(Man to Dog)
It had been three weeks since Baxter had last been called by his human name, and he was finally getting used to his canine body. Just one slip of the tongue around a witch had led him to this predicament, and the change was fresh enough that he would on occasion wake up and panic at the sight of his own muzzle.
Of course, she’d laugh at him whenever he did.
Her name was Amelia, and she was his owner. He realized it now, even though it had taken two weeks to sufficiently break him. Those two weeks had seen the loss of most of his communicative skills, repeated escape attempts being met swiftly and judiciously.
He could still understand English, but whenever he tried to think of how to express himself in such terms he found it to be a foreign language. Surprisingly, that didn’t bother him as much as the loss of his ability to write, or even to mime.
“Baxter! Come here, boy!”
He considered staying in his doggy bed. He’d done it before, and that was what had left him as a beagle instead of a retriever. If he refused to obey her again, he had little doubt he’d end up as something worse.
Baxter sighed, his ears flopping slightly as he rose to his feet. He didn’t react to them that time, and had a brief surge of pride in response. When he’d first become a beagle, he’d panicked every time he felt his ears brush against the sides of his face. There was just something so wrong about it…
And now he was used to it. How many more things would he get used to? Walking, drinking, taking care of certain needs outdoors… That last one was particularly embarrassing, because Amelia liked to make fun of him for it.
Baxter sighed in the only way a dog could: through his nose, disparagingly. There were some things that he could still do as a canine, but they had to be done differently. Any sharp inhalation or exhalation from his mouth only made him pant, tongue instinctively flopping past his lips.
The world was so much bigger around himself, like he was in some sort of giant’s household. It was funny to think that he’d once thought this building was small. The dog’s paws padded on the ground idly, his steps light and bouncing. That was the most comfy way to walk, in a loping gait.
Baxter let his tongue finally slip from his mouth as he approached her living room. He didn’t really feel happy, but he knew that the woman liked to see him panting. Plus, it felt nice to have his long and heavy tongue droop past his lips. The beagle’s tail wagged in spite of his embarrassment.
“Aw, there’s my little man! Who’s a good boy? Who’s a good boy!” There she was, still as beautiful as the day she’d first changed him. Amelia’s blonde hair was as bright as the sun, and her smile somehow outshone even that.
“Arf!” He barked, remembering when his throat would have produced a deeper, resonant ‘woof’. It could be worse, though. He could be squeaking like a Chihuahua. Baxter panted in quiet amusement at that, the canine equivalent of a laugh.
She reached for him, her hands warm around his furry flanks. A small, contented whimper slipped from the changed man’s dark lips, and his tail wagged all the harder. Even if she was the one who changed him, being held by a pretty woman like this always made Baxter’s day.
He looked up to her with as best a smile as her could muster, a little ashamed by how eagerly his body responded to her touch. He wriggled in her lap, his paws pressing against her arms in an attempt to get better purchase on her form.
The woman leaned back a little and smirked, letting his muzzle fall between her breasts. Now that he had more face to feel them, he really could appreciate how soft and warm they were. Unfortunately, there wasn’t really much he could do about that tonight.
“Aw, that’s my good boy.” She cooed. Despite the fact that she was talking to him like a dog, he could tell that she knew fully well she was appealing to his human side. Baxter wriggled and softly panted, then decided that if she was going to tease him, he might as well get some fun out of it too.
The dog rolled onto his back, letting his floppy ears fall across her cleavage. She cooed, her soft fingers gripping his ears and using them to cover his eyes. He honestly didn’t know how to feel about that. His canine instincts disliked how his vision was covered, but his human mind found it thoroughly entertaining.
Baxter’s wagged gently at first, then harder still as she moved her hands from his ears to his belly. The beagle shook his ears off his head, enjoying the warmth of her pets and the comfort of her presence despite himself.
“Aw, there we go. See? I knew you’d like this eventually.” Hummed Amelia, her pets gradually slowing. “Unfortunately, Mommy has to go grocery shopping. Sorry, but I promise you I’ll get you a bone.”
Baxter nodded with a wave of his tail, wiggling his feet in the air as she wrapped her arms around his sides. She lowered him onto all fours, and he looked up to her with a quiet huff. These quiet times were something he both enjoyed and hated at the same time.
It was nice to have a little bit of solace, but that also left him alone with his thoughts. Sleep meant he’d always wake up jarred to find a muzzle in his vision. Walking around had to be on all fours, and his big ears would always flop with every step. And he couldn’t even enjoy his old favorite private time activities, either.
