Cliff had completely stilled as Ida’s fingers worked through his fur to pull out the hay he’d been rolling around in. It was hard to explain why he’d done it (not that he had explanations for most, if any of his actions), but perhaps he just wanted to bask in being a dog instead of a person bogged down with responsibility. If he could have grinned at her and shrugged he would have, but instead he panted happily, especially as the scratch came behind the ears. That was the spot and he could see why dogs liked it so much.

But then she was speaking to him and Cliff sat down in front of her as he watched her for a moment, his head tilting to the side as she first tried to ask him questions as if could answer. That must come from conversing with that damn demon horse all horse,  but at least she seemed to realize it. His eyes drifted closed as he tried to answer her question, and then he let out two loud yaps because no, it was just his heartbeat thrumming inside his ears, beating quicker the more he realized he was going to have to make his way through a forest and hope the girl Ida was trusting wasn’t going to keep him like that. What if she was a part of the demon coven…? Clifford hadn’t even thought about that. But, it was too late for those thoughts and he was sure he could maul either of them before they could kill him. He shook his head as the satchel was tied to him, the extra weight an odd feeling around his neck.

He wished he could explain to Ida how different he felt - Cliff wanted to roll around in the hay more, and he wanted to howl with his brethren again but she didn’t return with them. He didn’t feel the desire to eat raw meat (not that he could even afford that habit so he’d either break it or die off pretty quickly), and while he liked being a dog more than he thought he would, Clifford wouldn’t mind being on two legs sooner than later. Speaking was one of the things he missed the most, mostly because he had very important opinions on everything that people had to hear. He barked once, to answer her question, before he nuzzled his head back against her hand once more; she didn’t have to give him more, but Meena and Heath were going to go wild for that bun. 

Then he stepped back and sat once more, his tail wagging behind him. His head turned sharply to look at it and he growled softly before realizing that fluff was attached to him. Oh. Well, maybe he’d try to chase it later to show it who was boss. The pat on the head drew his attention back toward Ida and he scratched at the large bow around his neck before he stood up and leaned the bulk of his weight against her, although he tried to keep away from her bad leg. There, Cliff whined softly at her although he wasn’t sure why - they’d both lived up to their promises, him being her experiment and her trying to get him home. Maybe he was hoping that he'd walk away with a friend who was just Algae. (Although now that he thought about it, he'd consider Imane a friend, too.)

Cliff jumped up to lick her face once more before falling back to all fours because it had been interesting; never did he expect his day to end up like this but it wasn’t all bad. His tail wagged as he stepped out of the barn and trotted back toward the forest where he’d originally come from. Being a dog had its perks because he was going to reach it much faster than he ever would on two legs and he felt his senses come alive, suddenly more aware of the world than he’d ever been previously. His head tilted toward the air and he sniffed, although found nothing concerning.

With one last look toward the barn - toward Ida, most importantly - Cliff took off into a run, lifting his head and howling at the sun because he could. He was going to find this Beryl girl so he could be him again.

Hopefully he just didn’t die along the way.

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