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[b][u][center]A Pendant Penchant for Pleasure[/center][/u][/b]

[b][u][center]Part 1[/center][/u][/b]

[b][u][center]for John_Doe12346[/center][/u][/b]

[b][u][center]by Draconicon[/center][/u][/b]

College was an interesting thing. Considering that it wasn't age-locked the way that high-school and junior high was, it meant that people could be different ages at graduation compared to their peers, rather than everyone being about the same age. Rather than a cluster of eighteen-year-olds that were walking up to get their diploma, you could see anyone from twenty-one to someone in their eighties making the walk for their degree, and often did. Sometimes, you even ended up rooming with them.

Frankie was not stuck with someone of such difference in age as that, thankfully. Considering the feelings that he'd developed over time, that would have been more than slightly awkward to explain to himself. No, his roommate was just a year his junior, though both of them were looking at graduating at the end of the upcoming summer quarter. What would happen afterward, however...

He shook his head, sitting up from his bed. The dorm was as small and cramped as ever, with a small kitchenette on the far wall, set as far from the door as possible. The room itself was divided into two halves, interrupted by a closed-off square of space that housed the dorm shower and toilet, which was kept closed and vent running at all times just for their mutual sanity. Other than that, the room was bare, undecorated as per the rules of the college, so that there was a minimum to be done before it could be passed on to someone else.

Frankie didn't think that he'd miss this place, but he might miss the person that he shared it with. Kevin would be back before too long, he was pretty sure; art class was just about over, and that meant that the other guy would be hustling back for a quick nap before he had to head off to swim practice.

He looked at his phone. Not enough time to get a jerk-off session in, sadly. He'd have to wait until after, and hope that he could squeeze it in before he rushed off to the gym for the night.

[i]Heh...unless I was brave enough to risk getting caught.[/i]

Which he wasn't. He considered that almost every day, thinking about how it would feel to get caught by Kevin in mid-masturbation, just for the sake of showing off just a little bit more than he normally did. It was hot enough to get his dick up, but not [i]quite[/i] hot enough to get him stupid enough to do it.

Even if it might actually get around that barrier that he'd erected in his mind about actually doing anything with his roommate.

"Goddammit..."

Frankie could already feel his dick throbbing at the thought of getting caught, and knew that he'd have to try something stupid in a little while. A bit of jerking it in the shower might be enough to cover the sounds he made, and he had less of a chance of being actually caught in there. Still some, considering that Kevin was something of a light sleeper, but...

He flopped out on the bed again -

Thump.

"Ow..."

Groaning and rubbing his head, he gave up trying to deal with his horniness and just rolled out of bed. Some movement, pacing, something might help him out a bit. He walked over to the mirror that stood between the kitchenette and the front door, looking at himself.

A Hispanic man looked back, someone that had obviously been out and about quite a bit, a nice tan going along with his naturally dark skin. He had his hair buzzed close to his head, not enough to look bald, but enough to make sure that it was never going to get caught on something. He rolled his head one way, then the other, cracking his neck in the process and popping a few parts of his spine.

At six-foot-three, he was a pretty tall guy, someone that could push through a crowd without really trying. Which was a good thing, considering that he was passive enough that most crowds would have buried him without even trying long ago. He was the sort of guy that might have been described as a gentle giant, the sort of man that was too gentle for his own good and too often allowed others to walk all over him.

[i]That's your problem with Kevin, isn't it?[/i]

Well, not entirely. He had always enjoyed Kevin's company, and the two of them were good friends. Had been since senior year in high school, back when they were always hitting it off with one event or another, competing or working together depending on the sport and the time. They were never far from each other, and always buoyed one another up, ensuring that they were always moving forward together.

Sometime in the first year of college, he'd realized that he had something of a crush on the other man. Not just something of a crush, actually, more like one of those debilitating, needy crushes that put all other relationships on hold and left you pining for the other person, the sort of crush that made you want them more than anything else in the world.

