by C. B. Lewis
Sam nodded. “And this morning,” he said, laying the blankets along the length of the seat. “You want to take some clothes up with you or just keep them here for when we get back?”
Philip looked down at the clothes he was wearing. “Might as well leave them here. It’s not as if I even have any shoes that fit.” He glanced over to the smooth, unblemished spread of snow that covered the cabin’s small garden. “Do you mind if I….” He nodded toward it.
Sam looked around, then shrugged. “Be my guest.”
The transformation happened in the blink of an eye, and all at once, there was a black-and-white spaniel wriggling out of a pile of clothes. He took a flying leap off the step and bounded across the ground to jump headlong into the snow. It was deep enough that he almost vanished beneath it, his head poking up. Despite the change in his shape, Sam could recognize the dumbass grin plastered all over Philip’s face as he loped around, tearing up the smooth snow.
“Try not to tire yourself out,” Sam warned. “We still have our hike to do.”
Philip’s furry head poked up over a snowdrift. Sam had never seen a dog deliberately sticking its tongue out before, but Philip made sure he had a first time. He even managed to go cross-eyed, making him look like the dumbest dog in existence.
Sam scooped up some snow from the hood of the car, balling it up. Philip bounced in a circle, tail wagging wildly, and nodded. Sam lobbed the snowball as hard as he could, then burst out laughing when the dog leaped into the air and tried to catch it in his mouth. It exploded on impact, showering Philip with snow, and he yowled in indignation, shaking snow off his fur.
“I don’t know what you were expecting,” Sam said, laughing.
Philip swiped at his muzzle with one paw. It was jarring to see such a human gesture, and another reminder that Philip might look like a dog temporarily, but he was definitely human.
Sam turned back to the car, draping another blanket along the back of the backseat. Just when he thought he was getting his head around it, he remembered he was seeing a man as a dog, and a dog who was actually a man. It was mind-blowing.
He heard a short whuff from a few steps behind him and glanced over his shoulder. Philip was there, coat thick with snow, and he was showing all his teeth. Before Sam had a chance to move, he shook himself hard enough to shower Sam liberally from head to foot.
“Hey! Hey hey hey!” Sam yelled, raising an arm to shield his face. He couldn’t help laughing at the smug look on Philip’s face. “Quit it!”
Dogs couldn’t laugh, but Philip did as he scrambled up into the backseat of the car and sprawled along the blankets as if he hadn’t done a thing. He tilted his head and blinked innocently as Sam gave him a stern look.
“Not funny,” Sam grumbled, brushing snow off himself.
Judging by the sniggering from the dog, he was mistaken.
He closed the car door, then went back up the steps to lock up the house, leaving Philip’s clothes in a heap just inside the front door.
“You ready?” he asked when he climbed into the driver’s seat.
The cheerful bark from behind him sounded like a yes.
It was turning out to be a beautiful day. The clouds had cleared, and the sun was shining from a bright blue sky. On either side of the road, the trees were sparkling with snow and ice. It was the perfect kind of winter day to go and see the falls.
Sam glanced into the rearview mirror from time to time and couldn’t help being pleased at the awed look on Philip’s face. He was sitting upright on the seat, nose almost pressed against the glass, watching the world go by. Sam hit the control to lower the window on Philip’s side of the car and wasn’t surprised when the dog stuck his head out the window.
“Kinda stereotypical, y’know,” he called back. “You just need your tongue hanging out more and you’d be the poster boy for car-riding dogs everywhere.”
Philip turned to look at him with surprising dignity for a dog, then ruined it by sticking his tongue out as far as it could go.
Sam sniggered, turning off the main road and up into the winding route that led to the parking lot to get to the falls. The road was thick with snow, but his car could take it easily, and they were at the parking lot in no time.
“You good?” he asked as he let Philip out the back of the car. The dog jumped down and stretched himself, then nodded, tail wagging. “Okay. If you get tired, let me know, all right?”
He set off at a quick pace, before the cold could get to him. Philip ran alongside him, as they headed toward the path that wove between the trees. It wasn’t a steep incline, but with the snow covering the rocky ground beneath, it wasn’t the easiest surface to walk on.
