Lovers' Quarrel

Lovers' Quarrel
By Lykanos Wulfheart

      With the sun starting to set, Bill wiped the sweat from his forehead. His short-to-mid-length, straight brown hair kept him cool, but it did nothing to keep the pooling liquid from his eyes. It was a beautiful summer day, sparsely cloudy, and he had just spent the last couple hours mowing the yard. He had been enjoying the smell of the fresh cut grass, but having push-mowed the whole quarter-of-a-block yard, he was ready to be done with only two more swaths to go.
     
      Located toward the edge of a developing residential area, Bill's place wasn't anything special. It was just a generic two-story house with a garage and spacious yard, but it was home. Powering through the last of the slender shoots, he put the mower in the garage and went inside to wash up. Heading upstairs, he threw his clothes in the hamper and hopped in the shower to wash the day away. As the minutes passed by, Bill felt increasingly refreshed as the steamy water flowed over him. Finally feeling clean, he gave the knob a quick twist and made his way to the mirror. After all, he wanted to make sure he was presentable for his wife, who would be home soon. With a swipe, he cleared the misty droplets, revealing his sharp blue eyes and strong jawline. Like his jaw, his body was on the stronger side, not overly muscular, but definitely that of someone who worked out from time to time. Checking his teeth and body for any lingering grass, he gave a relieved chuckle and moved into the bedroom to find something comfortable to relax in. Luckily, he had run the laundry this morning, so he had several options to choose from. Settling for a white tee and a pair of his favorite shorts, white with brown checkered lines and a nice loose fit that required a belt, he headed downstairs to grab a drink and wait.
     
      With beverage in hand, he sprawled out on the living room couch, which had been strategically placed in the center of the fairly large room. Before him was the entertainment center housing a decent sized TV, a DVD player, and a couple game consoles. On the left wall towards the back was the doorway to the kitchen and on the opposing side was the main entry. In the back stretched the stairwell that he had made his way down moments ago. With a triumphant sip, he went through the mental checklist for today. Laundry was done, dishes cleaned and put away, and the yard had just been finished. He had also spent a good half the day writing code from his at-home office. There was something else... Something he was missing. What could it have been? His thought was cut short as he heard the car door shut. His loving wife, Abby, was home! "Oh well," he chuckled, "couldn't have been too important." Just then, the back door flew open.
     
***

      Abby was having a rough day. A coworker had wrongfully accused her of misplacing a file, so she had spent what little of her free time there was trying to remake it. To make things worse, it had been unusually busy at the hospital, so she was on her feet the majority of the shift. Getting to head home was the highlight of her day, so Abby was understandably irritated. As soon as she had gotten into the car, she let out a long frustrated scream. She was done dealing with shit today. Brushing the shoulder-length, well-kept auburn hair from her eyes, she turned the key. Most of the time Abby was a real sweetheart, but right now her usually pale, rounded cheeks were flushed with rage. The only thing she said on the trip home was an angry, "I just hope Billy finally took out the trash. I just can't deal with that stink today."
     
      As she approached the back door, Abby tried to calm herself with a few deep breaths. She knew she was upset and that it wouldn't be fair to Bill to bring that hostility home with her. Taking in the smell of the freshly cut grass, she felt centered enough to see what Bill had been doing all day. Opening the door, she walked into the kitchen and tossed her keys on the countertop like she usually did. With a slightly harder than usual slam, she closed herself into the comfort of home. That comfort was short-lived. A few steps in and she saw it. The trash was near the rim, not so full as to cause any real issue, but full enough that the peak could be seen from halfway across the room. With an irritated stomp, she headed for the living room.
     
      Bill perked up when he heard the door slam. "That didn't sound good," he mumbled to himself. The stomp only confirmed his suspicion. A bit worried, he stood up and moved to the side of the couch as Abby rounded the corner. Concern and compassion in his voice, he asked, "What's wrong?" Abby stood in the doorway, tapping her foot. "Forget something?" Her voice was full of venom, more so than she had intended, but she was pissed. "I asked you this morning to take out the trash. What have you been up to that was so important that you forgot, huh?"
     
      "Oh, dang. Sorry, I forgot." He said, trying to keep his voice calm. The spite in her tone was putting him on edge and he really didn't like being attacked like that, but he wasn't going to make things worse. He'd try his best to calm her. "Other than that, I had a very productive day. I-"
     
      She cut him short. "One thing. I asked you to do one thing! How could you forget? It's been stinking in that corner for days now." Her small frame started to tremble with the rage that was filling her. She knew she shouldn't be this mad about the trash, but dammit, this always seemed to happen.
     
      "Hey." Bill was starting to get a little irritated himself. "I've been pretty busy today. Did the laundry, dishes, yard, and had to work for half of it!"
     
      With a scoff, Abby said flatly, "Work, huh."
     
      "Yea, had to fix some code that was crashing the servers. Took several hours!" His right hand was starting to tingle and he had a feeling he knew what it meant, but that was the least of his worries right now. Setting his drink down on the small table next to the couch, he took a step behind the cloth three-cushion sofa. With a deep breath, he rested the tingling hand on the soft fabric. "You need to calm down," he said with a little more bite than he had hoped for.
     
