Fort Unicorn, Monday Evening

[pulseof_life]

While other students were undoubtedly annoyed at their accommodations, Yeul had adjusted without really thinking about anything except for the fact that Evan being assigned to the same… bouncy castle was an interesting coincidence given that he'd been a puppy for two weeks now and she'd been looking after him and Ozzy.

Yeul read while lying on her stomach, with Ozzy on one side of herself and Evan on the other. The two dogs snoozed.

Every now and then she gave up on reading for minutes at a time to watch the outside from the screen walls.

She'd slept in more uncomfortable places. This one was… still probably the strangest.

Which was a feat.

[Mostly for Evan but open, sure!]

Comments

[genesishero]

After a couple of weeks of being a dog, Evan was a little less distressed about the whole situation. Sure, he couldn't turn back, but nothing really terrible had happened since the island had stuck him in a dog shape, and Yeul was taking good care of him and Ozzy. All things considered, being a dog wasn't actually that bad.

And right now, curled up next to Yeul and doing, he was having a pretty great dream about running through the fields in Kansas. Uncle Cluster was there and throwing a ball, and Evan's paws were twitching in his sleep as he bounded along after it.

[pulseof_life]

Yeul glanced over her shoulder, smiled slightly at the sight of his twitchy paws, and gently reached back to pet his head.

Then she went back to her book.

[genesishero]

Evan gave a happy little huff, nuzzling his head into her hand and giving his tail a thump against the floor of the bouncy castle.

The castle wobbled a bit in response to that. Or perhaps to the fact that the sleepy, nuzzly puppy was suddenly a sleepy, nuzzly Evan, all curled up and naked as a jaybird as he turned back into a real boy.

... That had him waking up pretty quickly. And squeaking. And then curling himself up in an even tighter ball on the floor.

"Pants! Pants!"

[pulseof_life]

Yeul shut her book calmly, accepting the change from puppy to boy with equanimity, and got to her knees.

The castle moving under her made that a little harder than usual but she managed as she made her way over to the corner of the castle where she'd set his and Ozzy's things.

She considered taking the time to bring the pants back over to him and then thought better of it.

Evan probably would like some privacy. Despite there being... none at all thanks to the screen walls.

"Pants," Yeul said calmly, tossing them gently at him. And, because she was Yeul, she also included socks and underwear in that toss. She wasn't even embarrassed about it.

[genesishero]

Evan would be relieved about his powers coming back with his usual shape maybe later. Right now, he was stretching his arm halfway across the tent and snatching his clothes from midair before scrambling...

... Attempting to scramble...

...

Before kind of awkwardly wriggling into his underwear while the floor jiggled underneath him, and then doing the same with his pants and socks before burying his face in his hands, possibly to hide just how vividly he was blushing. And, since he was milk-white on a good day, there was one heck of a blush to be worked up, there.

"Thanks, Yeul," he mumbled into his palms while a sleepy Ozzy padded over to sniff at Evan's hair.

[pulseof_life]

"You're welcome," she said lightly, making her way back towards Evan, a shirt in her hands. "I have a shirt for you as well, if you'd like that."

[genesishero]

"I think I would, please," Evan replied, attempting to fold himself into himself all the more. Not trying very hard to, granted. He could tie himself in knots if he actually had the mind to do so. But it was still a few more moments before he actually managed to make a reach for the shirt that she'd brought over with her. "Um... thank you for taking care of Ozzy and I, by the way."

He hadn't been the most communicative bouncy-castle-mate, due to the whole being a dog thing, or else he would have probably been thanking her all along.

"I think I owe you one."

[pulseof_life]

She let him take the shirt and, for the sake of his modesty rather than any discomfort on her part, averted her eyes so he could put it on.

"For what?" she asked, baffled. "I did not do very much."

Just feeding and walks and playing with two dogs for a few weeks.

[genesishero]

"It seemed like a lot to me while I was a puppy," Evan replied while he noodle-armed his way into his shirt. "I was actually a little upset for a while, there. I don't like not being in control of the things that are happening to me."

Being a dog and not having his powers kind of counted as 'not being in control.'

[pulseof_life]

Yeul smiled slightly. "You were rather unsettled the first few days," she conceded, which had translated into a rather clingy puppy. "I am sorry the island did that to you."

[genesishero]

"Well... it's over now," Evan replied, his ears still a little pink as he fumbled with the buttons of his shirt. "And nobody really got, um, hurt or anything, right? So I guess it wasn't so bad. How long was I a dog for?"

[pulseof_life]

"No one got hurt," she said gently. "Though I think you owe the birds in the park some bread for chasing them."

Yeul was teasing him, just a little.

"You were a dog for two weeks."

[genesishero]

"Two weeks..." Evan fell quiet at that, frowning a little and wrapping his arms around his knees, his shirt mostly buttoned. "Oh, no. That's two weeks in a row I wasn't at the library. Mr. Constantine is going to think I'm irresponsible."

Some of Evan's troubles were truly more horrible than others.

[pulseof_life]

"I am sure he'll understand if you explain," Yeul said reassuringly. "I understand that it is a frequent happening on the island."

[genesishero]

"True, I guess," Evan agreed with a small frown and a little nod to match. "And Mr. Constantine doesn't really seem like the kind of person who would get upset over missing a couple of shifts on account of having paws..."

Ozzy sneezed and flopped down on the floor beside Evan, causing the bouncy house to wiggle a bit all over again. Not bad for a half-corgi.

"Not that there's anything the matter with paws," Evan amended.

[pulseof_life]

"Yours were very cute," she shared, because it was true and was tangentially connected to the conversation. "Though I am pleased you can talk again."

[genesishero]

"I missed talking," Evan admitted. "I mean, not that I'm much of a talker usually, but it's nice to be able to just say what I'm thinking, when I feel the need to say it, you know?"

Needy kid.