Not the easiest thing to deal with, particularly when they were your dorm partner and there were rules regarding fraternization between those sharing a dorm together. He imagined that he could have gotten away with it - the RA was a bit of a twisted fucker himself, always looking for some action when he could get it - but the idea of breaking the rules like that just ran against his nature.

And for that matter, he didn't know if Kevin was gay, bi, or just straight. Maybe even something else. They didn't talk about that stuff. He didn't talk about it at all, mostly to keep suspicion from falling on him in case the other guy wasn't into that kind of thing.

But it would have been nice if he was.

His boner throbbed a bit more, then finally started subsiding as he managed to guilt himself out of the horny thoughts. Whispering a wheezing sigh of relief, he sat down on the foot of his bed, pulling out his phone again. Definitely not enough time now.

Click.

The door opened, Kevin standing on the other side. Compared to Frankie's six-foot-three, the other man looked shorter. Not drastically so - he still stood reasonably tall at five-foot-ten - but enough to mark quite a difference in their heights. True to his habits, Kevin was leaner, more someone to slide through a crowd than push his way through it, and had slightly longer hair. Enough to have to be pulled back in a cap or a pony-tail.

[i]Enough to pull, if I was behind him...[/i]

The thought sent a little thrill through his cock, but he kept his legs crossed just enough to keep the boner from rising. Kevin didn't seem to notice as he walked in, tossing his bag in the corner by the door and kicking his shoes off.

"Long day?" Frankie asked.

"Long enough."

"Gonna nap?"

"Mmmph. Yeah. No practice later, though."

"Had to lose that on a gym day, didn't you?" Frankie teased.

"Hey, not my fault that the professors hit us hard this year."

That was not even slightly exaggerated. It was like they had been hit with hell-lessons from day one with each professor bound and determined to leave them without the slightest bit of time to themselves. Every single lesson ended with homework out the ass, and that was made worse with the fact that they were always forced to keep in their dorms, working hard, pulling all-nighters at least once a week to keep up if they wanted to keep their grades high. Even the best of the socialites had been forced to curtail their schedules to some degree, and some of them had become out and out addicts to energy drinks or worse. He remembered one particular fox - one that he had rather admired for being so out and proud - had collapsed one day from just how many energy drinks he had consumed, and had to be taken to the nurse's office for nearly half a day.

He'd been okay, yeah, but it had told him that he needed to focus on this, and only this.

The cost, however...

Frankie sighed, leaning back. Kevin, halfway towards a flop onto his own bed, stopped and turned to face him.

"Something the matter?"

"Just...regretting a few things," Frankie admitted.

"Like what?"

"Like not getting some of the stuff I wanted."

"...Like what?" Kevin repeated.

"Like...graduating with a partner or something like that."

Partner. Not a girlfriend. He really could have been a bit better about hiding things than that, but it was too late to take it back now. No response, either, so maybe he had been more obvious than he thought. He sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"Okay. Graduating with a...a boyfriend."

"Huh. Was wondering when you'd come out."

"...You knew?" Frankie asked.

"Dude, you're talking to the guy that lugs our sheets down to the laundry every week. I've seen the stains. And it's not like you go staring at the girls around campus, you know."

"..."

"Plus, you know...that one phone call..."

Frankie gritted his teeth, and Kevin thankfully let that drop. Right. That call. He'd almost forgotten about that particular incident, but it was coming back now just fine.

His family was a little more on the traditional side, and that meant that he had to deal with a great deal of stupidity based on their culture. They wanted him to have kids, wanted him to go out in the world and find a girl to bring back to the family so that it could keep growing, so that the family line kept getting bigger and extending further. The fact that he was gay and had no interest in that had caused a massive rift between them, made that much worse when he was given the ultimatum of going to conversion therapy or giving up the family name.

He'd chosen the latter, but it had been during a screaming fit between him and them, the sort of thing that was all but impossible to take back once it was done. He sighed, rubbing his forehead as he thought about that night again, and knew that he'd never be able to get back into their good graces. Losing contact with them had left him with nobody but Kevin, and while it was great being with a friend, it was the only social contact that he really had.

