Chris was driving back from the fast food place he frequented and it was beginning to rain. As he drove back into his neighborhood he noticed a tall slim man, walking along the side of the road.

"Hey," Chris slowed up next to him. "Do you need a ride?"

The man looked ay Chris uncertainly. In the darkening day, it was hard to see the man's expression aside from the furrowed eyebrows

"I promise I'm not a serial killer," he added quickly.

"Er... I'm not exactly going anywhere in particular," the man said and Chris knew what he meant.

"Do you need a roof?"

"Look, its real embarrassing, er... I couldn't impose like that on you."

"You won't be."

The man glanced away, ran a hand through his thick brown hair and then looked back over at Chris.

"Come on, really." Chris encouraged him again, moving the bag of food from the seat and onto the floor. "At least while it's still raining."

"Er, alright." the man stepped forward and Chris grinned as he climbed in the car.

"I've gotten a couple of burgers and stuff. So you're in luck, 'cause I'll have extra."

Chris waited till the man had settled and then propelled the car forward again.

"Really, mate... You're too nice."

Chris scoffed. "Yeah, right. I'm pretty sure my friend Phil probably tells everyone I am emotionally abusive."

"I doubt that."

Chris shot him a look, disregarding the man's sincerity.

"Anyways, you've got a name?"

"You can call me PJ."

"Alright then, PJ. My name's Chris. Chris, PJ. PJ, Chris."

PJ chuckled a bit at that, and Chris looked over, momentarily caught up by the man's cool blue eyes. He nearly forgot to breathe.

He looked away quickly and his thoughts slowly returned to him. He nearly drove passed his own home.

Chris shut the car off and then led PJ up the path to the dark wooden front door.

As he unlocked the door and stepped inside, he said to PJ, "I'm a slob so please don't mind the mess."

"You're alright."

The entrance foyer opened up to a living room. Everything was very retro, very 60s. Wooden paneling ran halfway up the walls, the carpet was thick and shaggy and old ornate hanging lamps hung from the ceiling.

It really was quite messy, but PJ didn't really care. It was warm and dry and that was all that he needed.

He was led into the kitchen where Chris flipped on a fluorescent light and laid the bags on white textured tile counter with grout that could have used a scrub.

"Well go ahead and sit," Chris nodded to his dinette table after he cleared a few dishes off of it.

"Thanks," PJ sat down and Chris put a set of fries and a burger in front of him.

Chris sat as well and dug into his own dinner. He noticed PJ's hesitance.

"Eat." Chris said, looking at him pointedly.

He could see that PJ felt awkward as he nibbled on a couple of French fries, but hunger took over and he began to eat more eagerly.

"Here, I'm getting full," Chris lied and as he was finishing his burger he passed him his fries which PJ helped himself too.

Chris politely waited while PJ finished his food and then threw out their trash.

"So, I was thinking about video games, but I could put a movie on for us."

"Whatever," PJ said softly.

"Hey, man. Lighten up," Chris gave him a pat on the shoulder as he stood.

He let out an awkward chuckle and followed Chris into the living room.

"Sit," he said to PJ, who obeyed and lowered himself to the couch while Chris turned on the television and knelt beside his Xbox to turn it on.

"You're kind of bossy."

"Well, you've just been standing around with your tongue hanging out of your mouth." He turned to look at the slim bodied man.

"Have not," PJ argued.

"Have too," Chris shot back, and a smile pulled at his cheeks when he noticed the grin that PJ was sporting.

As Chris settled onto the couch, PJ looked over at him and said, "Hey thanks for this, you know. For letting me stay for a night."

"Don't mention it. Oh," he added when he glanced over and began to slip his own shoes off. "You can take your shoes off if you want."

PJ took him up on that offer and brought his legs up onto the couch, curling up into himself a bit.

Chris was glad he had chosen a comedy movie because he noticed that PJ seemed to grow a bit relaxed throughout the night and they watched a second movie.

He couldn't help but think that PJ was beautiful and incredibly sexy and rather funny.

As PJ shifted a bit, Chris' eyes settled on his long legs.

He noticed this, and with a smirk, he cleared his throat.

Chris' eyes flicked back up to PJ's and he looked away to focus on the movie.

"Someone's a bit distracted huh?" PJ teased.

Chris glanced back at over him, about to shoot back with a retort, but his breathe caught in his throat at the look in PJ's eyes.