Philip ran on ahead of him a few times. The third time he came back, he was carrying a stick in his mouth.
“What do you want me to do with that?” Sam inquired.
Somehow, Philip managed to throw it using just his teeth. It didn’t go far, and he went and brought it back, laying it at Sam’s feet, then looked up at Sam expectantly.
“You’re kidding. You… want to play fetch?”
Philip grinned at him and nodded, his ears flapping.
“Weirdo,” Sam said, bending down and picking up the stick. He hurled it as far as he could, and Philip took off after it like a black-and-white rocket. He returned less than a minute later and laid the stick down again. Sam looked at him, then at the stick. “That’s a different stick.”
Philip sat back on his haunches, looking indignant.
“What? It is. The other one had two places where twigs had snapped off.” Sam flipped the stick over with his foot. Philip lifted his chin, baring his teeth. “You couldn’t find it, could you? You kind of suck at being a dog. Don’t you have a good sense of smell or something?”
Philip visibly frowned, then swung around and ran off again.
He didn’t return to Sam until Sam was almost at the falls, and this time, he was carrying the right stick and looking proud of himself.
Sam fought to hide a smile. “Twenty minutes to find it, huh?” Philip sidled up close to him, then deliberately poked him in the leg with the end of the stick. “Hey!”
Philip muffled another snigger around the stick. He pattered on down the path, and Sam saw the moment he spotted the falls. They were at the halfway level, higher than the splash pool, but nowhere near the top of the cascade. Most of it was already frozen, but where it wasn’t, fine misty sprays of ice and water were dancing in the air.
The stick fell out of Philip’s gaping mouth.
Sam approached, smiling. “Yeah. Pretty cool, huh?”
Philip darted on ahead. There was a wider pathway now, sheltered from the worst of the snow by a rocky outcrop, and a ledge that overlooked the falls and the drop down to the whirling eddies of the pool. By the time Sam caught up with him, Philip was sitting, watching as the sun glittered and sparkled on the water-slick ice.
Sam sat down on a boulder beside him and scratched at the back of Philip’s neck. “How’d’you like it? Worth the walk?”
Philip’s tail brushed from side to side, and he nodded.
“It’s one of my favorite places to come up to,” Sam admitted, watching the way the light was playing across the frozen surfaces. There were hints of blue there, green, and brilliant, pure white. “You never know how it’ll look. Could be like this. Could be like an avalanche. Could be white-water all the way down and rainbows on all sides.” He smiled. “Luck of the draw what you see.”
Philip crept a little closer, propping his chin on Sam’s knee. Sam stroked the smooth fur over the top of his head. It wasn’t what he’d expected, sure. Who would expect shape-shifting? But it was a good feeling to be where he liked best with someone who appreciated it as much as he did.
“Hey,” he murmured, scratching behind Philip’s floppy ear. “You want me to take some pictures for you? Something to remember it by? I mean, they’ll only be on my cell, but if you want….”
Philip looked up at him, nodding.<
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He snapped half a dozen pictures, showing them to Philip for approval, then tucked his cell away again. “We shouldn’t stay too long,” he warned. “The weather can turn pretty quickly and the sun sets fast.” Philip pressed a paw to his knee, and Sam smiled. “Okay, a little longer.”
They stayed another fifteen minutes. Sam told Philip what he knew of the history of the falls, of the geology that shaped the whole landscape, of the hikes people could do up along the top, even if the wardens didn’t recommend it. It was weird how okay it all felt. When he’d brought a friend up before, it always felt awkward, but with Philip’s chin on his lap, his fur soft and warm between Sam’s fingers, it was okay. Simpler.
Sam always had found it easier to talk to animals than people. It was one of the reasons living in the mountains with his dog wasn’t such a hardship. Now, here he was with the best of both worlds: a dog who could understand, who also happened to be a pretty cute, funny guy. Philip seemed to be interested too, dividing his attention between Sam and the falls, nodding attentively.
