Where I go, when I go there (OPEN)

[Panic]

Panic sat on the shore of Elanert Lake, legs extended in front of him and back slightly hunched forward as he stared at the green grass just to the right of him. He watched his hand as he absentmindedly pluck at the summer lush lawn, one blade at a time. Water lapped dangerously close to his plain black tennis shoes, but Panic either was uncaring or unaware of this and continued in his attempts at landscaping. He remained impossibly still, save for the fingers on his right hand, deep thought forbidding him from any sort of extensive movement. There was a slight breeze, though he still felt warm in his jeans and button up shirt. Even in the heat of summer, Panic rarely wore anything besides jeans. He never felt comfortable in shorts and, anyway, its not like he generally valued his comfort. Still, he looked...different. In reflection to his feelings, no doubt, but he seemed...well he seemed flat out far more attractive than he had most of his life. His hair was a darker, more natural shade of blonde and his previously ashen skin a more healthy pink. Even his pale blue eyes seemed to carry a strange sort of light that years of sorrow had stollen from them. And all this because of one afternoon.

He felt dangerously...hopeful. He didn't know what to do with it. He kept playing the moments over and over in his head and slowing them down, trying to mark them as a wildly vivid dream. He should be disgusted, full of pain and regret, but he only felt sort of empty. It was a strange thing to think about, but really he'd always been full to the brim with emotion all his life. Hate, pain, fear, constantly consuming him, but for this brief moment it seemed as though all that had been drained from him and this strangely improved shell of his was left to refuel itself with new urges and emotions. The first thing he could find to cling to was this light and slightly queazy feeling of hope, accompanied by an unidentifiable warmth that he could only connect with the feeling he got whenever Della brushed his skin.

Flashes of images rushed through his mind at increasing speed until it caused him physical pain. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut and let himself fall backwards, hoping the fall would knock him out and end this confusion for however short of time. With no such luck he opened his eyes slowly to stare up at the sky, wondering if Apollo was irritated and so had brought on such a hot day. That brought his thinking on to all the gods, particularly Hades. He was supposed to be his minion. It was his purpose in life no matter how heinous and here he was making a mark on peoples lives. She'd kissed him...and kissed him. She would kiss him even though he was a dirty rotten demon. What was the world coming too? He had a terrible sinking feeling that he was a funny little toy to the gods and Aphrodite was looking to stir up trouble with someone and Hades was letting it go wrong to upset someone else or to prove some point. Such was the way of the universe and yet...if he could even just picture her face...that dizzying hope refused to go away.

[maxine]

Max really liked to open doors. It was fun! And she had hands now! And they opened doors! And it was her favorite thing to do! She really liked to open doors! All of them! She liked to run around Master’s mansion and open all the doors and cupboards! But then she would get distracted by a squirrel outside. And they were just begging her to run around and play! And Max liked to play! Playing was fun! And chasing squirrels was really fun because they just chattered back at her as she barked up at them. But then she chased them and chased them until she was very far away from home. And she didn’t know how to get back.

Max wasn’t usually allowed outside by herself when Master wasn’t at home. And now she was lost. Max hadn’t been in Trenale long enough to map out the area in her little doggie head. And she couldn’t sniff her way back because she didn’t smell right in this new body. So now she was lost and wandering around. Master would probably worry. And she didn’t want Master to worry. She didn’t like when Master worried. She would have to get him a nice bone to make up for making Master worry.

Max was still very lost when she caught an unfamiliar scent on the wind. It wasn’t quite human, but that was alright. It was a person and Max liked people. People were exciting and new and fun! And she liked them! Forgetting for a moment that she was lost and probably making Master worry, she trotted in the direction of the person. And then she saw him lying on the ground just looking up. And she ran right over to him, because he looked exciting and new! And maybe he would play with her!

Max looked down at the boy. “What doing?” she asked curiously, tilting her head to one side with interest.

[Panic]

Lost in his own little world as ever, its wasn't the least bit surprising that Panic was startled by the exceedingly happy little blonde girl. He started, feeling terribly vulnerable as he lay on the grass under her, and jumped up so fast that he knocked heads with the poor thing. he feel back for a moment with a moan, then was shocked to realize what he'd just done. He gasped and sat up, this time careful to avoid harming her further. He began waving his arms in a frenzied sort of manor, as if trying to figure a way that he could use them to help her without actually having to touch her. I'm so sorry! he rushed I didn't mean- I mean- I didn't know- are- are you okay?! he stammered, feeling a bit more like himself in this flighty, panicky state. Even now, though, as he cursed himself for being such an idiot, it felt strangely...coherent.

