I’m a bit late with this one but I couldn’t resist the gay European dogs! In this one a trip to ease the nerves of a stressful semester turns into a longer stay in Versailles them either Axel or Daniel would have hoped for. This one took a lot of fine tuning and I’m still not blown away with the result but I sure do hope you guys like it and I’m open to feedback of any kind!

- Axel sighed as he stumbled into the room and threw his suitcase on the plush hotel mattress with a huff before plopping down on the bed. Today had been exhausting for him in many ways, but the view of Paris and the calming aroma of the hotel room almost made him forget about it all. He heard the door click shut as Daniel, Axel's boyfriend and hopefully soon-to-be fiance, sat next to him on the bed. “Tired?” he asked as Axel nodded “Come on, we just got here, Axel! Let's go check out the Palace of Versailles! It's close to our hotel.” Daniel said in his usual low and raspy voice. His brown eyes and black hair shined in the light of the Paris morning, and it made resisting his request hard. “I don't know Daniel… I'm just feeling tired after that whole plane ride thing and would like to get some rest. It's our summer break, after all! That semester wasn't easy for either of us, let's take it slow.” Axel argued, not particularly interested in dealing with any more people today. But Daniel didn't argue back using words, he just gave Axel puppy dog eyes, and that sealed the deal. Axel rolled his eyes at the dopey smile now plastered across Daniel's face. “Just let me unpack,” Axel said reluctantly while standing up, Daniel stood up with him and kissed him on the cheek. “I knew you'd come around! I got us day passes to the place, so just let me know when you wanna go!” Daniel said while smiling at the flustered Axel, who was too dazed to speak. “Yeah… Certainly.” He said as he mindlessly and vigorously took items from his suitcase.

“And here we are!” Daniel exclaimed, Axel couldn't help but smile. He found it hilarious that a jock like him, with his curly black hair and toned shoulders, had such a nerdy passion for history. But Axel couldn't help but be enamored with the place as well; he found himself becoming mesmerized by the massive columns and the grand fountain. “It's beautiful…” Axel mumbled as they made their way to the entrance. “Oh, if you're impressed by this, wait until you see the inside! Oh, and the garden!” Axles' eyes lit up at the mention of a garden, as a long-time botanist, he couldn't lie that he was intrigued. Daniel grabbed Axel's arm and walked hastily into the palace. “Alright, you dork, I can see that piqued your interest.” Axel gently giggled upon hearing that and blushed while trying to keep pace with Daniel. The air smelled of roses, and a gentle breeze pushed Axle's soft blonde hair out of his face. The sound of footsteps on tan gravel and people talking reverberated throughout the palace's outer courtyard while Axel and Daniel made their way inside.

The smell of pastries and sandwiches radiated throughout the food court as Axel and Daniel took a seat, Axel slumping down a little. Daniel chuckled “I'm sorry I dragged you out so quickly after getting here, but wouldn't you say it was worth it?” he said while taking a sip of water and resting his elbows on the table. “The interior was gorgeous, glad I have you for all the history stuff, though,” Axel said, looking at Daniel with a distant gaze and a hazy look in his eyes as he nervously tapped his leg. Daniel smiled once again before his expression got more serious. “Come on Axel I can see some things up,” Daniel said while staring at his boyfriend, who flinched a bit before his plate suddenly deserved the attention of his eyes. “I don't know what you're talking about,” Axel said dismissively as he grabbed his water, took a few swigs, and slammed it down as if he were a drunk salaryman and the water was his seventh drink. Daniel sighed as he looked at the boy before looking around at a few people murmuring to each other while looking at Axel and Daniel. Daniel's eyes drifted back to Axel, whose face was growing pink, and his blue eyes looked towards Daniel in a pleading manner. “So that's it.” Daniel proclaimed confidentially as he stood up and grabbed Axel’s wrist. Axel quickly jerked his hand away before muttering an apology, and the two walked off onto an unoccupied trail together.

“Axel, you know you could have told me you were uncomfortable with all the people around, right?” Daniel asked in an uncharacteristically concerned voice. “I know you have OCD, but I don't know when you're going through it unless you tell me.” Daniel tried to explain but didn't get any kind of response from Axel, who just turned away from him. “I know our relationship isn't typically something you see every day, but what's there to be ashamed of?” Daniel said as Axel shook his head. “I don't know Daniel, but when people look at me like that, I can't help but think about how not normal it is.” Axel looked towards his shoes as the two made their way to the garden. The sun was beginning to set over the horizon, giving an orange gleam to everything in the vicinity as the two were enveloped with the silence of the vacant pathway. Daniel looked towards Axel, slightly disappointed, “Just hope you're okay.” He said as Axel nodded. The two made their way into the garden, surrounded by hedges and different flowers, the now moon-lit atmosphere doing a good job of calming Axel as he gently kneeled to smell the flowers, and Daniel quickly took a seat on a bench next to him. The silence of the moment overtook the two as the weight of the long day caught up with them, and they found themselves slowly dozing off.