Admittedly, it was nice not to have to worry about outing himself - and quite honestly, he was kind of stupid to think that he hadn't already. That screaming match had ended only two seconds before Kevin had returned from an art class that 'went late', and that probably meant that he had been listening at the door. Explained the pizza that they ordered that night, too, all things considered. Meant that Kevin had been ready to try and make things better, even if he hadn't had a good way to address what had actually happened.

Frankie sighed.

"Alright...so you know."

"Yeah, I know," Kevin said, sitting down. "Any thoughts of what you're going to do about it?"

"Do about - there's not really much to do, is there?" Frankie shrugged. "No time to go out on dates, no times to go find people that might be interested...not really a lot of time for anything."

"Doesn't mean that you can't try. Or, heh, you could take a shortcut."

"...What are you talking about?"

"Let's just say that I might know a guy that knows a guy."

"Kevin...let's not play games right now," Frankie said, rubbing his forehead. "This is serious."

"So am I." Kevin rolled himself back to his feet with a groan, stretching his head one way, then the other, rolling his arms in circles. "How about we head out for a bit, and I'll show you what I'm talking about, eh?"

"...Are you serious about this?"

"Dead serious."

"Let's not talk about death."

"Yeah, yeah," Kevin said, shaking his head. "You coming or not?"

"Gimme a minute. I need to use the shower."

"Shower, or -"

"God, don't make me talk about it."

"I'll wait outside," Kevin said, smiling and winking.

Was that...he was almost sure that there was a hint of flirtation to that, rather than just teasing, but that had to be his imagination. There was no way that he was getting that lucky tonight. Shaking his head, he hurried himself into the bathroom cube, stripping down and hopping into the shower. A cold shower, this time. No point in carrying a boner with him while they were out.

#

They drove around for a while, but eventually, Kevin took them to a shop that was right on the edge of the college town. It was right by the highway, as a matter of fact, one of those places that you would fly right by if you didn't know it was there. Considering that it looked to be some sort of ancient mystic herb shop, he was kind of surprised that it was still in business. It looked like the sort of place that got knocked down every year.

"You sure that this place is still open?" Frankie asked as he got out of the passenger door.

"Should be. I was here last week and it was."

"And we're here because..."

"Well, the guy does tarot, magic charms, all kinds of stuff. Maybe he can come up with a way for you to get a boyfriend before the end of the quarter."

"You seriously believe in this stuff?"

"Not really, but if it's real, I don't think it matters if I believe in it. And besides, it might at least keep you distracted for a bit so that you can relax a little bit."

That was true, and he could honestly use some kind of relaxation. He had been stressing about, well, everything, more than was healthy for him. Shaking his head, he walked up the steps to the shop, the door raised a few feet off street level. He pushed the door open, stepped through a curtain of beads, and then looked around to see what there was to see.

Not much in the front room. It was a small shop, and he imagined that most of the goods were in the back, out of sight and out of mind for most of those that would come to patronize the shop. What was on display was arranged on shelves behind the counter and along the walls, ranging from herbs that looked like they were gradually pickling into something else to dried things that put off enough dust to make him want to sneeze. The whole place smelled old and musty, and the air felt like it hadn't shifted for years. He groaned, rubbing his nose a few times as Kevin walked in behind him.

"I don't think that they'll have anything for me here," he said.

"You never know. Oh, you don't have a thing against anthros, do you?"

"...Why do you ask?"

"Well, the shopkeeper is one, so..."

"...Well, I don't have anything against them," Frankie said. "Why, do you?"

"No, no, just...just checking."

Frankie gestured for Kevin to take the lead, and his friend did just that, walking right up to the counter and tapping it a few times. The thumping sound of hand on wood echoed through the shop, going down to the floor and thudding through the floorboards.

"Mr. Han, we're here."

"We?" Frankie asked.

"I....may have asked him if he'd have time for this."

"You knew?"

"I had a guess. I mean, man, you've been moping for the last week. Come on, you need something."

