User:MatthiasRat/Bathing Alone
 | [[:Category:Paradise|Paradise]] story universe |
[[Setting::Paradise| ]]
{{#if:Work in progress.png|}} | This story is a work in progress. |
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{{#if:Nuvola apps bookcase.png|}} | Works by MatthiasRat on Shifti |
This is the second story of Christopher's life in the Paradise setting. New material will be added to the end unless otherwise noted.
{{#ifeq: User |User| Bathing Alone | Bathing Alone}}[[Title::{{#ifeq: User |User| Bathing Alone | Bathing Alone}}| ]]
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Author: [[User:{{#ifeq: User |User| MatthiasRat | MatthiasRat}}|{{#ifeq: User |User| MatthiasRat | MatthiasRat}}]] [[Author::{{#ifeq: User |User| MatthiasRat | MatthiasRat}}| ]]
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"There!" Rob exclaimed, stabbing at the paper with his pencil. The last question on the network administration homework was complete. As far as he was concerned, it was utter lunacy to give paper homework for a computer class, but his teacher was like eighty years old or something. He probably thought network administration was making sure the card decks got from the programmer to ENIAC in the right order.
Of course, what most irritated him about it was that it had taken him a couple weeks just to get used to handling a pencil again. He stared at his hands, noting the black fur and short claws that tipped each finger. Three weeks ago they'd been human, but now, they were the humanized paws of a skunk.
Rob took the papers, stapled them, and put them away in his backpack. His long tail danced behind him as he sat on his bed. He stretched his toes and yawned wide, long red tongue sliding out of his mouth. When he'd finished stretching, he stared at his room. Three weeks ago it had been a mess. He'd never been very organized, just tossing things wherever it seemed convenient. But the week after he'd changed, Chris had come over and helped him straighten everything out.
And for the first time, Rob felt somewhat intimidated by Chris. That he was now a female bear, taller, and heavier than he was, probably had a lot to do with it. Still, Rob couldn't help but be grateful for all that Chris had done in the last few weeks to help him adjust. He couldn't tell his roommates anything; even though they were all furry, they couldn't see that he'd become a skunk.
They could smell it though. Chris had been right to bring him all those scented candles and potpourri. He'd rather be made fun of for them than for stinking like a dead animal all the time.
Saturday mornings were normally reserved for sleeping in late, drinking coffee, playing games, and then doing homework. Not anymore. Now after his homework was finished, he climbed onto his computer to continue the project that Chris had labored at for six years: to find others like themselves. There had to be other people changed into animal-men out there. It was just a matter of finding them.
Rob dashed his fingers along the keyboard, being careful to strike the keys with the thick calluses instead of the sharp claws. Chris had been searching all wrong as far as he was concerned. His friend focused on identifying people she thought might be changed and sounding them out over weeks. But Chris was terrified of being discovered by the wrong people, though she could never quite say why.
Instead, Rob decided to find a place with heavy traffic, and expose himself. Chris had shown him what happened when they took pictures of themselves. She'd even shown him her photo album chronicling his/her various changes over the years. It was hard to believe that Chris had been a four and a half foot tall rat when they'd first met, and then until a few weeks ago, a female donkey! It was even stranger seeing his friend as a huge brown bear. Despite knowing Chris for over two years, he still had to remind himself that everyone else saw Chris as a guy.
And more importantly, Chris said she — he — wanted to be treated that way.
Last week Rob had gone to Walmart to buy a digital camera. He would have gone to Target where Chris worked, except that Chris would have become a very angry bear if she knew what Rob intended to do with it. What had taken him so long was getting just the right picture, and deciding where to post it.
There was one furry forum that Chris had sometimes trolled that traded stories and engaged in roleplaying, much of it as realistic as possible. Rob signed up, read through the traffic, and figured it was the most likely place for others like themselves to congregate. Now it was time to take a chance.
He churred to himself as he cropped and resized his photo until it met the web forum's standards. He took a deep breath and said a quick prayer as he uploaded it to the site. His long tail flitted behind him as he spent the next ten minutes posting banal replies in popular threads. Elsewhere in the apartment he could hear Trevor and Brett snoring, while Nick was taking a shower. Very typical.
He nearly jumped out of his seat when the phone started to ring. Damn skunk instincts! He used to be cool and collected, but since the change, any sudden noise startled him out of his fur.
It was Chris on the other end. Her deep, feminine growl had a cheery note to it. "Good morning, Rob! Are you free today?"
He scanned his calender. "Sure, what did you have in mind?"
"When was the last time you washed?"
If not for the fact that Chris was helping him adjust to being furry, he would have laughed off such a question. As it was, he hated to admit the answer, "Not since last week. Washing is such a pain, take forever to dry off. And nobody seems to notice."
"They will," Chris replied, a little growl in her voice. "Grab some shampoo and a few towels. Then come over to my place. I wanted to show you where I go when I can."
Rob blinked. "You don't use your shower?"
"At my size? Rob, I can't! And I had trouble when I was a donkey. My hooves might have cracked the tub." He could almost see her smile. "Trust me on this. It'll be fun. Get some towels and shampoo and drive on over. Oh, and bring the dog comb too. You'll need it."
Rob rolled his eyes and laughed. "Fine, Chris. I'll see you in a bit." Rob closed down his computer and gathered everything he'd need. He couldn't help but wonder the whole time what Chris had in mind.
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