In Cop's Clothing
chapter two
It was several hours yet until sunset the next day when the phone rang. Answering it, Bosco snarled, "Yeah, what?"
"Bosco, you all right?" It was Yokas.
Sighing, Bosco closed his eyes and counted to ten, doing his best to calm down. It wasn't easy the way his nerves were right then. "Yeah, Yokas. Hunky dory."
"You called in sick. Do you need anything?" She sounded concerned, like she'd forgotten how much he'd been annoying her yesterday.
Which made him feel even more lousy about lying to her. "No, it's just the flu or something. No big deal."
"Do you have juice? Soup, stuff like that?"
"Jeeze, Yokas, I'm not one of your kids."
"According to who?" she shot back.
He rolled his eyes even as he felt his mouth tug upwards into a reluctant smile. It was nice to know that there was at least one person who gave a damn about him. "Okay, *Mom*, yes, I have juice and soup. Yes, I'm staying in bed, taking my medicine. Is that everything?"
"Should I come by and check on you later?" She sounded partially amused, though he knew she was serious.
"No," he countered quickly. "I'm probably just going to sack out. All you'd do is wake me up."
"All right," she agreed, a trifle reluctantly. "If you need anything, you'll call?"
"I've got you on my speed dial."
She laughed. "OK, Bosco. I'll see you on Friday."
"Yeah. Be careful out there." He grimaced at sounding like an old tv show, but the sentiment was real.
"I will." Then she was hanging up, and *he* was off the hook.
He sighed, leaning back in his seat and closing his eyes. God, he hated the last hours before it happened. His skin felt more and more alien and he itched. But there was nowhere to scratch, not that would do any good. The best he could hope for was to distract himself.
Over the years, he'd learned the best ways to distract himself, and he had a stack of videos and new books ready and waiting. He'd manage to watch or read for about ten minutes before being unable to concentrate -- at which point he'd switch to another book, or movie.
He managed until it was nearly sunset. At that point, nothing was distracting him. Bosco got up and started pacing the length of his apartment, both yearning and dreading the swiftly approaching moment. There was a knock on the door.
He froze. Maybe if he was silent whoever it was would go away?
"Bosco?" Yokas' voice came through the door.
Shit. His partner, he knew, wasn't just going to go away. More knocking, then he heard the jangle of keys. She had one to his front door, just like he had one to her place. He stood frozen for a second more, then ran for his bedroom.
"Bosco?" Yokas called out again, from the hallway. She wasn't calling loudly, as if knowing he might be asleep and trying not to wake him. He dived for the bed, intending to pull the blankets up over his clothes... only to trip on a pile of books and go sprawling.
"Bos?" This time she sounded worried. And closer.
He heard the bedroom door opening. "Uhh hi," he said from his position sprawled among the books on the floor.
"Are you all right?" she asked even as she was coming over to help. "What happened?"
"I tripped over my own feet and my reading material." He accepted the hand she offered, helping him up.
She was looking at him oddly, as he got to his feet.
"What?"
"Are you sure you're all right?"
"I said I was, didn't I?"
She gave him a flat look. "Then why did you call in sick? You don't look sick and you aren't *acting* sick."
Shit. "I, um...That is..." he fumbled to a stop.
She crossed her arms, and gave him that Look. He had seen it a hundred times on his own mother's face.
He sighed, and ran a hand over his face. "Look, Yokas, it's complicated okay?"
"Too complicated to come to work?"
"Yeah."
She kept looking at him. Waiting.
Suddenly Bosco felt it. It was about to happen. "Yokas..." he began, shifting from foot to foot as the physical sensations began.
"What's wrong?" She was frowning, now. "Are you sure you're not sick?"
"Could you please leave?" he asked, almost begged. If she didn't in the next minute or two...
"Bos, what's wrong?" He knew from her tone she was *not* about to leave. She was, in fact, moving forward.
"Don't touch me!" he yelled, back pedalling. Already he could feel his senses starting to spiral upwards. He didn't see her reaction, didn't hear her over the rushing in his own ears.
But a moment later he felt her hands on his arms, trying to pull at him. He pushed her away, before he collapsed, feeling his flesh start to crawl, his bones start to melt.
God, he hated this part.
"Bosco? Oh my god... I'm going to call an ambulance."
"No!" he managed, his voice already more than half growl. "Please..."
"You said you weren't sick, what is this?" He could hear how worried she was, feel him trying to roll him onto his back.
"You... don't... want... to... know..." Words were getting harder and harder to say, even as he resisted her attempts to move him.
She kept pulling, though, bringing him around to face her. She was touching his face, as though checking for fever. "What the hell?" Her hands suddenly dropped away.