He wasn't sure that he needed it badly enough for his roommate to be looking out for him to this extent, but considering his luck of late, he wasn't going to turn it down. Better to get something than nothing, and better to try something than to avoid it, and all that.

There were other footsteps from behind the counter, coming in from the back of the shop. He waited, curious, his head cocked to the side as a shadow moved between the aisles just out of sight. It eventually manifested itself into the shape of a white-furred fox, someone with fur that was styled like a long mustache running down the sides of his muzzle, hanging down like handlebars. The fox twirled them as he walked up to the counter, smiling at the pair of them.

"Ah, young men, good to see you. What can Mr. Han do for you?"

"My friend's looking for a boyfriend," Kevin said.

"And you are not available?" the fox asked.

Of all the potential responses that Frankie had imagined to that statement, that one had been so far down the list as to have fallen off it. He was grateful that Kevin was standing ahead of him, his face pointed towards the fox, so that the blush on his own cheeks wasn't nearly so visible. He bit his lip, keeping his immediate denials from coming out, all while Kevin sputtered in turn.

The fox, however, laughed, holding up his hands to quiet them.

"I tease, I tease. I imagine that if you were already wanting one another, you would not need me."

"R-right," Frankie said. "We would."

"At any rate...I assume that what you want is something to skip all the boredom of dating. Something to find someone for you, something to tell you who you need, and who would make you happy, yes?"

"That...would be great, honestly."

"Someone that would care for you, someone that would enjoy you and indulge you, someone that would give you what you need and allow you to give them what they need, yes?"

Frankie nodded. That sounded about right, and about normal, actually. The idea of anything else felt rather odd in comparison.

"I may have just the thing. Wait here."

The fox disappeared, and Frankie blushed as Kevin looked back at him. The pair of them shared an odd look, one that almost gave him hope, then Kevin looked away again. If there was anything there - a big if - then he doubted that it was ever going to come up.

Before he could actually address the possibility, however, Mr. Han returned, carrying with him an amulet that had two serpents crisscrossing over it. They were biting each other's tails, slithering around one another in a coil that looked surprisingly strong, and the back of the amulet was formed of a shining metal, one that seemed to glimmer and shimmer more than it should.

"What's that?" Frankie asked.

"A simple pendant with a simple charm. It will attract you to your fated partner, and your partner to you. A binding spell, magnetizing your souls to each other, pulling you ever closer. However -"

"I knew there was a catch," Kevin said.

"There ever will be, with magic," Mr. Han said. "If I may continue?"

Nodding in apology, Kevin stepped back again. Mr. Han gestured at the pendant once more.

"This will help you find the one that is meant for you, and for them to find you," the fox explained. "However, it will also change you. Both of you. It will give you the traits you need for the relationship to work, improve you to be what you need to be for them. It will do the same for your partner, allowing them to be what you need, what you require of them.

"At the end of it all, it is entirely possible that neither of you will recognize each other compared to what you once were, but you will be happier than you would otherwise be. The question, then, young man, is this. Are you able to say goodbye to the man you are now, in exchange for the man that you could become?"

That was a question, wasn't it? Giving up the man that he was to be someone that he didn't even know? Someone that would be good for someone else, but...would it be good for him?

Frankie had to think about it, and Mr. Han didn't push him. When Kevin opened his mouth to say something, the fox held up a finger, silencing his roommate and keeping him from interrupting. It was appreciated.

[i]Do I really want to be who I am right now?[/i] Frankie wondered. [i]I mean...I'm not a bad person right now, am I?[/i]

But was he a happy person? That was an entirely different question, and one that had a far more definite answer. He winced as he thought about how alone he felt most days, ever since his family had utterly disowned him, and he wondered what it would be like to have some of that pain taken away. Even if the pain was only taken away by having someone else in his life, even if it was by becoming someone that wasn't so bothered by the opinions of others, that had to be worth something, right?

And if he found that one person that would make his life better...well, that had to be worth some sacrifice or other, didn't it? And it would mean that he could live this misery behind, even if he became a somewhat different person to do it.

"I think..."

"Yes?" Mr. Han asked.

