#spent the entire afternoon basically staring at the phone number on my computer screen

[schizowitchic]

one fucking day without seeing people making fun of people who can't make phone calls easily/can't order food in restaurants/struggle to ask for help from a customer service worker/etc. due to anxiety. please im literally begging at this point 🙏

[adrenaline-roulette]

Four Eighths

Pairing: Four x Eight (Reader) Word count: 2K+ Warnings: Swearing, that’s really the only one for this chapter, I’ll change the warnings as necessary for each part. 

*Disclaimer, I really don’t know anything about the world of computer hacking and such, but I tried my best! 

Chapter one: Finding yourself

                                                  Well hello there! Look, I’m embarrassed and ashamed to admit this, but it’s taken me up until this past weekend to finally getting around to watching 6 Underground.

Now let me tell you, that shit was intense, hilarious, amazing, and my golly gosh, Ben Hardy has stolen my heart once again! There I was, thinking that he couldn’t get any more attractive after playing Roger, but no! I was oh so very wrong!

So basically, I fell down a rabbit hole of Four x Reader fics, and then while I was driving to work the other morning, I had an idea of my own for a story, and now here we are! I’ll let you all know now, this first chapter is basically just introducing Eight, but as of chapter 2 (Which will likely either be out tonight or at the very least by the end of this week), we will begin to get into the actual plot, and lets be honest, the smut. (We all want it, don’t pretend you don’t!)

I’m hoping you all enjoy this, and I would love to hear from you if you do!

@everything-isfucked, my sister from another mister, this goes out to you (You had better like it!)

Anyways, on with the show!!!

⫷⫷⫸⫸

Chapter one: Finding yourself

When your friends had asked you to join them for a night out on Friday, you had lied and said you had already made other plans. It wasn’t entirely a lie, however to most people, by saying you had plans, one would think they would involve you going out, and interacting with other people. This however, was not the case. To an extent you were interacting with people, actually no, let’s rephrase that, you were interacting with other people’s money.

Technology was your forte, everyone knew this, whether they understood the extent of your knowledge in the field, that was another question entirely. During school, all your subjects revolved around computer sciences, and it was to no one’s surprise when you had selected a degree in this exact field. Though you quickly found your assignments to be mundane and repetitive, designing a fully functioning website? You did that in your free time when you were seventeen! Create an app which allowed users to stream Netflix onto two screens at the same time? You had one upped that assignment with ease, your app allowed people to stream Netflix on one screen, YouTube on another screen, Or you could split screen, and have both playing at the same time on the same screen. Needless to say, while you professors were impressed with your abilities, your classmates were often found to be leering at you, snarky comments about how ‘because of you getting such a high grade, everyone else’s got dropped lower because they couldn’t compete.’ To you though, this wasn’t a competition, it was just something you loved to do! Of course, after years of doing the same sort of thing, your interests inevitably began to change. You knew the ins and outs of most apps and websites by now, you had studied them relentlessly when in the process of developing your own. So really, how hard would it be to use their coding against them, wreak a little havoc from the inside?

You had started off innocently enough, getting into your friend’s social media accounts, tweaking things in their settings just to get on their nerves. Slowly you built up to larger scale hacking, such as remotely logging into your professor’s laptop, not only finding the answers to the next five tests your class had, (Which you promptly made several copies of, selling them to your classmates online for $100 each) but also retrieving a few passwords that could have been far stronger than they were, (There’s a reason why most websites tell you if your password is weak, it’s to try and stop people like you from figuring it out!) With the passwords at hand, you were able to grant yourself access to anything you wanted in relation to your professor.  His bank account details? You had them. The password to access his bank account?  Well that just so happened to be the same password he used for his emails, which, oh look, you had that too! You had the ability to transfer all of his money from his account and into yours, something which you found yourself unable to do, despite his flawed internet security, you had no issue with the Professor, and although your moral compass was severely lacking by now, it was still strong enough to sway you away from robbing the man.

Your moral compass could only last for so long though, bills were piling up, your tuition fee was astronomical, add on top of that, your rent for the small apartment you had decided to stay in, to both escape your parents, and to avoid student housing, well the landlord had just upped the cost by $150 per week. You had a part time job, but the shifts had been dwindling as of late, and your savings account had reached dangerously low levels. Anyone else in your situation would do the same if they knew how, you told yourself as you found yourself diving deeper into a list of names you had found after weeks of searching. The list played host to the names of multi-millionaires  who were so called, ‘off the grid’. The people who were in hiding for one reason or another, the people who even the government didn’t know about, and definitely the kind of people that you, a broke student, should have nothing to do with, or know they exist.

All you had to do was select a name, just any name, then came the hard part, snoop around and find everything you need to grant yourself access to their bank. It was one thing to find the details needed when it was your Professor, but a totally other thing when it came the people on this list. These were the kind of people who had passwords to protect their passwords, passwords! Your eyes scan over the list one final time, before stopping on a somewhat familiar name. “What are you doing here?” You hum out, cocking your head to the side as you make up your mind, this is the person.

It took close to three weeks before you had retrieved all the information you required, and in that time, your savings were now obsolete, but that didn’t matter, it was Friday night, and you were about to make yourself filthy rich! “Sorry mate, it’s either this or I move back home.” You smirk, spinning back and forth on the black leather computer chair, your eyes sparkling as you look over the enormous number which was the balance of this strangers account. You knew what you were doing with this part, quickly you entered in  the necessary details, answering each and every security question with ease, before it finally came time to transfer the money to your account. “Just a bit to start with.” You decide, removing a few of the 0’s you had added for the amount you would transfer, “Can’t have the banks getting suspicious.”

                                                                               ********

The man stared at his phone, eyes narrowing into slits as he glared at the ever-changing bank balance. He hadn’t noticed it at first, I mean there was always so much money in there, how was he supposed to remember exactly how much he had? But the balance was dropping rapidly now, not by enough to cause him any concern, but surely enough to get on his nerves. There was nothing he could do to stop this though; he could hardly walk into his bank and demand they track down whoever had somehow gained access to his account.

No, he would have to solve this problem himself, surely it couldn’t be that hard to track them down, right?

                                                                              ********

Hacking was one hell of a slippery slope. One minute you were stealing someone’s money, and the next, you were assisting a group thieves who were robbing an exhibition which had come to the City’s largest museum. The exhibition was a collection of Georgian era clothes, and jewellery, which had been travelling across the globe, displaying some of the most exquisite pieces of fashion the world had ever seen. So far, the collection had made it three quarters of the way through its journey, and it was set to remain in your city for two months, before being packed up and moving on once again.

You don’t know whose idea it was for you all to use walkie talkies to communicate, but you felt like a child playing spies when you were handed yours that night. You didn’t give yourself the chance to think about that for too long though, as you quickly logged on to your set up, having situated yourself in a hotel which stood right across from the museum.  Usually it was packed with tourists, though after offering to pay triple the price for a room with a view of the museum for the night, miraculously the staff had found you an empty room. You had spent the entire afternoon lugging your bags up to the room, all your computer components securely housed in each bag. None of the hotel staff had paid you any mind as you brought up you twelfth and final bag, simply turning a blind eye to the oddity of the situation.

“Okay, I have eyes on the security guards.” You announce through your walkie talkie, eyes trained on one of the monitors which mirrored what the security cameras inside the museum saw. “Foxtrot, you need to go left up ahead. Romeo, stand still, don’t move until I say so, there’s a guard right near you.  Lima, you are getting way too close to a camera up ahead, either turn right now and go another way, or wait a few moments for it to pan back the way it came.”