He attempted a smile, even though he knew it wouldn't succeed. "T-tol... you...." he managed before the change stole his words entirely. For a moment, all he was aware of was his shifting, melting form.
Then it was over.
When he looked up, she was staring at him. He could smell the fear, though it wasn't as strong as he'd expected it to be. He grinned at her, his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth.
"You're a dog." She was suddenly sitting down, staring at him from eye-level.
He growled. A dog?
She scooted backwards a few inches at his growl. She was muttering something under her breath, which normally he wouldn't be able to hear. She was saying, "Ohmygod," over again. Cursing himself for scaring her, Bosco got to his feet and made to go over and do his best to reassure her.
Or that was the plan at least.
But he hadn't had a chance to strip before he changed and as soon as he tried to take a step he got tangled in and tripped on the remains of his clothes. Falling on his nose.
That started her laughing. When he looked up at her, she stared back, then laughed even harder. He glared at her, but was too tangled up to do anything else. Finally she scooted forward onto her knees and reached out. "Here, let's get you out of those." She stopped. "Unless you're going to change right back?"
He shook his head.
She just nodded and proceeded to remove his clothes. It was difficult manouevring the shirt off his upper body -- bulkier across the chest, forearms that no longer had ball and joint sockets. But she managed, and soon his clothes were strewn in a nice, messy pile.
Once they were off, he stood and shook himself, revelling in the absence of confinement. A sudden mischievious impulse led him to lick Yakos' face from chin to hairline.
"Bosco!" She sat back, her tone of outrage shifting in mid-outcry to wonder. She reached out and grabbed a hold of his face -- a handful of thick fur. "Bosco?"
He nodded, grinning at her again.
"Oh my god. You.. you're...." She looked towards the window, over which the curtains were drawn, but it seemed to tell her what she needed to verify, anyhow. "You never do work third shift on a full moon. I always thought you were too chicken to deal with the weirdoes...."
Bosco snorted at that, giving her a look of disbelief.
"Present company excluded," she added.
Yeah, right. He wasn't a weirdo. And he certainly wasn't chicken.
He was just a werewolf.
She looked at him, askance. "You're not going to bite me, are you? Turn me into...."
The idea made him collapse in laughter, little yips and barks coming out of his muzzle as his whole body shook in hilarity.
"Oh, excuse me," she said, sounding offended. "But you're the first werewolf I've met. How am I supposed to know? I've seen American Werewolf in London a dozen times. You want to tell me that isn't real?"
Bosco rolled his eyes. It looked like he was going to have to explain everything to his partner from scratch. The only problem was that it was a bit hard to communicate right now.
"If you're not going to bite me, and you aren't sick... are you going to be all right? I have to get back on-duty soon."
Bosco nodded, blinking at the sudden turnaround. He stood and padded towards the door, stopping and looking back over his shoulder at his partner.
She stood up, looking a little off-balance still, despite having calmed down. "Bosco?"
He gave her his best inquisitive look.
"Are you going to be OK? I mean, here alone?"
Resisting the urge to roll his eyes again, he nodded.
"You're sure?" She had gone into her 'mother mode' again, looking at him with a calculating expression. "How can you... do anything, with no hands? Don't you get bored? What if there's a problem?"
In response Bosco walked back over to the pile of books that had been knocked over, pulled one out with his teeth than pushed it open with a paw. He looked up at Yokas expectantly.
She half-grinned, then came over and took the book, reading the cover. "Anne Higgins? Bos, she writes *romance* novels."
Unable to argue with her that this didn't happen to be one, he settled for glaring. Yokas laughed and shook her head, setting the book back down. He tried to get his muzzle in the way of her hand when she reached for another book. Then he blinked in astonishment as he felt his head being scratched. *Right* behind the ears.
His eyes half-closed and his tail began to wag. He heard a stiffled giggle. He tried to glare again but with the scratching still going on it was at most half-hearted.
"You'd make a good watch-wolf, I can see that."
He growled. Very softly.
"Uh-huh." Yokas rubbed his head, then she got a very evil look in her eye. "So if I scratched your belly, would you--"
The growling got louder.
"Geez, ask a simple question." She was smiling easily now, though; the scent of fear was almost totally gone. She looked at him again.
He grinned at her.
She shook her head. "This is too weird. Even for New York. I have to get back on-duty." She began to head for the front door, still glancing back at Bosco every other step.
Remembering his manners, he got up and walked her to the door.
She stood there for another moment before opening it, staring down at him. Finally she just said, "You're a huge wolf. You know that?"
Bosco nodded and grinned.
"All right. I'll see you on Friday." Then she let herself out, carefully re-locking the door behind her.
