(M to F, M to Bulldog)

“Nick and Mike were longstanding friends, and, at present, long-walking friends as well. Their car was somewhere between one and two miles behind them, lost to a Midwestern accident that was in no way Mike’s fault,” said Mike, in his opinion rather artfully dodging any blame.

“Accident? We ran out of gas. Aren’t you supposed to be good at numbers?” Nick chuckled good-naturedly. Of course, he hadn’t been fooled for an instant. Even if Mike wasn’t a terrible liar, Nick happened to be rather good with people.

“Because I’m Asian? I thought your line of work taught you something about culture.” Mike mimed being struck in the chest. “Truly, the times have borne great darkness upon us all!”

“And woe unto you, yadda yadda,” Nick laughed. “And no, not because of that. It’s because you’re supposed to be an engineer.”

“Don’t let that scrap of paper fool you. Most of us science-folk can hardly put two and two together without a calculator. Besides, how was I to know that the car’s fifteen-mile remaining range was actually fifteen miles? There’s supposed to be tolerances for that!”

Nick shook his head with a gentle, albeit weary, look on his face. “Just be glad that we’re nearly at The House.”

“Mhmm.” Mike clammed up almost immediately, looking towards the white-painted building. Subtly, he slowed his pace to walk a few steps behind Nick.

The House was the first building in the distance that the two could see. It was a small and stereotypical ranch homestead, complete with a tractor parked out front. It was also a place that set Mike’s nerves on edge, having seen one too many horror movies that features such a building.

“Oh, come on!” Nick laughed again, correctly guessing the source of his friend’s nerves. “You can’t mean to tell me that you’re actually afraid of this? Look, I promise you there’s no leather-clad serial killer, demonic spirit, or possessed turkey on these grounds.”

“I feel you didn’t mention Indian burial grounds for a reason,” Mike muttered petulantly.

“It’s covered by ‘demonic spirit.’ As would be zombies—”

“Seriously, don’t say the Z-word around me when I’m paranoid.”

“Right, sorry. Z-words, mummies, and other supernatural beings. And we both know you love sci-fi enough that being kidnapped by aliens would actually equate to a form of fantasy.” Nick mentally recited all of the other bogeymen in Mike’s overactive imagination, nodding to himself as he ensured his bases were covered.

“Mhmm,” Mike replied, his go-to ‘I-Am-At-A-Loss-For-Words’ reply. “Just… You do the talking, all right?”

The door of the house loomed in front of them, their idle conversation having eaten the rest of the walk. Nick nodded with another kind-hearted smile, reaching a hand up to knock on the door. It swung open as he was mid-swing, and he ended up rapping his knuckles against a rather generous bosom.

“Well, ain’t that a country welcome?” The owner of said bosom chuckled.

Mike tried to apologize on his friend’s behalf, but ended up a little too distracted by how that laugh made her cleavage jiggle. She was a freckled brunette with curves in the right places and a smile that melted his heart. He knew he had one chance to make this work. “Haghmaa.”

“Gesundheit,” Nick covered for Mike’s slip of the tongue with well-practiced ease. “And good morning to you, ma’am. Would it be rude to ask if you could loan us some gas?”

“Well, y’all’re the cutest couple’a city-folk!” The woman clapped her hands, bouncing slightly. “M’name’s Ashe, short for Ashley, n’ I reckon I can help y’all stick ‘round for a bit. See, most folk round these parts don’t take too kindly to city-slickers.”

“Their loss,” Nick played off the slight with ease. “But we’re not looking to stick around. Unfortunately, we’re already running a little late for a hotel.”

“And a dinner!” Mike said, always first to think about food.

“Right. And a dinner. So, as you can see, we’ll need to be on our way soon enough.”

“Shucks, ain’t that a shame,” Ashe sighed. “I’ve got such a hankerin’ for a new neighbor, too. See, I’ve got this farm nextdoor and it’s just beggin’ for a cowgirl to tend it.”

