FSE

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Part 0: Prologue

>Anon wakes up in a stupor. The first thing he notices is that hes naked.

>Anon looks around and as best he can tell hes in some kind of prison cell.

>'What kind of jail strips you naked?' he thought standing up.

>Jail wasn't all that accurate either, three of his walls were massive concrete blocks easily 15 feet high.

>None of the walls reached the ceiling.

>There was another 15 feet of air to a slanting corrugated tin roof.

>The forth wall was actually a chain link gate, but with a clear plastic shield on the inside.

>Even with the gap between the walls and roof he quickly surmised that climbing out wasn't going to be an option.

>He approached the gate to get a look down the hallway.

>The cell immediately across from him was empty.

>But he could see another man, naked and sleeping, in the cell to the left of it.

>Anon intended to yell out "Hey man what is this place?" but all that came out of his mouth were growls and yelps.

>'What the fuck was that' he thought. He tried speaking, he tried saying the alphabet, he tried singing.

>But only growls and yelps came out.

>As he grew more desperate to speak the volume and shuddering of his 'voice' became worse.

>The other man stirred and began to growl back.

>Soon more voices, male and female, could be heard further down the hall.

>Anon took a step back, the cacophony of animal sounds and the nature of his spartan cell suddenly clicked.

>He was in a people kennel.

>While Anon was trying to process this new information a door at the end of the hallway opened.

>The other humans grew quieter.

>Anon heard barks that sounded nothing like the humans and far louder.

"Hey whats all the commotion, today?" Susan said to the humans.

They had all quieted down now, but it was usually a good idea to check on them when they made this much a fuss.

She walked down the hallway saying nice things to each one as she passed.

>Anon could hear something walking down the hall, something big.

>Wherever it went came more dog-like growling.

>He could feel its approach and he backed further into his cell.

Susan had gotten to the last of the cells, with a chubby little male who was always glad to see her.

She hoped he got adopted soon.

It was never a good idea to have favorites when running the shelter.

But being a hummie lover through and through was why she was here in the first place and she couldn't help it.

She was about to head back to the front office when she sensed something behind her.

She approached the suspicious cell.

>Anon looked up in horror at a giant fucking wolf.

>... that walked on two legs

>... and was wearing blue jeans and a tie-dyed t-shirt?

>His fear was quickly eclipsed by confusion as he wondered, yet again, what the fuck was going on.

>This was not some snarling werewolf from horror films but a slim wolf girl.

>Slim being relative on her 14 foot frame.

>She leaned down and began making those conversational growls he had heard her use on the walk up.

>The look on her face was clearly one of concern.

"Who are you?" Susan said to the human she had never seen before.

Ricardo didn't mention any new strays or drop-offs.

This one was scared to death of her though, and oddly muscular.

It might have been abused, or worse yet used in human fighting.

She wanted to comfort him but knew better given his obviously agitated state.

Since she was just now finding out about him there was a good chance no one had fed him yet.

It was still another couple hours to feeding time, but she reasoned she could make an exception for the new guy.

>Anon just watched as the titanic girl stood back up and walked off.

>Watching her tail sway back and forth, he caught himself checking out the profile of her butt in the jeans.

>Anon shook his head vigorously trying to make sense of things.

>Anon was a person-dog, in a world of dog-people.

>Or was it the opposite?

>He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice the return of wolf girl until her shadow was over him.

>She opened a small hatch at the base of the cage and pushed a dish in.

>After a few more indecipherable growls she walked away.

>Anon approached the dish which contained some vaguely kibble like food with water poured over it.

>Anon didn't see a spoon, and then realized it was probably foolish to expect one.

>He picked up a chunk of the stuff with his hands and ate a bit of it.

>It had the consistency of cold hamburger, and tasted like weak gravy.

>Gravy that someone had forgotten to salt and pepper.

>Still it was better to focus on his odd provisions than his even odder situation.

---

Part 1: The Weirdo.

>Five days had passed since he first woke up in the kennel.

>Anon had learned a lot though.

>Firstly this wasn't a world of just dog-people.

>There were cat-people, deer-people, and fox-people too.

>All kinds of giant animal people had walked through the place talking in the same growl language.

>Some were employees like wolf girl, a big tiger guy was the other one he saw frequently.

>But most were looking at the humans, some had even taken humans with them when they left.

>On a leash.

>Yeah leashes took some getting used too.

>They didn't really have yard time or anything.

>But twice a day each human would be leashed and walked to the far end of the hall.

>There was a sort of astro-turf area where they popped a squat and did their business.

>It was immensely demeaning, especially when the wolf girl was on duty.

>The tiger guy couldn't care less, but she was so encouraging and attentive during the process.

>It made him feel like a toddler.

>But that was something else he learned.

>Even though he couldn't speak anymore, he knew he was different from the other humans.

>They were totally pet like in their behavior and mentality.

>At first he thought maybe it was an act, but any attempt to communicate with them in the night had failed.

>They were as confused by his hand signals as any untrained dog would be at home.

>He decided the safest course of action would be to just act like them until he could gather more information.

>Anon had briefly considered escape, if he could tear the plastic off the fence gate, he could easily scale out.

>But given his lack of knowledge on this world, he wasn't sure he would fare much better than being in his cell.

>He had a hunch this was a no-kill shelter. He only saw humans leave with adopting animal people.

>Which was something that had gotten to him, most of the animal people were less than warm to Anon.

>Maybe it was because he wasn't soft like the other humans here.

>He worked out constantly in his cell to keep his mind busy.

>Anon never wore a stupid grin like the other humans either, there was a limit to how much he would pretend.

>If only to preserve what little dignity he had left.

>Still he wasn't seeing an out to this situation anytime soon.

>Short of waking up in his bed as magically as he had arrived here, it was either escape or adoption.

>Anon stopped his current set of push-ups short when he heard the door to the office opened.

>Two sets of animal-people footsteps were walking down the hall and 'talking' to each other.

>Anon had heard enough at this point to recognize wolf girl, and know that the other person was female.

"So what makes you want to get a human?" Susan asked the red panda girl.

"Oh my family has always had humans, but I couldn't have one in college." she replied.

"But I'm on my own now, so it's about time"

"What did you study?" Susan asked as they walked down the hall inspecting the other humans.

"Art, over at State" said the red panda girl tapping on the plastic of a dozing females kennel.

"Who has been here the longest? I'm not particular about looks I just want a human to cuddle with"

"I'd rather take one that needs a home, than one I think looks cool, you know" she said turning to the wolf.

Susan beamed, this was her favorite kind of human owner.

"Well, there's Dancer, and Little Tony, and ..." she paused slightly "... and the Weirdo."

The panda girl laughed, "who's the weirdo?" she said looking around.

Susan motioned for her to follow her down to the end of the hall.

"He's only been here five days, and I don't like the nickname Ricardo gave him, but it kinda fits."

"How? I have to know what a human does to be called a weirdo." she said laughing again.

"Well for one hes kind of intense, at first I thought he was abused or something, but hes good on the leash."

"He just kind of stares through you. Not in a creepy way, it's like hes trying to figure something out."

"Also hes..." she paused and gestured to the human in question.

"Oh my god he's ripped." the panda girl giggled. "Did someone give a human steroids or something?"

"No, even better, he works out." Susan said with a grin.

"What?" the panda asked flatly.

"Yeah, we have these little security cameras high in the ceiling to keep an eye on them."

She pointed to one of the black hemispheres on the rafter.

"Whenever no one is in the room, the weirdo is working out."

"Like sit ups, push ups, I swear I even saw him doing yoga once."

"No way" said the panda girl.

She was leaning down to get closer to eye level with the human.

Susan was right, he definitely had a unique way of looking at people.

>Anon had been inspecting the red panda girl while the two chatted.

>The floral patterned long skirt over her wide hips and large bottom.

>The dark green spaghetti string tank top that revealed her ample cleavage.

>The home made looking wooden jewelry necklace and multiple ear piercings.

>The well worn flip-flops and large heavily ornamented purse.

>Just going on the style choices from back home, she was giving off a stoner / hippie vibe.

>She was about a head shorter than wolf girl, a diminutive 12 feet or so.

>But when she leaned down she was almost eye level to him.

>Which was a struggle for him to maintain given the crazy view of her bosom she was showing off.

>She stared at him for a while, longer than any of the other animal people had maintained eye contact.

>Eventually she said something with a wide grin on her face.

"Really?" said Susan.

"Yeah, I'll take him, we weirdos have to stick together." said the panda girl waving at the human.

>Anon almost put his hand up to wave back, but he had never seen one of the pet-humans wave, so he stopped himself.

"Well lets go fill out the paperwork. What was your name again?" said Susan.

"Oh man, I'm so rude, I spaced on the introductions." panda girl said following the wolf "My name is Hannah."

---

Part 2: The Ride Home.

>Anon had a funny feeling about how the two girls were talking as they walked back to the office.

>It wasn't long before his suspicions were confirmed.

>The wolf girl opened the cage, and the red panda produced a thin black leash from her purse.

>Anon started keeping pace with the girl who was obviously his new owner.

>All three walked out into the office and Anon got to see something of this world other than the kennel.

>The two girls chatted while he looked over the posters on the wall and magazines on a small table.

"Yeah thank you so much for showing me around" Hannah said to Susan.

"I just hope you and Weirdo are happy, though I hope you give him a better name." Susan said with a chuckle.

"Oh no chance. It's too perfect." Hannah said looking down at Anon.

"Hey you should come by my place sometime, after Weirdo gets settled."

"I'm planning on having a little party at the end of the month if you would like to come to that"

"Yeah that sounds fun." said Susan, pulling out her phone.

>As the two girls exchanged contact info Anon was figuring out the letters of this alphabet.

>Speaking to and understanding the speech of the people here was off the table.

>But reading and writing should still be an option.

>Anon felt a slight tug on his leash, and realized that the red panda girl was leaving.

>He briefly became aware of his nudity, which he had become accustomed to in the kennel.

>He was anxious to step outside naked, but realized that feeling really belonged to his old world.

>Everything looked familiar but scaled up to the worlds proper inhabitants.

>Red Panda girl was leading him to a massive grey sedan of a car. It looked fairly new.

>Apart from the variety of bumper stickers on the back.

>The Kennel was situated on a rural road, he couldn't see any other buildings around.

>He had to keep in mind that the situation with panda girl might not work out.

>He would really like to be able to get back to wolf girl as a back up plan.

>Panda girl had opened the passenger door for him, but didn't wait for him to climb in.

>Instead he found her hands sliding under his armpits, and he was effortlessly lifted into the seat.

>Anon was shocked to be handled so easily as she said something with a huff.

"oof, you are denser than you look" said Hannah.

"Now come 'ere. We have to preserve the moment."

>The panda girl squatted next to Anon and pulled him into a tight hug.

>Anons face was squished into the left breast of his titty monster owner.

>Her plump arms and soft fur did nothing to mute the casual strength she displayed.

>Anon looked up and saw her phone in her right hand.

>A flash later and his confused face was caught in her smiling selfie.

She closed the door and walked around to the drivers side.

Typing quickly she posted the photo on social media.

[Meet Weirdo, my new human! :P] she alerted her friends.

>Anon watched her get in and they were quickly driving away from the kennel.

>The problem was his perspective, sitting so low in the seat he couldn't see much of where they were going.

>He tucked his legs under himself in an attempt to sit higher and see out the passenger window.

>He spotted signs as they progressed down the winding country road.

>Eventually they got to something that looked like a smallish town.

>Anon was busy trying to remember land marks, but he kept getting distracted by the "people" watching.

>Twenty minutes of city driving later and they were in the suburbs.

>Anon had to sadly admit that he had lost his orientation as they pulled up to a single story brick building.

>Panda girl got out of the car, and grabbed his leash.

>Anon waited for her to open the door, but she just patted her thigh and said something.

"C'mon, we're home now" Hannah said in a gentle voice.

>Anon climbed over the central console and jumped down onto the driveway.

As Hannah lead her human to the front door she let her tail casually sweep into him.

She was hoping to bring out a playful side to her bewildered little Weirdo.

>Anon was hypnotized by the generous swaying hips walking in front of him.

>He didn't really feel like he was staring given that they were level with his head.

>However every other step brought with it the poofy red tail smacking him in the face and chest.

>He resisted the urge to bat it away, not wanting to appear aggressive, besides it had a pleasing odor.

