Power Swap: *dog*

[Levi Xu]

Waking up early was new for Levi. He was used to being the last one up, whether he was at home or in the hospital, where the nurses usually just let him sleep until he woke up on his own. (That way they could avoid him describing his none-too-interesting dreams in vivid detail.) But since taking responsibility for Buccaneer, he'd been sleeping a lot less. After all, the little Aussie Shepherd was only a puppy, and needed to go out a lot. So he woke up instantly when he heard the ear flapping that signaled that Buccaneer needed to go out right now.

He was up right away, and still wearing his flannel pjs with ducks on them. He loved the little puppy, and didn't mind it. Really, he couldn't wait to get outside and play. On his way down the stairs, he collected Beta, Ein, Omega, Alpha and Alfredo, ready to let them all out so other people could sleep in.

As soon as Levi's feet hit the cold, wet grass, he felt his body pitch forward, his legs got shorter, his face got longer, and his body got tangled up in the over-sized clothing. He squirmed until he tumbled out, the dew soaking into his fur.

Oh God. He was a dog. This. Was. Awesome.

Immediately, he bounded over and tackled Buccaneer to the ground. The group dynamic of the little pack changed instantly as Levi became the youngest. He was himself knocked over and sniffed, and then they seemed to accept him as one of them.

Jake. He had to show Jake. With a yip, he sat up and grew back into himself, sitting up, naked, in the grass. "Come on, inside!" He herded the real dogs back into the house, and dropped the pajamas on the floor, and bounded back up the stairs, right on Ein's heels. Jake's door was open a crack, so with Ein and Buccaneer, he darted inside and jumped up onto the bed. "Jake! Jake! Look what I did! Look!" Levi barked as he scampered over to his friend's face and started licking him. Of course, he was barking like an excitable little lab puppy, which is what he was, so he didn't know if he conveyed it properly.

[Jacob Lawrence]

Jake had gotten in late again last night. This was nothing unusual for him, especially as of late, but still he always tried to be quiet as he snuck through the shadows to his room. It was easier than trying to weasel his way out of Gabe's questions (and stern look, lying to Gabe was always the hardest.) And after he'd slipped into bed, he had every intention of sleeping until he damn well felt like it.

But Levi had other ideas.

Jake wasn't unfamiliar with waking up to barking and having his face washed, but it was usually Ein who was the offender. He grumbled, reaching to put his hand over the enormous dog's mouth, and was surprised to find that the dog he touched did not feel like Ein at all. He opened his eyes and looked down to see that there was a small lab puppy that he didn't recognize pinned under his hand. As far as he knew, Gabe hadn't gotten any new dogs since Buccaneer, so this was a surprise. "Uhh...." He looked over at Ein, who was laying on the bed and looking proud of himself. "Where'd you find this little guy, huh?"

He sat up in the bed, leaning against the headboard as the covers pooled around his waist, then scooped Levi (although he didn't know it was Levi) into his arms and looked him over. "Aren't you a cutie! Where the hell did you come from?" He held the lab puppy the same way he often held Beta, cradled in his arm like a baby, and scratched just lightly under his chin.

It's a proven fact, puppies cure the morning grumps.

[Levi Xu]

Levi wriggled in Jake's arms, nuzzling him as he got a good scratch under his chin. "Look, look! I'm a puppy!" He kept yipping and squirming happily, because it tickled. He licked at his friend's hand and his chest, wherever he could reach. It was so exciting, he didn't know what else to do with himself. Finally, he was showing he could do something interesting. Finally, he was like everyone else on the compound. And hey, if he was a dog, maybe even Jesse would like him.

But Jake still didn't know it was him he was snuggling to his chest. And for a moment Levi enjoyed that; he knew that as soon as the man knew who he was, he would stop hugging him like that. He could be as close as he wanted to Jake. Happily, he snuggled into the crook of his elbow, yipping again. "You really like me like this, don't you?"

Eventually, though, he knew he had to let Jake in on his little trick, and wriggled out of his arms and transformed back. "It's me! Jake, I can transform into a dog."

After a moment, he realized that it would probably be a problem if someone were to come into the room now. After all, it didn't look like Jake was wearing anything under that blanket, and he was naked as well. And fourteen, which made the previous problem a bit more immediate as well. So he rolled onto his stomach and kept talking, blushing heartily. "I don't know where it came from but when I let the dogs out this morning I wanted to play with them and all of a sudden I was little and furry and Buccaneer was bossing and leading me around. "

[Oliver Wells]

Oliver was used to being one of the first people awake - he generally wasn't as tired as the other teenagers in the house, and he even woke up before some of the adults. Offhandedly, he heard Levi herding the dogs outside of the house, as it was hard to ignore the sound of paws and claws scratching and padding against the ground as they all whined and twisted, trying to run out into the biting autumn air first. The Canadian only glanced over his shoulder as he closed the door, and then went back to sipping his tea and skimming the newspaper he had retrieved earlier.

