The spinning was hard to handle. His body felt like it was tumbling over and over and over again. It had happened before. He remembered being shoved into the washer by his older brother. It had been a joke to his siblings, but as the dream went on, Fox relived the terror of the water flooding in as the machine began to spin his body, knocking his head and feet repeatedly against the metal interior. It hadn't lasted very long, according to his brother, but when Fox was finally let out, he was disoriented, had bruises all over underneath his fur, and threw up a lung-full of water right where he'd fallen out of the machine.

Jolting upright, then flopping back over since he was not used to having to balance in such a way, Fox blinked up at the ceiling and tried to calm his panting breath.

Just a dream.

Noah suddenly appeared above him, his worried expression making Fox raise an eyebrow.

"Are you okay? Whatever you were thinking woke me up," he said, nearly sounding as breathless as Fox felt.

I'm okay. It was just an old nightmare.

"That much anxiety over a nightmare?" Henry mumbled on a yawn as he came into view rubbing at the back of his head, his hair an absolute mess. More so than usual, but who cared? Not him.

I'm a fox, I get anxiety over hawks, cars, garbage cans... and washing machines.

"That last one. Why over washing machines?" Noah asked as he sat down on the edge of Fox's dog bed.

Doesn't really matter.

Fox curled back up on his bed, his annoyingly-big human feet sticking off the edge no matter how hard he tried to tuck them in.

"Are you sure? You seemed really stressed out," Noah pushed as he reached down and gently set a hand on Fox's hair. It was too long and kept falling in front of his eyes, but whenever he tried to move it, it just went right back a moment later.

"Is your hair bothering you? I can cut it for you if you'd like?" Henry asked as he knelt down and reached forward, earning a nip to the tip of his finger as he tried to grab a few strands.

Fox added a swat for good measure, but he felt like the warning wasn't nearly as threatening with his weird human hand. He didn't even have claws, for god's sake.

"Sorry, I know you're not used to me yet," Henry said as he sat down a foot or so away and smiled sleepily. "If you want that hair out of yours eyes, though, I promise I am pretty good at cutting it. I used to work part time at a barbershop, so I know enough to not mess it up."

I don't care what I look like as a human.

Noah gently began moving his fingers through Fox's messy hair as he replied, "it might be a good idea, if you're stuck in your human form for a bit. Being able to see is one of the most important things, believe it or not," he joked.

I don't plan on being in this form a second longer than it makes me. I don't know what's going on, but if I go back to sleep, I'll probably wake up as a fox again, so please excuse me.

Fox nuzzled into his blankets as best he could, but he just wasn't great with his hands yet, so he couldn't pull the heavier ones up over the parts they weren't covering well enough. The heated ones had also timed out, leaving him quite chilly.

"Here, we've got you, Fox," Noah said as he heard him and Henry move about.

He didn't bother looking, but both men worked fast with one pulling up his blankets and tucking them in around him, while the other reset the heated ones and got them going again.

"Better, bud?" Noah asked somewhere off in the distance.

Fox was already half asleep, so he didn't bother trying to create a thought to respond with. He just hoped that he wasn't human the next time he awoke. He was much more used to his fox's body, and without fur, he was always very cold as a human unless he was tucked under all of his blankets.

"I'm sure he'll get used to it," came Henry's response, followed by, "let's get back to bed."

Noah scoffed quietly as the sound of footsteps started to move away from where Fox lay. "If I remember correctly, you were supposed to be sleeping on the couch."

"Hmm, my horribly messed up hair and bruised lips are telling me that you didn't mind me slipping into your room as much as you say," Henry replied with a quiet chuckle, then added; "and you forgot to lock your door, or turn off your light, or t—" The man's words became muffled abruptly, followed by the sound of a thump against the wall.

Fox contemplated seeing what was going on, but he honestly didn't care enough to get out from beneath his warm blankets. He expected to hear other sounds as he drifted off, but to his surprise, the only thing he heard was the sound of a door quietly shutting, then only one set of footsteps returning to the living room before a weight dropped down onto the sofa.

Oh? Look at you behaving you good little veterinarian, he taunted with sarcasm.

