Costume Shop Story 1 - Pt 2

To say that my time with Damon was totally un-enjoyable would be a lie.  Maybe I had always liked the idea of being a dog, or maybe it had grown on me, but whatever the case I came to enjoy parts of the experience as I waited for Drethan to decide my fate.  It was a break from work, which everyone needs, and I was treated about as well as I had ever been.  It wasn't the finest fare, but my food was plentiful and delivered by hand.  I was free to sleep as much as I wanted, no one made any demands...I spent a lot of time outdoors, and even as winter went on, I was warm in my fur coat.  I got good at looking pathetic and getting time in the house and sometimes I even made it on the sofa.  I wasn't a small dog, but the son (who was probably only 6 or 7) seemed willing to defend anything I did, and we were a cute couple, so the parents would let just about anything slide.

I did track mud in once, and that led to some time in the dog house, but that wasn't so bad either.  I probably won bonus points for being the only dog in history to enjoy baths (it helped that I understood what was going on), and for being well trained.  How could I not be?  I was probably the smartest dog in the world.  I had a degree, even!

As much as I enjoyed it, though, I longed to be "normal" again.  Well, maybe not "normal," as I was currently filling the role of a healthy (and actually happy) family pet, and that was normal...just not for me, and as I watched days turn into weeks and the winter start in earnest from my chain-linked dog run, I wondered if and when I would get that chance.

Damon consistently assured me that this was not his purpose, to be like this forever, unless I really wanted it, and as much as I enjoyed it and we enjoyed each other, whatever crucial thing was required to make it permanent wasn't happening.  Damon said I'd know if it did, but was non-specific as to how, and some days I lay in my doggy igloo (some plastic thing) watching rain or snow and wondering if maybe it HAD become permanent and the two of us just didn't know.

Damon usually interjected about this time and said that he'd know, at any rate, and it hadn't happened.

In his own way, my costume/prison was developing and learning too.  I think he picked up a lot from me, as he tended to get technical when he explained things, but I was glad he tried to explain things.

First, there had apparently been some very rushed spell-casting ("programming" was the word Damon thought made the most sense) in that back room as I had wandered around the costume shop.  Drethan had not wasted a lot of time explaining things, but Damon knew his "program" had been altered.  Apparently the suits existed in a kind of stasis or stand-by until someone with the right vibes came along.  They needed that energy to "awaken" and stay awake.  Apparently, as I had stood there studying the display costumes, Damon (though he hadn't had that name at the time) had roused and Drethan had headed back to make some changes.

These had included (but weren't limited to) Damon's current inability to shift me back to a human (or more human) form, and his inability to "let go" of me.  He actually apologized, and said that whatever Drethan had been forced to do (Damon always made it out that Drethan had just been making a hurried attempt to control a potential problem) hadn't been entirely "compatible," hence the wildly changing tones and impressions I had gotten from Damon at first.  I knew now that the harshness had been largely the result of this rapid programming clashing with what Damon, as a fairly loyal and friendly thing, had wanted to do.

The thing Damon reiterated over and over was that he hadn't known it would end up with me in a dog-run, and that had he been able to communicate clearly, he probably would have warned me.  I had given him a hard time over "probably," and Damon had admitted that his ultimate goal was to get to a viable source of energy, and whatever means granted that, he had a hard time fighting that instinct.  I had to forgive him eventually, the tone was so apologetic and sincere...and I could think of worse things...at least I hadn't picked up a skunk costume or something.

So, I filled my days with chatter to Damon, fetch, sleeping, eating and trying to make the best out of my canine problem.  Drethan checked on me from time to time, but I think the visits were primarily to make sure no one had figured out my secret, and to reinforce whatever he had done to make them forget that they hadn't owned a husky until a few weeks before.

At least he hadn't forgotten us...

Then one day Drethan arrived with the leash, clipping it on my collar.  We wandered to the park, and I wondered what the news was as he made himself comfortable on a bench off the main trail, overlooking the duck pond and surrounded by the gold and red and brown of fall and winter.

"I have spent a great deal of time and energy investigating what happened that you remembered what you were seeing," he began, "and I have concluded that you were a fluke, not someone to concern myself with."