The hair on the back of his neck stood up, and goose bumps broke out across his skin.

"Cat got your tongue?"

Chris snapped himself out the trance he had seemed to fall into for a moment.

"Shut up," he kicked PJ in the thigh. PJ returned the kick with a nudge of his own, looking at Chris with a daring look.

However, he ignored it and PJ laughed at him. They returned their attention to the movie occasionally making a comment about something and sharing a laugh.

That night, as they grew sleepy, Chris grabbed PJ some blankets and pillows to lie on the couch and an extra pair of pajama pants. He retreated to his own room, quickly changed and collapsed onto his bed.

PJ was a good guy, he thought.

And damn, did he kind of want to fuck him.

His eyes were incredibly expressive, and his voice was utterly suggestive.

"Damn," he muttered to himself, remembering that PJ was, essentially, homeless.

"I pick the good ones, don't I?"

Chris woke late in the night to the feeling of the bed sinking and the warmth of another body beside him.

"PJ?" he croaked into the darkness.

"Yeah," he replied quietly.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

The blankets shifted and the sound filled Chris' ears.

He dozed off again without another coherent thought.

In the morning he awoke, and he could only vaguely remember PJ crawling into bed beside him, but he found something much different than a man beside him.

Amongst the blankets his vision was filled sandy colored hair and blue eyes of the coyote he had encountered.

"What the fuck?"

Chris shot up and the animal looked at him in uncertainty. PJ's clothes were tangled up amongst the blankets.

Chris knew this was the same animal that he met before, as it had the same eyes, but where the hell did PJ go? Was he just walking around nude?

How did this animal get into his house?

"What the hell?" Chris slipped out of his bed and stood, watching the animal carefully.

"How the fuck did you get in here?"

Blue eyes blinked up at him, and it looked as if he were smiling.

Chris navigated around his bed, and crossed his room to open his bedroom door.

"PJ, are you out here?" He called out, expecting PJ to be on the couch, but there wasn't a soul.

He looked back to the animal that had sat up in his bed, the blanket settling about its mid back.

"Well fuck me if you aren't kind of adorable," Chris said.

Aw, you really think so?

"Well, ye-," He stopped.

"What?"

You heard me?

Chris sputtered, trying to make sense of everything of that was going on.

PJ's voice in his head, this coyote with the same shade of blue eyes, PJ's clothes scattered on his bed, PJ no where to be seen…

Chris didn't believe in magic or fantasies, but he wasn't stupid either.

"PJ?" he asked with hesitation. "Is that you in there?"

Erm, yeah…This wasn't supposed to happen like this.

"I don't even know what this is!" Chris gestured frantically to the animal, or PJ, or the animal. He couldn't tell what was what anymore.

It's rude to point.

"Jesus Christ," Chris ran a hand over his face and through his hair, a stressed smile on his face. "This is way too freaking strange."

I'm sorry.

"I think I'm fucking losing it." Chris began to pace. "I need to wake up. I'm dreaming."

With eyes shut tightly Chris walked back and forth, smacking the sides of his own face.

"C'mon wake up, Chris," he muttered to himself.

"Chris."

While Chris had his eyes shut, PJ had returned to his old self and was now sitting cross-legged on the bed. He brought the blanket over himself, but he was still very naked, and despite that on some level Chris knew and understood what was going on, he couldn't help but let his eyes linger on PJ's bare chest.

He gulped and refocused. "I don't understand," he said weakly.

He tried to understand that this incredibly attractive man, who made him feel so young and alive again, had just been in the shape of a coyote. The same coyote he'd met on his porch.

"Don't try to."

"You're a freaking animal!" Chris exclaimed. He was overwhelmed with confusion.

"I'm not an animal." The sharp tone PJ used caught him by surprise.

"Then…?"

"I'm 100% human, Chris. Just… my essence, what my spirit is made up of is your spirit animal. I was made to be your companion, Chris. I'm your companion, your spirit animal… Your soul mate."

"Like some magical-shape-shift-love-voodoo thing?"

"It's not voodoo. But however it makes sense to you…."

"It doesn't even make any sense."

"Could be worse. You could've completely lost it and tried to kill me."

"Yeah-, Wait. What?"

PJ sighed. "That sort of thing happens sometimes."

"Are you for real?"

"No, I'm a figment of your imagination."

