Sawyer's Life

“Mrrr…” They grumbled, clumsily slamming their hand into the alarm clock. 9:30 AM. Pausing, they stared at the time as it ticked up a singular minute. They didn’t want to go through the whole wakeup routine process, but they didn’t exactly have a choice anymore. They went through all this trouble and got this far, so there was no point in letting it go to waste.

Stumbling to the bathroom, they opened the cabinet under the sink to pull out their medication. Three shots in the thigh, not dissimilar to an EpiPen. They’d need to get a refill at the end of the week. Rubbing their face, they take a deep breath before opening the curtain that was blocking the mirror. Staring at the part human, part Tobi-Kadachi face. Their eyes met with the mix of pale skin and blue scales, looking over their short, black hair. It was messy, but not that bad.

A snout had formed on their face. Their eyes had begun to change to a red color, their pupils beginning to shift into a slit shape. They had grown a short tail, the tips of their fingers and toes looking more like claws than anything. Blue scales began to adorn their body. They opted for an anthropomorphic appearance, as going quadrupedal would make them require a handler for most tasks. They liked having their own independence, so they decided against that.

Grabbing the first shot, they took a deep breath while injecting it into their thigh. Letting out a small noise of pain, they let out a sigh of relief afterward. The first shot was a general painkiller, one meant to ease any aches and whatnot from the transformation. It didn’t hurt aggressively, just ached all over. The painkiller was made specifically for the process since it was designed specifically to avoid interference with the next two shots.

The second shot was next, with a significantly larger and more painful needle in it. It contained whatever sort of concoction was in it meant to modify their genetic code. They didn’t fully understand it themself, but it worked. They’re a kennel worker, not a doctor. Another deep breath in, another shot. Letting out a soft groan, they muttered, “Damn it.”

Finally, the third. Some sort of stabilizer or something, meant to make the genetic modification or whatever take hold. At least, that’s what the doctors told them. No point in questioning it if it worked. This one hurt the most, at least to them. It had this weird sort of afterburn to it. Only lasted 5 minutes tops, but it was very annoying. Deep breath in, injection. “Motherfucker.” they muttered.

Splashing their face with water, they groaned as they looked at the reflection. Letting out a chuckle, they thought over the irony of their job. An animal who took care of other animals? It was almost comedic in a way, but that’s just how it was for them. Grabbing their toothbrush and toothpaste, they began to brush over their varying sizes of teeth. Some that of a Tobi-Kadachi, others that of a human.

Grabbing their work outfit, they put on their t-shirt branded with the shelter’s logo and jeans. They slid their tail through its cutout, muttering slightly as it got caught momentarily. No socks or shoes. Not like those would fit either. Grabbing their keys and locking their apartment door on the way out, they made their way to their car and got inside. After spending a minute or so adjusting their tail to a comfortable position, they began to wonder about getting a seat with a hole for their tail. Starting the car, they headed to the shelter.

As they walked into the building, they immediately noticed something new about the receptionist. “Hey, Tim. You dye your ears or something?”

The pudgy anthropomorphic Australian Shepherd let out a happy chuckle, replying, “Yeah! Though, just a little bit. Hey, your nose’s looking better this week, Sawyer!”

They smiled a bit. “Thanks, man. Gotta get to the dogs, make sure Terry’s all set.”

“Got it, got it. See you at lunch break?”

“‘Course.”

Walking to the back area, they shook out their right leg, which felt a little stiff. A combination of the drive and sleeping weird, they guessed. “Terry?” They called out, watching the figure of a large man stand up from behind a stack of dog food boxes. The combination of a brown mullet with a sort of fauxhawk in the middle was always a unique choice in their mind. The black t-shirt was fine, but the flowy tan pants were a bit much. Especially with how often they’d hear the man exclaim at them getting snagged. Though, they supposed people would wanna look like they did in their source.

“Yeah?” He replied. “And, stop calling me Terry. It’s Terra.” They opened the garage-style door that led to the fenced-in area meant for the dogs, letting out a ‘pfft’ noise.

“I know, like, 5 different versions of you. Be glad you’re the one with the nickname. Or, I could call you what I did in high school-”

“Please don’t.”

“Terr-bear.”

The man let out a long groan, dragging his right hand across his face, which prompted Sawyer to let out a brief laugh.

They headed outside, inspecting the fence and gates. They were made to overhang the enclosed area specifically to avoid dogs trying to jump over them, with the added benefit of allowing them to put up a canopy for bad weather. Tornados and stuff didn’t get where they lived, just lots of snow and rain. It didn’t get put up all the time during normal snow and rain, only when it got bad.

Walking back inside, they opened up the kennels of most of the dogs, making sure they all went outside. About 2/3rds of the dogs were allowed to go outside together since they didn’t show any aggression toward each other. The remaining 10 dogs needed to be taken outside separately. Terra was the one who tended to do that since the guy was massive and could wrangle the dogs if he needed to. They were only about 5’6” and didn’t do any sort of muscle-building stuff, leading to them having a lean frame.