Nick blinked in slight surprise, a strange feeling of nostalgia slipping into his head. While he was positive that he’d been born and raised in the suburbs, he also somehow remembered a life growing up on the range. “R-really? Well, I’m right sorry to hear that,” he said.

Mike blinked, his lips pursing in thought as he wondered why Nick’s reply sounded a bit off to him. Unfortunately, it was also getting a bit harder for him to think as well, especially in this heat. He shifted a bit uncomfortably, wondering if it was okay to ask Ashe for a glass of water.

“Really? Why’s that?” Ashe’s smile only seemed to widen as she studied the two men. Little did they know, there was good reason for her grin: magic. Ashe had been without a neighbor for a bit too long, ever since the last one had gone and ended up mooing in a pasture. She was sure that these replacements wouldn’t ask her for milk on a daily basis… Once she put them in their new role, of course.

“Well, y’know,” Nick blushed, reaching a hand up to his hair and brushing it through his short-cropped locks. They lightened and lengthened slightly, giving him a dirty-blonde mop atop his head. “Happened to run a bit of a farm myself.”

While Nick’s earlier slip of the tongue had gone over Mike’s head, this one happened to be too obvious to mask. “Wait, huh? Wharn yoo rurthed unn thuh thrrurthy?” Unfortunately for him, his tongue happened to get in the way of his words once more.

This time, it wasn’t just from being near a pretty a girl—though she was, ironically, still the source of his discomfort. The spell she’d case on him had lengthened his tongue to the point of discomfort, where it no longer could sit peacefully in his mouth.

“Hush, boy, I’m thinkin’,” Nick dismissed his friend’s concerns with a slight wave, shifting his balance subconsciously. His hands lifted from his sides to his hips, which swelled to provide him a rather pleasant curve to rest his palms on.

“Thinkin’? What about?” Ashe hummed. She took a step towards Mike, enjoying how the man seemed to be rather perplexed as to why his tongue wouldn’t fit in his mouth. She trailed her hand along his short hair, giggling as it receded to an even shorter length.

“Hey, watch it!” Nick cautioned, lifting his hands. “Gotta warn you, he’s a bit anxious ‘round people.”

Nick had no idea that his speech was degenerating further and further from the clipped tones of a city boy. At the same time, he didn’t seem to notice the fact that his tangled hairs had lengthened further, growing well past his shoulders. Somehow, their volume gave them a bit of definition, smooth curls making themselves apparent in his hairstyle.

“Aw, I’m sure he don’t bite. Ain’t that right, boy?” Ashe cood, stroking one of Mike’s ears. She beamed as he leaned into the pets, taking a few steps closer in towards a woman who was increasingly gorgeous to him.

Mike didn’t reply with words, instead only whimpering in content. He felt his head tug from side to side gently as his ears grew larger and pointed. At the same time, it was getting harder to balance, which made Ashe’s proximity a good thing. He fell against her, nuzzling against her shoulder with a surprisingly earnest affection.

“Aw, that’s lucky! Guess he likes you!” Nick winked. “Which means y’all’re good folk. See, he’s the smart one.”

Ashe perked up at that, a sudden idea popping into her head. It would be somewhat funny if that was close to the truth, wouldn’t it? Her smile only widened as she processed the thought, humming as Nick’s chest started to swell.

The motion lifted the man’s shirt, changing it in the process. What started as a plain T-shirt with a Nintendo reference was now a loose-fitting plaid button-up with a Nintendo reference. His undershirt stayed largely the same in appearance, though its hem rose above his navel, exposing a chest that was growing more and more slender with every passing second.

Nick’s eyelids fluttered, and he reached a hand to his head as a wave of fogginess clouded his mind. “H-hol’ up a second hee-ur.” His words took on a dopier tone, gaining a drawl that was a good deal more pronounced than even Ashe’s. “Ah reckin’ sumthin’s off…”

Ashe didn’t reply at first, instead simply giggling as more and more of Nick’s brain went to his boobs, leaving him with a bouncy chest to rival her own. “Say, you don’t happen to have any crushes, do you?” She asked the men. It was so much easier to work magic when the heart was involved.

