"Kinning" Isn't a Good Enough Excuse

Chapter 1: An Unwelcome Morning Discovery

"Oh great. Yeah, this is exactly what I needed..." Ethan muttered to himself. He was standing in front of his bathroom mirror. He had originally gone in to brush his teeth, the final step to his morning routine before heading to work at Mouse Park. However, when he went to brush his teeth, he made a discovery that would likely be startling to most, but to Ethan was more of an annoying inconvenience.

Ethan took his finger out of his mouth and let his mouth close, then put his finger back into his mouth again, pushing up his upper lip to look at what was underneath as if by some freak chance the result would change. It didn't. Long, sharp wolf-like (or fox-like, rather) canines pushed far past where they normally belonged.

He groaned. Stupid full moon...

Ethan wasn't really sure when this... affliction really originated. All he knew was that when he hit puberty, every full moon, under the moon's shining white beams, Ethan would transform into a fox. Occasionally this just meant fox boy, like a handsome anime boy, but other times he was fully quadrupedal. No matter which it was, Ethan knew this inconvenience was something he was better off hiding. So he did. Just like his all-time favorite Mouse Studios character, Prince Reynard, whom Ethan felt he related to a little more personally than most.

Unlike Prince Reynard, however, Ethan had no magical charm to inhibit his curse. And so, things like this started happening to him, things that got worse the closer it got to the full moon. Sometimes, it was ginger patches of fur growing on his body, sometimes it was golden slitted eyes, if he was really unlucky it could even mean a pair of fluffy ears or a matching tail. Today, it was his teeth.

Ethan sighed again and shook his head. Grabbing his toothbrush, he began brushing teeth, deciding that this, of all the possible symptoms he could have, was certainly the easiest to hide. After all, Prince Reynard always smiled with his mouth closed.

Finally finished getting ready for the day, Ethan hopped in his truck and drove to work, still with plenty of time left before work. Now, to just make sure a certain dark-haired customer service worker didn't notice Ethan's "new fangs."