With a sigh, he flopped down in front of the door.
end chapter two
chapter two
It was several hours yet until sunset the next day when the phone rang. Answering it, Bosco snarled, "Yeah, what?"
"Bosco, you all right?" It was Yokas.
Sighing, Bosco closed his eyes and counted to ten, doing his best to calm down. It wasn't easy the way his nerves were right then. "Yeah, Yokas. Hunky dory."
"You called in sick. Do you need anything?" She sounded concerned, like she'd forgotten how much he'd been annoying her yesterday.
Which made him feel even more lousy about lying to her. "No, it's just the flu or something. No big deal."
"Do you have juice? Soup, stuff like that?"
"Jeeze, Yokas, I'm not one of your kids."
"According to who?" she shot back.
He rolled his eyes even as he felt his mouth tug upwards into a reluctant smile. It was nice to know that there was at least one person who gave a damn about him. "Okay, *Mom*, yes, I have juice and soup. Yes, I'm staying in bed, taking my medicine. Is that everything?"
"Should I come by and check on you later?" She sounded partially amused, though he knew she was serious.
"No," he countered quickly. "I'm probably just going to sack out. All you'd do is wake me up."
"All right," she agreed, a trifle reluctantly. "If you need anything, you'll call?"
"I've got you on my speed dial."
She laughed. "OK, Bosco. I'll see you on Friday."
"Yeah. Be careful out there." He grimaced at sounding like an old tv show, but the sentiment was real.
"I will." Then she was hanging up, and *he* was off the hook.
He sighed, leaning back in his seat and closing his eyes. God, he hated the last hours before it happened. His skin felt more and more alien and he itched. But there was nowhere to scratch, not that would do any good. The best he could hope for was to distract himself.
Over the years, he'd learned the best ways to distract himself, and he had a stack of videos and new books ready and waiting. He'd manage to watch or read for about ten minutes before being unable to concentrate -- at which point he'd switch to another book, or movie.
He managed until it was nearly sunset. At that point, nothing was distracting him. Bosco got up and started pacing the length of his apartment, both yearning and dreading the swiftly approaching moment. There was a knock on the door.
He froze. Maybe if he was silent whoever it was would go away?
"Bosco?" Yokas' voice came through the door.
Shit. His partner, he knew, wasn't just going to go away. More knocking, then he heard the jangle of keys. She had one to his front door, just like he had one to her place. He stood frozen for a second more, then ran for his bedroom.
"Bosco?" Yokas called out again, from the hallway. She wasn't calling loudly, as if knowing he might be asleep and trying not to wake him. He dived for the bed, intending to pull the blankets up over his clothes... only to trip on a pile of books and go sprawling.
"Bos?" This time she sounded worried. And closer.
He heard the bedroom door opening. "Uhh hi," he said from his position sprawled among the books on the floor.
"Are you all right?" she asked even as she was coming over to help. "What happened?"
"I tripped over my own feet and my reading material." He accepted the hand she offered, helping him up.
She was looking at him oddly, as he got to his feet.
"What?"
"Are you sure you're all right?"
"I said I was, didn't I?"
She gave him a flat look. "Then why did you call in sick? You don't look sick and you aren't *acting* sick."
Shit. "I, um...That is..." he fumbled to a stop.
She crossed her arms, and gave him that Look. He had seen it a hundred times on his own mother's face.
He sighed, and ran a hand over his face. "Look, Yokas, it's complicated okay?"
"Too complicated to come to work?"
"Yeah."
She kept looking at him. Waiting.
Suddenly Bosco felt it. It was about to happen. "Yokas..." he began, shifting from foot to foot as the physical sensations began.
"What's wrong?" She was frowning, now. "Are you sure you're not sick?"
"Could you please leave?" he asked, almost begged. If she didn't in the next minute or two...
"Bos, what's wrong?" He knew from her tone she was *not* about to leave. She was, in fact, moving forward.
"Don't touch me!" he yelled, back pedalling. Already he could feel his senses starting to spiral upwards. He didn't see her reaction, didn't hear her over the rushing in his own ears.
But a moment later he felt her hands on his arms, trying to pull at him. He pushed her away, before he collapsed, feeling his flesh start to crawl, his bones start to melt.
God, he hated this part.
"Bosco? Oh my god... I'm going to call an ambulance."
"No!" he managed, his voice already more than half growl. "Please..."
"You said you weren't sick, what is this?" He could hear how worried she was, feel him trying to roll him onto his back.
"You... don't... want... to... know..." Words were getting harder and harder to say, even as he resisted her attempts to move him.
She kept pulling, though, bringing him around to face her. She was touching his face, as though checking for fever. "What the hell?" Her hands suddenly dropped away.