This situation was stressful as hell, but the adrenaline which pumped through your veins kept you going, igniting a fire within you which begged for more. The trio in the museum listened to your every word, obeying each command as they crept closer to their target. An oval room near the far left of the museum, in this room there sat twenty pedestals, each playing host to necklaces, earrings, rings, and bracelets. Glass boxes encasing each item to keep them safe and protected. Not for much longer. “I can hear footsteps Quebec.” Lima whispers to you, and you frown, looking back to your monitors, scanning for anyone who may be approaching. At first you missed it, your eyes moving on to the next screen, but quickly they dart back, landing on a guard who had been up until a few minutes ago, permanently positioned near the bathrooms.

“Fuck, yes I see him. Foxtrot, Romeo, your path is clear for the rest of the way, but stop when you get to the doors of the oval room, don’t go in until I say so.” You watch the two figures nod their heads in understanding, before making their way as instructed. “Lima, go back the way you came, see if you can get into the storage closet at the end of the hall, I’ll tell you when to come out.”

“Quebec, we’re here and ready to go in.” Foxtrot announces, as you watch Lima close the closet door behind him, the guard who had been closing in on him none the wiser.

“Okay, here’s where it’s going to get loud.” You announce, turning to a new computer, fingers gliding across the keyboard at lighting speed. Delving deep into the security system for the museum, you finally stop when a window pops open, requesting an override password.  You had three chances to get this right, and you had four theories of what the password was. ‘Incorrect password’ the window reads, before you enter your second attempt. You hold your breath, waiting for the same message to appear, though this time it doesn’t. “Thank fuck.” You mumble, typing in the code needed for your distraction.

The fire alarms blares to life, a loud siren sounding throughout the entire museum. The security guards do just as you had expected, they all leave their posts and make their way to the front desk, all trying to find out what had caused the alarm to begin. It wouldn’t take them long to come to the conclusion that the alarm had tripped itself, but it would give your team long enough to smash and grab what they could. The sound of three hammers simultaneously smashing glass in the oval room is obscured by the alarm, and you watch as your masked teammates snatch up jewellery left, right and centre, shoving the items into their backpacks “That’s the last of it.” Foxtrot informs you, throwing the bag back over his shoulder.

“Okay, this is where we go blind, I’m cutting the cameras now, anyone who looks through them will see you arrive, but will never see you leave.” This is the tricky part, not only for your team who have to navigate their way out of the museum through the back entrance without your eyes to guide them. But also for you, who must now cut the security cameras for the entire museum, and then for the street cameras from the buildings out the back of the museum. You don’t have to do all the cameras outside, just enough to give your team room to make a clean getaway, leaving no trace of them to be found. You swipe your phone unlocked, resting it on the desk beside you, hitting shuffle on your playlist, Nutbush city limits playing at full volume. Smiling, you get to work, the song adding to the exhilaration of what you had just done.  Sure, not many people would be proud of robbing priceless artefacts from a museum, but hey, each to their own.

As you finish with the last building, its cameras shut off, your music drowns out the sound of the hotel door clicking shut softly. “Alright, you have a camera free street ahead of you. I’ll see you back at the rendezvous point for my cut.” You sign off on the walkie talkie, switching it off, after hearing an affirmative from your team on the ground. “Fuck yeah!” You cry happily, clapping your hands together three times, taking a moment to congratulate yourself on pulling off something that was this large scale.

“I wouldn’t say fuck yeah, in fact, I was leaning more towards fuck you.” Comes a voice from behind you, causing you to leap to your feet in surprise, spinning on the spot to face the stranger in your room.

“Who the hell are you?” You shriek, hands grabbing blindly at the desk behind you, searching for something you could use to defend yourself with.

“I’m the man you’ve been robbing for the past few months. I’m also the man who is going to kill you for doing so.”

Your fingers wrap around a solid object, and you lift it before you, holding it up in self-defence. You realise too late, that the hotel provided paper weight you were wielding, was nothing against the gun that was pointed directly at your chest.

Chapter Two My Masterlist

[fallinfor-youreyes]

Rosvolio for the “We’ve been communicating entirely by email/phone/carrier pigeon/paid messenger for the past year as we work to bring some peace and order to this troubled land” prompt please! (if you feel so inclined)

Full prompt: “We’ve been communicating entirely by email/phone/carrier pigeon/paid messenger for the past year as we work to bring some peace and order to this troubled land, so when I walked into the negotiation room to sit down with the fearsome and terrible politician/businessperson/famed warrior that all my people are so afraid of, I didn’t really expect it to be you.” This fic got away from me and became a monster, but I hope you enjoy it. Read it on Ao3!

The entire disaster startswith an email.

Shehas about a million emails a day — perks of being her aunt’ssecretary— but this one sticks out.

I’ma dumbass, please help.

It’spossibly the first subject line that has made her laugh ever, so sheopens it first, instead of one of the other million emails thatcurrently need her attention before her one o’clock meeting thisafternoon,

Igot your email from one of the organizers, but I missed theconference last week, and I was wondering if you had some notes. Mydumbass of a boss forgot that I wasn’t there, and didn’t take anynotes himself, and as you know, it was a really important meeting.Any information you could send my way would be a great help.

Ben

Rosalinerolls her eyes as she collects all of notes from the conference intoa folder, and attaches it to the email. She assumes it’s a poorintern or new hire, not even high enough on the totem pole to get anofficial email.

Don’tworry. You’re not a dumbass. Happens all the time. Let me know ifyou have any questions.

Ros

Shedeletes her official signature, as to not intimate the poor guy,expecting that to be the end of it and moves her way back intothe slog of other emails. She gets through about 10 more before hercomputer dings, and dumbass extraordinaire has responded to her.

Youare a lifesaver. Honestly. I owe you a drink at the next conference.

Ben

Rosalinestares at the email for a little longer than necessary. Most peoplejust see her as the secretary to the assembly woman, the note taker,the email answerer. No one ever really goes out of their way to wantto thank her.

Hercursor hovers over the reply button for a moment too long.

I’llhold you to it.

Ros

Thesecond she hits send, her aunts voice echoes through the hall, andRosaline tries her best to not smash her head into the desk.

Twomore years. Two more years until Livia is out of college, andRosaline can quit being her aunt’s secretary. Two more years untilshe doesn’t have to answer emails, and take notes, and makes up allof the plans and proposals, and basically be running the entireCapulet side of Verona by herself.

Twomore years.

Andthen she can leave.

He’sabsentmindedly going through all of his personal emails when it popsup.

Soabout that drink…

Hehad almost completely forgotten about his hungover escapade intoattempting to be fired, which only led to his Uncle’s threateningto take away his wages and have him arrested for embezzlement.

Benvolioknew better than underestimate his uncle, so he fell back in line,and tracked down someone who could get him what he needed.

Whichled him to the apparent ‘best note taker in all of Veronapolitics’. In his attempt to get back onto his uncles good side,Benvolio had only found her email, completely forgotten her name, andforgot the password to his official email account, leaving her witheven less information about him.

Thefact that she even emails him back is astounding.

Hernotes are clear and impeccable, and quite literally saved his life.He might not know exactly who she is, but he’s pretty sure shecould take over the world.

Heclicks open the email, half expecting half hoping that she’s goingto cash in on his offer from a few weeks ago.

Fromone dumbass to another, are you at the conference this weekend? Andif you are, could you share your notes? Something came up with myboss, but I know this conference is really important, so anything youhave will be amazing.

Ros

Theslightest bit of disappointment runs through him, but he pushes itaway, and instead focuses on the more important things going on.

Ican guarantee they will not be as good as yours, but yeah, once Iclean them up I’ll send them your way.

Hepauses a moment, thinking. It wouldn’t hurt to have the number ofthe best note taker in all of Verona. It would probably be a goodthing, in all honesty.

Here’smy number in case you have any questions.

Ben

Hepockets his phone and straightens himself out when he hears thefootsteps coming down the hall.

“Benvolio.”His uncle says, eyes sharp and calculating. “This is AmbassadorRyan. He’s very important in the plans we have coming up withVerona.”