Nick took to the question almost instantly, pressing his breasts together and swaying his hips. “Way-ull, ah dun thaynk Luke Brahn’s a bit’ve a hunk,” he giggled, picturing himself as one of the dancer in Luke’s videos. Of course, that wouldn’t happen to him, those girls were all starved-thin city chicks.

Mike nodded vigorously, leaning in a little closer to Ashe. His hips pumped slightly once, and the motion was like pushing a snowball at the top of a hill. He humped her again and again, not noticing that each motion of his pelvis dropped him a few inches at a time.

“H-hey thar, down bwah-oy!” Nick stammered, blushing. He pouted, his lips swelling and growing fuller. At the same time, his face slimmed to a distinct heart shape, freckles dotting his crimson cheeks. “Ah’m raht sorry, ‘e don’t yoosually git lahk this ‘round folks.”

Mike groaned, too intoxicated by his feelings to care. His shirt dropped past his slimming shoulders, and his jeans fell to reveal a pair of canine legs. The sight should have been a surprise to everyone present, and yet Ashe passed it off as though it was nothing.

“What can I say? Animals’ve always taken a likin’ t’me. Say, I don’t think I got your names.” Ashe had been saving that question. The change in identity was a very important thing, and one that couldn’t be rushed. Even now, there was something of risk, with the changes not fully finished.

“Hm? Ah’m Carla Rae, n’ this here’s m’boy Rocky. Say hah, Rock!” Nirlae reached down, pulling his pet away from her friend. His? Her? That was odd. Sure, she was a bit of a tomboy, but Narl Rae was sure that she liked guys. And she sure as shootin’ wasn’t gonna let anyone say Carla Rae was one of them queer folk—not that there was anythin’ wrong with that.

Mocke started to lose track of the conversation, not that he’d been holding onto it very well so far. He fell onto his front palms with a huff, and wiggled his forming tail as his master called him by name. Sure, she kept changing it from Rocky to Rock, and that all confused Mockey, but in the end it still made him—wait. She’d asked Rocky to speak!

“Woof! Woof!” The barks were enough to dislodge the glasses from his still-human face, not that that would last long. As Carla Rae stroked his cheeks, they began to lengthen and loosen into a proper bulldog’s jowls, and he gained an ugly-cute face perfect for a guard dog/cuddle companion.

“Aw, thay-ur we go.” Carla Rae chuckled, only to squeak in surprise and discomfort as her jeans shot up into a pair of booty shorts—and with a booty like hers, they pinched the front of her groin something fierce. Luckily, there wasn’t much there to pinch. If she were a guy, there might be some real trouble.

“Somethin’ up?” Ashe chuckled quietly, looking at the two of them and savoring her quiet victory. Two men had once stood on her doorstep. Now one of them was a trailer trash redneck with a love for NASCAR, and the other was a dimwitted, drooling bulldog.

“Nuthin.’ Coulda sworn muh shorts goosed me,” Carla Rae laughed. She staggered slightly as her intelligence dropped a little further. “Aneeways, we’d best be headin’ awn home. Great’tuh meetchuh, neighburr. Gotta get muh NASS-COWUR awn, y’all git me?”

“Oh, I sure do,” Ashe smirked. “Next time y’all wanna chit-chat, feel free to head on in. Door’s unlocked.”

“Whay-ull, ah’d lahk thay-ut uh gray-uht buhntch.” At this point, Carla Rae sounded like something from a cartoon, and while cartoons were certainly in her intellectual wheelhouse, she was totally incapable of realizing how apt the comparison was. “C’mowuhn, Rawhck. We’ve gon’darn’git’sum vroom ow-uhn!”

With that, the two headed down the road once more, away from the only trace of their old lives, and towards their new forever.