A Change (of fate)

How Guys Shop

"Alright. Are you ready?" Chelsea asked me as I was standing in the mirror after having a wash and dry. I was looking at my reflection. Did Guy really want me to go out in the open? What about all the strangers? Surely at least the young ones would be scared of me? Am I ready? I don't think so, but I never will be.
"Yeah, I'm ready to go"
"Don't worry, Carrie is going too, you're both in the same boat"
"But she's a common house pet, sort of. I don't know anyone with pet wolves"
"Look, no matter what, you won't be alone in this" Chelsea proceeded to kiss me on the cheek which lifted my spirits.
"Thanks, alright. Let's go"
When Chelsea and I reached the front door, Guy and Carrie were already waiting.
"Chop chop, we don't want to get stuck in the lunchtime rush do we?"
It was a bit awkward getting into the car (which was a golf, and they're small) as we had originally planned for the guys to be in the front and girls in the back, but Guy and I had a joint shoulder width that was wider than the car. So then we tried Chelsea and I in the back, but that was also a fair bit of a squeeze. The leanest person in the car was definitely Carrie, and I was undoubtedly the bulkiest, so we ended up with Guy driving, Chelsea in the front passenger, Carrie behind Guy, and I behind Chelsea. Now that I think about it, 'a bit awkward' is an understatement.
The trip was fairly silent, Guy tried to spark some conversation but it died out quickly. Chelsea showed me some pics of last nights dinner, but that only resulted in another of Guy's fading conversations. And the whole trip there I could tell Carrie (who was next to me) wanted to speak with me, but for some reason she couldn't infront of the others. The whole ride was just really awkward.
When Guy said "Where here!" I nearly jumped out of the vehicle before it had stopped. Finally we were out in the open again! I was enjoying myself to a large stretch which means a yawn as well (I hope I'm not the only one who does that), then I remembered that I was out in the open again. No hood to cover me this time.
I soon sat back down on the car seat, with my legs hanging out the side.
"What's the plan?" I asked Guy, who had only just finished turning the engine off.
"Well, the shopping center is just over there" pointing out his window, it was only about 100 metres away. "Once in, I was hoping for you and me to go together, and Chelsea and Carrie to do whatever girls do in shopping centres"
There was a joint "Hey!" from the girls then.
"Sounds fine to me"
"Great! Alright, let's get out"
I was the last one out, I just felt really exposed.
"James, you alright?" it was Chelsea.
"Yeah, I think so" to be honest, no I wasn't, but there was no backing out now, and I believe Chelsea knew that.
"What are we waiting for guys? Come on!"
Guy and Carrie were already five meters ahead of us, but we caught up pretty quickly. The whole walk up to the entrence was daunting, even though I couldn't see them, I could still tell that whenever a car drove by the people in them were staring at me. And when we were about half way a mother and her three kids, one boy and two girls, were packing the car from their shopping trip when we were walking past. She just kind of moved her children behind her as if I was a danger to them. But I just kept with our group, soon moving far away from them.
Once we reached the entrence Guy spoke up, "Alright, we're here. I guess we'll seperate now and meet up for lunch?"
We all agreed with the usual 'yep sounds good' response. And we agreed on the time of quarter to two for lunch, this was considering the time was already ten thirty, we needed time to do stuff. And so with everything as organised as possible, we split into our smaller groups and entered. Sort of.
"You good James?"
"Y-yeah. It's just, there will be a lot of people in there"
"It's alright mate. Hey, you know, the only difference between being out here, and in there, is that you can see them in there, just because you can see them doesn't make you any more exposed. Plus, I've got you"
"Thanks. Alright. Let's go!"
"That's the spirit!"
And when I entered and saw the mess of people walking around everywhere, I instantly turned around, "Let's go...", but I didn't get very far. Guy grabbed the fur on the back of my neck causing me to let out a quiet yelp, holding me there. "You said you wanted to change the way people look at you, and you're already here. Unless what you said was a lie, you may as well start here."
He's right. If what I have said to anyone I've spoken with recently is true. Then I should do this. No matter how many people are here.
"You're right. Sorry. Let's actually go this time. Do you have any plan for now or is it just dawdle around?"
"You're going to love what I've got planned for us! But we better get started if we want to get it done before we meet up for lunch!"
"Alright then, you lead"
We headed right of the entrence and walked straight for a while. It still fealt so uncomfortable walking amongst strangers, about three in every four people we walked by did a double take, and not in a good way. I decided to kick up some conversation with Guy to distract me from everyone else.
"So do you come here often?"
"Uhh... Yeah, I guess so. Not that often, I don't come here for my basic supplies, but I do believe I leisure shop a lot more than the average person"
"Makes sense. You'd need a good income for that wouldn't you?"
"Most definitely! I can spend over a thousand dollars in one stint sometimes!"
"If you don't mind me asking, how do you have so much money?"
"I don't mind at all! I do lots of things that earn an income, I don't have just one job"
"Then... Why don't you seem run off your feet?"
"Oh, I don't work for anyone! Hey! We're here!"
We stopped and turned to the left, it was just one of the many shops that were side by side along the left of the large walkway we had been walking down. 'Gypsy Horse' was the name of the shop. A strange name for a barbers shop. What?
"What are we doing here?"
"Well, I'm getting my hair cut, it's about time I did. What you do is up to you, they'll be happy to work with your fur"
"What makes you so sure?"
"Well, I've known the owners for who knows how long, and even if that's not enough, people will do anything for the right price. So stop worrying"
When we entered the wood cabin inspired shop, the person on the register, seeing Guy, told us to wait there as they left. But not long after someone different came out the staff door which the first reception person had exited by. This other guy, who with his hair tied back down past his shoulder, and his short well maintained beard, appearing at least seven years older than Guy, had barely walked three steps without shouting, "Guuuyyyyyy!!!" With a large smile on his face.