Theman studies Benvolio through cold, blue eyes. He’s used to this. Tobeing questioned by his uncle’s people, to being studied, andwatched.

“I’veheard a lot about you, Mr. Montague,” the ambassador says.

“Allgood things, I hope.”

Hisuncle flashes him a warning look, but the ambassador just swallowshard.

“Thatyou are even more ruthless than your uncle here.”

Benvolioducks his head and tries not to smile. People don’t tend to likehim because he’s quiet. Because he watches them back.

“Justtrying to do what is best for Verona,” he says. His uncle claps hisback, and it takes all of his willpower not to jump.

Hecan get through this. He has to.

Hehas no other choice.

Sheputs him as dumbass in her phone.

Rosalineis in Milan, at a fashion show that her aunt deemed more importantthan the conference. Because apparently, maintain a foreign relationby going to a fashion show is more important than keeping Verona fromfalling apart.

Heraunt is off schmoozing someone and she decided that she could handleit by herself, so Rosaline is sitting alone, at the hotel bar, andfor some reason, she pulls out her hone and stares at his contactinformation.

Shethinks it’s because he’s the first person who’s made her laughin a few weeks, or she just wants to talk to someone who doesn’tknow anything about her, or maybe the Italian wine is just going toher head, but she clicks on her number and types out the message.

Sowhat exactly did you do that qualifies you as a dumbass?

Benvoliostares at the message, making sure it is actually from the number ofthe best note taker in the all of Verona.

Hetakes another sip of his drink, drums his fingers on the table, andcontemplates.

Hecould tell her the truth. About how he got drunk enough to forget himown name, and slept through his flight, too hungover to call hisuncle and tell him he quit.

Orhe could lie. Say he got sick or lost his passport, or simply wrotethe wrong date in his schedule.

Benvolioorders another drink.

Wasdoing my best to get fired?

Whatchanged?

Gotmy priorities straight.

Forsome reason they don’t stop talking. They somehow never are at thesame conference or meeting or debate at the same time, so they tradenotes back and forth over email, and then they text. It starts off astypically work related things, but eventually, they start todissolve.

“Whatare you smiling at?” Livia asks, jumping up onto the kitchencounter.

“Nothing.”Rosaline stuffs her phone in her pocket, and continues to stir thepasta. Livia’s eyes narrow at her, but Rosaline ignores her. She’shad lots of practice.

Herphone buzzes, and Livia jumps off the counter, skillfully slipping itfrom her pocket before Rosaline can stop her. She’s had lots ofpractice too.

“Who’sDumbass?”

“Livia,”Rosaline groans, attempting to grab her phone back, but Livia dancesout of reach.

“Sothen Merc trips up the last step and right into Romeo, who drops thebottle that we had literally spent all day trying to get, and that’show our night ended. Sitting on the roof of our high school,completely sober like a bunch of idiots.” Livia’s face softens abit as she reads. “Sounds sweet.”

“Giveit back.” Rosaline elbows her in the gut in an attempt to get herphone, but Livia is quick.

“Whoare they?”

“He’snobody!”

Liviapauses, jaw dropping. “He? Doesn’t sound like a nobody.”

“Heis. I promise.”

“Whyis he called dumbass in your phone?”

Rosalinereaches out again, hoping she’s too distracted looking at thephone. She’s able to get hand on it, but Livia pulls back and thensome how, the screen changes, and the phone is ringing, and Rosalinedrops it.

Liviacatches the phone just before it collides with the floor, and a voiceechoes from the inside.

“Hello?”

There’sglee written all over Livia’s face, and Rosaline dives for it,easily taking it out of her sisters hands.

“Hi.”

“Ros?”The voice at the end says, and he’s only spoken two words, but shelikes his voice. She likes his voice a whole lot.

“Yeah.Yeah, sorry my sister thinks she’s funny. I didn’t mean to botheryou,” Rosaline says, slipping out of the kitchen.

“You’renot bothering me,” he says. He must notice he says it too fast,because he quickly tacks on, “What are you up to?”

“Iwas making dinner. What about you?” Rosaline lets herself collapseonto the couch, swinging her legs over the arm rest.

“Readingover the latest agreement.”

“Thislate?”

“Worksnever done is it?” He sighs, and she thinks it sounds like he’ssettling into a chair or something, but she can’t be sure.

“Whichparts are you reviewing?”

“Thecompromise settlement. Even though it will never go through.”

“Ican walk you through it,” Rosaline offers. She slips up before sherealizes what she’s said. They have an anonymity about this. Shedoesn’t know who he works for, and her email doesn’t include herexact position or what office she is apart of.

“You’reworking on the compromise acts as well?” Ben asks.

“Yeah.I wrote part of act 5 in the latest attempt.”

Bencoughs likes he’s choking on something. “Jesus, you’re not oneof the administration, are you?”

“No,”Rosaline says, unable to stop the laughter in her voice. “Just asecretary.”

“Whowrites the bills?”

“It’sa complicated arrangement.” Rosaline twists herself on the couchuntil she can pulls her legs up to her chest. “You’re notadministration, are you?”

“Noway. Official title is aide, but I like to call it personal servant.”

“Whydon’t you leave?”

There’sa pause at the other end of the line, and she feels like she can hearhim thinking.

“It’sa complicated arrangement.” He repeats her words back to her, andfor stupid reason, it fills her with warmth.

“Soyou don’t think they will work? Th new accords?” Rosaline asks.

“Probablynot. Both sides are asking too much, and neither will give in. Theywon’t compromise for the compromise.”

“Hmm.”Rosaline switches the phone to speaker, and pulls up the compromiseon her phone.

“What?”Ben asks.

“Whatif we tried.”

“Whatdo you mean?”

“Justme and you. The aide and the secretary. I write most of my bossessections, and you probably have some information that could beuseful. They’ve been trying to reach a compromise for over a yearnow. Maybe we can try something different.” It’s a crazy idea.Rosaline knows that. But she also knows that if nothing is doneVerona will tear itself to the ground, and as much as she wants toleave, Verona is her home.

“Okay.I mean the worst that can happen is we can get fired.” Benvolioagrees.

“Exactly.”Rosaline brings the phone back up to her ear. “I’ll email youabout it. Once I find some time.”

“Yeah.Yeah, that sounds good.”

There’sa pause of silence, but it’s comfortable. She finds herself smilingfor no good reason.

“Ros?”He says, after a moment.

“Yeah?”

“I’mglad your sister accidentally called me.”

Thesmile on her face grows a stupid amount. “Yeah. Me too.”

Benvoliostares at his phone for a little longer than necessary after shehangs up. He still has about 20 pages of the accords to read beforetomorrow, and needs to type up the main points for his uncle, butthere’s something about the best note taker in the Verona that hecan’t tie down.

They’veonly known each other for a few weeks, and he knows approximatelythree things about her, but he liked talking to her. He enjoyedtalking to her, about work of all things.

Andnow they are going to try and save Verona together. Because he likedtalking to her.

Hisphone buzzes in his hand and he jumps almost dropping it, before hesees Mercutio texted the group chat about a party on Saturday, andthat if Benvolio didn’t come, he was going to revoke his friendshipcard.

Benvoliotexts them back, telling them he’ll keep them updated. Before helocks his phone, he flicks back to her contact information, andbefore he chickens out, he types out a message and sends it.

Heturns his phone off before she can answer back, and focuses on thetask at hand.

Youcan call me anytime you want.

Theywork surprisingly well together. Over the next week they not onlystart discussing a plan to finish the compromise, but they also fallinto a routine.

Hetexts her sometimes, first thing in the morning while he’s waitingonline for his coffee. Most of the time it’s stupid things like astupid quote he saw on a calendar, or a picture of a dog he sees onhis walk. One morning, he asks texts her good morning, and asks whather her coffee order.

Why?