>She had perfumed her tail with something floral and earthy, that he couldn't quite identify.

>As she opened the front door he simply let the tail rest on his shoulder.

>She walked in and he followed, unsure of what to expect from his new home.

---

Part 3: Home is Where the Hemp is.

>Anon surveyed the living room, it had a strong smell of incense.

>It was very much in the style of "fresh out of college".

>A few second hand sofas with some throw blankets over the back.

>A cheap entertainment center housed a decent (though massive to Anon) tv and some game consoles.

>There was a well worn coffee table that had a water bong and a wooden box that he could guess the contents of.

Hannah removed the leash from Weirdo's collar to let him roam around.

>Anon walked into the next room, the kitchen.

>A few dirty dishes, and an older looking fridge, but mostly cleaner than he expected.

>There was a sliding glass door going to a fenced in back yard.

>A small patio had a metal fire pit and some wrought iron table and chairs with a hookah as the center piece.

Hannah was leaning in the doorway, watching Weirdo wander around.

She was texting a friend [I feel like my human is judging me for how I live. lol]

[Hes walking from room to room and I'm embarrassed I didn't clean up first.]

>Anon walked past his owner tapping away on her phone.

>Down the hallway he briefly glanced in the bathroom.

>Standard shower and sink, but weirdly no toilet.

>Instead it was one of those in-the-ground things that he had seen in other countries back home.

>Maybe creatures with tails universally preferred squatting?

>Next down the hall was the bedroom, more second hand furniture, and a bit messier than the rest of the house.

>Piles of clothes, opened disorganized closets, and a cluttered dresser dominated the space.

>One final room at the end of the hall, a second bedroom that she was using for an office?

>More like a computer room. A big dual monitor rig, on a massive desk that all looked very new.

>Behind that were bookcases loaded down with everything from comics to college textbooks.

>The room was littered with figurines, posters, and all kinds of, well, nerd shit.

>He was curious as to why this one room was immaculate and organized but figured he would find out in time.

>Anon turned around and bumped into a red furry tree trunk.

>He almost fell over but was more shocked at how quietly his huge owner moved in behind him.

"Oh, watch out little guy" Hannah said rubbing the startled humans head.

>Anon hated to admit it, but her hand, paw, whatever, was actually comforting.

>He closed his eyes and smiled slightly as she scratched his head.

"Aww" was all Hannah could say, glad to finally see her high strung pet relaxing a bit.

She walked back to the living room.

>Anon followed closely behind her.

>He was eager to get into those books and try and learn the language.

>But right now he really wanted to stay with her.

>The little bit of physical contact so far made him realize just how starved for it he was in the kennel.

>Besides his original plan was to pretend to be a good pet.

>The better he pulled that off now, the more free time he would have later for research.

Hannah sunk into the couch and turned on the TV.

>Anon waited, unsure if he was allowed on the furniture.

Hannah noticed him by her leg and picked him up, she laid him down next to her.

>Anon was going to take a while to get used to being handled like that.

>Resting his head on her generous thigh was a comforting reward for the brief indignity.

>As he was trying to make sense of the TV program, his owner reached for the wooden box on the coffee table.

>His suspicions were confirmed as the odor of weed emanated from it.

>She pulled a pipe out of the box and packed a bowl for herself.

>He never really partook, but Anon had no strong judgments against the habit.

>All things considered this was way better than the kennel, and his situation could be a lot worse.

---

Part 4: The First Mistake.

>Anon awoke on the couch. It took him a moment to get his bearings.

>It was dark outside so he must have been sleeping for a while.

>He wasn't sure when he fell asleep, but the panda girl, who he resolved to simply call Red, wasn't around.

>She had covered him in a blanket from the couch, and he took a moment to appreciate that.

>However there was a smell of food coming from the kitchen, which was probably what woke him up.

>He rubbed his eyes as he walked into the other room.

>Red was standing in front of the oven, still wearing her green tank top.

>She had lost the skirt and flip flops, wearing only a pair of boxer briefs.

>He could just barely see over the table which had a large plate with most of a sandwich on it.

>The smell from the pan was unmistakably that of bacon frying up.

>Anon briefly considered the ethical ramifications of meat eating in world of sentient animal people.

>Then Red began to speak.

"Hey sleepy head. Done with your nap?" she said looking down at Weirdo.

His eyes were firmly fixed on the pan of bacon, though.

"This is for mommy." she said pointing to the bacon with her spatula.

"But let me get you some human food."

>Red was transferring the bacon to a plate with a paper towel.

>Anon watched as she went to the closet and got out a tin bowl, which she set on the counter.

>She pulled out a bag with a goofy cartoon human on it and poured out some kibble.

>At the sink she lightly covered the kibble with water and set it down in front of Anon.

>He sat down and started eating while she finished building her sandwich.

"You really are weird" she said with a smirk "My old humans used to loose their mind at dinner."

"You know what? For being such a good boy here's a treat."

>Red leaned down and deposited a single strip of bacon on the edge of Anons bowl.

>Though a single strip doesn't really describe it properly it was closer in size to a small steak for him.

>Anon took a single bite of the crispy meat and nearly cried.

>He wasn't sure if it was genuinely good bacon or if six days worth of kibble made it so, but it was amazing.

>He intended to savor it, taking a few bites of the bland kibble and then finishing with a healthy bite of bacon.

Hannah hadn't taken so much as a bite from her sandwich she was so amazed watching Weirdo.

Most humans ate their food so quickly they would genuinely make themselves sick if you didn't control their portions.

But her Weirdo was taking his time.

He was even rationing out the bacon, almost like he was consciously savoring it.

It was the most bizarre thing she had ever seen a human do.

>Anon finished up without realizing how much of a spectacle he was for Red.

>He stood up and noticed she had only just started eating.

>He felt slightly guilty about leaving a dirty bowl on the floor, but he had a role to play.

>So he snuggled up next to her as she ate.

>She scratched his head and said something.

"Cuteness won't buy you a place at the table" she said through a mouthful of BLT.

That was always a hard and fast rule to maintain for humans.

Eventually she picked up her phone to check some of her media accounts and casually finished the sandwich.

>Anon took the opportunity to explore the house unsupervised.

>He was looking at her books when he realized that the kitchen was probably a better place to start language research.

>If this world has bacon he could probably decode stuff a lot faster using food labels.

>Still any research he was going to do would need to be done while she was out of the house.

>Which all depended on her job or social life.

>Hopefully she wasn't a full-on pothead NEET.

>Worse yet what if she had some kind of "human-friendly" job?

>She seemed like the type, and that would basically have him stuck by her side 24/7.

>Anon shrugged, no use worrying about unknowns this early in the relationship.

>In any case his stomach was grumbling. That bacon wasn't playing well with the kibble.

>Anon walked into the bathroom and used the floor toilet thing.

>A single square of toilet paper folded over twice was more than enough for him.

>'You don't know what a luxury this stuff is until you don't have it' he thought remembering the kennel.

>Anon stood up and took a piss. As he reached for the handle, he froze.

>What the fuck was he doing? Humans don't use toilets here. Shit.

>Anon heard Red coming down the hallway loudly saying something.

>'shit shit shit' thought Anon.

Hannah heard the sound of peeing from the kitchen, and got up from the table.

"Weirdo, you better not be peeing on my floors" Hannah said loudly.

She secretly blamed herself for not taking him outside after he finished eating.

But right now she was just concerned about where he had done his business.

She stopped in the door frame of the bathroom.

>Anon looked up to Red, she was as confused as he was mortified.

>His hand still hovered over the toilet lever.

>'In for a penny, in for a pound' Anon thought as he pulled it down to get rid of the waste.

>The only solution now was to make the situation so ridiculous that no one would believe her if she told them.

"What the fuck..." Hannah whispered to herself.

---

Part 5: The First Night

>Anon was trying not to panic as the seconds audibly ticked by from the clock on the wall.

Hannah stared at her human, who seemed petrified in the moment.

She burst out laughing.

"Holy shit" she said between laughs, "That's amazing."

She was doubled over laughing as she approached Anon and pulled him into a great big hug.

>Anon was getting smothered, which would have been somewhat pleasant if he knew he was in the clear.

"What a clever guy" she said kissing him on the forehead.

>OK maybe his read on the situation wasn't quiet what he initially thought.

>As Red carried him back to the kitchen he thought about the sequence of events.

>She clearly heard him peeing, then came down the hall, and caught him flushing the toilet.

>Maybe she didn't see the toilet paper, that might have been a step too far.

>But perhaps peeing and flushing wasn't that unusual a thing to teach a human?

While Anon pondered his increasingly bizarre situation Hannah grabbed her phone from the kitchen.

She plopped down on the couch in a heap with Weirdo in her lap.

She was texting, whats her name from the kennel? Susan.

[You never told me Weirdo was toilet trained!]

A few seconds later she got a response of [???]

[I just caught him peeing in my toilet, and he flushed! :)]

[Oh my god, that's incredible. I wonder what psycho trained him to do all this stuff?]

[idk, but he's mine now. lol]

[It makes sense though, he was always anxious when I took him for breaks at the kennel.

If he's been trained to use a toilet he must have thought he was being naughty going on the floor.]

[Oh poor guy, well I'll be sure to let him know I appreciate it. ttyl]

She put her phone down and kissed Weirdo on the back of the head.

>Anon figured that what he did couldn't have been that bad.

>If it resulted in this much snuggling and affection, how could it be?

>Still that was too close a call.

>Being an above average pet in cleverness was a good enough cover.

>But there was far too much stuff he had planned that he would need to keep on the down low.

>As they watched another hour of TV, he decided he would repeat what he did at the kennel.

>Stick to a routine, observe everything, and play the pet.

>At least for a week, maybe more, he had to learn more about his new owner before trying anything.

>Though he was struggling to stay awake right now.

>His owner was terribly comfy to sit on. He wiggled a bit to wake himself up.

"Yeah it's getting to be that time Weirdo" Hannah said with a yawn.

She turned off the TV and set the human down.

He followed her to the bathroom, where she brushed her teeth.

Then to the bedroom where she searched through one of the piles of clothes.

She found her favorite sleeping t-shirt and peeled off the tank top.

>Anon's eyes got as big as saucers as the largest pair of breasts he had ever seen were casually freed from the top.

>If scenes like this were going to be common place then he REALLY didn't want her to know he was more than a pet.

>A woman scorned is one thing, a twelve foot tall animal woman scorned is several more things he didn't want.

>She put on the pink t-shirt and turned off the lights.

>As she crawled into bed Anon looked around confused. There was no dog, er, human bed that he could identify.

>Red rolled over and patted the mattress as she said something inviting.

"It's ok, you can sleep up here with me" she said to Weirdo.

>Anon didn't need to be asked twice.

>It was cumbersome climbing into the bed.

>It was at chest height to him and soft enough that his hands sank in considerably.

>He got up high enough to do a sort of roll combined with a leg swing maneuver.

>Red was laughing at him again, which made him glad to have finally figured out what that sound was.

>Her hand reached around his middle and pulled him in close.

>One of his previous girlfriends liked being "the big spoon."

>It was never right with someone smaller than him, more like a backpack than a big spoon.

>But in this situation he was definitely "the little spoon".

>Her body heat to his back.

>Her arm across his chest.

>His head nuzzled up to her breasts.

>This world wasn't all bad.

---

Part 6: Anons day out.

>Anon was deep asleep when suddenly the wind was knocked out of him.

>The morning light was barely peaking through the window as he struggled to free himself.

>He was being pinned by something massive.

>As his eyes adjusted he could make out the the red fur of his new owner.

>Yesterdays events came rushing back to him and he realized what had happened.

>Red had shifted in her sleep, his left shoulder and arm was pinned under her hip.

>Her massive thigh had landed squarely on his chest.

>Luckily her kneecap landed between his legs, far below his crotch.

>That little bit of luck aside he was still immobilized by just one of her legs.

>He worked on freeing his arm first, which wasn't that hard once he caught his breath.

>Pushing with both arms he was able to pivot underneath her.

>Eventually only one leg was stuck and he was able to pull it free.

>Throughout the whole ordeal she barely stirred. Just some sleepy grumbling on her part.

>He looked back at her before sliding off the bed.

>Splayed out on the sheets with her tail draped across her back, she was cute.

>She would have been cuter if she hadn't nearly pressed him to death in her sleep, but still.

