He couldn't remember the last time he'd ridden in a car as a human, or been fully clothed. Trever had lent him a pair of black drawstring shorts to go beneath the sweatshirt he'd been given, as that was pretty much all that could possibly fit him. The ride wasn't nearly as interesting as when he was in his other form, but for some reason, his dog had suddenly pushed him into control back at master Trever's house. No matter how much he tried to pull it back out, it didn't seem interested in taking over again. 

Keeping his eyes on his lap and his nose buried in the scarf around his neck, Ravi twisted his fingers together for the hundredth time. Normally, he'd request that the window be rolled down, then stick his head out and watch as the other cars zoomed by, sniffing the wind and loving the feeling of it sifting through his fur and whistling within his ears. 

I don't want to even look up. 

The world just felt... different, as a human. Like it was all too busy for him to process quickly enough to be worth it. His dog could react to situations immediately, repeatedly, but as he sat there buckled into the passenger's seat of Trever's car, all he could think of was how, even though he was doing absolutely nothing at that moment, there was just too much going on in general.   

He was so stressed within his own mind that he didn't even notice when Trever pulled the car over. What he did notice, however, was that the music had been abruptly cut off. Silence took over, calming some the scurrying of sound within his mind that had been created by it. One song, being played repeatedly was usually fine, but when they constantly changed every few minutes, like on the radio, it was hard to keep up and eventually just ended up making him uncomfortable. 

"Ravi?" 

Hearing his name in the new silence of the car, Ravi blinked a few times, then straightened up so that his back was fully against the seat before turning his head, and part of his upper body, to look at Trever. 

"Yes, sir?" he whispered quietly, hoping that he hadn't been unintentionally ignoring the man. 

He couldn't read his expression, but that was nothing new. Humans just weren't his thing, and the only way he could usually figure out what they were thinking was if they were feeling an emotion very strongly. Anger was the expression he was best at reading now. 

"Do you not like music?" Trever asked, making Ravi quickly look down. 

His old master had gotten so annoyed with his odd behavior when he tried to listen to music that he'd just bought himself headphones so that he could have one earpiece in without the sound bothering him. Except, whenever he accidentally did something wrong, he'd also use some sort of fast, loud music as punishment. Just the thought of it mad Ravi purse his lips tightly and hunch his shoulders. 

Unfortunately, it wasn't that he didn't like any of it, but he was terrible at explaining things so he just decided to go for the most basic answer. A simple nod of agreement. 

"Oh, I can just leave it off then. It was just background noise to me anyways," Trever said with a nervous smile that Ravi saw from the corner of his eye. 

He was making him that way. People always got nervous around his human side, which was another reason why he tended to prefer his canine. When he didn't respond to the man's words again, Trever didn't seem to mind, and instead, he simply got the car back onto the road and headed toward Wyatt's. 

Ravi kept his eyes on his hands in his lap, lifting his arm to cover his mouth every once in a while for a sneeze or a cough. His mind, at least, had quieted a lot since the music had stopped, and now that he wasn't so stressed out, his eyelids began to droop. 

He was honestly nearly asleep when he heard the faint chime of Trever's cell phone ringing. The guy quickly fished it out of his back pocket, drawing Ravi's opening eyes to that spot where his phone had been. His dog half perked up a bit in the back of his mind, as if awakening from its own nap. It still refused to come out, but it did nudge his hesitant thought forward. 

I want to tug on that pocket. 

It was a strange idea. Especially for him. He wasn't a person who wanted to just grab hold of things. Of course, his dog was a tugger, since most wild carnivores came with that instinct, but that thought hadn't been from fuzzy Ravi. It had been from human Ravi. 

I'm weird. Why do I want to slip my fingers into his back pocket? 

How would he even ask for such a thing? The man didn't even like physical contact, and the look he'd given him when he'd suddenly shifted in front of him? 

Never. I could never ask to touch him like that. 