Whenwe finally meet I’m taking you out for coffee. Or drinks. You canpick your poison.

Shetexts him back a picture of her iced vanilla coffee and an eye rollemoji, and for the rest of the day, he can’t stop smiling.

He’stexting her about some of the ideas for the compromise when he walksinto the party that Mercutio told him about, hitting send just asRomeo crashes into him with way too much energy for how late it is.

“Iswear to god, I haven’t seen you in six months.”

Benvolioshrugs his cousin off, only to be attacked by Mercutio a secondlater.

“Guys,it’s been 3 weeks. Tops,” He says, making his way over to grab adrink before they can fight him on it.

“No,”Mercutio shakes his head and pulls out his phone. “This photo wastaken 2 months ago. That was the last time we saw you.”

Benvoliotakes a sip of his drink and glances at the photo. He knows they areright, but he refuses to give them the satisfaction. “It’s beenbusy at work.”

Aflash of concern crossed Romeo’s face, but it’s gone in aninstant when he sees someone walk through the door. “I’ll beright back!”

Benvolio’sphone buzzes at that exact moment, so he turns away from his friendsand can’t stop the smile on his face when he sees her name.

Mycousin is literally going to be the death of me.

Canwe pick up the compromise tmm? I refuse to work past 9 on Saturdays.

Course.I’m out anyway.

Shedoesn’t text him back explaining the cousin thing, and it hits himthat she probably thinks he doesn’t want to talk to her anymore,which the exact opposite of what he wanted, so he pulls his phoneback out just as Romeo comes back, this time, a beautiful girl on hisarm.

Whathappened with your cousin?

“Guys,this is Jules.” Romeo says, almost bouncing with energy.

Mercutiosimply raises an eyebrow at them over his drink.

“She’smy girlfriend.”

Julesblushes and hides her face in his shoulder.

“Ben,”Benvolio says, offering her his hand.

“Juliet.”She gives him a dazzling smile before turning to Mercutio.

“Ofthe Capulet variety, right?” Mercutio asks, dropping a kiss to herknuckles.

Thesmile drops from her face and she turns to Romeo,  and Benvolio ispretty sure he can see some fear in her eyes.

“Theyknow?”

“Ididn’t—“

“Iam a Prince, my dear. It’s part of my parameters that I know who’swho, and knowing the sole heir of the Capulet’s is basically at thetop of that list.” Mercutio says. “Would you like a drink, love?”

Julietrelaxes just slightly.

Benvolioglares at his cousin when her back is turned, prepared to talk somesense into him later.

Shemakes bad dating choices. And then I have to clean up the mess.

Tellme about it. Pretty sure my cousin is using his girlfriend to rebelagainst his dad.

Mercutio’schin digs into Benvolio’s shoulder, and he locks his phone as fastas he can.

“Whoya talking to Benny Boy?”

“Noone.”

“Mhmm.”Mercutio pokes him in the stomach hard enough to almost make himspill his drink. “Been busy at work? Or been busy with a newromantic prospect.”

“Youknow you would be the first to know, Merc.”

“Whatdo you think about them?” Mercutio says, slinging an arm aroundBenvolio’s shoulder.

Romeois whispering something to Juliet and she’s laughing, leaning intohim, a giant smile on Romeo’s face.

“Ithink it’s a recipe for trouble.”

“Wealways knew that Romeo would end up in it eventually, hanging out thelikes of us.”

Benvoliotakes a sip of his drink, and tries to ignore his phone buzz in hispocket. “I’ll talk to him about it later.”

Mercutiopats his head, and steals the rest of his drink. “Until then, letshave some fun shall we.”

Ohyoung love. I remember having time for that.

“Hello?”

Sheanswers on the first ring, and for some reason it makes the entireworld stop shaking.

“Iseverything okay? It’s 3 in the morning.”

Sheshould be asleep, but her aunt called her 4 hours ago about a problemwith an upcoming meeting that needed to be fixed asap.

“Isit lame if I say I missed your voice?” He sounds groggy, like hejust work up, or hasn’t even gotten to bed yet.

Shegiggles, light and beautiful, and he doesn’t even know what shelooks like but he might be half in love with her.

“No,”she sighs, but she sound content. “No, it’s not lame as all.”

Theyare silent for a beat, and he can hear papers ruffling across thephone.

“Iseverything okay?” She asks again.

“Yeah,it’s just…”

He’sdrunk. And his hands have been shaking for the last hour, and all hewants to quit his job and leave Verona, and never return, but there’sthings he needs to do. Like make sure Romeo is safe, and finish thiscompromise, and maybe, finally, meet her.

He’ssilent for long time, like he’s thinking of the right words. Shelets him think, just listening to him breathe and imagining what helooks like, all the way across the phone.

“It’sbeen a tough week. And I’m a dumbass,” he finally says. There’san edge to his voice that she can’t place.

“Samereason as last time?”

“Ihaven’t missed work yet, so no. But close.” He sighs, and she’spretty sure she can hear his head thump against something.

“God,”he groans. “I’ve really missed your voice.”

Rosalinepulls her legs up to her and chest and rests her head on her knees.

“What’syour coffee order?” She asks, because she never goes his.

“CaramelMacchiato.”

“Nowthat’s lame,” she says, laughing at him,

“No,it’s not. It’s delicious.” He’s automatically on the defense,trained by years of Romeo and Mercutio’s teasing.

“Iguess I’ll have to try it then. When you take me out for thatcoffee.” She says it so easily that it almost takes him off guard.

Forthe first time in almost his entire career, he’s looking forward tothe next meeting.

“Yeah.When we get that coffee.”

“Areyou sure everything is alright?”

“Yeah.I’m good.” Better now, he wants to say, but it’s late, and he’sdrunk, and it might not be for the best.

“Good.”

Theyhang up only a few moments later, and Rosaline drops her head to herdesk. She really cannot wait for that coffee.

Chancesof you being at the Midlands conference?

Beingsent back to Milan that day.

Boardmeeting on the 10th?

Requiredto be two states away for a speech.

It’slike the universe it working against us, Ros.

I’mmissing the meetings for the next three weeks after that. Campaignduties.

Well.Seems like we won’t be able to get that coffee until the nextcompromise conference.

28days.

Isit lame if I say I’m counting the minutes.

Very.

ButI like lame.

“Ohno,” Guiliana says, collapsing dramatically into her desk chair, aweek before the next compromise conference.  It’s the first she’sbeen in before 10 in the last month so it much be pretty important.

“What’swrong?” Rosaline asks, pulling out the stress relief tea that shesaved for special occasions.

“TheMontague’s. They are bringing along their aide to the compromise.”Guiliana accepts the tea, and clicks her nails along the desk. “It’ssaid he’s even more terrible than his uncle.”

“Isthat even possible?”

Guiliananods. “How are the proposals coming along. They need to be perfectif that monster is dragging along his beast. I’ll need your noteson it by Friday. “

Rosalinesnags one of the stress teas for herself. She had been working on theproposal with Ben for the last few weeks, casually flirting inbetween emails and late night conversations.

Theydefinitely aren’t dating, but this is the closest thing she’s hadto a relationship since her last breakup over two years ago. And shelikes him. Likes him way more than she should.

Butthey work well together. And for the first time, Rosaline feels likethe compromise might actually work.

“Ihave some notes now. About the new voting zones, if you wanted todiscuss them.” Rosaline offers.

“Isaid Friday, Rosaline,” Guiliana snaps. She waves her hand toindicate that she is done with her, and Rosaline steals anotherpacket of tea for good measure.

Justa few more years, she tells herself.

Justa few more years.

willyou be my alibi for when I set my boss’s office on fire?

Course.I’ll even help you if you want.

“Wait?The Montague aide is coming?” Isabella asks, almost choking on herwine.

“Whyis everyone reacting like that?” Rosaline says, refillingIsabella’s glass.

