My Friend the Were-Otter 1
My Friend, The Were-Otter Cory
It was on a cool summer day that I and my three friends set out on our annual camping trip to my parent's property in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We'd done it every year since I met Nick and Aisling at the Livonia Highland Games three years previous. A scrawny Nick was trying to pick up two two-hundred-pound barbells for the Farmer's Walk while Aisling giggled and snorted at his almost pathetic attempts. I came to his aid, told him that we'd both lift one. Neither of us could lift even the two hundred pounds by ourselves. My grip slipped, and I managed to knock our heads together and render Nick unconscious. I was a little woozy from the impact and I remember seeing the orange-coated medics rushing toward both of us before I woke up in a hospital bed. It turns out my concussion wasn't nearly as bad as Nick's, and I managed to get some visiting time with him. I remember walking into his room and seeing Aisling right at his side, smiling down at him, and Nick, smiling up at her. I tried making a fumbling introduction, something about being glad he didn't have brain damage, and they both turned their heads to me. I was a bit nervous about catching the gaze of someone I'd landed in the hospital, so I looked away and mumbled an apology. Surprisingly enough to me, Nick was cheerful and waved me over. I talked to him every day I could, and we soon became close friends. We shared hobbies and interests, and one summer day, I invited him to go camping with me and my friend, Ryan.
Ryan was a different story. We had grown up together as neighbors from across the street. We always liked to go outside and run around as little ones. As we grew older and tastes changed, our favourite activities became foam swordplay and cycling, then swimming and video-gaming. His family was a bit eccentric, their house relatively unlit with lots of ivy covering the walls, they would rarely be seen outside other than to mow the lawn or go to work, and the neighborhood children had even said that they kept monsters locked up in their backyard behind that tall privacy fence of theirs. Since I was a junior or so in High School, I'd been feeling different about my friend, Ryan. Eventually, I found out it was attraction. I decided against telling anyone that I was gay. But though I tried to hide it, a rumor spread around school that I was light in the loafers. I never confirmed it, but I never denied it. It started with weird stares, then it turned to angry glares by the more-conservative of my classmates. Eventually, most of my "friends" had started to ignore me. But not Ryan, he kept with me through High School and into the college we shared.
And here we all were, bouncing in Nick's dad's SUV, heading north toward one of the most beautiful places our state had to offer. I couldn't wait to get out of the car and stretch in that clean air, but I was stuck in the back seat with Ryan for a good five hours. Not that I resented it, I always liked being with Ryan, even if I wasn't sure his feelings for me weren't as strong. We'd started too late like we always did and the sun had set by the time we'd reached Bay City. The traffic was terrifically bad, but that's what we get for taking I-75 North on a Friday in Summer. I managed to pass the time by reading Cracked articles on my iPhone, Ryan was playing old SNES games on his old PSP, and the couple in front was being as insufferably cheesy as young couples can be. We were stuffed in the way-back seats, the row in front of us stuffed with camping supplies as well as the trunk behind us. Occasionally a hard stop would make my backpack roll onto my head and Ryan and I were inches apart. As he got more and more into his games, his legs spread apart, his brow furrowed in concentration, his tongue pressed hard against his cheek as he played. It was as he was in this position that I felt something warm against my bare foot. I assumed it was Ryan, so I went to push his foot away with mine, when I felt that the thing was also furry. I looked down between our legs to find not a human foot peeking out of Ryan's jeans, but some sort of brown paw. It was a sort of cross between a foot and a paw, and I didn't know how to react. I tugged at his shoulder and pointed down. "Whuzzat?" Ryan looked down and turned pale before hiding his foot (paw?) under the seat. "Nothing," he whispered. "Keep quiet about it, I'll tell you more about it when we're alone." "But wha-" by that time, his hand was keeping me silent. "Seriously, just pretend it didn't happen and I'll explain everything." He glanced at Nick and Aisling to see if they'd noticed our exchange. "...as soon as we get the tents set up." The rest of the ride was a bit awkward for us. I kept glancing at him occasionally as I tried to ignore what I'd seen and just read until we got there. He was pale for the longest time and didn't play with his PSP, he just stared out into the opposing lane of traffic, watching the cars pass. Nick and Aisling didn't notice the shift in our demeanor, they were too busy giggling and talking.
A few more hours passed and we finally made it to the campsite. My family hadn't developed it at all, it was just a sandy patch of forest surrounded on three sides by yet more forest. One side led down to a lake, but the nearest civilisation was on the opposite side of that lake. The weather does a good job of erasing our past stays here. Half of the fire-pit rocks had rolled away and the only footprints left in the sand were the ones left by the raccoons and foxes and occasional bear. I climbed out of the door and planted a shaky foot on the ground, immediately stretching my back and reaching my hands to the sky before Ryan gave me a shove from behind that left me in the dirt below. "Stretch on your own time," he said, stepping out behind me, "I wanna get to bed." I didn't say anything then, but I used my position to my advantage as he made his way to the trunk. I grabbed his ankle, but my trap wasn't effective in tripping him. He hung there for a second in mid-step before looking down at me and wiggling his foot in my hand. "Leggo," he commanded. "Make me," I replied with a grin on my face. "I'll let you have the big pillow." "I already called dibs on the big pillow." "I called no-dibsies before we left." "Well, I called no-no-dibsies before--" "Oh, shut up you two," interrupted Aisling, "the mosquitoes are terrible enough without you two holding up our tent-pitching." "He started it," we replied in unison. Aisling just rolled her eyes and opened the trunk to an avalanche of poorly-packed camping gear.