They half-zoned out as they went through the workday. Cleaning kennels, feeding the dogs, checking them over for injury, replacing any bandages, bringing them inside, brushing them, combing them, etc. Simple but menial tasks that they had down to muscle memory, so they could just let their body enter autopilot, so to speak. That was until they fell over, their right foot seeming to have shifted in shape slightly. “God damn it,” they said, mumbling obscenities as they stood up. It wasn’t a major change, but it threw them off balance. Getting up, they were greeted by a large husky screaming right in their face. They went back to brushing the dog, though no longer working on autopilot.

After they finished with the husky, it was time for lunch. They didn’t eat their lunch yesterday, so they just left it in the break room fridge. Washing their hands in the bathroom beforehand, they grabbed a chicken salad sandwich from the fridge. It was weird, craving food that didn’t really exist, but whatever. Poultry was close enough for their tastes. Stretching after they finished their meal, Tim soon walked in. They were a fast eater, and Tim usually went and got food somewhere for lunch, so the timing made sense to them. Seemed like he had gotten something from Burger King.

“Hey, I’ve been wondering, where’s Vergil?” Tim asked, speaking between bites of his burger. “I haven’t seen him in a while.” They… didn’t really know, so they gave Tim a brief shrug. Opening their phone, they let out a long ‘uhh…’ as they scrolled through the shelter’s group chat, looking for a message from the white-haired man. After a minute or so, they finally found what they were looking for. “He’s on a family vacation with Nero. Said something about trying to become a better dad and spend time with his son that doesn’t involve just noemata.”

Tim let out a chuckle in response to that. “For a while, he refused to have anything to do with his son after finding him. It took, like, a week of talking to him to get him to realize that he needed to at least be there for his kid in some way. I met his kid, y’know. He’s got a freaky arm, real weird. I don’t really get how he does any of the stuff he does, both of ‘em. Have you ever seen him do the box trick? He has his weird katana thing and he opens the boxes just by doing that anime thing where they’ll have a character barely unsheathe the sword and then it cuts-”

“Tim. You’re rambling again.”

“Sorry, sorry! Force of habit.”

“Yeah, you’ve got a lot of those.” The two let out a laugh, Tim coughing a bit due to having some food in his mouth. The two always ate lunch together, and were pretty close. They had known each other for a while too, longer than they had known Terra. It was always interesting, remembering Tim when they were kids versus looking at him now.

Then, they had an idea. “You, me, and Terra should go out for dinner tonight. Just the three of us. I’ve known you since 2nd grade, you’ve known Terra since high school, and I’ve known him since middle school. It’d be fun. We barely spend time together outside of the shelter.” Some group activity or something would be fun, at least in their mind. It’d make sure they didn’t accidentally drift too far apart, and it would just be entertaining.

“W-With Terra? I mean, uh, sure.” Tim seemed to be flustered at the thought of spending time with Terra, even though they’d be right there with the two. Sawyer let out a laugh, pointing at the Australian Shephard. They knew what this sort of reaction meant; they had seen it time and time again since they were kids.

“You like Terra! Like, like him, you gay ass!”

“Shut up, at least I know what type of people I’m into.” Tim retorted, his expression shifting to a friendly but teasing grin.

“Ouch. Harsh.” They replied, pretending to be emotionally hurt, clutching their chest and giving Tim puppy dog eyes. “I’m just a romantically confused little lizard, you don’t need to be so mean to me.” After a couple seconds of silence, the two broke out laughing. This was the type of jokes they usually made with each other. This sort of gag had been ongoing for a couple years now. Just playful banter between friends.

After the laughing fit ended, Sawyer sat back in their seat, thinking over what to do with this new information. Of course, it’d be best if Tim told Terra himself, but… what if they gave a little nudge to the two and tried to pass it off as coincidence? Delightfully devilish, Sawyer. Opening up their phone, they looked at restaurants nearby. They all liked Buffalo Wild Wings, so maybe that would be a good idea?

After a long day of working, and much time convincing the both to go with them to BWW; Tim rode with Sawyer since he didn’t own a car, while Terra drove alone. It was here that Sawyer would begin to concoct their plan in full. Talking to Tim, they began a small conversation.

“Hey Tim, y’know, Terra’s favorite thing to get here is salt and vinegar fries.” They commented.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“In case you wanna get him a little something to eat.”

There was a long moment of silence before Tim spoke again. “...Should I tell him? Y’know, how I feel about him.”

Yes! Perfect! All according to plan! “That’s your call, man. He’s a good guy, you know that. Even if he doesn’t feel the same way he isn’t gonna harass you or something.” “That’s true,” the Aussie Shepherd replied, seeming to be lost in thought.

Both cars arrived at relatively the same time. Getting inside the restaurant, ordering food, and getting somewhere to sit was also pretty painless. Inside a booth style dining area, Terra sat with Sawyer, while Tim sat across from them. Though, it didn’t take long for the three to start talking and telling stories about each other.