“Because,I mean, he’s literally found problems even in the most perfectproposals. And he’s quiet. But like, pretty sure he knows all ofyour secrets. He just watches you.” Isabella shivers. “I’veonly met him once, but he’s scary.”

Helenatips her head back on the couch. “I’ve heard he isn’t all thatbad. You just feel like he is studying you. And he only speaks to hisuncle.”

“It’sunnerving.” Isabella protests. She settles on the couch next to hergirlfriend, and takes a sip of her wine. “But enough talk about theconference. Tell us about phone boy,” Isabella says, her eyessparkling.

“Youmean dumbass?’ Livia says, dropping her book bag at the door andkicking off her shoes.

“Whosedumbass?” Juliet asks, following Livia into the living room.

“He’sjust a guy.” Rosaline says, glad that no one can see her blush.

“Howcome I haven’t heard of him?” Juliet asks, pouring two moreglasses of wine, and passing one to Livia.

“Becauseyou’ve been too busy dating a Montague for the past few months.”Rosaline shoots back.

“Fair.”Juliet tips her glass, and settles on the floor. “What’s his realname?”

“Ben.”Isabella supplies before Rosaline can answer. “And she’s meetinghim at the conference on Tuesday.”

“Shutup,” Rosaline says, stuffing her face into a pillow.

“Oh,”Juliet says. “Ohhhhh.”

“Yep.”Livia pokes Rosaline in the knee. “Are you excited?”

“I’mnot taking about this.”

Helenastarts to laugh, and then the entire room is laughing, and Rosalinethrows a handful of popcorn in their general directions.

Herphone buzzes, and her cheeks flush even more.

WouldI be getting my hopes up if I asked you to dinner after our coffee?

“Betchathat’s him,” Isabella says.

“She’sblushing,” Livia says.

“Shutup.”

Goingto be running late today. Boss had some mishaps this morning. Getcoffee after?

Benvolioreads over the text again, and his stomach drops. He was hoping theycould meet before the meeting, before the craziness, beforeeverything possibly went to shit.

Yeah.That works for me. Hope everything is okay.

Yeah.Just typical boss problems.

Hisuncle claps a hand on his shoulder, and Benvolio almost drops hisphone.

“Areyou ready, nephew?”

“Yes,”Benvolio says, trying not to grind his teeth.

“TheCapulet’s are running late, so we should have at least a little bitof pull for our side today.” Damiano slips down the hall, andsomething in Benvolio’s heart snaps.

Capulet’s.

Runninglate.

Justhis luck. The girl he’s halfway in love with is most likely amember of his families worst enemy.

Hecan already hear Mercutio laughing at him

Shesneaks into the conference room at the last second before the meetingstarts, settling into her typical seat on the outskirts of the room,computer at the ready for notes.

But she’s not looking at hercomputer. She looking around the room, hoping to stumble across thename tag for a Benjamin or a Ben. It’s childish of her, but shewants to find him before he finds her.

Peopleare still chatting quietly with each other, so she takes her timescanning the names, the anticipation making her heart beat a littlebit too fast.

Hereyes fall upon the Montagues’ and she takes a moment from lookingfor Ben to investigate the apparently terrible aide. There’sDamiano Montague who she knows very well, and her eyes fall to thenext name tag.

BenvolioMontague.

Rosaline let’s her eyesslide up to the man’s face, but he’s already looking at her.

He’s attractive. The kind ofattractive that is almost dangerous. Everyone had told her he wasdangerous,  a beast in his own right.

But something about him makesher want to trust him.

His features melt into a smallsmile, and he raises his hand in greeting.

And that’s when it hits her.

Ben.

Benvolio.

As in Montague.

All of the excitement meltsinto stress.

Of course she wouldaccidentally fall in love with the one person she could never have.

She could see her friendslaughing at her already.

Surprisingly, the compromisegoes over well. The Montague’s get the church and the surroundingareas that they had been after for years, and in return, theCapulet’s get the university. The opposing sides all agree, and anofficial signing date is decided.

It worked. Their compromiseworked.

And no one would ever know itwas them.

Rosaline can understand whyeveryone was afraid of the Montague aid. He had watchful eyes, and attimes, it looked like he see right through people. He was alwaysscribbling furiously, and when he spoke to his uncle, the entire roomheld their breath.

But, she also knew him. Andshe knew that he wanted this compromise as bad as she did.

She’s walking out of theconference room, when someone grabs her arm, and before she knows it,she’s being swept into one of the smaller waiting rooms.

And he’s there.

Ben.

Benvolio Montague.

The man she is supposed tohate, and fear, and never, ever trust.

But all she wants to do iskiss him.

“Hi,” she says, trying tocontain the smile on her face.

“Hi.”

She’s beautiful. Even morebeautiful close up.

Ros.

Rosaline.

Of the Capulet variety.

He honestly should have seenit coming, retribution for the way he talked to Romeo about Juliet.

“You’re not at scary aseveryone thinks you are, you know.” Rosaline Capulet is smiling athim. She has mischief in her eyes, and a proud smile on her lips, andgod, if he wasn’t already half in love with her, he’s pretty surethis could send him over the edge.

“I never claimed to be.”

“I think it’s because younever smile.”

She’s teasing him. They’vebeen talking long enough for him to know that.

“Maybe I had nothing tosmile at.” He says. He takes a step toward, like there’s agravitational pull leading him straight to her side.

She’s hugging her laptop toher chest, and she ducks her head, hiding her own smile from him.“You smiled at me.”

She doesn’t know what toexpect. He’s too far away from her for her to touch him, but whenshe glances back up, he’s closer to her.

“I did.” The edges of hislips quirk up, and Rosaline shakes her head at him.

He’s ridiculous. And aflirt. And she’s really, really attracted to him.

“You know,” she says,placing her laptop down on one of the desk, before making her own wayto be closer to him. “I didn’t expect one of the most ruthlessmen in all of Verona Politics to be you.”

Benvolio scoffs, and she’spretty sure she sees him retract into himself slightly. “Why,because the Montague’s are such outstanding people?”

There’s a poison in hisvoice, one she’s heard before when he talked about his ‘boss’,who she now realizes in his uncle. There’s a hatred there, a stripof exposed wiring, a wound full of salt.

“No.” She shakes her head,and takes the last few steps until she’s close enough that if shewanted she could reach out and touch his arm. “I meant, I didn’texpect the guy who sent me the only email heading that has ever mademe laugh, the guy who I had spent the last three months trying tosave Verona  with, the guy who would call me at three in the morningto tell me he missed my voice, to also be considered dangerous andruthless, and all around terrible. Because that is not the man Iknow.” She stops, right in front of him, gently grabbing his jaw tomake him look at her. “That is not the man I saw in there. That isnot the man I am seriously thinking about kissing right now.”

He’s pretty sure he hasforgotten how to breathe.

It’s one of the first thingshe learned how to do, so he’s not sure how she’s managed to makehim forget, but he has.

She wants to kiss him. And hevery desperately wants to kiss her back.

But, he’s forgotten how tobreath, and his brain is not functioning at full capacity.

“I like your voice evenbetter in person.” It’s not his most eloquent moment, but herface lights up, and he suddenly remembers how to be a person, andslips his hand around her waist so he can tug her closer.

“So how about that coffee?”He asks, his other hand sliding around the curve of jaw.

“Would it be terrible of meto say lets skip the coffee and go straight to dinner? The only thingI’ve had to eat today was half a day old croissant.”

“No. Dinner sounds good.”He’s smiling at her when her hands slide over his shoulders, andthen the next thing he knows, her lips find his, and he forgetseverything expect her name.

Ros.

Rosaline.

Of the Capulet variety.

His heart may or may not skipright out of his chest.

“Wait, that’sdumbass?”Juliet all but screams, grabbing Rosaline’s arm in theprocess. “Benvolio Montague?”