Axle slowly awoke, feeling the leaves of the bush gently graze his face as he sat up and licked his dry lips before rubbing his eyes. He was quick to stand up and brush himself off, noticing the moon overhead was not doing a great job of illuminating the surrounding area. He turned to see Daniel passed out on the bench and smiled gently upon seeing his sleeping face. After looking around a bit, Axle noticed the lack of people anywhere, but upon trying to check the time, he noticed his phone had died. He was about to shake Daniel awake but could not bring himself to do it; it was clear throughout the day Axle wasn't the only one who was exhausted from the plane ride. Axle went to place a kiss on his forehead, but as he did, something in a nearby hedge caught his eye. Axle slowly approached it, noticing a red fabric protruding unnaturally from its branches, and upon a slight tug, it dropped onto the soft grass below. Axle kneeled and picked it up, inspecting the item as he did so. The red fabric was beautiful and felt extremely soft to the touch. A Fleur De Lis emblem, which looked to be solid gold, hung from the fabric, similarly to how a name tag might hang from a dog collar. “Who would have just left something like this sitting here?” Axle asked no one in particular. He peered over the hedge separating him from the bench that Daniel was now snoring on and then back to the item. The sun reflected off the gold emblem as Axel stared at it and took a deep breath before slipping it around his neck.

He felt the soft fabric against his neck and smiled, finding it oddly comforting. However, he felt the comfort fade as an intense glow erupted from the emblem now dangling next to Axel’s chest and illuminated the surrounding area. “What…?” he muttered while squinting his eyes. Suddenly, he felt an odd sensation around his neck near where the fabric rested. He slid his hand under the necklace curiously and felt soft patches of… something? But he could tell it was much more than just any kind of normal hair as it scaled down his neck and ventured to his shoulders. He felt an odd cracking in his arms but was much more preoccupied with trying to brush the small hairs off, which were now spreading down his arms and reaching his hands. “Dammit…” Axel said as he scratched at the white foreign patches of what could only be described as fur, which paraded down his body as if it owned it. He felt the cracking from within his shoulders get more frequent and could see them retreating into his upper torso while his elbows shifted up with a sickening snap. Axel gritted his teeth as the changes to his skeletal structure reached his fingers, his thumbs shrinking into his hands while his other fingers shortened into smaller digits. He felt his palms harden into paw pads as what was happening finally dawned on him, but none of this should be possible… Axel quickly glared down at the collar strapped around his neck, which he knew to be the culprit, and tried to rip it off but found no success with his new dog-like appendages. “Come on…” Axel said, getting slightly impatient as he vigorously pawed at the fabric. The fur now spreading down his torso didn’t seem to have any remorse for the changes as it crawled down to his hips without a hitch. As it spread to Axel's back, golden brown colored splotches of fur came in as well while Axel felt tears growing in his eyes. He wanted to call for his boyfriend, but all that came out were subtle whimpers as his torso began to reshape itself. His chest narrowed while also bulging out a little bit to accommodate his forelegs. His stomach slumped in while the fur continued down to Axle’s legs.

He looked up towards the moon, which gave him a perfect view of his grotesque transformation as if mocking him from above with its mesmerizing luminescence. The sounds of owls and crickets filled the night air, which, under different circumstances would have been a pleasant experience for the boy. He pondered the logistics of what was happening to him but eventually had to throw in the towel and continue his helpless, pitiful observations. None of this should have been able to happen, yet it was happening to him right now, and he was just being forced to accept it. He was filled with uncertainty, but above all else, he felt regret that he didn't tell Daniel he loved him after their previous conflict. Axel, even in this situation, couldn't seem to get him off his mind. He felt as his thigh was encased in fur and his bones were gruesomely rearranged, stretching his thighs into what you would typically see supporting the legs of a canine. Axel winced as the changes coming to his leg replicated those seen in what used to be his arms. They thinned out slightly, and Axel braced as the same sickening crack reverberated in his mind, and he was forced onto all fours. While he was humiliated by this, it almost felt more comfortable than standing when he was a human, so he wasn’t particularly opposed to the change. The fur continued onto his feet, which shrunk in length, and the bottoms of which hardened much like his palms. His toes shrunk down slightly, and he lost a lot of the mobility he once had in his ankles just the same as his wrists. Along with these alterations, Axel felt a tug at his tailbone and sighed heavily, knowing what came next as a fluffy white tail snuck out of his pants, the khakis loosely tumbling to the ground while his tail swayed back and forth a bit before settling on the ground. Axel noticed that he could no longer feel the cracking or popping of bones, and for the first time in the last five minutes, he was able to relax, even if only slightly.

