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The joey meandered about the office while Howard and I worked on prepping for the end of the day. No matter how hard I tried to distract myself from it, I kept wanting to check on the little guy. He would go silent for minutes, and I would be urged to check that he was alright. Each time I looked, he was exploring something he found or just standing around watching Howard or myself.

Howard walked over to his chair and sat, watching as I worked and managed the joey. "How about we get dinner tonight, you and I?" Howard asked, leaning back in his chair, "I think it might be good for you to get some normalcy after today."

I was half listening but realized what he was asking. "Oh, uh, yeah! Where were you thinking?" I stumbled.

"There's the steakhouse over on Addison Road. I heard it was great." Howard picked up a bundle of papers on his desk and thumbed through them.

"Yeah...that sounds great," I said, still distracted by the little roo.

"Then it's a date! I say we leave here and drive directly there after closing." Howard spoke excitedly.

After a few moments, my brain processed what Howard had just asked. He had asked me on an actual date to a nice restaurant of all places. It has been years since I ever went on anything resembling a date. But immediately, my mind began to push back. Would people make comments? Would I be allowed in?

Howard neatly stacked all of his papers before standing up. "Well, I gotta run these up to the main office. After that, we should be close enough to close to bounce a little early." Howard started walking to the door.

"Sounds good. I'll take care of a few things and be ready when you get back."

"Sounds amazing," Howard said smoothly before shutting the door.

As I finished the last of my daily tasks, I picked up the joey and placed him in the small temporary enclosure. As much as I wanted to stay, I knew I couldn't stay here all night. But leaving the room, I still felt like I was abandoning the little guy. As I left the office, I found Howard on his way back.

"Oh, ready to go then?" Howard asked.

"Yeah," I hesitated, "let's get going." I was already missing the joey, and thoughts filled my head of returning and bringing him along. Trying to hide him in my pouch, but I knew that was unreasonable. We left the zoo and walked to Howard's car. At first, I tried to fit by sitting sideways, but that only led to me getting in Howard's way. Instead, I laid down the front seat and laid across it, letting my tail drape to the rear.

The ride was far from comfortable, but there was no other way. The drive was reasonably short, but during the drive, I could not get the joey off of my mind. After roughly fifteen minutes, we pulled into the restaurant. The parking lot was barren, aside from a few cars, and being a weeknight, it was understandable.

At first, there were a few odd looks as we walked in. But Howard ignored them and immediately asked for a table, brushing off any remarks about me. The waitress led Howard to a table in the back, and I slowly hopped behind. Upon sitting, we were handed menus, and the waitress left us.

"So what are you thinking? Howard asked, looking at the menu.

"I don't know. She seemed a little put out with you." I said, slowly picking up the laminated menu.

Howard lowered his ask as he spoke, "Oh, the waitress? She seemed fine, and if she did care, she will get over it."

"We could go somewhere else and just take it to your place," I suggested quietly.

"Audrey, I wanted to come here with you. I don't care what other people think about you. If they don't like us being here, that is their problem. I'm here to have a nice date with a beautiful woman, and they aren't going to keep me from doing that." Howard spoke loudly, ensuring the staff could hear him.

I couldn't think of what to say to him. I knew he was passionate about things, but I had never seen him be this serious about something. As the date continued, the waitress seemed to warm up a bit to us. She went from not speaking to almost being excessively chatty. I don't know if that was from her getting used to me or Howard's remarks earlier. Either way, it started to feel normal. A normal I hadn't felt since this whole changing fiasco started.

After dinner, we walked back to Howard's car. He asked if everything was fine and if I felt alright. I had been quiet on the walk, but mostly because I didn't want to leave him, and I wanted to keep this normal feeling going as long as possible.

"It was fun. I haven't been out like that in months, honestly." I said, opening the car door.

"I was thinking, if you would like, we could go back to my place?" Howard stuttered as he asked.

I didn't want to sound too eager, so I waited a moment before speaking, "yeah, that would be fun."

Howard lived only a little way down the road. His house was a small single-floor home in the middle of a densely packed neighborhood. It was much quieter than my apartment but also appeared to be smaller. I followed him into the house, and inside was a neat but barren living room.

"So this is my little place. It isn't much, but I'm getting there." Howard sounded almost embarrassed, "we could watch a movie or something if you would like."

I took a seat on the couch, and to my surprise, the back split open, giving room for my tail. "Woah, I didn't expect that."

Howard sat down next to me and pushed his hand through the seam of the couch. "Yeah, it was left here by the previous owner. They must have either needed it or knew someone who did. Handy to have it now." Howard chuckled to himself.

We put on a movie and sat in the dimly lit room as it played. Slowly Howard nodded off and leaned over onto me. At first, I wanted to wake him up, but it was comforting to be close. Eventually, I found myself doing the same, as the quiet sounds of the TV lulled me to sleep.

My mind drifted through images of the day, but the idea of the young roo kept sticking in my mind. The roo exploring the room, keeping close to me, sleeping in my pouch. Sitting in the office, I felt him sleeping softly when Howard walked in. He never spoke a word, but top his head were ears like mine. I called out his name, but he kept walking to the door to the roo exhibit. As the door slammed shut, I quickly hopped over to find him.