Ravi quickly shoved away his previous thought as the car slowed to a stop again. When Trever suddenly got out, Ravi looked up. 

Oh, we're at master Wyatt's home... and he's done with his call. 

He tugged on the door handle and moved to get up, but realized that he was stuck. 

Oh, right. 

He was just about to reach to his side and push the button for his seatbelt when Trever leaned down, but didn't crowd him. 

"I got it," he said quietly as he pressed the little button, then quickly leaned away again with a small smile. 

Ravi remained staring at the now-empty buckle. Unable to help himself, he pressed the little red release button a few times, then, satisfied, slowly turned toward the outside, lifting his legs up over the little ledge before leaning forward and sliding from the car seat. He lost his balance a little while trying to stand, but managed to grab hold of the door and steady himself before Trever needed to assist him. 

"You good?" the man ended up asking instead as he waited patiently just far enough away to not bother him. 

Ravi gave a jerky nod, but didn't lift his eyes to meet the other man's until he was comfortably steady on his bare human feet. When their gazes did finally meet, Trever actually glanced down, then furrowed his brow as a frown tilted his lips slightly. 

"I forgot to give you some socks," he said as he lifted a hand to run fingers through his own hair. 

Looking down at his own bare feet, Ravi tilted his head this way, then that way, but didn't say anything as he walked forward, but then took a right until he was at the spot where there was no ridge, then moved up onto the sidewalk. Sure, his feet were cold, but he didn't expect Trever to simply give him things because of that. He'd been left outside in the cold before, many times. He honestly already felt like he was being spoiled with the comfy sweatshirt and shorts. 

Figuring that there wasn't much he could do, short of picking him up, which neither of them were quite comfortable with, Trever sighed out his bit of frustration, then turned and began guiding him toward the stairs. Ravi followed, but his human legs slowed to a stop at the bottom of the steps. 

He could easily zoom up them in his dog form, but his human form? 

I don't want to. 

Without warning, Ravi turned around and sat down cross-legged on the cold, dirty concrete. He grabbed his bare feet with his hands and narrowed his eyes as a particularly-cold gust of wind nipped at them and rustled his curly hair. 

He could hear Trever coming back down the few steps he'd already taken, then settling right behind him and to the side, on the first step. The sound of text messages being sent, then received, met his ears a few moments later, but they were of no concern to him. His previous master had hated his curiosity, so that was nipped in the bud quickly. 

After a few minutes of texting, Trever scooted off of the first step and settled beside him, finally drawing Ravi's attention as he looked up and to the side. 

"Wyatt ended up having to go into work early. He said that he'd left his place unlocked for you..." 

Ravi returned his attention back down to his cold feet and gave a silent nod. He might go back, when his dog decided to come out again. 

They both remained silent for a long while, besides a few sniffles from Ravi, before he heard Trever give a stressed sigh. 

"Can I... uh, pick you up?" he asked after a few more awkward moments of silence. 

Ravi was about to shake his head without an ounce of hesitation, but then his dog nudged at his mind again. It wanted to nibble Trever's jacket. Relieved that the pup was showing a sign of wanting to come out, Ravi gladly tried to withdraw back into himself, but when nothing happened, he blinked a few times in confusion, then looked up at Trever. 

"I want my dog," he eventually said with watery eyes before coughing quietly into his sleeve. 

Realization dawned on the guy's face.

"You can't change whenever you want?" he asked curiously. 

Ravi quickly shook his head a bit harder than intended, but he was frustrated. He wanted his dog out. It was much better at handling situations than he was. 

"Ah." 

Trever leaned back as he settled his arms on his bent legs, clearly thinking things through. Ravi wasn't sure if the guy was even going to respond as the time stretched on and on, but then, finally, he heard Trever move a bit beside him. 

"Well, I'm not sure how to bring your dog back out," he said, then continued, "but how about my dog?" 

Master Trever has a dog, too? 

