Stanford felt terrible when he woke up this morning.
He'd started to feel strange when they got back to the ship after their little trip to a pizza restaurant, since he'd burned their mac and cheese on the stove. He tried to enjoy the evening with his twin and little friend after they returned, but the feeling wouldn't go away. It only got worse as time went by and he'd had to excuse himself shortly after. He changed clothes and buried himself under his blankets in his bunk bed.
Ford had twisted and turned around all night, never founding a comfortable position. He'd feel too warm and too cold at the same time. He ended up removing his nightshirt and pants and slept with only his underwear on and still didn't feel right. There must've been something strange in the pizza he ate, although neither Stan nor Little A had felt any different.
Stanford looked at the clock next to his bed. The cadran showed it was only 6:30 in the morning, the numbers were big enough that he didn't need to wear his glasses to read it. He grunted and buried his face in his pillow. He did manage to doze on and off throughout the night, but he'd felt so uncomfortable that he would only fall asleep for a few minutes at a time. He was pretty sure he'd only gotten around 4 hours of sleep all in all. He rubbed a hand over his face and decided to just get this over with and start the day really early, not the first time he'd done it.
He didn't bother to dress, and jumped off his bunk, landing smoothly on the floor. He walked to the bathroom to wash himself, carefully walking over Little A peacefully sleeping half on her pillow half on the floor. He didn't bother to put his glasses on.
As he got to the bathroom, he realized that everything about him was wrong. He felt unbalanced, somehow. The cabin smelt too strong and he could hear every little creaky sound it was making. Even the floor under his foot felt strange. He rubbed a hand in his hair and realized he must've tangled it really bad, because he seemed to have more than usual. He made a mental note to cut his hair once he felt better and to trim his nails, he was pretty sure he'd nicked himself while scratching his head. Even his gums were throbbing.
Ford grumbled, a low deep grumble almost sounding like a growl. Great, he must've caught something if his voice became this low. This day was just getting better and better…
Once in the bathroom he turned the water on and splashed his face. He rubbed his hands over his eyes and felt odd… His skin seemed to be softer than normal and something long and elongated was growing on his face. He opened his eyes and tried to look at his hands. Without his glasses he couldn't see much details, but he did see that they were greyer and furrier. His nails had also turned black and were longer. He raised a hand to his eyes to inspect.
« This can't be happening... » Ford whispered. He turned his hand around. A soft layer of fur was covering it all over. It was lighter on the inside and darker all around. It didn't stop to his hand and kept going up his arm. He inspected the rest of his body quickly and could see that he was covered in fur all over. « This can't be happening! »
Stanford was starting to freak out. His breath was becoming shallower. His tongue passed over his teeth and they felt sharper. « No, no, no, no, no... » He came closer to the mirror and tried to get a look at them. His eyes grew bigger. The first thing he saw wasn't his teeth but his nose or more exactly the blurry short snout that had formed in the middle of his face.
Ford felt something move atop his head as he got more freaked out. He glanced up and saw two blurry triangle shapes moving around. He raised a shaky hand and tried to grab one. It twitched out of reach, but he managed to grasp it for a moment before letting go. He'd feel this new appendage and it was definitely attached to his head. He tried to found his own ears on the side of his head but didn't. He saw the triangle shapes drooped.
He clenched the sink and tried to calm down. His brain wouldn't work right now. Too many things were happening right now. He wanted to grunt in frustration, but what came out was an animalistic growl. He felt every hair on his new fur coat stood on end and something moved behind him, brushing against his calves. He didn't want to turn around and look. It was starting to be too much for him now.
Stanford closed his eyes and swallowed hard. No wonder he'd felt weird all night. But how did this happen? He needed help to figure this out. He took a shuddering breath, his twin was gonna hate him for waking him up this early but he didn't care.
« STANLEY GET IN HERE! » Ford yelled at the top of his lungs, his voice had a deep growl to it. He heard his brother stirred in his sleep and was surprised he could pick it up at this distance. He thought for a moment and added. « And bring my glasses, please! »
He heard some grumbling and the shuffling of his twin's feet on the floor. A few moments later, Ford saw Stan's silhouette standing in the doorway of the bathroom. « HOT BELGIAN WAFFLES!! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!? »
Ford winced at Stan's shout. It was too loud and too close to his new ears. Ford rubbed a hand over one. « I don't know Stanley! I woke up feeling terrible and found myself… looking like this! » Ford motionned to his whole body.
Stan stood there and handed Ford his glasses. He put them on and was surprised to see them stay in place. Once the world came into focus he turned back to the mirror and inspected his new condition.
