Okay, so I first wrote this story like almost three years ago. But i'm reposting it after seeing someone on phanfic ask about it. i decided why not upload it ill post a little at a time tho so its spaced out i'll post a couple chapter a day or something


It was late. And Phil should've been asleep in bed, but he quietly crept out of his small townhouse at about 1 AM. He locked the door behind him. He didn't know how late he'd be out walking.

It was something he'd begun doing much more frequently the past few months. Something about the wooden area that shrouded his neighborhood in shadow fascinated him. Something sort of… called to him and he gravitated to the area.

He found his way to an open meadow deep within the trees.

He fell asleep here once, and regretted it when he awoke in the morning and found bug bites on his arms.

He sat down in the grass, and stared up the moon and the stars. They were much easier on the eyes than the sun and the sky were. Literally.

But he did truly find the night sky to be more profoundly beautiful than the daytime sky.

Phil listened to the crickets chirp and the bugs click. He never really came across any animals, except the occasional squirrel or rabbit, which would take off before he really realized it was there.

He didn't think tonight would be any different.

But he was proven wrong when he heard twigs cracking in the near vicinity, just passed the edge of the trees. Phil looked around quickly. His eyes had learned to adjust well to the night, but he still required his glasses when he came out here. He pushed them more securely up the bridge of his nose.

Another twig snapped and his heart jumped at the sound. Not exactly in fear, but in excitement. He began to ready himself to stand, in case he needed to defend himself.

Phil had no idea what could have been lurking in the shadows, but wasn't quite expecting a wolf to slowly step out of the trees.

A bear, maybe, but bears were hardly stealthy creatures, as far as he knew.

Despite knowing the dangers, Phil didn't move or try to distance himself from the animal.

The animal gazed at him. And although it was hard for Phil to see the look in the wolf's eye, he could see that he, or she, was relaxed. The animal's hair was not standing on end, nor was its teeth bared.

"Hello," Phil spoke to the wolf.

The animal's ears perked up a bit and tilted forward to capture the sound of Phil's voice.

The wolf stepped forward and Phil nearly scooted back, but then the wolf was still again.

The wolf slowly lowered itself to sitting position and then even lower until its head rested between its paws.

As it lie on the floor, in a strange maneuver for an animal, it scooted itself closer to Phil.

Phil scooted back, staring at the creature with wide blue eyes.

Stillness.

The animal raised itself to sit, and Phil could see that he was, indeed, a male wolf.

He, the wolf, made a small whimpering noise. The first noise he had made since he laid eyes on the creature.

Phil's hair stood on end at the back of his neck.

"What's wrong, boy?"

The same noise came from his throat.

"What's the matter?"

He made a sort of sniffing, sort of huffing noise, moving his head up and down, up and down.

He was trying to say something to Phil.

"What?" Phil almost laughed.

The wolf was restless, looking almost as if he wanted to take off running, but his master was telling him to "stay."

With a smile, Phil shook his head to himself. "I'm talking to an animal. Hell, I might not even be awake."

"But," something occurred to Phil. "If I am dreaming… you probably aren't dangerous."

Phil stood slowly and the wolf suddenly let out a burst of energy. His mouth opened wide, his tail wagged, and his ears tilted back a bit.

Phil knelt before the animal and reached out.

He cupped the side of the animal's face in his hand, stroking his fur softly along his neck and at the top of his head.

A feeling swept through Phil and he let out a breath. It felt a lot like gratitude, like happiness. It doesn't come from inside himself, and he had no other way to explain it than that it came from the wolf.

Surprisingly, his fur was quite soft and felt rather clean.

Suddenly the wolf took a step back and let out a great howl.

In surprise, Phil flinched back away the wolf, catching himself on his hands behind him.

Then in one swift movement the animal was on top of Phil, who flinched, squeezed his eyes shut and put his heads against the neck of the wolf.

He felt the wolf's warm tongue travel from his jaw line to his temple in one great kiss, lifting his glasses for just a second.

Phil opened his eyes and looked up, wide-eyed. He met the warm, brown orbs of the wolf which stared at Phil kindly. The wolf kissed him again and he smiled and laughed.

Phil was beginning to grow tired, and he knew he would have to return home soon.

"I have to go soon." He said more to himself than anything.

The animal looked at Phil sadly and rested its head in Phil's lap.

He stroked his fur softly and sighed.

Phil could hardly remember walking home, but woke up around 10 am.

He couldn't help but wonder if he had been dreaming the night before. It was all so strange. The wolf seemed to understand everything Phil had said. It was almost supernatural.

Phil lied in bed, watching the dust swirl in the light that filtered into the room from his window.

It must have been a dream he decided.

Phil stirred amongst his blankets and realized he was still wearing the clothes he had on when he left for the walk. As he slowly sat up, he ran a hand over his face and pushed his hair back. As he looked down at the carpet he realized he also had what look like dark brown dog hair scattered across his jeans.

