Chapter Text
Ohyul had reacted on instinct, and it was time to undo the damage.
The moment he saw the torn wrappers on the floor and Louis standing there stiffly, he cast a small soothing spell on his arm.
For a moment, the mess barely registered. His mind was busy cycling through too many thoughts at once.
The peanut butter protein bar wrappers were scattered across the floor, and Louis still had crumbs at the corner of his mouth. The obvious reaction (bad boy!) rose automatically to the front of Ohyul’s mind, the way it would with any animal that had gotten into food it wasn’t supposed to. But the thought stalled before it could go any further.
Louis wasn’t just a dog, not really. He was standing there in human form, shoulders hunched, looking uncertain and tense. Saying something like that felt demeaning, especially when Louis clearly hadn’t meant to do anything bad.
Instead, the dominant emotion that took over was guilt. “I should’ve gone to buy more food tonight,” Ohyul muttered, more to himself than to Louis.
Louis in human form was massive, broad-shouldered and tall, easily bigger than Ohyul. The size wasn’t surprising when Ohyul thought about it. Louis’s dog form was enormous; if he stood on his hind legs, he was probably as tall as Ohyul already, if not taller. Still, seeing that scale translated into a human body was jarring.
What made it stranger was Louis’s face. Despite the height and the build, his expression had a youthful softness to it. Not childish, exactly, but young, like someone who had grown too fast and hadn’t quite settled into their body yet. It reminded Ohyul of teenagers who had just gone through a sudden growth spurt, all long limbs and awkward movements. It made the protective feeling in Ohyul’s chest stronger.
He rubbed his temple and tried to think logically. “Do you know if you can even eat human food?” he asked.
Louis wiped at his mouth, glancing down at the wrappers. “I do not know,” he said.
That answer made Ohyul’s stomach tighten. He grabbed his phone and started searching quickly. He knew the basics about dogs, no chocolate, no grapes, no certain artificial sweeteners, but Louis clearly wasn’t a normal dog. After a few minutes of reading, Ohyul exhaled slowly and took one last look at the ingredients list on a crumpled wrapper.
“It should be fine,” he said at last. Especially with how big you are.
Louis nodded, accepting the conclusion without argument. That solved one problem, for now. But what was Ohyul supposed to do now?
Where was Louis supposed to sleep?
Ohyul helped him clean up first. He wiped the crumbs from Louis’s face with a damp paper towel and then opened the bathroom cabinet, rummaging around until he found a spare toothbrush still in its packaging. He handed it over.
Louis took it but didn’t move.
He simply stared at the toothbrush in his hand with a thoughtful, almost puzzled expression until Ohyul realized what the problem was.
“Oh, right,” Ohyul said. He picked up his own toothbrush and demonstrated, brushing quickly while watching Louis through the mirror.
“I’ve seen you do this a lot,” Louis remarked.
Ohyul paused for a second and huffed out a small, self-conscious laugh. “Yeah, well… it’s a habit.” He probably brushed his teeth more often than most people, just out of habit at this point.
Louis watched carefully for another moment before mimicking the motion, and the reaction was immediate. His face twisted into a deep frown.
“I dislike this,” Louis said, pulling the toothbrush away from his mouth and grimacing.
Ohyul blinked. “It’s just toothpaste. Hey, don’t swallow it.”
“It’s gross.”
“It’s just some mint.”
Louis looked genuinely offended by the flavor, like the concept itself was an insult.
“Oh my god,” Ohyul muttered, shaking his head. “Just finish brushing.”
Louis did, though reluctantly. The entire time, he kept making faint expressions of disgust while Ohyul watched from the sink beside him.
When he was done, Louis rinsed his mouth and stared suspiciously at the toothbrush like it had personally wronged him.
Ohyul leaned against the counter, arms folded, trying not to laugh.
“You survived,” he said.
After that, Ohyul dug through his drawers and found a pair of pajamas, an oversized set he had bought by mistake and never worn. They fit Louis very well.
Eventually they both ended up standing beside the bed, of which there was only one. Ohyul was exhausted enough that he didn’t overthink it. He climbed into bed and gestured for Louis to do the same.
Louis hesitated for a moment before lying down on the other side of the mattress, stiff and careful, as if unsure how close he was allowed to be. The bed dipped under his weight, and the room went dark.
Ohyul could feel the lingering tension coming off Louis even through the calming spell. It made sense. Earlier that night, Ohyul had startled him badly without meaning to, and Louis had already been nervous to begin with.
