Hermes slouched into the couch like he'd been peeled off the battlefield and stapled onto cheap upholstery.
His living room light flickered once, then steadied, throwing pale illumination across the stack of unopened mail, an empty pizza box that may or may not have been there for a week, and a normal dog sprawled in the corner.
Xolotl, the world's most ordinary dog, raised his head. He almost wrecked the couch as he jumped around and licked Hermes as a greeting.
On the rug, the not-so-normal ones yipped in stereo. The Grrberus pups scrambled over each other to reach Hermes' lap.
"Master! Master!"
"You have a new form, Master!"
"It looks glorious, Master! Can we get head pats?"
"Alright, alright," Hermes muttered, letting them crawl across his chest.
One of the heads gnawed on his sleeve. Another tried licking his jaw. The third just barked nonsense about conquering the refrigerator.
"Headpats later." Hermes told them. "I'm a bit tired right now."
