ha, using pre-made characters makes things much easier to get the ball rolling, but i'll have to break the chain next story so it isn't too easy
Picnic:
to the average passer by the sight beheld in the park would have almost passed as normal. Stereotypical red and white checked picnic cloth, basket brimming with food and a nice looking fellow retrieving the dishes and cutlery to set among the attendee's.
But one such peaceful citizen was sent running and screaming when she caught glimpse of what she first took to be a strange pet dog, stand up and assist the first man in setting out the dishes.
The group paused for a moment to watch the woman run away. Sophie was the first to laugh; "I doubt I'll ever get tired of seeing the looks on people's faces every time we mess up and break cover" she said, the foxes dry fur ruffling with the jostling movements of her laughter.
"you're not wrong" chuckled Krum.
"And you are also a bit of a laughing matter yourself mr big-tough-millitary-man" retorted Nathan.
Soon, Shaun returned leading a group of nervous looking young adults that Nathan immediately recognised as his friends from school. Left to right were; Ben and Tonn the tall ones, Kevin the human calculator and Jonty the resident computer genius. But from the expressions on their faces, it was apparent that they were still in semi-shock after their encounter with the shaggy haired talking wolf that was one one of their friends.
Nathan raised a hand and waved to them and after a few seconds or eye squinting and memory sifting they all waved back. A long time had passed since the last time they had sat together and long gone were the days of buying chips at the school shop and socialising around the table while feeding the seagulls.
After the five sat with the others the situation quickly turned into one of those awkward first meeting moments where everyone just looked around waiting for someone to break the ice.
To everyone's relief, Krum began first. "Right...I suppose introductions are in order. My name's Krum, Nathan you already know and the fox to your right is Sophie." Krum extended a gnarled hand to each of them in turn, shaking their hands and taking note of each of their names.
This stimulus seemed to have little affect on the conversation level so Sophie interjected with the only conversation topic that she knew everyone was thinking about.
"So um, bit of a shock meeting Shaun again since last time?" she started. The four nodded nervously.
"Oh this is no good, Lets try again." said Sophie, getting up and extending a paw to shake with each of them. Physical interaction, she reasoned, would help greatly. After a short moment Jonty repeated the gesture and then the others followed suit.
"So what are you guys doing with your time these days?" asked Shaun when she had finished with the familiarities.
"I...I'm doing a diploma in quantum mechanics" replied Kevin, breaking the silence with his small stutter.
"Ben and I are in the state Basket ball league" answered Tonn with an almost normal tone now that the conversation was making way.
"Certificate four in video game design for me" said Jonty as a small smile spread across his face.
there was a slight pause, Ben opened his mouth as if to say something but then shut it again.
"What is it Ben?" queried Nathan.
"Nothing."
"Come on, out with it!"
"Oh ok" began Ben then turned to the two canines; "What's it like? going from who you were before to what you are now? how does it feel? I must admit, i'm rather curious." explained Ben while the others nodded in agreement.
"Bingo!" broadcast Sophie to Shaun via her limited telekinetic abilities, a last minute addition to the original procedure that resulted in her transformation.
"What's it like, what's it like...hmmm. Well vision was the first thing I noticed, colours are a lot less lustrous now than they were before but vision clarity overall is greatly improved. Despite the fact that our animal types often don't have very good long distance vision. You see, foxes at least, have more movement based vision than actual recognition based vision, it's not until the object in question gets close that we can make out what it is." Explained Sophie.
"So you're pretty much blind to detail?" asked Kevin.
"Well I didn't say that. I think part of the project design was to hybridise both human and animal vision properties for the best possible outcome, so yes I've lost colour. But I have gained long distance clarity along with being able to detect movement at the distance."
"Since when did you know so much about your own species?" asked Shaun mockingly.
"Uhh since I became a fox and had enough spare time to read up on my species type!" came the reply. "I suggest you do the same, it might come in useful" she finished.
"Ohh you just got told!" laughed Krum as Shaun's ears drooped slightly at the thought of being so absent minded.
"What about smell? I can only speculate that animals have greater sense of smell but is that really true?" asked Jonty as Krum began to serve the salad and cold meat.
"That's a hard one to describe" began Sophie. "Oh I know, you walk past a Eucalyptus tree and what do you smell? the slightly sterile smelling oil within the sap yes?"
"Yeah...so?"
"Now did your mum or dad ever rub the concentrated oil on your chest when you had a cold or something?"
"Once or twice yes."
"Remember that the smell was so strong that your eyes watered and you almost gagged until some of the oil evaporated? Now picture every single smell you have experienced is now that strong. That's what it's like, after a while you learn to block out the stronger smells and take notice of the more subtle ones. Like Krum over there, he used strawberry scented deodorant this morning but not quite enough of it." Said Sophie, cocking her head at Krum with a mischievous smile.
Krum grumbled and muttered something about a glandular disorder then plonked a hunk of meat and salad onto everyone's plate in turn.
"Ok one more question then?" asked Kevin.
"Shoot"
"Eating and drinking, how's that working out?" he asked. It was a simple question but one of both Sophie and Shaun's more embarrassing downfalls.
"Uhh, well I suppose..." began Sophie before Shaun cut her off. He knew it was not a subject she enjoyed talking about.
"Well obviously there are small etiquette techniques that we cannot follow, but I doubt such techniques were ever designed around having a mutant, furry, four-legged, tailed, animal sitting at the table. Little things like keeping ones mouth closed when chewing. Almost impossible but I think we've got it worked out the best we can." He explained.
Krum was seeking a little revenge on the previous comment made against him, a small smirk appeared on his face as an idea formed. He grabbed the two water bowls from the basket and placed them in front of the two animals.
Sophie placed a paw over her eyes and shook her head.
"Aaand then there's the drinking problem" said Shaun, hanging his head. The others all burst into laughter.
oh the problems of being furry hahaha.
what's next? ahh; Cyber....hmmm my future writing sense is tingling