It was like his mind was actually functioning up to speed with his freak out which either meant that he had suddenly gotten smarter, or that his freak out was significantly less extreme than usual. He was guessing the latter. He noticed that he wasn't hyperventilating, or in any sort of extreme physical pain. Most importantly, he hadn't passed out. Odd. Shouldn't he be sobbing by now or something, wishing he were dead at the very least? No, he wouldn't want to be dead, because if he were dead then he'd be without....without Della. And there it clicked a second time, even in the mitts of an anxiety attack, he was reminded of how life was worth living so much as she was there beside him. So much as she wanted him to be there, which he still couldn't really understand, but he'd spent all this time trying to make her happy and here it turns out to make her happy he just had to stay by her side. Oh. And thats when Panic said something he had never said before in his whole life because, for one, he never ever believed it to be true.

Its going to be okay he offered her as comfort.

[maxine]

Max liked this new person who wasn’t quite human. He seemed nice. And he would probably be nice to Max. And if she was really good he would tell her that she was a good dog and that would make her very happy. Max liked when people told her she was a good dog. She always tried to be a good dog. And strangers liked to pet her sometimes because her real body was very furry and nice to pet. It felt nice to be petted. She didn’t even mind if the little human puppies pulled her fur. She just licked them and then the human puppies laughed.

It scared Max a little when the boy jumped up like that and hit her head. She let out an involuntary yelp and then plopped onto the ground, her front paw going to her head. And then the boy started to do funny things with his arms and Max didn’t understand. “Max okay. Not hurt. Surprised Max, but not hurt. You hurt?” Truthfully Max wasn’t too hurt. It hurt a little bit, but not too much.

She cocked her head to one side to look at the boy. “Max scare?” she asked. “Not mean to scare. Max sorry. Max bad dog.” She hung her head a bit because she hadn’t meant to scare him. She didn’t like to scare people because then they were mean to her. Sometimes they yelled at Max and made her feel bad. They told her she was a bad dog. They were not nice like Master. Master never yelled at Max. Master loved Max. She tried very hard to be a good dog, but sometimes she wasn’t. Sometimes Max was a bad dog, like today. She went outside and now she was lost. And then she scared the boy. She was not a good dog today.

[Panic]

He sensed something strange about the little blonde immediately upon focusing on her properly. Her words were jumpy and short simple thoughts strung together by a simple mind. It was possible that she was just a tad bit slow, who was he to judge? Yet, there was something else about her....something comforting....something he recognized. Something comforting was not something Panic came across often, so he immediately poured his attention over her with a certain intensity about it. Being in this strange state he found himself in, he was relieved to find that he could actually focus on figure this out rather than the crippling fear that usually hindered him. It was like she wasn't human, the way she moved and spoke, and by the time she said "bad dog" the pieces all tumbled into place in Panic's head.

It was very clear, though why she appeared to be human was almost just as puzzling as her previous actions up until this point. Max bad dog. Max is a dog, with the appearance of a girl. He blinked in surprise for a moment, but quickly recalled that he'd seen much stranger and wasn't it just as odd for him to be changing into animals with a (more or less) human mind? He stared at her for a couple more seconds, but just before the silence between them could turn awkward he did something wildly out of the ordinary. He smiled at her. A dog. Panic understood animals, he'd spent enough time wandering around as one most of the time anyway. It was a small timid smile, but still it was a start. nono, you're a good dog he encouraged quietly. Fist all this craziness with Della, and now he was meeting a human dog. he was dreaming, he had to be dreaming. She was a good dog, though right? She didn't look like she had rabies....

[maxine]

Today Max was a bad dog. She ran away from home when Master wasn’t home. And she was lost because she couldn’t smell as good in this new body so she couldn’t retrace her steps and find home again. Master was going to be very worried when he came home and she wasn’t there. She didn’t like to make Master worry. That was not good. Dogs were not supposed to make their masters worry. They were supposed to try very hard to be good dogs and not make their masters worry.

Max did perk up when the not quite human boy told her that she was a good dog. She would have wagged her tail if she had one. She liked when other people told her she was a good dog because she tried very hard to be a good dog. She was always nice to human puppies even when they pulled her fur. And she took care of human puppies when their mothers weren’t around. And she liked to play a lot. She tried very hard to be a good dog.

The boy seemed a little uneasy though, almost afraid or maybe shy. Max could tell because she was a dog and dogs could always tell. Max didn’t want him to be afraid of her. “Not be ‘fraid of Max,” she told him. “Max not bite. Max not mean dog.”