That’s when he was jolted upright as he felt the fur from his neck continue up his chin, and he grimaced but found it hard to let out any clear words as another wave of panic set in, the words likely would have been quite unsavory anyway. Fur continued up to his mouth and the back of his neck, and he grew agitated as he felt the cracks from within his jaw and around his mouth, knowing what would happen next. He slammed his soft paws onto the grass below in frustration, which didn’t do much to help Axel's rising tension as his face protruded further, and Axel braced his now-shifting teeth once again. His face stopped growing as his nose turned black and became much more wet, and he felt his tongue expand to occupy any empty spaces in Axel's new muzzle. Axle sniffed around much like a household pet might when discovering a new space but didn't seem to smell much of anything, which he found curious. Any other sounds in his head had been blotched out by a quiet ringing as he sat there on the ground looking down and wishing it could all be over while his hair started falling out in large clumps, which drifted gently to the ground and being replaced by the same golden brown fur found on his back. This fur continued onto his face and made its way around his eyes as white fur continued to take over any unoccupied places on Axle's face, including his muzzle and between his eyes. He sighed while he continued watching the blonde tufts fall to the soft green grass below while the golden brown fur overtook his ears, which were traveling further up on his head and began drooping down to his jaw. Axle moved his paws to his ears, he felt lush and thick fur, which was long and impeccably groomed, which caught Axle's attention. Upon investigating the rest of his body, he noticed the same thing: his fur looked lovely! But as he mulled over his new body, he got somber, and his mind returned to figuring out how to undo whatever had been done.

He quickly went to take the collar off using his maw, but as he chomped, tugged, and pulled, he found that the material was impervious to his efforts. Axel whined slightly, he was overwhelmed and frightened. He didn't know what to do, he had felt this way before but Daniel had always been there to help him through it. Axel's eyes lit up as he straightened himself confidently, that was it! Axel quickly rushed around the fern separating him and Daniel, feeling more natural in his new body than he expected. He rounded the fern to see the bench Daniel had been lying at but instead of his beloved boyfriend, he saw a ball of black fur huddled up on the bench. Axel quickly but quietly approached, noticing the rising sun's gleam on the iron edges of the bench as he tapped his nose to the furry body and felt it begin shifting before sitting up on the bench. Axel examined it closely, it had a black coat which was slightly lighter near its underbelly and beneath its muzzle, with brown eyes and shaggy hair which led to an overall less-than-dignified appearance. It looked almost like some sort of wolf, which would have scared Axel in any other situation but he felt oddly calm in the presence of the canine. It turned to Axel before slowly shifting its gaze to its own body and then back to Axel. And then back to its own body. Axel quickly tilted his head a bit as he listened to the wolf yell profanity in a low raspy voice before quieting down so that the only sounds were the early morning chirping of birds and the wolf's panicked breaths. Axel's eyes lit up with recognition and he groaned at the fact he hadn't caught on sooner. “Daniel…?” Axel said as he looked at the creature skeptically. The wolf paused a moment before looking down, studying the grass, and then finally making eye contact with Axel. “…Axel?” Daniel said as his eyes lit up in surprise, his tail vigorously wagging back and forth. Axel gave out a relieved sigh before simply nodding and Daniel gleamed the best he could with a muzzle before hopping off the bench and looking Axel in the eyes. “But how…” Daniel asked as he inspected Axel's new body with curiosity and fascination, Axel doing the same from a stationary position while giving a look of resignation. “I can tell you you're not dreaming… but not much else.” Axel said as Daniel sat down and looked towards the ground in awe. “Well, then I guess it's useless asking you if ya know how to reverse all this right?” Daniel asked as Axel felt that same feeling of helplessness coming back from when the transformation had first started as he looked to the ground and felt tears welling up in his eyes. Daniel quickly gave Axel a lick to the face and Axel shot a shocked glance at him. “Sorry sorry… Just felt like the right thing to do.” Daniel sayed between laughs before returning to a more solemn expression. “Listen I can't say I have any idea what's going on, I don't. But so long as we're together… I'm sure it'll be alright.”. Axel felt a swelling in his chest as a smile shunned through his tears and he tackled Daniel to the ground. “I love you,” Axel said while nuzzling his head into Daniels's chest. Everything seemed to go silent as the morning sun smiled warmly overhead, the palace of Versailles was illuminated; However, no one was to be seen. Suddenly large doors leading to the garden burst open and a short man with a plump build and large wig strolled out “Belfort! Belfort!” The man shouted while Axel felt strangely drawn to the calls. He looked back at Daniel and stared confused at the man, “It’s interesting you know, that kind of outfit is very close to what you’d typically see from someone in the palace while it was still inhabited by the royal family.” Daniel said as he narrowed his eyes and investigated the man from behind a bush, noticing Axel stepping out from his cover. “Axel what are you doing?” He questioned as he saw the man turn their way. “Belfort!” He screamed before running up to Axel and patting him on the head, causing Axel's tail to wag from side to side. Daniel cautiously walked out from behind his shady hiding spot and glanced at the man with a bit of aggression. He jumped a little bit but then peered at Axel, and then back towards Daniel before calming himself. “Say Belfort why doesn’t your friend here come into the palace? I see you two have grown quite the connection.” The man offered as Axel tilted his head in confusion, he had a million questions racing through his mind and yet they were all summed up in one nod as the man gleefully turned to leave and the two followed. “Oh, am I allowed in the palace now, Your Majesty?” Daniel joked with Axel. They both laughed, whatever strange thing was coming their way wouldn’t be easy. But they were happy to have each other. -