
“Woah, uh- Better?” Scott rubbed his neck with one of his still-furry paws. “Seriously, that collar really messes with your train of thought sir.”
“Sir?” John raised an eyebrow.
“Sorry. John,” Scott laughed. He looked down clumsily, “Am I a human head on a dog’s body?”
“Yeah, this is a little weird, let’s get you out of there,” John laughed.
His roomie helped peel back the costume’s shoulders. His full-sized human arms spring out.
Thumbs and all.
The rest of the costume peeled off pretty easily. Scott was a little surprised to feel the sensation in his tail vanishing as he slid the costume down his legs. Interestingly, the outfit appeared to stay in the dog-morph form that he had been in when he started taking it off. Now that it was just a costume again, he could spot all sorts of seams and threads that made it look like the costume was always been sewn that way.
“Well that was the strangest afternoon I’d ever had,” Scott rubbed the back of his neck, “Thanks for calming me down when I was freaking out.”
“No problem at all!” John beamed. Then another shopkeeper-ism jumped out, “I do my best to make sure my customers are comfortable in their new forms.”
John coughed, going a little cross-eyed, “I mean- You can see why I steered you away from the tiger now. I didn’t want a frantic jungle cat in my shop.”
“Your house,” Scott corrected, “You’ve done that a few times now?”
John rubbed the back of his neck, “Yeah, I think it’s my costume.”
“You want to get out of that thing for a while?” Scott offered.
John shook his head, “Nah, I want to test a few spells while you’re out of the house. Can you go grab us a pizza?”
“Sure?” Scott nodded. Then he looked down at himself, “Huh. Weird. I’m not compelled to do as you say anymore.”
“What?” John blinked.
“Spot’s a good dog. He- Err, I was really obediently trying to do as you say,” Scott rubbed the back of his head, “It was weird. I think I started to have fun with it more after you told me to enjoy it.”
John’s eyes went a little wide, “Oh jeez, really?”
“I feel fine now I think?” Scott scratched at his ear before finally lowering his hands, “Just be careful in the future.”
“Duly noted,” John went a little flush, “Do you want me to grab the pizza instead?”
“I don’t mind grabbing it…” Scott finished getting dressed, “But some fresh air might do you good? Get out of that wizard routine for a bit?”
“I feel fine Scott,” John tightened his robe, “Now go fetch.”