Kost awoke in his own house, in his own bed. He stared at the ceiling for several moments, blinking a few times. A dream? The last thing he remembered had been talking with the linsang in the kitchen in the diner.
He sat up slowly, cradling his head in his paws. Deep breaths, just like the counselor had suggested. In and out. In and out. Visualize a scan line going from your ears to your feet like in a science fiction film. No headaches. No strange feeling of nausea deep in his gut. Back to normal.
"Just a dream," he sighed, slowly falling back. He must have stayed asleep after coming home from work and slept all through the night, dreaming like he hadn't in ages. That would explain his...
interaction
with Gabrielle, the reflection lunging out of the mirror, and the diner being closed on a Friday night. Not to mention the strange linsang. They were all oddities conjured up by his tired, still grieving subconscious.
Kost adjusted his posture, rolling onto his side. The motion went against the grain of his fur, sending soothing tingles through his body. Then he blinked. He lifted the sheets and realized he was completely naked. Strange. He always slept in at least his underthings. Kost rolled back over to look at the foot of the bed for where his clothes might have gone.
And nearly jumped out of his skin.
Staring back at him from the mirror was a wolf he didn't recognize at first, because the wolf in the mirror hadn't looked back at him for some decades. There was no grey in his fur yet. The notch in his ear from a kitchen accident had been smoothed over, the thin skin whole and unbroken. And despite his glasses being on the table nearby, he could see perfectly clearly.
Kost scrambled out of bed and got real close to the mirror, just to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. He turned his head this way and that, opening his muzzle wide. His teeth were white and healthy, his gums softer and pinker than they'd been in ages. "What is this?" he muttered, examining himself further.
"What I promised," a soft male voice said in his ear. Blunt claws skittered up Kost's spine.
The wolf whirled around. Nobody was in the bedroom with him. He turned back around to the mirror. In the reflection of the room behind him, kneeling on his bed, was the linsang. This time the linsang was very, very naked. He had a slender frame, spots going all the way down his sides, broken only by the splash of white on his chest, belly, and groin. A long pink shaft hung between his legs, impressive even in its flaccid state. His freaky eyes glittered with humor. "Hello again, Kost."
"What are you doing here?" Kost panted, looking back and forth between the mirror and the empty bed behind him. "Am I still dreaming?"
"Oh no, this is very, very real," the linsang said. He reached up and pinched a few strands of Kost's back fur between his fingers, then pulled. Kost yelped as the hairs were ripped free. "You passed out in the diner last night, ruined my big exit and everything. Couldn't just leave you there, now could I?"
"I... you... what?"
The linsang sighed and got up off the bed. In the mirror, he pressed up behind Kost, molding his body against the curve of the wolf's back. In reality, Kost felt something press against his back, but when he reached behind him, his paw passed through empty air.
"You need to relax, Kost buddy," the linsang purred. "Most people would kill to have two decades knocked off their bodies. You're effectively in your thirties again, man. Single, no obligations, with a killer musk that drives that laides wild." He reached up to toy with one of Kost's ears. "Get what I'm saying?"
Kost ducked his head and moved away, feeling the presence against his back vanish. "I get what you're saying, but I'm telling you, I don't want this!"
The linsang laughed. "You say that now! But like I said, give it some time. You'll come around like all the others."
The wolf's head snapped towards the space the linsang occupied in the mirror. "What others?"
"Oops, didn't mean to let that one slip," the linsang said, putting a paw over his muzzle.
"Just what
are
you?"
"I told you before, I'm an outsider."
"But you must have a name."
The linsang smoothed down some of his chest fur. "Ah, but if I told you the game would be up before it's even gotten in motion."
"What game?" Kost said, a bit of a snarl creeping into his voice. Whether it was from fear or frustration he couldn't say.
"Here's a hint," the linsang said. He moved closer to Kost in the mirror reflection, trailing his paw along the antique dresser. "To call me by my proper name would be to call me strife."
"That doesn't tell me anything!"
"I'm sure you'll figure it out." The linsang reached up to touch Kost's cheek. "Now, I believe there's someone at your door."
"What?"
A knock echoed through the house, the sound of sharp knuckles striking the weathered wood. A moment later, the doorbell sounded. Kost turned his head towards the sound as it came, then looked back in the mirror. The linsang was gone, and he was alone.
The wolf hurriedly pulled underwear and pants on, hopping around on one leg like a collegiate who'd slept in late for class with a hangover. The knock and doorbell sounded again. "Just a moment!" he called. Without bothering to put a shirt on, Kost hurried through his empty house to the door, not bothering to check outside before opening the door. "Gah!"
Gabrielle stood on his doorstep, dressed in a bathrobe and seemingly nothing else if her bare legs and feet were anything to go by. Her dark hair was wet, slick from the shower and smelling of lavender. "Good morning, Kost darling," she purred, reaching up to toy with a lock of her hair as if she were decades younger. "I was wondering if you wanted to continue where we left off yesterday."
Kost made a strangled noise and stuck his head through the door. He looked up and down the street. It was a Saturday morning, so there wasn't much happening save for the distant buzz of lawnmowers in suburban backyards. Then he saw Miss Penderghast down the street at the foot of her driveway, skimming the paper from where she'd picked it up.
"Don't tell me you've already found something better than
these.
" Gabrielle reached up and yanked open the top part of her robe, exposing herself to him. Kost's eyes widened at the sight of those heavy breasts, all but burned into his retinas from the dream.