>Anon walked to the kitchen; he shook his head after he arrived realizing the futility of it.

>It's not like he could put on an apron and make breakfast.

>Instead he just walked through the house, trying as best he could to learn about his owner by its contents.

>He noticed pictures of family and friends he hadn't payed attention to yesterday.

>Normally he would have felt like a creep looking at someone else's stuff like this.

>But there really wasn't anything to do until Red woke up.

>As if on cue, she came strolling down the hallway.

"Morning, Weirdo" she said with a wide yawn.

He walked up to her side and she scratched his head.

"Sleep well?" she mused, opening the fridge.

>Breakfast was quick, no bacon strip this time.

>She showered and dressed.

>She wore a broad straw hat, with spaces for her ears to poke through, and huge sunglasses.

>Plus some loose hippy clothes and jewelry to complete what Anon assumed was her typical look.

>Soon anon was back on the leash and in the passenger seat.

>They rode into town and she pulled up to a plain building.

>Once inside he recognized the sound of lots of humans.

>At first he feared it was some kind of human vet and he was going to get the snip.

>But the business quickly revealed itself to be a human grooming salon.

>Humans were sitting in very crude looking barber chairs, some were strapped down.

>Hair was getting trimmed, finger and toenails were getting clipped.

>And all of it was being done by three animal people.

>A dour looking lady goat, a youngish looking fox girl, and a jaguar man?

>Ocelot maybe? Anon couldn't place the species.

>But even with the language barrier Anon could tell he was ...flamboyant.

>About thirty minutes of waiting resulted in them getting called over by Pink Panther.

>Anon was actually relieved to have him as a groomer after observing all three.

>Goat lady didn't give a shit and was strapping everyone down super tight.

>Fox girl was producing a lot of blood just from trimming nails and didn't appear all that confident at the job.

>Red picked Anon up and put him on the table.

>Anon walked over to the chair and took a seat.

>Red and Pink Panther exchanged a glance and laughed.

>Shit. That was another thing he probably shouldn't have known to do.

>Pretending to be dumb was was turning out to be much harder than expected.

>Anyways Pink Panther proved to be a total professional.

>A quick hair trim, careful around the ears, and he didn't forget the back of the neck.

>The shave was equally well done, and the sanding of the nails.

>There was this weird moment where he pointed directly at Anons crotch.

>Red just squinted her nose and shook her head.

>Anon was pretty sure she just declined a manscaping and for that alone he would be eternally grateful.

>As Red payed, Anon rubbed his hair, this being a pet thing was proving pretty cool in some respects.

>The next stop on their little trip was fairly obvious from the outside.

>A head shop.

>Oh fuck, was this where she worked?

>Once inside Red was greeted by all the people behind the counter, one of the customers even said something to her.

>She picked out some incense and was browsing at some of the stuff behind the glass.

>'Ok so she's just shopping' Anon thought to himself a little relieved.

>Maybe she's just friends with these people.

>Or is she one of those people that visits work on her day off? Ugh.

>A tall goat dude walked up to Red. He bleated something down at Anon.

>Anon just looked up confused.

"He doesn't know sit?" Shawn asked incredulously.

"I guess not." said Hannah a little puzzled.

"Weirdo here knows all sorts of stuff, I hadn't thought to try typical human tricks."

"Oh you got to train your human right." Shawn said nodding to himself.

"You know I could come over and give you a hand if you wanted..."

"I've been training humans my whole life" Hannah said "But thanks for the offer."

"Cool, cool, cool" the goat muttered, unable to salvage the conversation.

"I think I'll just get the incense today" Hannah said a bit more chipper this time.

"I'll ring you up over at the front register"

>Anon was beginning to understand the value of body language, now that speech was denied to him.

>For instance, that goat guy got shot down. Hard.

>Like don't even bother searching the wreckage, no survivors, shot down.

>They had a pretty busy day after that.

>They hit a pet shop, an outdoor produce market, and a grocery store (for beer).

>By the end of it Anon was exhausted.

>Keeping pace with someone twice his size was a bit more cardio than he was used to.

>He did get one thing out of it.

>Red introduced him to so many people today that he was pretty sure what his name was.

>He had no clue how to write down that pattern of growls but he knew it when he heard it now.

>Later, after Red had finished making dinner she grabbed one of the bags from the pet sop.

>From it she produced a new collar, leather, like a belt but with softer material on the inside and edge.

>As she put it on him he inspected the bronze tag on the front.

>And now he knew what his name looked like.

---

Part 7: Training Day

>Anon awoke just before sunup.

>Red had rolled towards the window in her sleep, so there was no struggle for freedom.

>Instead her tail was laying on his chest.

>It was tempting to cuddle up to it, like a body pillow, but he was pretty sure that would wake her.

>He simply laid there for a few moments unsure if moving the tail was a good idea.

>The issue became moot as she yawned and stretched in the bed, her tail rising to smack him in the face.

>She climbed out and Anon followed.

>Another breakfast like yesterday, but she seemed to be in no rush this morning.

>Lots of messing around on her phone.

>She poured herself a bowl of cereal and took it into the living room.

>She watched some animal people version of one of those home remodeling shows for a couple hours.

>It was nice being all snuggled up on the couch, but goddamn this was boring.

>Anon didn't like these kind of shows even when he understood the language.

>It was almost midday before she changed out of her sleeping clothes.

>Though the sweatpants and tank-top lead anon to believe they weren't exactly going out on the town.

>She opened the sliding glass door to the backyard and gestured for Anon to go outside.

>As he walked past her Red laughed and said something.

"Couldn't care less, huh?"

Weirdo kept surprising her, most humans would have ran out the door without a second thought.

>It was a smallish backyard, in proportion to the patio at least.

>There was a grill off to the side that he hadn't seen before, and a small shed.

>Given the rust and spiderwebs on the grill it didn't appear to get much use or care.

>Red walked past him out into the grass.

>Anon was busy thinking about how the grass was getting a little wild. It had been mowed but not recently.

>Red said something authoritative and loud, while patting her thigh.

"COME" Hannah repeated.

Weirdo walked out through the grass to her.

She scratched his head "Good boy, now STAY"

She started walking away.

>Anon decided to follow, when she turned around and practically yelled that last word at him.

>Anon stopped moving and it finally made sense. She was doing commands.

>This was going to be annoying.

>Anon stood still until she did what he assumed was the "come here" thing again.

>As he jogged over she yelled the other thing.

>He stopped, and couldn't help but feel like a kid doing that red light green light game.

>At least she was smiling.

>She repeated the "come" command, so he jogged up to her.

>She squatted down and rubbed his head and said cutesy things to him.

>In any case at least she was really happy. 'Maybe I'll get more bacon with dinner' he thought.

>Anon was briefly mad at himself.

>Doing dumb tricks for bacon? Is that what his life had become?

>On the other hand, isn't that what his old job was? Just a series of dumb tricks for bacon, except with bills?

>As Anon was distracted by his philosophical conundrum Red moved her hand behind his legs.

In a swift motion Hannah bent his knees with one hand and pressed down on his shoulder with the other.

"SIT" she said to the confused looking human.

>Being forced into a squat like that was very disorienting.

>Especially with the uncomfortable felling the tall grass was producing on his 'undercarriage'.

>Red let him go and he stood back up.

>She repeated the command and Anon assumed the position.

>Doing squats reminded him that it had been a few days since he got to work out.

>The kennel, for all its faults, had provided him with an abundance of alone time.

>Once Red was done heaping praise on him she lead him back into the house.

>She still had bags of stuff from yesterdays shopping excursion on the kitchen table.

>From the pet shop bag she got out a package of some kind of human treat.

>She gave the squat command again and Anon obliged, after which she leaned down and gave him his reward.

>It was like jerky almost. Not the good stuff, but still much better than kibble.

>Red was walking to the computer room, when she stopped and looked down at Anon quizzically.

>She sat down on the floor of the hallway and grabbed Anon's shoulders.

>He was sort of forced to lay down on the floor.

>She said something, but it sounded more like talking to herself than a command.

"I wonder if Susan was just fucking with me..." Hannah said.

Hannah assumed a push-up position.

She was able to do a few, but quickly realized a couple things.

First, this tank top was in no way ideal for exercise.

Secondly that she was hopelessly out of shape.

>Anon was bemusedly watching his owner pound out some push-ups with abysmal form.

>Though he rather enjoyed the show the tank top was producing.

>She quickly quit and just looked at him with that puzzled expression again.

>It was like she was expecting something...

>Shit, did she know about him working out?

>Did the kennel people know? Did they tell Red?

>Anon had to decide quick.

>He could either disappoint and confuse her or do what she was obviously trying to get him to do.

Hannah pulled herself up to her knees, maybe Susan made the exercise stuff up?

She was about to stand up when Weirdo started doing his push-ups.

Her jaw dropped, she wanted to get a video of it but her phone was back in the living room.

Instead she just watched, giggling to herself.

'Man, he can do a lot' she thought as Weirdo kept going.

It was amazing for her to see because humans didn't have fur.

So she could see all his muscles working.

The tension in his back and legs, the flexing of his arms...

"Lets not focus on that, or I'll be the weirdo' she thought to herself.

>Anon wasn't counting but he figured that was enough to make the point.

>He stood up to find Red sitting on her knees.

>Her hands were over her mouth, unable to hide her huge smile.

>She clapped her hands cheerfully and pulled Anon into another one of her bear hugs.

>A happy owner was better than the alternative.

>At least now he might be able to get some workouts in without wasting alone time on it.

>Red's embrace lingered a bit longer than either of them were expecting.

>A ringing alarm from the living room punctuated the silence.

>Red stood up and fetched her phone.

>Anon followed her as she walked into her computer room.

>She picked up a black hoodie that was laying across her chair.

>There was a graphic on the top right of a cartoon red panda at a keyboard.

>Anon watched as she got a variety of programs up and running.

>She put on a headset, which was oddly shaped for animal people ears.

>Adjusting her webcam she began talking into it.

>Suddenly her voice and mannerisms took a serious uptick in energy and volume.

>She turned to Anon and picked him up.

"Everyone say hello to my new human!!!"

"His name is Weirdo and hes my little cuddle bug!"

>Anon was pulled into another tight hug and his face and neck showered with kisses.

>He was unceremoniously plopped down on the floor.

>On one screen she was running a game that was loading up.

>On the other was a web browser with a copy of the first and her webcam feed in the lower left.

>Anon left the room chuckling to himself.

>She was a streamer. She plays video games for a living.

>After the hilarity of the situation wore off, his analytical side started taking over.

>This meant she was going to be home a lot more than he hoped.

>But he wouldn't be dragged anywhere out of the home.

>Also she would have to be in front of the camera for a while.

>It was far from the ideal but he could make do with pseudo-alone time.

>Anon went to the living room.

>He might as well get a workout in since he was already warmed up.

---

Part 8: The Party

>It had been almost three weeks since Red took Anon home.

>Red's streaming time became his workout time.

>It was too risky to do anything other than that while she was in the house.

>At first she took him everywhere, even on ten minute errands around town.

>His only alone time was in the early hours of the morning before she woke up.

>He was able to get into the closets and dressers to find stuff that might be useful.

>He took a pen and notebook from her old college supplies and kept them under the frame of her bed.

>What little time he had to himself he used to write down words he picked up off labels or television.

>But he was making slow progress until the end of the first week.

>That night she took Anon out to a 'human-friendly' bar where she met up with friends.

>The place was loud and crowded.

>Worst of all he found interacting with the other humans extremely disturbing.

>Anon stayed very close to Red to avoid having to deal with any of them.

>He got the impression that she left early, but was glad to be out of there.

>Unbeknownst to him, she mistakenly thought he had some kind of anxiety around crowds.

>After that Red left Anon at home more often in order to avoid stressing him out.

>His progress rapidly increased after that.

>Like everything else in this world the language was alien, but not too alien.

>Soon he was picking out roots of words and building a very large vocabulary.

>After the second week he felt safe in using the computer.

>Only when she was out of the house though, that damn mechanical keyboard was too loud otherwise.

>Anon was always careful to delete his history and never mess with any of her tabs.

>It was risky, but it was simply too useful for looking things up to ignore.

>The internet informed him that humans don't have the same hearing range as the animal people.

>That explained why the reading and writing was coming along so well yet the spoken language was so hard.

>Aside from the commands she had directly taught him he could not successfully match what he heard to what he read.

