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Caelus had been gone for three days.
Not three full days, technically. More like two and a half—give or take—but to Mydei, Anaxa, Phainon, and Dan Heng, it may as well have been a year.
“He didn’t even send a message,” Anaxa grumbled, tossing a pebble at the wall of the common room. It ricocheted off a chair leg. “We share a comm line and a bed and he can’t even say he’s alive?”
“He said he had errands from the Express to run,” Dan Heng reminded, leaning against the window frame, arms crossed. His voice was calm, but his foot tapped the floor in irregular rhythm.
“Three days of errands?” Phainon raised a brow, lounging across the couch. “He went to pick up a package, not travel to another dimension.”
“Unless he did go to another dimension,” Anaxa muttered, eyes narrowing. “Maybe a portal. Maybe he fell in.”
“Don’t,” Mydei said grimly. “Don't even say that.”
There was a long pause. The tension simmered.
Then came a bark.
A loud, high-pitched, enthusiastic bark—from just outside the courtyard.
They all froze.
“…Did anyone else hear that?” Phainon asked.
Mydei was already at the door, hand on the hilt of his blade, golden gauntlets gleaming. He opened it carefully.
Sitting on the stone path was a massive Siberian husky. Thick silver fur. Piercing golden eyes.
Wagging its tail like it owned the place.
“…Oh no,” Anaxa whispered. “Caelus?”
Dan Heng paled.
“No,” Phainon said immediately. “Absolutely not. That is a dog.”
“But the fur—his hair looks like that!”
“And the eyes!” Mydei crouched slightly, examining the dog. “They’re amber. Like his.”
The husky barked. Once. Then sat down obediently.
They all stared.
Then, to their collective horror, the husky trotted up to Dan Heng, nuzzled against his leg, and whined.
“…He remembers you,” Mydei said in awe.
“Oh no,” Dan Heng whispered.
“Oh YES,” Anaxa said. “This is exactly the kind of cosmic joke the Aeons would pull. He turned into a dog!”
---
Day 1 of the Dog Era
Caelus (the husky, apparently) refused to sleep in a dog bed. He pawed at Dan Heng’s bedroom door until it was opened, then leapt onto the mattress and claimed the center.
Dan Heng, visibly conflicted, curled beside him.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he muttered. “You’re still warm.”
Mydei stood at the doorway, arms crossed. “…He didn’t even do that for me when he was human.”
“He sat in my lap,” Anaxa declared, hands fisted on his hips. “I’m not ready for this emotional rollercoaster.”
Phainon just walked away. “I’m not bonding with the dog until he transforms back.”
He was feeding him steak within two hours.
---
Day 2: The Pet Store Incident
“He needs a bath,” Dan Heng said simply.
“I’ll do it,” Phainon sighed. “Caelus always hated cold water, remember?”
Mydei nodded. “Keep the water warm. Rub his ears gently. And give him the fancy shampoo, the one that smells like spice and mint.”
Anaxa raised a hand. “Can we just pause for a second and acknowledge we are unironically planning how to bathe our boyfriend who is now a husky?”
The others stared.
“Fine,” he muttered. “Just don’t get him wet near me. If he shakes himself dry on my cloak again, I’m sending him to the moon.”
---
Day 3: The Existential Crisis
The husky had a talent for appearing in dramatic locations.
They found him sitting on the balcony at dawn, staring toward the horizon like a brooding anime protagonist.
“He’s probably wondering if he’ll ever be human again,” Mydei said, kneeling beside him.
“I miss his voice,” Dan Heng murmured.
“I miss his stupid one-liners and the way he poked my sides to make me yelp,” Phainon added.
“I miss the way he kissed me and said, ‘you’re such a brat, but you’re my brat,’” Anaxa said, voice tight.
The husky turned and barked.
Then he ran inside and fetched one of Caelus’s jackets from the closet.
Everyone just stared.
“…He knows,” Dan Heng whispered.
“He remembers us,” Mydei said softly. “Even like this.”
---
Day 4: The Truth (Or So They Thought)
They were walking through the main square when an old merchant waved them down.
“Beautiful dog you’ve got there! Found him by the canal just three days ago. He was digging through food crates!”
The four lovers froze.
“What?” Dan Heng asked slowly.
“Yeah! Real smart boy, that one. Got a collar too. Name says ‘Nebby.’”
“…Nebby?” Anaxa repeated, voice hollow.
The merchant smiled. “Yep. Belongs to the lady over by the spice market.”
They turned in unison to see a middle-aged woman waving from her shop, smiling brightly.
“NEBBY!” she called.
The husky’s ears perked up.
Then it barked once, wagged its tail—and ran.
Straight to her.
“My sweet baby!” she cried, hugging the dog. “Thank you boys for watching him!”
The four lovers stood frozen in abject horror.
“…That wasn’t Caelus,” Mydei whispered.
“Nope,” Phainon confirmed.
“We’ve been cuddling someone else’s pet,” Dan Heng said, blinking.
“I washed that dog with rose oil,” Anaxa added, voice flat.
---
One Hour Later
Caelus walked into the common room, holding a bag of provisions in one hand and a comm in the other.
“Hey. Sorry I’ve been gone so long. I had to escort someone from the IPC all the way to the shrine, and—”
He paused.
They were all staring at him in silence.
“…What?” he asked.
Dan Heng rose first. Walked up to him. Then hugged him tightly—too tightly.
“You’re here,” Dan Heng said into his shoulder.
“I… yes?”
Phainon followed next, grabbing Caelus by the collar and planting a long, aggressive kiss on his lips.
“I missed you, you bastard.”
“I was gone for three days!”
Mydei grabbed his hand and pressed it to his own face. “Don’t ever vanish like that again.”
“I left a note!”
Anaxa approached last, eyes dark.
“…We thought you turned into a dog,” he said, voice low.
“…What.”
“A husky,” Dan Heng clarified, still hugging him.
“A beautiful one,” Phainon added.
“Too friendly,” Mydei muttered.
“We gave it steak,” Anaxa said, still glaring.
Caelus blinked. “I was doing errands—”
“Never do errands again,” Dan Heng said immediately.
---
Later That Night
Caelus lay in bed, sandwiched between four emotionally unstable boyfriends.
“So… you all really thought I was the dog?”
“We had evidence,” Anaxa defended.
“You’re cuddly when tired,” Mydei added.
“And you pant,” Phainon said smugly.
“I breathe,” Caelus groaned.
Dan Heng, arms looped tightly around his waist, nuzzled against his shoulder. “I still want a husky. For training purposes.”
“No dogs,” Caelus groaned. “Ever.”
A soft woof echoed from outside.
“Please no,” he whispered.
---
End.