It took all of five minutes, probably less, for the dogs to suddenly be back in the house again. Glancing up, his eyebrows suddenly narrowed as he caught sight of an unfamiliar, small black tail rounding the corner. Did another dog get in the house? Hopping from the stool, the energy manipulator moved down the hallway, watching as the other dogs dispersed to their respective beds or lounging areas, but the small patter of tiny feet continued up the stairs and around the corner. Oliver moved quickly and finally caught view of the black puppy nuzzling its way into a room. He paused, thinking about what he was about to do - whomever was inside that room was most likely still asleep, and wouldn't mind if a puppy was in there, but would mind if another person was. Oliver rocked back on his heels momentarily, before just deciding that he'll take a quick peek to see the new mystery puppy that Gabe must have gotten.

Cracking the door open gently at first, he soon just pushed passed the barrier and into the room. At first, he was looking at the ground, seeing if the fluffy dog was rolling around anywhere there. But when he looked up toward the bed, he startled and stopped completely, his blue eyes widening exponentially. "Uhm." Was all that escaped his throat at the site of a stark Levi, and presumably naked Jake. "Uhmmm." He repeated, heat rising to his face, unsure of what he had walked in on. Offhandedly, he heard the boy squeal about being a puppy now, but it really didn't register in his mind.

"... Sorry." Was all he could manage to whisper, eyes still bulging, but like watching a car crash, he. Just. Couldn't. Look. Away.

[Jacob Lawrence]

Jake wasn't sure when Gabe had acquired this new little puppy, but it was certainly the cutest, most wiggly little dog that he'd seen in a long time. The little yips brought a warm smile to his face as he rubbed the the lab's round tummy. "Aren't you just precious?" Jake would be lying if he said he had a problem with Gabe always bringing in new dogs, because he loved them just as much. Well, all of them except Frederic, that is.

When the Levi!Puppy started wiggling again, Jake let him go, figuring he wanted to explore, but was completely dumbfounded when the puppy stopped being a puppy and Levi was sitting on his bed. Naked, might I add. "Uhhh..." Okay, this made absolutely no sense.

He stared at Levi while he explained what happened, his eyebrows drawing together as he tried to make sense of it all. And through all of that, the only thing he could think to say was "... why are you naked?"

I'm sure Oliver is wondering that exact same thing.

The soft voice drew Jacob's attention away from the naked fourteen year old boy that was now laying on his bed and up towards the other teenager standing in his doorway. This morning would surely go down in history as the weirdest ever. He looked at Levi again, then down at himself (he surely wasn't wearing anything underneath those covers), then back at Oliver. For decency's sake, Jake pulled away the top sheet and folded it over Levi. "Umm... this isn't what it looks like."

[Levi Xu]

Levi yipped again again at the sweet little displays of affection from Jake. Honestly, he idolized the man, for being so cool, so confidant, and so incredibly kind to him, even when he felt left out by the rest of the residents of the Underwood compound. It wasn't the same kind of relationship that Jesse had with Mr. Underwood, but that's what he wanted. It would be nice to be Jake's favorite the same way Jesse was Mr. Underwood's.

But just as he suspected, the shift back into his own form meant no more cuddling. Levi sighed and answered Jake's question simply, "Because my clothes don't shift with me, so I end up like this when I shift back."

Oliver's soft voice distracted Levi as well, and he found himself blushing more. Yeah, it was embarrassing for Jake to see him naked, but it was quite a lot worse for Oli to see them both and think that something inappropriate was going on. (And Levi had the feeling that if Mr. Underwood thought that he and Jake were doing anything, they would both be in a lot of trouble.)

So he pulled the sheet over himself tightly, feeling more comfortable now that he wasn't exposed. "I was just showing Jake what I can do now." Levi said proudly, utterly oblivious to how his announcement might have sounded. Really, at the moment he was happy because nothing was telling him that Jake was morally bankrupt or Oliver was a little evil and he could turn into a dog. Finally, for what seemed like the first time, he felt that he could be useful around the compound. Even if it was just keeping Ein and Alfredo occupied with playing while people were trying to eat.

[Jacob Lawrence]

Jake's mind was still clouded from the morning fog and for him to wake up to a puppy and then a naked fourteen year old in his bed, it only made things worse. He lifted his hands to rub at his eyes, then the bridge of his nose, silent as he tried to process all this information at once. Eventually, he decided that was far too much effort and decided to simply accept the fact that Levi could now turn into a dog, no matter how absurd it seemed when he surely couldn't have done that yesterday.

"Alright, so you're a shapeshifter now." He finally muttered, looking down at the boy wrapped up in his sheet. "You do make one hell of a cute puppy." He ruffled Levi's hair like he always did and then sagged back against the headboard of his bed. It was a lot easier when he wasn't so focues on why Levi was naked or why he could turn into a dog all of the sudden.

"But you're cute all the time, anyways." He said fondly. He really did like Levi, it was like having a little brother who he could goof around with. Levi didn't scowl at him if he said something rude about Jesse and Levi didn't shout at him if he'd been out all night (with Morgan.) But he was completely oblivious to the boy's crush on him and, even had he known, Jake had no intentions of dropping to Gabe's level of sleaziness.

For the moment, Oliver was forgotten. "And you made a pretty good alarm clock." Jake mumbled as he looked over at his clock. "But you were about two hours too early, Pup." He chuckled, reaching over to switch off the alarm seeing as he was already awake. "Try again tomorrow, alright?"