>Anon learned a lot about his owner.

>He learned that she was 23. That she had an art degree, but started out pre-med.

>He learned that she made an embarrassingly large amount of money streaming.

>But she had only been doing it for the last year and a half, and appeared to live pretty frugally.

>He also learned that she named him "Strange", or some variation of that.

>Without being able to pair sounds he found names much harder to translate.

>So even though he knew her name, to him she was still just Red.

>He had clearly lucked out on getting adopted by her.

>From what he could tell via the internet she was a very kind human owner.

>Kind enough that Anon was beginning to feel guilty about the situation he was in.

>He was after all only pretending to be a pet.

>He shared her house, her food, her bed...

>Now that he had the option of communication, everything could change if he wanted it to.

>Of course he was also painfully aware of how his situation could change for the worse.

>The risk of a negative reaction outweighed any benefit to be gained for the time being.

>But the longer he kept his secrets the more he felt a negative reaction was likely to occur.

>Anon had put such thoughts on hold today because Red was a flurry of activity.

>She had spent the morning mowing the back yard.

>Which had been neglected long enough to make it unreasonably difficult.

>Every inch of the house was getting cleaned, even the permanently messy bedroom.

>There was one gut wrenching moment where she was reaching under the bed for more clothes.

>Anon feared she might accidentally discover his notes.

>Luckily all she found was socks.

>As the afternoon approached she went out and came back with several loads of groceries.

>Anon browsed through the kitchen as she was filling a cooler with ice and beer.

>Veggie tray, chips, dip, some of those pre-made kebabs from the butcher...

>Clearly a party of some kind was underway.

>Hopefully no one would bring over other humans.

>Aside from that he was kind of looking forward to it.

>As Red was setting some of the food out on the kitchen table there was a knock on the door.

>Anon followed Red as she went to answer it.

Hannah wondered who would be at the door.

She had invited people over at seven but she never expected any of her friends to be on time.

"Hey!" said Susan as Hannah opened the door.

>Red exchanged greetings with the wolf girl from the kennel as Anon stood back.

>Eventually Red welcomed her into the house and she approached Anon.

>Squatting down the wolf girl rubbed his head with both paws.

>She was a bit more hands on than she had been at the kennel, but part of him was glad to see her all the same.

"So, Weirdos been doing well then? He looks healthy." Susan said.

"Yeah, he's healthier than I am." Hannah said from the kitchen.

"Pushing that stupid mower nearly killed me today."

Susan picked Weirdo up and carried him into the kitchen scratching his chest and belly.

>Anon tried not to freak out as the wolf casually held him close to her chest.

>One massive paw cradled his buttocks.

>The other was distractedly scratching his chest.

"See, I could never hold him like that" Hannah said.

"Weirdo is a bit heavier than most" Susan said dropping the human back to the floor.

"I don't think I would want to hold him like that for long" she said with a chuckle.

"He doesn't seem too impressed with it, either" Hannah said laughing at Weirdos confused look.

"I hope hes going to be all right with all the people over" she said growing concerned.

She started telling Susan about how on edge Weirdo got at the bar a couple weeks ago.

>Anon was getting self-conscious as the two girls clearly talked about him.

>As much as he had learned the frustration of not understanding spoken language still got to him.

>Eventually the conversation shifted and Anon wandered back to the living room.

>Another car was pulling into the driveway.

---

Part 9: The Incident

>Guests arrived over the next two hours.

>Anon recognized some of them from the head shop.

>With Reds encouraging many of the guests ventured to pat him on the head.

>A few guests brought folding chairs and migrated outside as the sun started to set.

>The fire pit was moved out to the grass and a chubby bear guy started a fire in it.

>With all the eating going on lots of people tried to sneak Anon food.

>Or expected him to eat dropped stuff off the floor.

>He mostly just ignored the offerings, it was never the good stuff anyways.

>Until Red gave him a bacon wrapped shrimp that someone had brought to the party.

>Everyone in the kitchen seemed very amused watching him eat it.

>Anon didn't give a shit, it was the best tasting thing he had had in a while.

>He was always tempted to take food from the pantry or fridge.

>But it wasn't something he ever wanted to get caught doing, so treats were few and far between.

>As the party wore on Anon walked around to the different groups of people.

>The inability to understand the conversations made the party more boring than what he hoped for.

>He never stuck around any one group for long.

>Eventually Anon found himself in the living room.

>He was sitting on the couch next to wolf girl.

>She and some of the other guests were playing a party game on one of the consoles.

>All in all the guests seemed to be having a pretty good time.

>Red was having fun as well.

>As it got later in the night many of the guests began to head home.

>Wolf girl gave Anon a very enthusiastic goodbye.

>Red was outside with a few friends sitting around the dwindling firelight.

>Some of the head shop folks were in the living room.

>They were getting high and polishing off the rest of the snacks.

>Anon was about to leave the room and check on Red when an uproar came from the group.

>Someone had apparently said something very funny because they were all rolling with laughter.

>Except for one guy, the goat dude from the shop, he wasn't laughing.

>He was grasping at his throat...

>His friends were starting to grow concerned as well.

>But they weren't moving fast enough.

>"These idiots are going to watch their friend choke to death" Anon thought.

>He ran down the hall.

Alex, the otter girl, was starting to panic "Shawn are you OK?"

"Fuck what do we do?" said someone else.

"Go get Hannah! She was like, a nurse, or something" said Alex.

No one moved, except for Shawn who fell back into his chair.

"Shit!" exclaimed Alex, rushing out of the room herself.

>Red had a little first aid book in her closet with the old college stuff.

>Anon found it pretty quickly.

>He hoped he could just toss it in the room.

>Maybe they would be too distracted to notice where it came from.

>Despite being essentially a pocket guide it was about as hefty as a good size textbook.

>Anon stood at the edge of the hall and underhand tossed it into the living room.

>It landed flat, with a loud slap, but proceeded to slide across the hardwood floor under the couch.

>Everyone turned around, but not towards the direction of the book.

>Red had just walked into the room with the otter girl.

Hannah was jogging through the kitchen, Alex said something about an emergency.

As she got to the living room she was momentarily distracted by something loud landing on the floor.

It slid under the couch and she glanced down the hallway where it came from.

She saw Weirdo standing there.

"What do we do?" Said Alex, snapping Hannah back to the issue at hand.

>Red made eye contact with Anon and his heart about stopped.

>If she saw the book at all she put it out of mind to respond to the choking goat.

>She organized the stoners into picking him up and preforming the Heimlich maneuver.

>After a few seconds of struggling the offending wad of raw cookie dough was dislodged.

>Everyone was relieved, goat guy was busy vomiting into a trash can, but he would be all right.

>Anon was trying to stay calm, he really needed to get that book back.

>That was proving to be damn near impossible since this was now the most active room in the house.

>Everyone in the living room got sobered up by the emergency.

>The few stragglers in the back yard were coming in to find out what happened.

>Anon hoped that everyone would disperse.

>Maybe then he would get an opportunity to hide the book.

>Instead the lateness of the hour combined with the choking incident was encouraging people to leave.

>In pairs and small groups the guests were saying their goodbyes.

>The last two left were the otter girl and the goat who was drinking a glass of water.

>After he finished he gave Red a huge hug, then left with the girl.

>Anon had stayed next to Red the whole time.

>Once the door was closed she let out a huge sigh.

Hannah walked back over to the couch and slumped down in the middle of it.

Weirdo jumped up beside her.

"Leave it to Shawn to end the night on a crazy note" she said idly scratching the humans head.

She looked over at the garbage can he had been using.

'Better put that outside before it stinks up the whole house' she thought.

She set it out on the patio.

Turning back to the kitchen, she realized the last thing she wanted to do was clean.

It had been a long day, she resolved to let it all go til morning.

>Anon watched her, waiting for her to be distracted long enough to go for the book.

>Unfortunately it looked like she was too tired to do much of anything.

>She walked towards the bedroom and gave Anon the 'come' command.

>At this point it was routine for him to get in the bed while she brushed her teeth.

>Anon was relieved, he would be able to get the book in the morning before she woke up.

>He ran to the bedroom ahead of her.

As Hannah was brushing her teeth she noticed she left all the lights on in the living room.

The TV was still on and playing the title screen for a game that had been abandoned earlier in the night.

The remote wasn't on the coffee table, so she walked around the sofa and began digging in the cushions.

It wasn't in the couch. Annoyed, she chewed on the toothbrush while looking around the room.

There was a dim memory of something sliding across the floor when everyone was panicking about Shawn.

She got down on her hands and knees and began to feel around.

It wasn't a remote but there was something under there that shouldn't be.

She sat back up and stared in confusion at her copy of "First Aid: A Quick Reference Guide"

A sequence of events slowly began to assemble themselves in her mind.

>If Anon had better hearing he might have recognized the sound of a toothbrush hitting the floor.

>As it is, he only managed to hear what followed, a series of loud angry animal-person sized footsteps.

---

Part 10: In the Doghouse

>Red's shadow fell over Anon.

>He saw that dreaded book in her hand.

>'Don't look at it.' he reminded himself.

>'I shouldn't even recognize what a book is.'

>Playing dumb was his only option, and he had been less than expert at that in the past.

>Back lit as she was by the hallway it was hard for Anon to read her expression as she spoke.

"What the hell is this doing under the couch?" Hannah said to Weirdo.

The human was already wrapped up in some sheets, but he was giving her his full attention now.

She held up the book by a corner "Did you get this out of the closet?"

>Anon sat upright.

>He glanced at the book as she moved it, but was careful to bring his gaze back to her face.

Hannah narrowed her eyes and approached the human.

She bent down and met him eye to eye.

Her ears pressed back as she focused on him.

She brought her hand up to his chin and held him tight as she put the book directly in front of him.

>Anon broke out in a cold sweat.

"You know what this is" Hannah whispered to Weirdo.

Even as she said it she wasn't sure she believed it.

"That's why you brought it to the living room, for Shawn."

>Anon cautiously put up his hands on her wrist.

>He lowered the book to look her in the face again.

>'Just pretend this is some game' he thought hoping her guard would drop soon.

Hannah slowly shook her head.

"No, this is too weird" she said sighing "even for you."

"And I'm too tired to think this through right now."

She stood up.

>Even from the elevated position of the bed it was hard for Anon not to be intimidated by her size.

>Especially with that sour look on her face.

Hannah tossed the book on her nightstand.

She looked back at the human.

Still feeling generally creeped out by the whole situation she made up her mind.

The last thing she wanted to do right now was cuddle up with him and go to sleep.

>Red grabbed Anon by the forearm, a bit tighter than he expected.

>She turned around and started walking.

>Anon struggled to get off the bed and jogged along side her.

>Anon was genuinely afraid of his owner for the first time.

>He had no idea what she was planning to do, and was completely at her mercy.

>She led him to the living room.

>He was practically tossed onto the sofa.

>As he rolled around to orient himself Red walked over to the TV.

>She angrily searched for the button on the side and turned it off.

>She pulled the blanket off the back of the sofa and tossed it over Anon.

>After he got out from under it she pointed at him and firmly stated the "stay" command.

>She stomped down the hallway and shut her bedroom door forcefully.

>Anon was alone in the dark.

>After several long quiet minutes he rolled over and wrapped himself in the blanket.

>Replaying the events of the night over in his head he struggled to go to sleep.

>He wasn't sure he had slept at all as the morning light pierced through the windows.

>He got up and stood at the front door.

>Since he had learned to read he had contemplated going on his own from time to time.

>But he always failed to put a reasonable plan together.

>Borrow a few tools, and head off to the woods, naked and alone?

>And for what purpose? If the animal people were cruel or malicious there might be something to gain there.

>But the life of a suburban pet was hardly worth fleeing from.

>He also struggled with the fact that he felt indebted to Red at this point.

>She had treated him well, even if she didn't know the extent to which he was capable of appreciating it.

>By his reckoning he had another hour or two before she woke up.

>He grabbed a spare piece of paper and began to write at the coffee table.

>He described the world he came from, how he found himself in the kennel, how he learned the language.

>He knew he was making lots of errors, but hoped the gist of the letter would come through regardless.

>In his conclusion he thanked her for opening her home to him, and apologized for deceiving her for so long.

>Anon took his letter into the kitchen and set it at Red's usual seat.

>He cleared the table from all the cups and discarded plates from last nights party.