“Just sleep,” Ohyul said quietly. Louis nodded, and for a while, it seemed like he might. But after several minutes, Louis began to shift restlessly. Eventually he sat up.
“I will… return,” he said softly.
Then he slipped out of the room and walked toward the bathroom. Ohyul was too tired to question it at first. He closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep. But when several minutes passed and Louis still hadn’t come back, a knot of worry formed in his chest.
He got up and walked down the hall, where the bathroom light was still on. Ohyul pushed the door open and stopped short.
Louis was curled up on the floor beside the bathtub, folded tightly in on himself like a shrimp. Even in human form, the posture was quite canine. Also, he was asleep.
“Oh- hey,” Ohyul said softly, startled.
Louis stirred immediately, blinking up at him. For a second, neither of them spoke.
“Oh,” Ohyul said again, more gently this time. “Did I scare you earlier?”
Louis didn’t answer directly, but the silence said enough. Ohyul felt yet another wave of guilt crash on him.
“It’s okay,” he said. “You don’t have to sleep in here.”
Louis glanced toward the bedroom uncertainly. Ohyul thought for a moment, then sighed. “Go sleep on the bed,” he said.
Louis hesitated.
“I will take the couch.”
That seemed to make Louis relax immediately. He nodded, sheepish but visibly relieved. A few minutes later, Louis was settled carefully on the bed, still looking like he wasn’t quite sure he was allowed to be there.
Ohyul stretched out on the couch in the living room, too tired to think anymore. Tomorrow morning, he was going to have to figure out how to take care of a magical familiar who was also, apparently, a giant nervous teenager.
But that was a problem for tomorrow.
When Ohyul woke up, everything hurt from laying on the couch. His alarm was blaring right next to his head, shrill and relentless. He fumbled for his phone with clumsy fingers and finally silenced it, dragging a hand over his face. When he pried his eyes open, the dull ache in his body reminded him exactly why he felt so awful. Lack of sleep, sore muscles, and the lingering strain of yesterday all settled heavily into his bones.
Footsteps paced somewhere nearby.
Ohyul squinted out toward the living room. Louis was there, still in the pajamas from last night, walking back and forth in loops. Ohyul’s mind lagged behind the scene in front of him, then the memories from last night caught up all at once.
Right. Louis was a human, sometimes.
“Already up, Louis?” Ohyul asked, voice rough with sleep. “What’s wrong?”
Louis stopped pacing immediately and looked over.
“I thought I heard something,” he said after a moment. “Earlier. So I woke up.” He hesitated, then added quickly, “I think it is okay though.” He wore the same sheepish expression he always did.
“It’s probably nothing,” Ohyul murmured. He didn’t detect anything odd. He pushed himself upright with a quiet groan and shuffled to the bathroom to get ready. His routine was automatic: brushing his teeth, splashing water over his face, dragging a comb through his hair until it looked presentable.
Halfway through, he leaned out of the bathroom doorway. “Hey, Louis.”
Louis immediately perked up.
“Go change into those clothes you wore yesterday,” Ohyul said. Stole. “You can keep them.” Louis blinked once, then nodded and disappeared into the bedroom. When he came back out, Ohyul pointed toward the bathroom sink.
“Wash your face,” he instructed.
Louis obeyed with focus, carefully copying what he had seen Ohyul do before. Water splashed everywhere, but he seemed satisfied with the result. When he finished, Ohyul stepped closer and gently pulled a brush through Louis’s hair.
Louis stood still while Ohyul brushed through the tangles, his shoulders gradually loosening as the bristles moved through his hair. Yeah, Ohyul thought. He definitely liked that.
“Do you like being in dog form more,” Ohyul asked casually, “or human form?” Louis considered the question seriously.
“It depends,” he said slowly. “Dog form feels comfy.” He flexed his fingers, staring down at his hands like they were still strange objects attached to him. “But this one is good too.”
“Why?”
Louis looked up at him. “Well, I have hands. I can open doors myself now.”
The answer came out so simply that Ohyul didn’t know what to say to it. Louis glanced back at his hands again, turning them over.
“Hands are useful,” he added. “Also you brush my hair.”
Ohyul smiled despite himself. “I can brush your hair no matter what form you’re in.”
Louis brightened immediately, a wide grin spreading across his face, bigger than any Ohyul had seen from him yet. Ohyul slung his backpack over his shoulder and gestured toward the door.
“Alright, you ready? Let’s go.”
And Louis immediately moved to his side.