      "Excuse me?" She took a few aggressive steps forward, making her way from the kitchen doorway into the spacious living room. Standing at the other side of the couch, she gave a spiteful glare. "I need to calm down? Do you know what I had to put up with today?"
     
      The tingling was spreading throughout his body, but he didn't care. Her hostility was the only thing he could focus on at the moment. "Well, go on then."
     
      "For starters," she hissed as she set her hips in frustration. Her body was speaking just as loud as she was. "Linda accused me of something she failed to do, so I spent hours going and doing her shit. Then I had to talk with my supervisor about it, which I'm probably going to hear from Linda about that tomorrow. On top of that..." Her eyes widened as she stopped mid-sentence. Looking and slowly pointing to the back of the couch where his hand lay, she gasped. "Your hand!"
     
      "My wha-" As he looked over, he realized that his whole body had gone from tingling to a hot itch. Looking down he saw his hand - his paw! Claws had already grown out, pads were forming and the joints were just about to start popping. "Oh, crap!" he yelled as he quickly groped at his belt with the left, still mostly human, hand. Barely managing to undo the buckle, he tossed the belt across the room. Just in time, too, as his second hand shifted to match the first, pads fully forming and his fingers becoming something between that of a human's and a wolf's. His feet quickly followed, toes crinkling up and pads growing thick to support the new, wide paws. As his claws pushed out and the flat of his foot elongated, he was really happy that he didn't put socks on after his shower. With a heave, he leaned on the back of the couch, preparing for what was to come.
     
      Abby could only stare in silence. Her eyes darted around quickly as if she was trying to understand the situation. All she could bring herself to do was think back at how this conversation had gone and gasp occasionally as bones shifted and popped.
     
      With a groan, Bill's nose began to push out and blacken. Producing a heavy, dog-like pant, his tongue lulled out past sharpening teeth. After a few moments, his face looked far more lupine than human, with a long canine muzzle, damp nose, and budding wolf-whiskers. The only thing missing was the fur, which slowly crept over his body. Starting at the chest and the extremities, it carpeted over his muscle, leaving him looking bigger than he really was. As the fur in his face started to fill in, so did his ears. Creeping up the side of his head, they lengthened and stretched, twitching as they moved into place and fuzzed over.
     
      Only halfway through, his head, feet, and, to a lesser extent, his hands were looking very wolf-like. As the fur crept down his back, his spine popped and lengthened, a sickly, fleshy tail sliding out. As the tail made it to full length, the fur rapidly filled in, turning it from strange, pink flesh to a full and fluffy tail, swishing back and forth excitedly as the transformation continued. The last of the changes happened together, with the muscles in the chest, arms, and legs swelling to better fit his new form. The T-shirt was incapable of withstanding the force, having been fairly fitting to begin with. The ripping of the thin fabric was slow, starting at the sides and the neck. With an impatient swipe, his free hand tore what remained of the rags away, dropping them in a sad looking pile. The shorts fared better. As his legs shifted and chest broadened, the loose garment lost all of its slack around the waist, but remained comfortable there. The legs were a different story. As his muscles swelled, the material was pushed to the brink, making it uncomfortably tight. As the bones slightly altered to better support his mass, Bill heaved and dropped to one knee. The movement was too much for his poor shorts, the fabric tearing up the sides about half way and ending near his hips.
     
      Panting heavily and exhausted from the finishing changes, Bill pulled himself up to his feet. As a human, he was just under six foot. As a werewolf, he was just over seven, dwarfing his poor wife who was a mere five and a half. With a final heave, he took his weight off the couch and shook his new body. He was large. He was powerful. He was a werewolf! With a loud snarl to finish off the transformation, he felt unstoppable!
     
      *THWAP*
     
      Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in his very sensitive nose. With a quick "Yipe", he moved his pawed hands to protect and cover it. His wife was tapping her foot. "You know you're not supposed to change out of anger." As soon as she said it, she gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry, though. It's my fault. I really shouldn't have ripped into you like that."
     
      With a soft chuckle, he padded over and licked her cheek tenderly. "It's all right. I knew I forgot something and I could see you were mad. I shouldn't have lost my temper like I did. I'll forgive you if you forgive me." With a cunning smile, he gave her another quick lick. "Deal?"
     
      With a giggle, she pushed his muzzle gently. "No fair! You know I can't resist the tongue!" Pushing her nose against his, she followed with a quick lick of her own. "Deal." Stroking his cheek fur for a moment, she pointed to the TV. "You go pick a movie and set it up while I take out the trash. Can't have you scaring the neighbors looking like that."
     
      When she got back, he had everything set up and had even poured her a drink of her own. Settling on the couch, he gave her the remote and a gentle nuzzling. Leaning into his soft fur, she smiled up at him tenderly. They spent the rest of the night on the couch, lovingly locked in that warm embrace.