>There was a clean dishtowel hanging from the handle of the oven that he took down and wrapped around his waste.

>With his improvised apron on he opened the fridge and looked for the bacon.

Hannah had a rough night of sleep.

The first thing she saw as she opened her eyes was the book on the nightstand.

She had sort of hoped the whole thing had been some weird nightmare brought on by too much partying.

She breathed in heavily and rolled over.

Her plan to go back to sleep was interrupted by the sudden awareness of what she smelled.

She got up and quickly headed towards the kitchen.

As she approached the living room she looked for Weirdo.

Not seeing him on the couch she began to have really bizarre but unavoidable concerns about who was cooking.

She rounded the corner and found him.

He was on a footstool, in front of the oven, with the comically large spatula in his hand scrambling an egg.

>Anon heard Red coming down the hallway.

>Once she stopped in the doorway he turned to greet her.

>The shocked look on her face was priceless.

>He gave her a slight smile and a head nod, not really having thought of a proper greeting for this scenario.

>He pointed the spatula at his letter on the table, and returned his attention to the frying pan.

Hannah was pulled out of her trance by the brief gesture.

She approached the single piece of stationary that was sitting on the newly cleared table.

As she read the tiny writing she sank into her chair.

She was so enthralled by its contents she didn't notice Weirdo place a plate in front of her.

By the time she had absorbed what was written down he was standing next to her.

He was eating a single strip of bacon and small pile of egg scramble off a second plate.

>Anon intended to savor what might be his last meal in this house.

>He hoped Red wasn't too shocked to let her food go cold.

---

Part 11: Telephone Game

>Anon collected his plate and utensils and put them in the sink.

>He moved the footstool so that he could start washing dishes.

>He gathered up a few of the plates and glasses leftover from the party.

>Given the over sized nature of everything it was an oddly difficult task.

>He was so distracted that Red had to repeat herself to get his attention.

"So can you understand me?" Hannah asked a bit louder.

Weirdo turned off the water and looked at her.

He pointed to his ears and shook his head.

Then he pointed to his mouth and shook his head.

Holding one hand flat he mimed writing on it with an imaginary pen then nodded.

Hannah flipped over the letter in front of her and grabbed the nearby pen.

>Anon watched her write as he dried his hands on his towel / apron.

>He hopped down from the stool and walked over to the table.

>He pulled out a chair and climbed up on it.

>Sitting on his knees his arms rested on the table and he was able to look at what she was writing.

>Red spun the paper around and he read her question.

>"How long have you been..." and then a word he didn't recognize.

>He pointed to it and looked at her in a way that indicated he didn't understand.

Hannah thought 'conscious' may have been the wrong word to use anyways.

She quickly wrote 'smart' next to it, hoping that would suffice.

>Anon gestured for her to give him the pen.

>He wrote "always smart" underneath her question.

>Then he decided to clarify "but only reading and writing for 1 or 2 weeks."

"So you've just been pretending to be a pet the whole time?" Hannah wrote.

>"Had no choice" Anon responded.

"You should have told me as soon as you could" she wrote.

>"Didn't know if it was safe."

Hannah felt slightly wounded by the suggestion.

"What made you think I would ever do anything to hurt you?"

>Anon quickly wrote "Not you, personally."

>"You might tell others or not take me seriously."

>"Only been here a month, trust takes longer."

Hannah was annoyed by that comment.

"You didn't need trust to sleep next to me or see me naked."

>"Trust as an owner different from trust as a friend."

>"I want to be friends. That takes more time than we've had."

>Anon didn't want this to turn into an argument but he felt the need to make one last point.

>"I'm always naked. Consider us even."

Hannah furrowed her brow.

Even though she still felt a small violation of privacy, she had to admit he had a point.

Weirdo had basically been forced to endure every indignity of a normal human pet for a month.

She thought back to all the times she had put him on a leash and paraded him through town nude.

Certainly not something she would have enjoyed if the situations were reversed.

She looked at him as he waited for her to write another question.

>She wrote quickly.

>She got up from the table as Anon read "I need to think about this. I'll be back soon."

>Grabbing her hoodie, phone, wallet, and keys she walked out the front door.

>He heard the car start and quickly drive away.

>She hadn't even touched her breakfast.

>For the next few hours he cleaned up from the party to distract himself.

>The longer she was gone the more stressed out he was getting.

>Once he ran out of things to clean, the anxiety really overtook him.

>Normally he would work out or read or get on the computer while she was out of the house.

>But knowing that when she came back their relationship would be changed forever all he could do was sit on the couch.

>He didn't know how long he had been staring at the blank TV when he heard her car pull in.

>His usual excitement at seeing her come back was replaced with uncertainty and dread.

>Red walked in holding a few bags.

>She smiled at him on the couch.

Hannah's biggest worry evaporated.

It had occurred to her, after driving around for a while, that he might take her absence as an opportunity to run away.

She was genuinely glad that he had waited for her to get back.

She sat next to him on the couch, though she didn't scoop him up or pull him to her like she typically did.

>Red was digging through the bags next to her.

>First she pulled out a charging cable and set it on the coffee table.

>Secondly she got out a phone. It was one of those smaller cheaper ones that have the prepaid plans.

>She handed it to Anon. It was somewhere between a large smartphone and a small tablet in his hands.

>She typed something into her own phone, as he examined his.

>Anon's phone dinged and he received a message.

>[I think texting will be easier than writing letters.]

>Anon looked up at her and smiled.

[Thank you very much] Weirdo replied.

[I have something else.] Hannah typed before digging into her other bag.

>Red pulled out a few pairs of white cotton shorts.

>She laid them out on the coffee table.

>Anon inspected the different sizes and picked up one that looked like it would fit.

>He read another message from Red.

>[I can get more of whatever fits. They're kid sizes. I wasn't sure if you wanted shirts too or not.]

>Anon pulled a pair on and tied the draw string.

>They were a little long on his thighs for shorts but it fit as well as some of his old workout clothes did.

>[These are great. This is all I really need for in the house.]

[You shouldn't wear anything in public. Humans hate having clothes put on them unless its really cold.]

[It's not a good idea to wear them if people come over to the house either.]

>[In case of company, get naked. Understood.]

>Red laughed at that.

>It was a good sign that the very serious mood everyone was in had finally broken.

>She looked down at him and her smile faded slightly.

[You don't have to wear the collar around the house. I bet it feels demeaning.]

>Anon held the little bronze tag resting at his collar bone between his fingers.

>It was the first thing Red had given him after bringing him to her home.

>[I don't notice it anymore, one less thing to worry about if I just leave it on.]

>They continued to chat for a while.

>As soon as night came the lack of sleep from the previous day had finally caught up to them.

>Anon told Red that he would sleep on the couch.

>She agreed that was probably best for the time being

>But she promised to help him get a better sleeping situation soon.

>He thanked her for everything.

>It was awkward. He wanted to give her a hug, or some physical display of gratitude.

>It would have been nothing to do that a day ago, but now everything felt so different.

Hannah was tempted to pat the human on his head, like she had done so many times before.

She couldn't bring herself to do it now, after having 'talked' to him for so many hours.

Not really knowing what else to do, she walked out of the living room as Weirdo made a place to sleep on the couch.

>Red went to bed and Anon plugged his phone into the charger.

>He got comfortable on the couch as she turned off the lights in the hall and closed the door to her bedroom.

Hannah laid in bed staring at the ceiling.

She spent a lot of time going over the things she and Weirdo talked about.

She rolled over, struggling to get comfortable in the summer night air.

As tired as she was it was impossible for her eyes to close.

All she could think about was how crazy Weirdos situation was.

She remembered the kennel and thought how awful it would feel to be locked in there for five days.

She thought about how every person he encountered was a huge monster to him.

How lonely he must have been not able to talk to anyone.

>Anon was almost asleep.

>He heard a door open and Red's footsteps in the hall.

>He groggily looked over the back of the couch to find her already standing there.

>She reached down and picked him up.

>The blanket fell back to the couch as she cradled him with both arms.

>He wrapped his arm around her neck in an attempt to stabilize himself.

>She took him back to the bedroom.

Hannah got herself back into bed.

She pulled Weirdo close to her and sighed heavily.

"This doesn't feel weird at all" she said under her breath.

>Anon drifted off to sleep in his usual position.

---

Part 12: Chit Chat

>Anon awoke wrapped in Red's arms.

>She was fast asleep as usual.

>At this point he was well accustomed to squirreling out of her embrace in the early morning.

>But there wasn't pressure to get anything done today.

>Instead he decided to lay in and wait for her to get up.

>In a lot of ways he had been treating 'being the pet' and keeping his secrets like a new job.

>Now that none of that was a priority it was like getting his first day off in a month.

>He was very relieved for the secret to be out, especially considering that Red took it so well.

>As Anon was contemplating his gratitude, the arm around him hugged him tight.

Hannah rolled onto her back, dragging Weirdo with her.

"Morn~ing" she said through a yawn.

She hugged the human tighter, excited at the prospect of asking him all kinds of questions.

>Anon was pressed into his owners soft belly.

>Her hands firmly grasped his shoulders, such that he couldn't raise his upper arms.

>He pushed against her elbows as best he could, and pulled himself into a sitting position next to her.

>She giggled as he worked his way out of her grasp.

Hannah sat up and patted Weirdo on his head.

She got out of bed and stretched.

He was already in the living room when she entered the hall.

>Anon grabbed his freshly charged phone as well as Red's much larger one from the coffee table.

>He followed her into the kitchen placing her phone on the table.

>Red was searching the fridge.

>Anon texted her [good morning]

Hannah replied in kind to the text, still amazed that she was 'talking' to her human.

She started making breakfast for the both of them.

>Anon was getting out plates and utensils.

>It didn't take him very long so he played around with his phone settings while waiting on Red to finish.

>She served both of them and asked Anon [Did you like the human food?]

>He laughed at the question and decided to be diplomatic [It was food and it was free. I can't complain]

[Well you won't have to eat it anymore, did you cook a lot at home?]

>[Not really, just bachelor meals mostly.]

[Oh, you didn't have a girlfriend?] she asked unable to hide a mischievous grin.

>Anon thought about the question for a minute, focusing on chewing to buy time.

>He had never been an open book, and felt very odd to be sharing so much.

>But he had to concede that even if it made him uncomfortable it was more than fair.

>He already knew so much about Red; she was entitled to have her questions answered.

>[Didn't have a girlfriend. I had to move after college for a job.]

>[I was mostly working on my career and didn't have much of a social life.]

[What did you do for a job?] Hannah asked genuinely intrigued.

The fact that her human pet had a whole life before meeting her was beginning to sink in.

Friends, family, hobbies, aspirations, he even went to college apparently.

Questions about all of these things were forming faster than she could ask them.

>Anon was taking time with his responses as he was having to look up words as he went.

>An actual conversation was stressing the limits of his vocabulary.

>[I worked at a bank, as a Financial Consultant. Retirement planning, investing, that sort of thing.]

Hannah stopped chewing her food as she read the text.

[For real?]

>[Yes, why?]

[I thought maybe you were like a personal trainer or something...]

>[Just because I work out?]

Hannah hated to admit that that was the extent to which she had thought about it.

[It's just odd to think of humans doing bank stuff]

>Red's eyes lit up and she was excitedly typing something.

>[OMG, DID YOU WEAR A SUIT?] was what Anon read as she watched him anticipating his response.

>[Yeah, nothing fancy, but it was a bank.]

Hannah couldn't help but giggle.

The thought of her human in a suit was too cute.

[That settles it, I've got to get you a suit now :)] she texted.

>[I wasn't a fan of suits, it was just required for the job] he replied smiling.

>Anon was starting to think about things from her perspective.

>A human in a suit here is just a funny costume on a reluctant pet.

Hannah collected herself [You can't talk yourself out of this]

[At some point I have to get you in a suit and take lots of photos]

Weirdo was just wearing a sheepish grin.

[I bet you look good in a suit though] she added without much thought.

>Anon wasn't sure how to take that compliment.

>He stared at his phone unable to think of anything to type.

Hannah sipped her water nervously as she tried to think of something else to ask.

Weirdo was typing now and she watched her phone.

>[Thanks, but you've spent plenty on me. I already feel like I've been taking advantage of your hospitality.]

Hannah stood up and finished her message.

[I spoil my humans. We have to keep up appearances :P]

She started clearing plates when she thought of something else to say.