Rosaline attempts to detachher cousin from her arm, while Isabella stares at at said dumbassacross the bar, who is telling his collective group of friends abouther.

Livia has her ‘I-knew-it’smile on her face, and Helena is trying her best to not look smug.

“After all the shit you gaveme about Romeo, and you have been secretly dating your own Montaguefor months!” Juliet says, loud enough that the Benvolio glances upat them.

“Jules, calm down,”Rosaline pleads. “We haven’t been dating for months. It’s onlybeen like a week.”

Juliet scoffs, and evenIsabella can’t stop her laugh.

“Pretty your phone historywould go against that statement, Rosaline,” Isabella says.

“Shut up.” Rosaline pullsher drink closer, and glares at her friends.

“Can I take credit for this?I mean, I’m the reason you guys started talking.” Livia says,hooking her chin over her sisters shoulder.

“No.”

Benvolio glances at themagain, and this time he catches her eye and smiles. She instantlysmiles back, and her friends collectively start to laugh.

But she ignores them.

Benvolio mouths, ‘all good?’at her and she nods, causing his smile to grow. She watches at hepats Romeo on the shoulder, and then before she knows it, he’s oftheir side of the bar, wrapping his arms around her and burying hishead into her neck.

“Hi.” He says, lipsbrushing over her skin.

“Hi.”

Someone groans and makes acomment about PDA, but Rosaline ignores them. All of them are guiltyof the same thing, so they don’t have a say.

“Would it be lame if I saidI missed you.” Benvolio mumbles, wrapping his arms tighter aroundher.

“Yes. But I missed you too.”

She feels him smile againsther skin, and then, he’s twirling her around and his lips are onhers, and everything falls into place.

They both still have terriblejobs and even worse families, but they have each other. And plans tochange things, and great friends, and a Verona that might justsurvive because of their compromise, and each other.

He pulls back and rests hisforehead against hers.

He’s a self-proclaimeddumbass and a regretful Montague, and much better man than he giveshimself credit for, and he’s all hers.

All because of an email.

She wouldn’t have it anyother way.

[ben243s-transformation-stories]