The temperature was already dropping as they headed back in the direction of the car. Philip ran on ahead. Sam followed at a more careful pace. The snow was freezing over again, and the last thing either of them needed was for him to slip and break his ankle.
Philip didn’t need to be told twice to get into the car. He sprawled out along the backseat again, but Sam couldn’t help notice that the dog was watching him every time he glanced back or in the rearview mirror.
“What?” he inquired as he turned back onto the main road.
Philip scrambled up, bracing his front paws on the back of Sam’s seat, and leaned over to nuzzle his shoulder. When he whined, it almost sounded like he was trying to say thank you.
Sam reached up to ruffle his fur. “It’s no problem.”
Philip subsided onto the seat, curling up there for the rest of the ride back to Sam’s place, but as soon as the car stopped and the door opened, he jumped down onto the ground and tugged at Sam’s pants with his teeth.
“What is it?”
Philip tugged him toward the snowy mess of the garden, then released him and loped back onto the snow, looking back at him expectantly. He scuffed at the snow with a paw, tossing it in Sam’s direction, and then ran in a circle.
“You wanna play dodgeball?” Sam guessed, bending down to scoop up a handful of snow. From the grin on Philip’s face, that was exactly what he wanted to do. He hunkered down in the snow, tail lashing, and barked. Sam laughed and hurled the snowball at him. Philip dodged, scrambling over a small drift.
Sam gave chase, scooping up another handful, then another. Philip ducked and wove around him, taking a hit on one shoulder and rolling. He scrambled up, shaking himself down, then barreled toward Sam, leaping. The impact caught Sam in the middle of his chest, and they both crashed down in a snowdrift, Philip sprawled on Sam’s chest.
“Cheat!” Sam laughed, pushing another snowball into Philip’s face.
Philip shook the show from his ears, which were suddenly replaced with tangled curly hair, and Sam found himself looking up into Philip’s bright and very blue human eyes. They stared at each other, and Sam could feel the press of Philip’s hands against his shoulders.
Sam couldn’t think of a damned thing to say. He just reached up and brushed some flakes of snow from Philip’s hair. His thumb skimmed Philip’s cheek, and he saw Philip’s breath mist between them a second before Philip leaned down and kissed him. His lips were warm, chapped.
As suddenly as it had happened, Philip was off him and bolting across the ground in a blur of black-and-white fur. He shot under the porch, and Sam sat up. He could feel ice melting down the back of his neck.
“…the hell?” he asked vaguely as he got back to his feet. “What are you doing under there? Was it that bad?”
There was a pitiful whine from under the porch.
Sam crouched down, peering into the shadows. “If you don’t come out, I’m going to take it personally. I know I didn’t brush my teeth this morning, but seriously? That bad?”
In the dim light, he could see the dog crossing his paws over his head as if he was embarrassed, and he couldn’t help smiling.
“I didn’t mind,” he said. “Really.” The ice water was trickling down his spine. “I’m going to go inside, okay? When you don’t feel so embarrassed, maybe you can come in too, yeah? I’ll leave the door open for you and your clothes in the hall.”
He had time to have a quick shower and put on some dry clothes before he heard the front door creak open. He was heating up some soup in the kitchen when Philip shuffled into the room, flushed to the ears.
“So.” Philip was fiddling with the end of his sleeve. “I may have gotten a little carried away out there…”
“Three out of five for effort,” Sam said cheerfully. “But definitely full marks for mood and setting.”
“Sam—” Philip protested.
Sam wiggled his eyebrows at him. “Prime Specimen, am I right? Couldn’t help yourself?”
Philip’s blush darkened, and he covered his eyes with one hand. “God.” He peeked between two fingers. “I didn’t plan on that.”
“I could tell. The running away and hiding kind of gave you away.” Sam shot an amused glance over his shoulder. Philip looked so mortified that Sam took pity on him. “Don’t worry about it. You’re cute. I like cute, especially when it’s naked on top of me.”
Philip’s eyes went even wider, and if possible, he went even redder. “Oh Jesus!” he groaned, burying his face in both hands. “I forgot about that.”