[If you feel like paying me back you can help with my taxes or something. I hate doing that stuff.]

She giggled at the thought of having a human accountant, in his little suit.

>Anon wasn't sure how much of his knowledge would translate to this worlds finances.

>Truthfully the best advice he could give would be to pay an expert to do the taxes for her.

>But that was a conversation for another time.

>He helped her clear plates from the table, which she left in the sink.

>Anon was going to start washing the dishes when he heard Red give the "come" command over her shoulder.

>She was waiting for him in the living room.

Hannah was already typing on the couch [Dishes can wait, I want to keep talking.]

[Is it rude for me to still use commands? Sorry if it was. I can stop.]

>Anon stood in front of her.

>[I don't mind. They're useful to get my attention and we can't both be on our phones for everything.]

>Once he finished typing Red picked him up and pulled him on the couch.

>[I don't think I'll ever get used to being lifted off the ground though.]

Hannah smiled [Well too bad, cause that's never going to stop.]

She stopped teasing him when she had a realization.

[How come you understand commands but not anything else?]

>Anon began to explain everything he had learned about human and animal people hearing.

>The commands they practiced were just a distinct noises to him.

>But his hearing wasn't adequate for deciphering the subtleties of language.

Hannah was impressed that he knew so much and had learned it in such a short time.

[How do you figure all this out?] She asked.

>[Internet]

[You used my computer?]

>[Yeah, once I got some basic words down I could use a browser.]

It seemed obvious now, since he was so comfortable using the phone, but she hadn't considered it.

[I didn't even notice she responded.]

She felt more naive than anything.

>[That was the idea.]

>[I just used a dictionary and an encyclopedia.]

>[I never knew how long you would be out of the house so I did everything as quickly as possible.]

>Anon could tell she still wasn't quite satisfied with his answers.

>[If it makes you feel any better, we wouldn't be talking if I hadn't gotten on the internet.]

>[Now that I have the phone I won't use it anymore. Sorry.]

>[Besides the keyboard is too big and too loud]

>Anon smiled at her hoping that would lighten her up.

Hannah gave a single dry laugh at that last comment.

She scratched Weirdo's head.

[It's alright.]

>Anon thought of something else to change the subject.

>[You know? I'm kind of glad I accidentally used the toilet the first night I was here.]

[Why???] Hannah said laughing at the randomness of that statement.

>[This would be so much more awkward if I had spent the last month shitting on the lawn.]

Hannah was properly laughing now.

[Ok, that's enough for today. I need a bowl.]

[Do humans smoke weed?] she asked, amused at the thought of getting high with her 'pet'.

>[Some do, I was never really into it.]

>Red shrugged her shoulders and pulled her stash box across the coffee table.

>She opened it and yelled something, surprising Anon who wasn't paying attention.

"Fuck, there it is!" Hannah yelled yanking the remote triumphantly from the box.

She turned on the TV and changed channels.

Weirdo tugged on her shirt sleeve. She looked back to see him holding up his phone.

He had typed out [Subtitles?] and she nodded, picking up the remote.

>Red turned on the closed captioning and started packing her bowl.

>Anon might not like her shows but at least now he could understand them.

---

----- 2020 updates begin here -----

---

Part 13: Time Skip

>3 months later.

>Anon and Red established a comfortable routine.

>His language skills improved with having someone to talk to.

>They had both learned some simple sign language to avoid relying on phones.

>She gave him an older laptop of hers.

>It was good enough for surfing the internet.

>Anon helped her manage her media accounts and emails for the streaming.

>He also helped manage her money and started an investing account for her.

>Red tried to be more respectful of boundaries.

>She didn't take him out on the town like she used to.

>Occasionally Anon would go along with her for a drive to get out of the house.

>Red was hesitant to have friends over and force Anon to act like a pet.

>Anon insisted she maintain her social life.

>So a few times a week she would have people over and he would play the part.

>It actually wasn't that bad from his perspective.

>Usually he just cuddled up with her on the couch if they were hanging out in the living room.

>Cuddling in general had increased by a lot.

>Anon wasn't "allowed" to get up and wander the house in the morning anymore.

>They would stay in bed till she got her hugs and nuzzling in.

>Anon had become a somewhat regular appearance on her streams as well.

>He would sit in her lap and pretend not to watch the game.

>Apparently he was quiet popular with her chat.

>There was one incident that caused a brief panic for them.

>While streaming Red asked Anon to get her a soda via text.

>She forgot to put her AFK screen up and Anon walked into the room and set the can on her desk.

>Even though the stream only saw his hands pushing the soda into view they freaked out.

>Red came up with a reasonable enough cover story.

>That she had tried to teach Weirdo to fetch a soda.

>But all he learned how to do was bring her a drink whenever he wanted attention.

>She made it sound like he just did it randomly.

>It should have been obvious that no one assumed her to be texting her human.

>But it made both of them much more conscious of how they were treating their situation.

>And how unusual things that were now normal for them might appear to everyone else.

>He had grown accustomed to some casual nudity in the house when acting as a pet his first month.

>Anon suspected that the fur of anthro people made them more casual about nudity in general.

>The levels of undress he saw on tv shows and the internet implied as much.

>Plus why would anyone feel self conscious around their pets?

>He had expected a reversal of this once she found the truth out about him.

>Instead Red had seemingly become more casual over the last few months.

>Anon was not exactly disappointed about this.

>Still he was not expecting the text he just received.

[want to take a shower?]

>Anon stopped reading on his borrowed laptop and did a double take on the text.

>[go ahead. I can wait to take one]

>Anon assumed she was asking if the shower was free since he had just finished a workout.

[do you want to take a shower with me?]

>Anon was thinking of how to answer as Red walked up behind him.

Hannah leaned over the back of the couch to to look down at Weirdo.

Seeing him on her old laptop made her grin.

>Anon looked up at his naked owner.

>The playful flicking of her tail told him she was in a mischievous mood.

[come on. you need a shower and I need help shampooing my tail :)]

>[ok sure] he replied back, quiet unsure of his response.

>"great" she signed him as she set down her phone.

>Anon didn't get the opportunity to ask anything else.

>As soon as he removed the laptop from his lap she had scooped him up from behind.

>Anon was still not used to this, despite its near daily occurrence.

Hannah carried Weirdo the short distance to the bathroom.

>Anon was used to cuddling and he was used to nudity.

>But naked cuddling was very new.

>Luckily the trip was short enough that it only aroused his curiosity.

>She briefly hugged him close before setting him down on the floor.

>Anon quickly removed his boxers and collar.

>They entered the shower and she handed Anon a shampoo for her tail fur.

>The bottle brush shaped appendage was almost as long as he was tall.

>He lathered it up as best he could with Red pulling away from him as she cleaned herself.

>It was impossible for her posterior to not command his attention in this situation.

>She began to clean her lower half drawing his eyes to her curves as she did.

>He was finishing up rinsing the tail when it pulled from his hands completely.

>Red turned around and squatted in front of him face to face.

>She used her own shampoo to wash his hair.

>She grinned widely while her paws massaged his scalp.

>Anon felt like he could melt into the warm water and her soft touch.

>After he was well rinsed off she killed the water and got them a pair of towels.

>She gave her fur a quick once over as Anon stepped out from the tub.

>Red used the stay command to get his attention.

>Her towel was wrapped around her torso.

>When he faced her she picked him up and set him on the counter.

>Anon was given a smaller hand towel.

>Red made a rubbing motion next to her ears.

>She turned around and Anon started drying off her ears as instructed.

>Red was trying to brush out her tail.

>But the ear massage was having a distracting effect on her.

>She soon stopped brushing and simply leaned back against the counter.

>Anon had discovered the fluffy ears of the red panda were quiet sensitive.

>It had become a ritual for them to do it after she was done streaming.

>The headphones always made her ears feel funny and his massages were a great relief.

>Anon stopped after the ears were completely dry.

Hannah turned around and embraced the little human.

She closed her eyes and gave him some playful licks on the neck and face.

>Anon recognized this sort of behavior as the anthro version of kissing.

>He was unable to move as the larger female held him tight and continued to kiss his neck.

Hannah could feel Weirdo tensing up.

It was enough to shock her out of what she was doing.

She had been lost in the moment and now backed off, slightly embarrassed.

She opened her mouth to apologize.

Only to stop because she remembered that words would fail her.

Instead she smiled weakly and set Weirdo down on the bathroom floor.

>Anon watched as Red retreated to her room in a brisk walk.

>He wanted to ask if he had done something wrong.

>Or at least clarify what had just happened between the two of them.

---

Part 14: Confession

>Anon wasn't able to focus on anything for the rest of the night.

>He got the impression that Red was avoiding him.

>She had been in her streaming room for hours.

>And she usually didn't close the door.

>Anon had checked her accounts and saw that she wasn't online.

>He heard the door open and was careful not to rush her.

>As she walked past him to the kitchen she smiled again.

>She signed "dinner?"

>He nodded and followed.

>She plated and microwaved some leftovers for the two of them.

>They usually avoided using the phones when eating.

>The silence was strangely comforting to Anon.

>Eventually they finished and Anon had to ask.

>[did i do anything wrong earlier?]

Hannah read the text and shook her head vigorously.

She started to type.

She paused and deleted what she wrote and tried to type again.

That wasn't working either so she deleted it again.

She sighed and dropped her phone in frustration.

"I wish I could just talk to you..."

She hadn't noticed that Weirdo had walked up to her side.

>Anon didn't like seeing her struggle to express herself like that.

>He set his hand down on her knee to comfort her.

>Red smiled and rubbed Anon's head.

>She quickly typed something.

[you didn't do anything wrong]

[sorry if I made you worry]

>Anon thought for a moment before typing.

>[sleep on it and write it out in the morning]

>[that's what worked for me]

>Truthfully he didn't get much sleeping done before he wrote his letter.

>But that wouldn't be a helpful detail to include.

>She nodded and leaned down to kiss Anon on the forehead.

>That made him feel a little better.

>Better enough to get some work done before bed.

>It was fairly late before he got a message from Red.

[come to bed]

>[be there in a sec]

>He finished up an email and closed the laptop.

>Anon turned off the lights and went to Red's room.

>He closed the door and pulled himself up onto the bed.

Hannah sat up and removed the sheet covering her.

She didn't normally sleep in the nude.

So the surprised look on Weirdos face was very amusing.

She grabbed his hand and drew him in closer to her.

Hannah caressed his collar and removed it.

"I don't want you wearing this in the house anymore."

She knew she would have to translate for him later.

But she wanted to say it now.

>Anon didn't know what was going on.

>But he began to form an idea as she kissed his neck and removed his boxers.

>She pulled herself back and signed "keep going?"

>Anon leaned into Red and gave her some kisses of his own.

Hannah grabbed Weirdo and rolled over with him.

... the next morning.

>Anon awoke to an empty bed.

>It was the first time he hadn't gotten up before Red since arriving.

>He laid back down and thought about the fun from the previous night.

>There was a bit of a learning curve for the different sized lovers.

>But they managed to make it work.

>A few times.

>He could hear Red moving around in the kitchen.

Hannah smiled as Weirdo wandered in.

He walked up to her side and grabbed her butt.

She laughed and put her hand on his head.

Picking up a piece of paper she handed it to him and went back to cooking breakfast.

>Anon sat at the table and read through the letter.

>It was a confession of her now obvious feelings for him.

>How she had transitioned from one state to another over the last three months.

>It started with her empathy for his situation.

>Then appreciation for him as a friend and confidant.

>To the more conflicted feelings about him as a partner.

>How she came to rely on him emotionally.

>And how guilty she felt for having to pretend to treat him differently around others.

>She concluded with an apology of sorts.

>That she had been selfish about the previous night.

>Red knew she shouldn't have forced a change like that.

>Since Anon didn't have the option to leave.

>She didn't want him to feel trapped.

>And finally a post script telling him not to wear the collar around the house.

>Anon searched the table for a pen.

>He wrote something at the bottom of the page.

Weirdo approached Hannah as she was setting the table.

He handed her the letter back and signed for her to read it.

At the bottom he had written something short.

"I love you too."

She brought her hand to her mouth and started to cry.

Weirdo frantically began to sign "no, no, no"

>Anon knew she was happy, but still didn't want to see her cry.

>Red knelt down and pulled him into a hug.

>She kissed him a few times on the neck and hugged him for a little while longer.