Just the thought of someone else having a shift similar to his own made Ravi quickly turn and move onto his knees, then sit back on his heels. His hands were eager to grab hold of Trever's arm, but he didn't dare let them so they simply grasped the hem of his borrowed sweatshirt as he stared eagerly at the man. 

"I want to see master Trever's dog," he eventually said, his words so quiet that the wind nearly blew them away before the man in front of him could even hear them. 

However, he had heard him, and as the man began to tug his coat off with a grin, Ravi, for the first time in years while in his human form, felt an inkling of joyous excitement. Someone else had a dog like him! He hadn't met many shifters in his life, though that was likely because he'd been confined for a portion of it, but even his old master, Trever's brother, hadn't ever shifted. Normally, at this point, one might wonder if the man had also been a dog shifter of some sort, but the thought barely even brushed the back of Ravi's mind before his entire focus returned to Trever and latched onto him like a vise. 

"Just take care of my clothing first, please... and put my socks on so your feet don't get too cold," Trever said, making Ravi quickly bob his head twice. 

The guy smiled as he set his jacket aside, then, after offering one more nervous smile, turned and fiddled with his pants, likely just undoing the button and zipper, then tugged his shirt up and over his head. Ravi saw the shiver from the cold weather go down his spine immediately, but stayed right where he was as fur began to sprout along the man's back. 

It took a lot of effort not to reach forward, but he managed to hold himself back as silver and light brown fur began taking over Trever's entire body. The transformation itself took only a few seconds, but Ravi had watched it raptly. 

When the man's dog finally turned, then opened its eyes and looked at him, Ravi was biting the insides of his pursed lips to keep himself from tackling it!

The dog looked surprisingly similar to his own, but while Ravi's was scrawny, with a gold, black, and white coat, Trever's was mainly silver and light brown, with black stripes along its decently-muscular sides. He'd never seen an animal like it, but that didn't matter at all. To him, it was another dog!

He was just about to reach out and try to run his fingers down the mane running down the length of its spine, but he caught himself at the last second and quickly leaned forward and grabbed Trever's discarded coat. He folded it as best he could, then set it aside before grabbing the pants and boxers the dog had just stepped out of, and folding them, too, before adding them to where the coat sat. He then tugged on his too-big socks, picked up his shoes, and finally, settled his phone atop the pile of clothing. 

That should be everything. I think I got it all. 

As if telling him that he had, indeed, finished his assigned task, the silver dog leaned forward and gave his ear the tiniest lick. Ravi quickly turned on his hands and knees to face it, then settled himself down a bit more comfortably on his backside. He couldn't hide his smile as the dog leaned closer to sniff at his nervously-rising hand. 

It didn't seem all that excited about the attention Ravi so desperately wanted to give it, but that was okay. Just seeing the animal had brightened his mood considerably and when it began to nudge at his hand, allowing him to pet it, he couldn't have been happier. 

"Master Trever has a beautiful dog," he said quietly as he reached forward and grabbed a handful of the animal's thick mane. 

It grumbled a bit and shook out its coat, making Ravi immediately let go. He wasn't deterred, however, and tried again a few moments later, even though he got the same reaction. It would have been clear to most people that it wasn't a fan of its longer fur being grabbed, but the warning signs went over Ravi's head as his excitement over petting the pup took over any other kind of logical thoughts. 

He was just about to try and grab for it again when he heard Trever's phone begin to ring behind him. When the dog immediately walked over to it and tapped it with his paw as he looked back at him, Ravi realized that he wanted him to answer it. 

No. 

Or well, that's what he would have said without hesitation until he noticed who was calling. 

Master Wyatt.

Hesitantly, Ravi grabbed the device and clicked the green accept button before holding it up to his ear. 

"Ravi, sweetheart, you don't have to hold it up to talk. We're on a video call. Look at the screen for me, please?" came Wyatt's warm, gentle voice. 

Doing as told, Ravi lowered the phone and immediately grinned when he saw master Wyatt on the screen. He could also see a tiny little square in the upper right hand corner that was reflecting an image of himself, and after a few seconds, the silver dog joined him in the picture, making him glance sideways and nearly bump noses with Trever's pup. 