Upon opening the heavy metal door, I saw the Roos and what appeared to be Howard. The being had the face of Howard but the body of a kangaroo. I slowly hopped out into the enclosure when he finally spoke.

"You like it?" Howard gestured to his body, "Thought I may as well join ya. That way, we can be together."

"H-how? What would you do that?" I asked him, reaching a hand out to his paw.

"We have to take care of the joey. He's most important to us, right?" Howard asked, but his voice seemed off. More chipper than it should have been. "Where is he anyways?"

Looking around, I could not see the joey. Only the other Roos in the exhibit. "He was just here," I said quietly.

Howard's voice turned angry, "You lost him? It was the only thing you had to do and the only thing you are good for!"

My heart started beating quickly. My head swung side to side, desperately looking for the baby. How could I do this? It's all I'm good for, and I ruined the one thing I could have done right!

I felt something push hard on my shoulder. Then a second time, as my eye flicked open, next to me was Howard, the fully human Howard. I struggled to speak, "th-the joey, wh-where is he?" I looked around frantically.

"Audrey, I think you were dreaming. There is no joey. It's just us." Howard spoke softly while rubbing my back.

"What time is it?" I asked, trying to calm my heart. I was relieved to learn it was all a dream.

"It's 1:17. We fell asleep on the couch, it seems." Howard stood up, stretching. "Do you want to stay here tonight? I can set you up on the couch or-"

"Yeah," I quickly interrupted, "no sense in driving across town." I was embarrassed to have even thought the dream could have been real. But I couldn't tell what worried me more, Howard having been angry at me in the dream or that I had been excited he'd become like me.

Howard walked into the bedroom, and I hopped along behind. Howard started digging in the small closet as I climbed into the bed, pulling the covers over me.

Howard turned, holding a blanket and pillow in his arms. "Oh, you're going to sleep in here." He said awkwardly.

Oh no, he was setting me up on the couch. Damn it! I expected to see Howard walk out of the room, but instead, he placed the blanket on the floor and turned out the lights. I couldn't see what he was doing, but he climbed under the covers shortly after. He turned to face me and asked, "You feeling ok after today? I know you had another change, and I want to make sure Jenna wasn't getting to you."

"I'm fine, just adjusting." I sighed, "now it's just a little less of me here. Eventually, you and I aren't-" Howard interrupted, "I'm here for you now, and I'm always going to be here for you. Nothing is going to change that."

My heart started to race again. Without thinking, I leaned forward, and our lips touched. I reached an arm around his bare chest, and we pulled closer. I felt like crying, not out of sadness, but tonight had shown me that he cared and cared for me as a person who could see past my changes. Treating me like the human I truly am.

This was the first time I could be close to someone like this in a long time, but this could also be my last chance at something more intimate. I closed my eyes and squeezed him tightly, and my mind wandered as I imagined the two of us together. I began to feel thoughts that weren't my own again. My mind felt like it had taken a backseat, as I could see but not control what I was thinking. I tried to open my eyes but was unable as I no longer imagined Howard but a red kangaroo. I wanted to fight it, I tried to imagine Howard, and when that failed, I commanded my eyes to open. But I had no control, and I was watching what my mind wanted to do.

I felt like a prisoner in my head. All I wanted was Howard, but all it wanted was a roo. I tried to scream, but nothing came out. My heart raced, and I tried again, but still only silence. I saw only myself and the kangaroo. I turned to run, breaking out into a fast rhythmic hopping, trying to break away. As I slowly put more ground between myself and the kangaroo chasing me, I felt a hot sensation start at my hips and quickly spread outward to my entire body. I tensed my muscles, and my mind faded to black.

I opened my eyes to see sunlight cast onto the wall, and I could feel something against my back and tail. Turning my head carefully, I saw Howard lying behind me with one arm draped over my side. I reached a hand out from under the blanket to scratch at my neck, quickly catching a glimpse of my arm. I pulled my hand back to see a coat of reddish-brown fur covering my arms to my wrist. Quickly I pulled the blanket from my body to see I was almost entirely covered in the same fur.

At first, I was afraid, but a feeling of calm washed over me. A sense of immense satisfaction quickly drowned out my thoughts. I felt great. My thoughts were filled with images of my beautiful fur in the sunlight. Sunbathing with my joey close to me, ready for him to find me. I couldn't be happier.

As I imagined my fantastic future, Howard started to rustle as he awoke. "Audrey?" He asked sleepily, "is everything-" He stopped abruptly. I turned to look, but he quickly pulled the blanket free from the bed. "Oh, god no." He said as he slid out of bed.

My mind suddenly snapped clear, as if a fog in my brain had subsided. Looking across my body, it was almost entirely covered in red-brown fur. My hands felt cramped, and my fingernails turned black and protruded into sharp black claws. I rolled out of bed and onto my feet. Howard covered himself with the blanket as he stuttered, "D-did that happen last night? Did I do that to y-you?"

"How would you have done this? All we did was sleep." I asked while opening and closing my partially changed hands.

What did happen last night?