Cifer had recovered and was devouring the rabbit. The sound of crunched bones pulled Stein back to reality. He found it funny that the dog ripped into the body with such a delicate manner. Long incisors pulled skin away from muscle; legs were bitten clean off and swallowed. Surgeon's precision. Stein approved.
Once the bulk of the rabbit had disappeared into Cifer's stomach, he addressed the dog. "Cifer. You said something, once, about being able to work with a meister. Did you mean that?"
"Well," the dog began, licking some blood off of his lips. "It's what I have been told. See, being able to shape-shift isn't so unusual for us. But me being able to modify my dog body into that horrible beast isn't so common. My father told me that I should be able to resonate with a meister, when I'm like that. The problem is that he actually despises anything to do with the technicians and weapons, so I'm not sure if he was being sarcastic or not."
"You've never tried, right?" Stein asked. He had been curious about this possibility ever since Cifer had mentioned it in the Death Room. The possibility that of this being a new avenue of research for him was too tempting for Stein to pass up.
"No. Like I said – I've never met a meister, before. Not until you, I mean," Cifer said. He was lying on his belly, and now that his meal was finished he yawned contentedly and crossed one forepaw over the other. His large ears swiveled to and fro, checking for any eavesdroppers.
"You want to give it a try?" Stein asked. Inwardly, he hoped Cifer would agree, as he had wanted to give this a shot ever since he met him. The dog looked at him, green eyes unblinking and his expressionless face impossible to interpret.
"Now? Here?" Cifer questioned. When Stein shrugged and nodded, he got to his feet and fanned his tail back and forth. "Alright. But, I have no idea what to do, so you'll have to forgive my ignorance."
"To be honest, I don't know what to expect from this, either. You aren't exactly a weapon that I can pick up and carry, so…we're both going into this blind," Stein said. He stood, and moved away from the tree, to the slight clearing a few paces away. "You can perceive souls, though, can't you? Living ones?"
"Sure. All demons can do that. Occasionally, we have to hunt down souls that are a little reluctant in making the trip down to us," Cifer paused. "That's rather fun, by the way."
Stein didn't comment, but filed the information away to be discussed later. Cifer followed him to the clearing, staying to his left side as usual, about five feet away. The excitement of learning something new coursed through Stein's frigid veins, and he smiled toothily at the dog. "Good. This will just be like taking that to the next level. Instead of trying to swallow my soul, try listening to it. But, you can't keep yours hidden. You're going to have to reveal it to me."
"Yes, of course. Hold on-" Cifer cut himself off, and faced forward. With closed eyes, he took a deep breath and braced all four legs firmly against the dirt below him. A guttural growl thrashed against his throat as his body began to change.
Standing so close to Cifer to watch this mutation was fascinating, but when the transformation was complete, Stein was hard-pressed to deny the Hellhound was frightening. His shoulders were about level with Stein's waist, and corded muscles bulged under his patchwork fur. A few strings of drool dripped from between the oversized and glistening teeth arranged in a mouth that could crush a human's skull with little effort. Stein swallowed hard as those enormous, pupil-less green eyes turned to look at him.
"Okay. Let me in, this time. Drop that black hole trap of yours. You shouldn't have any trouble seeing mine," Stein said. Cifer didn't speak, but he did close his eyes, which Stein took to mean he understood and agreed. After a moment, he narrowed his eyes and took the plunge into the ethereal.
Just as he'd touched against Cifer's wavelength, he found himself flung backwards. A shrill yelp indicated Cifer had gone flying, too. Stein winced; skidding across dirt without a shirt on was a little painful. As he sat up, he saw Cifer shaking himself off, as well.
"Huh. How odd," Stein mumbled as he got to his feet. He wasn't too concerned, though. This was foreign territory, and a few bobbles were to be expected. He met Cifer in the middle of the clearing once more. "Not to worry. Let's try something different. I won't be so invasive this time. I'll just let you come to me, okay?"
The big muzzle dipped in agreement, and Stein prepared himself with more caution than before. He waited, and then felt Cifer approaching. It was hard to stay neutral, but he held his ground and summoned up some patience. With no warning, something slammed into his chest, and Stein was sent sprawling for the second time.