>Eventually she picked him up and set him at his place at the table.

>They enjoyed a quiet and happy breakfast together.

---

Part 15: Not So Weird Now

>Anon and Hannah had many conversations over the next few days.

>It was a lot like when they first "met".

>But these conversations were more personal.

>The first thing Anon wanted to know was if she had reservations about being with a human.

>Her answer wasn't as complicated as he had expected.

[I would date an anthro wolf]

[But it's not like I'm going into the woods to flirt with a wolf wolf]

>It was true that this world had both anthro and animal versions of its inhabitants.

>And anthros could partner across all the species of other anthros.

>So it was more an issue of sapience and consent than the form of their partners.

>She had the reverse question for Anon.

>Since he came from a world of only humans, did he find her attractive?

>Anon had had enough girlfriends to understand how loaded that question could be.

>He admitted that at first the differences were jarring.

>But after a while everyone here was clearly just like the men and women from his old world.

>It was weirder for him being the odd one out.

>Red pressed the question he dodged, regarding her attractiveness.

>Anon listed off all the things he found cute about her.

>The way her tail covered her back when she slept.

>Her whiskers twitching as she smiled.

>The way he could tell what was on her mind from her ears.

>By the time he was done Red was satisfied enough to give him some extra attention that evening.

>Their nightly sessions had been another area of mutual interest.

>Morning cuddle sessions also had the tendency to become encore performances in that regard.

>Red had also revealed some things about herself that Anon didn't expect.

>She wasn't embellishing when she said she relied on him for emotional support.

>Before he arrived pretty much all she did was stream and get high.

>She picked up streaming before graduating.

>And she had no plans for her art degree.

>So she just kind of continued doing what she was doing after college.

>Red was struggling with her lack of direction and self medicated the anxiety away with weed.

>She got a human in the first place because she realized she might be depressed.

>Having a human pet helped for a little bit.

>But even after the first week she was already falling back into the old habits.

>Then she found out she didn't have a human pet.

>Anon as a person was supportive and kind.

>Slowly the anxiety she used to have went away.

>Anon realized in retrospect that she only smoked when her friends were over lately.

>It was clear that confessing all of that was difficult for her.

>Maybe even more difficult than her initial confession of her feelings for him.

>Anon had felt guilty about how one sided their relationship had been.

>With her providing him with so much and asking for so little.

>He was happy that he was able to provide for her in other ways.

>A few more weeks passed by.

>Their domestic routine absorbed the changes to the relationship.

>They were both getting well practiced at sign language.

>Enough now that they used it almost exclusively when they were in front of each other.

>Except when in front of the tv.

>It was easier to switch between phones and the television than it was to turn and face each other.

>Also having to sign to each other cut down on cuddling time.

>So it was no surprise that they were both watching when the fateful news report came on.

>It was a report about a female human.

>One that possessed intelligence far above the average human.

>She had been observed doing strange things by her owners who happened to work at a university.

>They asked some animal behaviorists to look into her and soon reached their startling conclusion.

>The news clip showed video of her being shown a stack of colored blocks.

>Then she was shown an arrangement of the blocks and stacked them to match perfectly.

>For comparison another female human was shown gnawing on one of the blocks and ignoring the instructions.

>The news report included scans of the two humans brains.

>The "normal" human had a brain slightly smaller than their brain cavity and had fewer folds.

>The smart human had, what looked like to Anon, a normal brain.

>One that filled the brain cavity and had deep folding structures.

>The news report followed up with a discussion of a male human recently captured by animal control.

>He had been stealing food from nearby homes.

>He was even captured wearing stolen clothes.

>A photo was shown of a human in an over sized t-shirt and a lion cop holding up bags of food.

>They were standing in front of a small shack in the woods.

>The authorities insisted that the human had built the shack itself and seemed to be acting on his own.

>The story had widely been dismissed as a hoax.

>But now the researchers on the female human were requesting access to the captured feral human.

>The newscasters made a few human jokes to wrap up the story and continued on with something else.

>Red and Anon were dumbstruck.

>Neither had to say anything because they both understood that he wasn't alone.

>They followed the story obsessively for the next few days.

>Though there wasn't much to report.

>Everyone else was treating it as an oddity.

>There was an animal rights group that had demanded they be allowed to represent the humans legally.

>Though few people seemed to be taking their demands seriously.

>Eventually the news had dried up.

>The researchers had caught some flak for going to the press.

>He and Red had talked about it and Anon absolutely did not want to contact the researchers.

>At least until more info became available about the humans they already had.

>Days continued to pass by and they fell back into their routine.

>Anon still checked for more news on the humans multiple times a day.

Hannah had just finished up a stream.

She checked her messages and saw a text from Susan.

[mind if I come over?]

Hannah said yes.

They had become pretty good friends over the last few months and hung out often.

She responded instantly [cool, I want to take a look at Weirdo]

[why] Hannah asked, still half distracted from closing various programs.

[Cause I think he's one of those smart humans!!!]

Hannah's eyes grew wide.

She immediately got up and called for Weirdo.

>Anon came to her, concerned.

>She hardly ever called him like that.

>Red signed "what do we do?" and handed him her phone.

>Anon read through the conversation.

>"Fuck" he tried to say.

>Red didn't understand but she got his intent.

"Should I tell her not to come?" Hannah signed.

>Anon asked if she had a good excuse not to.

>It would be suspicious if she suddenly changed her mind without one.

Hannah racked her brain to think of something.

Panic had already set in and she had no idea what to say.

A knock at the door caught both their attention.

"She must have been on the way when I responded" Hannah signed.

>Anon tossed Red her phone and dropped his boxers.

>He was going to hide his phone in the living room.

>They would just have to play it by ear.

Hannah yelled "Just a minute" to the door.

She waited for Weirdo to give her a thumbs up and opened it.

---

Part 16: Back Up Plan

Susan and Hannah greeted each other and took a seat in the living room.

Susan asked if Hannah knew about the "smart" humans.

Hannah played dumb and said she heard something about a hoax.

Susan excitedly told her that's what people thought it was at first.

She continued to tell her what Hannah already knew from talking to Weirdo about the news.

>Anon stayed in the kitchen.

>He could hear them though it didn't do him any good.

Susan finally asked Hannah "Where is he?"

"I think he might be napping right now" she deflected.

"I don't know if Weirdo is like those other humans."

"He hasn't done anything that crazy."

Susan looked at her friend in disbelief.

"Seriously? He does workouts. He's toilet trained."

"Like even that thing you told me about with the soda can is nuts."

"My uncle took a year to train a human to fetch him a beer."

"Weirdo figured out how to do it with you in a few days."

Hannah was getting nervous.

Everything Susan was saying was true.

But she didn't know how to turn the conversation away from it.

>Anon could see Red getting stressed out.

>The discussion clearly wasn't going the way she wanted it to.

>He made a decision to comfort her rather than hide.

Weirdo came into the room and got up on the couch with Hannah.

"There he is!" said Susan happily.

"Did you hear us talking about you?" she asked in a sing song voice.

His presence did calm Hannah down.

"Let's say that he is like those other humans" she said, petting his head.

"What happens after that?"

"I don't want him to go to some research lab."

Susan looked at her friend.

She hadn't considered doing anything with the information.

Mostly she was just curious.

"Also the researchers are swamped right now."

This piqued Hannah's own curiosity.

"How do you know that?"

Susan shrugged.

"I'm on some vet forums and their grad students made a few posts about it."

"Apparently they've had tons of people contact them who think their human is a genius."

"Like they just do fetch or balance a cup on their head, normal tricks."

She chuckled and rolled her eyes.

"The humans they're looking at are way beyond that stuff."

"They do things like what Weirdo does."

"So the researchers have been telling everyone to get a vet to do a brain scan."

"Because it's expensive and most people won't do it."

"But they won't even look at a new human without a scan right now."

Hannah pulled Weirdo closer to her.

"I don't want to put him through that if I don't have to."

Susan was getting a little annoyed.

"You really don't want to know if he's special or not?"

Hannah shrugged and smiled "He's already special to me."

"I don't want him to become a test subject is all I'm saying."

Susan shook her head.

"They really want to find more like the two they already have."

"They're not related so it's not like a mutation."

"Which makes it even stranger."

Hannah looked at her friend for a bit.

"You won't tell them about Weirdo, right?"

Susan appeared hurt.

"No. It's up to you."

"I just thought you would be interested in it."

"Are you feeling alright? I didn't mean to upset you or anything."

Hannah sighed.

"It's complicated."

They sat in silence for a little while.

>Anon was struggling to judge the mood of the two anthros.

>It was hard to ignore the fact that he was the center of their focus.

>Red stood up with him in her arms.

>She said something to Susan and walked back to her bedroom with him.

>She closed the door and started signing to Anon.

"I think we should tell her."

>"Why?" Anon asked.

"No one else knows about you."

"Someone should. In case something happens to me."

"Like an emergency."

>"I don't know" was all Anon could say.

"I don't either, but it bugs me that we don't have any back up plans."

"They are looking for more humans like you."

"And she's already guessed that you aren't like other humans."

"I think she would keep your secret."

"But we have to ask her first."

"She has to know how serious it is for you."

"For both of us."

>Anon had to admit she had some good points.

>The wolf girl had been a good friend to Red.

>He still remembered from the kennel that she did genuinely care about humans.

>Anon eventually relented and nodded.

>"What's her phone number?" he asked, pulling his own phone out from under the pillow.

>Red picked up her phone and sent him the number.

>Anon put on some boxers and Red opened the door.

Hannah walked down the hall in front of Weirdo.

Susan had been confused about her friend's attitude and the hasty exit from the conversation.

Hannah apologized for being so weird and promised to explain what was going on.

>Anon had moved to stand in front of the coffee table.

>The wolf girl was curious about his clothing and Red's demeanor.

>She was even more shocked when she saw him pull up a cell phone and start typing on it.

>[Hello] was the simple text Anon sent her.

>She looked between the message and him several times.

>She laughed, turned to Red and asked something.

>Red shook her head and told her something that made the wolf look back at Anon.

>Anon smiled and waved at her.

Hannah had a very engaging conversation after that.

She was able to answer most of Susan's questions.

But occasionally she would sign things to Weirdo and interpret his answers.

They talked quite late into the night.

They avoid mentioning the recent intimate development in their relationship.

Eventually Susan promised to keep Weirdo's secret.

And told them that if they ever needed anything she would do whatever she could.

There was an awkward moment where she went to pat Weirdo out of habit.

>Anon shook her hand instead.

>He actually did feel relieved to have one more person he could trust.

>He got the impression it was cathartic for Red as well.

>It had become obvious that her last remaining source of anxiety was worrying about him.

>Red thanked him for being willing to share.

>Anon said it was no big deal.

>But privately he started to question how much longer they could keep this secret a secret.

>Or even if it was a good idea.

>They might need to consider some longer term fix for his situation.

---

Part 17: Coming Out in Style

>Anon had several conversations with the wolf girl over the next week.

>He had gotten access to the forums she talked about.

>Anon buried himself in research outside of his work for Red.

>To the point where Red had noticed.

>They were lying in bed together one evening.

>Red was on her side with arms wrapped around Anon.

>They would exchange her phone to talk to each other like this.

>Red finally asked him what he was up to.

>[I think we need to get ahead of this.]

[Ahead of what?]

>[Smart humans getting found.]

>[The researchers got a third one who passed the brain scan this week.]

[Have you changed your mind about contacting them?]

>[No, none of the humans they have can talk.]

>[But I doubt anyone is trying to teach them to read or write.]

>[I was lucky to have the time and resources to learn on my own.]

[You're welcome :)]

>Anon squeezed her arm affectionately.

[So what do you want to do?]

>[I don't know yet.]

>[Just venting I think.]

[I'll support you no matter what you decide.]

>They called it a night after that.

>A few weeks had gone by and Anon was finally ready to explain his plan to Red.

>He sat with her on the couch and they texted.

>He explained to Red how the researchers were out of consideration.

>From what he had learned online and through those forums they weren't being public anymore.

>So going to them was more or less fully trusting them.

>And they had already been kind of reckless with their disclosures so far.

>Anon wanted nothing to do with the lawyers either.

>The animal rights group they were associated with was ethically questionable.

>Their claim that they wanted guardianship of the humans was also suspicious.

>Because it would give them legal rights for the humans likenesses in ads.