"I think that I need the pendant."

"I thought you might, young man."

"What do I owe you?"

"For someone that's desperate enough to leave the 'now' behind for the 'if,' I will not charge. I just wish you the best of luck, and hope that you find what you're looking for."

"...Thank you, sir."

"You are most welcome."

The fox handed the pendant over, and Frankie took it by the chain. It was heavier than it looked, quite a bit heavier for that matter, and he was rather surprised at just how much it pulled at his hands. There would be no getting used to this particular piece of jewelry, and he doubted that it would ever hang from his neck in a comfortable place. It would always be dragging him down, reminding him of the weight that he carried, the possibilities that he had left behind in favor of the powerful magic that this was supposed to have.

Was...was he starting to believe? There didn't seem to be anything happening from holding it. Maybe he needed to put it on, instead? He hesitated for another second, then slowly pulled it over his head.

As soon as the chain settled around his neck, he gasped, leaning forward and grabbing hold of the counter. Everything shifted around him, the world feeling like it was spinning, his eyes closing tight as he felt his heart pounding in his chest. There was...there was a pull in the air around him, something that felt like it was yanking back through his rib-cage, something trying to pull his heart out through his back for a split second before it settled into something more like a magnet, something that was just dragging at him rather than pulling, yanking, ripping through him.

The feeling didn't die, but it did slowly fade, moving into the background rather than staying so painfully in the foreground. He took a few deep breaths, pushing that feeling down into his stomach, getting rid of the worrying, breath-stealing feeling in his torso.

"What...how..."

"The spell is cast," the fox said, nodding knowingly. "Sooner or later, your boyfriend will appear."

"And...how...how will I know..."

"When you are settled, when you are at peace, when the fire of desire and the calm waters of love are as one, you will know."

"...That tells me nothing," he muttered.

"It will make sense when the time comes."

When the time comes. He wondered when that would be. Shaking his head, he took Kevin's arm, having to be led out of the shop from the sheer exhaustion that followed the pain in his chest. The weight of the pendant seemed all the stronger as they walked along, and he wondered if he would ever get used to that feeling.

As they got back in the car, he noticed that Kevin was looking at him a bit more than before. There was something odd there, and he blushed, shaking his head, knowing that was just his wishes and fantasy trying to play with him. No point in trying to figure that out.

"So, back to the dorm?" Kevin asked.

"...I think I want to hit the gym," Frankie said.

"Huh. Any reason?"

"I just...I feel like I need to give it time to work."

"And you think you'll find your guy at the gym?"

"I think that there's a chance."

"Heh, your choice. I need sleep, so you'll have to walk home. Fair enough?"

"More than."

"Alright. Let's go, then."

#

As he walked into the gym, something felt...off. He didn't know what it was, but for a few seconds after he walked into the locker room, it was like that tug in his chest was there again, pulling at his attention and making him feel like he was going to be yanked off his feet. He didn't know what it was pulling him towards, and every few seconds, the direction that it was tugging him changed subtly, almost like it was pulling him towards something that was moving around.

Frankie hoped that meant that it was trying to point out the person that was meant for him, and that it would help him find them when he was close by. For now, he wanted to focus on his body-building exercises and get some of the dopamine that he relied on to get through the day.

Changing and putting on his usual t-shirt and sweats, he made his way to the weight machines in the back of the gym. He was slightly more conscious than usual of the eyes on him, human and anthro alike, and he started flexing almost without thinking about it. He had been in the gym so often this year that his physique had gotten much better than the average human already, thick enough that he'd needed to replace his shirts twice due to the way that they ripped when he flexed his arms. It was quite the fun time, really, getting eyes on him like that, though he doubted that it would last forever.

Still, he savored the feeling as he went to his usual starting point. The bench-press was great for getting that first rush going, and it was just as good to finish with, reinforcing the gains that you'd gotten with your session. He laid down on the bench, looking at the weights that were already on the bar. Probably about two-hundred pounds. Near his record, currently. Didn't hurt to see where he was, he supposed. He pushed the bar up, moved it into place...