"You hush. He's just nervous since you're here," Henry replied, making Fox peak his head out from beneath the blankets.

Stupid human eyes are terrible in the dark. He could only see the blurry outline of the man a few feet away stretched out on the sofa.

Not like I haven't seen it before.

"You really have had quite a life, haven't you?" Henry said quietly as he finished getting comfortable.

I suppose it is a life... and quite one, at that.

"Smart ass."

Darn, that reminds me of one thing I'm really going to miss until I can change back.

"What?"

Licking my own ass. I haven't used toilet paper in years.

"You're a special one," Henry mumbled as he moved on the couch again.

Did you hump Noah yet?

"Did you go to sleep yet?" Henry replied with a grumble.

Ah, the answer is nope then! Good, he's mine.

"What, you want to hump him, kid? I don't think he's interested, and I doubt you can even walk in your human form, let alone get anything up."

Hey! I've humped things before.

"Things, huh? Like what?"

Fox slowly sank back beneath his blankets, his face suddenly warmer than the rest of his body. When several moments passed in silence, Henry shifted on the couch again.

"Are you actually embarrassed? I didn't think that was possible."

Go away.

It wasn't his fault that his instincts went a bit overboard sometimes! Some of his unwise choices for targets of his frustrations were, unfortunately, rocks or small bushes. He didn't want to talk about it.

"I'm not going to poke fun at you for that, kid," Henry said, honestly in his voice. "People do a lot worse things than just hump some random stuff when they're horny."

Fox couldn't argue that. He'd seen things... and might have bitten a few people who were getting way out of hand. He might have been an animal for the majority of his life, but he still knew the difference between yes and no and right and wrong.

"So... have you thought about what you're going to do if you never change back?" Henry asked after a long moment of silence.

Eat. Sleep. Poop. Repeat.

"There's nothing else you'd like to do? Did you ever want to be something when you grew up? Have a specific job or travel to new places?"

Fox thought about those questions, but couldn't really come up with an answer. Had he liked some things as a human? Sure. Pancakes, for one, but he could eat those as a fox, so there was little need to be a person for that.

"What about... going to a recreational place? Do you like swimming? Running? Playing any sports?" Henry asked, seemingly truly interested, for some reason.

I... would rather not run intentionally. I usually save that for when I'm hunting or don't want to be the hunted. I've never really learned how to swim or played a sport, either. Other people seem to enjoy it, but it all seems like a big waste of energy, and in winter? I don't usually have a lot of that.

"Well, Noah and I have passes to the local community center, which happens to be pretty nice. We can each bring a guest and they also allow shifts, too, so you could go as a human or fox."

There's still the winter thing. I don't want to waste my energy.

Henry was quiet for a few seconds before he replied. Fox could hear the smile in the guy's words as he said them. "How about this? If you go with us sometime, I'll cook you whatever you want when we get back home? That way you will get your energy back."

You'll cook me anything... just for going? Do I have to do anything once I'm there?

"Nah, if you don't want to do anything, then just hang out while we do some stuff. Sound fair?"

It feels like a trap, but okay. If I shift back in the morning, I will go with you, but only as a fox. I don't like this body.

"How about an alternative if you can't shift back yet?" Henry asked, making Fox sigh. He didn't like talking to someone for so long... or really, talking to someone at all.

"You secretly love me bugging you," Henry joked with a quiet chuckle, making Fox roll his eyes.

Spit it out. I want to go to sleep.

"If you don't shift back tomorrow, let me or Noah help you learn to walk a bit? Same offer as the recreational facility if you do. Anything you want for dinner."

He didn't like the idea of trying to be upright in his human form again. It had been literal years since he'd been able to walk on two feet, and he had no interest in learning to do so again, but...

I want that adult sushi stuff. He had never had it, but his parents had always loved getting it for their own dinner.

The sense of satisfaction he felt through their bond as Henry replied with "it's a deal," made Fox want to walk back his statement, but he wasn't that kind of animal.

Good, now shut up... please.

A quiet chuckle was Henry's only response, leaving Fox to finally relax and drift off to a much-needed sleep.