Nate clopped around his house anxiously as he waited for his guests to arrive. As much as he would have liked Marcus and Allen to drop everything and rush over, Nate felt it was best to add a bit of pretense. There was a football game scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, and he knew his friends enjoyed the sport.
So that left him with an entire day of living like a satyr. It was surreal in its banality. Owen had so thoroughly shifted reality that it was hard for Nate to even find any friction against his poorly formed request. His apartment was well suited for a satyr, no one batted an eye at him at the grocery store, and even his dad seemed fine.
That was such a surreal phone call. His father was out hiking and turned on his phone’s video to rub it in. “Baah, you’ve gotta get out of that stuffy city some time Nate!” No freaking out about his horns. No protesting about his new job as a park ranger. Just the same old dad jokes.
With the game rapidly approaching, Nate was about to call the whole thing off. This was silly. He was fine in this form. Maybe even happier? Sure it would take some getting used to, but his need for independent verification of his choice was growing less urgent than it had been the day before. Maybe he’d just enjoy the game with his friends.
Of course, that would mean he’d have to actually enjoy watching football. He was familiar with the rules, but never really got it.
Nate double-checked the clock and picked up his Chronivac. He tapped the display to wake it up and looked down at the reality-changing device curiously.
“Good morning Owen,” his ears flickered, “Can you make me… ten percent more of a sports fan?”
“Of course sir!” The Chronivac replied cheerfully. Nate was ready for his head to start feeling fuzzy as the Chronivac beeped, but instead he was surprised to see his loin cloth changing. It shifted from a simple neutral green into the maroon of the local sports team. The cotton material shifted into nylon, and was that elastic band around his waist? Ugh, this was one of those loin cloths you would see at souvenir stands run by humans who were trying to cater to a diverse crowd, but clearly didn’t have a mythical creature working for them.
One of the pictures on Nate’s bookshelf started to shimmer as well. It updated to reveal a selfie Nate had taken at the stadium two or three years ago when he had gotten this loin cloth. Nate recalled it not being a particularly important game, just part of the regular reason. He was only moderately a sports fan after all.
“Anything else sir?” Owen asked
“Yeah, umm… I’m having some friends over soon. I’d like to tell them about you,” Nate rubbed his ear, “Who all can use you?”
“Why anyone can use a Chronivac 5 Pro sir! I’m very user friendly,” Owen bragged.
Nate felt the fur on his neck stand up. He trusted Marcus and Allen, but maybe not with a reality altering Chronivac.
“Could you run on silent mode while they’re here? And only respond to my requests please.” Nate wagged anxiously, “Is there a password I can set on you?”
Owen let out a polite chuckle, “Of course sir.”
Nate quickly typed something memorable into the device’s screen.
“I must inform you that I’m now set to follow only Nate’s verbal commands,” Owen said. “If you switch bodies with someone, I’ll follow the commands of whoever’s Nate at the time.”
“Do… people do that a lot?” Nate blinked.
“More often than you’d think sir,” Owen confirmed.
“Huh,” Nate had a few more questions about how people typically used the Chronivac, but he was interrupted by a knock at the door.
Baah! This was it! He glanced down one last time at Owen, “Please update your perception filters so that Marcus and Allen can see any new changes from this point on.”
The device beeped in the affirmative. Nate clopped to the door to greet his guest.
“Baah! Thanks for the invite!” Nate immediately got bear-hugged by Marcus. The satyr had an infectious level of energy to him. Just like Nate, the only thing he was wearing was a maroon loin cloth. Baah, oohh, with silver trim. His had a much more traditional design. He must have gotten it off of Etsy from somegoat who knew what they were doing. “Look who I found in the parking lot.”
Allen waved. The human was wearing an oversized maroon jersey and some stuffy looking blue jeans. He was sheepishly holding up a snack tray. Oh man, those fried potatoes smelled good. A mixture of Indian spices filled the air.
“Hey Nate,” Allen smiled, “I knew better than to bring bad wine. Quickest way to impress a satyr is with a dozen veggie appetizers, right?”
“We taught you well,” Marcus smiled.
Nate ushered the two inside. Allen quickly made his way over to the kitchen to set down the unwieldy snack tray.
Marcus hovered in the doorway a second. He eyed the empty row of coat hanger hooks by the door, then confirmed Nate was still dressed. He scratched at his own loin cloth strap before clopping fully into the house. The two satyrs gave a knowing look to each other before glancing up at Allen. The things you did to keep humans happy.
That didn’t mean you couldn’t still mess with them.
“Can I take your shirt or pants?” Nate asked politely.
Allen’s eyes bugged out for a moment. Then Nate’s composure cracked and he started laughing.
“I think I’ll stay clothed unless that’ll insult the host,” Allen relaxed.
“I think you almost got him that time,” Marcus bleated. He started poking around Nate’s wine fridge. “You good with wine Allen?”
“I think so,” he nodded.
Nate grabbed a trio of glasses, “Come on you two, looks like the pre-show’s wrapping up.”
Marcus finally picked a bottle and the three got settled around the TV. The two satyrs spread out on the sofa and gave the armchair to the human. The game soon got underway. It was a pretty good one too. That extra ten percent of sports enjoyment really seemed to help the game catch Nate’s attention.
Eventually though his mind wandered back to the Chronivac. He picked up the gadget and typed in his password. Was it time to tell his friends about the device? Owen helpfully pulled up the stats of everyone in the room.
• Nate Steelhoof. Satyr. 5’7”. Age: 33. Current Status: Contemplating additional Chronivac changes.
• Marcus Proudhorn. Satyr. 5’9”. Age: 34. Current Status: Pretending to enjoy football.
• Allen Winters. Human. 5’7”. Age: 32. Current Status: Trying to impress his satyr friends.
Huh. Nate had only just now picked up on his new last name. Also, wait a second, he was a bigger sports fan than either of them! Nate's ears twitched sheepishly when he realized his friends had really just come over to spend time with him.
Baah, this was it. He really needed to come clean about the Chronivac. Then again, maybe he should do a few additional test changes first to see how they’d react? It seemed a waste to let this good game go by without it being properly appreciated.