And was shocked to find that it just settled there with ease. He blinked, lowering it slowly, then pushed up with the normal force he used.

It almost flew out of his hands. Not quite, because he [i]was[/i] gripping it rather tightly, but close. The weight of the bar and the large circles on either end was nothing like he was used to, almost like a feather-weight in comparison to what he had been pumping day in and day out for months.

Frankie got off the bench, cocking his head to the side as he looked at the bar again. Had someone changed it out for a joke? That would have been stupid, not to mention dangerous, but there were enough frat-boys in the gym that it was possible. He reached for the spin-balls that held the weights on, pulling them off and taking off the weights. He counted them, one by one.

Yep, it was the right weight, and when he compared the weight of the largest disk to one of those that were laid at the side of the bench press, it was clear that they were the same weight, though they both felt lighter than they should have. Something was wrong...

Or...

He looked down at the pendant again. Mr. Han had said that he would be changed to be better for the person that he'd be matched with. Did that mean that he was going to get stronger, too? That he would get other abilities, other traits that would make him into a bigger, stronger, better man than he already was? The idea was rather intriguing, to put it mildly, and he wondered just how much bigger he might be able to get in the coming days. Would he be that much stronger, or would he stop here? What did he need that kind of strength for, in the grand scheme of things, and what would he be using it to accomplish?

There were so many questions, and none of them were going to be answered just standing there. He'd need to do more, see more, experience more, to find out the answers. He smiled, pulling more of the disks from the side of the bench. For now, he was going to see just where his new limits were. If the bar was this light already, then he could probably double it right now.

And from there...

From there, he'd see where else he went.

#

The rest of the gym were sad to see him go, but they did applaud him as he went to the showers. He waved them off, hardly believing how far he'd gone.

Everything had been so...so easy, compared to his usual struggles in the gym. Yeah, sure, he'd gotten stronger since he first signed up, and he'd gained since then, but this...this was something downright magical.

He fingered the pendant as he pulled off his shirt, tossing it into the locker and shaking his head. The metal felt warm against his skin, but he didn't know if that was just the pendant sucking up the warmth of his body and putting it out again, or if it was some kind of magic that was slowly emanating from it. The whole thing seemed impossible, still, and only the constant pulling that he felt from it, that weird tug that came through his core, told him that this still had a purpose. There was something happening for a reason with this, and sooner or later, it would work out.

Sooner or later.

Frankie pulled off his pants and tossed them in the locker, too, followed by his sandals. He walked over to the shower, and -

"Mmmmph..."

Something else started warming up, something...something between his legs. He groaned under his breath, huffing as he leaned against the doorway leading from the lockers to the showers, and looked down.

[i]Is...is that getting...[/i]

No, no way. There was no way that he was going to get a bigger dick, not from this. That was just porno-thoughts, and it wasn't like he had gotten bigger muscles just from getting stronger. Besides, what kind of problem would that solve, huh? What kind of thing would that take care of?

Yet, at the same time, he was more than slightly tempted to reach down and take care of it, to find out what had happened, why he felt so...so hot and needy down there...

[i]Later,[/i] he told himself, forcing his hand away from his cock no matter how much it wanted to stick around. [i]Later.[/i]

It was with a heavy heart - and heavier balls - that he made his way to the hot showers. A few other guys waved him over, some human, some anthros, and all of them were rather congratulatory about how much better he'd been doing with the weights and barbells. They wanted to know his secret, wanted to know what he had done to get so much better in so short a time. One even asked him if he was on drugs, only half-jokingly.

Frankie reassured them that it was all normal, all above-board. There was nothing wrong with him, just a lot of hard work being put into this.

And even as he said it, he wondered just what would happen to him next...

[b][u][center]The End[/center][/u][/b]

Summary: Frankie is a college student lacking a boyfriend. He takes a trip with his roommate to a shop to get some magical aid to find one.

Tags: M/solo, Series, Human, Anthro, Fox, Muscles, Cock, Nudity, Throbbing, Magic, Impending Transformation, Modern Fantasy,