"Oh, well that's a very interesting surprise," Wyatt said with a knowing smile. 

He'd probably sensed the man's shift a while ago. That was one of Wyatt's specialties. Hiding things from him was nearly impossible, especially if you were a shapeshifter, and even more-so if you were a carnivorous one. 

"It seems like things are going pretty well with you two," he said as Trever moved himself out of view of the screen and wiggled his way beneath his oddly folded coat. 

Ravi knew that he shouldn't have watched, but his mind didn't always listen... if ever. So, he saw the man slowly shift back to his human form, though most of his naked body was covered by the long coat. Wyatt waited quietly, since he knew he'd lost Ravi's attention at that moment. 

After about three minutes, Trever turned back around. He had managed to quickly tug on his pair of pants and button up enough of his jacket to be presentable... though the little bit of skin still visible near his midsection was a bit distracting. 

"Here," he said as he gestured for his phone, which Ravi immediately relinquished. 

The guy then calmly scooted over to sit back beside Ravi before their focus returned to the call. 

"Everything is going well, but I don't think I'm going to be able to get him upstairs," he said calmly. 

Ravi didn't mind that he was talking about him. He'd just answered master Wyatt's question honestly. He truly wouldn't climb the stairs, but since Trever had shown him his dog, he was a bit more keen on physical contact. Perhaps he would let him carry him after all.

"I know this might be overstepping my bounds, but what about bringing him along on your trip you texted me about a little bit ago? If that's alright with you, and him, of course" Wyatt said, making Ravi and Trever both glance at each other in surprise. 

He had never been on a trip before... 

"He's pretty good at taking care of himself at home and his dog is pretty low key if you don't let it get too hyper," Wyatt added with a quiet chuckle. 

Ravi continued to watch Trever's face as the man turned back toward the phone to speak. He didn't seem too happy with the idea, but at the same time, he wasn't outright declining it. After a few moments of thought, Trever licked his lips once and glanced back at Ravi. 

"I definitely can't fly with you, but perhaps a car ride? Would you like to go on a long drive and stay with me for about a month?" he asked with a small smile. 

A month with a new person. 

Normally, he'd decline right away. New people stressed him out terribly, except for master Blake... but this new person had a dog. This new person was a dog. 

"Can I pet master Trever's dog again?" he asked instead of answering the man's question. 

The guy looked a little stumped at the sudden change in conversation, but he nodded none-the-less. 

"Of course. He can come out again sometime," he said, making Ravi immediately give a little excited wiggle as his smile widened. 

Turning back toward the phone screen, Ravi gave a stern nod to Wyatt. 

"Master Wyatt, I will go with master Trever for his trip."

Wyatt's smile widened a bit as he turned his attention to Trever. 

"All of his things are already packed in his suitcase upstairs near the fridge. I also put a debit card in the top part of it with some money on it, just in case he ended up needing it. Just please lock the door when you leave," he said, earning a nod from Trever. 

It was clear that the guy was a bit nervous about his abruptly changed plans, but he didn't really seem all that stressed. 

"Alright, I'll go up and grab it, then lock up," he said, earning an appreciative nod in response. 

"Thank you, and Ravi?" Wyatt said, making Ravi quickly nod, even though he hadn't been asked anything yet. 

"You take care of yourself, okay? If there are any problems, you can call me, day or night. That goes for you, too, Trever."

The guy beside him nodded. 

"I'll give him my password so that he can use my phone whenever he wants," he said. 

"Perfect, thank you. I need to get back to work now, but please don't hesitate to contact me for anything." 

"We won't," Trever said right before Ravi gave one final nod and opened his mouth to say his own farewells, except, before words could come out, his animal side finally shoved itself back into control, leaving an overly-excited, scarf-wrapped, sweater-wearing, bouncing Ravi-dog in his place.