Like a normal civilized person, Guy waited for this dark caucasian, black haired man to be within arms reach before replying, "Pablo, it's good to see you to!" these guys must have been tight, as not everyone embraces each other with a hug in public, not guys anyway (I mean, not in the way they were. It was a real like, bro kinda hug. Like they were raised together even though they weren't, I learnt that later).
"So how's business been?"
"Oh, we've had the odd job here and there, nothing out of the ordinary. Definitely not as exiting as I believe your life has been recently!" gesturing to me, "Where'd you find him?" Pablo moved away from Guy and came towards me, his hands started getting freakishly close to my arm, and I was very hesitant to let him touch me, that was what he was intending to do. But I could see guy mouthing 'it's fine' which helped me calm down. I let him touch me.
"I actually met him at the recent furcon, just west of here"
When Pablo realised I was letting him touch me he was feeling my fur not only on my arm, but my head, tail, ears, and several other places as well.
"Incredible," he then turned back to Guy, still holding on to my lower arm. "Hey, wasn't there someone else a bit like this? Who thought you were related or somethin?"
For some reason, I don't think he knew I could talk, because he seemed surprised when I said "Yes" for Guy. His scream, although short and only half-efforted, was pretty loud.
Guy finished what I would have said if Pablo didn't react in the first place.
"She's actually here today," pointing to me, "off with his girl."
"Alright then, anyway, I shouldn't be talking, I should be behind the server, serving you" as he was saying this he walked behind the counter and set up their tablet order thing.
"Alright, what can I do for you today?" and without even waiting for Guys response, "Alright thank you. And what can I do for you today?"
"Wait, aren't you going to let Guy say what he wants first?"
"Trust me- sorry, I don't know your name"
"James"
"Trust me James, the day Guy wants a different cut, that'll be the day I eat soy beans"
What? I just gave him the most confused look, and he noticed.
"I'm allergic to soy beans, like, severely"
"Oh! Alright then"
"So, James, what can I do for you today?"
I'm at a barbers, and I don't even know if I want my hair cut. "I, I don't my know sorry. Guy didn't give me any warning"
"That's alright, he does that,"
"Hey! Just because it's true!"
"there's quite a bit of a line so you've got time to think about it"
"Alright James, let's go"
"But I thought we were-"
"Yeah, but there's a line, we're booked in so we'll come back later, closer to our actual time"
We weren't even five metres away when we heard a "Wait up!" behind us. It didn't take long for Pablo to catch up to us.
"I'm joining whatever you guys are doing"
It's Guys best friend as far as I knew, of course he'd agree. So now it was the three of us, heading to a destination which only Guy knew.
"So... Pablo?"
"That's my name, don't wear it out"
"Don't you like, have to work? What made you able to leave?"
"I'm the boss, I can leave whenever I want. Not that I just leave willy nilly all the time, that would be an abuse of power, and a loss of profit"
"Fair, but you see Guy often enough though don't you?"
"Yeah, I'm not tagging along for him though. I'd like to learn more about you"
"How so?"
"What I have planned for later, if you're happy with it, it's only an idea. And I would like to lean more about you, from your story to your interests, so I can build on the idea to make something memorable, meaningful"
Wow. This one hit deep. Despite it just being a fly by comment, it was nice to hear that some people actually have a genuine interest in me, not only as an anthro, but as a person.
"Th-thanks"
"No worries. So Guy, where are we headed?"
"Target"
Hey. "Wait, isn't that a clothes shop?"
"Well, yeah?"
Pablo spoke up next, "James doesn't need any clothes. Wait, lemme guess, you're already replacing your clothes you bought last week?"
He then turned around and said out of Guy's earshot, "wouldn't surprise me"
"No, Target doesn't only sell clothes, they sell accessories as well, just wait until we're there"
"Yes yes, we know you like your pearl necklaces Guy, what the point?"
"Ha!" ah! Whops! Sometimes my hands are just to slow to cover my mouth in time.
"Yes yes, very funny. Pablo didn't you want to know about James's backstory or something?"
"Oh yeah, James?"
"Alright, I'll try to give you the short version," I spent most of our time with Pablo telling him about my story, and he remained completely serious at the appropriate times. I actually really liked him, he was a great bloke. I was enjoying telling him everything, this time I included everything about Shell, which I had to explain to Guy that I didn't tell him before incase Carrie was actually listening to us instead of being asleep.
I was so interested in telling my story to Pablo that Guy was having trouble getting me to try on stuff at Target, so he ended up making purchases for me.
It was about eleven when we arrived back to the barbers and luck was on our side as we had arrived with perfect timing.
"Freddie! Over here!"
Pablo was shouting as if he owned the place. Oh wait...
"You can do Guy's hair, you've seen me do it thousands of times. Guy, you know the drill.
James, follow me please"
He walked me over to the seat next to Guy, I guess that was so we could still chat whilst we were worked on. After I sat down he went to put one of those plastic barber capes on me, the things that keep the hair off, but he stopped halfway.
"Actually, that would be kind of pointless wouldn't it?"
I realised that he was meaning I'm already covered with hair. "Oh, you're not wrong there"
"So, do you have anything in mind?"
"Not really, I don't really want my hair cut at all, I know the top's a bit long, but everywhere else doesn't grow. Unless I shed without realising" I realised that what I had just said probably wasn't something to talk about around a bunch of normal people, "Sorry, that wa-"
"No it's fine. You just be you. Taking onto consideration what you have said, I think I know what to do. You know what a tattoo is right?"
"Yeah" who doesn't?
"Do you like them?"
"I've always liked the idea of them, but never gotten them because of the various health related problems you can get from them"
"That's fair. But considering your circumstances, I reckon I'd be able to do something that is basically a tat but without said health problems"
"Really?"
"Yeah. But it could get a bit painful, if you're willing"
Painful? I trust Pablo enough, I know he wouldn't go any further than he would need to, and to actually have art on me!
"I'm definitely willing"
Now, I'm not going to perfectly describe what happened in the hour long stay there, that would take to long. But basically we went through several designs and colours until we'd decided on a design for the side of my shoulder which was a solo wolf as a circle in a more simplistic tribal style in orange,