A kind tree trunk ended his flight by intercepting his entire body. With the wind knocked out of him, he scrambled to his hands and knees and clutched at his chest in a frantic attempt to gather oxygen. Cifer's wet nose snuffled at his ear in what he thought was a worried manner, but he just waved a hand in dismissal. "It's…fine…I'm fine. Fine."
"I'm sorry! I don't know what I did, I didn't mean to, are you sure you're okay?" Cifer boomed directly into Stein's ear. His voice matched his form: deep, gravelly, and loud.
"I can see why you don't talk much when you're like this, Cifer. You could wake the dead," Stein gasped. It was a slower process to stand up, this time, but he managed. "Let's try it the other way around. Just stay quiet and let me find you."
This was starting to get a bit dangerous. Stein was tentative as he reached out for Cifer, now, desperate to uncover what was creating such a violent reaction between them. He admonished himself for allowing emotion to seep into his concentration. Harbouring frustration would do nothing to solve this situation, and it would only serve to damage his focus.
He stared at Cifer's body, studying the rise and fall of his ribs, and changed his own breathing to match that rhythm. Cifer's pupil-less eyes were easy to focus on, and Stein stared into them until he saw nothing at all. Finally. There it was. That glowing red wolf, pacing back and forth. It pulled at his own soul with an intensity Stein had never felt before, and he'd partnered with countless weapons. It was dark and threatening, and the doctor was instantly seduced by the tempting madness. He reached for it.
And then it was gone. His eyes could see again, and now Cifer was ten yards away, sprawled on the ground. Sighing, Stein walked over to the beast and crouched down, placing a gentle hand atop the broad skull of the hound. "This isn't working. We should probably give it a rest for now, until I can figure out what's going on."
Though his voice was level, Stein was irritated. How was it possible that he, of all people, was failing at this? Maybe he was losing his edge. The very thought made the doctor grind his teeth.
Cifer shook himself from nose to tail, and became a normal dog once again. More or less. His bushy tail weakly flicked back and forth as Stein gave him one last scratch behind the ears.
"Besides," Stein began, as he returned to full height. Everything hurt. "I feel like I've been trampled by a herd of horses. Let's go."
Instead of a verbal response, Cifer erupted into a snarling mass of teeth and hackles. Stein backed up a pace, but then noticed that the dog was actually snarling at something behind him. Without much thought, Stein whipped around to face whatever threat was there. His movement seemed to have trigged Cifer, who stiffly bounded several yards forward and continued to growl.
It was unnecessary. Stein shook his head, and then glanced down at Cifer, who appeared ready to face-off with the familiar set of twin handguns and black hair. "Cifer. It's Kid. You know him. No need to be nasty."
But, Cifer didn't obey. Stein wasn't entirely surprised. He wasn't really a dog, after all, he was just using a dog's body. It was foolish to expect him to behave like a well-mannered pet. He returned his attention to Kid, who was being unusually silent. And still brandishing Liz and Patty as though he meant business. This irked the scientist.
"Kid, last time I checked, it was against school policy to aggressively engage one of you professors," Stein commented. His voice was a little sterner than he had planned, but his patience continued to wear thin, so he shrugged it off. This entire day was one he was ready to forget, but it just seemed to get better and better.
Reluctantly, Kid lowered his hands, and as he did so, Cifer's growling ceased. Kid's amber eyes darted from dog to doctor and back again. "Maybe so. But, if you were so concerned with school policy, why would you be fraternizing with such an abomination as that thing? And, apparently, it's not like you're just keeping it as some horrible pet! You're trying to partner with it!"
Before Stein could answer, Cifer's sly voice rang out. It was coated with a hoarseness that might have been doggish laughter. "Abomination? You shouldn't speak that way about your family. It's quite rude."
"Family? Don't play games with me, demon," Kid spat. He caught Cifer in his double line of fire, again. "I should just destroy you, here, but I think my Father deserves to know of this situation."
"He already does-" Stein began, but his words fell on deaf ears. Cifer's barking laughter stretched the tense atmosphere and drowned out everything else. The situation was snowballing, but he felt no pressing need to intervene. If anything, Stein was curious to see the consequences of this confrontation. He took a few steps backwards and slipped into his silent observation mode. Perhaps today would end on a good note, after all.