"Oh, good," Chris jokingly put a hand over his chest and let out a breath.

"Maybe sarcasm isn't a good idea right now. But yes, I'm being serious. Being someone's companion is a big burden because you don't know how to tell them. And sometimes it goes bad. It's rare that it does, but it does."

"That's awful."

"Yeah."

"So… how do you…?"

"Shape shift?"

Chris nodded.

"Well, I've never really completely understood it. But our body chemistry is a bit different. Something in our DNA."

"Can you show me?"

PJ didn't speak in response, but began to shift.

Chris watched, wide-eyed, as he began to radiate a dim, but glowing light.

His hair color changed and covered him head to foot. He soon was looking down in astonishment at the coyote in his bed.

You could say I'm an animal in bed.

Of course he would manage to crack a joke.

"That's brilliant," Chris laughed.

He approached the animal, or PJ, and reached out to stroke his neck and let his fingers slide between the soft strands of fur. He lowered himself to sit on the bed.

"I kind of knew there was a reason I liked you so much."

PJ let his tongue slip out, and kissed Chris' hand, and then nibbled gently on his fingers.

He sat beside the animal and he left one great kiss along the side of his face with his soft, warm tongue.

Chris chuckled, and patted the side of his body.

He retracted his hand and PJ decided then to return to his most distinctive form. The form Chris was most familiar with.

"You really are kind of beautiful," he said to PJ, momentarily unaware of his nakedness.

"You are too."

Chris reached out and put a hand to his cheek. Despite that he understood easier this way, that PJ was still PJ, he was even more hesitant this way to touch him.

He gently let his thumb run across PJ's bottom lip, earning a part from them.

The sensuality of the moment caused both of their bodies to react. It was much different than when he looked like a coyote.

Chris' thumb slipped into the wetness of PJ's mouth and he let out a soft gasp. He stared, entranced by the feeling.

His eyes flicked back up to PJ's who looked right back at him.

"Fuck," Chris gasped as he held his face in his hands.

He leaned in to kiss PJ hard on the mouth, eliciting a sigh from him.

"Chris," PJ breathed as he broke the kiss, the hesitation evident in his voice.

Chris opened his eyes, finding PJ's face screwed up in concentration.

"You alright?"

"Yeah. It's just… sometimes we can't stop it when we change. If we're particularly worked up about something we'll change. And I'm trying not to do that."

"Fuck, I want you."

"Chris." PJ groaned loudly.

"Sorry," he glanced around, away from PJ. "Look, here are your pants and stuff." He stood and collected the things that he had been wearing before and gave them to PJ.

"Thanks," PJ stood and redressed himself, while Chris tactfully restrained himself from staring.

When he redressed himself, PJ looked at Chris, who shuffled about awkwardly.

A slow smile spread across his face, and Chris grinned too as if it were contagious.

An awkward chuckle slipped passed PJ's lips, and the other man found himself laughing as well.

"This is so strange."

"Everything sort of is, don't you think?"

Chris silently agreed and began to lead them through the motions of the morning routine of eating breakfast. They spent the day watching movies and different series on DVD and talking and Chris learned more about PJ.

PJ previously lived with a sibling but because of something that he didn't disclose with him just yet, he couldn't stay there anymore.

He had an awful look on his face, Chris had thought. He seemed to carry himself with a sort of sadness and maybe it was because of what PJ wasn't ready to tell him yet, or maybe it was because those like him always felt that way, but Chris was surprising himself with how much he cared.

Despite the heavier, vague conversations, they had loads of fun that day. Chris introduced him to a couple of new video games and it turned out PJ was a worthy opponent in Mario Kart.

They picked on each other, in a similar way to the way he and Phil teased each other, but their easy companionship was a bit different still.

He loved PJ. He loved that he could be young and ridiculous with him. And damn, did he feel a rush whenever PJ looked at him a certain way or his teasing would take on a flirty edge.

"I want Phil, my friend, to meet you." Chris sent a text to Phil.

"Is that cool?"

"Yeah, I'd like to meet your friends and stuff." PJ smiled.

"Alright, he works tomorrow so we're gonna go bug him and make him serve us lunch."

He laughed in response. "Sounds like fun."

PJ spent the night again, and stayed in Chris' room with him. Although they had been hesitant to take part in much more than brief touches during the day PJ fell asleep with his head on Chris' chest.