Be Careful What You Buy on the Internet

My name is Sam, and I am a dog. A yellow lab to be exact. I haven't always been this way. When I got up this morning, I was human. My boyfriend Kevin invited me over to his house to see this new charm he had ordered over the Internet. It came with instructions on how to turn a person into an animal; I figured it would never work, so I let him try it. Big mistake. Now he can't seem to figure out how to turn me back. Kevin was always ordering weird things from the Internet, and wanting me to help him try them out. When he called this Morning, I figured it might be fun to see what he had gotten this time since I was bored and had nothing better to do. I threw on some clothes and walked the block or so to his house. Kevin was waiting for me with a gleam in his eye. "Wait until you see what I got this time" he said. I grinned and shook my head. "Can't wait" I replied, only a little sarcastically. He led me into his living room, and showed me a beautifully carved charm, about the size of a half dollar. It looked surprisingly authentic. "It is the Canis charm from the lost culture of Dogistan, or something" Kevin tried to explain. I half tuned him out because each “relic” he purchased was sillier than the last., "uh huh, so what's it do?" I asked. Kevin looked at me as if I had just rained on his parade. With a serious expression on his face, he said, " it lets me turn anyone I want into any type of dog I want." I looked at him as if he were crazy. " What do you think this is, some type of fantasy story? There's no such thing as transformations. People can't become animals." I think I hurt his feelings because he looked a little deflated. It only lasted for a moment though. " Oh ye of little faith. This is the real deal. " He finally replied. "Okay then, let's see what the charm of yours will do." I said as he led me into his living room. I stood in the center of the room, while Kevin fumbled with the instructions that had come with the package. He held the charm over his head, and read some words that sounded like gibberish to me. When nothing happened, Kevin looked dejected, and started to lower his arm. "Sorry man, I thought...." He started to say just as the dog on the charm lit up, and a red beam of light hit me squarely on the chest and knocked me into the wall. It must have knocked the wind out of me because I passed out for a minute. When I came to, Kevin was standing over me worried, asking, "My God, are you alright?" I tried to answer but couldn't get the words out. After a few seconds I felt more normal and tried to stand up. I made it to my feet, but I could tell something was wrong. My entire body felt funny, almost numb. That kind of feeling you get when your foot falls asleep. I looked down at myself and saw a huge hole in my shirt with singed edges. Man, I really liked that shirt. Without thinking I ripped the shirt off to make sure my chest didn’t have a similar hole in it. Lucky everything looked okay, but I sure wasn’t feeling the same way. As the tingling intensified, I found my clothing becoming more and more uncomfortable against my skin. Without thinking I kicked off my shoes and socks, and pants tossing them aside. I hesitated some when I started to take of my boxer briefs, but it what ever was going on definitely wanted me naked as the itching and tingling picked that moment to spike. I couldn’t take the feeling any longer and practically tore my underwear from body. I was now totally naked in my friend’s living room, but at least the tingling had subsided for now. The relief only lasted for a few seconds as a new wave quickly overcame me. I looked at my body in horror as hair started growing out all over my body. I soon felt cramps in my hands and feet, and was afraid to look at them. After a few moments, I built up enough courage to look at my hands, and saw that they now resembled paws. The hair continued to grow, and was fully covering my body. Once my paws were completely formed, something forced me down onto all fours. My arms and legs went through what looked like painful changes, and I was glad that I was basically numb. My mind was having trouble with what was going on. Clearly I was changing into an animal, but that wasn’t possible. I must be hallucinating I tried to rationalize. Soon I was standing on four equal length legs. I felt a pressure at the base of my spine, and looked around just in time to see what could only be a tail burst forth. It quickly reached its full length and was covered in a coat of blond fur. If not for the calming and numbing effects I was experiencing I surly would have passed out or started to panic. As it was I couldn’t help but watch with a certain terrified fascination. Before I could fully take in my previous changes, I could feel my face starting to push out. My nose turned black and flattened out, and my ears started moving and getting longer. Soon I had a full muzzle and my head had changed shape to that of the dog I was becoming. It wasn’t long before a few final changes happened in the shape of my body to support my new for legged stance, and the hair finished growing in to give me a complete coat of fur. The tingling started to subside, and exhausted I collapsed to the floor. It felt like the transformation had taken ages, but I could tell from the fact that Kevin had hardly moved it had only taken seconds. Kevin rushed to my side, and was clearly scared. He was hesitant to touch me, and kept apologizing. “Don’t worry, I’ll find some way to turn you back.” He tried to reassure me. Kevin rushed off to find the directions and find a way to reverse the process. All I could do for the next half hour was lie on my side and rest. When Kevin didn’t come back right away, I decided to try and find him. After a few tries, I finally managed to pull myself up onto my feet, err paws, and go looking. As I passed a mirror in the hall, I couldn’t help but stare. Gone were all semblances of my human self, and in their place was a dog. I watched in fascination as the dog in the mirror mimicked my movements, not quite letting myself believe that this was really happening. Kevin’s cursing drew me out of my tunnel vision, and brought me back to reality. I trotted over to him, and tried to ask what was wrong, but all that came out were barks. Some how he still managed to get my meaning, and told me, “ I’m sorry, I didn’t really expect this to work, so I only got the base version. The reversal directions were extra. There is a warning that if the spell is not reversed within 72 hours It will become permanent. I’m so sorry”. With that he broke down crying. I tried to reassure him, but wasn’t quite sure how. Kevin finally pulled himself together, and tried to call the customer service number printed on the instructions. All he got was a phone tree that had options for shipping or reordering, but nothing specific about the products themselves, and no way to actually talk to a live person. Frustrated he hung up, and went through his bookmarks looking for the web site he had ordered from. Finding the link he was sure was the one, he clicked on it and waited as the page reloaded. We both stared at the screen and were greeted with a notice that the site was down for maintenance, and wouldn’t be available until Monday afternoon. As it was Friday morning, that was too long to wait. We looked at each other not sure what to do next. I wasn’t much help as I couldn’t communicate my thoughts well, and I was still trying to get used to my new body. I wasn’t sure what Kevin was feeling, but I could tell he wasn’t taking this well. He spent the next several hours trying to search for help on the web, but wasn’t coming up with anything useful. I was left alone to wonder the house, and as I did so I could feel the pull of the animal instincts. I could easily resist them now, but somehow I could tell that they would be come stronger and stronger. I knew that by the time the 3 days had passed the dogs mind will have completely taken over and I would become nothing more than a normal dog. I found that thought to be very unsettling and set my mind to finding some way out of this predicament. After searching for hours, Kevin was clearly getting burned out. I finally took his hand lightly in my mouth and pulled him away from the computer. “Good Idea Sam. Lets Go for a walk and clear out heads.” Kevin got up and pulled on his jacket, and I followed after him. It was early fall, and the air was crisp and cool, and it was an odd sensation against my skin. My fur coat kept me plenty warm. I was worried however, because I didn’t have a collar or leash. All the time we walked, I kept a careful eye out for authority figures that might hassle us. I couldn’t afford to spend the weekend in the pound. The walk felt good, and helped me to get used to my new form. I tried to think of solutions to get me back to normal, but it was hard as I kept getting distracted by squirrels and smells other dogs had left behind. It took a lot out of me to keep from letting the animal in me take over. It pushed as hard as it could, but I was able to hold it at bay for now. After the walk, Kevin commented that he needed to use the bathroom, and I realized I did too. As we got back to his house, he led me to his back yard and locked me in. At first I was a little put out, but I quickly realized that I couldn’t use the toilet anymore, and I wasn’t sure that I wanted anyone to watch me relieve myself. Fortunately the neighbors couldn’t see much, and even if they could, I doubt they would have paid much attention. All they would see was a dumb dog doing its business. I found the traditional leg lift position to be the most effective, and quickly did what I needed to do. Once I was done, Kevin popped his head out the window and told me he was going out to get something for lunch. Just hearing the word made my stomach rumble. I hoped he wouldn’t take too long. While he was gone, I decided to explore the yard. I had a great time sniffing everything and barking at the occasional squirrel that got too close. The new scents my nose could pick up were amazing. I could also hear all kinds of new sounds I didn’t even know existed. I started to think being a dog wouldn’t be so bad. Realizing what I was thinking I shook my head, and tried to push that thought as far away as I could. After what seemed like an eternity Kevin returned. He was carrying several bags when he came around to let me back in. I could smell the food. It was wonderful. Probably the best thing I had ever smelled. Kevin set the bags down on the table, and said “Let’s take care of a few things before we eat”. I looked at him quizzically, as he pulled out a bag from the local pet store. He drew out a blue collar with a tag that he had engraved with my name and his contact information on the back. He fastened the collar around my neck. I wasn’t sure I liked where this was going. I didn’t want him to start treating me like a pet, but I knew the collar would circumvent a lot of potential problems. He also pulled out a matching leash, some toys and a couple of bowls. I hadn’t thought about eating, but knew that I wouldn’t be able to sit at the table. Kevin rinsed out the bowls, and filled one with water, and placed my lunch in the other. After he set them down in front of me, I took a tentative lap at the water, and after a few tries got the hang of drinking from the bowl. The smell of the burger was almost too much to resist. Without realizing it, I practically wolfed it down, sending crumbs and bits of condiments everywhere. Kevin got a laugh out of that as he ate his burger in a more traditional manner. I found myself sitting in front of him staring at his food with a sad look on my face until he couldn’t take it anymore and gave me the rest of his burger. I was quite pleased with myself, and ate it as quickly as I could. Kevin cleaned up and threw the trash out, and we went back to the living room. Once we were there, he pulled out one last package. He pulled out a scrabble set, and opened it up, pouring the letters onto the floor. “You can use these to spell out words and we can communicate.” He said. I had to admit that was a pretty smart idea. We also decided that one bark for yes and two for no would be easiest for simple questions. The rest of the afternoon proved just a fruitless as the morning, and we were no closer to finding a way to reverse the spell than when we started. It was starting to look hopeless. I would be trapped as a dog forever. Kevin got up and went outside. I followed after him, and we found our self in the back yard. Kevin picked up a stick, and idly threw it. I know he was just trying to let off a little steam, but I couldn’t help myself from chasing after it and bringing it back. I think it surprised Kevin, but he took it from me and threw it again. We played this way for almost an hour. I think he was really getting into the idea of having a dog, and I could feel more and more of myself slipping away the longer we played, but I just couldn’t resist. By the time we went back inside, I was having a hard time coming back to my human ways of thinking. I would have to be careful or I would lose myself all together. Kevin made dinner, and it was some of the best food I had ever had. Everything tasted so much better as a dog, and I finished my meal in under a minute. After I was done eating, Kevin let me out to do my business while he finished and cleaned up the dishes. Before we went to bed, we chatted for a while, or as best as I could trying to spell out everything. I let Kevin know that I didn’t blame him for what happened. I know he was taking it hard and didn’t want to totally destroy him. He told me again how sorry he was, and thanked me for forgiving him, and we headed off to bed. As we slept, I started to dream about events from my childhood. Only this time, they were from the point of view of a puppy. I could feel my mind changing as I slept, and large chunks of my past were changing into the memories of a dog. I dreamt about Kevin adopting me as a puppy, and all the good times we had playing fetch and other typical dog games. When I awoke the next morning, it took me a moment to realize where I was. I could smell the food Kevin was cooking in the kitchen, and made my way there. It was almost ready, and he greeted me with a  “Hello boy!”