He paused for a time, and I sat there wondering where this was headed as eddies of wind swirled and rustled the discarded foliage around us.  "I have never tried to order a suit around, usually they don't have the energy to hear me until they have bonded with a host.  The usual consequence of such a bonding would be that the suit was permanent."

I felt my ears twist round to face him at that.  Permanent?

"Moreover, I have never tried to twist spells into a suit while it was being worn, and changing your form once was a challenge.  A useful challenge, I have a few uses for that...but it has undergone refinement, and you were the first.  I am not certain I can undo what was done."

I'm sure my jaw was hanging open in shock.  Permanently a canine.  It was something I had visualized as fun for a little while, but all the things I had to give up...like thumbs...  I was too stunned to really think.  So stunned in fact, that I didn't realize Drethan had stopped and was looking at me.

"Well?"  He rested his hand on my head between my ears.

I hadn't heard the question!  I had been too shocked...

"Ah, well, I will repeat....I would like to attempt to reverse your situation.  However, I will warn you...it will be dangerous.  It may even kill you."

Apparently Drethan could read what I was thinking, at least with physical contact.  I wasn't sure if this was a requirement, or something he did to build the illusion that he wasn't all powerful, or if he just wanted to look like a man and his dog from a distance.

"Do I really have a choice?" I thought at him.

"Yes.  But it will mean spending the rest of you life as a pet, and I don't have the time or inclination to follow you forever.  You still have a human life-span, and that will complicate things, especially when someone realizes you are a 50 year old dog."

"Can I have a minute to talk this over with the su...Damon...and think on it?"

I wasn't sure what his look meant, but I would've called it pleasantly surprised.  Something about my wanting...my needing...to confer with the suit seemed to make him happy.  I wasn't sure it was "joyous" happy so much as "accomplishment" happy, but there was definitely something there.  He nodded and leaned back on the bench, taking his hand off my head.  "Damon," I thought to the other part of myself, "what do you think?"

There was silence, then the voice answered back, "Why are you asking?  You didn't want this initially...you've adapted to it, as have I...but you've never stopped thinking about getting out of this, out of me..."

"Well," I thought, "I don't know that I'd want this permanently, but I have enjoyed it, gotten used to it...even gotten used to the company.  You've been a friend, and I think I owe it to you to ask your opinion."

Now, with all this time and exposure, I had started to get a feel for Damon's mind (if you can call it that when Damon doesn't really have a brain), and I could sense some struggle.  On one hand, Damon needed the energy that I provided...on the other, he was resenting being used as a prison cell, of having to filter all my input and keep me isolated.  That was part of what I respected about Damon.

"I think," Damon said, "that we'd both be happier if this was something you had chosen.  If he can put you back, great.  If you choose to put me back on after, even better."

I sounded strained, even in my head. "Damon, you've explained that you'll go dormant without me..."

"True, but I don't like being a trap, either."

It was about then that Drethan reached down to make contact again. "Well?"

"What happens to Damon, Drethan?"

"Ah."  He had to pause. "I would, of course, work hard to prevent it...I hate to destroy anything I created..."

I shuddered.  I didn't like the idea of losing Damon.

"I can only guarantee both of your safeties if you remain as you are.  I am sorry."

I hesitated, and felt Drethan begin to pull back when I heard Damon's words... "We'll do it!"

Drethan seemed a little stunned, then nodded, stood and began to walk quickly out of the park, me at his side.  Soon, we were entering the store, behind the counter, into the back area.  He clipped the leash to a chair, then approached me with a muzzle.

"This is going to cause you quite a bit of pain, and I can't have the people thinking I abuse animals in my free time.  You will have to trust me."  Easy for Drethan to say, but I nodded a big, exaggerated doggy nod and stepped towards him.  He cinched the straps up, then returned to his work.  He seemed to have a number of books open (though it was hard to tell from the floor) and appeared to be drawing something.  He was muttering, but I think I only heard that because of my canine hearing.

"What is he doing?" I asked Damon, but Damon didn't know, so all we could do was watch.  There was a faint glow building around Drethan, and reflected in his face from the work surface, but it was so subtle you might think it was an afterimage.  He turned to look at us, and while it was still Drethan, there was something other-worldly about him.  He was holding a small bowl, and knelt on the floor.  He dipped his finger in the bowl, and began to draw on the floor.  It was water, just marking the dust, but the lines glowed faintly.  Wanting to trust him, I held still as he drew complicated figures on the floor around Damon and I.

