Chapter Text
Chan wakes up with a start, panicking so abruptly about the fact that he fell asleep shifted that he almost forgets the entirety of what happened before his little nap.
Blinking slowly, he relaxes and yawns, tiny body shuddering as he stretches stiff muscles.
“Ooh, big stretch!” A voice says from above him. Chan flops his head against their lap, whining before letting out another large yawn. His ears perk up when the person giggles. “Well, good morning sleepy head.”
Chan's head snaps around as he recognizes the voice of one of his boyfriends. Above him is Seungmin, smiling so prettily Chan feels a rush of excitement when he realizes Seungmin is looking at him like that. With so much love.
Minnie! Minnie! Minnie!
Fuck. Chan is so excited he could explode. It’s been so long since he’s been amongst others while shifted. It’s completely overwhelming in the best possible way which, for pup Chan, translates to nearly uncontrollable wiggling and tail wagging.
Seungmin chuckles, and Chan decides he needs to lick his face. Right now. Though he can barely reach Seungmin’s chin, his small size doesn’t deter him from trying again and again to jump high enough to reach more of his boyfriend. Said boyfriend giggles wildly, quickly picking Chan up and holding him against his chest.
…Ah.
Chan doesn’t remember the last time he woke up like this. Well-rested. Shifted. Surrounded by warmth. Held.
Years. It’s been years.
He hopes he doesn’t have to wait that long again.
It’s not long after Chan’s secret comes out that the Stray Kids’ dorms start to look a little different. Someone could easily come to the conclusion there are multiple dog shifters in the group with the amount of stuff that has accumulated between the two spaces.
But they would never know there’s just a single, extremely spoiled one.
Beds, blankets, toys, and anything else a twenty five year old puppy shifter could ever want—many of which Chan hadn't had at all since he lived in Australia and none of which he ever asked for.
It’d been hard to accept the gifts, initially. He felt like he didn’t deserve them for lying, that he shouldn’t even be allowed to enjoy puppy toys seeing as he’s technically an adult shifter. He begrudgingly accepts the gifts because saying no to his boys is as impossible as ever for Chan. His apprehension hangs over them, never acknowledged.
Then, Changbin gets him a giraffe.
It’s a simple thing: a light yellow plushie with a sweet smile and big ears. Chan is shifted when Changbin presents it to him, but even then he thought it had been a toy for literal human babies until he picked it up and startled himself by biting into the squeaker.
Chan loves it, possibly more than he’s ever loved anything in his entire life.
It’s small enough for him to easily hold. It smells like lavender. It squeaks.
It’s Chan’s new favorite thing and when he’s shifted it just makes sense to carry it around everywhere, so that’s exactly what he does.