His jaws dropped one he got a real look at himself. Stanford pines looked like a human wolf. Most of his body was now covered by a grey-ish fur coat while his face, neck and chest fur were cream colored. His hair had turned into a fluffy maine surrounding his shoulders. His mouth had turned into a jaw with sharp teeth with a pink snout at the end. Just like he'd observed earlier, he had wolf ears moving around at every sound and at his own emotions. His nails had turned into sharp claws, no wonder he thought he'd nick himself. Even the nails on his toes were now claws.
Ford started to hyperventilate and his tongue lulled out the side of his jaw. He clenched his hands around his mouth, trying to call down again, breathing hard through his snot instead. Stan came closer and rested a reassuring hand on his back. Ford finds himself leaning into the touch. He turned and curled into his brother's lap. He didn't understand why the touch felt so good. Two strong arms hugged him back and kept him close. He managed to calm down enough to stop hyperventilating. His brother's embrace grounded him. He felt the weird thing that had brushed his calves earlier, moved again at the bottom of his spine.
Stan chuckled. « So ya got turned inta an oversized wolf. » Ford nodded against his twin's chest. « And I gotta point out that you sprouted a tail » A whine escaped his throat. He'd feared that it's what was throwing him a bit unbalanced and moving at the bottom of his spine. « How did that happen? »
Ford cleared his throat and took a step back from his brother. « I don't know… I don't… I felt weird all night, I guess it was my body shifting. But I don't understand how it... » He stopped himself when he heard the sound of little footsteps coming up to them. He felt his ears perked up at the sound and his whole body stiffened. He instinctively started to sniff the air.
Little A had woken up. She came to the bathroom and looked at the two brothers. She was still half asleep. « Wassa happenin'? ». She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and when they landed on Stanford she froze for a moment. Then her tail started to waggle behind her. « Fluffy! » She ran up to them and hugged Ford, rubbing her cheek against his leg.
Ford patted her head absentmindedly and realized something. He looked at his twin. « She bit me! »
Stan raised an eyebrow and Little A froze. She looked up at Stanford with a sad look. « Imma sowie... » Tears were gathering at the corner of her eyes and was threatening to fall.
Ford corrected himself. « I know little one, what I meant to say is your bite from yesterday night must've infected me somehow and...turned me like this! » He crouched down to be at eye level with her and inspected her. « Your wolf gene must've transmitted to me, causing this mutation. » He poked her with a clawed finger on the belly, earning giggles from the toddler.
« Tickles » She said while rubbing the spot Stanford had poked.
Stanford perked up, his back straightening up. Now that he knew what had turned him, he could focus his energy on getting out of this predicament. « I need to run some tests! » . He heard a loud thumping noise coming from behind him and slowly turned around to look at the new appendage that he was now sporting.
HIS tail was thumping. It was grey like the rest of his fur and cream on the inside. Ford could feel the new vertebrates that had appeared moved up and down. HIS tail had responded to his excitement. He chuckled. « I do have a tail... »
Stan laughed hard at his statement and patted him on the head, ruffling his hair and ears in the process. Stanford's tail thumped harder and faster on the floor for a moment. Ford found himself leaning into the touch again. It slowed down when Stan removed his hand. Ford felt his cheeks get warm. He'd have to find a solution to his predicament fast or learn how to control his new instincts. Stan just laughed harder and left the bathroom, hushering Little A to follow him.
Stanford took a deep breath. Now that his brain functions were coming back to him, he started a mental list of the different tests he'd want to run on himself. He'd want to take a blood sample, a hair sample and see how much his DNA had changed. He wasn't going to perform any test on Little A, but he might ask her for a bit of saliva.
Ford stood up and looked at himself one last time in the mirror. It still freaked him out how much he'd transformed overnight. Only a few of his human features remained. He still had brown eyes and even if he had a snot he could see and feel his cleft chin under the fur. He came closer to the mirror and tried to remove some fur out of the way to get a look at his neck. He frowned, his ears lowering down on his head and his hackles raising. The thing was still there on his skin, under the layer of fur. Ford heard a low growl forming in his throat. He changed his gaze and saw that his lips curled up, revealing his now sharp fangs. He closed his mouth with an audible clap and shook himself. Those instincts were really strong, no wonder Little A had some animalistic behaviors.
Stanford took a deep breath and exited the bathroom. He had a long day of tests ahead of him to change back to normal. Right after he put some clothes on.
He took a deep breath and exited the bathroom. Ford grabbed a pen and some paper from his desk and walked to the kitchen table, taking a seat. He made sure not to obstruct his tail while sitting down. Stan was at the stove prepping breakfast and Little A was in the living room playing with her toys.
Ford started to write down his observations while waiting for Stan to finish up. He'd run tests after breakfast. He zoomed out for a moment and felt a strange sensation on… his tail. He turned around and saw Little A trying to grab it. She raised her hand and was about to smack it. Ford concentrated and moved it out of the way before she could reach it.