. I wagged my tail and gave him a big lick. I was disgusted with myself, but couldn’t resist. Kevin happily scooped some food into my bowls and I happily ate it all and licked the bowl clean. Kevin tried to talk to me after breakfast, and I had to work hard to understand what he was saying. My thoughts kept becoming scattered and it was harder to concentrate on what he was saying. Most of the memories of my schooling and childhood had become those of a dog, making it harder for me to remember how to spell words and communicate my feelings. As the day went on it became harder and harder and the words woof and bark appeared more and more frequently in my sentences. I wasn’t sure how much longer I would be able to form any coherent sentences. I was starting to get scared. Luckily Kevin had found some leads and we decided to follow them up. Kevin hooked the leash to my collar, and it felt weird and right at the same time. The dog instincts were definitely slipping farther and farther into my mind, strongly effecting how I was behaving. As we walked down to the address Kevin had found, I noticed that unless I concentrated on it, I would feel myself drifting away, and letting myself think and act as a dog would. It felt so good and natural and was harder and harder to come back from each time. I could tell that time was running out. Even If I could become human again, I wasn’t sure how much of my original self would remain. The address was in the seedier part of town, and was hard to find through all the dilapidated buildings. Neither Kevin nor I felt safe on the streets, but we knew we had to press forward. Eventually we came to a building that looked like it had been bombed out years ago. The numbers matched, so we carefully made our way inside. We walked carefully through the building until we found the right suite number. I held my breath as we pushed the door open, hoping to find what we needed inside. The room was dark, and Kevin shined his flashlight over the interior. I felt a feeling not unlike a punch in the gut. The place had been ransacked years ago. The window had been broken open, and the elements had come through. Everything was water damage, and I could smell the presence of mice and rats that had been chewing on things. We spent hours trying to sift through the debris trying to find anything that could help us. Either the cure, or someone we could contact, or another place to look. We found a few things that looked promising, but most of them were too badly damaged to easily make any use of. We stuffed what we could into Kevin’s backpack, and got out of the building before it collapsed on us. The walk home was uneventful, and the prospect of finding a way to reverse this spell kept me grounded and helped me resist the lure of giving in to the dog. Kevin grabbed us some lunch on the way, which we ate quickly, and we moved into the living room to sift through what we brought home. There were some artifacts like the charm Kevin had used on me, but they were all different and broken in some way. None of them seemed even remotely useful. We placed them to the side and focused on the documents. Most of them were invoices and such, but there were a good number of more promising ones. As we sifted through them, I found it more and more difficult to read what they said, and not just because they were damaged. I could feel my knowledge of the words slipping from my mind. Before long they were almost unintelligible to me. I tried to let Kevin know the problems I was having, but it was difficult to get the ideas out. I think he finally understood, and I was relegated to watching while he tried to make sense of the documents. It was late in the evening after we had gone through the stacks, and gotten nowhere. Some of them might have had the information we needed, but it was far too damaged and degraded to make use of. Kevin let me out to take care of business while he cooked dinner. I was feeling far too depressed to put up much of a fight, and soon found myself running around the yard and playing with the toys Kevin had brought without a care in the world. I was almost having too much fun to come in when it was time for dinner. I was panting like crazy when I came in, and dashed over and drained the water bowl in seconds. I ate the food so quickly I don’t even know what it was. It could have been a bowl of dog food for all I knew. I stared at Kevin as he ate with a vacant look on my face. It was a while that he was talking to me before I was able to snap out of it and pull myself out of the dog mindset. I had given up on trying to form any complex thoughts or use the tiles to spell anything out, so I had to make do with simple barking. It wasn’t perfect, but we did manage to have a reasonably productive conversation. We formulated a plan. We had one last lead that was an antique shop that wouldn’t open until tomorrow afternoon. That was cutting it kind of close in getting what we needed, and figuring out how to use it, but we couldn’t think of another choice.  We went to bed that night exhausted from the search, and emotionally drained. Hopefully tomorrow would bring the answers we need, and there would still be enough human of me left to bring back. As I slept, I dreamt of my teenage years. As the dreams progressed, they were changing. I was now a dog in them, and many started to revolve around Kevin as if I had always been his pet. All memory of my former family drifted away, to be replaced the dog’s memories. Many of the most prominent events in my life were edited to be from a dog’s point of view, and the lesser ones just vanished all together. By the time I woke up in the morning, most of my past had been completely erased and replaced with the past of the dog I was becoming. I tried as hard as I could to remember any of my past life, but it just wouldn’t come. In some ways it was very scary to me, but that quickly passed, and I couldn’t understand what the big deal was. I was a dog, and that was the way things were supposed to be. It was easy to just relax into the simple life of a dog, but something kept nagging at the back of my mind that this wasn’t the way things were supposed to be. As I made my way to the kitchen for breakfast, I found it hard to remember the names of the things I was seeing. It felt weird to me, but my mind kept insisting that this was normal. I couldn’t miss the smell of the food, and ran straight to my bowl. I gobbled it down as fast as I could. Kevin said something to me, but I couldn’t understand a word he was saying. It was all gibberish to me. Kevin let me out to do my business, and watched me from the window. I could tell he was sad but wasn’t sure why. I found a nice tree to relieve myself against and proceeded to play with my toys. Kevin watched for a little while longer, and was clearly distressed by how much of myself I seemed to have lost. He blamed himself and tried to convince himself, without much success, that it wasn’t to late. He hoped that we could still find a way to fix this. When it was finally time to visit the antique shop, I was hanging on by a thread. I was dog far more than human now, and what was left of my human self could only retain control for a few minutes at a time at most. The store was too far to walk to, so Kevin drove. I spent most of the trip with my head out the window enjoying the wind on my face. We pulled into the parking lot, and the store looked like it was antique itself. I wasn’t sure this was a good idea, but knew we had to go through with it. Kevin pulled the door, and had to use all his strength to pull it open. He finally opened it enough for us to squeeze in, and we jumped when it slammed shut behind us. The store was massive, and we couldn’t see the other side from where we were standing. There was a checkout stand not too far from where we were, and we made our way there. There was a woman manning the checkout, and Kevin approached and explained the situation to her. She eyed him skeptically, but when he produced the charm, she made him put it away. “Wait here” she said, and disappeared somewhere in the back of the shop. Twenty or so minuets later, a strange looking man came out, and Kevin again told him our story. He looked only half interested, but something told me to trust him. He walked around us, and gave me a through examination. “Yes I think I can help you. It will be costly, and there can be no guarantees. Time is growing short and there may not be enough left to fully reverse this.” He said seriously. Kevin pulled out a wad of cash and handed it to the man. He took it and disappeared to collect the things he required. By the time he was done getting things together, it was late in the evening. We had a quick meal of Chinese while he explained what to do. He had cast a spell on the amulet so it would be able to reverse the spell, and he gave us the words to recite. It would take some time to recharge the amulet, and we hoped it would be done in time. Kevin thanked him, and we drove home to attempt the reversal. I fell asleep on the ride home, and I slept I could feel the last of my humanity being revised or erased. The memories of everything that had happened to me over the last few months became memories seen from the dog’s perspective. By the time we pulled up to Kevin’s house, there was nothing human left at all. I was now nothing more than Kevin’s Faithful pet. As Kevin led me into the house, it wasn’t long before he noticed that something was different. Putting two and two together, he knew I had lost the battle to maintain myself. He looked at the charm, but it was still dark. He wondered if he had been taken, but put that thought out of his mind, and decided to play with me until it was time. We went out to the back yard, and Kevin had fun with me despite himself. He had always wanted a pet, but had never been able find the right one. Maybe it was me. I fell asleep with my head on Kevin’s lap in the living room, and I had some of the best dreams possible. Kevin awoke suddenly due to a strange light flashing in the room. It took him a minute to wake up enough to realize that it was the charm. He quickly grabbed it and the directions, and followed them as best he could. He prayed that it wasn’t too late. I was surrounded by a bright light and could feel the tingling feeling again, but nothing happened. I looked down at my body and realized I was still a dog. “Shoot, It didn’t work” I said. It took me a moment to realize that I had actually spoken. Kevin looked shocked. I was still stuck in the body of the dog, but somehow the spell had restored my humanity. I still had all the dog memories, but my human ones were back too. I could choose which ones I wanted, and keep full control. I also seemed to gain the ability to speak again. Not quite sure how that worked with my canine mouth, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to question it. Over the next few weeks we made everything official. I moved in with Kevin, and arranged for a lawyer that would draw up the papers for him to handle my property and possessions. It was a little more expensive to find one that wouldn’t ask too many questions and wouldn’t need to actually see me, but it was worth it. Thanks to the money Kevin got from selling my things, he would be able to support us for a long time without having to worry about anything. The last part was the part I was dreading most. If I was going to stay a dog, then I would need to be licensed, and have my shots. The trip to the vet was scary, but not as bad as I feared. Kevin had me micro chipped and got all of my shots. When the vet asked if he would like to have me neutered, he pretended to consider it. I gave him my fiercest look and thought, “wait till we get home” at him. As Kevin settled up the bill, the tech gave him my new license tag, and the rabies and microchip tags, and affixed them to my collar. I kind of liked the way the jingled as I walked. It took a while, but I finally convince Kevin that I wasn’t mad at him for what he had done to me, and I really was happy. I don’t think he ever gave up looking for a way to change me back fully, but something inside me made me feel like this was the way things were supposed to be. Still, every time a truck came to deliver something Kevin had ordered, I ran and hid under the bed until I was sure it wasn’t another one of his weird toys. I didn’t want to have to go through that ever again. I still loved Kevin with all my heart, and now as his dog I had new ways to show my love for him. We grew old together, and deeper in love. I don’t think there was anyway we could have been happier together. Even if we were both Humans.