and also a ring around the lower part of the bicep and tricep. But the ring was a dragon, also in the same style and colour.

The idea of it being a ring around my arm is what got me, ring tattoos are used to represent close or loved ones who have passed, this one was for Shell.
He spent a good fourty five minutes working on it. Whilst this was happening I learnt about Guys 'job's', more like a career. He, like he said, did several things, the bigger ones being a music producer/singer-songwriter, he makes podcasts, and talks on a major radio channel once a week. He didn't tell me which one though. He was also an artist and was currently working on a book which he's planning on publishing when finished, called 2304.
Once we said goodbye and thank you to Pablo for my new orange, left shoulder side fur tats,

and left the barbers, Guy told me we had just enough time for the final thing he had planned for us. A movie. On our way there he pulled a chain hoop out of his pocket and handed it to me, "Here you go"
"What's this?"
"It's what I got you from Target, you were to busy to notice anything so I bought it for you"
Ohh! Right! A silver neck chain, nice. It suited me, I think. I'm a horrible judge of style, but I thought it suited me.
"Thanks"
"No worries. What movies do you like James?"
"Same as my music, almost any"
"What don't you like?"
That was actually a pretty hard question. I honestly cannot remember when I last disliked a movie. "I'm not sure actually, how about we just avoid any animal hunting ones?"
"Oh! Yeah, we will do that"
Once we arrived at the cinema and saw what movies were available, we decided to watch Ghost in the Graveyard, it was a bit meh but still good. It was basically just another horror movie to add to the list. The more memorable part of the day was afterwards.
The movie finished at 1:40pm, could we have timed it any better? Once we actually reached the food court it was quarter to two, the time we had arranged. And we could see the girls from where we were. It was lunchtime.