Sawyer spoke up first, grinning. “I remember, when me and Terra were in 6th grade, every time someone scared him, he would slam on his shoulder like he was trying to activate his Keyblade Armor. He did it in dodgeball once, too. Still got hit in the face, though.”

Terra let out a disappointed groan, slouching over the table slightly. “Did you really have to bring that up? He didn’t need to know that, man. I don’t even think I remembered that until you told me.”

Meanwhile, Tim was trying his best not to laugh. Sawyer wasn’t done with stories yet, though. “Oh, well, you should hear about the time in Freshman chemistry when Tim yelped in the middle of class. Someone slammed his phantom tail in a drawer. Of course, this was before he actually grew one, but it was pretty funny.”

“Heyyyy! That’s not your story to tell, Sawyer!” Tim piped up, seeming to be rather embarrassed. “Besides, you’re the one who spent an entire half-hour during Geometry staring at a squirrel outside!”

“Shut it, the squirrel was interesting!” They replied, laughing. “You only knew I was staring at it because you started staring too!”

“So what? Doesn’t change the fact you were staring first!”

The three continued with their stories, talking about their experiences together, including the ones they seemed to miss from each other. From 2nd grade to high school, experiences were shared, along with funny stories.

However, the main attraction was yet to happen.

Reese fled to ‘the bathroom’, which was absolutely not the truth. They just kind of… hid around the corner, listening in on Tim and Terra’s conversation.

“...You know, uh… okay, uh… do you remember the time in senior year when you showed up at my house and ended up spending the entire night cuddling me?” Tim asked.

The human’s face immediately began to redden as he replied. “Yeah, what about it? I was sad and just needed someone to be around, that’s all.”

Tim seemed to pause, seemingly a little flustered as he looked around. “I- uh… I think about it sometimes. Why, uh… did you decide to head to my house?”

“‘Cause you’re my friend and pretty soft. Fluffy too.”

“U-Uh-”

“Tim. Tim. Look at me.”

The two made eye contact, Tim very obviously freezing up from a mix of nervousness and being flustered.

“I know how you feel about me. How about we consider this a date?” And then Terra turned to behind the booth they were sitting at, looking in the direction of the bathrooms. Sawyer very quickly tried to hide in one before giving up. “Yeah. I see you, Sawyer. You aren’t slick. Get back over here.”

The Tobi-Kadachi in progress let out a defeated huff before walking back over, taking their seat. They sort of… zoned out as the two talked. To be honest, they hadn’t thought of what to do besides the plan of giving the two a moment alone and hoping they’d somehow talk about feelings. They thought over how to handle any changes to their feet. Shoes probably wouldn’t fit right, but they still didn’t have thick enough layering to go barefoot without getting scraped up.

“Sawyer. Sawyer? Sawwwyerrrrrr?”

“Huh?” They said, snapping out of it.

“We’re done eating. Seems like you are too. You still gotta pay, though.” Terra said, chuckling. “Tim’s gonna go to my place. We’re gonna watch a couple movies, maybe go for a walk.”

“O-Oh, yeah, go ahead! Sorry, I was just thinking. You guys go on ahead, just leave what you guys owe and I’ll put the bill together.”

The two men put their portion of the money down before Terra headed towards the door.

“See you later, Sawyer! Er… thank you.” Tim said, giving Sawyer a wave before following the human out.

“No problem!” They replied. They waited a bit, paying for the food with the money that Tim and Terra had left. After that, they got in their car, heading back home. It was truly a good day. They got to have fun with their friends, and have some fun while doing it! The drive home went well, nothing strange in terms of other people driving. Just people not using their turn signals. Again.

As they went inside, they kicked off their shoes, sitting down to take a good look at their foot that was changing a bit. It hadn’t become too different. However, it seemed like their heel had raised up. That’d explain the weird balance issue earlier. Flipping on the lights, they headed to the kitchen, pulling out a can of cherry cola. Time to relax a bit and watch some TV.

Except, nothing much was on. News. News. More news. Reruns of episodes they’ve seen 10 times over. Even more news. Ugh. What about streaming services? They hadn’t finished that spinoff they’d been wanting to watch, anyways. Except now that got taken off in favor of the broadcasting company wanting more money. Man.

YouTube it was. They put on some DIY video about… a mood ring toilet seat? Now that was definitely weird and worth watching. During the video their phone buzzed with a notification. Picking up their phone, they saw a Discord message from Tim!

SuperAusShep: thnk u for setting up dinner! i grabbed ur wallet by accident tho oops

lizardinprogress: motherfucker just bring it tomorrow and no problem, twas fun

SuperAusShep: ok!

Not like they were gonna use it at the moment. A couple hours passed, and they realized they should probably go to bed. A shower later, and they curled up in their bed after yawning and stretching briefly. Time for bed. Putting on some calming music, they began to drift off into the realm of unconsciousness.

Yeah. That was a good day.