>It seemed more like a publicity stunt for themselves.

>There was the option of getting a lawyer for himself.

>But it would be a complete shot in the dark and very expensive.

>Because there was no legal precedent for a human asserting their own rights.

>Red had been getting antsy as she clearly didn't like the unloading of bad news.

[So is there anything you think you would want to do?]

[I don't get the impression you've resigned yourself to be a pet forever.]

>[I was getting to that.]

>[I think the best thing to do would be to go directly to the public.]

Hannah shook her head, confused.

[Like, as in, just talk to people on the street?]

>Anon chuckled.

>[No, I mean on your stream]

>[You have a pretty big audience]

[I have a dedicated audience, not a big one] she corrected.

>[It's several hundred people showing up regularly.]

>[That's big enough.]

>[If something really shocking happened on your stream it would be all over the internet.]

Hannah thought about it.

The "funny video" of her human bringing her a can of soda went wild.

[If we did a long stream it would get lots of views as people sent links to their friends.]

[But what's the point? How does this get you closer to what you want?]

>[The main issue with relying on the researchers or lawyers is that we aren't in control]

>[I'm at the mercy of whoevers help we accept]

>[But if a huge number of people know about my situation, then help will come to us.]

>[I'll have a choice of lawyers if we need them and tons of online and popular support behind us.]

>[It'll be undeniable too, if there's hours of video of me signing and answering questions.]

>[No one will have to trust scientists, lawyers, or the news, or anyone other than us.]

It actually was starting to make a lot of sense to Hannah.

She found it very comforting that he kept referring to 'we' and 'us' as he typed too.

It was nice to know that he felt they were in this together.

[OK, let's do it.]

[But only on one condition.]

>Anon looked over at her curiously.

>Red smiled and typed.

[We have to get you a suit for your debut!]

>Anon spent the next few days setting up some social media accounts.

>His idea was to have his own accounts set up to go during the stream.

>Hopefully people would contact him directly instead of swamping Red.

>She was pretty keen on getting the suit.

>It seemed to make her more comfortable with the idea.

>That alone made it worthwhile to Anon.

>So when she came home one afternoon with it in hand he wasn't shocked.

>It was a nice pattern even if it was an off the rack suit for children anthros.

>Red was disappointed in the fit.

>It was really loose on him, likely due to being made for someone with fur.

Hannah didn't really have anyone to ask about Weirdo stuff other than Susan.

She started there by giving her a call.

She explained the strange predicament of trying to get a suit fitted for a human.

"I could get my mom to do it. She's a seamstress but she's done plenty of tailoring for the family"

Hannah was ecstatic.

"But she would have to take measurements from Weirdo..."

Hannah thanked her and told her she would get back to her.

>Anon wasn't terribly excited about having a middle aged wolf lady fit him.

>But it mattered to Red so he was willing to go through with it.

>Over the weekend Red took him to pick up the wolf girl.

>Anon and her chatted with texts on the way to her mother's house.

>He was still wearing his boxers for the visit at least.

>The girls chatted with the wolf matron.

>She had a little grey on her muzzle but otherwise looked much like her daughter.

"Oh he's so well behaved" Molly said reaching down to pat Weirdo.

"Yes, that's what inspired me to do the suit thing" Hannah said.

"Susan says this is for a tv show...?" Molly asked.

"Mom, it's an internet broadcast" Susan corrected.

>Anon still felt odd when anthros conversed around him.

>As much of a relief talking to Red had been these past few months;

>It was still very weird to be surrounded by conversations he could never decipher.

>Luckily it didn't take long before they moved into a living room.

>Susan's mother produced clothing measuring tape and a notepad.

>Anon and Red had practiced what to do.

>She would just give the stay command over and over as she moved his arms and legs.

>All he would have to do was follow her lead.

>Neither of them anticipated their host being so chatty.

>There wasn't room to complain, she was doing them a favor after all.

>But it did take much longer to get all the measurements done as a result.

>When she was done she gave Anon a slice of ham.

"We can put him out in the backyard while we have some tea." Molly said.

Susan and Hannah looked at each other before hesitantly agreeing.

>Their host opened the back door to a fenced in backyard.

>Anon got the impression he was being let out.

>He walked out into the grass as the door was closed behind him.

>He found a shady spot and sat under a tree.

>A human was in the neighbors yard, yelping at him.

>It all drove home his place in this world.

>It made him grateful Hannah was who she was and had helped him so much.

>But it also solidified in his mind that 'coming out' to the world was the right call.

>It was hard to guess but he figured about an hour had gone by before they let him back in.

>They were in the middle of goodbyes and he stayed near Red as they made their exit.

>As soon as they were in the car the wolf girl was already typing on her phone.

[I'm so sorry about Mom!]

[I should have told her you were skittish or something to let you stay inside!]

>Anon read her texts and told her not to worry about it.

>[How long does she think the alterations will take?]

>Anon thought it would be best to move past the whole visit and discuss plans.

>They talked a bit more until it was time to drop the wolf girl off at her place.

>Anon had to tell her to stop apologizing for her mom several times.

>When he and Red got back home she asked him to stay with her on the couch.

>Anon thought she wanted to watch TV.

>Instead she just lied down and snuggled up with him.

>They didn't try to say anything to each other.

>He could tell she wasn't feeling good about insisting he get fitted for the suit.

>Anon wanted to tell her it was alright.

>But after a while he realized just being there was already doing that.

---

Part 18: Debut

>Red had been telling her fans that she had a big reveal for Saturday's stream.

>Anon had planned to start at noon.

>Red was getting the stream running by 11:30.

>Anon hoped to go on for several hours, possibly for the rest of the day.

>However he was so nervous that Red had to force him to eat breakfast.

>They wanted the stream to get as big as possible, but Anon was worried his nerves would give out.

>Anon was wearing his suit, which he found strangely comforting.

>He had never had a custom tailored suit in his old life.

>It was hard not to feel confident when wearing one.

>Although Red's enthusiasm had helped in that regard as well.

>If anything she seemed to be anticipating his reveal almost as much as he was dreading it.

>Not that she was downplaying the possible consequences.

>It was her more optimistic nature contrasting with Anon's cynicism.

>It was ten til noon now and Anon was waiting at the door of her streaming room.

>She would signal him to come over once she made the proper introductions.

"Okay everyone I'm so excited that we've got almost 500 people in stream for this."

"I expect us to break that pretty quickly though."

"Once this starts I want you all to share links to anyone you think would be interested."

"So, as you all know I have a human. My darling Weirdo."

"And some of you may be aware of those smart humans they have been looking into at State University."

"Well, I've suspected he might be one of them for a while."

"A few months ago, that was made very clear to me after an incident I won't go into detail with today"

"The point of this stream is for me to introduce you, and the world, to Weirdo. The real one."

>Red waved Anon over.

>He exhaled heavily and walked over to her desk.

>Red had set up a stepping stool next to her so that he could stand at the desk and be center frame.

>The chat was freaking out over the suit alone.

>Things really got out of hand when he started signing to the chat though.

>Red would narrate for him as he gave his introductions.

>He explained how he had awoken in the kennel as he was.

>It wasn't worth going into the whole "I'm from another world thing" right now.

>A human knowing sign language was blowing their minds enough as is.

>He gave a brief summary of teaching himself to read and write.

>Anon typed a quick salutations into the chat to demonstrate as Red held her hands up.

>They were only halfway through his story and the stream had broken 3,000 viewers.

>Anon and Red had agreed to spare most of the details of the party, for the sake of her friends involved.

>He told the stream enough for them to know how Red found out.

>And the conversations they had afterwards.

>It got a little difficult to continue because Red was getting choked up.

>He was explaining all the things she had done for him and she was getting kind of emotional.

>He let her collect herself before continuing.

>There wasn't much to tell after that.

>Since they certainly weren't revealing any info about their intimate details.

>Anon shared his social media links.

>He used his phone to take a selfie of Red and himself and then posted it.

>The stream had broken 10k and was rapidly climbing.

>At some point they had gotten to the front page of the streaming site.

>Anon asked Red to explain some of his story from her perspective while he went and got a drink.

>In the kitchen he had to take some deep breaths.

>They were past the initial intros but they still had a long time to go, It wasn't even 2 o'clock yet.

>He came back with water for himself and a soda for Red.

>The chat was unreadable, and had to be switched over to subscribers only.

>It was going so fast, but Red's mods were sending in questions for Anon.

>What was coming through the stream was pretty mundane.

>But the social media stuff was gaining traction too.

>So the next few hours were a whirlwind.

>Responding to chat, responding to questions coming in through the phone.

>Some legitimate news outlets were reaching out to him by the time he called it quits.

>It was only five o'clock but time had flown by.

>The stream broke 100k by the time it was done, which was absolutely insane according to Red.

>Anon promised to do a live stream of his own Sunday at noon to do some follow ups.

>Red made dinner as he sat at his usual place with the laptop in the living room.

>He was responding to some of the more high profile contacts that had reached out to him.

>But he quickly found that to be exhausting.

>Once again eating in silence was a great relief to both of them.

>It must have been a slow news day because the next morning every single news outlet was talking about him.

>There was lots of speculation about how it could be fake obviously.

>But five more or less continuous hours of streaming seemed pretty undeniable to most.

>The stream he started that afternoon broke several records.

>Anon was starting to get nervous about the numbers as he ended.

>The smart humans never became that big of a story, so that had lowered his expectations.

>But a genuine talking human was apparently several orders of magnitude more interesting.

>He had never considered the possibility of becoming famous.

>Even the preparations he had made were not adequate for the sheer volume of contacts coming in.

>Red reached out to her fans and asked for help in that regard.

>He got a contact at a management company that was surprisingly enthusiastic about helping him out.

>Everything grew organically from there.

>Weirdly some of the last people to find out were Red's friends, who weren't exactly the news watching type.

>He got to make new introductions with many of them.

>He did eventually contact the researchers who had the other humans.

>Anon gave them advice on trying to see if the others could learn to read and write.

>But he was still hesitant to meet with any of the other humans or the researchers in person.

>He was still very much aware that everything he was doing was on legally shaky grounds.

>So it was some relief when a large civil rights firm contacted him through the management company.

>They were nothing like those "animal rights" lawyers pushed on the news.

>They agreed to represent him if and when any such issues came up.

>Through some interesting legal shenanigans they were able to come with a kind of trust where he owned himself?

>It was very odd but it made paperwork for his growing responsibilities easier.

>It had taken a while and been very hectic, but Anon's plan seemed to have worked.

>Going straight to the public got the best options to come to him.

>He had been concerned about how to transition into making money.

>But streaming turned out to be insanely good for him.

>He was a huge draw as a novelty just playing video games.

>He felt a little bad about sucking at it and still outperforming Red.

>But they had some frank conversations.

>She had been wanting to move past it for a while but she didn't have an exit strategy.

>Helping him manage his newfound celebrity was a much better job in her opinion.

>She still streamed once a week or so to stay in touch with fans who had supported her for so many years.

>But money wasn't a problem anymore.

>Such that they were able to move out of Red's rental house.

>They didn't have a problem with the place, but security had become an issue.

>It didn't take long for people and even the media to intrude on their privacy.

>Moving into a nice condo downtown diminished those problems by a lot.

>They had been moved in for about a month and Anon was sitting on the couch with Red.

>Anon and Red had decided to keep a lot of her old furniture.

>It made the place more comfortable.

>Though Anon was comfortable enough anywhere.

>So long as he could lay down with his head in Red's lap like he currently was.

>He was checking his email and Red had been watching tv.

>After a bit she turned it off and started scratching Anon's head.

>"What's up?" Anon asked.

"Nothing" Hannah signed back.

"This is the first day we've had to ourselves for a while."

"No meetings or distractions. It's nice."

>Anon suddenly remembered something.

>"I forgot to tell you I have a call scheduled with a publisher at 4:00."

"Publisher?"

>"Yeah, apparently they want to pitch me an offer to write a book about my experience..."

>"But I can reschedule if you want to just take the whole day off."

Hannah thought about it for a moment.

It was just after 2 o'clock.

"No we still have time before your meeting."

>"Time for what" Anon signed back, oblivious to her sly grin.

>She took his laptop away and grabbed him as she stood up.

>Anon had finally caught up with her intentions as she took him back to their bedroom.

>He quickly got out his phone and sent an email to reschedule the meeting anyways.

The End.