He stood, still muttering and moving his hands.  The movements were precise, calculated, but very small.  If I hadn't been staring at him, I might have thought he was just talking to himself...then he stopped, regaining his more normal composure.  "The preparations are done.  This is the last chance you have to stop this."

I held still.

"Alright then."

He set a crystal on the counter, then turned back to me.  He began his words again, and suddenly I was blind and in great pain. In my mind, I could hear Damon crying out as well...

I have no idea how long it lasted, but when I finally could see again, everything hurt.  I blinked, and found myself still on the floor, lying in a rather foul smelling puddle.  "Damon?" I thought.

"Yeah..." he sounded tired, "...I'm still here."

I looked around, but Drethan was nowhere to be seen.  There was a bucket and a mop that hadn't been there before, and I levered myself up onto my feet.  A ferocious wave of nausea hit me and I bent over retching, vomiting on the floor.  I brushed some of the larger chunks out of my fur...

I froze.  Damon seemed to realize it as I did.  I had hands.  I was standing.  They were furry hands with blunt claws, and my legs bent the wrong way, leaving me on tip-toe...but I was closer to human than I had been in weeks!  I wanted to speak, to call for Drethan and thank him, but I couldn't open my jaws...until I remembered the muzzle.  Reaching up, I was delighted to be able to work the straps and pull it off.  Stretching my jaw, I tried again...but all that emerged were some animal noises, maybe something that sounded like a word, but nothing intelligible.  Either it was impossible to speak in this form, or I would need to relearn English in a way that compensated for a muzzle and tongue not really meant for speech.

"I think he wants us to clean that up..." I heard Damon comment.

I looked at the floor.  Oh.

Drethan had left behind enough materials to clean up the mess I had made (the composition of which I'd like to forget) and put things away.  It took a lot longer than it would've before the transformation as I was essentially learning how to walk and move and do things all over again.  Damon helped, and this kept me off my tail.  But it was way faster than doing it with paws and no thumbs would've been!  As I cleaned the old and battered wood floor, clearing up dust, water droplets and...stuff...I was enjoying being a biped again.  It all was cleaned up soon enough, and there were directions on the counter telling me to clean up using a small bathroom down the hall.

Back in the main work-room, I lay on the the wood floor, feeling the grain and slightly uneven planks.  After concrete and dog pillows, combined with my exhaustion, it was easy to fall asleep.

In the morning, I woke up to find no sign of Drethan but a plate and a note telling me to eat.  It was real food, not Alpo, and I reveled in being able to use a fork.  By the time I had finished, Drethan had returned.  "We will continue when I close up tonight.  In the meantime, I would like you to stay out of the way, not touch anything, and be quiet.  I have some books from your belongings."

He handed me a stack of books that I recognized as mine.  I put them on the counter, nodded my agreement to his terms, and made myself scarce in one of the side rooms.  The day passed slowly, and I didn't look forward to the evening, but between sleep, Damon, and seeing some of my old things (and being able to read again) I was happy enough.  Damon was full of ideas for what to do when normal life returned.

Evening came, and this time I was seated on a chair as he inscribed his symbols.  I had put the muzzle on myself, as I was sure this was going to hurt even more, and as the process concluded, Drethan paused for a time.

"It is probably amazing that you came this far.  Not only are most of the changes reversed, but I think that both forms are now permanently imprinted on the suit."

I heard Damon, "Yeah, I think he's right..."

"However, now I am trying to divide you...and you have been merged for a very long time.  Normally, the suit would have made the changes permanent by now, and I do not understand why it hasn't...but dividing you is very dangerous.  It is at this stage, not last night, that the greatest risk of losing one or both of you exists.  Are you sure you want to continue?"

I heard Damon's affirmative response, and nodded.  

"Alright then.  The first part of this I cannot do for you." He looked me in the eye, "You have to want the suit to come off.  You have to convince it and yourself to start the process.  After such a long time, I am not certain either of you has the energy to really let go, but if you can start the process, show that you really want it, I will consider making up the difference."