Pitching the tent was an ordeal. There were two: one for the happy couple, naturally, and one for me and Ryan. They were fairly spacious and simple, about ten by thirteen feet, and were normally very easy to set up. But we were doing this well after twilight, and visibility became an issue. As Ryan and I were finishing our tent up, we could hear Aisling smacking away at the mosquitoes landing on her, even though we were a good fifteen meters away. They were just finishing securing the tent to the ground while we were filling the air mattress up. By the time we were settling in to our separate sleeping bags, their air pump shut off and the sounds of nature soon returned. I didn't say anything for the longest time. I almost didn't want to bring it up again, but the curiosity started to eat away at me. I had to ask him now, before he fell asleep on me. But before I could open my mouth, he said: "Well, aren't you going to ask?" "I--Well, I was going to." Some more silence. "Well?" he prodded. "Well, what the hell was that?" "What do you think it was?" "I dunno, a novelty sock or something." I didn't want to say that I thought it was actually his foot. "It wasn't." More silence seeped into the conversation. "Well, what was it?" "It was my foot." I knew it. "Most people's feet aren't fuzzy like that, and I don't remember yours being that way." "Well, I'll tell you, but you gotta promise me that you tell nobody. Absolutely nobody. Not Nick and Aisling, not even yourself." "So CNN is out, then." I joked. "Shut up and promise me," he said in a very serious manner. "Fine, I promise not to tell anyone your secret, not even myself." He ignored my second weak joke and delivered the fact to me, deadpan. "I'm a were-otter." There was a bit of silence once more. "Bullshit." "No, really. I'll even show you if you want." "Sure," I chuckled. "go ahead and put on your hidden otter costume for me. Sounds kinky." He punched my arm. "Fine, here I go." It was still pitch-dark, I couldn't even see his silhouette. I could hear some sliding in his sleeping bag, but he didn't say anything or even move at all. "There," he said as though releasing a large breath. "It's done." I gave him some sarcastic golf applause. "My god," I said facetiously, "It's so fearsome and fuzzy!" He turned to the ground and put a lantern between us without illuminating it. "Now," he said, "when I turn this on, you have to promise me you won't run or scream or anything." "Whatever, man. Just turn it on." The bright light blinded me for a moment, but after a few seconds of harsh blinking, I eventually looked upon the face of a rather apprehensive-looking otter. An otter with a very human head and face, an otter wearing Ryan's hair and trademark shark-tooth necklace, but an otter. "Well," it said, the voice matching Ryan's perfectly, the muzzle and cheeks distorting in ways I'd never seen outside children's movies. "You haven't screamed or ran away yet, that's good." I was flabbergasted. Ryan continued before looking down at himself and back to me. "Well, what do you think?" "W-well, you...I don't know." He smiled at me. It was so adorable my heart nearly melted. "Well," he said, "I bet you have a few questions. Go ahead, I'll answer it all." My mind was still reeling from seeing my friend suddenly becoming some kind of animal-man, but I could hear myself talking through the shock. "Well...when did this happen?" "I was born this way. My parents, too." That answered a few of my questions right off the bat. I learned from him over a good hour of talking that his father was a were-otter that 'infected' his mother when they fell in love. His family is the only ones they know about, other than his grandparents, of course. They kept indoors because while they could transform at whim between their forms, it occasionally happens against their will. Like in the car, he got too caught up in his game and his foot just decided to go otter. It could be a problem, but he had managed to avoid many problems just through constant practice and vigilance. That explained to me why he preferred to wear jeans and long-sleeved shirts, even in summer. "So," he seemed to conclude. "Whatcha think?" "Well," I answered apprehensively, "I think you're adorable." He looked at me for a few minutes and broke out laughing. "That's not the reaction I was expecting, but I'll take it." I looked at him a bit bashfully. My heart was racing as the words left my mouth. "I always thought you were. I've had a huge crush on you for a while." He looked at me with another warm smile. "I could tell," he said. I felt my heart seize with dread. "I've felt the same way for a while." Wait, he was gay? Oh, god, he likes me? Why didn't this happen befo--"I was afraid something like this might happen and drive you away." I couldn't do anything but stare into his deep eyes. A few moments passed before I jumped him into the biggest hug I'd ever given. He was so warm and fuzzy and soft, I couldn't help but nuzzle into his shoulder as I started to tear up from happiness. His changed, webbed hands stroked my back. "You okay?" "Yeah, I'm just so happy right now." "You want to come into my sleeping bag?"
"I'd love to."