Baxter settled for padding towards the television and pawing at the screen, looking back to her with a whine. The indignity was worth it, as Amelia clicked on the television for him. His tail wagged madly as she switched it to the Food Network, scratching his ears idly.
It was never something he watched as a human, but he really appreciated it as a dog. Seeing all sorts of food on the screen pleased both his dog and human minds, and since he was never much of a cook, it didn’t remind him too much of his old life.
Baxter padded towards the couch and pushed his front paws against the ground, using the momentum to wobble onto his hind legs. He took a shaky two steps forward until he could press his body against the cushions, his paws atop the seat.
It was a lot of effort to sit on a couch, but he liked feeling the cushion against him. Besides that, Amelia didn’t mind, as long as he didn’t leave a miss. As if to prove his point, she laughed back at him, waving him farewell as she shut the door behind herself.
That was it, then. Another day spent sleeping, eating, and lounging around. In a way, it was something that most people would like to do. And, as far as curses go, it could have been worse. Baxter huffed through his nose, lying his head in his paws and looking up to the screen.
A small sound from the kitchen window distracted him, and he perked an ear curiously. It was a metallic scratching against the glass, and he couldn’t place it for a moment. Then the window clicked, and his thoughts did too: someone was breaking into the house.
“Arf arf!” He barked, suddenly keenly aware of just how weak his yapping was. He looked from left to right worriedly, starting to pad off the couch. He was too late: the intruder walked into the room, fixing their eyes on him.
“There you are!” It was a female voice, and one that he half-remembered, as if from a dream. “Brian, thank God!”
Brian? But… His name was… Baxter blinked, his tail wagging as hard as he had ever wagged in weeks. “Arf!” His tongue instinctively drooped from his mouth, panting with pleasure. She was his old girlfriend… Amelia? No… Brianna! “Arf!”
Brianna darted towards him, her arms curled around his neck. “Oh my God, I thought it was impossible, but your eyes… Just looking at them lets me know it’s you. Baby, I was so worreowd…” Her embrace lost some of its tightness, and a spike of dread settled into Baxter’s heart.
“You know, you probably should have waited a bit longer for me to actually get in the car. Not that I couldn’t just teleport back here, but…” Amelia’s voice came from the doorway, and Baxter looked to it in alarm.
“Meowr?” Brianna managed. She was shrinking, faster and faster with every passing second. Her arms and legs seemed to slurp into her thinning body, her torso losing its feminine hourglass. A tail squirted from her spine, and her face inflated into a short snout.
Baxter hadn’t even been allowed to fully feel hope before hope became nothing more than a mewling kitten, twitching her lengthening ears. Dark fur covered her form, and the irony of Brianna becoming a black witch’s cat didn’t escape him.
“Now, what to call you… I think I’ll call you Zelda.” Amelia practically purred with condescension, and Baxter saw a cloudiness settle in the cat’s slitted eyes. She pawed at her head, and he realized that Amelia had made her lose her own name.
In a way, it was a little ironic. He was the only one who remembered that she was Brianna, and she was the only one that remembered he was… Not Baxter. Whatever his old name was. He whimpered and curled around the kitten protectively, looking up to Amelia with a canine pout.
“Aw, don’t worry! Someone was looking for my good boy, and she was being really annoying. So, I decided that I could use another pet, and someone to keep you company. Hope you don’t mind younger girls, since she’ll just be a kitten for now. Of course, I don’t want to get jealous of someone getting your attention, so I made sure you’ll get along like cats and dogs.”
Baxter whined, his ears drooping. Brianna mewled from within his canine embrace.
“That bad of a pun? Well, look on the bright side: when she grows up, she’ll be just as big as you. Isn’t that handy?”
Baxter didn’t think it was, but it wasn’t like he really had a say in the matter. At least he had some company, though… He looked down to the kitten, giving her a nuzzle. Her fur was pleasingly soft against his own, and he hoped that she didn’t mind it either.
The little feline mewled, burrowing closer towards him as if for security. Her small tail curled around his own, and for a moment Baxter felt like everything would be okay. Much to his surprise, that moment didn’t end. Instead, it lingered and left him surprisingly happy.
“See? I’m not that bad after all.” Amelia laughed. “Just be sure not to mess up my house too much, or one of you is going to spend some time as the other’s chew toy.”