"Wait...we have to what?" I thought.  Damon seemed confused by it too, and I looked down at my arms.  I took a pinch of skin and pulled on it, plucked at it really...it felt like my skin.  Could I really seperate from my skin?  Damon seemed to be having much the same thoughts, except reversed...could he really expel the core of himself?

And like that, we were paralyzed by the fear of being apart from the other.  Interlaced with it all was my desire to be able to rejoin the world as myself, and Damon's desire to be chosen, not inflicted, but neither of us seemed really willing to make that leap from where we were to where we wanted to be.

Drethan spent this time watching us, and after a time, stood and headed to the door.  "I can see you need time.  Call me when you think you are able to continue."

The door clicked, and we immediatly turned on each other internally.  "How can you have said all that you did and not let me go?!"  "Let you go?  You're the one who doesn't want me to go!"  "I do not want to be stuck like this, I thought we agreed to that!"  "We did, you moron, but this is your problem, not mine!"

It went on for a while, as we paced the room, arguing and fighting, both of us stuck to the other for various reasons, all of which really boiled down to being afraid of another drastic change.  

It wasn't really a violent fight, seeing as neither of us could really land a blow on the other without injuring ourselves, which probably made it comical to any outside observer.  It was probably funnier still, to said outside observer, that the only noise were the growls and grunts and yips and barks of a dog or wolf, since all the discussion was really in my head.  And the worst part was I was arguing with myself, more than Damon, over how badly I wanted to be able to pull the suit off.  Maybe I had enjoyed being a dog too much...

Drethan returned to find us leaning over his work bench, teeth and eyes clenched, what was probably with a white knuckle grip on the edge of the bench (except that with the fur, my knuckles were always white).  He walked up behind me, I could hear his footfalls on the wood, and I thought for a second that he was going to put his hand on my shoulder, try and comfort me or something.

Instead, I felt him catch something and pull slightly, and then a tug on the skin at my shoulder.  There was a mirror over the bench, and I looked up at myself.  Drethan was holding a loose flap, a seam and a sliver of pink skin visible under the costume.

"I guess we wore each other out, Damon..." I thought.

He sounded mad, tired, frustrated, "Just get this over with so we can try this the right way, please?"

Drethan coughed, "You are ready?"

I nodded, took my place on the chair in the middle of the room, picking the muzzle up and securing it to prevent too much noise.  Drethan began his work, and again his magic left me in the dark, though it wasn't nearly as painful.  Nor do I think I was out as long, as Drethan was still there when I blinked awake.  I had fallen to the floor, and again I pushed myself up, except this time I was pushing against something...which fell away and bunched around my wrists.

I realized I was, for the first time in months, looking at Damon's "insides," his hollow face and body on the floor with only my wrists and knees inside.  Panicky, I thought at him, but received no response.  I looked up at the old man, "Wha...is...is he okay?"

Drethan turned, and nodded slowly.  He didn't look nearly as tired as he had before.  "Yes, I think it will recover in time, if it is still wanted.  If you still have that energy, it will return in time...but the process of removing it required that I deplete it of as much energy as possible."

I nodded gathering the limp material up off the floor, treating it gingerly, arranging it carefully in my arms.  Fights, long exposure, trials and tribulations aside, I was already missing the company in my head.  "Can I make it faster?"

Drethan shook his head, "Other than keeping it close to you if you're not wearing it, no."

"Done."  I nodded again.  I wanted my friend back.  "I don't know how I can repay you...but thank you."

He shook his head, "Don't thank me yet, you may yet return."

He pointed me to the side-door, and I found some of my clothes.  The suit had been on so long, modesty had sort of vanished, and it hadn't even occurred to me that I was standing there shielded only by the suit's material.  I dressed quickly, finding my keys and wallet, before emerging.

"Drethan..." my voice sounding odd in my own ears after weeks of not having a voice, "...uh...where do I go?  It's been long enough, I'll have been fired, evicted..."

He let out a tired sigh, I think slightly exasperated.  "Part of what was wrought last night effected the town. In the minds of everyone, you've been working, paying rent, all the usual things.  People will recall seeing you at the store, at work...you were never gone or missed."

Well, that certainly made Drethan seem less "evil-old-man."  "I...thank you."

Drethan shrugged, "Think of it as my apology for putting you through unnecessary pain when you had done nothing.  Now, please, leave me be.  I have work that needs to be done."