He attempted a smile, even though he knew it wouldn't succeed. "T-tol... you...." he managed before the change stole his words entirely. For a moment, all he was aware of was his shifting, melting form.
Then it was over.
When he looked up, she was staring at him. He could smell the fear, though it wasn't as strong as he'd expected it to be. He grinned at her, his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth.
"You're a dog." She was suddenly sitting down, staring at him from eye-level.
He growled. A dog?
She scooted backwards a few inches at his growl. She was muttering something under her breath, which normally he wouldn't be able to hear. She was saying, "Ohmygod," over again. Cursing himself for scaring her, Bosco got to his feet and made to go over and do his best to reassure her.
Or that was the plan at least.
But he hadn't had a chance to strip before he changed and as soon as he tried to take a step he got tangled in and tripped on the remains of his clothes. Falling on his nose.
That started her laughing. When he looked up at her, she stared back, then laughed even harder. He glared at her, but was too tangled up to do anything else. Finally she scooted forward onto her knees and reached out. "Here, let's get you out of those." She stopped. "Unless you're going to change right back?"
He shook his head.
She just nodded and proceeded to remove his clothes. It was difficult manouevring the shirt off his upper body -- bulkier across the chest, forearms that no longer had ball and joint sockets. But she managed, and soon his clothes were strewn in a nice, messy pile.
Once they were off, he stood and shook himself, revelling in the absence of confinement. A sudden mischievious impulse led him to lick Yakos' face from chin to hairline.
"Bosco!" She sat back, her tone of outrage shifting in mid-outcry to wonder. She reached out and grabbed a hold of his face -- a handful of thick fur. "Bosco?"
He nodded, grinning at her again.
"Oh my god. You.. you're...." She looked towards the window, over which the curtains were drawn, but it seemed to tell her what she needed to verify, anyhow. "You never do work third shift on a full moon. I always thought you were too chicken to deal with the weirdoes...."
Bosco snorted at that, giving her a look of disbelief.
"Present company excluded," she added.
Yeah, right. He wasn't a weirdo. And he certainly wasn't chicken.
He was just a werewolf.
She looked at him, askance. "You're not going to bite me, are you? Turn me into...."
The idea made him collapse in laughter, little yips and barks coming out of his muzzle as his whole body shook in hilarity.
"Oh, excuse me," she said, sounding offended. "But you're the first werewolf I've met. How am I supposed to know? I've seen American Werewolf in London a dozen times. You want to tell me that isn't real?"
Bosco rolled his eyes. It looked like he was going to have to explain everything to his partner from scratch. The only problem was that it was a bit hard to communicate right now.
"If you're not going to bite me, and you aren't sick... are you going to be all right? I have to get back on-duty soon."
Bosco nodded, blinking at the sudden turnaround. He stood and padded towards the door, stopping and looking back over his shoulder at his partner.
She stood up, looking a little off-balance still, despite having calmed down. "Bosco?"
He gave her his best inquisitive look.
"Are you going to be OK? I mean, here alone?"
Resisting the urge to roll his eyes again, he nodded.
"You're sure?" She had gone into her 'mother mode' again, looking at him with a calculating expression. "How can you... do anything, with no hands? Don't you get bored? What if there's a problem?"
In response Bosco walked back over to the pile of books that had been knocked over, pulled one out with his teeth than pushed it open with a paw. He looked up at Yokas expectantly.
She half-grinned, then came over and took the book, reading the cover. "Anne Higgins? Bos, she writes *romance* novels."
Unable to argue with her that this didn't happen to be one, he settled for glaring. Yokas laughed and shook her head, setting the book back down. He tried to get his muzzle in the way of her hand when she reached for another book. Then he blinked in astonishment as he felt his head being scratched. *Right* behind the ears.
His eyes half-closed and his tail began to wag. He heard a stiffled giggle. He tried to glare again but with the scratching still going on it was at most half-hearted.
"You'd make a good watch-wolf, I can see that."
He growled. Very softly.
"Uh-huh." Yokas rubbed his head, then she got a very evil look in her eye. "So if I scratched your belly, would you--"
The growling got louder.
"Geez, ask a simple question." She was smiling easily now, though; the scent of fear was almost totally gone. She looked at him again.
He grinned at her.
She shook her head. "This is too weird. Even for New York. I have to get back on-duty." She began to head for the front door, still glancing back at Bosco every other step.
Remembering his manners, he got up and walked her to the door.
She stood there for another moment before opening it, staring down at him. Finally she just said, "You're a huge wolf. You know that?"
Bosco nodded and grinned.
"All right. I'll see you on Friday." Then she let herself out, carefully re-locking the door behind her.
With a sigh, he flopped down in front of the door.
end chapter two