Perhaps it wasn't a dream after all.

Throughout the morning he continued to ponder over what happened.

He had Saturdays off, thank goodness.

He did nothing of particularly important on these days. He didn't even have a significant amount of friends, aside from Chris who would come to visit him and they would spend hours on the mundane activity of video games.

Today was going to be just as ordinary, he figured when Chris took the liberty of coming over to spend a good part of the afternoon with him.

They played video games, which was not unusual.

However, the conversation was not quite like their usual topics, which usually consisted of music, anime, books, or the way they planned on dominating the other in whatever game they were playing.

"So, something strange happened last night." Phil had said.

"Phil, I didn't think I'd have to have this talk with you. But wet dreams are normal. It's okay."

"Hey, shut up," Phil shoved Chris over, whose character in their video game then died.

"Hey!" He exclaimed, laughing.

"Man, I was being serious," Phil said, trying to suppress a smile.

He regained composure as Chris righted himself and asked, "I'm sorry, for real this time, what happened?"

"Well, you know how I go walking sometimes?"

"Yes, I know what a complete weirdo you are."

Phil sighed and chose to just continue with the story.

"Well, I saw this wolf last night. But he wasn't normal. He behaved a bit more like a dog, and it was like he knew what I was thinking, kind of."

"It wasn't a dream?"

"No, I mean, I woke up with dog hair and dust on my clothes."

"That really is quite strange, mate."

"You're telling me."

"Are you sure it was a wolf?"

"Definitely. He howled after he let me pat him on the head."

"You petted it?"

"Er, yeah?"

"He didn't bite you or anything?"

"No, that's the strangest part I think. Wolves are, like, feral. But he was… nice."

"That's really weird."

"Yes, I know. And I don't know what the heck right now."

"You're not going to go and look for it again, are you?"

"Him."

"Huh?"

"Him, it was a he. He's a boy."

"Right," Chris said slowly. "Can't imagine how you'd sorted that out."

"Oh my god, Chris. You know what I'm gonna kick your ass at Mario Kart." Phil stood and knelt in front of his Xbox.

"Not if I don't kick yours first."

"We'll see about that." Phil switched the discs in the gaming console and started the game.

Chris stayed for another hour or so, and they ordered a pizza while they continued to play.

Eventually, Phil told Chris that he needed to wind down because he had to be in to work early the next morning.

Which was true, but he sort of wanted to take a walk before it got too late. Too many nights he walked up there and did not get enough sleep.

So not long after the sun set and Chris had gone, he left his house, locking it behind him as usual, and made the journey to the forested area that bordered his neighborhood.

To his disappointment, he never did encounter the wolf that night.

The next day things were insanely busy at his restaurant at work. The only thing that was getting him through the day was looking forward to when things would slow down.

He normally worked from 9-3 pm and things would slow down around 1 pm. He was a host on Sundays, so he would seat people as well as run the register.

His feet would ache, but he had learned a long time ago to ignore it, and he got used to it after a while.

Phil heard the door swing open in their foyer, as he was restocking the to-go order supplies.

He walked out of the server's line and his eyes fell on a tall man with dark brown hair dressed in a heavy black jacket and jeans.

Phil approached the podium, smiling welcomingly despite how tired he was growing. As he stepped closer, he noticed the familiar, warm brown eyes which regarded Phil kindly.

"Hi, is it just one today?"

"Yes," the man nodded. "I'll just sit at the bar there if that's okay."

"Absolutely."

Phil led him over to the bar and placed his menus on the counter in front of him. He noticed that the man's jacket looked just the slightest bit dusty.

"Can I get your drink order?"

"Just some water would be nice," he told Phil.

"I'll get that right out to you." The man smiled at him in response and glanced at his nametag.

Phil made his way back to the server's line and put together a cup of ice water. He quickly grabbed a straw before taking the cup of water out to the bar.

"Thanks, Phil," he said, earning a smile from the host.

"You're welcome. A server should be around to get your food order soon, alright?" Phil adjusted his glasses as he spoke.

"Thank you."

Phil found excuses to walk passed the intriguing man at the bar. He had ordered a steak, medium rare and even though, his menu item didn't call for it, he asked for sausage with it, too.

"Really craving protein?" Phil remarked as he picked up a few bits of rubbish from the floor.

What Phil said ran through his own mind and he put a hand over his face in shame.

"Er-fguafbkj, ignore what I say. I'm literally the most awkward thing on the planet. I communicate with animals better than I do humans."

The man chuckled and countered, "Don't worry. I sometimes question whether I'm even human. So maybe we're okay."

Phil grinned widely.

"So, Phil, do you live around here?" The man asked.

This man is really handsome. Could he possibly be hitting on me?

"Er, I should get back to work…" Phil fiddled with the straw wrapping he had picked up off of the floor.

"No worries. I am simply curious about you, is all."

Phil decided to indulge the man and himself, anyway.

"But I live just down the road, actually."

"Do you get off work soon?"