Sam chuckled. “I didn’t.” He ruffled Philip’s hair, earning a swat. “You hungry?”
Philip peeked at him from beneath his mussed hair, his grin reappearing. “Depends what’s on the table.” The glint had returned to his eyes, and Sam shot an amused look at him. Philip made a face. “Yes, I could do with some food.”
Ten minutes later, Sam laid the food out on the table. “You less red?”
Philip still looked more sheepish than usual as he sat down at the table. “I suppose. And sorry for overreacting.” He shook his head. “Human-brain doesn’t work too well immediately after coming back from dog-brain. Act first, think later.”
“A roundabout kind of compliment, then, if that was the first thing you wanted to do when you went back into human shape,” Sam said, cutting a wedge off the loaf of bread.
To his surprise, Philip looked straight at him. “It was.”
It was his turn to flush. “Yeah?”
Philip stirred at his soup with the spoon. “The falls,” he said. “That place is special to you, isn’t it?”
Sam nodded. He hadn’t realized Philip even noticed.
“You took me there. You let me see it, even though it’s yours.” Philip smiled cautiously. “You shared something personal with me.”
Sam tore pieces off the bread to drop it into the soup. “Yeah.”
“It was something special.” Philip’s voice was softer now.
Sam stirred the bread through the soup. “I thought you’d enjoy it.” He jolted, startled, when Philip’s hand covered his.
“I did.” There was an intentness in Philip’s blue eyes that took Sam’s breath away. “Thank you.”
Sam couldn’t look away from him, not at once. “So that’s why, huh? To thank me for showing you?”
“To thank you for trusting me with something you care about,” Philip admitted. He took a spoonful of soup, and then added with an impish smile, “The Prime Specimen might come into it as well. You are awfully well put together.”
Sam snorted, shaking his head. “You’re so full of shit.”
Philip’s smile widened. “But I’m also cute. You said I’m cute.”
Sam winced. “Yeah, I did, didn’t I?” He pointed his spoon at the other man. “Okay, you’re cute, but you’re full of shit too.”
Philip’s eyes danced. “I’ll take that.”
They finished the meal, tal
king while they ate. Most of the conversation came from Philip. He had a hundred and one crazy stories about things he’d seen or done at the hospitals he had been training in, and what he was planning on doing once he graduated.
“Why are you smiling like that?” he inquired as he stacked the bowls and plates.
Sam looked up at him. “I guess I have a hard time picturing you in the white coat and stethoscope when you bullied me into playing fetch with a broken stick.”
Philip wrinkled his nose. “I’ll have you know I’m a complete professional.”
“You still made me play fetch.”
“I’m on holiday. Even doctors do silly stuff on their holidays.”
“Like play fetch?”
Philip sniffed haughtily. “In this case, yes.” He broke into a grin. “My family wouldn’t let me do it before. They said it was demeaning. That we weren’t animals. They just don’t know how to have fun. Not a one of them has jumped in a river for the sheer hell of it.”
Sam snorted. “Why am I not surprised?”
Philip’s teeth gleamed. “Because you spent twenty-four hours in my company.” He set the dishes into the sink and turned on the faucet. “If something seems like it could be fun and no one would get hurt, why not try it?”
Why not indeed?
Like playing fetch with his houseguest. Or playing snowball tag. Or lying on his back on the snow and pretty much inviting Philip to kiss him. All of that seemed like fun, and no one got hurt, and tomorrow, Philip would be back in civilization with his boring friends and boring family.
They had maybe a dozen hours before Philip would be on his way.
A dozen hours where they could have fun and no one would get hurt.
Sam got up, approaching the other man. “Philip.”
“Yes?” Philip didn’t even turn, his attention on the dishes.
Sam hesitated, then spread his hands on Philip’s shoulders, his palms so broad they almost covered the full width. He felt Philip shiver, his chest rising as he took a sudden breath. Sam drew his thumbs down between Philip’s shoulder blades.
“Leave the dishes,” he said quietly. His heart was pounding, and he couldn’t tell if he wanted Philip to rebuff him for moving too fast or to turn around and climb him like a tree.
