Xaviers!

Sleeping on an air mattress in Sam's room wasn't all that bad. Tereza had slept in worse places and the knowledge of people close who actually cared made her sleep even easier. She'd been having such a delightful dream, running through woods and valleys tirelessly and enjoying the fresh air and the open sky. Then a noise awakened her abruptly and she rolled off the mattress. She struggles to her feet, only to realize that she has four of those. She lets out of soft whine, looking particularly silly in the clothes she'd been wearing to sleep in.

Sam opens her eyes a crack, muttering.

"...you know, I was only going to get up for pancakes."

Tereza hops up on the bed, which creaks a little. She's the size of a really big dog, though no one would mistake her for a dog even in bad light. Her coat is light, almost pure white in places. She wobbles a bit, not used to being on four feet.

Sam's eyes snap open as she starts fully awake. She blinks for a moment in confusion before it clicks.

"...you shifted."

She reaches and feels Tereza's paws.

"You... ah... shifted really far, this time."

Tereza paws at Sam's hand and then noses at her cheek. "Running dream. Good running." Tereza's sense doesn't indicate distress beyond being weirded out. If anything, her brain's really at peace.

"Okay, I... really don't mean to upset you, but..."

She bites her lower lip.

"...I have no idea how to explain this to my family."

"Can try to shift back." She concentrates, but the only rippling of fur comes from her muscles tensing. She opens her eyes, snuffles and then closes them again, concentrating harder. Still nothing.

"...okay, don't strain yourself," she sighs, rubbing Tereza's cheek.

"I know I shouldn't try to force you out of this. The only other time you really got close to this were when you were really... content."

"Silver and white looks really pretty on you, for what it's worth."

She leans into Sam's hand. "Thanks. You think you can force it? Don't want to scare your family."

"Don't think you're ashamed. Just don't want to scare them." She hops down onto the floor which isn't a quiet procedure and takes a seat on a clear patch of floor.

There's a stirring out in the hallway.

"Is everything alright, dear?"

"Er... just fine, mum. Give us a minute, though?"

"Okay, just... let's see here..."

Sam makes contact gently, trying to hone in on the human side of Tereza.

That proves difficult. There's no 'sides' right now. There's just Tereza.

"I... what?" She looks down at her paws, then back up at Sam's face.

She concentrates again, but with just as little result. "Shift is there, just can't grab it." She lifts up one paw, "No hands I guess."

"I can't tell if you're punning or serious," she smirks faintly, leaning towards Tereza.

"Think of how a wolf would grab something," she sends, running her fingers along the wolf's muzzle.

Tereza tilts her head back and presses the underside of her jaw into Sam's fingers. "Nope... no shift."

"Sure you're not just mugging for chin skritches?" She quirks a brow, but obliges nonetheless.

"No... Don't want to scare your family though. Bad first impression." There was worry creeping into her sense that she might be stuck like this.

She drops onto her stomach and her ears flatten slightly. "Sorry about this."

"Then let's get you comfortable."

She kneels down by Tereza and starts gingerly removing the pajamas.

It is a significant production and not quiet. The clothing really isn't designed for a four-legged creature and a couple of times it seems as if Tereza is stuck, but eventually they get her out of the stuff.

"God, what are you even doing in there?" comes a familiar voice as Kat pokes her head in.

"...uh...?" Her face scrunches up in confusion, not quite making the cognitive leap yet.

"Bloody hell, Kat! Do you even knock?" Sam blurts out, turning beet red.

Tereza's ears flatten in shame and she immediately drops to her stomach again.

"Is that...?"

"...aye. Look, Kat, I can exp-"

Kat takes off on a tear down the stairs.

"Muuuuuum, Sam's girlfriend is a dog!"

"She's not a dog!" Sam calls out after her.

She covers her nose with her paws. "Go, call me when you're ready for me."

"It's going to be okay," Sam says with a frustrated sigh, giving Tereza one last pat before she heads downstairs too.

There don't seem to be any raised voices, or at the least, Tereza's ears only perk up once or twice. Still, Sam is down there for what seems to be an eternity, and it's still going on when Tereza hears footsteps in the hallway.

The door creaks open, and Kat slips in, looking Tereza over.

"I guess you're at least a cool-looking dog," she sighs, walking over.

Tereza tilts her head to the side, doing her level best to look non-threatening which is hard when you're a wolf. She perks her ears at Kat to show she's listening to her.

"So is this like your powers? Ice dog powers?" Kat muses, sitting down on the floor next to Tereza.

Tereza contemplates that for a moment and then bobs her head a bit. She tentatively moves her head to rest it on Kat's knee.

"Okay, I'll admit that if I had the ability to run around with no trousers without anyone yelling at me, I'd probably do it too," she muses, reaching to pet Tereza.